Ford Fairlane
13 May 2006, 09:25
Is crossing over to the dark side (http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/footy/story_page/0,8747,19115173%255E21545,00.html). As Yoda said to Luke Skywalker ...
Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
Conflicting passions
By GRAHAM CORNES
13may06
IT was half-way through the third quarter of last week's tempestuous Showdown between Port and the Crows that I made a horrifying discovery. I was actually barracking for Port Adelaide. Not in any overt "C'arn Port, kill the umpire", feral sort of way, but quietly, internally.
When the fifty/fifty umpiring decision went against Port, the urge to rise and protest was almost overwhelming; when the Crows scored those quick goals to kick away, the sinking feeling was palpable. But I tried to hide it, not only from my 11-year-old daughter, sitting on one side of me, who has become the Port fanatic in the household, but from the couple on the other side.
John and Elaine Condon are as loyal to the Crows as any couple could be, which is understandable given John's dedicated service to the Adelaide Football Club in those busy, formative years. They would have been bitterly disappointed to know what I was really feeling. If truth be known, I was disappointed in myself but these internal conflicts can always be justified. It's not really a bad thing that the best interests of your children can over-ride your own personal emotions.
The separation of loyalties accelerated when the Crows supporters started booing Chad.
It was then that the familial loyalties really kicked in and the hackles rose. So he had thrown Nathan Bassett into the fence.
Bassett is one of my favourite players, but instead of being outraged like the majority of true Crows fans, I simply thought "good work, at least he knows you're there". There was no appreciation of how Bassett's mother and father would have been feeling. Fortunately, the resolute Crows defender got up and, despite being crunched again a couple of more times, walked off victorious at the end.
The older Cornes brother faced the wrath of the Crows faithful, who expressed their displeasure every time he went near the ball.
I reconciled this with the knowledge that football fans will eat their own if allowed. Besides, this was the same crowd that would jeer Brett Burton and Ian Perrie, if they were having a bad day. However, given the atrocious conditions in which they sat and watched the game, the 42,723 brave, faithful souls deserved to barrack in whatever way they wanted.
The trouble with AFL football, is that it has no respect for long-time football affiliations. The young footballer is despatched to all corners of the country, with no consideration to family or residential loyalties. It is unusual for a player to be drafted by the club that he has supported since he was a kid. Who the parents follow is completely irrelevant. I can't imagine what it is like for the parents of the Johnson brothers, or the Wakelin and Selwood twins who are playing at different clubs. Who could you possibly barrack for when they were playing against each other?
It is fair to say that I have hated Port Adelaide, although it wasn't when I was playing, or even coaching in the SANFL, because the feelings then were of rivalry and respect. The mood and the emotions darkened, of course in 1990, when the club made it's ill-fated grab for South Australia's first AFL licence, and deteriorated to open hostility as the Crows gained their national prominence. They laughed at, and ridiculed every Crows' disappointment and setback, and we all looked forward to giving it back when Port's AFL journey started.
However, as is often the case with this new professionalism of football, people end up in the most unlikely places. There is much to be said for "keeping your enemies close".
But barracking for Port Adelaide? It's unnatural. Every conscious instinct is demanding that you behave in a certain manner and despise those from the dark side, but the sub-conscious takes over and brutally over-rides the logical process.
Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
There may be no indication on the outside, but beneath the surface, a seething conflict rages.
How I envy those whose football loyalties are uncontaminated by family involvement. They can barrack with gusto and express themselves without any hint of inhibition or self-consciousness.
Their football is an escape from and a release of life's external demands and pressures. They can claim their bragging rights when their team wins.
If only it could be that simple in our household.
Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
Conflicting passions
By GRAHAM CORNES
13may06
IT was half-way through the third quarter of last week's tempestuous Showdown between Port and the Crows that I made a horrifying discovery. I was actually barracking for Port Adelaide. Not in any overt "C'arn Port, kill the umpire", feral sort of way, but quietly, internally.
When the fifty/fifty umpiring decision went against Port, the urge to rise and protest was almost overwhelming; when the Crows scored those quick goals to kick away, the sinking feeling was palpable. But I tried to hide it, not only from my 11-year-old daughter, sitting on one side of me, who has become the Port fanatic in the household, but from the couple on the other side.
John and Elaine Condon are as loyal to the Crows as any couple could be, which is understandable given John's dedicated service to the Adelaide Football Club in those busy, formative years. They would have been bitterly disappointed to know what I was really feeling. If truth be known, I was disappointed in myself but these internal conflicts can always be justified. It's not really a bad thing that the best interests of your children can over-ride your own personal emotions.
The separation of loyalties accelerated when the Crows supporters started booing Chad.
It was then that the familial loyalties really kicked in and the hackles rose. So he had thrown Nathan Bassett into the fence.
Bassett is one of my favourite players, but instead of being outraged like the majority of true Crows fans, I simply thought "good work, at least he knows you're there". There was no appreciation of how Bassett's mother and father would have been feeling. Fortunately, the resolute Crows defender got up and, despite being crunched again a couple of more times, walked off victorious at the end.
The older Cornes brother faced the wrath of the Crows faithful, who expressed their displeasure every time he went near the ball.
I reconciled this with the knowledge that football fans will eat their own if allowed. Besides, this was the same crowd that would jeer Brett Burton and Ian Perrie, if they were having a bad day. However, given the atrocious conditions in which they sat and watched the game, the 42,723 brave, faithful souls deserved to barrack in whatever way they wanted.
The trouble with AFL football, is that it has no respect for long-time football affiliations. The young footballer is despatched to all corners of the country, with no consideration to family or residential loyalties. It is unusual for a player to be drafted by the club that he has supported since he was a kid. Who the parents follow is completely irrelevant. I can't imagine what it is like for the parents of the Johnson brothers, or the Wakelin and Selwood twins who are playing at different clubs. Who could you possibly barrack for when they were playing against each other?
It is fair to say that I have hated Port Adelaide, although it wasn't when I was playing, or even coaching in the SANFL, because the feelings then were of rivalry and respect. The mood and the emotions darkened, of course in 1990, when the club made it's ill-fated grab for South Australia's first AFL licence, and deteriorated to open hostility as the Crows gained their national prominence. They laughed at, and ridiculed every Crows' disappointment and setback, and we all looked forward to giving it back when Port's AFL journey started.
However, as is often the case with this new professionalism of football, people end up in the most unlikely places. There is much to be said for "keeping your enemies close".
But barracking for Port Adelaide? It's unnatural. Every conscious instinct is demanding that you behave in a certain manner and despise those from the dark side, but the sub-conscious takes over and brutally over-rides the logical process.
Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan's apprentice.
There may be no indication on the outside, but beneath the surface, a seething conflict rages.
How I envy those whose football loyalties are uncontaminated by family involvement. They can barrack with gusto and express themselves without any hint of inhibition or self-consciousness.
Their football is an escape from and a release of life's external demands and pressures. They can claim their bragging rights when their team wins.
If only it could be that simple in our household.