What were your favourite Almanac pieces of 2009?

This is not a forum for ranking. However, one of the pitfalls of this fantastic site is that so many articles can appear and then be smothered soon after.

In the spirit of end of year lists, I wish to highlight some of my memorable reads from footyalmanac.com.au in 2009.

I have enjoyed so many great insights. Gigs’ consistent standard and humour; Dave Goodwin speaking on behalf of so many on Punter (“The Art of Captaincy”); Danni’s retraining of us oldies in expressive writing (LOL)…

The point of this is to maybe direct readers to little gems they may have missed in the sandstorm that is footyalmanac.

I’ll begin with two very different but fabulous works.

One is “AFL Round 14 : Overheard on a Bus” by Ross Green. Genuine and funny.

The other, Bob Utber’s 18th August observations of Patrick Dangerfield. Read it.

And submit some of your own favorites from this year.

Comments

  1. omgg thanks for the mention Crio!
    LOL Yayyyy!! :)

    i have to say the piece that made me laugh soo badd was the grandfinal piece by Kelly Muldoon. Although i wouldnt have stopped at: “yay we love you blokes!” if i had run into Collingwood at the pools. i would have probably pretended to drown or something! lol preferably in the same lane as Jack Anthony or Nathan Brown. This is much easier than you think since i cant actualy swim! lol :)

    overall im loving the different angles on the games, great book! :)

  2. Steve Healy says

    I’m reading it from start to finish, sadly I’m only midway through round 5.

    I love JTH’s Geelong V Richmond one, and that Sydney V Hawthorn poem by Dave Goodwin- hillarious.

  3. John Butler says

    Difficult to pick from a rich field Crio.

    John Mosig’s Wraps.

    Haiku Bob’s tortured renderings (especially come September).

    Adrian Vitez’s recounting of Essendon kicking away the ’48 GF (for a bit of Bomber schadenfreude).

    Darren Dawson’s relating of Oopey Elliot’s stirring oratory.

    And for unwavering enthusiasm, of course, the Fab 5.

    But there are so many more.

  4. Yes go the Fab 5!

    My favourite would be Round 18, Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn by Ross Green, and from the website, take your pick from the Fab 5 articles as well as Gigs’ stats

  5. Steve Healy says

    Oh I forgot to mention Gigs’ stats at the back of the book. I love the bit about Jack Ziebell and Mark Zaharakis!

  6. Crio – great question. I might need to ponder it for a while. What I enjoy reading depends on my mood at the time.

    But my immediate response would be to say that I’m a fan of the Haikus from Bob – they always make me feel a bit melancholy but somehow enlightened as well. I also thought Peter Flynn’s Grand Final piece in the book was a cracker – and not just because he mentioned the lucky jocks !!

  7. I love Rod Oaten’s “The Day We Took Geoff Leek to Training”, a reminder of footy memories from childhood.
    http://footyalmanac.com.au/?author=80

  8. Can’t believe it hasn’t been nominated in many categories…follow this link to Craig Little’s timely twitter vaguely alluding to his Test coverage from the Ashes this year..a wet day in England, Hughes has annonced his demotion by Twitter and our correspondent is inspired.

    Third Test,Day 3: Fortunes fluctuate on sticky wicket at Lord Newry Hotel
    http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=3737

  9. Crio, was going to nominate Craig’s piece also.

    Steve, if you don’t stop picking on me for my Zaharakis error, I won’t invite you back to Gigs Stats next year! (Only joking. But I might have to use you as my fact checker in 2010.)

  10. And if you need a back up Steve, im your man

  11. lol stop fighting over gigs!
    we all know im his favourite FAB FIVE member LOL! :)

  12. Nah we all know Gigs’ admires me, admires me for whatever other people admire me for

  13. Gigs, Is there an appropriate anagram for Happy Hammond!

  14. Yes you are Danni. (Sorry boys.) And just to prove it, I’ve finally published your Launch report.

  15. I certainly do admire you for what others do, Josh. I just wish I knew what that was…

  16. Crio, I can see an immediate restriction with Happy Hammond. No “E”s always makes it harder. But I accept the challenge!

  17. awww YAYYYYYYYYY!!!
    :)
    Thanks Gigs!! :)

  18. Danielle,
    From the website this year I really admired this reflection which was a great insight for us cynical seniors. Well done.

    “A word of Thanks” to Glenn Manton
    http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=4636

  19. Thanks Crio, i have to say i do get a lot of positive feedback on that particular piece.
    The thing i like about that piece is that i just pretty much let it all out, its pretty emotional.
    :)

  20. Meanwhile, if I can just be serious about humour for a moment, Matt Quartermaine’s piece on the Hawthorn v Collingwood game was a ripper. Check it out: http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=3409

    And do yourself a favour by tracking down some of Matt’s other stuff on the web. (Just make sure you come straight back here when you’re finished.)

  21. i remember reading that one! :)
    “wave your flag or you can go sit in the car… And the car is a lonely place.”
    HAHAHAHAH thats me in the future with my kids!!! :)

  22. What are some other memorable moments in AFL that can be found on Youtube? Im looking up goals after the siren, i’ve just looked at Justin Longmuirs, Round 21 2005 (on my birthday), Buddy’s against Adelaide in the eliminator, Hodge’s against Adelaide last year, McMahon’s this year against the Dees

  23. And can we have a least favourite piece from the book? If so, Fremantle vs. Carlton in Round 14, i can’t understand any of it.

  24. Steve Healy says

    Oh no! Did Gig axe me?

  25. Steve Healy says

    I don’t understand the positioning of it lol

  26. Oh now i get it. It says in the book though Steve: Fremantle vs. Carlton, 2:40pm. St Kilda vs Geelong, 3:10pm

  27. Steve Healy says

    But St.Kilda V Geelong started before Freo V Carlton. I’ve had a look, I think they have made this mistake in the whole book.

  28. Oh and in Round 14, they spelt Tippett wrong. Have you informed Gigs of his latest mistake?

  29. Steve Healy says

    When he goes on Facebook or here I’ll tell him I guess. He seems like he’s fed up with us pointing out his mistakes, so I think it would be a wise decision to continue doing it.

  30. Josh,
    The point of this was not to be critical, nor to critique. And I wasn’t really thinking about THE BOOK!
    Actually, I was concerned that the publication would naturally cause focus to move from the great efforts of writers on-line this year. Some wonderful pieces are loaded on to the site and then get lost in an avalanche.
    I just thought, before the year’s out, it was time for some of us to highlight some memorable reads from the footyalmanac.com.au in 2009.
    Hope you enjoy some of the referrals and post some of your favorites.

  31. Steve Healy says

    I loved Gigs’ round 1 piece on the site where he drinks a different beer in each quarter including a bonus one at half time

  32. I know that Crio, but i just had to say that Frem v Carl made no sense, to me anyway.

    I enjoy Daff’s country footy reports on the website, and i like M. Allan’s reports which describe his struggles to get a Grand Final ticket, his great relationship with his Mum and the Tigers, and of course his analysis of the Grand Final of which he was at.

  33. Steve,
    He must have abandoned that noble initiative if he’s lost so many kgs.
    Gigs’ sub-ed corn has been relentlessly, gnashingly, amusingly a highlight for me.
    And I’ll never play scrabble with The Anagramster.

  34. Steve Healy says

    Don’t forget B.Kane lol.

    I wonder if Gigs can look at a word and make hundreds of anagrams in his head?

  35. Thanks for the wonderful banter, but have any of you actually gone back to read one or more of the recommendations, which was the point of this exercise?

  36. Hey Josh (comment No.28)

    I must confess that I proof-read that section of the book and therefore the incorrect spelling of Tippett is my fault!

    It was probably because I was laughing so much at Howard Kimber’s account of footy on the Gold Coast. It’s my favourite from the book so far but I’ve still got about 150 to go!

  37. I read Ross Green eavesdropping on those two young supporters. Typical Collingwood supporter

  38. Haha its a comment misconception Stainless, i only figured out early this year that his last name ends in a double ‘T’.

  39. I was worse. Up until last year I thought Joel Bowden was spelt Bowedon

  40. Yeah but I should have spotted the error, Josh, as the two different spellings are in consecutive lines. Glad to see you young’uns still notice these details with all your abbreviated SMS spellings :)

  41. Website:
    Tony Roberts’ epic Headingley tail from 1981.
    Steve Fahey’s wonderful piece about his dad.

    Book:
    The raw emotion of the St-Kilda girls’ GF pieces.
    Dave Goodwin (possibly Hawthorn v Sydney). Very clever.

  42. Yeah, Peter, I rememeber Steve’s piece well and I told Daff that it annoyed me greatly…I realised that I knew his brother and then felt I knew his family. Somehow even Collingwood were personalised. A lovely tale.

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