- Joined
- Aug 24, 2000
- Posts
- 3,250
- Reaction score
- 2,997
- Location
- Wendouree
- AFL Club
- Richmond
- Other Teams
- KC Chiefs, Royal Park FNC, Man City
When Obi Wan advised "Don't give into hate", Richmond supporters appear to have ignored entirely.
If "... hate leads to the dark side", then the dark side is Punt Road Oval.
This doesn't bother me in the slightest. I would like to think that Richmond supporters would relate to the 'noble' (and smartly dressed) Empire in Star Wars rather than some stupid, shaggy old, bearded hippy anyway. (Hawthorn is allegedly looking at Obi Wan Kenobi's desert robes as a possible pre-season jumper for 2002 - watch this space!)
Richmond supporters hate just about everyone - and for good reason too. The 15 other clubs are thoroughly unlikeable.
But just as there are different kinds of love - platonic love, true love, summer love, etc. etc. - there are different kinds of hate too.
Why am I pondering this? Well, the truth is I was driving the Falcon along Australia's most boring stretch of asphalt (the Hume Highway), and with the Missus fast asleep, I didn't want to wake her with a fifth rendition of Cold Chisel's Greatest Hits. (She had threatened to send me on the "last plane out of Sydney" if I didn't shut up.)
Anyway, I started thinking about whether I hate Carlton the most, or whether I hate Collingwood the most. It's a hard question, because while the depth of my feeling towards them is the same, the motivation is different.
A Tigers supporter views Carlton as representing everything Richmond isn't. Greedy, parasitic, pompous, dishonest ... I could go on forever. And I will ... shallow, selfish, egotistical ... let's face it, the Carlton Football Club is about as community minded as the ANZ Bank.
So where does that leave Collingwood?
Collingwood is an angry, aggressive club with Catholic working class roots - umm, so is Richmond.
Collingwood supporters are noisy, embittered and prone to getting into fights - umm, so are Richmond's.
Perhaps we hate them because we see some of our own sins in them? God, I hope not.
There was a stage where Collingwood supporters started feeling sorry for us. Nothing made a Richmond supporter froth at the mouth more than hearing a Collingwood supporter say "The Tigers are my second team - I like the underdog". And believe me, Richmond supporters froth at the mouth easily and often.
Thank God for the Mothers' Day Massacre! The day when Collingwood supporters finally remembered why they hate us so much - we have been smacking the sh!te out of each other ever since.
Richmond supporters have long prided themselves on the phrase "Gee, we lost the footy, but we won the fight in the crowd", and Collingwood are the only ones who ever give us a run for our money on that one. Having said that, while Richmond favours the jab or uppercut, Collingwood supporters appear to favour the King Hit.
That's not to say we don't hate others as well. Hell, Essendon remind me so much of the National Australia Bank, it is frightening. Black and red, dishonest, money grabbers - and their teller girls all mince around like James Hird.
And I hate all the other clubs too, well, at least on game day.
But Collingwood and Carlton hold a special place in my heart (or should that be my colon?).
So who do I hate most?
Who do we play next weekend?
------------------
TT - Obligatory bad-tempered Richmond supporter
[This message has been edited by TigerTank (edited 21 March 2001).]
If "... hate leads to the dark side", then the dark side is Punt Road Oval.
This doesn't bother me in the slightest. I would like to think that Richmond supporters would relate to the 'noble' (and smartly dressed) Empire in Star Wars rather than some stupid, shaggy old, bearded hippy anyway. (Hawthorn is allegedly looking at Obi Wan Kenobi's desert robes as a possible pre-season jumper for 2002 - watch this space!)
Richmond supporters hate just about everyone - and for good reason too. The 15 other clubs are thoroughly unlikeable.
But just as there are different kinds of love - platonic love, true love, summer love, etc. etc. - there are different kinds of hate too.
Why am I pondering this? Well, the truth is I was driving the Falcon along Australia's most boring stretch of asphalt (the Hume Highway), and with the Missus fast asleep, I didn't want to wake her with a fifth rendition of Cold Chisel's Greatest Hits. (She had threatened to send me on the "last plane out of Sydney" if I didn't shut up.)
Anyway, I started thinking about whether I hate Carlton the most, or whether I hate Collingwood the most. It's a hard question, because while the depth of my feeling towards them is the same, the motivation is different.
A Tigers supporter views Carlton as representing everything Richmond isn't. Greedy, parasitic, pompous, dishonest ... I could go on forever. And I will ... shallow, selfish, egotistical ... let's face it, the Carlton Football Club is about as community minded as the ANZ Bank.
So where does that leave Collingwood?
Collingwood is an angry, aggressive club with Catholic working class roots - umm, so is Richmond.
Collingwood supporters are noisy, embittered and prone to getting into fights - umm, so are Richmond's.
Perhaps we hate them because we see some of our own sins in them? God, I hope not.
There was a stage where Collingwood supporters started feeling sorry for us. Nothing made a Richmond supporter froth at the mouth more than hearing a Collingwood supporter say "The Tigers are my second team - I like the underdog". And believe me, Richmond supporters froth at the mouth easily and often.
Thank God for the Mothers' Day Massacre! The day when Collingwood supporters finally remembered why they hate us so much - we have been smacking the sh!te out of each other ever since.
Richmond supporters have long prided themselves on the phrase "Gee, we lost the footy, but we won the fight in the crowd", and Collingwood are the only ones who ever give us a run for our money on that one. Having said that, while Richmond favours the jab or uppercut, Collingwood supporters appear to favour the King Hit.
That's not to say we don't hate others as well. Hell, Essendon remind me so much of the National Australia Bank, it is frightening. Black and red, dishonest, money grabbers - and their teller girls all mince around like James Hird.
And I hate all the other clubs too, well, at least on game day.
But Collingwood and Carlton hold a special place in my heart (or should that be my colon?).
So who do I hate most?
Who do we play next weekend?
------------------
TT - Obligatory bad-tempered Richmond supporter
[This message has been edited by TigerTank (edited 21 March 2001).]
