Apologies To Soccer Fans

2005 was by far my worst year of playing footy. It was not very enjoyable indeed. Words cannot really express how bad it was. The only thing that got me through to the end of the year was my strong sense of commitment to the team.

Soon after the end of the season a rather enterprising young man offered a well-timed invitation to play Soccer for Wenty Uniting in the Churches competition. He got me when I was at my most vulnerable, depressed after the end of an ordinary season. He managed to get a few other friends to play, which made it somewhat enjoyable to be starting pre season in October for a completely new sport.

I played the full year of Soccer but never really felt like I was getting into the game. Sure I was playing ok in a pretty good team, and winning games is always more fun than losing. But I could never really get into Soccer even during the Soccer mad period, otherwise known as the FIFA World Cup.

In a way the year was very fruitful. As it made me realise how much I miss playing footy (Aussie Rules). I drove to the ground on Thursday night (26/10) and felt so excited to be starting pre-season in October. I hadn’t felt that way in a long time. Probably since I was a junior. It was also quickly evident that the club was able to turn around the misfortunes of 2005. Everyone is smiling and pleased to be there which is the way it should be.

So sorry to Soccer that I couldn’t stay, but thankyou for making me realise how much I love playing the game of Australian Rules Football.

Trade Farce

Good news folks, in a game full of bluffing that you would expect to see on the World Poker Tour, Peter Everitt was successfully traded from Hawthorn to Sydney. On Tuesday Paul Roos had offered his 2nd round draft pick, which was an advancement on his first offer. Hawthorn rejected saying that they now want our 1st and 2nd round picks. Roos wasn’t going to stand for this and decided to fly back to Sydney. I’m guessing he left some Sydney representatives down in Melbourne because with 4 minutes to go before the deadline the Hawthorn recruiting manager, Chris Pelchan, they approach the Swans ready to accept the offer made to them on Tuesday, a 2nd round draft pick.

This infuriated Roos, as he said to the Herald Sun:

"It could've been done two and a half days ago," Roos said. "It's ridiculous at four minutes to two o'clock they came in and said we'll take it.

"It (the whole trade week) is a farce."

When a club has a star player who wants out they want to get something for him so when Hawthorn had no-one else chasing Everitt’s services then they realised that the deal with the Swans was all they had.

In the end there were only 9 trades done all week, 7 of those were done on Friday. What i find funny is how fast they get their new recruits into the club's shirt for the cameras (see examples above). Trading period hasn't even been over for a day yet.

FIFA World Cup

I have been trying to get into the FIFA World Cup. I have found it extremely difficult, and not just because the games are televised in our early morning hours.

Here’s an example of why I think I will never fully get into Football (nee Soccer). Late Saturday night I started watching the England Vs Paraguay match. After 3 minutes the first goal was scored from a David Beckham free kick.

I thought that as this goal was scored so early that there were more to come. I stuck it out till half time but couldn’t fight sleep any longer so I reluctantly trudged off to bed. How justified I felt when I saw the final result remained at 1 – 0. I’m glad England won but to stay up for a result like that I ain’t doing. The same thing happened on Sunday night with Holland scoring in the 18th minute and finally beating Serbia & Montenegro 1 – 0.

As Kathy McCabe wrote in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 10th June:

“Maintaining enthusiasm and a vertical position as two teams battle to escape a nil all draw during the FA Cup Final is not my idea of a good time at 5am”

I appreciate and admire the skill involved but it’s not enough to keep me up at night.