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Luved this post by Tigerdan on another board. Couldn't have put it better if i tried. Essendon supporters really are a smug lot and their young supporters have never felt any sustained pain. And, I guess, young Bomber supporters are the antithesis of young Tiger supporters. While they've seen a premiership every four or five years, we've generally seen us bottom four more times than not. That, and the fact their rise and our fall coincided with Sheedy going to the Bombers, probably grates on us more than any other club. A reality check might be in store for them - hopefully soon - and i think Tigerdan has summed up my feelings about them pretty much.
Enjoy
I want to talk about young Essendon supporters. The starry-eyed kids who cannot handle the fact that teir team is on the way down. I don not have a problem with older Bomber supporters. Infact, I think some may agree with what I am about to say.
Essendon had a choice about 20 years ago when they dragged themselves out of the gutter of mediocrity. What direction would they take their club? They could make their club the club for the ferals like Richmond or Collingwood. They could make their club the champion of the battlers like Footscray and St Kilda.
They became the club of the affluent middle class. Not the truly rich, because Carlton and Melbourne already had that demographic covered. They became the club of the aspirationals. The kind of people who send their kids to private schools not for education but for keeping up with the Joneses. The kind of people who own a 4wd but don't go off road.
The problem is that just as money doesn't buy taste, on-field success is not the only criteria of arrogance. I liken it to 'new money' moving into an exclusive suburb. You might live there but you'll never be accepted. Carlton have the arrogance of 'born to rule' aristocracy. But Essendon have the arrogance of an american athletics team. And there's the rub. When athletes get old they can't compete, but an aristocrat is an aristocrat forever. And when the money runs out and the nouveau rich have to sell up their house in Toorak, the locals will say 'Well they always were ********ers anyway'.
Essendon supporters under the age of 30-35 have never seen their team struggle. I mean genuinely struggle, where you can't realistically expect your team to win more than 6 games in a year. Every other team has gone through this. It sucks, but it gives you humility and perspective. The younger Essendon supporters are like people in the 'aspirational' suburbs with their wide screen tv, 4 wheen drive and credit card debt. When interest rates start creeping up, instead of learning from mistakes and planning ahead, they scream 'Why me? I don't *deserve* this! I'm *special!*'. Same goes for the inevitable slide for the bombers. The team is on the way down. Accept it, don't deny it. It will make it easier to deal with over the next few years.
Essendon has done well to make their team the 'trendy' team, where unaligned kids choose Essendon because all the cool kids barrack for them and "Isn't James Hird so cute?" Essendon has become the fad club. But like Rubik's cube and yo yo's, fads go out of fashion and the toys get put in the bottom of the closet and forgotten about. That's what is happening to Essendon. Who knows when the toys will come back in fashion? It could be a very long time.
The reason why everyone is kicking Essendon on the way down is due to the smug, Peter Costello-like countenance of their supporters. No-one likes a smart-ass. Richmond and Collingwood supporters will always be feral, no matter if their team is at the bottom or the top of the ladder. Likewise Carlton supporters will be arrogant and the other clubs will keep to their stereotype. But what of Essendon? Like the aging 100m runner, it's no good to be smug if you're not any good. I see young Essendon supporters becoming like people in the affore mentioned 'aspirational suburbs' after interest rises send them to the cleaners:
Bitter and twisted and unable to accept that they brought it on themselves.
Dan
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164020
Enjoy
I want to talk about young Essendon supporters. The starry-eyed kids who cannot handle the fact that teir team is on the way down. I don not have a problem with older Bomber supporters. Infact, I think some may agree with what I am about to say.
Essendon had a choice about 20 years ago when they dragged themselves out of the gutter of mediocrity. What direction would they take their club? They could make their club the club for the ferals like Richmond or Collingwood. They could make their club the champion of the battlers like Footscray and St Kilda.
They became the club of the affluent middle class. Not the truly rich, because Carlton and Melbourne already had that demographic covered. They became the club of the aspirationals. The kind of people who send their kids to private schools not for education but for keeping up with the Joneses. The kind of people who own a 4wd but don't go off road.
The problem is that just as money doesn't buy taste, on-field success is not the only criteria of arrogance. I liken it to 'new money' moving into an exclusive suburb. You might live there but you'll never be accepted. Carlton have the arrogance of 'born to rule' aristocracy. But Essendon have the arrogance of an american athletics team. And there's the rub. When athletes get old they can't compete, but an aristocrat is an aristocrat forever. And when the money runs out and the nouveau rich have to sell up their house in Toorak, the locals will say 'Well they always were ********ers anyway'.
Essendon supporters under the age of 30-35 have never seen their team struggle. I mean genuinely struggle, where you can't realistically expect your team to win more than 6 games in a year. Every other team has gone through this. It sucks, but it gives you humility and perspective. The younger Essendon supporters are like people in the 'aspirational' suburbs with their wide screen tv, 4 wheen drive and credit card debt. When interest rates start creeping up, instead of learning from mistakes and planning ahead, they scream 'Why me? I don't *deserve* this! I'm *special!*'. Same goes for the inevitable slide for the bombers. The team is on the way down. Accept it, don't deny it. It will make it easier to deal with over the next few years.
Essendon has done well to make their team the 'trendy' team, where unaligned kids choose Essendon because all the cool kids barrack for them and "Isn't James Hird so cute?" Essendon has become the fad club. But like Rubik's cube and yo yo's, fads go out of fashion and the toys get put in the bottom of the closet and forgotten about. That's what is happening to Essendon. Who knows when the toys will come back in fashion? It could be a very long time.
The reason why everyone is kicking Essendon on the way down is due to the smug, Peter Costello-like countenance of their supporters. No-one likes a smart-ass. Richmond and Collingwood supporters will always be feral, no matter if their team is at the bottom or the top of the ladder. Likewise Carlton supporters will be arrogant and the other clubs will keep to their stereotype. But what of Essendon? Like the aging 100m runner, it's no good to be smug if you're not any good. I see young Essendon supporters becoming like people in the affore mentioned 'aspirational suburbs' after interest rises send them to the cleaners:
Bitter and twisted and unable to accept that they brought it on themselves.
Dan
http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164020
