Four Bloody Points

I love September, Father’s Day, my birthday, presents abound, spring
is in the air, still winds along the cost, water temperature rising
and so is the blood pressure, finals time is here. If your team has
made it, the uplift in mood can nearly get you through until
Christmas, or at least cricket season.September is also a chance to reflect on past glories, the snap shots
in the memory of where you were and the mates you were with. In 1992
watching Peter Wilson bob like a cork in the ocean, Boris putting his
head over the footy to knock it out to Tony Evans or
Peter Matera waltzing along the wing at the G. Maybe it’s 1994, Kempy,
the golden haired boy from the goldfields, racking possession after
possession, dishing out the footy with authority, Billy Brownless
resorting to crushing Ash McIntosh’s head with his knee. It could be
2005, this time at the G, high in the brand spanking new stand,
watching Juddy burn away from packs, Kerry hobble around on the
boundary trying to get his ankle to work, Coxy giraffe like down the
wing or Goodsy running amok, don’t mention Leo bloody Barry! 4 bloody
points.Suddenly it’s 2006, where in the pocket, Leo Barry’s pocket at ground
level, 2 rows of blue and gold in a sea of red and white. We start
nervously, unfurl the high five by quarter time then spread it to
surrounding rows. Surely this is going to be our year. We stumble into
the last quarter, Norm 06 is in my ribs, look out for Goodsy, he’s
coming, he’s coming and there he is running straight through the
middle of the G! Oh no, it’s happening again. Thank God for a dodgy
kick in and a champion like Cuz, goal!The tigers fans must be reaching fever pitch, some of them might be
able to remember ’80 or ’82, lots of them might not have been born, we
are talking a football generation, but caution must be preached. Crows
fans know what happened in their prelims against us in 05 and 06.

And then I return to my mate, Ash, working tactics at half time over pies in the courtyard of a Subiaco share house in 1992, barracking on with a lot more confidence in ’94 and there by my side high in the nose bleeds in 2005, dissecting the game in 2015 whilst he fought the tumour to the last, exhausted waiting for his plane back home to Sydney. Ash was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2009, Charlie Teo and his team kept him with us until
2016, he even made the 2015 debacle against the once in a generation Hawks, what a way to go out!

I love September, I love welcoming the memories of times shared with my mates.

Comments

  1. Great memories of time with your mate, and our Eagles. The Avenging Eagle and I trekked across in 2005. Couldn’t face it in 2006. Its the hope that kills you. Thanks for sharing.

  2. Nice one. Agree totally, of course! Cheers heaps.

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