Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Right through the hey-diddle-diddle.

Last Saturday I was staring out the window at Lenin House, watching the rain lash down and trees blowing in the howling gale, and thought “time to take The Boy to his first footy match”.

So we rugged up and off we went to the local oval to watch the Northern Bullants play the Box Hill Hawks.

The Boy seemed to enjoy himself. True, he spent most of the time looking for interesting looking sticks to add to his interesting stick collection or trying to find girls to talk to, but he quite liked going onto the ground at quarter and half time to kick the football we brought along.

The interesting thing was that, despite me not having gone to a match since 1984 and having little to no interest in AFL, I found myself muttering “kick it, kick it you goose. Down the middle you clown, why are you farting around on the wings”.

Some things never leave us, it seems.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found myself muttering “kick it, kick it you goose. Down the middle you clown, why are farting around on the wings”.

Cripes that's a little harsh, isn't it? The boy's only a few years old, after all.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

It's a tough old world out there, Boogey.

Perseus said...

I love footy. I'd happily go to any game - AFL right down to D-Division Eastern Suburbs. Love the game, love the crowd, love the meat pies. I'm quite impressed that even though you don't like footy you can take your boy to a match.

Please, please suggest barracking for Richmond to him. We need the help.

catlick said...

I can contribute nothing to this, although I love the idea of your Boy wrapped up like a woollen tube worm against the drizzle. However, could I ask if 'someone' could please re-instate the comments on the left hand side of the home page? kthnxbi.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

It's a dad thing, Perseus. It's what dads do.

At the moment it's a toss-up between Richmond or Essendon.

The Boy quite likes tigers.

He can't stand magpies though, for some reason.

squib said...

In the olden days, when I studied journalism, there was a very heavy sport component and by sport I mean AFL

I spent practically the entire course wriggling out of covering every match going. I came out the other end without reporting on a single match ,which was quite an achievement

Anonymous said...

However, could I ask if 'someone' could please re-instate the comments on the left hand side of the home page?

You want the simple explanation or the technical explanation, Catlick? Because the simple explanation is sweet, but the technical explanation could rock your socks off.

The simple explanation is that it's all the Dutch's fault - blame the Dutch.

The technical explanation is that the recent comments widget uses a snippet of javascript located on a (Ducth) server that's been down for ages, I have been too lazy to look for an alternative, but if and when I find one, I'll be embedding that javascript directly into the page and all will fantasmagoric again.

Anonymous said...

The Boy quite likes tigers.

He can't stand magpies though, for some reason.


How about owls?

My son has just decided he likes football and would like to play it, in spite of being thin and geeky, all on the basis that he likes dogs, and someone told him about a team called the Bulldogs. So now he is a big fan of the Bulldogs, even though he doesn't know what they actually do.

Perseus said...

Ramon,

My mum barracked for Richmond and Dad was Essendon, so I had a choice. At age 5, I picked the 'Tiger' over the 'Aeroplane'. Bad move, because since then we won a premiership in 1980 and have been basket-cases ever since, and Essendon have been highly successful almost the whole time.

But we have Richo, and that's more important.

Also, we have a better song than Essendon.

Regards,
Perseus
President, Richmond FC Bandwagon

catlick said...

Thank you for the explanations Boogey. I will be patient.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

The Boy quite likes owls, Boogey.

Breaks my heart, it does.

Perseus, I used to barrack for Essendon when I was much younger. The last game I saw was at Windy Hill, so that's going back some years.

Loose Shunter said...

I would also recommend Richmond as a bandwagon to jump on, although the wheels are a bit rusty since the Kevin Bartlett days. I was indoctrinated by my dad (born a Queenslander) when I was growing up in Sydney to go for Richmond during the 'gold and black' years and after the 1980 Grand Final.

However, it did not sway me from my liking of Rugby League, especially during the cosy duopoly that the Parramatta Eels had with Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs on the premiership in the 1980s.

Mrs Loose Shunter is a dyed-in-the-wool Richmond fan so I've swung back to Richmond after liking the showpony Swans for many years, however my heart is still with league and now with the Storm (sorry Eels).

In fact, I rugged up last night to watch the Storm pummel the Dragons last night 26-0 at Olympic Park. What a game that was - an all in brawl, three sin-binnings and one send off and a second fight - what value for money!

To conclude:
Ramon - the boy should go for Richmond
- AFL is a better sport for young lads than rugby league (unless you're an Islander)

LS

Unknown said...

I've made a short film on why making your kids barrack for the Tiges is THE BEST thing you can do for them.

They learn important life lessons early.
Maths.
Son - Dad, why do 18 of our blokes only cover half the space of 18 of theirs?

Religion
Son - Dad, is a God that let's the Tigers play so badly a God worth believing in?

It appears in the MIFF Footy Shorts Comp 7th Aug at 7pm with a bunch of other footy films.

Ramon Insertnamehere said...

Thanks for the advice all.

I have to admidt my fondness for Essendon stems from the red and black flags their supporters fly.

Reminds me of the anarcho-syndicalists from the Spanish Civil War.

Bit tricky to explain that to a four year-old though.