Waving Money

Waving Money.

 

Hold on to your storm in a teacups! Word is, some fans took the piss out of a young bloke who chased the money last weekend! Flashed fake dollars at him!

   Gasp!

Booed, even.

   Strewth!

What’s more, a few of them made a banner or two that were taken down. ‘I promise I haven’t signed…’ or something like that.

Excuses were given by the AFL. A lot of earnest people in the media, and in and out of official places put on their Father-to-child tones.

It wasn’t needed… they said.

   A bit harsh.

   In this day and age, a player should be allowed to… they contended.

 

Around about then I blew a big fat fart.

 

It’s always stumped me why anyone would barrack for the Dees. Not the most inspiring colours. No real location.  Probably because their grandfather’s fathers did, the best reason there is. Back when they were The Establishment.

Back when we admitted there was more than just the one, boring, middle class. When Collingwood players busted their guts because the match day money meant everything to the working class. When Melbourne bought players. Moved them from other clubs to big houses within their recruiting zone.

The whole thing reeks of irony.

But this weird Demon mob of today got it dead-set right. Hit the nail on the head. Things change. Up is down, night is day, and to barrack for Melbourne for the past 40 years you’d have to be prepared to suffer a lot.

To have a sense of humour.

To be passionate.

 

To be loyal.

 

To believe in that stuff. Jesus, loyalty and faith are all they’ve got!

Chris Grant was loyal. We all know the 20c story. It made him a legend. Garry Wilson stuck it out at Fitzroy, no matter what money was thrown at him. We loved him for it. The Flea could have named his price.

Footy is peppered with such loyalty. Its history is built on it, club legends are made from it. Boomer could probably have chased a flag in his last few years, but has stayed true. Buckley was admired, Voss was loved.

Yet I digress.

All those officials and commentators who moaned about a bit of fun and venting have no idea what the game is about. To them, it’s a profession. They make a living from it. The players make a living from it. What’s the problem? Get the best deal. It’s logical.

To the rank and file supporter, the one who pays the wage of such people, footy is not logical. It is a passion. A thing that lives and breaths and feeds them colour and life and motion and dreams and hope. It them it doesn’t pay a wage, it costs. In time, in jumpers and scarves and season’s tickets. In overpriced chips and shit-stirs in the school yard.

If it was just a business,

if it was all about logic,

if you didn’t have that damn Aussie mongrel in you

 

you might not barrack for Melbourne at all!

 

We are human beings, follow a sport full of human beings. People. And, all races, all sizes, all ages, we are Aussies. Of strong backbone and dry wit.

Where the hell do people get off telling us we can only barrack nicely? We’re not in their P.R. bubble! They can’t get our clubs to fine us into being happy, dull little robots. We will laugh and carry on. Us, the foundation of the AFL.

There should be more of that shit with the waving money. It was funny.

 

And from the heart.

Comments

  1. Good point here Matt. We are constantly told these days how we should feel about things; how we should behave. The AFL and the footy clubs have becomes victims of this enforced “tolerance”. Governments, large organisations and lobbyists demand our respect. This confuses me because I always thought respect was earned.

    A sense of humour is an endangered species.

  2. pamela sherpa says

    I didn’t think it was funny at all Matt. There was something very sick and hypocritical about it. The irony highlighted when the commentators kept saying “The best thing to do would be ignore it and not draw attention to it” But what did they do? They kept mentioning and showing the offending fans. Derrrr! And when Ron Barassi was shown in the crowd did they use their intelligence to link the example of him leaving for Carlton all those years ago? Of course not .I couldn’t help but think that Melboune fans have still never really gotten over that.
    Why is a young man not entitled to make a business decision that helps establish his future financially.

  3. Matt Zurbo says

    A sense of humour is an endangered species.

    so true!!

    Pamela, I think we will have to dissagree politely on this one. I watched most of the game with the volume down. And pointed out in the piece the irony. Of courser the kid is entitled to whatever he pleases, it is his career and good luck to him. This does not mean, I think, we cannot believe in what we belive in, and barrack accordingly.

  4. pamela sherpa says

    I have no objection to barracking Matt but abuse and insults are a different matter and it doesn’t have to be verbal. I’m all for humour. I’m sure there are a whole lot of Melbourne supporters who made themselves feel so much better as human beings because they were free to do so on Sunday.

  5. Chris Weaver says

    Like so many others, you’ve all missed the point as to why we heckled Scully.

    Barassi once said that loyalty was doing the right thing by the club you were with for the time you were there. At the end of 1964, Carlton offered him a contract. He took it. Some Melbourne people even believed it was the right thing for him to do – for his own family and his coaching aspirations.

    Scully just flat-out lied his way through the final 12 months at Melbourne. All he needed to say was – ‘Yes, I’ve been contacted by GWS. I will make a decision in due course.’ Nothing more was necessary. Phil Davis and Callan Ward could do it.

    As for the heckling – it was about us v them. Nothing racist, homophobic or sexist. Just a day at the footy, which has neatly divided those who are precious and those who aren’t. Black versus white, or bold red ‘n blue versus washed-out peach and grey.

    And you know what? I reckon Scully loved it. I’m certain Sheedy loved it, and I reckon they’d be a few people at the fledgling Giants who were relieved to play a game at a big venue where the opposition genuinely despised them. That’s tribalism – a rare commodity at the moment.

    BTW I’d like you to point out when ‘Melbourne bought players’. In the early 1980s? Sure. Templeton, Moore etc. But every club did.

    Back when we were good? Very rarely. Hell, this is the club where Don Cordner won the Brownlow as an amateur! Where the Coulter Law was treated seriously.

    Oldest club in the land, Norm Smith, ‘Checker’ Hughes, Ron Barassi, Jack Mueller, MCG, Jim Stynes, Robbie Flower…there were always reasons to support Melbourne.

    C’arn Demons – give ’em hell!

  6. Matt – agree with your sentiments, except fot the reference to Buckley. He bailed out on the Bears instead chasing fame and fortune in the big smoke. Got all that but missed out on the flags that were to come up North. Having said that, to keep him they may have had to let go some other future premiership stars so everyone in Brisbane finished up happy with the end result. Just not sure that Buckley is a good example of loyalty over money.

  7. pamela sherpa says

    Chris, I don’t think I missed the point at all why fans booed Scully. I just found it disturbing. I also found the booing of Judd bizarre. As for lying .How would your club have treated Scully for the remainder of the year if he had been more up front? He like Gary Ablett was in a no win situation as far as announcing a decision to leave. I will be interested to see how Melbourne fans cope with Free Agency.
    I can understand the hurt at losing a number one draft pick but like Judd, perhaps Scully had reasons other than money, to want to leave. And finally, within the laws of the game he was legally allowed to do so.

  8. Jeff Dowsing says

    If the cash fan’s side of the story is right, and it would appear so given fans around him supported it, then it’s a storm in a teacup. If expressing an opinion with props, sans profanity, is offensive then I’m inclined to pack up and move to New Zealand.

    He actually said what tipped him over the edge was the inducement made to Scully’s father. Anyway, good on him for showing some passion and having a laugh in the process. The Dees could do with more of both in a pretty deflating year.

  9. bowchamp the magnificent says

    I had no problem with the Scully mumblings about his future during 2011, just as I didn’t with the Judd $$-chase … or any other, for that matter;
    but Scully Senior’s crude recruitment changed everything about that whole (recruitment) dynamic for me.

    It’s almost a pity that a young potential champion-of-the-game will have his future career tarnished by it.

  10. Richard Naco says

    It’s wonderful when people so willingly jump onto a band wagon, like that of “free speech”.

    And those poor poor Dees’ fans, oppressed by the big bad AFL from being allowed to express themselves! What is the (footy) world coming to?

    Right?

    What a load of cr@p!

    Let’s get some facts straight here. One of the “banner or two that were taken down” name called Tom Scully that most singularly prized part of the male anatomy, so it was clearly inappropriate to expose it in a place where we’d like to encourage kids to attend. Another exceeded the AFL standard limit for maximum sizes of banners in Victoria (we can actually have bigger banners & flags in NSW), so the rules that are rigorously applied to cheer squads were also applied to that creative expression of ire.

    The third was covering advertising, and when the artiste did not remove it, the authorities did. Again, as per what cheer squads are required to do (which is why floggers get waved when appropriate and then retreat back inside fences these days).

    The bloke with the money pinned to his jacket was actually pinged when it was suspected that his language was inappropriate. When it was shown to be an incorrect assumption, he was allowed to stay. The money pinned to the clothing and bags of money were actually creative, and we watching the game at the Giants’ Den at the Rooty Hill RSL all thought that he was hilarious. It was a pity he later got more exposure in the media that showed him to be an inarticulate yob, so clearly his mum came up with the idea and did all the stitching for him.

    A close friend of a member of the GWS cheer squad actually got cuffed and and expelled from the G, but as he texted to his GWS mate, it was for charging up to the Giants’ players’ race and loudly letting Tom Scully know what sort of congress his mother had engaged in with various farmyard animals, and exactly what sort Tom and his sister could share.

    Ho Ho Ho: how sophisticated and intelligent these wonderful Melbourne fans are! Thank god for free speech, huh?

    (And what a zealous bunch of good Samaritans their club is for finding a cure to the case of overwhelming homesickness that caused that poor Mitch Clark to have to abandon the Brisbane Lions to return to Perth! “Hypocracy” obviously has a silent MFC & D in it.)

  11. Chris Weaver says

    Pamela, two things – he didn’t need to say he was moving; just that he was considering an offer. That’s all. Didn’t harm Callan Ward last year, or Ablett the year before that.

    Secondly, you’re right – he did have other reasons, namely his father’s new recruiting job at GWS. The AFL have taken a very keen interest in that contract!

    Anyway, we’ve got two top round compo picks for Scully. Hopefully this time we’ll use them wisely…

  12. Matt Zurbo says

    Full on. A passionate topic.

    Budge, soory, mate. Expressed myself poorly. I agree with you. Where as Buckley was only admired, Voss was loved. The difference was loyalty.

    Speaking of which, Bowcamp, I doubt his career will be tarnished at all. As with Buckley, everyone, I reckon, will eventuaklly accept him as a GWS player through and through.

    Chris, you make me want to barrack for them!! Top stuff.

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