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Where most of this stuff
Your a fucking clown. Look out for coke bottles from level 3 moron.
This email probbaly explains the mentality of some Melbourne supporters. Acting all upset over a banner then going home and sending the above email.People who fail to grasp the ability to have some fun whilst engageing in banter. Sending such emails aint my caper..I know which person has a problem and it aint me!
Magpie Hunters MAGPIES' coach Mick Malthouse has launched a broadside at Melbourne, asking why the Demons could lift only for yesterday's match. The Pies eventually shrugged off a stubborn Demons outfit in the MCG blockbuster, winning by 21 points to set up an epic Carlton-Collingwood clash on Sunday. But post-match, Malthouse took aim at the Dees, who were inspired by Saturday's 150th anniversary dinner. He said he was bemused that Melbourne had been able to play with such intensity yesterday, but rarely in most games this year. Malthouse also questioned his side's commitment to the Queen's Birthday clash, and hinted he would recommend to his administration it should consider the club's involvement in the future. He said the Pies got nothing from the handout to the Demons, with growing fears Collingwood is suffering blockbuster fatigue, where every MCG game it plays is against a frenzied side determined to hunt the Pies. The Magpies were workmanlike yesterday in the absence of Scott Pendlebury (back) and Anthony Rocca, who faces several weeks of rehabilitation on his ankle. But a feisty Malthouse was more concerned with the Demons, after they said the Queen's Birthday match was their biggest game of the year. "It is very difficult to stay up all the time against a side that says this is the most important game of the year. "That (today's) is not a performance of a bottom side or a side that has been beaten by 60, 70, or 80 points from time to time. I still get bemused by sides that find more in one game of the year." "I can understand if it happens 10-15 times a year, but once a year, it has never made a lot of logic to me," Malthouse said.
Magpies Behaving BadlyIn winter and early spring, many Australians start scanning the skies for a crazy black and white bundle of feathers. It's coming into breeding season for the Australian magpie Gymnorhina tibicen, and when they are feeding chicks they can be quite frightening. Many of us have childhood memories of aggressive magpies, and indeed, a national survey has found that 90 per cent of males and 72 per cent of females have been attacked by a magpie at some time in their life! Being the target of a magpie’s ire is an inevitable part of growing up in Australia. Or is it? Certainly, when magpies pounce, they can do real damage. The Injury Surveillance Information System (ISIS) is a national collection of hospital emergency department attendance records. Their data shows that of 59 magpie attacks, the eye was the birds’ most common target. Magpies seem to get particularly infuriated by bicycles: nearly half of those attacked were riding a bike at the time. But delving further into the ISIS data, we find that almost two thirds of the magpie victims were male, and half of all those attacked were aged between 10-30. Obviously magpies are selective! |
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The
When: Magpies begin breeding in July and this lasts through until the chicks fledge in February. Most attacks occur between August and November when the chicks are in the nest!
Where: NSW, VIC, eastern South Australia, south west WA, coastal ranges of Qld.
Other info: - Magpies are only aggressive for six weeks of the year, around August/September, when they have chicks in the nest.
- Most magpies attack the same few individuals again and again, possibly because they remind the bird of someone who once hurt them.
- Only the males attack (the females are too busy sitting on the eggs).
Magpies are excellent mimics and can even imitate the human voice.
The large public problem and potential liability suits precipitated by magpie attacks have prompted avian researchers to take a fresh look at magpies, their behaviour and their social organisation, in the hope of finding clues on how to live more peacefully with these Australian icons.
Watch out posties!
In many areas, aggressive magpies are simply shot. This is still common practice. But Dr Darryl Jones from the Suburban Wildlife Research Group at Griffith University believed there had to be a more humane way to deal with magpies.
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He surveyed people who had been attacked, and found to his surprise that despite being the target of magpie wrath, 90 per cent of victims didn’t want the magpie to be destroyed.
Dr Jones knew that magpies were highly intelligent, that they only attack for a few weeks out of the year, and that their social behaviour is very complex. He believed that if we had a better understanding of what triggers a magpie attack, it might be possible to develop better management strategies.
Dr Jones' field surveys found that, contrary to popular belief, only about 12 per cent of all male magpies will actually attack people. Of these, about half will attack only pedestrians, 10 per cent go exclusively for postal workers on bikes, eight per cent will attack bicyclists, and the remaining third will attack any of these.
Magpies remember...
Interestingly, most magpies which attack pedestrians attack the same few individuals over and over again. If they attack others, it’s probably a case of mistaken identity, says Dr Jones. He believes such magpies may have had an early traumatic experience – perhaps someone who looked like these people had harmed the magpies chicks, or even 'rescued' a fledgling, something the parent mistook as predation. Magpies are able to recognise and remember individual human faces, even if the person wears different clothes!
How to avoid being attacked
- If you get attacked while riding a bike or horse, get off immediately.
- If a particular bird is harassing you repeatedly, choose a different route for the next few weeks until the chicks fledge.
- Wear an icecream container on your head when crossing magpie flightpaths!
The attacks specifically on postal workers while on their bikes is particularly intriguing. Dr Jones looked at various factors which could be responsible, such as the colour of the bike, or the speed, but nothing was significant. He suggests it could be something about the continuous movement of the bike, because if the rider dismounts and walks with the bike, the attack instantly stops.
What it does reveal about magpies is that they can literally tell the time and know exactly when the postal bike is due to go past. Postal workers may be better off delivering the mail at more unpredictable hours, in order to fool the magpie’s excellent sense of time.
Dealing with aggressive magpies
One way to deal with aggressive magpies has been to trap the male and move it to another area. Although not as drastic as shooting, biologists were concerned that this would also have an adverse impact – male and female magpies take equal responsibility for caring for their young, and researchers were concerned that removing the male would leave the female unable to feed the young adequately. Worse still, the fear was that another male would come along, supplant the first male and kill the chicks in order to start a new family with his own genes.
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But to the amazement of Jones and his colleagues, as soon as a male magpie was removed, a new magpie would take his place and immediately begin defending the territory and caring for the young, even though they weren’t his.
Magpies are very intelligent, probably at the same level as parrots, and have very complex social systems. Perhaps in order to live more peacefully with magpies, we need to start taking this in to account, and begin managing our own behaviour, as much as that of the magpie.
Go Pies
1950
Pies in Turmoil!
In the early 1950 pre-season, veteran Collingwood coach Jock McHale announces that he will retire. Collingwood called for applications for a non-playing coach. Champion ruckman Phonse Kyne, much loved by all at Collngwood especially John Wren, immediately announced his retirement and applied for the job. On the Thursday before the last pre-season practice match (i.e., 13 April), the Collingwood committee announced that it had appointed the (then) coach of the Collingwood Second Eighteen team, Bervyn Woods— who had been sold to Collingwood (along with Harold Jones in 1935 by the cash-strapped VFA club Brunswick — as coach, by the casting vote of the President Harry Curtis. The announcement was greeted with incredulity, resentment, and anger, because the decision surely meant that Kyne (the supporters' choice for the job) would have to go elsewhere to realize his coaching ambitions. At Collingwood's final practice match (Saturday 15 April) the crowd continuously jeered at Woods, and those members of the Collingwood committee that had voted for him were in great physical danger. Meanwhile Kyne was carried around the ground in great majesty on the shoulders of the crowd. On Sunday (16 April) Woods withdrew his application and reverted to coaching the Second Eighteen. Thus, with a reign of 5 days, Woods remains the VFL/AFL coach with the shortest-ever tenure. Phonse Kyne was appointed coach following Woods' resignation. Over the 1950 season he played seven matches; he then retired. He coached Collingwood for 14 consecutive seasons (1950-1963). Within days of Woods' retirement, a special extraordinary meeting of Collingwood Football Club members was held at the Collingwood Town Hall, and those seen to be responsible for the appointment of Woods (viz., Harry Curtis, Frank Wraith, and Bob Rush) were voted out of office. Collingwood won nine matches and lost nine matches in the 1950 season despite all of these internal troubles.
Pies, damned Pies, and statistics
Quote: Jake Niall | The Age newspaper
May 7, 2008
IN A quiet moment, Collingwood officials should offer a prayer of thanks to the Fremantle Football Club. Not only did the Dockers donate James Clement and Paul Medhurst to the black and white cause, but their under-achievements have spared the Magpies from the blowtorch that usually follows an ugly defeat.
Collingwood was on the same level as Hawthorn in 2007 and was definitely superior to the Hawks in September. But, as last Saturday's knockout confirmed, a maturing Hawthorn is now the No. 1 contender for Geelong's belt, while the Pies are scrapping like a mid-ladder middleweight: a good performance here, a narrow loss there and a couple of awful beatings.
At 3-4, they're at least one win, probably two, below par. They've found the rough, not the water and still have time to shoot a decent score, but the manner of the defeats to Carlton, Hawthorn and North Melbourne must be troubling for a club that was projected as top-four material.
Whereas Collingwood under Mick Malthouse has been viewed as a club with more grit than talent, the Magpies entered 2008 in the unfamiliar position of owning a playing list that outsiders actually rated.
Nathan Buckley and Clement would be missed, but they'd missed large chunks of 2007 and the anticipated natural improvement of youth would more than compensate for the retirements. The acquisition of Cameron Wood from the Brisbane Lions would somewhat redress the most pressing weakness, the ruck.
Collingwood appeared formidable. That it's been closer to mediocre is due to combination of factors, four of which stand out:
1. PREPARATION
Collingwood took a different tack in its pre-season preparations for 2008. Instead of holding its high-altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona in November, the club chose South Africa for a January-February altitude camp. They then went straight to Dubai for their dismal NAB Cup opener, when it was clear the Pies were either unwell and/or flattened by the training regime.
The Magpies knew that they might not begin 2008 as advanced as they had been in the two previous seasons, when they were 8-2 and 7-3 after 10 rounds. The hope was - and remains - that they would storm home down the back stretch. The charge, if it comes, might be too late.
Close losses to Brisbane and the Roos underscore how the so-so preparation might prove costly; they are the type of games Collingwood tended to win early in 2007.
Then there are the individual struggles for fitness and touch. Tyson Goldsack and Harry O'Brien were behind the eight ball in the pre-season and have been out of form as a result. Anthony Rocca, too, was restricted in his pre-season and it does not take a sports science doctorate to guess that he needs plenty of track work to perform on game day.
2. LEADERSHIP
Ideally, Clement would not have retired until 2010, buying the club time until the better leadership prospects - such as Scott Pendlebury, Heath Shaw - would be sufficiently mature to take charge. The exits of Buckley and Clement were not staggered, however, and the upshot was that Collingwood had little choice but to install 33-year-old Scott Burns as captain.
While Burns is an inspiring figure, the mere fact that the Magpies could not find a suitable, long-term skipper from its 24- to 28-year-old demographic demonstrates the lack of viable leaders in what is the core group in most successful teams.
Josh Fraser is a talented but less than physically imposing performer, Nick Maxwell is physically imposing but less talented. No one was quite right.
Buckley and Clement also were forceful in their leadership styles but they had presence on the field, and presence of mind. In recent defeats, the Magpies have not seemed able to halt or reverse the opposition's momentum. When Burns is absent, as he was against North and Carlton, the void appears more acute.
It is easily forgotten that while Buckley and Clement both missed sizeable chunks of 2007 and the team stood up OK without them, their return - and that of the now-absent Sean Rusling - helped vault the Magpies from sixth to within five points of Geelong in a preliminary final.
3. SECOND- AND THIRD-YEAR BLUES
Martin Clarke's progress in the space of 12 months was probably unprecedented, and, as with Collingwood overall, this created expectations he has been unable to fulfil. Did the Gaelic football he played, however fleeting, over summer compromise his preparation? Who can say. Whatever the cause, he has struggled.
Dale Thomas, meanwhile, has been unable to string together enough dynamic moments to constitute consistency. His past three performances have been sub-standard. Small forward in a struggling team is not the best position in which to find touch; perhaps a stint on the ball, or defence, might be the jolt he and his team need.
Goldsack and O'Brien have lost ground after problematic pre-seasons, while Travis Cloke and Pendlebury have been a notch below their 2007 standard, when they quinellaed the best and fairest.
4. NO GAME BREAKERS
Alan Didak is perhaps Collingwood's most dangerous player, but he can't change the course of the game from the midfield in the manner of Chris Judd, Gary Ablett, Luke Hodge, Daniel Kerr and Jimmy Bartel. Heath Shaw is a half-back flanker, Cloke and Pendlebury, while elite talents, are 21 and 20 respectively.
With no bona fide superstars, the Pies don't have a cruising gear and rely on an even contribution, high intensity and the application of unremitting pressure on the opposition. Without such effort, they are where they are: eighth.
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM
NAME ..
( 2 mistakes allowed )
NAME.......................................................
( 2nd chance )
ADDRESS....................................................
(this means what is the name of the street your house is in and what is your house number.
If unsure of either - check the phone book for details but look under your own name or you will get it wrong.)
If address unknown - put a tick here:..............
DATE OF BIRTH......................................
(What day does everybody sing happy birthday to you?)
AGE.................
(How many years have they been singing it to you?)
MOTHER'S NAME.....................................................(Mum will NOT do. What is her REAL name?)
FATHER'S NAME ( if known )....................................................................( NO SWEARING )
DO YOU HAVE A CAR ? YES / NO
IS IT YOURS? YES / NO
REGISTRATION NUMBER..................................(found on the piece of tin hanging from the bumper bar)
DO YOU HAVE A DRIVERS LICENCE? YES / NO
IS IT YOURS? YES / NO
ARE YOU WEARING MAGGIES CLOTHING ON LICENCE PHOTO? YES / NO
COULD YOU DRIVE PLAYERS, MATCH COMMITTEE OR OTHER SUPPORTERS TO:
a) HOME GAMES YES / NO
b) AWAY GAMES (to keep costs down) YES / NO
DO YOU HAVE A WASHING MACHINE? YES / NO
WOULD YOU BE PREPARED TO HELP WASH OUR TEAM FOOTY GEAR? YES / NO
(tick which........socks....shorts....guernseys....jockstraps....hankies....bandages . )
DO YOU OWN A BEACH SHACK? YES / NO
COULD WE USE IT FOR THE PLAYERS 'END OF SEASON TRIP?' YES / NO
DO YOU HAVE ANY CHILDREN? YES / NO
ARE THEY YOURS? YES / NO
WOULD ANY OF THEM BE INTERESTED IN PLAYING FOR THE MAGGIES? YES / NO
a) BOYS YES / NO
b) GIRLS YES / NO
HOW OLD ARE THEY? 1 - 10, 11 - 20, 21 - 30, 31 - 40, or don't know?
DO YOU HAVE ANY LARGE FOOTBALL TROPHIES (no name tags ) THAT YOU WOULD BE
WILLING TO DONATE TO THE CLUB FOR OUR TROPHY CABINET? YES / NO
WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING OUR END OF SEASON DINNER? YES / NO
COULD YOU BRING ANYTHING ALONG ON THE NIGHT?
(e.g. fairy bread, party pies, cordial, plastic cups, jelly ) YES / NO
ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? YES / NO
WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO LEAD OUR SUPPORTERS IN PRAYER:
a) BEFORE HOME GAMES? YES / NO
b) BEFORE AWAY GAMES? YES / NO
c) BEFORE WE PLAY THE EAGLES? YES / NO
d) START TO FINISH OF A EAGLES GAME? YES /NO
PART TWO - I.Q TEST
1) PICK THE TV SHOW (circle the right name from the clues given )
BLANKETY______________ Cheque / Blanket / Blanks / Donation / don't know
I DREAM OF____________ a premiership / Chris Judd / Jeannie / having money / don't know
STAR TREK, THE NEXT____ Footy Show / AFL team / AFL Draft / Generation / don't know
GET_____________________ John Worsfold / Lost / rid of Malthouse / Smart / don't know
HEY HEY IT'S _______ a June Premiership / smoko / Saturday / another defeat / don't know
WHO WANTS TO BE _____ a Millionaire / a Collingwood member / stupid / Leon Davis / don't know
2) PICK THE ODD ONE OUT ( circle the odd one from the lists below )
FEBRUARY 30th / MAY 38th / JUNE 40th / OCTOBER 33rd / APRIL 1st / don't know
SPOON / SOON / MOON / BOON / CHEESE / GOON / SWOON / don't know
A, B, C, D, 4, E, F, G, H, I, don't know
WOEWODIN / ROCCA / CLEMENT / BUCKLEY / HOLLAND / (one wasn't poached from another club)
MCG / SCG / AAMI STADIUM / SUBIACO / GABBA / WEMBLEY / don't know
3) WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE?
'I THINKS THE MAGPIES IS THE BESTEST TEAM IN OSTRAYLIA'
IS IT:
a) BAD SPELING
b) BAD GRAMMA
c) BAD GRANDMA
d) DON'T KNOW
To find out if your membership application has been successful, please put a stamp on both sides of an envelope and leave one side blank. We will advise you by return mail.
BONUS: Please list in order your preferred complimentary Collingwood Membership Surgery that comes with every successful membership application. We will try to allocate you a bed in an appropriate hospital, as one becomes available.
a) MOUTH ENLARGEMENT. b) ONE EYE REMOVED.( left or right ) c) BRAIN REMOVED
GOOD LUCK
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The message from the broken hearted. Im not sure where to start with this article and must point out it's not an attempt to criticise the club after another loss. But rather point out and try to understand what it means to follow Collingwood and hate Carlton. On the Sunday just gone at the MCG our boys fell over in a game that meant so much to us supporters. This was not just another game to earn 4 premiership points to earn the right to climb the Premiership ladder. This was Carlton V Collingwood to many of us Collingwood people it is Good (Collingwood) V The Evil Doers (Carlton). This was not your normal or should i say abnormal Collingwood Carlton encounter, This one had something else going. Our club Collingwood had the chance to inflict a 15th straight loss over them and have a life time sledge advantage. We for the rest of our lives could mutter '15' and they would have no come-back. Many of us dont have many victories in life..so we take with glee the victories we get from the battlefields..The encounters. The tribal warfare. The victory. On the way home from the devastation, i wondered if the rivalry meant anything to the modern day Collingwood player, Was it just another game? Many players did not follow the pies as children,They did not grow up the Collingwood way, and many will play at another club before ending their very own AFL career. Do they comprehend or understand the passion that awaits them in the terraces on any given match day, Or in our lounge rooms kitchens and even bedrooms where many Collingwood dreams are planned but usually never fullfilled. We will be back next week and the week after because that's the collingwood way. Do the players appreciate the support? or are we taken for granted. Because this club means more to us (The Collingwood supporter) than any other supporter on the planet. Again i have to stress this was not just another home and away game..not just another 4 premiership points..This was Collingwood V Carlton the club which has put us on our backsides more times than we care to remember.Like it or not, on a cloudy Sunday afternoon at the MCG April 2008 they did it to us again.They celebrated and rejoiced.We lost our right to be given the chance to sledge them for a life time.. We love Collingwood with all our hearts.. but It hurts...Have we become yet again The Broken Hearted. Floreat Pica! |
Lets dare to dream!
The world has changed and so has our game of football. From a VFL comp of 12 teams to today an interstate competition of 16 clubs it has been an incredible journey. The journey over the next two decades will be exciting, if it moves as quick as the last two decades one would have to assume the day will come when the AFL takes on the world. Are we prepared to step outside the box and dare to dream. Share our vision and be prepared to support when it happens.
JAPAN
127 Million people. 100 Million television sets.
The Japanese love sport are passionate people and i reckon the Collingwood way would rub off, How good would it to see a stadium many miles from the heartland across the waters with the same level of passion to that of the Ponsford stand at the MCG. Would it not be impossible to aim for one million members in Japan over ten years. Recently i came across a group of Japanese tourist at the MCG who flew over to see a pies game, Delightful people decked out in Collingwood jumpers. Japan only some 10 hours from Melbourne.
My proposal is for Collingwood to have two home grounds one in Nagai Stadium in Osaka city the other the MCG. We play all our away games at the Nagai stadium with all our home games at the MCG. We offer discount travel to Japan to see all Collingwood away games. We may even have to rebuild the Ponsford stand at the MCG to cater for our brothers and sisters coming over from Japan to see Collingwood play.
The wonderful stadium in Osaka City
Here is another shot of our new home ground in Osaka City
People will laugh and cast insults at radical suggestions..Its healthy to think outside the box so to speak it's fun and at most times positive. I reckon it's time to share our Collingwood with the world.
The supercoach says Sorry. COLLINGWOOD coach Mick Malthouse won't face sanctions after he apologised for calling AFL officials "stupid". During an interview before the Magpies' win on Saturday, Malthouse lashed out at the decision to restrict the number of interchanges during NAB Cup matches. "I like the pre-season competition, I think it is excellent ... outside of some of the stupid rules, which are, incidentally, instigated by stupid people," Malthouse said during an interview with radio station Triple M. "You don't have to be blind Freddy to work out that 16 interchanges is absolutely ridiculous made by ridiculous people." But the AFL has said it won't take any action against the Pies' coach after Malthouse backed away from the personal nature of his comments in a statement this morning. “I will continue to voice strong opinions on AFL issues that stir my passion but those opinions should not and will not in the future contain comments that are personal. “I now recognise that last Saturday's comments where ill considered and therefore apologise with regards to their personal nature.” The AFL said it now considers the matter closed .
Praise the mighty Pie! In the last couple of weeks i've been able to travel to Shepparton and Tasmania. On both ocassions witnessed first hand what Collingwood means to people a fair way from the heartland. Admittingly Shepparton is just a few hours up the Freeway but it's still a hike. Tasmania many miles across the water. Shepparton was Collingwood mad and it gave many folk the chance to see the Pies. On the way to Deakin oval the streets were littered with Collingwood people eager to see some Collingwood action. The Terraces were as Black and White as the Ponsford. The headlines would scream The Pies Are In Town'.
Poor old Hawthorn who are still trying to gather some momentum with the move to the Apple isle had to move aside on this evening and play second fiddle to the most popular spoting club in Australasia.
And just as recent as yesterday the Pies VFL seconds with a handful of senior players headed to North Hobart Oval the home of the North Hobart football club and play a scratch match...Again as the same in Shepparton the Terraces at North Hobart was alive with Collingwood passion that only Collingwood people know how to bring to the football..Wonderful life time supporters of a great club. miles away from the heartland..Talking with some of these people twho can only get to maybe one or two games a season the love and support is no different to those who live in suburban Melbourne.
Great club= Great people there is no doubting that fact. I think it's important for our club to realise what it means to be a supporter of the Collingwood football club..Our good club with good people another fact because without good people you dont have a good club.
I also believe a short message of thanks should be passed onto the club when it's warranted.
Collingwood yesterday gave something back, it wasn't much but it meant a lot to the people at North Hobart oval. The respect shown to our supporters at North Hobart oval yesterday made this magpie feel very proud and honoured to follow our club..
And like wise the respect shown to Collingwood from the people at North Hobart was just as equal.
The Collingwood players at all times made themselves avialable to supporters and after the game in the North Hobart rooms had an autograph siging sesssion that went for some 30-45 minutes and indeed the locals were in a frenzy..It was like Christmas time for the kids to meet and greet and get a much loved and cherished autograph..was for me the highlite of the trip and that took some beating from recieveing a personal tour of the grand old famous club and trophy rooms at North Hobart Oval.
Collingwood were made welcome in the highest order and Collingwood indeed returned the favour to all and sundry who came to North Hobart to support them and wish them well for season 2008.
Well done Collingwood..Good things happen to good people and if that lives true season 2008 should be a ripper.
Floreat Pica
And to all the wonderful folk in Tasmania who made myself and Simon feel as though it was our second home..Thanks the memories will last a lifetime.
Have Cheersquads become a relic from the past?
Could it be that cheersquads have become a relic from the past and it must be added if one was to believe that the cheersquad's main function was to cheer on any given match day one could and would be mighty dissapointed. Sadly at times the quietest part of the ground can be the cheersquad. This is not an attack on the Collingwood cheersquad a place that has become my home for the last eight seasons a place where great friends have emerged. This is a brave outlook on all cheersquads and it's operation in the modern day of AFL football. Plenty will tell you only nuff nuffs are attracted to cheersquads im not sure if that has ever been appropiate or fair, The cheersquad should always attract those who are a little different those who are somewhat at times flamboyant and extroverted. It is a place for extreme passion and for those who wont be held back by that dreaded modern day word ' Political Correctness'.
Is it considered by many, politically correct to inform the umpire to shove his whistle so far up his clacker he wont need to hold it in one hand ever again or to instruct the opposition player on how to get to the werribee shit farm as quick as possible as he is being sorely missed, many will say NO, Modern day people are funny as they go about operating in two worlds one world at home and the other in public. In reality the seat allocation to cheersquads is a joke, 250 seats if lucky no wonder cheersquad noise is at times a non event especially when many others look to the cheersquad for noise inspiration. Could it be that banner making is the only realistic reason for the survival of the modern day cheersquad, it's an interesting thought.
Some years ago our national phone carrier Telecom produced an advertising campaign, The jingle was a dead set ripper it went like this, Good Better Best we will never rest until our Best is Better and our Better best. Those words would always stay with me and at times have been an inspiration. Why is it when we want to try and improve something for the better we are seen to be wanting to do the opposite, People are funny like that as soon as you have an idea they want to bury you.
I've always believed no matter what you do in life, their at all times can be a better way, We must always search for a better way to become better people at what we do, from home life to public life to work life. To stop striving from wanting to be better is to go backwards.My opinion is that cheersquads no longer work. Wrecked by inner groups wanting control, it's inability to deliver chants and to cheer at all times regardless of the score, It simply is time to find a better way to become the best.
The arrival of the Melbourne Victory football club have exposed all AFL cheersquads they have the ability and passion to make noise that our terraces have never seen before. Firstly they are allowed to stand in a bay designed for seating , People dont cheer sitting down, watch the stands when the magpies are on a roll everyone is standing, yelling and screaming the noise is deafening.maybe we have become to comfortable at AFL games.
I like the idea of having the whole bay behind the goals reserved for the Black and White army, Richmond would become the Yellow and Black army, St Kilda the Red White and Black army, Melbourne's Red and Blue army son on and so on, get rid of the name ' Cheersquad ' have no membership's just open the gates and first in gets the prized position, Elect ten match day marshalls to ensure no drinking no swearing, Have a group of dedicated people make the banner but seperate from the Black and White army's role on match day.Have everyone in the same colors. The idea of having a scenario of first in gets the prized position will ensure that the main purpose of that person being there will be to cheer, sing, chant to bring home the magpies.It all sounds so easy doesnt it ?
SILVERWARE OR SPIN?
The Collingwood football club's onfield success since world war 2 has been dissapointingly dismal and yes granted we have on many ocassions been a victim of nasty conspiring circumstances. Since 1958 we have been in many Grand Finals too depressing to name every one but only twice have we been successful, 1958, 1990. To put it mildly that is very ordinary.
If you thought that was bad check this out, since 1956 Collingwood have only made it through to three night Grand Finals 1979, 1980 and 2003 with the one only premiership in 1979 victors over Hawthorn 12.8.80 to 7.10.52. In 1980 the football Gods screwed us with a goal after the siren to give North Melb victory 8.9.57 to Collingwood 7.12.54. In 2003 losing to Adelaide Crows 2.13.8.104 to Collingwood's 1.9.10.73. Personally i would love to see Collingwood win a night Grand Final but then again i may be the wrong person to offer such an opinion as i want to see Collingwood win every game it ever plays which is never going to happen.
Most people redicule the night cup competition, Many people favour having it removed so the competition can play each other twice which to my way of thinking makes a lot of sense. But we're stuck with it so why not win the bloody thing, It doesn't help when coaches say well it's very early in the season why should our organisation show all it's aces, Why should we risk injury to older bodies, we'll play the kids play the experienced ones in different positions, load the cannons go back to the bunkers and plan the assualt when the proper season arrives and all the other expected drivel we hear from coaches these days.
I would love to hear a club say, we plan to win the night premiership as a gift to our supporters who once again have emptied pockets to ensure the continual survival of the organisation. I guess when in our position we should go like a bull in a china shop when the oppertunity arrives to win major silverware..One only Night premiership since 1956 with only two other night Grand Final appearances doesnt make for good reading. If it's there to be won..lets win it!
Do they really care?
The above pic is no doubt one of the most dramatic pics I've ever come across. Grown men in tears at a sporting event you can almost sense the devastation, normal people like you and me gutted by the result. Sport is like that, and with most of us there is no off switch ,we take the result home with us, it cannot be left at the exit gates like some discarded ticket awaiting the eager shovel of some cleaning contractor.
Some people may laugh at the picture ' the unpassionate ' may even scoff, and the sadsacks will undoubtedly say ' it's just a game '. The majority of us who follow a sport religiously are normal simple day to day lifers, many of us will never reach the dizzy wealthy social heights of those who we defend furiously with a passion that makes friends and at the same time breaks friends.From Monday to Wednesday we live with the result whichever it maybe, from Wednesday to the weekend we're ready to go again. Like a cowboy from the glorious hollywood western days, we simply get up, dust ourselves down and prepare for the next shootout.
We wear our colours proudly and we defend them like an out of control Los Angeles gang member. We have good weeks and many bad weeks. With victory we tend to disregard the bad weeks, sporting victories can often hide the many things in life that dont go our way. Defeats many times can escalate the bad things, bills, rent, work, family and other day to day events play a big part depending on whether our boys win or lose.Monday mornings after a defeat at work can be the most testing of times there is never a shortage of smart bums wanting to remind you of your latest failure and on a Monday morning Friday afternoon seems light years away.
As we all know many of us support the mighty black and white whilst many have some weird occupation of not following any team but rather watching to see when Collingwood loses it's next game. I'm sure modern day psychiatry would have a name for this illness, I do and I aint gonna hold back- ' bum brains!! '.These no life individuals walk around with grey matter firmly wedged between legs, when Collingwood win they hide in shadows under staircases, they always seem to be ten paces ahead but watch them when Collingwood lose, they roam around town with heads like mice.
Nothing but a sensational picture.
This boy will grow up to be a wonderful passionate supporter.
Modern day professionalism has seen a wedge develop between supporter and player and im not sure if this has become one of them normal evolution things or whether it's been orchestrated at club level, whichever the one the game is poorer because of it! Football should never move on from a grassroots level, it is after all a peoples game for the people. Even now at the modern day MCG and Telstra Dome players are hidden away. I can recall not so long ago one could greet the players in the MCC car park leaving the stadium. The supporters loved it, the players loved it. It should not be considered a priviledge to meet the players of our clubs, it should be, if anything our right. These guys are representing a dream on our behalf to try and be the best and win a premiership. Their wages paid partly by the ever increasing membership costs, however, it's true to say the players dont belong to us, but they should not be segregated from us either. In recent years, clubs and especially Collingwood have organised several days per year to greet the players in a laid back relaxed atmosphere and should be congratulated for doing so.
Paul Medhurst during the 2007 finals campaign did something stirring, for some reason in a display of obvious emotion grabbed his jumper with one fist and with the other fist pumped the air. I'm using Paul as an example, the times I have met him he has come across as a nice type of bloke, and as we all know the guy can play football. But what was Paul doing grabbing his jumper? What was he telling the rest of the world? Could this action havef been something from within the heart telling us all of his new found love affair with the Collingwood Football Club? Was he just acknowledging mates in the crowd? Or in his own way, was he merely sticking it up the Fremantle Dockers? For whatever reason, in his latter years at the Dockers, Paul had fallen out of favour, something of a two bit player. We all knew if he could find early career form at Collingwood he would be something special on our foward line, give it juice and excitement, after all Paul is a big game player. At Collingwood his big games would come about every week!
How does Paul view his resurrection as an AFL player? Is Collingwood to him just a lifeline or another high paid weekly wage? Does Paul know anything about the history of the Collingwood Football Club, it's people, it's suburb, the traditions, the sacrifices, The heartaches, The extreme love affair between supporter and club? All these questions would not have been required at the Dockers, a new club with basically nothing except for it's orgasmic like war with it's arch enemy The West Coast Eagles.Does Paul care about the long suffering Collingwood fan? Can he identify with what Collingwood is all about? Does he understand the great institution and the people he now represents?
Or maybe the question should be, is he required to care, where in this age of football a lot of players during their football life can represent as many as three football clubs!
Nathan Buckley will arguably go down in history as Collingwood's greatest Captain and if he returns one day as coach as tipped and snares a Magpie Premiership he will undoubetdly go down as the all time Collingwood great.
Some years ago whilst interviewing Bucks for the Collingwood website he was asked about his knowledge of Collingwood's history, Bucks looked uncomfortable when replying he didn't know a great deal, however he did go onto say he would make it a plan to do so.
In recent times during a TV interview Bucks was aksed again about his knowledge of Collingwood's glorious past he once again admitted to not knowing as much as he should, which leads me to ask, here is Bucks our greatest ever Collingwood Captain not knowing about former great players just like himself, to me it just doesnt sit right, it should be pointed out strongly this is not an attempt to shite can Bucks rather an observation of the modern day player.
How can a player give his all from heart and soul for jumper if he knows little about the jumper and in particular our jumper, the most famous football club jumper in Australasia and probably the world. Bucks did give his all , he was an inspiration not only to team mates but to all of us who watched him from the terraces. We all take something away in life from watching the professionalism of Bucks which will undoubtedly make us better people. But what greater heights could Bucks have reached if he became a lover and or carer of our history it's jumper and it's people?
Ronny Wearmouth,
is he the toughest Collingwood loving magpie?
Ron Wearmoth without a doubt was the most toughest corageous player i'ver ever seen, Tough in the sense he would put body over the ball and not worry about the consequences. Many times during Wearmouth's career you would see the little fellow absolutely battered and in many cases bleeding, It was nothing to Wearmouth for this was the way the little champ played his football.
Wearmouth was even more special because he wasn't just playing to line his pockets, This bloke was playing the way he does because he had a deep love for club, jumper and it's people and im almost sadly certain people like Ron wearmoth just dont exist today. Two years ago when the pies played Brisbane in Brisbane the Qld magpie supporter group held a pre game function prior to the game, No other club supporter holds these functions like Collingwood do, The club in many ways would be wise to officially sanction these type of gatherings, No excessive fees for the priviledge of greeting a player. These supporter events are as passionate as anything i've ever seen and a good way to make friends with our interstate bretheren, Raffles, competitions the singing of the song and of course the Collingwood friendship. Ron wearmouth gladly attended the function and the bloke was a sensation and still very much loved by the magpie army.
When Wearmouth was called up to speak to the army he gladly did so, when he told the congregation how much he still loved the Collingwood footy club he in a sense became a comrade for life, He wasn't just one of them ( player ) he was also one of us.
Which leads me to question how many present day Collingwood players will declare at a non sanctioned club event in thirty years time of his love for the Collingwood footy club ? Johnno ,Fraser, Dane Swan maybe Burns gee not many come to mind. So is it important for a player to love the club ? Will loving the club just as Wearmouth did and still does improve that player as a player ? All interesting points, I would love dearly in this crazy world of high finance football to hear more players talk of love, not because it's membership time but because the need to open one's heart is still considered a good virtue. And just maybe the fact is that most players probably realise the chance of not being at the club in two or three years time diminishes the right to simply fall in love with the club. Or shall we use the term 'establishment'.
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