The Reverend

This should be on the "Optimists Only" thread. I think it's about time I brought it back Go DEES!

My apologies. I promise not to do it again.

And your evidence is? You are an arrogant little man aren't you. I'm astonished I'm wasting my time respondi..... ah bugger it!

I'm over this shite as well, but it needs to be finished to our satisfaction, not the AFL's. The song says, "Every heart beats true..." It doesn't exclude those who open their mouth and say the wrong thing at times. If that was the case there wouldn't be too many members left in the reserved seat section where I sit.

I repeat - But would it be the right thing to do? We talk about the lack of a strong culture at Melbourne and yet you advocate hanging one of our own out to dry. Not for me. I don't want to hear economic rationalism. This is our football club. Give me something to be proud of at the end of this. I'm realistic enough to know that we probably can't escape without some sort of whack. However, I'll be really disappointed if we are seen to make scapegoats of our own people just to minimise the damage to our finances. Bugger that - fight it out and hold our heads high for once. Look after our own and stand united.

But would it be the right thing to do? We talk about the lack of a strong culture at Melbourne and yet you advocate hanging one of our own out to dry. Not for me. I don't want to hear economic rationalism. This is our football club. Give me something to be proud of at the end of this.

And according to this thinking we might as well change our name to the Melbourne [censored]. Public perception is that we are insignificant. I don't see how furthering this perception by bending over for the AFL will help gain sponsorship.

Seems to me you are arguing that we should cop the punishment because we committed a crime that others have committed. I don't think we should be punished whilst others who were less blatant are excused. I get what you're saying but I disagree with you; that's all. I'm tired of us being the whipping boy of the AFL. It's time to fight this nonsense and at least ensure there is some integrity shown by those who run this competition. If we are punished, I want an admission from the AFL that they got the priority picks wrong and that it did encourage the practices we put in place and that they will be investigating every other club who gained pps during that time. Is that too much to ask? A little consistency and integrity....

So it's not about tanking, it's about how blatant it was? Does this sound a bit silly to you? Is it okay to tank if you cover it up well enough? FMD! Give me a break.

What you say about CW would be okay if she stopped claiming to be something she's not and admitted that she's not at all interested in fairness or ethical reporting; that she's just after a bit of attention for herself and her ailing paper. My problem with her is that she portrays herself as a knowledgeable, respected journalist with access to accurate inside information and gets all offended when her integrity is questioned; even when she is proven to be wrong. Give me a break. Go DEES!

I'm getting a bit riled here BH. Why should we care about the AFL's face? They clearly haven't shown any consideration for ours or they wouldn't have let this farce go on for seven months. I want to have a face at the end of this and I don't want to be wiping egg, or worse, from it. Yeah, they're big and scary but there just comes a time.

Fair point, but it doesn't hurt to establish some principles and prepare for whatever might eventuate. It's not about chest beating. It's about saying we are a proud club and we will not be used to satisfy the AFL's need to have a scapegoat. I can say that without beating my chest.

Thank God you're not coaching. The point is that one more incident will hurt. It's the final straw FFS. If this is not worth fighting for and you're prepared to take a big one up the back passage you need to be supporting someone else. I hear GWS are giving away memberships. Go DEES!

What would we be fighting for? We would have shown all and sundry that we'll cop any shite thrown at us. Better to take a stand and say this is the line. If we lose, we lose. At least we had a go. Go DEES!

I'll happily kick in some cash if it leaves me with a club I can be proud of. I'm not sure I've got it in me to follow a club that won't stand for something. I'm sick of us being rolled over and having to take it from all and sundry. I'm an optimist but I'm not naive. There is a lot on the line here. Go DEES!

Harden up OD. It's not that bad and it certainly can't get any worse. Jeez it's good being an optimist. They tell me there's no internet in Heaven - but I'm not sure that's true. How else would God communicate with Jack Viney? After all, he is the new messiah and will need some guidance occasionally. History tells us that when God's not happy about the way things are going he usually creates some devastating catastrophe in order to cleanse us of our sins and enable us to start afresh. This is it OD - the new beginning. Embrace the hardship as if it was a case of 25 year old Aberlour. Good times are ahead my friend. Go DEES!

I can get you some drugs to fix what ails you. Just joking. Out of our adversity I believe we will emerge as one of the few squeaky clean teams in the AFL. No-one can tell me any of our boys have much to enhance their performance in recent or past history. We'll be able to walk proudly wearing our scarves and look down upon the drug-taking rabble around us. Hope is the drug my friend. That and a few optimistic single malts. Bugger the diet. Go the drug-free DEES!

What a difference one letter can make>

Are you for real? What a silly statement. I don't understand why you would say something as inane as that?

You may be right but I'm the eternal optimist.

I'm on the side that says let's wait and see. I suspect he will become a very good footballer. I base this on my optimistic nature rather than anything concrete. I've seen enough of his skills to think he has the makings, but football's a funny game. I once trained alongside Leigh Matthews who very quickly showed me how much ticker one needs at that level. I thought I had plenty, but it took me a long time to get over his hardness at the ball. I suspect Jack Watts may have found himself a boy among men a little too soon and this may have unsettled him. I think he's ready to show us that he's over the initial shock. But as I say, footy's a funny game. It's not always about skill. Therefore, I'm happy to sit optimistically on the fence. You're the one who says it's a fact that he's a disappointment. I'm asking you to show me the evidence of this.

Definition of fact noun a thing that is known or proved to be true:the most commonly known fact about hedgehogs is that they have fleas Just saying it's a fact does not make it so Jumbo. Do you have some objective data/evidence to support your assertion? What you're saying sounds like a subjective judgement rather than any sort of empirical assessment. Here's a fact about elephants: Like children, elephants must be disciplined by the members of their collectivity to turn into responsible members of the elephant society. But male elephants that were orphans turned into adult delinquents in a reserve in South Africa, as they had never been kept under control by mature elephants. The balky elephants attacked people (killing two, including a professional hunter), killed 19 white rhinos in three years and even attempted mating with rhinoceroses. When adult bulls from a group were moved amongst delinquents, they restored order and a more proper behavior in young bulls. http://news.softpedia.com/news/9-Amazing-Facts-About-Elephants-71540.shtml It's good you have members of the collective to pull you into line to prevent you from mating with rhinoceroses.

I feel like I'm getting closer to saving your soul but faith has no boundaries. No time frames. You just have to believe that it will happen. The believers will be rewarded! Those who doubt will be condemned to a long, slow, agonising existence in the next life as GWS supporters. They will be forced to endure the rantings of Kevin Shoddy for all eternity.C'mon OD, it's time to shout it to the world. Go DEES!

I think that would be akin to saying, "Don't bother about me for the opening round, I'm happy to play with Casey. I'm sure it might have happened in 2011 but the message has been driven home by now. No free games! Buy in or organise some accommodation out Casey way. I'm still not seeing the unbridled optimism I'm looking for from you OD! Go DEES!

de·lu·sion [dih-loo-zhuhn] Show IPA noun 1. an act or instance of deluding. 2. the state of being deluded. 3. a false belief or opinion: delusions of grandeur. 4. Psychiatry. a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact: a paranoid delusion. Why is it "delusional" to focus on the positive aspects of our situation? Surely it's more delusional to constantly look to the past as a predictor of the future. What bearing can past events have on what happens this season? We have a substantially different list and a football department that is starting to have an impact on the culture of the team. Is this what we had last year, or the year before that? Let's be rational and look at what we have this year and see if we can draw some positivity from that. I'd suggest that to ignore the facts of the current reality is in line with definition No 4. Go DEES!