Whispering_Jack

Some more real gems there RR. Keep it up!

... or be gelded for looking sideways if you were a male horse and not a mare.

I often wonder if, in the context of the MFC, there is such a thing as a "normal football supporter". I think Satyriconhome has dealt with your question and most posters here have dealt with the subject in a fairly positive manner. Can we please keep the thread going in that vein?

The 2013 Spelling Bee was shown on ESPN yesterday and you can have your Xtreme Sports, NFL and other gladiatorial pursuits. This is the one for me. No contact, no broken bones or injuries except for when a kid fainted in the final a couple of years ago. This year's final produced a gripping finish and I'm proud to say I knew the answer to the winning question - BUBBIE'S PROUD NY boy wins spelling bee with knaidel.

A pretty good summation and I'm glad that you emphasised the growth and development potential of the region. I think Casey/Cardinia is in the top two or three growth areas on the country and if anyone takes the trouble to drive around Casey Fields and the suburbs surrounding it they would understand its enormity. In twenty years time I would like to think that going to Casey will have had as significant an effect on the club as Hawthorn locating its training base at Waverley has done. It's true that there have been philosophical issues about alignments both at Sandringham and more lately at Casey but these are evolutionary and the ground is shifting. For the Casey club to thrive, I think it too will have to do more to embrace the local area than look back at its history with Springvale. I think the understanding of this is growing and from what I've heard, we are well thought of among the local Casey community.

Haven't been watching but does anyone think Beamer looks captaincy material tonight?

IIRC, four people gave the evidence, all former employees who were disgruntled and had been sacked by the club. CC wasn't one of them.

The headline says it all. He was the scapegoat and the target of a campaign from the very beginning when the On the Couch interview took place.

I'm sure you're right there RM. I simply couldn't imagine that half forward line anywhere - not even on the small TBBO.BTW, I recall when we were aligned with the Zebras that Casey/Springvale was always a tough team to beat.

How sad.

Not a problem Satyriconhome but I did a count and there seems to be more than 140 characters in the text.

I am a Foundation Hero and remain proud of my contribution and would, if called upon, contribute again. The basic premise of the OP is flawed and underlines why the club is in such desperate straits at the present time. There is little doubt that the Stynes/McLardy boards must bear a measure of responsibility for the mess but it is wrong to suggest they promised us a rose garden, nor did they ever give undertakings about the success of the football team or the ongoing financial viability of the fiscal and on field train wreck they took over in 2008. At that time the Board went to its supporters and appealed to business people, professionals and rank and file supporters for funding to help get us in the black so that we could compete with the stronger clubs in terms of facilities and amenities available for the football department to sustain improvement and betterment in that fundamental core area of its functions. Those to who the club appealed are well aware that even the application of the most sophisticated and elaborate business models does not necessarily guarantee success and this is particularly the case with sporting models where success on the field can be so elusive and dependent on a diverse range of factors. Further, it's a complete and utter fallacy to claim that the elimination of debt was the "the single achievement of the Stynes/McLardy Board". That Board also established better and closer relations with the MCC and AFL, strengthened our relationship with the Casey which is a long term venture aimed at expanding our supporter base. What they have failed to do so far is bring success on the field and in fact, we have gone backwards in this area in the past two - three years. However, I don't believe for one second that our current plight is due alone to any one factor be it the current board, Cameron Schwab, Garry Lyon, Mark Neeld or, for that matter, the playing group and some of the suggestions I've read here are disingenuous to say the least. The cancer at the club began long before Stynes took over in 2008 although reading this and many other threads you would hardly know it. Some of the worst "culprits" in causing the situation were brought into the club by previous boards. Neale Daniher was kept on as coach for far too long. Bailey was a poor choice as coach. The records of Craig Cameron and Barry Prendergast as recruiters speak for themselves. Cameron Schwab did not get sacked because he was "no good or because of tanking". He took the fall because the team's performance in the opening rounds of the season was abysmal and, as the CEO, he had to accept responsibility. The team we now have is the result of a decade of second and third rate coaching, recruiting, list management and player development and financial decay. You heard it this week from Cale Morton how he was amazed at how much harder and how more intense the Eagles train compared to us. That comment reflects not only on the current coach but on previous coaches Daniher and Bailey who set poor standards during their tenures. Then there are the negative and destructive elements around the club who had the current board in their sights from day one. I have no problem with critics (but prefer them to be constructive). The termites were boring away at the Stynes board and everything it did from the start and undermining its foundations (note that word). When times get tough, people at most clubs close ranks. Countries at war have national unity governments. But when our club was under fire during the tanking investigation, we had a former president at the forefront condemning us for tanking, we had disgruntled former employees coming forward and giving their jaundiced versions of what happened. Mark Neeld was undermined in the same way in his first weeks. So called supporters went to the media with stories calculated to undermine the club, falsely describing Cameron Schwab as looking "ashen faced", others telling convoluted tales about what the coach's moves during games like the Swans game at Manuka so that they could be blown out of all proportion. Others just praised Caroline Wilson urging her to keep up the good job when what she was doing was sniping at and undermining our club. I find that reprehensible. When Caroline Wilson bags Brayshaw the whole of the North community gets behind him. The Carlton people close ranks around their club when Libba called the club for tanking and even Libba himself was forced to recant under pressure. We have supporters who like to open the wound and let it fester but are nowhere to be seen at an AGM where they can get the message across to the membership and the board. Ultimately, if we want to see the club succeed, we are all responsible and therefore, if we're able to give then I consider it a duty to do so and I'm not concerned about those on board, particularly with the changes that will undeniably come following the recent interventions. As one great philosopher said, "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Too much of what's going on around the club and too much talk among the supporters is all about negativity and looking backwards. We need to take on board the mistakes of the past and then look forward and act together to rebuild our foundations. That's what being a Foundation Hero means to me.

You left out Tom Hafey.

Answering my own question. From the afl site

Our problems started long before this.

Does this mean Tom McDonald is fit to play this week?

I think Wayne Carey is becoming a bit unhinged. I met Denis at a function last year and found him very affable and a great conversationalist, particularly on football matters. No doubt, he would have his own views on how to bring the club up to speed but I think he would also most likely agree that the job of coaching a successful AFL side in this modern era is not for him. He's about a generation away from being that ideal coach for us - assuming such a person exists.

I've changed the title to accommodate the fact that Gerard Healy never was, is or will be a Melbourne great. He left the club for big coin from Sydney and was a part of the Sydney team that was humiliated by Melbourne in a semi final in 1987. That's how I like to remember him - a mercenary in a losing finals team. He might have won a "Bluey" and might have been a Sydney "great" but he's done nothing to inspire a feeling in me that he was a great of our club and to use that adjective in relation to the person demeans our club.

Nothing else to say?In that case, this thread's closed.

Fair dinkum unbelievable. There are two games being played out there. The one we're playing isn't footy.

Not long to go now.

The only MFC listed players who played in the development league game today were rookie Nathan Stark and NZ international Maia Westrupp.Rory Taggert will probably play for Casey seniors tomorrow.

No idea but I wonder if he's related to newsreader Tony Tardio.

Does Robbo have any suggestions as to what might happen if we got up and won?

Never seen him play but I reckon we must get J Sicily of Vic Met whose name surely comes from a Mario Puzo novel or a script from The Sopranos. In view of the fact that we lack players who can intimidate the opposition I want Sicily.