You probably all get told, like I do, that it is just a game, usually by people who don’t share the same appreciation for AFL in general. But, we all know that it is far more than just a game.
The feeling after a loss is one of the worst there is. The feeling after a win is one of the best there is. Whether you like it or not your week is defined by two hours of football, a win and you enter the week smiling. A loss and you enter the week less than happy. A win means you buy every news paper available the next day, watch every footy review program and listen to the radio incessantly. A loss means you hibernate in your house, locking all doors, removing all media outlets and slowly gaining 2.65 kg as you eat and/or drink your way to happiness.
The players are like your family. You call each by their nickname and you feel like you have known them your entire life. You follow their stories, their highs and their lows, your heart breaks if they suffer injury and swells when they go beyond expectation. You know what makes each of them tick, you know the signs to look for if they are going to play well. You know that if Rooey gets a couple of early marks and goals he is in for a good night, while you know the same could never be said of Fraser, you may not even hear of him for the first three quarters but he will probably kick 8 in the last and you just know that regardless of the quarter or the score Banger makes it worthwhile.
You sit through so many different sorts of crap just to witness the team play. Rain, thunder, sweltering heat, connex trains, standing room only, Collingwood fans; you go through it all. And if you can’t be there to watch it live, you turn to any sort of access you can, no matter how terrible it is. SMS score updates, radio, channel seven broadcast, internet, pigeon mail; it doesn’t matter, as long as you know the score you can deal. Opposition fans try all they can to get under your skin, calling Rooey a girl, Max a sook, Milney a rapist, Baker a thug and so many other things, but regardless of that you sit and grimace at their lack of judgment. You slowly wait for Rooey to take yet another freakish mark, Max to keep his opponent to none, Milney to snap an unbelievable goal and Baker’s opponent to go missing so you can turn around and grin smugly at those supporters. Sometimes the team does you a favor, sometimes they don’t.
But..
For the past 4-5 years this phrase has become part of our vocabulary “(insert year) is our year.â€
