hemingway

Well Daisy that would be ok. No?

It takes a lot for Ernie to be moved, to become emotional. Well it happened last night. i took a country train to Spencer Street. A few stragglers but no one like I on a mission, a pilgrimage. No scarfs, no jumpers, no colours. To the point that I was thinking of hiding my antique scarf in my dilly bag. This changed upon arrival at Spencer Street. The ghosts of the past were emerging from every road, intersection, from every direction. Risen from the dead in colours of red and blue. Old men, middle aged men and women, families with kids. Yes, kids. All decked out in jumpers, T shirts, and garments stating that the MFC were premiers. No embarrassment, no modesty, but out and proud. There was a feeling of invincibility , of a new dawn, a pride, a feeling that it all mattered. We were all marching together, with comments like “nice T shirt” and the ever present” go Dees”. Were there any Dogs fans? They were hard to see as they crept along in a way that suggested loyalty rather than celebration or revenge. Like going to a funeral. Still the awakening that yes we were Premiers. God, we felt proud. But the kid made me cry. Expectant and joyous in their gear, their flags, their face paint. Sharing with Mum and Dad their happiness and excitement. That for thousands of people this mattered. Not quite life and death but close to it. Arrived at the ground. Initially disappointment on the turnout. Was this going to be a huge flop. No one present for the unfurling of the flag. Then the multitude arrived, the stands filled and expectation built. This was a religious experience. Well at least spiritual. It did matter. Fans of all ages, gender, race and type were connected and joined together in a mass homage to this club, it’s past and present players, coaches and the special place it held in our hearts. And we were all connected. Did we expect to see a flag in our lifetime? In most cases, no. We sat and watched a confident young group of men that had created their own history. A group that had arrived. Started like a dream. A period of indecision and Dog fightback. Did we think we were gone ? Did we have the heart sink of past decades ? I don’t think so. We felt that they would come back and when they did, we expected it. That’s our boys. Our Demons. Our joy. Thank you to this Club for restoring our faith. To make the past pain evaporate. To feel that it had all been worth it. Whether the success is long lived or not, we have been to the holy grail and feel saturated with the joy of its attainment. And for the future.

Exactly, well said.

Goodwin was just so impressive. Incredible tranquility in the eye of the storm. Extraordinary.

Fair comments Lord. And your comments about past experiences vis a vis lack of tough questions is valid. Perhaps my observation of lack of transparency is superficial. It was a quick response. My observation simply piggybacked Lucifers comment about (why) attendance at B&F and not AGM. In addition, when there were challenges to the Board. Not such a good look I would have thought and suggests the existing Board trying to control the agenda and avoid questions and conflicts. I would have thought that after a flag and an incredible amount of goodwill, an open AGM would have been appropriate. Surely nothing to be afraid of. The existing President and Board should be out there and proud.

The lack of transparency is disappointing and perhaps a concern.

Agree with your sentiments Froggy. Daisy is a great Melbourne person and a great ambassador for the club. She has so much credibility and respect and is a marketing dream. Love to see the club retain her in a meaningful role. I guess that’s the difficulty given our existing coaching staff. She would need to have a serious role where she could contribute to the club and be appropriate for her career development.

Curious.

Heard a similar story, certainly the first part. Of course, the whole thing was the brain child of Sir Kenneth Luke who hated the fact that VFL was beholden to the MCC and wanted a ground owned and run by the VFL. From a VFL viewpoint it was a reasonable idea but the planning and implementation was poor. The ground was opened for footy way to soon and the facilities substandard.

Both have to be regarded as monumental fails. Waverley built in a rain belt on muddy paddocks, no public transport, no shelter from the arctic blasts and rain, stands so far from the action you needed binoculars, absolutely soulless with no atmosphere and zero facilities. Marvel, built as an all purpose entertainment stadium but fails all criteria, built the wrong way for footy, looking into the sun, terrible playing surface on concrete, seats with restricted viewing, cold, soulless and dead. The only benefit of both failures of thought, planning, building and management has been that both concrete monstrosities have reinforced the preeminence of the mighty G. Our ground, our home and our spiritual connection with club and team.

Obviously for home consumption. A membership promo. It’s well done and emotional for those with red and blue blood. However, I also find it a bit cringy. I would prefer to focus on what happens on the field. Let the way the side plays and results do the talking. That’s the way to gain respect and become a formidable club.

Count yourself lucky that you only had flu like symptoms and unlike many did not require hospitalisation, a ventilator or struggle to recover with long Covid. Unlike others you did not die. That is not spin. The politicians definitely had their moments but without quick action by our governments many more would have died particularly from the Delta strain. But don’t imply, Covid is nothing to worry about or there is no need to take precautions. Your fine, well bully for you. Others have not been so lucky and family and friends have grieved.

“A well known singer”. We have had a few of those in the past. Does not fill me with confidence. Looking on the bright side, a few well known singers have met their maker over the last few years. Basically it means it could be anyone from 15 to 80 with or without talent.

Agree, the MCG is bad enough. The full body assault as you put it Master seems to be on the way at Marvel. Welcome to the nightmare!

Just pull the bloody thing down. Terrible place and can’t see a makeover helping. However it is clear that we will see more innovations that will seek to entertain fans. Flashing lights, advertising and every other device for fans with short attention spans The mind boggles what they have in store.

Gentlemen please resume your seats at the Bar Table and we will adjourn for lunch.

The negative commentary about Daisy and her voice come mainly from men. Feedback from the majority of women would be different. So we are talking about sexism plain and simple. We need to remember that unlike many other male dominated sports, AFL has a large female fan base. Others might know but I would guess that women would make up 50 per cent or more of followers. And that has been the case since the game was invented and it makes AFL unique and special. I love the passion that women fans bring to the game. Sit me next to a bunch of women every time rather than men. I suspect that many males who dislike female commentary also have a negative view of AFLW and women’s cricket. Daisy is intelligent, passionate and knowledgeable. She has no ego and does not need to indulge in stories about herself. Give me Daisy’s voice any day over BT, JB and the rest of the boys club.

A few years ago I thought Christian was too lazy to fulfil his amazing potential. More to the point, that his two way running was inadequate. He did not have a tank. However, in some sportsmen’s lives there comes a moment in time when they get it. Some are born with, some never get it, and others like CP develop it. All athletes have ability. The ones at the top have more than the rest. However, to take that big step forward takes a lot more. It means being fully committed every day, completely goal orientated and sacrificing all manner of things. In particular social life and other distractions. The best athletes are single minded and focussed. They may be modest but they have enormous self confidence and ambition. Never taking half measures and always seeking to improve. There are a lot of people that have contributed to CPs improvement but at the end of the day it has to come from within. Hats off to him. A future Captain no doubt. But this guy will go a long way in life due to his attitude and strength of personality. And he has a few mates in the red and blue.

Like others the only thing I hope for in these games is “no injuries” . Make no mistake all teams are going to come at us hard in the “we are tougher than you” stakes. Can’t we just play “ring a ring a rosy” and avoid any physical contact. Park our guns on the bench and play our second eleven. Still cricket season, far too early for footy. Maybe water the ground to avoid knee injuries and see how hungry our fringe players are in competing for scarce spots.

St James Park no doubt. He just needs a couple of blokes in Hawks jumpers to run through. Assault and battery perhaps an unfortunate consequence.

With a lifetime of watching footy and the Dees both the Bont and Clarry are two of the best footballers I have seen. They have similarities and differences but they are both great players. Would not even try and seperate them.

Whatever happened to that other bloke?

Exclude anyone who lives outside of greater Melbourne, exclude families with young kids, exclude anyone with a serious job. In fact exclude a hell of a lot of people who don’t have the luxury of going on a Wednesday night or need to be in bed at a reasonable hour. Oh I forgot it’s televised. Stations and advertisers will be elated.

Yep that’s about it. More bread for the circus. Money for the circus. No problem. Money for the homeless? No, that’s the role of charitable organisations.

Possibly saved lives. And possibly the most important thing he has ever done. Doesn’t get much bigger. And humble with it.