What would it take to make you walk away?

[Ando727]

Just curious, we all know the misery of being a Melbourne supporter, but could you ever see yourself just giving up on the Dees and walking away?

I lived in Europe for a couple of years about a decade ago and during that time, I didn't follow football at all. It didn't even cross my mind. I didn't miss it. Didn't care who won the premiership or how the Dees were going. Sometimes I wonder why I devote so much of my time to this football club. Am I insane?

I obviously haven't reached the point of walking away yet because I'm still here, but last night's game did make me wonder, how bad would it have to get for me to throw in the towel and replace football with a more productive and life-affirming hobby? I'm not sure of the answer, but I can imagine that if this slump we are in was still going in 10 years time, I might not be around anymore. I wouldn't change clubs - that would never feel right. I would just leave the game altogether.

So, how about you guys? What is your limit? Do you have a limit? Is it a character flaw to give up on your team? Can supporting a perennially useless team actually damage your mental-health? I've asked myself such questions a few times in my life, but I keep coming back for more. Am I already mentally compromised by the MFC?

Interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[Topkent]

I already follow the afl in general less since they changed the rules and took all the good stuff out of it

I honestly think if roosy hands it over to goodwin an he is a bad coach and we are still at the bottom I might give it away

18 teams is too many for a 1 trophy competition

 

[dee_mac]

I'm not sure I could give it up at all. I'm a suckered. Too invested. See The Offsprings 'no self esteem'

 

[d33my]

I probably couldn't walk away while I still lived in Melbourne. As shit as we are I still get a thrill out of game day, even if it is shattered quickly.

I do like to think I have a healthy relationship with football; despite posting here and taking a keen interest in it, I think I (and many here) can also view it with skepticism and realise that there are other ways to get 'enjoyment' out of life. No way I'd have all my eggs in the MFC basket

 

[ExTasDeeMan]

I'll never give it away, there are shit times but it's a needed distraction for me. Win, draw or humiliating loss.

 

[Devastating Boris]

With the birth of my first kid just weeks away I was only yesterday about to pick up the phone to the club and buy him an infant membership but for some reason didn't. If I do this have I placed an unfair burden on him? Have I cursed him to endure the same heartache I have? Is it unfair on my wife to have 2 painfully cranky people sulking around the house for days just because a footy team gave the usual sub-par performance?
Eh, f**k it. It builds character right [emoji5]️

 

[Dark Avenger]

I used to love wrestling & even though most of the time it was a cringeworthy I couldn't bring myself to stop watching as I didn't want to miss out on the storylines (Which never ever end) I finally had enough & now I can use the 3-4 hours a week that I used to waste watching something I didn't enjoy that much on other things.
As far as The Dees are concerned I wish I could give it away. But even in the worse of times (2013) there is always a glimmer of hope we will improve (Via draft picks & trades). Maybe something drastic like a merger might, but if that side became a force I might jump back on the bandwagon like all those Fitzroy supporters did with Brisbane over a decade ago.

 

[Smoocher]

Never give it away folks.
Just last year talked my sons friend (melbourne supporter 9 YO) into sticking fat as he was thinking of following a winning team like Hawks or Geelong.
Told him I had many shit years as a North supporter but eventually it turns and when it does it's the greatest feeling.
Anyways after a good chat with the kid he decided to stick fat. He wears the Melbourne Jumper with pride to U10 training every week and pretty sure he will be a Demon supporter for the rest of his life.

 

[DapperJong]

If you don't have the balls to stand by a footy club, what else in your life are you going to walk away from when things are tough!

Stay strong dees. You'll beat us in the season proper anyway.

 

[Wise Guy Sam]

I love those little red and blue potatoes.

It would be nice if we were half decent but I'm going to stand by this team no matter how terrible they are.

 

[TheDarkDwarf]

Adversity breeds strength, hang in there it will get better, I think, hope, pray.

 

[RedLegs#5]

Really? A pre-season game prompted this thread? Really?

You'd think our fans would be a bit more resilient than that by now.

 

[lose]

Clearly nothing can make us walk away after the last 7 years and were still here.. But seriously, think we need to settle down after a shit showing in a NAB game..

 

[Bluelegs]

Really? A pre-season game prompted this thread? Really?

You'd think our fans would be a bit more resilient than that by now.

The reactions to this game a so ****ing stupid.

 

[Bluelegs]

I wonder if Richmond supporters had this same reaction after we beat them in NAB last year?

 

[Benwah83]

I'd only walk away if the club folded, and that probably doesn't count as walking away.

 

[PerfectFooty]

I wonder if Richmond supporters had this same reaction after we beat them in NAB last year?

Actually now that i think about it the ending to that game came off of a mistake by richmond. Richmond player cramps misses the kick and the ball is kicked along the ground, JKH picks up the ball and runs to the fifty and slots it from the turnover. That game + a shit start to season had tigers fans calling for blood and to sack Hardwick, then they showed their best mad an incredible run to the finals and showed had they played that way from the start they could have finished higher. We loose to Essendon and we loose our minds "Viney's an idiot" and "the team are full of spuds" everybody needs to calm their shit

By the way like Benwah83 i would probably give up on football if the club folded, i might be a neutral supporter but a lot of interest for the game would have died with the club if it went pair shaped.

 

[booshboy]

I think if any of us were going to walk we would have done it already. #fistedforever

 

[PerfectFooty]

One of our premiership players when asked about the current years we've been through and why he still follows the club put it like this; "It's like trying to divorce your parents"

 

[CWaffles]

NEVER could i give this team away, they put me through every emotion under the sun, they let me down time and time again, they break my heart and they rarely even surprise me. But the feeling of the day we lift our next premiership cup will be the sweetest feeling I'm sure I'm capable of feeling and then I will go out on a Ben Cousins styles bender (even if I'm 75).

I have invested too much mentally into this team to throw it all away.

 

[Pavlovs Cat]

Never give it away folks.
Just last year talked my sons friend (melbourne supporter 9 YO) into sticking fat as he was thinking of following a winning team like Hawks or Geelong.
Told him I had many shit years as a North supporter but eventually it turns and when it does it's the greatest feeling.
Anyways after a good chat with the kid he decided to stick fat. He wears the Melbourne Jumper with pride to U10 training every week and pretty sure he will be a Demon supporter for the rest of his life.

Great post. As a Cat I had to wait until I was 41 before we won a flag. We didn't have the down times like Melbourne but we had quite a few years of heartbreaking misses and Grand Final flops. 2007 was like dream which is only now just starting to end.

And who do my sons barrack for? Melbourne and Richmond. I've been trying to Cat them up but they follow the underdogs.

 

[Demon 16]

That proposed 'merger' with Hawthorn would have taken me close.

 

[deeco]

Free Range Rover and some sort of skiing ability could be a start.

In theory it shouldn't take too much at this point but already too far down the rabbit hole to stop now.

 

[Cannon82]

Probably if we won a Premiership. That'd be really weird. I'd be weirded out.

 

[wowlace]

I'd only stop following if the team didn't exist anymore; merged, re-located or otherwise. It's not hard to follow the club. I buy my membership and turn up to games that I can. It doesn't really bother me that they are shit all the time (maybe I am used to it). I've got so much other shit going on in my life that the Dees performance isn't really a concern. I hope they get better or win, but when they don't it doesn't make me wanna walk away.

Having said that, I do get it when guys get really pissed off about football (I do sometimes). I think you just need to have more going on in your life than footy. I'm married, in my final year of a degree in Nuclear Medicine, play guitar, collect records, dj, make beats with drum machines and synths. Oh and it helps to follow a team that isn't shit all the time in another sport, DC Rising!