Engorged Onion

Once upon a time I did a thesis on some acronyms BIRG'ing and CORF-ing on sports fandom. Basking in Reflected Glory and Cutting off Reflected Failure. Here's an excerpt There's a unique brand of frustration that bubbles up within a fanbase even after a victory – the agony of a comfortable lead carelessly squandered. We've all been there, haven't we? Up by a seemingly insurmountable margin, only to watch the opposition chip away, goal by goal, point by point. The initial elation morphs into nail-biting anxiety, the celebratory cheers replaced by nervous murmurs. Even when the final whistle blows in our favor, a bitter taste lingers. We won, yes, but the dominant performance we anticipated dissolved into a messy, unnecessarily stressful finish. This internal disappointment, this feeling that we should have done better, speaks volumes about our deep investment as fans and our high standards for our team. This frustration becomes particularly interesting when we contrast it with our reaction to a rival team in the same situation. Suddenly, the narrative flips. Their near-collapse, even in victory, becomes a source of (perhaps slightly smug) satisfaction. It’s as if they’ve "put the cue in the rack" too early, (maybe they can afford to) - a sign of potential arrogance or a lack of focus. We might interpret their ability to concede goals and still win not as a display of dominance, but rather as evidence of a certain carelessness born from having "too much" capacity. It suggests they aren't as sharp or disciplined as they could be, almost as if they have the luxury of being so far ahead that they can afford such lapses – a luxury we might not perceive our own team to possess. Ultimately, this duality in our reactions underscores the passionate and often irrational nature of sports fandom. We hold our own team to a higher standard, feeling the sting of dropped points even in victory. Yet, that same critical lens becomes a tool for comparison and, at times, a source of comfort or frustration when observing our rivals. The frustration we feel with our own team's imperfect win doesn't negate the final result, but it certainly shapes our immediate emotional landscape and fuels the ongoing narrative of competition and rivalry."

It's fascinating how people interpret the same process/outcome, and infer meaning, when it is their team versus when it is not. That of course is what the brain is designed to do, look for patterns, extrapolate and place assumptions for an expected outcome.

I am genuinely surprised that people forget what this is like... (or maybe I am not)...

Good bloke though...** The 'good bloke' get out clause, that seems is used quite widely in any fraternal industry.

Pragmatism or Romanticism?

It was and maybe I just particularly rankled about ‘depth’ commentary as It’s typically wafer thin. We were unlucky with significant injuries or significantly compromised players playing throughout the year, and so are most teams. Anyway you’re typically insightful, detailed and thoughtful.

If you’re still trotting out a complete lack of depth as a reason, then you’ve drunk the media koolaid. Or at least institutionalised to it. It’s not the mythology of ‘one soldier in, one soldier out’. When your best players are out injured or playing somewhat crocked and you expect another player to merely fill that talent void, then you’ve got unrealistic expectations. If I could be stuffed, I’d either find or develop an injury ladder vs real ladder position for the last 15 years and low and behold there is a significant causation/correlation.

An aside: Now that ANB has gone, which player becomes the biggest whipping boy if they fail to have a big year!?

The anti-Demonstone.

It's interesting observing the fickleness of fans, whereby he is not rated by some (fine to have an opinion) and for those it's not enough that he was an emergency in the eventual premiers. A little while ago, that would have been seen as progress!

No they don't Macca, and havent applied for 20 years, well unless of course the coach is 'old skool'. Treating people fairly, isn't the same as treating them the same 😀

Gunna stick with your name Sideshow? He spoke so eloquently at the BnF!

Finger on the pulse, or merely conjecture on the first morning of trade period?

Ok... got back home at 2am. Found it slightly weird the Bluey Truscott himself, just got awarded his life membership in 2024. Overall, it was an interesting night. Although Goodwin (whom I rate) spoke a lot about 'process' I felt (projecting) that there were some very pointed comments re: selflessness or at least, not making it about your self, and that won't be 'tolerated' going forward. Whom that was to, you can have your guess. The overall messaging was about unity and fraternity, both in professional speak, and 'mateship' speak ie: 'Perty, Greeny' etc. Glad Roffey got to speak and her endeavors acknowledged. This was my first Bluey, and I have been to a range of other BnF's in a professional capacity over the last decade. Themes spoken about felt fairly generic, and for me the highlights were Ben Brown, Alex Neal-Bullen and Ed Langdon AND Angus Brayshaw, all guys who speak with emotional gravitas, and go beyond cliched sound bites. Richness and depth, about the existentialness of their careers. Effectively, your legacy, is the people you help support along the way, not just those that support you in your own journey.* Everyone at the club (organisation) from FD, to board to bootstuder and physio and high performance team are people with their own careers trying to do their best on any given day at any given moment. *Spoke to a former coach today over coffee this morning, who was quite clear that the general public/punters will never understand or accept, the realities of the scrutiny that the position holds and in effect, when you take the job, there are very few people on the outside who appreciate the isolation and loneliness that the job has with it, as everyone has an opinion on things that you can control, and things that they think you can control. You're on a hiding to nothing...but people would give their left nut... etc etc

Absolutely. A bunch of us attended last night, driving up from beyond Geelong and were commenting how, due to location, sporting commitments for kids, other family commitments - prime time just doesn't suit us, and how we are really looking forward to some early afternoon fixtures, to actually take our kids along to expos them the sport live. Success drives fan bases for sure... but also the ability to attend matches that isn't so Melbourne (city) centric, to bring the next generation along, and indoctrinate them to the red and blue.