John Crow Batty

The story I heard was; Union. A thugs game played by gentlemen. League. A thugs game played by thugs. Soccer. A gentleman's game played by thugs.

That is a big ask. I had in mind more of the Northey era bad attitude. Like for example when President Stuart Spencer went in to bat for Rod Grinter who was one of the most hated men in the comp for his lateness at the contest which came to a head after he did some facial cosmetic reconstruction on that dripping wet sponge Wallace.

Three other plausible reasons why he would leave an unopened letter in his locker. He treated it as a lucky charm and did not want to open it in case the good luck escaped. He is a stamp collector and knows stamps with unopened covers are worth a lot of money in about a hundred years. He mistakenly thought it was the clubs latest contract offer to him.

I have seven. Curiously I haven't got one since Rhino abdicated as moderator. They were earned cheaply in those days.

IRISH GHOST STORY This story happened a while ago in Dublin , and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's true. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a big storm. The night was rolling on and not a single car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door, only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on. The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared out of nowhere through the window, and turned the wheel. John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand came through the window, but never touched or harmed him. Shortly thereafter, John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so, gathering strength; he jumped out of the car and ran to it. Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had. A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying. And he wasn't drunk. Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the dark and stormy night. They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other ... "Look Paddy ... there's that fooking idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!!!"

For various reasons other than the obvious under performing we have a [censored] image within the competition. One of my biggest banes has been the the wimpy demon mascot. No matter how many times it has been changed it is still portrayed as ineffectual and benign as we perform. The logic is that it may offend people being associated with an overly dark aggressive Satan. As far as I am concerned I don't care if we offend wowsers and owl eyed evangelical types. I like to see a bad arsed and rebellious image, and hopefully it will reflect on the way we will play. I think we will gain more than we lose if as in wrestling speak we turn "heel".

I think we should give Frawley the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was flummoxed. What right has a pimply kid to impose himself and put issues into an occasional A grade footballers head?

There is always the possibility Frawley did not know what a letter was. Maybe he thought it was something you put in your locker for pest control to prevent socks from getting moth eaten?

Interesting that people still write letters especially from the younger generation. I thought the age of twitterites and faceboofs had completely taken over.

No doubt the kid has a future and will get drafted by another club and become a future superstar.....sigh! I wonder if the money was still in the envelope or just the letter? The article is not clear on that point.

Bring Back Rhino!

Their days were numbered after the demise of the 6 o'clock swill. And the genuine ocker knockabout will find it hard to have a good after drinks chunder if drinking quality beer.

No need to log on all the time unless I post. Many times I am one of those anonymous others just catching up and I am sure many members do the same. Most other open forums will have a similar balance between active members and lookers.

Most of the big brand Aussie beers are crap. Coopers are just OK. I like their Pale Ale best. There is something wrong when a beer has to be served a couple of degrees shy of being frozen solid to make it drinkable. Nothing beats good German and other European beers that still taste delicious at dare I say a balmy 15 to 18c.

I believe the rumour appeared after he formally left. Then again we heard from the club that an offer was on the table mid season and he refused to consider it until the end of the season. A rumour like that can be easily planted to muddy the situation and shift the blame.

A senior player that is not a 100% commited despite his talents is of little value to the club both on and off the field. That was Frawley. He was unwilling or unable to go the hard yards to help push us up the ladder. I am sure his commitment level will be much higher at the Hawks and will deliver what they expect from him. I think it was the best move for all parties. Allows us to move on with one less impediment. We got a prime draft pick. Frawley got his money and shot for a flag and the Hawks got their gorilla tamer.

It is a murky situation and but now Thompson won't be excommunicated from AFL life. It appears he does have support from some factions at the club as well as enemies. There is now a possibilty for some sort of reconciliation in an uncertain future.

According to THe Age, Essendon have paid the bulk of Thompson's fine. Perhaps positioning themselves to open the door for Thopmson to come back into the senior coaching role when Hird is finally sacked?

And he looked like the marble "David" but made of chalk.

If he wanted to continue his career he would have had a redeeming chance on the rookie list. Instead he chooses to take a final years pay and retire. Goes a long way to showing how commited he was, and fair enough he may have other aspirations. For us, another branch of dead wood pruned.

I am sure other clubs have put their players health at risk. Perhaps not to the same scale as the Essendon but I would not be surprised if a majority of clubs have dabbled in the past. They just were never caught out.

A couple of points. There must have been a lot hat rage in the crowd. How could anyone see anything but hats back from the fence. Kevin Bartlett bouncing the ball is ubiquitous. He was everywhere that day.

How best to choose words to describe a ducking runt?

Assuming the AFL stick to their own rules. Won't happen.

No. He was suspended for kneeing.