Saturday afternoon/evening last week was my first venture into an AFL venue since at least 2014 – and what an absolute ripper it was! A combination of finance and time issues, but mostly major issues with the AFL and my club, kept me away. Like most Carlton supporters, I ‘hated’ Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond, Hawthorn, Melbourne and most of the interstate teams. And most of that time I wasn’t particularly fond of Carlton either. But a lot of the old rush came back as the winning streak grew late last year.
After 10 years out of the action I noticed the following:
*If you want to immerse yourself in the noise and the atmos and the adrenaline and the crowd, go to the venue. If you want to see the match properly, stay home and turn on the idiot box. I didn’t see the latest Toby naughtiness, in fact I still haven’t so can’t comment, because it happened on the far side of the ground, what seemed like a kilometre away.
*Somehow, in the last decade, parking at Marvel has managed to get worse.
*The much-discussed flood of white noise and gambling propaganda at the breaks didn’t happen. Has the AFL actually taken heed for the first time in living memory?
*Scoreboard information has become more useful, as many ‘stats’ as anybody could ever need. They tell you who is off, being ‘rested’, at any given moment. At one stage, No 44 for Carlton (Matthew Owies) was so sore/tired/surplus to requirements that, for about ten minutes, he was on the bench TWICE!
*And finally: this Carlton team has serious possibility, esp if we get a few more blokes back. But SEN talk of premiership favouritism is total and utter hogwash. But IT’S GREAT TO BE BACK ON BOARD!!! GO BLUES!!
To return to our Footy Almanac 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 things keep ticking over please consider making your own contribution.
Become an Almanac (annual) member – click HERE.
Leave a Comment