The 2012 ‘Mopsy’ Fraser Cup – Preliminary Final

Greetings Tipsters

I watched Friday’s prelim laying down in my Hanoi hotel room with Perky Girl, drinking several beers at $0.60 a pop and smoking cigs at $0.50 a pack. For all of that, I’ve been following the Sparkies for far too long to ever get too cocky, so it wasn’t an entirely relaxing experience.

Kicking the first two goals was good for football but missing a few too many wasn’t. Lewis Jetta playing well was also good for football, especially when he tackled a chap thrice his size it was great to see.

40 points up in the third, and I was starting to relax, especially after restocking the fridge with much more beer and welcoming an old mate who’d just finished work and popped over to watch the rest of the game.

But wait! Holy Shark Repellent, Batman!! That lead shrank, then shrank some more, things were getting a bit tense when it was a mere 20 points and Bruce was getting quite carried away – the commentary team were, for the most part, oblivious to the presence of the local team, no matter how good they were or how terrible the 4&20s were – saying things like “Heeere they come!!” in that bellowing-Bruce fashion of his and I replied “Znofugginwhey fuggin Co’woo gig for goezda nu’in, blay lie zhid aw nigh”and calm was restored and we relaxed,  secure in the knowledge that the Sparkies were in the Big ‘Un.

Then we went out to dinner and really got drunk.

The Mayblooms and the Sparkies, eh? I’ve figured the Mayblooms for the best team in the comp for several weeks now and I know the Melbourne media will be full of ponderous dissertations about the Mayblooms but to ‘get right down to the real nitty gritty’ (Shirley Ellis, 1963) you’ve got, at one end of the field, a great attack and a great defence, at the other there’s a good defence and a good attack and in the middle one team has an edge in ‘silky left footers’ (incidentally, whatever happened to ‘raking left foot kicks’? They seem to have gone the way of the drop kick) and the other in sheer grunt so the match may well be decided by a few minutes of individual unpredictable brilliance that turns the pattern of the game.

Everyone’s an expert, right? There’s more in my crystal ball, it tells me I’ll be watching the game in Hoi An, starting at 1130 local time.

We’re gonna grab a couple of cyclos soon and go check out Hue’s old town. I hear it’s been rebuilt. And, in case you’re interested, from someone who spent a few months in Vietnam in ’94 and ’96, Hanoi has changed a lot but Hue barely at all, excepting a few flash hotels on the south side of the river.

Cheers, Tipsters
P&C, A Stop Privatisation Of Footy Production, a division of Trans-Dementia Inc.
Brought to you with the assistance of the charming and very pretty girl who brought me coffee.

About Earl O'Neill

Freelance gardener, I've thousands of books, thousands of records, one fast motorcycle and one gorgeous smart funny sexy woman. Life's pretty darn neat.

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