hardtack

I read, and even quoted, what you said... other than my throw away line regarding your own employment/income, I’d love you to quote anything I said that actually did misrepresent you.

Love your sense of humour P2J!!

The other day you were banging on about "loyalty to the club", yet here you are saying that a player is only committed to a club 100% while they are under contract. As Frawley was not, as you stated, under contract at Melbourne, and had retired from Hawthorn (ergo, not under contract), he is free to do whatever he pleases without any consideration of club loyalty. I doubt very much that Frawley approached St Kilda, offering his services. It is far more likely that St Kilda offered him a contract based on the fact that he was a defender who still, in their opinion, had something to offer... plus they probably saw some good marketing value in the Frawley connection to the club. Frawley would have given it his consideration before accepting and was probably encouraged to say the things he did to St Kilda supporters, again, as a marketing exercise (after all, if contracted, he is the club's property, is he not?). I certainly hope that you were/are a volunteer worker and that you never changed jobs, as taking a position for money is, in your opinion, BS!

That’s debatable... https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/06/trump-promised-to-end-americas-wars-biden-might-actually-do-it/

Yes, of course you're entitled to your own opinion, no one is denying that. However, for AFL footballers these days, football IS a day job and as such they have the right to seek better conditions, better wages, and better opportunities for their advancement elsewhere, as soon as their contract has run its term. Gone are the days of footballers who held day jobs and played as part of a team on the weekends with a couple of evening practices a week. These days AFL is a business, a very big business, and loyalty is a rarity. Clubs move out players regardless of whether they have a contract or not just so they can free up salary cap space in order to attract the big names with big dollars and to attract big name sponsors with equally big cheque books - it's a two way street (give loyalty to get loyalty). If you want to apportion the blame, then I suggest you first look at the clubs who are offering the big money... as I have said in previous posts, the players are, rightfully, looking to secure their own (and their family's) futures and it is the clubs that are enabling that by making offers they can't refuse. Their life as footballers with an opportunity to use their talents to make a good living is very limited unless they are one of the handful that have what it takes to move into the media post footy.

Obviously you don't believe that a player should have more important responsibilities in his life beyond the team... how dare he accept a position doing what he loves (playing footy) while at the same time putting his future in a much more secure position! I sure hope that you never accepted a pay rise, or left one company to work for another that was offering better remuneration, conditions and a real shot at success; I'd hate to think you were a hypocrite.

I would think it was for a bit of both... money, as I stated in my previous post, who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to make their future a little more secure financially (it's nothing to do with greed), but I would also think that as players like Frawley have known little outside of football for the best part of 15 years, it must be very hard to turn away from a sport they obviously love playing with a passion.

Yes, but can he score a goal using his hand?

I really cannot understand comments such as this. Being an AFL footballer is a career, just like any other career that any one of us might have (or have had), and so, AFL footballers, look to improve themselves and secure their futures, just like any of us do. I had a career as a Technical Writer and when my manager left to go to a bigger and better company, he contacted me and asked if I'd like to move and join him at that company on better wages, with better conditions, and with more talented developers; I jumped at it, as I'm sure most would, and it certainly did not diminish my caring about doing the best work that I possibly could... in fact it had the exact opposite affect, it reinvigorated me. On the flip side of that coin, I was working at a company called Oracle and at the age of 62 was made redundant. Not so different to an AFL club delisting or trading players who are now surplus to their needs. Do you regard the MFC with the same disdain, for only caring about winning flags and attracting large sponsorships at the expense of players like Oscar McDonald? Has that diminished your love of football?

Or perhaps they may now give a little more consideration to taking on a delisted free agent? Perhaps Jetta, while previously considered unlikely, might now be looked at a little more closely?

I'm not involving myself in that particular discussion ?

And given that his leanings were probably part of the reason he failed to win the nomination as the party's candidate, I think it's not too far fetched to believe that the majority of Democrats are not socialists or communists. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Nice to see that, as usual, you're across it all P2J. So I guess that must have been a different alt-right that was first launched in 2010 (during Obama's presidency), accredited to Richard B Spencer, the white nationalist. You see, they even gave themselves that label as a badge of honour, and as the years have passed, more and more groups have been encompassed within the movement. As for the nazis around every corner, that's no different than Trump supporters labeling the democrats as pedophiles, communists and socialists. Have a read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt-right

I suppose you could say that it flew under the radar.

If you live in Sydney, you should pop in and check out RPM Records. They do have pretty hefty prices on some of their LPs, but they also have plenty at affordable prices. They're at 113 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville... just over Victoria Rd on the Sydenham side (next door to a great little live music bar called the Gasoline Pony - where my band plays once every month).

Pretty smart I would have thought. Footy being the professional sport it is, is a business these days; childhood loyalties mean nothing. Of course players will want to set themselves up for the best possible future for them and their families and in this dog eat dog world we now live in, who could blame them.

Vinyl never went away and is now fast becoming a very big selling point in this age of digital music sourcing... people want something tactile again. About a year ago I helped at my friends' record shop that deals probably 90% vinyl (the rest being a few CDs, posters, music books and videos), while they went to Canada for a month, and business was quite brisk. As a mark of it's popularity, it has been supported by music industry doyens such as Glen A Baker and Stuart Coupe who have voluntarily attended in store promotions and quite regularly do their record shopping there. Hopefully this link works... a few photos that I took on one such occasion: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2248161025219168

Trac is considered the Antonov An-124 Ruslan of flighty players.

I thought that this being a Rumour Only topic, then there would be no need to question sources, as until proven otherwise, anything posted here is going to essentially be spurious by definition.

Well, we were paying his salary after all... he was simply being a good employee!

I think the "real damage" is yet to come. I dread to think what he will get up to over the next two months until the inauguration takes place. "Stand back and stand by" may turn out to be more than just an empty threat.