Almanac Life: Being 60. And loving it. (Especially when you’re in a pub and the Cats are firing)

 

 

 

Victoria is a Kakistocracy.

 

But we still do pubs pretty well.

 

I’m at Spinky’s 60^th birthday drinks. Wouldn’t miss it for quids. Spinko is a ripper. One of those blokes who just does stuff. Minimal fuss. Good humour. And he was a cracking footballer. He arrived at my school in Year 11 having crossed from a local high school. He came with a bit of a reputation: tasty in a fight, raking left footer, surfer, man of few words, loyal mate. We loved him already.

 

And true to form on Day 1 he had a dust up with the resident bully. Handled himself well. He said later, ‘I thought this must be what happens around here!’ and said to the local kid: ‘Bring it on.’

 

But he was never going to get expelled. The headmaster already had him playing on the wing for the seniors. We were putting together a good footy team. Smithy, Spinko and me were the only Year 11s playing consistently in the seniors. It was a mini-brotherhood. We looked out for each other at training as the Year 12s tried to knock our heads off, and during matches when the opposition tried to do the same.

 

The drinks at the pub are flying. Conversation is buoyant. Volume up. Blokes taking the piss. Backs being slapped. Reunions. Some of them years in the making. And here we all are, turning 60. Grey hairy for the lucky, and hairless for the rest. Wrinkled, life bags under some eyes, a few hip replacements to talk through, t-shirts that don’t hide the belly so well. But we don’t miss a beat.

 

I look at the TV. Crikey, how did that happen? The Cats are four goals to one.

 

Robbo yells out, ‘Cats doing beautifully Dips!’

 

‘Its all over Robbo,’ I yell, ‘Game over!’

 

Stupid comment. Turned out to be accurate though. Or as Jack Dyer used to say, ‘Akrat.’

 

I have a beer with Paul and MF. Then Killer, Smithy, the other Paul, Spinksy, Slime, Butch, Smithy again. There’s Spinksy. I feel like I’m on a carousel. Jugs of beer are now arriving. They get splashed around like we’re pirates of the Caribbean celebrating the pillaging of a Spanish frigate. So much fun. We’re all twenty again.

 

I’ve had a good five-hour go. Time to get home. If the trams arrive, I’ll catch all the second half of the Cats game. The trams don’t arrive. Some crap about the Grand Prix. Total nonsense. Then I see one trundling down the tracks. Any slower it would rust.

 

I get off the tram and dash home. A solid 500 metre walk. By the time I get to the front gate I’m blowing Carlton Draught bubbles. I’m home first (always good when one has been out on the turps) and slump into the couch.

 

What? Crows are in front? Or were. Ten minutes ago. Hawkins saw to that minor hump in the road. Three in ten minutes including one that went so straight it could have been used as a brickie’s string line.

 

But the Crows get on their bikes. Fogarty misses one from the top of the square. The Big Texan swoops but sprays another wide. Stewart flies for a mark on the wing. Looked like he was trying to mark the moon. He nearly did. A leap that took him up then back like a Cirque du Soleil acrobat. He landed peacefully. The first Australian in orbit this century?

 

These things aren’t necessarily recalled in chronological order, just as they broke through the joyful fuzz that accompanies time with tremendous old mates and Draught off the tap.

 

Yes, we still do pubs well in Melbourne.

 

And the Cats still do footy well too.

 

Long may they both last.

 

ADELAIDE          3.2     5.5       8.7     11.11 (77)
GEELONG           6.3     7.5     12.7     14.12 (96)

 

GOALS
Adelaide: Walker, Rankine, Fogarty, Burgess 2, Soligo, Rachele, O’Brien
Geelong: Hawkins 4, Miers 3, O.Henry, Cameron 2, Stengle, Mannagh, Close

 

BEST
Adelaide: Crouch, Dawson, Hinge, Laird, Worrell, O’Brien
Geelong: Stewart, Miers, Dangerfield, Hawkins, Blicavs, Holmes

 

INJURIES
Adelaide: Nil
Geelong: Dangerfield (hamstring)

 

LATE CHANGES
Adelaide: Nil
Geelong: Mitch Duncan (personal reasons) and Tom Atkins (adductor) replaced by Brandan Parfitt and Mitch Knevitt

 

SUBSTITUTES
Adelaide: Ned McHenry (replaced Sam Berry in the third quarter)
Geelong: Mitch Knevitt (replaced Patrick Dangerfield in the fourth quarter)

 

Crowd: 44,758 at Adelaide Oval

 

 

 

 

More from Dips O’Donnell can be read HERE.

 

 

To return to the www.footyalmanac.com.au  home page click HERE

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

Do you enjoy the Almanac concept?
And want to ensure it continues in its current form, and better? To help keep things ticking over please consider making your own contribution.

 

Become an Almanac (annual) member – CLICK HERE