dreamin' man

While we were queuing outside Dallas Brooks (the line snaked round the block & beyond) the Dalai Lama drove by!

I envy you benny. Wish I didn't have to work tonight. & what is the Italian Club like as a venue?

oh, 27,250

I work in an office w. lots of WC supporters & several are giving their tickets away for this week. Obviously, we're not a big drawcard.

OK, I'll take a loss but maybe there could be reports & injuries?

I'd like to beat Carlton in rd 21 -- they should by then have (as Tommy Hafey would say) heads as big as boarding house puddin's -- & cost them a spot in the top 4.

Darkhorse, hope you can give us a report on the Friday dinner. Kicking myself I can't go, would love to hear RDB. Hope to see a few Demons on Sunday. Think the Western Dees seats are at the city end.

Most of the dodgy stuff went on in the weeks before the vote. I kept lots of the pamphlets, flyers & many newspaper stories from the campaign (plus a couple of No Merger signs from that round 22 game v. Hawthorn) & looking at them recently I was surprised at how bitter the language is in the stuff put out by the club attacking the Demon Alternative. Was reading one that was claiming some tax problem w. the money Joe was promising. The night at Dallas Brooks was more chaotic that anything -- they were caught out by how many turned up.

Yes, got my ticket from the Western Dees today, too. Can't go to the function on Friday -- work! -- but am looking forward to being among MFC supporters at the game &, I hope, at the function in the Subi rooms afterwards (am craving some Demon talk). Is it free?

I've had only heartache at Subi games. Last season I was sitting among Dockers supporters when we were all over them in the first quarter, only to come to a halt after quarter time. I'm hoping for a less painful experience this time (& will be among the Melbourne supporters).

At the time, it seemed that the Hawthorn members had done us a favour on that memorably emotional night by blocking the merger but the price Melbourne members have had to pay since is being told "but you voted for it." In truth, there was passionate oppositon by Demons & if the Hawks hadn't voted against it, the Melbourne vote would have been contested in court & overturned. Just a pity that history shows we voted to merge.

melbman -- you've sent me to the garage where I have a scrapbook of (I thought) all the fliers & cuttings from the merger campaign. I could have sworn I had a Herald Sun story about the senior players backing the merger but do have the official club correspondence (Sept 10 1996) that begins: "in a week when coach Neil Balme, leading players Garry Lyon, Jim Stynes and Todd Viney have thrown their weight behind the board ..." I thought at the time that the players would have been lent on heavily but it amounts to supporting the merger. I accept that Lyon has to have a degree of neutrality in the media but does he have to act as if his former club is like an embarrassing relative?

Understand your angst, benny. I heard two mentions of the Dees on Perth radio on Monday -- on the ABC they said, sort of wincing, that we were an embarrassment or depressing or something (style of play, poor crowd) & on a commercial station they were alleging the club was advertising Gary Ablett as the reason people should turn up next Sunday -- much guffawing over that. I fumbled for my phone to make a complaint but figured it's not worth getting into a row w. a radio galoot. But I do bend the ears of friends/colleagues about where the Dees are & that we have a lot to look forward to.

Did Sunday stop our membership campaign dead or is the club readying for the big 30? The membership counter was ticking over regularly last week!

My frustration with Lyon, whom I admired as a player, is his reluctance to stick his neck out for the dees. I understand that he wants to be seen as neutral in his commentary roles, but plenty of others -- all those Collingwood/Essendon/St Kilda/Carlton supporters in the media (North, too, of course) all go into bat for those teams. Those w. a Melbourne bias, like Lyon or Mike Sheahan, feel the need to hide their support under a bushel. We need all the support we can get!

Smug & with no feel for the history of the game. All about expansion & the big end of town. Shows the MFC & our heritage no respect.

Yes. And when he was there he backed the merger -- though I seem to remember he tried to rewrite history on that one a few years later.

Have been listening on the radio, watching some TV coverage of the Dogs v Carlton. CJ is having a shocker, giving the commentators material for gags. On radio, they referred to a turnover (by someone else) as "the Chris Johnsons". CJ is now injured & Carlton winning easily (I'm not linking the two!)

Anzac Day 92 was a Saturday. We were doing it easily at three-quarter time, 37pts up, I think. Got the first goal of the last quarter (Tingay?) before Essendon ran over us. Think Derek Kickett in defence killed us. Also remember an Anzac Day game v. Collingwood at Waverley in the late 80s when Darren Cuthbertson took a screamer.

I'm with you ML. Used to be that Australians were an understated mob. We could be proud of our country without all the hand-on-heart earnestness. That was the American way & we've followed. Like Australia Day, Anzac Day has been hijacked by bogans wrapped in flags. Reckon most old guys who did the brave things wouldn't hold with that, either.

A disgrace I reckon that Mitchell isn't already a member. Is he still giving his money to the Bulldogs?

six minutes to go when I sat down to write that. I was listening on the radio in perth & the commentators were bagging the dees for the tactics & then saying they deserved to get that goal kicked against them. bad move, way too early in the quarter &, of course, poorly executed.

Not three-quarter time. I'm getting a bad feeling about this. Lead down to 22pts.

We absolutely mucked that up with six minutes to go to half time. Why do teams persist in doing it?

Hell, no. He walked out on the Bulldogs for Sydney. A win today would be superb for all sorts of reasons.