The Almanac e-newsletter (Dec 6 2019)

This is the email which went out to the Almanac list this morning. If you would like to be on that list send us an email with your name and email address.

 

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G’day Everyone

It’s just past midnight on Thursday night, or is it Friday morning. I’m losing track. But I do know that Theo has two weeks of primary school left. At dawn of the day he was born in October 2017, I belted out the introduction to the first Footy Almanac. I have just tallied  – The Tigers Almanac 2019 is our thirteenth annual book.

Time goes by. A week ago I flew north to a lunch to celebrate forty years since our class of 1979 graduated from Oakey State High School. To my surprise, one of my classmates, Suzie, has started to follow the Swans and footy (properly). I sent her The Footy Almanac 2012, the one with Adam Goodes on the cover. Before doing so, I started to read it. I really enjoyed it. Forewords from Tony Birch, Brian Matthews, Stephanie Holt, Dave Warner, and Rod Gillett. And the Almanackery is something to behold. So many names. So many friends of the Almanac.

That year, the Swans upset the Hawks, of course, when Nick Malceski, looking like one of the brothers Karamazov, kicked the winning goal. We had three kids by then and they learned the Swans song in their own way: ‘Lift that snowball banner high’, finishing with ‘Pass me the banjo, Goodesy.’

That high school reunion, at Toowoomba’s Picnic Point, came out of nowhere. Three of my classmates decided to have lunch – then emailed and Facebooked and phoned, and suddenly 15 of the 26 of us were there. And a few others from around that time. So easy. So familiar. So funny. I am so glad I went. We took turns to stand and say something – a couple of minutes each to explain our own forty years. No-one shifted in their chair for the duration. It was riveting. Revealing. I loved them all, bu especially Brett ‘Bert’ McDonald’s speech, about living in the now. Wise words.

A few of our teachers were also there, including my Grade 11 Maths teacher, Mr. Lipp, who had explained the gradient of the tangent to the curve so perfectly from first principles that when, a few years later, I was teaching calculus I could hear his voice. I was channeling him. Dave Roberts whom we had for Maths I, Maths II and Physics in Grade 12 – half the week – was also there.

The country was so dry. Not just parched grass, but no grass. Bare dirt. Moonscape. Stressed eucalypts – the trees of A.D. Hope’s ‘Australia’. Flying home, central New South looked shocking. And that was without seeing the fires or the smoke which was east of our flight path.

This has been a challenging year. (Apologies for the absence of newsletters.) But we keep going. Footy is a constant. It’s even more than a backbeat when your side has a chance. The Cats were right in it for a long time. By Round 11, I thought we were going to win the flag. At half time in the Prelim I was still entertaining the idea.

But the Tiges were too good. They were the best.

So we’ve collected another anthology of stories (written by 50+ contributors) about their season – a game by game account, in the tradition of recent Almanacs. To that, we’ve added a season review for each AFL club and a collection of writing from www.footyalmanac.com.au about all levels of footy. Thanks To Mandy Johnson and John Kingsmill for all their work on this. And Kate Birrell for the cover art.

You can check out the full Table of Contents of The Tigers Almanac 2019 HERE.

Here’s a taste:

John ‘Mr Wrap’ Mosig reviews the Richmond season as only Mr Wrap can (cocky bugger he is).
Cheryl Critchley gives some historical perspective to the Premiership.
Australian conductor Ben Northey (nephew of ‘Swoooper’) on being a Tigers fan (nice socks – and baton).
A delightful essay about Marlion Pickett from Jack Banister.
Tess Pryor profiles the Vic Market’s biggest Tigers fan and his family passions.
Kerrie Gardner on how her dear old (Struggletown) Mum handled the Grand Final.
Carlton fan George Grossek explains his respect for Kane Lambert.
Malcolm Rulebook Ashwood profiles Neil Balme.
A salute to the 2019 season from Matt Quartermaine.
A Grand Final Rap (yes, in Rap style) from Vanessa Fox and her young daughter Ruby.
Reports for every 2019 match from our squad of writers.
And much more.

Please let your Tigers mates (and footy fans generally) know about The Tigers Almanac 2019.

And everyone is welcome at the launch of The Tigers Almanac 2019 at the North Fitzroy Arms on Tuesday, Dec 17. 6 for 6.30pm. Stay for dinner if you like. More details HERE.

It’s really late now.

Regards
JTH

 

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