Just don't care.
Haven't read a paper. Don't peruse BigFooty for news. Haven't been keenly switching over to the Ch10 news at 5:40pm to see if anything is happening at Moorabbin.
I don't know why. Is it just me?
The AFL became big business and lost me. They hijacked our game and have basically ruined it. The only thing keeping me interested in the sport was the Saints. Having followed them officially since I was 1 (I have a 1977 member certificate to prove it), they were a part of me.
Now I feel like I don't really know the club at all.
New Board. New coaches - all ex-players recently from other clubs. New players - also a majority of ex-players from other clubs.
The sport just doesn't have that loyalty attached to it anymore. Sure, there are some exceptions, but it's just become a meat market. Coaches switch clubs without batting an eyelid. Clubs discard players without any skerrick of loyalty. Now we see Judd - a premiership captain, walk out on his club. It's the start of the genuine rot.
Steven King. Where will his head be at? An ex-captain who played in a flag for the club he bled for. Now he's with us. Will he bleed for his new jumper? I mean really bleed. Robert Harvey bleed.
I don't think so. There's fewer and fewer players out there who do. Even less coaches. And even less administrators again.
Clubs change jumpers willy nilly, move home grounds when they feel like it. AFL clubs have lost their indentity.
It's very difficult to feel that passion for an AFL club these days.
Perhaps that's why I aren't 'into it' anymore.
Is anyone as less interested in footy for 08 than me?
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BAM! (shhhh)
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Personally, I like what the "big business" mentality does for sport. The players are more professional, the presentation is more thorough and players like Robert Harvey become more special, not less, because with the greater wealth of options and talent out there, someone who combines talent and embodius fortius quo fidelius are if not rarer, at least more valued.
While I may question ideas like free agency that IMO actively discourage loyalty, and think it unfortunate that salary escalation and the spotlight make the young men who play the game at the highest level into icons rather than people, for the most part I welcome the bulk of effects.
I understand and respect where you're coming from rodger, but for me, while I never miss a game, I'm not really interested in going to training, or in spending lots of time down moorrabbin and feeling like "part of the club" - if I want to be part of a club, I'll join one more centred around my skills and less around other people's. While I buy a membership every year, I look at it more as a season ticket than a symbol that I am part of something - the time I feel part of something is when I'm on my feet and roaring after a big goal along with the rest of the faithful at the ground - or even when I'm leaping out of my chair to yell at the television. I'm a fan, but I don't expect that I'm ever likely to get involved at a level where the players would know, let alone remember who I am.
I can't wait for round 1.
While I may question ideas like free agency that IMO actively discourage loyalty, and think it unfortunate that salary escalation and the spotlight make the young men who play the game at the highest level into icons rather than people, for the most part I welcome the bulk of effects.
I understand and respect where you're coming from rodger, but for me, while I never miss a game, I'm not really interested in going to training, or in spending lots of time down moorrabbin and feeling like "part of the club" - if I want to be part of a club, I'll join one more centred around my skills and less around other people's. While I buy a membership every year, I look at it more as a season ticket than a symbol that I am part of something - the time I feel part of something is when I'm on my feet and roaring after a big goal along with the rest of the faithful at the ground - or even when I'm leaping out of my chair to yell at the television. I'm a fan, but I don't expect that I'm ever likely to get involved at a level where the players would know, let alone remember who I am.
I can't wait for round 1.
"Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits"
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markp
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Had very similar feelings (strangely) when Barry Hall got off for belting Goose behind play... what a stitch up! No justice or fairness in the AFL, and a mercenary rewarded with GF for his disloyalty. Thank god P. Everitt will never receive the same reward.
You'll know if you really care or not when we kick that first goal in round one, and the hairs on the back of your neck do or don't stand up, that's when I knew....
There's always (I hope) the core players who bleed for the jumper ('Harvey bleed' is a big ask though), and you look to them... or just go and watch Harvey all year! Worth the price of membership alone.
You'll know if you really care or not when we kick that first goal in round one, and the hairs on the back of your neck do or don't stand up, that's when I knew....
There's always (I hope) the core players who bleed for the jumper ('Harvey bleed' is a big ask though), and you look to them... or just go and watch Harvey all year! Worth the price of membership alone.
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Saints Premiers 2008
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the core group of young guns are still there...the ones that were always going to be...the ones that will lead us to the ultimate prize
before having a real charge at the comp teams top up with QUALITY (no ackland, mcgough and guerra arent quality)...the lions did it...the cats did it with ottens a few years ago...the weagles did it with stenglien...
so of course we are going to have a few new players from other clubs...we are just getting to that stage of becoming a real deal...just in imo...
since 2004 we have turned over around 1/3 of out list....however most are not identifiable with st.kilda apart from frankie, aussie and sammy (arguable)
and thats my two cents
before having a real charge at the comp teams top up with QUALITY (no ackland, mcgough and guerra arent quality)...the lions did it...the cats did it with ottens a few years ago...the weagles did it with stenglien...
so of course we are going to have a few new players from other clubs...we are just getting to that stage of becoming a real deal...just in imo...
since 2004 we have turned over around 1/3 of out list....however most are not identifiable with st.kilda apart from frankie, aussie and sammy (arguable)
and thats my two cents
"It's a work in progress," Lyon said.
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bigcarl
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yipper
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Well, Rob Harvey, Kenny Whiffen are still there - I walk in to the place and still the same old faces working behind the scenes - why? Because they love the club to death. So, if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. I think the game is fantastic to watch, hugely tough game to play at the elite level. There is still a fair bit of loyalty in our game - and by and large, it is a well run and vibrant competition. So, I am looking forward to the coming season and the anxieties it will bring for me. The exciting highs and the bad lows. I look forward to sitting in my seat surrounded by the other regulars and cheering on the St.Kilda Football club just as I have been doing since I was 8yo.
I want to stand for something. I'm a loyal person and I think at the end of my career it will be great to look back and know that I'm a St Kilda person for life.
- Nick Riewoldt. May 19th 2009.
- Nick Riewoldt. May 19th 2009.
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st.byron
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Understand where you're coming from Rodger.
I think non-Melbourne clubs have a much greater sense of having a home than Melbourne teams. We've had threads in the past lamenting the loss of the suburban ground, standing in the outer etc. and how a club's identity was tied up in that suburban ground. Now the only one remaining is Geelong. It's a sad loss to me. I'd rather go and stand in the outer in Moorabbin than be subjected to the marketign blitz that goes with attending the Dome.
I detest the corporatisation of football and how everything has to be a bloody package now. TV is the worst offender with impossibly deep voice-overs, super slo-mo replays and anthem music accompanying the start of coverage for every game. Stand by for the 2008 version. I'm exhausted from watching the bloody intro to the coverage, never mind the footy.
But all of the above hasn't really dimmed my enthusiasm for the Saints. Detest the marketing schtick, detest the bloody AFL, detest Cricket Australia (because they're the bloody same) and detest homogeneous grounds that are home to three four or five clubs. However, you can take the boy out of St.Kilda, but you can't take St.Kilda out ....
I think non-Melbourne clubs have a much greater sense of having a home than Melbourne teams. We've had threads in the past lamenting the loss of the suburban ground, standing in the outer etc. and how a club's identity was tied up in that suburban ground. Now the only one remaining is Geelong. It's a sad loss to me. I'd rather go and stand in the outer in Moorabbin than be subjected to the marketign blitz that goes with attending the Dome.
I detest the corporatisation of football and how everything has to be a bloody package now. TV is the worst offender with impossibly deep voice-overs, super slo-mo replays and anthem music accompanying the start of coverage for every game. Stand by for the 2008 version. I'm exhausted from watching the bloody intro to the coverage, never mind the footy.
But all of the above hasn't really dimmed my enthusiasm for the Saints. Detest the marketing schtick, detest the bloody AFL, detest Cricket Australia (because they're the bloody same) and detest homogeneous grounds that are home to three four or five clubs. However, you can take the boy out of St.Kilda, but you can't take St.Kilda out ....
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Persuader
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I have also been feeling strangely unexcited Roger. Could be because there's a lot happening in my life right now but also I'm still angry about the unfair treatment of Baker last year. The AFL makes it up as they go along.
How can anyone feel we all go in with an even chance every year.
But I know myself too well - I'm back on this site for example - as the time draws near I'll be dragged back in.
How can anyone feel we all go in with an even chance every year.
But I know myself too well - I'm back on this site for example - as the time draws near I'll be dragged back in.
Founding member of the Jason Blake Appreciation Society
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saintsRrising
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Re: Is anyone as less interested in footy for 08 than me?
Yeh....Barassi would not have done that....rodgerfox wrote:Just don't care.
. Now we see Judd - a premiership captain, walk out on his club. It's the start of the genuine rot.
.
Times change....and attendances are still going up.
However a sign that one is getting old is wishing that things did not change...and yearning for the good ole days.
Now some things go into decline....but the AFL would not yet seem to be one of them.
But then again I must be getting old too because I too preferred some aspects of good ole days footy.
But on the other hand I can't wait for the season to start.
Flying the World in comfort thanks to FF Points....
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GrumpyOne
Re: Is anyone as less interested in footy for 08 than me?
Nostalgia is not what it used to be either.saintsRrising wrote:Yeh....Barassi would not have done that....rodgerfox wrote:Just don't care.
. Now we see Judd - a premiership captain, walk out on his club. It's the start of the genuine rot.
.
Times change....and attendances are still going up.
However a sign that one is getting old is wishing that things did not change...and yearning for the good ole days.
Now some things go into decline....but the AFL would not yet seem to be one of them.
But then again I must be getting old too because I too preferred some aspects of good ole days footy.
But on the other hand I can't wait for the season to start.
Re: Is anyone as less interested in footy for 08 than me?
GrumpyOne wrote:
Nostalgia is not what it used to be either.
And instant gratification takes too long.PS Go Saints in 08 - restore Roger's faith and win the bluddy thing!
They will not grow old, as those from more northern States grow old.
For them it will always be three-quarter-time, with the scores level
and the wind advantage in the final term.
For them it will always be three-quarter-time, with the scores level
and the wind advantage in the final term.
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barks4eva
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Re: Is anyone as less interested in footy for 08 than me?
yep, it's just you dodgy, now back in your foxholerodgerfox wrote: Is it just me?
DO THE MATHS AND THE SQUARES ARE ALL ROOTED.
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HarveysDeciple
The fans still make this game the same.
As someone mentioned earlier sit in the stands in round one and listen to the crowd when we kick our first goal for season 2008. You'll know if you feel it then.
Football will always remain football at it's most basic level, and they are still pulling on our colours every week and the shield on our jumper still stands for exactly the same thing, our history won't change and what the club means to fans shouldn't ever change either...
Just wake up everyday and thing, gee...we could be Fitzroy, but we're not.
As someone mentioned earlier sit in the stands in round one and listen to the crowd when we kick our first goal for season 2008. You'll know if you feel it then.
Football will always remain football at it's most basic level, and they are still pulling on our colours every week and the shield on our jumper still stands for exactly the same thing, our history won't change and what the club means to fans shouldn't ever change either...
Just wake up everyday and thing, gee...we could be Fitzroy, but we're not.
Im still gutted on the Baker incident as well.
Lets see how two organisations handle different situations.
Harbajhan gets 3 weeks and then appeals. The evidence is that there is no evidence. He gets a reduced charge.
Baker gets 7 weeks (and yes i know what you will say "he has a bad record") no evidence.
Both organisations are corrupt in their on way, which one more so ill let you decide.
mic
Lets see how two organisations handle different situations.
Harbajhan gets 3 weeks and then appeals. The evidence is that there is no evidence. He gets a reduced charge.
Baker gets 7 weeks (and yes i know what you will say "he has a bad record") no evidence.
Both organisations are corrupt in their on way, which one more so ill let you decide.
mic
No one ever built a statue for a critic.
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meher baba
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I share some of your feelings, rf, about the off-field shenanigans in the game (many of which I giggle to see other posters describe as "professional"!!! 
).
But I am also convinced that AFL is currently a much better game on the field than it was a few decades ago: faster, more skillful, generally much more attacking (with the exception of the hideous Swans style of play which I fear we are going to continue to see more of in the red, white and black).
Whereas once upon a time I only wanted to watch games involving the Sainters, I now find that pretty much any AFL game provides good entertainment.
I am extremely disturbed about the level of manipulation that goes on at AFL headquarters: leading to ludicrous decisions such as Hall getting off in 2005 and Bakes being suspended last year on clearly insufficient evidence. And most of the umpires need to be given a serious lesson in humility.
But it's still the greatest game going in Oz: it has continued to go forward while the two rugby codes have steadily gone down the drain and soccer has only recently begun to get its act together.
).But I am also convinced that AFL is currently a much better game on the field than it was a few decades ago: faster, more skillful, generally much more attacking (with the exception of the hideous Swans style of play which I fear we are going to continue to see more of in the red, white and black).
Whereas once upon a time I only wanted to watch games involving the Sainters, I now find that pretty much any AFL game provides good entertainment.
I am extremely disturbed about the level of manipulation that goes on at AFL headquarters: leading to ludicrous decisions such as Hall getting off in 2005 and Bakes being suspended last year on clearly insufficient evidence. And most of the umpires need to be given a serious lesson in humility.
But it's still the greatest game going in Oz: it has continued to go forward while the two rugby codes have steadily gone down the drain and soccer has only recently begun to get its act together.
"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into."
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BAM! (shhhh)
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Don't know about others, but I certainly know "professionals" in other industries, some of who are in similar income brackets to AFL players, who would if anything fare worse under the same scrutiny... certainly not all, but enough.meher baba wrote:I share some of your feelings, rf, about the off-field shenanigans in the game (many of which I giggle to see other posters describe as "professional"!!!
I always wonder how much of the moral outrage is genuine.
"Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits"
- Henry Ford
- Henry Ford
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saintsRrising
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By St Kilda' standards how could you not feel quite bullish about this year?????
Worse case scenario would that we would be on the fringe of the 8.
I remember one year when we kicked it off with three one hundred point defeats ina row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and where Saints fans kidded ourselves that we could be competitive...and maybe wina game or two if we were lucky.
In 2008 we will be competitive.....how competitive we know not yet.....but we are way above our long term average that is for sure.
Lots of excitement and things to look forward too..
GTrain..
Milney...
Schnedierman
a fit X
Gilbo the excitement machine
The sublime skills of Dal..
Banger playing a leauge record number of seasons..
King and Gradiner in the ruck...
Roo reching his best....
Hayes back in town.
Grammy taking some bounces...
BJ unleashing a few 90 m monsters...
Bakes annopying the bejesus out of an opponent...
The Freo Game (wonder what will happen 2008???)
Beating the Blues again
Worse case scenario would that we would be on the fringe of the 8.
I remember one year when we kicked it off with three one hundred point defeats ina row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and where Saints fans kidded ourselves that we could be competitive...and maybe wina game or two if we were lucky.
In 2008 we will be competitive.....how competitive we know not yet.....but we are way above our long term average that is for sure.
Lots of excitement and things to look forward too..
GTrain..
Milney...
Schnedierman
a fit X
Gilbo the excitement machine
The sublime skills of Dal..
Banger playing a leauge record number of seasons..
King and Gradiner in the ruck...
Roo reching his best....
Hayes back in town.
Grammy taking some bounces...
BJ unleashing a few 90 m monsters...
Bakes annopying the bejesus out of an opponent...
The Freo Game (wonder what will happen 2008???)
Beating the Blues again
Flying the World in comfort thanks to FF Points....
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cowboy18
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I can't wait to be honest.
Good group of players, glimmers from last year suggesting that the talent can play a winning style of football, on paper a very strong team.
Can't start like last year though - need something the players can build on for the second half of the season. Clawing your way up the ladder in a very even competition after a bad start leaves no margin for error and is too wearying for the playing group.
Good group of players, glimmers from last year suggesting that the talent can play a winning style of football, on paper a very strong team.
Can't start like last year though - need something the players can build on for the second half of the season. Clawing your way up the ladder in a very even competition after a bad start leaves no margin for error and is too wearying for the playing group.