Isn't this a very curious and interesting subject for some ,or a bugbear for others.
Oh where oh where shall thy Demon heart reside for all eternity ? ( henceforth )
Where indeed.
Despite what some proffer (or prefer) we do actually live in a very binary world. You're either dead, or you're not. You're pregnant or your not. You're either a Melbourne supporter or you're not. See a trend ?? Life is essentially about choices, most often 2, to do what is in front of you .....or ....I know you know this.....or not !!
So he we are with our eternal favourite kicking toy the question of where we shall be. Over the years there have been many a good idea and/or recommendation and yet strangely enough despite being the founders of this fair game we've been kicked from pillar to post and dealt rotten hands. None of that really matters because that was then and this is the NOW and it's in the now we must be bold and make clever and informed decisions.
Some can not grasp that we are never going to get that 'deserved home" , that grandiose location of 'somewhere near the G' Why ? Why they can't grasp ? Well it's hard to let go of a dream. I get it. If the world was fair ( in our minds we would live at the MCG, or something akin to Richmond's setup, but better. We've tried that path...not happening. We could have had the Olympic Park site...well... 'nuff said !! That too a fizzer. Now we arrive a little further down Swan Street to Gosch's. Not called a Paddock without reason in my thinking. Padocks are very usefull...Go find some cows, some horses perhaps , sheep, whatever as that's what paddocks are for. It's a ham fisted convoluted compromise at the very best ( no matter what $$$ are thrown at it ) . It's second rate.Better than a Container at someone else's Cricket Ground perhaps... Goschs is entirely befitting a Soccer Club or some other silly game. Not ours and not this club, my club, your club...The ONE and ONLY MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB.. Yes I'm yelling...I need that to sink in. We are a very unique Club, in any form of code or Sport.
Much is made of proximity.. We NEED to be close to the G. Well given our very essence is inscribed upon the walls of that great Stadium I'm not sure how we aren't. No matter where we are...we ARE Melbourne. We aren't anyone else.
I go back to the idea that we are unique. We are so SO UNIQUE that we hold a position in this game no other club can. The game evolved out of Melbourne. The very soul of the game lives in the annals of the recorded history of Footy/VFL/AFL. It does because WE put it there. Who doesn't get goosebumps sometimes when you walk down through the G, through the Members, see all the Pictures, the Cups, the History.
We are Melbourne. That's something else that needs to sink in for some I feel. We and ONLY we are Melbourne. And again I retrace our point of difference, our uniqueness our major asset of assets. Our name, Melbourne. We are not incidentals like those suburban clubs. We aren't defined by a mere locality , not defined by proximity to a pub, a river, a beach or any such trivial and limiting precinct. We're Melbourne..We embody everything this great city is and has been.
For a long while this circumstance has served to hinder our embrace of everywhere and everything that IS Melbourne. We though, seemingly that we were an odd fit as where did we belong. The answer has been staring us in the face all along..Quite Simply...We are Melbounre. We are ALL of it...not just a bit...ALL of it. And only we can... It's time to step up and claim that historic inheritance and stamp ourselves as THAT Club that can be for everyone that is Melbourne at heart.
Heart. The very essence of a person, a club, a city, a passion. How often do you hear she's the heart of ....... this place runs to the blood of ....some bloke. Heart. It's where it all emanates. Everything that courses through our veins as Demon Supporters comes from the heart.
Every once in a while "OPPORTUNITY" stares you in the face. And like all those other decisions in life you either do....or don't. We are at that Crossroads where you have to either turn left or right. The road directly ahead ( for this prose I suggest it's the road to the G ) is not available. There's a track to a paddock or theres a road to a greener field..
I've included a map below. Would anyone like to guess what's located as near if not at that crossroads ( as it were ) ...i.e the point where the two RED lines cross ?? That Boys and Girls, is the land of Opportunity. It's all but smack bang middle of this wonderful City of ours, located pretty much in ITS Heartland. For those following at home the Geo Centre of Melbounre for the last 20/30 odd years has been the Southern part of Geln Iris. I know Glen Iris well as I grew up there but i digress...lol.... The point is Melbourne is much more that the CBD. It's much more than the MCG ( by a smidge ....) ....it's a bloody big place and there's ONLY ONE.....repeat ONLY ONE football club that can claim its entirity by right of fact that we are the Heart of the Game. We need to stop limiting ourselves and embrace everythingand everywhere that falls within our ardour. Let's be that Melbourne that we've always dreamt we SHOULD be....the one and only Melbourne. The MFC.
As such we CAN be located at Caulfield , quite possibly /probably in truly State of the Art facilities. Take it as a positive by stamping ourselves in the very Middle of Melbourne that we lay claim to everywhere, everywhere that is Melbourne...today, tomorrow and the next.
In footy there are times to lower one's eyes, in life there are occasions to lift them and think big... hmmmmmm...Think Big...there's an Omen.