beelzebub

Hello all...a topic by way of divresion from our illustrious year A comment I made elsewhere reminded me of my vintage..lol. Maybe some others amongst you may have a memory tickled by any talk of footy in the school yard. I dont know about many of you but as a kid I lived and breathed footy. I would say I took the Sherrin to bed but in my day they were an icon beyond our pocket money budgets. They existed on hallowed turf only whilst the mortals amongst us treasured our Ross Faulkners and Lyrebirds. Some poor sods only had the "placky" from Coles. ( and who doesnt remember NOT to kick the end where the ball had the moulding spue trimmed !! lol ) Actually if you "could ' kick a 'placky' decently you could kick anything well !! Funny how you learned your skills My school in then sburban ( now Inner ) Melbourne wasnt afforded the luxury of its own oval. We either played all our schoolday games on the courts or other ashpalted areas or the older kids had the "luxury " of what we called..."The Gravel !!" Imagine an area about of 8 tennis courts and made of a similar clay base with similar red gravel and you have the picture. Bandaids were a staple of the times !! lol . Torn school duds were a perpetual curse for mums !! I dont know that todays typical shoes would stand the rigours of my school days. A pair of leather Clarkes , Harrisons or some other brand ( begins with P but escapes me , Purnell ?) were absolutely recquired. Polished in morning, scuffed by hometime ..lol We only went to school really to play footy in winter and cricket in summer. Lessons were there only to divide the day into Quarters or Innings Rubbish bins and school jumpers ( on warmer days ) dilineated the goals and points. I'd love a dollar for every argument ever had for whether a goal touched the post, that didnt exist ...lol :D. If we werent playing an actual game it was kick to kick on the "gravel". Mates waxed and the nerdy types made good ladders for speckies. Today theyd be inside on computers, then they had nowhere to hide. They were fodder !! End to end the leather, vinyl and plackies were roosted. Day in day out imaginary 'saving' marks were taken by improvised heroes emulating their favourite league player. We only had 12 teams then and all matches were over by 5 on a Sat. Just imagine that ..lol Your standing amongst your peers was based on your sporting proess. A superby executed 'torp' would garner silent but plausible admiration. My weekend team was in Richmonds territory. We played on a Sat morning so we could race home change, grab the sangers mum had made for you and off you scooted to the station to grab the Rattler to the G.. Often kids went together. No adults. . We could then. Some family would 'adopt' you there and keep an eye. That seems like a world away now. Weekday school team training fell to our Teacher Coach but often , every other week , ambassadors came from our ZoneTeam. My school fell in Hawthorn's Territiory. In my day I feel priveledged to have been tutored by the likes of Knights, Hudson, Scott, Mathews, Moore as well as the likes of the great Peter Crimmins. I mention them not to skyte but as a reminder of an era gone. Strange in a way..Though surrounded by Hawks, an exposre to Ricmond through my local club through whom we got invited to contribute to the Little League ( a huge thing in a pre Auskick era ) and the reality that these teams were strong whilst my beloved Dees was struggling ( seems familiar ) my loyalty never wavered. Some days we could wear footy colours to school and so we'd all line up at either end of the Gravel ready to fight for the honour of our adopted heroes. I'd imagine I was Tassie Johnson as I let a drop kick fly. I could imagine Hassa Mann or Brian Dixon as I let rip a chest thumping 'stab" kick. ( Well, it probably didnt thump, but we tried ) or I was Gary Hardeman who had verntured forward and roosted a torp through the posts. You knocked 'round with your mates. You donned your White Diamonds and 'clomped " down the road to the local park and played endless final quarters of championship footy. Footy was life , life was FOOTY !! What do kids think of it today, what were you days growing up like ? Is there still the maniachal passion ??

Given the speed of the game and the sheer fitness required to paly it...far greater than in decades past ( just admit it all) then G A Jnr is easily in the top ten players. His father was a God around goal but not nearly as creative around the ground ( but that wasnt his job ) and it is for Jnr !! To be as intuite , creative and dangeous as Ablett is..you have to be very very very good !! I HAVE seen footy in the 60's 70's 80'90's and the naughties !! I have seen many of the modernish greats..and Garry Ablet Jn r is well and truly esconched in there !! Food for thought. some of the "hallowed" greats ( of yore ) wouldnt get a game today!! theybe blowing hard after quarter time !!

White wont be asking anything when his contract is up!!! White will fade to Grey ( and I know that makes no sense whatsoever..lol ) White will retire..esp if Melb look like grabbing RW .

Spot on WJ.. I mentioned this flavour in regard to his jibes towards a Tassie team elsewhere ( previously ) same deal.. He's shoring up his turf, or what he thinks is his turf. Ive got some bad news for him !! We arent going away..in fact we're going to steal all his thunder. Hawthorn wil be as relevant to the expanding SouthEast as a wet fart. Its almost satisfying to see the jealous smirk wiped from his face

Easy pickings for Jeff..I wear Pissy Shitty jackets, Kennett to fire off.. Strangely we are in the here and now.. No such option exists..we are dealing with what we CAN do..not what didnt happen !! Funny..he's never quite got his head around that concept !!

or maybe fatten a few turkeys for the table

?? since when was that up for grabs.. Dont worry jeff..keep taking 2 orange Ired and a green...you'll be beter soon..poor dear... He's never been the same since he lost his monopoly set !!

Scorp..I have all faith that it will happen.. but after a needless delay. We're now entering the 'to and fro' sessions. Bit like a waltz but political..lol. Then we'll have the signing of the letters of intent, the requisite heads will agree in principal and sign off.. then the nitty gritty will get underway..Dont you love the wheels of progress..lol. Jimmy might like Canberra.. but it can only be further icing..there's no cake there. The ACT of going there ( sorry ..had to..lol ) is to pay bills..nothing more..nothinig less really. If done over enough years a bit of a following could develop..and 1000 / 1500 extra memebers mightnt hurt..but as country members not as much bonus to the bottom line...but it all helps !

In the manner of being proactive towards season 2009.. I think they are reasonable selections

The observation by many of us who have watched him at times is that hes not really in the same time continuim as the game !! He may not be actually be playing half hearted..but you certainly come away with that impression. His impact value on a game ?? well its yet to register !!

This is obviously one of those ...seemed like a good idea at the time. Well [censored] happens.. Not everythig happens to plan..Thats life. Hindsight is a beautiful thing isnt it ..lol

t bemuses me that this kid is apparently stereotyped already into a "particular " role. Im sure hte MFC selectors arent viewing him that way. A freakish athlete like this bloke doesnt come along every day. Theres potential to develop him into a number of roles. He has KpP written all over him..but not one only. he may release others into different roles than they currently fulfil ( or dont ) . Midfielders seem to be made in bulk.. just luck of the draw.. freaks like Naita are rare. The MFC is charged with taking the BEST player ..lets see what they do.

You're skating on semantics. He has been found guilty, convicted and fined by the ACCC for crimes under the Trade Practices Act. He has been found gulty of ILLEGAL practices. so go right ahead and cal it what you will...coz I will I dont need to make anything up...all a matter of public record. you know. what looks like a duck, walks like a duck etc.......

Actually..as he has been found guilty by Justice Heerey on November 2, 2007 for price fixing i think you probably can !!

Must have got it wrong....thought the Irish Saint was our saviour !! I dont think anyone thinks of Naita seriously in that light.. though he may come with some 'lofty' expectations !!

I can only applaud the Doggies on some efforts at generating interest in their brand...but calling them memberships is a bit cute !!

No commnet !! lol ( though strangely I put same answer..!! lol )

They can take turns wouldnt that play havoc with the oppo coach !! lol

4 years is quite light. I think the max is 10 years for perjury..?? maybe legal beagles can confirm. The courts take a dim view ( quite rightly ) on the transgression of this basic tenet of the judicial sytem.

Am really only interested in their BONE-fide numbers !!

Doggies are currently : ""Join your club the Western Bulldogs TODAY! Current Match Day Members: 27,575 Total Members: 33,586 "" they show the 27 thou on their membership thermometer.. go figure.. what does total memberships mean ?? ....artful accounting ??

which bit of the survey was that ?? dont recall

Prat falls on sword ( for the momernt ) http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2...784-661,00.html damn decent of the crook ( alledged, of course..lol ) Amazes me me that some think its OK to be a crook ( alledged ) so long as you're a phrilanthropist. Doesnt wash with me though.

Still this is the same survey that essentially compells MEN to answer whom they think the sexiest player... I mean ..wtf !!!! <_<

Must admit am curious to see how North fare next year. Not wishing a downer for them just thinks( lie others) that their numbers may be hard to sustain year in year out. You can only call to arms so many times. Its been mentioned that a lot of non North people signed up this year...cant see that happening too often. Money is after all..money.