Xangsamhua

The Joy of Losing

Maybe I should stop following the Lions, or any team for that matter.

On Sunday I went to the first of the three day-games my membership allows me. The Lions were playing the Eagles.

I expected the Lions to be soundly defeated by the Eagles and my expectations were met. Had I any hope the boys would be competitive that hope would have been dashed within the first 15 minutes. So the obvious becoming obvious early I just settled back and relaxed, just to see what would unfold.

What unfolded, as the Eagles consistently left the young Lions in their wake, and the Lions miskicked, dropped marks, handballed to the opposition, overran the ball and so on, was that I enjoyed a stress-free afternoon in a comfortable and well-placed seat just watching the footy with little emotional involvement in the game. It was not a classy spectacle, though to the Eagles' credit they played a nice brand of fairly unsullied football unencumbered by a pressing opposition.

Some fans, on leaving the ground after their team has put in a poor performance, are visibly and audibly angry. They expected better. Lions fans now, however, perhaps also conscious of the youthfulness of their team and the burden of injuries, seem quite relaxed about it. Like me they've given up expecting anything more. Hopefully, the boys themselves don't feel the same way and will start to compete before the season ends, but it's hard to see that happening for quite a while.

So, for me on Sunday watching a fumbling, muddle-headed bunch of losers shown the way by a middle-ranking team turned out to be a pleasant afternoon. Perhaps I can now understand the loyalty shown by fans of perennially unsuccessful clubs in the AFL. Their expectations are just so much lower.

PS. I still believe strongly that Justin Leppitsch is the right man to turn them round.

PPS. Next week's "Q-clash" between Brisbane and the Gold Coast is being labelled "Q-trash" here. Sad. There's probably more criticism directed at the Suns than the Lions, as more was expected of the former. It's argued that Suns players have been too cosseted in their development years and are not prepared to challenge themselves or their team mates to perform better.

Will 27,

How you feeling this week wce v lions.

Your backline line is slowly depleting but cant take away the fact your midfield is as good as anyones on its day.

I heard Brisbane lost another 3 players yesterday so I'm reasonably optimistic

I reckon our midfield would easily be in the bottom 3 or 4 in the league.

We've had good forwards in Kennedy, Darling and Le Cras, good backs

in Mackenzie,McGovern and hurn but our midfield is what kills us.

A total lack of pace and foot skills.

But having said that, I reckon we still might get the choccies

I was thinking Brissie was a good chance in that game.

I'll be at the Gabba on Sunday. I can't see the Lions improving enough to worry the Eagles for four quarters. They've shown they can play well for one or two, but that seems to be it. They're an immature side and injuries are depleting their numbers weekly. They currently have nine of their first team players out, including their captain and main ball getter. Their confidence must be very low.

Any AFL side can get up and unexpectedly knock off a better side, but I think it would be a miracle if Brisbane did it on Sunday. Brisbane will win games in the second half of the season.

3 game membership will make you member but do you get voting rights?

Good question, Alex.

I'm not interested in voting anyway, but the Brisbane Lions' membership terms and conditions don't say they don't.

Another milestone was passed today as Fremantle’s membership total surpassed the record number set in 2014.

Freo’s membership total is now at 48,939, ahead of last year’s 48,935.

It is the third consecutive year that the club achieved a membership record and comes as the club continues its push towards a target of 50,000 members for the first time in its history.

I was thinking about this membership caper the other day.

it seems every year each club is smashing its previous membership record.

Are these figures self reported?

I know Sydney had a pet membership option. yes, membership for your dog, cat, budgy. Are there now 1298 howling and meowing cats and dogs tuning into the Buddy freak show every week? Cattledogs and kelpies marvelling at Josh kennedys clearance work? Every time Jetta or Rohan go for a run are they imagining them chasing a frisbee?

Anyway, just wondering if these figures are genuine or following the TAT school of rubbery figures?

http://membership.sydneyswans.com.au/membership/pet-membership/

Well I'm now a global member at WC

I don't know if this applies to all clubs, but I know Collingwood has or used to have a 3 game membership

where you buy a seat for 3 games. I know WC couldn't do that as they have a waiting list.

To answer your question, dodgy figures.

I have to agree with both you and bookman,the figures are very dodgy.I can't get the facebook page that found the orignal post on this subject to come up but have found this little bit that puts no doubt on the fact.The original post had all the figures for each class of membership,damn it should have put it in.

The Dockers, whose 2015 slogan is “Forever Freo”, are offering memberships for pets and babies – called Purple Paws and Docker Tots.

Plus they are also advertising 3 game memberships.

Brisbane's had 3-game memberships and pet memberships for at least 3 years. I'm a 3-game member because I don't want to go to night games any more.

I suggested they have a day-game membership, keeping in mind that many older people don't want to stay up late and travel home at 10 o'clock at night, especially when you have to use public transport (there's no free parking within walking distance of the Gabba any more). I don't know if they considered it.

I think there are about 6 day games each season at the Gabba.

What an enigma Nth Melbourne is but having said that, looks like Brisbane hasn't got much to show us this year.

Changed my tip to Brisbane half an hour before the game.

Maybe start backing Brisbane in the second half of the season. That's the way they've been the last two years.

At the moment they just don't have the skills, and without Rockliff and Hanley for several more weeks they'll continue to struggle.

Brownlow chance for your team

Who would you pick from your team as a Brownlow chance this year?

My pick.

Sydney - Luke Parker

Tom Rockliff from Brisbane

I'm so hopeless at Fantasy League I've just hit the Auto Fill button (i.e. they pick it for you) for Round 1.

It feels a bit like cheating, but I'd like to see how it goes, at least compared to my own efforts.

Should it be allowed? Or maybe have a "phantom" team in our league that just picks the the Auto-Fill.

I'm in at No. 4. When and how do we nominate the name of our team? I think I'll change mine from last year.

"The ministry would ask manufacturers sell at cost all items to be sold in the these low cost stores..."

Sounds like "Atlas Shrugged".

Decent wages and conditions would be a good start. If a police officer is making a wage on which he can keep his family then bribes would be unacceptable.

Sydney under Tom Hafey in 1986-88 won 43 games and lost 27, so they weren't a bad side then. They also played in four finals in that period.

http://www.sydneycricketground.com.au/latest-news/vale-tom-hafey/

How does one get hold of The Chosen Few?

I was thinking, what has happened to the AFL, it's not like it use to be without pre season drama.

I have a suggestion, Chooka. Replace off-field pre-season drama with on-field drama. I sent the comments below to a men's forum in Oz. Do you think Gillon will go for it?

The first game of Australian Rules football was played in 1858 on the Richmond Paddock between Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School. The rules for the game were agreed to before the match started, as were any rules for any game before 1859. As you can imagine, there was no umpire for the historic first game. Now we have three field umpires, four boundary umpires and two goal umpires for every AFL match (plus a video ref as backup), but has the game benefited as a result?

Too often we see an umpire at one part of the ground ruling inconsistently with others at different parts, and sometimes field umpires will overrule goal umpires and vice versa, and now we have the dubious benefit of a video referee who can overrule everyone. How does this help the game?

Do we really need a man in white to bounce the ball at the beginning of a quarter and after a goal has been scored? The rugby codes don't need it. Nor does soccer.

Do we need white line boundaries? Who benefits from rules like 'holding the man' and 'push in the back'? Why does an umpire have to decide if a ball has been marked? Why not just play on after each mark? We'll know who's taken the mark because he'll have the ball. How many of the other 'umpireal' decisions about 'kicking in danger', 'overrunning the mark', 'deliberate out of bounds', etc, actually improve the spectacle?

OK, maybe we do need goal umpires.

Imagine a game without holdups and dubious decisions by inconsistent field umpires. We know full well that umpires themselves don't know the rules. This is made very clear by the howls of outrage from spectators and players alike that greet their decisions all through the game. And many umpires, we gather from the same spectators, are recruited from the vision impaired community!

I don't know about the rugby codes. They may be different, but the rationale for a man running up and down and counting the tackles must be questioned. And do referees prevent serious injury from spear tackles and the like? Wouldn't the presence of police on the sidelines be more effective, especially when Paul Gallen's playing?

And soccer, where a bad referee can really destroy a game, can be played without one. I don't recollect referees in schoolyard games as a child, yet we enjoyed ourselves and we knew who'd won. The Socceroos might have won the World Cup in 2006 if there weren't any refs. Seb Blatter virtually admitted it.

So what do you think? Should I start with an email to the AFL suggesting a pre-season trial without umps? It might be more successful than my attempts to shorten the game to 80 minutes from its current marathon 120. Any suggestions are welcome.

I don't know a lot about Patfull...Is he in the Malceski mould?

I don't know if he's in the Malceski mould, but he's a very solid player who has had a low profile. Brisbane Club Champion 2012 and 2013. He's still under 30 and has played 182 games since debut in 2006. His discipline, work ethic and reliability would make him an asset to any club. However, his manager has poured cold water on the prospect of him leaving Brisbane in 2015. Greg Swann seems a bit open to offers though.

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/brisbane-lions-defender-joel-patfull-far-from-landing-at-sydney-swans-20140930-10nyb2.html

"Countries which set up democracies before they have functioning states, governed by the rule of law and administered through autonomous, meritocratic bureaucracies frequently find that the institutions of state are hijacked by politicians and corrupted as a result". (From a review of Francis Fukuyama's new book.)

Does Thailand have a functioning state governed by the rule of law administered by a meritocratic bureaucracy?

5 Most Memorable Goals From VFL/AFL Grand Finals.

(Need to scroll down for each.)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-24/five-of-the-most-memorable-goals-in-afl-vfl-grand-final-history/5750276?WT.mc_id=newsmail

1958 Grand Final footage. How different it was then!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-23/gsbfootyflashback2209/5761164?WT.mc_id=newsmail

Well, the footy's over for me. I don't care who wins the GF. It's all about 2015 now.

Can I finish my season with a story about another team that didn't make it? (I hope it's not offensive.)

............................

Subject: THE IRAQI FOOTBALLER

Brisbane actually won something this year...

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2014-09-03/its-taylor-in-a-thriller

That was going to be my line!

But I won't be denied. Woohoo! We won something!!

Rockliff and Zorko both late withdrawals from Brisbane's side. Rockliff has a virus. Zorko for family reasons (?).

I doubt anyone's picked the Lions, though the last round each year can produce upsets. Even less likely now at Geelong.

Thanks guys. That gives me a much better idea.

I'm pretty naïve, but I think quite a few others on that website are, too. It caters for retired men and provides a service to retirees who suffer depression.

I must confess it never occurred to me to give a false date, but now you mention it, it seems pretty obvious.

I'm a member of another forum that is undergoing some controversy because it now requires members to disclose their date of birth in their profile. Many people see this as an invasion of privacy and ask what is going to be done with the information. The response from the administrators is vague but, essentially, says that disclosure of DOB will enable them to deliver better services.

In signing up for thaivisa.com it seems that disclosure of DOB is optional. I've looked at a few profiles, including my own, and some members have their DOB on view and others don't. (Mine is on view.)

My question is whether I should be worried about disclosing my date of birth on my profile for any internet discussion forum, whether it be thaivisa.com or the other, Australia-based, one.

Leppitsch and Roos on Etihad stadium and the roof:

The coaches were also in concert in their dismay at how the spectacle was further eroded by the roof being open which led to players and umpires being affected by the sun throughout the afternoon.

"Nah, terrible," Leppitsch said, adding that "to a man" the coaches were of the belief the roof should be shut at all times. "I spoke to the umpires before the game, they hate it. It's very difficult to look through shade and light and try to make an accurate decision. They probably won't admit to that, but they told me privately they're not happy making those calls."

Roos said it was "bizarre", but incidental to Sunday's result.

"I don't understand why it's not closed, regardless of the weather,'' he said. "An indoor venue, you spend however many hundreds of millions of dollars on it, and you leave the roof open."

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/demon-nonbelievers-face-the-chop-says-roos-20140803-1000rs.html#ixzz39NroXvu7

The last game I went to at Etihad was at Easter 2010 to see Essendon play Fremantle. It was a sunny day and we got what we thought were good seats at the eastern (Coventry) end. We both nearly burnt to death and were blinded by the sun. I had to buy a Fremantle hat to protect my head (a good hat, too; I wore it all round the Sates on a trip there in 2012 and was complimented on it in Washington DC).

We couldn't believe how exposed and uncomfortable the section was in which we were seated, and it was quite expensive. There's no doubt the roof should be closed at all times.

PS. In reference to the game yesterday, Leppitsch said that up to three quarter time it was the worst he'd ever seen.

I was thinking the same about the Brissie V Melbourne game. One of the worst of the year.

Any game Brissie wins can't be too bad!