Dame Gaga

Leon Davis' story is in many ways even more uncomfortable reading. I'm surprised we haven't heard more about it. So his team mates filled out his player profile for him did they? That sounds familiar. When Leon's parents called a meeting with the club about it, Leon, the victim of the racism, was ostracized by the playing group for daring to speak up. No wonder young Indigenous players felt they couldn't say anything or complain about their treatment. There was no support at all, only the possibility of more harm directed towards them. Shameful.

Many thanks to Demonland for changing my long-winded title and posting the tweets. They are lovely! ?

On the Melbourne Football Club website is an interesting interview with ANB and Kavisha Di Petro of aflplayers.com.au about him being awarded one of the Torrens University scholarships. He began a Bachelor of Teaching when he first started at uni, focusing on special education and disability studies. The passion and interest in working with people living with disability came from his maternal grandmother Cheryl (Neal) who was a professional jockey injured in a race fall which left her a paraplegic. Growing up with her in his life led him down the path he is following today. Nice to read about a football player who wants to contribute to society instead of being on the front page of the paper because of a scandal !! Well done, Alex. Congratulations and good luck.

Please. We need not acknowledge North possessing any acumen in what decisions they have made. They cleaned out their list to the bones believing in a re build from the ground up. Sort of a scorched earth policy, and Majak was one of the casualities. Not that I care very much what Tim Watson thinks, but even he questioned whether the Roos were too quick to turf out Daw. So they have not escaped media attention for the decision. I hope Majak proves North wrong in getting rid of him. Serves them right. And Majak deserves another chance at redemption. Why should he be denied it?

Why not? Being dropped by North is no measure of his worth. They are a penniless basketcase who had to off load players to save the sinking ship in desperation. After what Majak has been through I think it's great MFC have offered him a lifeline. If nothing comes of it, then so be it. He goes to play with his brother and Brent Harvey at North Heidelberg, which I'm sure he will be happy with as well. For what it's worth I thought the photo of a smiling Majak wearing the Melbourne colours in the practice match last year conveys the joy he felt playing footy again. Whatever happens I wish him well for 2021.

Correct S L - I can picture my high school literature teacher fuming over this heading.? When Juliet asked "Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" she was asking why did his name have to be Romeo of the Montagues, enemies of her family. Lesson over. ?

Anyway, back to Eddie and the report which brought him down. I watched an interesting interview on the ABC news app with Tony Armstrong, a former Collingwood player and ABC commentator (he is indigenous). He gave an insight into how the playing groups of the Collingwood clubs came to issue that letter of apology. The players felt frustrated their feelings couldn't be heard with all the distractions surrounding the first press conference, hence the reason for their letter. Armstrong also made a good point about football playing groups always going to be young. These younger generations are more open minded and socially aware. More open minded than perhaps the ones in charge of the clubs or the 'old guard'. When someone is in power for so long and used to doing things their own way, and getting other people to do things their way, they are in danger of becoming inflexible and blinkered. Eddie saw himself as the saviour of his beloved club when he first became President - "When I came to Collingwood, it was a club driven with rivalries, enemies and division." He succeeded in making the club a powerhouse, but he also became in a sense bigger than the club. Perhaps he was blinded by his own success and never learned an important word - humility. He also didn't learn how to listen to others when they were trying to tell him something he didn't want to hear. He had to be the one to do the talking. That was his biggest problem. The talking came before the thinking.

It really is a shame a report into and to address the problem of racism in the football club somehow became all about Eddie. I'm sure victims of racism, past, present and future, would like to know what the club intend to do about what the report found and the recommendations it made. Eddie has hogged the limelight for long enough.

Yes, Eddie was a President who worked hard for his football club and put his heart and soul into building it up into the powerhouse he always believed it should be. But he wore blinkers throughout his tenure and reacted so badly to the slightest criticism of either himself or his club it was embarrassing. Eddie was always larger than life and he earned the nickname "Eddie Everywhere" at one stage which fitted him at the time. That may have been part of the problem. To everyone Eddie WAS Collingwood. He cannot claim ignorance about what was happening under his watch when he was such an ingrained part of the club. I must take issue with two of the statements he made in his speech; "......back in 1998, my sole motivation was to heal, unite, inspire and drive a new social conscience, not just into this club, but sport and the community in general." This is a lofty statement to make in hindsight, but I doubt that is what the Collingwood supporters heard back then. All they wanted was the elusive Premiership and a strong, rich club, and I'm sure that is what Eddie promised them. ".......my devotion to fairness has endured and grown. .....never have I turned my back on anyone who has reached out for help." Yet he still has not faced the issue of Lumumba's grievances and issued a long awaited simple apology.

Perhaps the little bundle of joy called Esme Elizabeth Brown was more important on the day? ? Congratulations to Ben and Hester by the way.

I suppose just like 'beauty', 'greatness' is in the eye of the beholder. ?

Nearly choked on my muesli when I saw him described as an "AFL great" somewhere.?

Clarkson's words diminish the victims' experience. They didn't ask to "endure" what happened to them. No wonder not many victims report this sort of thing. They are pushed to the background and invalidated, while the alleged perpetrators are supported and provided with excuses. I'm not saying Patton should be tried and convicted by the public or the media, but please, it is better if Clarkson just said, I can't comment while this is under investigation instead of waffling on about something he admits he doesn't know much about (social media platforms and the laws that apply to them ).

Sorry, but the words, 'Kane Cornes' and 'relevant', do not belong in the same sentence. Who cares?

Good point fd. Endured a similar experience to yours in the 90s. Location was the MCG in the Southern Stand where Collingwood members were guests at a luncheon before the game in rooms behind us. These men were dressed like businessmen, suits, ties etc. Now you would think their behaviour would be appropriate to the fact they had been invited to a formal lunch and to listen to speeches given by various people from the AFL. But no. They acted like ferals let loose for the day. Banging on the glass and yelling abuse at us while they were downing the free booze. When they came out to their seats for the game it only got worse. One ahole was abusing two little kids ( Melbourne supporters/members) seated across the aisle from him so much they were in tears. He was finally taken away by security, still swearing and raving, although they took their sweet time about it, and only when we complained. It seemed like no one wanted to do anything against these ba#$ard$. It was shocking. What I found most shocking was MFC let it happen and did nothing to control these people. The Collingwood arrogance was astounding. It was like they knew they were untouchable.

Took a long time for the penny to drop. Sometimes people need a good public kick up the proverbial to wake up to themselves. (Re: the Collingwood players apology.)

Just as people may sometimes hear only what they want to hear, they can also read into things only what they believe to be true.

As long as training is done like this: Then he should be good to go!

Arthroscopy is a surgical procedure orthopaedic surgeons use to visualize, diagnose, and treat problems within a joint. Yes, the word comes from two Greek words, "arthro" - joint and "skopein" - to look, meaning literally "to look within the joint", but the surgeon uses the arthroscope ( the small camera which displays pictures on a video monitor ) as a guide for his miniature surgical instruments. So hopefully the procedure was minor and Ben recovers quickly because the small incisions result in less pain for patients, less joint stiffness, and shortens the time for recovery.

NOOOOOO........

Thank you Eddie of Toorak and Sam of Docklands for your input. ?

Just saw the late news and the Collingwood supporters are reported to be revolting (pun intended). Not happy with Eddie refusing to stand down so they are going to cancel their memberships and support another team. First stop - the dentist. They will need to blend in with the crowd. ?

According to Peter Ryan of The Age, Eddie said the Magpies desperately wanted to reconcile with Lumumba, who chose not to be interviewed by the independent review. "He's one of us. He doesn't feel that at the moment and it breaks our heart. We want him to be one of us," McGuire said. Last October Lumumba lodged a claim in the Supreme Court alleging Collingwood breached its duty of care....that he was subjected to racial abuse and the club did nothing. His lawyer, Rhea Dillon said, "the report vindicates our client's claims." 'Lumumba is seeking acknowledgment of the racism, an apology and compensation.' Lumumba has used social media since last year to voice his claims and seek an apology from Collingwood. In December he said on social media he had been denied access to the report, despite it being completed. I have put in bold the key words. Still now, Eddie cannot give an apology. He still does not get it. Lumumba was never made to feel he was "one of us". That is the whole point. Those two words, 'apology' and 'compensation' must be so frightening to him. Why is it so hard for this man to say sorry? Footnote: Tony Armstrong told The Age "It was disappointing that ( the press conference ) didn't open with an apology. Very disappointing.....I'm pretty frustrated."

I read what Eddie said, but there are always certain words missing from his statements. Simple words, like 'sorry' or 'apologize'. Simple words which are sometimes all people would like to hear. It doesn't seem like much to ask. But Eddie apparently has never heard of these words or he just doesn't want to use them.

Well, as long as his bowels are okay, there shouldn't be a problem! Classic. Love it! ?