Thegibbsgamble
I beg to meg
- Oct 28, 2017
- 5,601
- 3,259
- AFL Club
- Adelaide
- Banned
- #901
I think adelaidecrows' point, as poorly expressed as it was, was meant to be that it's a shame for people who have supported the league and the team from the beginning to miss out on the biggest match because of bandwagon supporters jumping on at the last minute and taking up spots. Similar to how going to an AFL grand final is out of the question for most supporters.
Except, that's not what happened in this case. I had to come late due to a couple of morning commitments, and there were still plenty of buses. I found a park at Modbury Interchange at 11:50, and still managed to get into the ground in time to see the opening bounce at 12:30pm. There was a fair line outside the stadium but they got us through nice and quick. Couldn't find two seats in a row (went with my dad) anywhere in level 1 so we stood up for the first quarter, then moved to upper levels when they opened it up. Had an absolutely awesome time, the two heartbreaking knee injuries aside.
I was trying to work it out yesterday, and I think I've been to eight of the eleven matches based in Adelaide so far. Possibly nine, I can't remember if I made it to one or two matches last year. I went to all the games in Adelaide in the first year. I've still got great memories of standing under the giant tree on the east side of Thebby oval with all the players' numbers on my phone, trying to remember who they all were. I think of myself as an early adopter of the team and the league. There was no impediment whatsoever on me when such a large crowd came to the ground. Quite the opposite, it gave me goosebumps to see such a large crowd when I walked in the oval, and hearing them scream and cheer and shout at every bump, every free kick, every tackle, every mark, every goal was incredible.
Nobody that wanted to go to the game was turned away, nobody was prevented from being a part of the day. And I tell you what, I'm not sure if there were really 53k people there, but there was at least 30k+ still in their seats when my dad and I finally started to leave well after the presentations were over. Everybody who was there just wanted the day to go on forever.
Got on bus at 1144, stood in line for about 2 minutes, found 2 good seats in riverbank stand as they bounced the ball.
The problem was people watching on TV decided to head down cos it was free. Management caught out as staff cut back after game had started.