Saturday Morning on Demonland (1)

[Fork 'em 7,052]

I hate how every montage we get shown displays how hopeless we were and how often we sheet the bed over the last 50yrs.
Hopefully the narrative changes but doubt it will.
We could win 4 on the trot and they'd still wanna talk about how sheet we were back in the day.

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,837]

3 hours ago, Premiers said:

That game was wiped from my demon history when over.

What I can't forget is the distress at watching a terminally ill Jimmy struggle though the press conf to sack Dean Bailey.  And then watching Bailey all alone to front the media, stripped of club colours and of a sponsor board.  He was a good man, gave us his all and deserved better.  I had tears all the way for both of them and for our beloved club.  

For mine the aftermath of 186 was more ignominious for our club than the loss itself.  

Any lingering feelings about 186 were wiped with the rnd 23, after the siren goal to give us a redeeming win at the scene of the crime.

Ultimate redemption was thrashing the Cats in the penultimate game of our season; a Preliminary final on the second biggest stage of all with the footy world watching.  All was atoned that day.

What would you rather an 85 points thumping in a Prelim where you are clearly trying or a 186 point hiding in R19 where there was clearly no effort and turmoil surrounding a club.

I know which one I'd prefer.

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by YesitwasaWin4theAges

[YesitwasaWin4theAges 6,837]

1 hour ago, Wrecker46 said:

It sucks when you go to Geelong to watch us lose by 186 but can't go to the MCG to watch Melbourne win a premiership.

Out of interest was 426 on our list when we lost by 186?

No he wasn't.

[BAMF 4,487]

13 hours ago, A F said:

My sister and I were at the Cattery that day. I don't know. We're a different team and club than we were then, but that was a deeply embarrassing day and those who were responsible, be it players or administrators, should forever hang their heads in shame.

I don't want to rattle off a cliche, but you had to be there to really feel this pain. We couldn't turn off the TV or walk out of the room. We stayed until the very end. It was inexcusable. 

Full respect. My only hope that day was radio and even that let me down due to reception issues.

I missed the entire thing.

The outpouring of grief and embarrassment of what had happened to this club on this forum was enough for me. I realised that I had dodged a shocking memory that I would have hated to have.

[Uncle Fester 2,848]

20 hours ago, demon3165 said:

Sorry to to bring this up but in 1979 Fitzroy kicked 36.22.238 to win by 190 points i was at that game.

That’s the one that still gives me shudders. At least the Geelong loss was to a dynasty team on their home turf. The Fitzroy one came out of nowhere 

[Guest]

I was thinking of posting about 186 on the anniversary, but held back for a reason I don’t remember.

It wasn’t until this year that I finally watched the match highlights. Like the game day thread, it was shorter than average; just like the game day thread. Both were required by nature to be short as what more could really be explained? It was a pantsing; pure and simple.

However, the onfield thrashing was also reflected in what happened the day Bails was fired. Others have pointed out what happened to Bails and the terrible position Jimmy was put in. What wasn’t mentioned was that that presser was organized in such a way that CS and Bails were not to be in the room at the same time. Things had gotten that toxic.

Compare that to when Neeld was sacked. PJ came to the decision based on a ten week review where he sat in the coach’s box, spoke to people around the club, observed how things were run, watched matches and came to his recommendation based on that, which he then passed to the board for approval. Neeld was called into the club early on a Monday morning to be told face to face by PJ his employment was being terminated. Then he, Peter Spargo and Neeld held a joint presser with Neeld still wearing club issued clothing and with sponsorship boards visible behind them all. PJ, while being strong on why the decision had to be made, was clear that the decision was made with Mark’s welfare in mind.

I wrote earlier that the flag will be invaluable to us moving forward in attaining future success as we as a club now know what that looks like and how it’s attained. 186 is ‘valuable’ in the same sense as it demonstrated what an absolute dumpster fire looks like.

The former organization (a premiership winning organization) has, as PJ said previously, a propensity to bring in the best people from outside the organization. It’s patient and willing to see a plan through to its completion. It’s progressive, flexible when needed and cares about issues other than football results (our role setting up the AFLW, our work in the NT and divesting from pokies), but never to their detriment. Its fundamentals are that strong, a key piece can leave and the joint won’t collapse. Kids can get senior games but not in roles beyond their capabilities, and they are supported by experienced hands.

The latter (the dumpster fire) is founded on a quick fix, ill conceived, and in our case, morally dubious philosophy (tanking for draft picks and then expecting results will flow). It focuses on image, pomp, spectacle and flair (Whiteboard Wednesday, trumpet renditions and flag raisings prior to the game, blazers). It views its dealings with people and organizations as zero sum equations where there is one winner and one loser and expedience is the language it speaks (Junior’s and Miller’s delistings, the dealings with Hankook Tyres which saw a lifelong MFC fan leave in disgust, I believe we also signed up to EnergyWatch because of the ridiculously sized check Ben Polis offered and we took his [censored] sales pitch at face value). Disgraceful behavior off field is viewed as acceptable or as able to be rationalized; I remember Terlich and Georgiou’s ‘Rolf Harris’ dress up and caterwauling on here of how it wasn’t really that bad. Thankfully, Roosy didn’t feel the same way. It also values the existence of a boy’s club clique where perceived identification with the club overrides actual ability to do the job one is assigned to do. Jimmy is one of my most admired people, and I’ve fully forgiven Gaz after the GF, but sadly they did propagate that culture from ‘09 through ‘11.

All that I listed was present around the time of 186. If the result of 2 weeks ago was validation of 7 years of hard work, that result was simply the ripping off of a scan formed by the factors listed in the previous paragraph. 

Learning what a dumpster fire looks like is where the value of 186 lies.

 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Colin B. Flaubert

[Fritta and Turner 4,697]

On 10/9/2021 at 7:11 AM, Whispering_Jack said:

Precisely why I’m raising it now. That and the fact that I lived through the successful era when we won lots of these 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆.

The philosopher Santayana said, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. It’s worth remembering for that reason.

Right, as a community service I am going to remind every dogs supporter I meet that we pumped those puppies by74 points.

[Lou C. Fur 1,009]

On 10/9/2021 at 8:58 AM, demon3165 said:

Sorry to to bring this up but in 1979 Fitzroy kicked 36.22.238 to win by 190 points i was at that game.

I was there at VFL Park at that game too. Ingloriously unforgettable! 190 was before 186 and pips it as our worst ever loss. I went there with my Dad and my brother and was heartbroken!

Demolishing Geelong in the PF and beating them with Max's kick after the siren in round 23 have absolved the pain of 186. I look forward to a similar resolution one day against Brisbane to absolve 190.

[The heart beats true 18,201]

Footy clubs are like life - they are great, and then terrible, and then great, and then terrible. Look at Richmond. Perennial losers until they weren’t.

When you spend time in the wilderness it only teaches you one thing - don’t be here again. I’m enjoying the highs so much because I know the lows. That’s the lesson, and the lesson is the reward.

[At Least I Saw a Flag 5,353]

I wake up and remember that we actually won the flag ... more than 2 weeks later. It has made me so happy.

To those who said that winning a flag can be an anticlimax, are you serious ???

[58er 6,872]

On 10/9/2021 at 7:25 AM, DemonOX said:

Agree totally and I will never forget that game or our horrid past but I don’t need to be reminded about it either.
Like I said we all know our past but it’s time to move on. 

Why not marvel at our modern heroes our 2021 Premiership team who in 45 mins playtime IN A GRAND FINAL kicked 16 goals vs the 2nd Best  team and conceded ONE goal. Surely a better effort than battering a sorry and half hearted team disgracefully  playing Club politics out on the very ground we triumphed 6 weeks ago with  of our best five wins this century.

We then followed up with another best 5 win making them look old and  out of ideas to cruise into the 2021 Grand Final.

Lets talk about this not the dark past which while relevant is not A PRIORITY at all this summer..