Yeah I can't believe that either. Neither could chris yarran :lol: :(

How I learnt to stop barracking and love the game

Michael Coulter
April 16, 2011


Michael Coulter shrugged off the Blues to find a world of wider horizons.

IT WAS late in the evening of September 5, 2009, that it became clear that I was no longer a Carlton supporter. More precisely, it was midway through the final quarter of the elimination final between Carlton and the Brisbane Lions, with the Blues up by four goals.

It should have been a delirious moment for any fan who had suffered through the scandals, wooden spoons and 15-goal floggings of the mid-noughties. But as the Lions slowly got on top, there came a poignant realisation: not only was I not barracking for the Blues, I was hoping Brisbane would pull off the dramatic comeback.

A lifetime's allegiance had petered out, and left not even a residual affection.

This has not been an easy thing to explain, or even admit. Melbourne views loyalty through the prism of a football jumper, and many of its citizens would no more cast aside their club than tattoo ''Traitor'' across their foreheads. To do so raises questions about your character, integrity and moral fibre. Former fellow-Bluebaggers greet news of my defection much as if I had announced a new-found taste for dog fighting or child slavery.

So how did it come to this?

My reasons for supporting Carlton were no worse than most: a Victorian family moved in next door to our Brisbane home, and the daughter barracked for the Blues. With eight-year-old cunning, it seemed the best way to impress her was to do likewise.

What I found out a decade later was that decision had defined my public persona. In Queensland, a Carlton supporter was an oddball fancier of aerial ping-pong. In Melbourne, I was a silvertail who would rather buy a premiership than earn it, someone who was arrogant in victory and ungracious in defeat.

Had that little girl been a Fitzroy fan, the story could have been much different. I could have been quirky, gallant and endearingly loyal to lost causes, a character rather than a bloated passenger on the navy blue bandwagon. Although it could, of course, have been worse - she could have barracked for Collingwood.

Despite these unpleasant new traits, I confess that I embraced the Blues, participating in the great Melbourne delusion that somehow it all mattered. Until, finally, it did.

In 1999, a deeply unfancied Carlton beat Essendon in a preliminary final then lost to North Melbourne in the grand final. One week brought euphoria, the next depression, and a seed of doubt had been planted. Was it right that the antics of 18 men who happened to be wearing similar shirts should affect how I feel?

Compounding this crisis of faith was Carlton's descent into vaudeville. The team was unwatchably bad on the field, and a cheating, drunken disgrace off it. Then, in 2003, along came Denis Pagan, a coach I had spent years despising as the architect of North Melbourne's 1990s dynasty. Suddenly I was expected to throw aside years of loathing and embrace him as saviour. It was too big a pill to swallow.

With Carlton so putrid, I started watching other clubs more often, which led to the realisation that you can enjoy football on its own, as a spectacle of astonishing skill, grace and bravery.

While I was seeing the game more clearly, I was losing the true fan's double vision, the one that lets you see the jumper but not the man wearing it. And when that goes, you start to question why, say, Brendan Fevola actually deserves your loyalty or support. The problem is that every club has its share of fools, drunkards and criminals, so how do you follow any of them?

There are three possible answers.

One is to accept the contradiction and barrack on regardless. Another is to give up on football altogether; to write it off, in the words of Umberto Eco, as a ''cultural neurosis''. The third, my preferred, is to embrace the game, admire the players for the four quarters they're on the field, then stop caring about them until the next weekend.

It's often said football binds Melbourne together. But to be part of the chemistry, it helps to have a bias. Professing to like the game but not a particular team is often seen as a character flaw: it makes you a dilettante, a theatre-goer, a feeble creature lacking both courage and passion.

There are times when I do worry that I've lost something essential and important. Mostly though, I'm content.

I gave up Carlton and got football in return. It's a fair trade


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/how-i-learnt-to-stop-barracking-and-love-the-game-20110416-1diry.html#ixzz1JhE3hK1q

Club bosses aim to soothe media war

Jon Pierik
April 18, 2011

SIMMERING tension between AFL players, clubs and major media outlets will be a key point of debate when club chief executives meet next week.

Players have vented their concerns to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou about intrusions into their private lives and mistakes not being acknowledged.

The issue was a major talking point when club captains gathered on the eve of the season, while Collingwood skipper Nick Maxwell said at the weekend relations now felt as if ''it was a bit of a war, us-versus-them type thing''.

However, major media outlets are becoming frustrated with clubs, which often reject reasonable interview requests lodged through official channels.

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane confirmed the issue would be addressed at the meeting of club CEOs.

An explosion of unfounded gossip and the posting of photographs on social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have also contributed to the tension in the changing media landscape.

AFL Players Association spokesman Ben Hart said it was important players and media worked in harmony.

''A situation where elements of the media and playing group are increasingly retreating to their respective corners, viewing the other side with suspicion and a lack of respect, is not good for anyone,'' he said.

''When players as a group see themselves continually portrayed through the prism of the bad behaviour of a tiny minority, their frustration is justified.

''The increasing competition to be the first with the news, partly driven by the rise of new media, is putting pressure on traditional news outlets and there is the potential for journalistic standards to slip as a result.

''Ironically, we also believe some of the modern day constraints on the media accessing players may be exacerbating the problem. It is much easier to trade in player stereotypes if you only have limited insight into them as individuals.

''There are no easy answers. The AFL Players Association has a good relationship with the football media and uses this to strongly advocate for accurate and responsible journalism.

''We're playing a leadership role in bringing media and players together to promote a shared understanding of the vital role each group plays in the football industry.''

Maxwell, who appears regularly on Channel Seven, highlighted the level of anger the players are feeling in an interview with SEN radio on Saturday.

''I think personally we need to look at the relationship between the players and the media,'' he said.

''It's something that really needs to be worked on to make sure we can fix that relationship because at the moment, I guess, it's a bit of a war, us-versus-them type thing. I think we need to be working together as two of the most important stakeholders in our game, of course with the AFL and the clubs to make sure that the No. 1 stakeholder in the game, which is the fans, get what they want.

''At the moment we are not seeing players, we are not seeing their personalities in the media because they are scared they are going to get something turned against them and they are going to be seen as an idiot if they say the wrong things.''

The issue took another twist last week when the Sydney football media wrote to the AFL corporate affairs boss Brian Walsh complaining about a lack of access to players from Melbourne-based clubs, a point Walsh later admitted was an issue.

Signed by editors, sports editors and football writers from the major metropolitan newspapers, the letter lambasted the ''draconian restrictions'' in place at a time when the AFL will soon unveil what it hopes will be a $1 billion new broadcasting rights contract.

''At a time when the AFL is spending millions of dollars promoting the game in NSW, we find it incongruous and frustrating that interstate clubs continue to block the vast majority of media requests,'' the letter said.

''A single press conference a week does not constitute game promotion.''

In an interview on ABC Radio in round one, Demetriou said the players had expressed concerns during the captains' conference.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/club-bosses-aim-to-soothe-media-war-20110417-1djr6.html#ixzz1JoxRRiVG

Newspapers team up to discuss media access with AFL clubs

Simon Canning From: The Australian April 18, 2011

THE chief executives of AFL clubs have agreed to discuss media access after an unprecedented coalition of rival newspaper editors and journalists banded together to demand greater contact with players.

The coalition formed after a string of incidents where some clubs refused Sydney-based reporters the most basic access.

And the league has been forced to place the issue as an emergency agenda item at a meeting of club chief executives scheduled for next week.

With the AFL desperately trying to make inroads into Sydney by launching the Greater Western Sydney club next year, editors, publishers and journalists covering the code have accused interstate AFL teams of blocking the majority of media requests.

A letter lodged with AFL corporate affairs manager Brian Walsh late on Friday and signed by executives from both Fairfax and News Limited (publisher of The Australian) demanded the league intervene and crack down on clubs denying access.

The timing of the demands could not be worse for the AFL, with bids closing today for the next round of television broadcasting rights that the code is hoping to sell for $1 billion.

The letter warned that blocking access to players by non-Sydney clubs threatened to derail the AFL's multi-million-dollar bid to take on the NRL in NSW.

The letter described the restrictions placed on Sydney media trying to access some of the code's top clubs as "draconian".

"At a time when the AFL is spending millions of dollars promoting the game in NSW, we find it incongruous and frustrating that clubs outside of Sydney continue to block the vast majority of media requests," the letter said.

"Sydney is a competitive sporting and media market. The NRL and Super Rugby, among other codes, have embraced a more 'open-door' philosophy towards media coverage.

"Unfortunately, the same spirit of co-operation does not exist between AFL clubs and the Sydney media and we are finding it increasingly difficult to justify editorial space for your code."

The letter said that often interstate clubs granted Sydney media access to a single press conference. Signatories to the letter included Daily Telegraph editor Garry Linnell, Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald publisher and editor-in-chief Peter Fray, Sunday Telegraph editor Neil Breen as well as a host of sports editors and AFL writers, including editors from The Australian.

"The current situation is untenable and must be addressed" they warned. "Real, cultural change must occur within AFL clubs or the relationship between your code and the Sydney media will deteriorate further."

The issue was brought to a head last week in the lead-up to what was meant to be a blockbuster Sydney clash between Geelong and the Swans. But rain and a reduced media build-up kept crowds down.

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane told Media the issue had been raised in the past by individual media outlets, but it was the first time competing media had joined to demanding action.

The demands are the latest in a series of long-running tensions between media and major sports.

Four years ago, Cricket Australia locked journalists out of Tests in a battle over accreditation and online reporting. The issue escalated to include all major sports as debate raged about the limits that should be put on online reporting as sports tried to sell digital rights. The clash led to a Senate inquiry.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/newspapers-team-up-to-discuss-media-access-with-afl-clubs/story-e6frg996-1226040580106

It's ok, there's still North Melbourne and GCS between Lions and bottom of the table.

Thankfully that'll be 2 easy wins in the next 4 rounds to get us back on our feet.

To be fair FM, St.Kilda didnt play football tonight. Brisbane have some quality youngsters but saints were beyond woeful tonight.

Haha yeah, St.Kilda were pants. We handed the game to them on a platter. A better side would have thumped them, but that side isn't us. The Saints are an absolute rabble at the moment, and its all they deserve.

Mind you, umpires don't give them three goals through farcical decisions and it's a whole different ball game heading into the fourth.

I am still really pleased with the lads and it was great to see them pressure the Saints through three quarters - they were rattled so badly. They're the most mentally weak team I've ever seen. There's no belief there any more. They seem to be realising that last year was their chance for a flag and they fucked it.

We had our own share of umpiring luck though. That Deliberate out of bounds call for instance:p

WA being sold short: Cook

Simon White
April 22, 2011 - 8:33AM

Shadow sports minister Roger Cook has accused Premier Colin Barnett of selling the state short by asking for $50 million from the AFL towards a new football stadium in Perth.

Mr Barnett told 6PR radio yesterday that he intended asking for $50 million from the AFL and $150 million from the federal government towards what is likely to be a $1 billion project.

But Mr Cook accused the Premier of being $50 million less ambitious than he needed to be in approaching the AFL.

"If you look at Carrara (on the Gold Coast), the AFL has put in between eight and 10 per cent of the capital cost ($126 million) of building that stadium,'' Mr Cook said.

"The Premier needs to be driving the hardest bargain he can. And eight or 10 per cent of a new Perth stadium will be about $100 million.

"The AFL may turn around and ask the Premier to explain why he's going for the most expensive option with a new stadium but that's then for him to explain.''

Mr Cook said he was confident the federal government would contribute financially to the construction of a new stadium, despite declining to fund stadium upgrades in Adelaide, Blacktown and Geelong after Australia's failed bid to secure the 2022 soccer World Cup.

He said the likelihood of federal contribution to a new stadium should be judged in the context of the Australian government's commitment to funding various projects across WA and not in light of the South Australian government being forced to go it alone with a $535 million upgrade of Adelaide Oval.

After it emerged yesterday that WA sports minister Terry Waldron would meet next week with Tennis West officials, Mr Cook described the seemingly increasingly likely Burswood location of a new stadium as "the worst kept secret in Perth.''

Mr Barnett, who has voiced his personal support for a Burswood stadium, last week denied reports that the state government had already given the go-ahead for a $1.2 billion, 60,000-seat stadium on land currently occupied by the State Tennis Centre.

But Tennis West chief executive Andrew Stanbury confirmed yesterday the government had requested a meeting before the end of the month.

Tennis West has 37 years to run on a 50-year lease on the crown land of the STC site and Mr Stanbury has previously said it would be expect to be fairly compensated if it had to leave early.

"It's disappointing the stadium has become one of Barnett's pet projects,'' Mr Cook said.

"My concerns with Burswood are that there is an asbestos waste dump there and no public transport or social community facilities.

"There is nowhere for parents to take their children before or after games other than the casino.''

Mr Waldron said yesterday the meeting with Tennis West was simply to provide an update on the progress of stadium planning.


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/afl/afl-news/wa-being-sold-short-cook-20110421-1dq7d.html#ixzz1KE43YkPX

That was as worse a call I have seen all year. :p

Dane Swan sued over brawl

Shelley Hadfield From: Herald Sun April 23,

A BRAWL early in his career has come back to haunt Collingwood star Dane Swan, with a security guard now suing him.
It is the second time the Magpie champ has been sued over the 2003 incident.

Jesse James has launched legal action against Swan, claiming Swan was involved in a "gang bashing" at Federation Square that left him with facial injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The writ is expected to be served within days.

Mr James, 32, had previously sought compensation under the Sentencing Act, telling the Herald Sun that he wanted at least $50,000.

Now he has lodged a writ in the County Court claiming that Swan, with a nephew of ex-AFL star Wayne Carey and a former Williamstown player, demonstrated a "conscious and contumelious" disregard for his welfare.

He wants Swan, Kade Carey and Aaron Ramsay, all 27, to pay him damages.

Mr James is also suing Federation Square and his employer ISS Security.

He alleges Swan, Carey and Ramsay kicked and punched him when he responded to an alarm at Federation Square.

Mr James claims he suffered bruising and soft tissue injuries requiring hospitalisation, a facial injury requiring surgery, and severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

Ramsay said: "It's just gone on for so long and we now just want to get on with our lives."

In 2006, Swan, Carey and Ramsay were ordered to perform community service after pleading guilty to affray.

The court heard that Swan and Ramsay jumped into the fray to defend Carey when he was confronted by a guard after jumping on the bonnet of a moving car.

The court was told Carey beat up a cleaner and three security guards with the help of his two mates.

Judge John Barnett said Carey was provoked and Swan and Ramsay joined the fight to defend their friend.

The judge found that Swan had minimal involvement.

Carey was also given a two-month wholly suspended jail sentence for punching a policeman in the face.

The cleaner, Claudio Celano, sued the men and received a $100,000 settlement.

The County Court heard that Celano was left with a permanent brain injury after the fracas.

A barrister who has represented Swan said Mr James' previous application for compensation under the Sentencing Act was refused.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/dane-swan-sued-over-brawl/story-e6frf9jf-1226043543320

I'd think that after 8 years passing, the case would be thrown out as a frivolous cash-grab.