Have a Read, and tell me what you think.

[sainter27]

Language just edited.

ST KILDA VS CARLTON. RD 2 2008.


There is a fucck-wit behind me.

His wife sits next to him and wants to stab him in the throat.

I know this because she told me.

‘You watch Carlton move the ball from the back-line to the forward-line.

The Saints players won’t touch it’.

Carlton move the ball up the field and Fevola marks.

‘Fevola, he is a champion, he won’t miss this’.

Fevola misses.

‘You watch, he’ll get it again and kick a goal’.

He doesn’t.

I sit back in my chair, I am angry, I truly want to hit this guy.

He has no idea but loves to think that he does.

All he does is watch and criticize.

As I weigh up the pros and cons of belting him I have a redeeming thought.

I wonder how many f***-wits there are in the stadium?

Probably most of them are, so it is not that unlucky that one is behind me.

Besides, what right does he have to make comment?

In reality, I guess he has every right.

Even when he is wrong all the time.

He pays his money, he deserves to have his say.

This is where footy is a great leveler, there are all types of people who go, and everyone

is allowed their say, even the f***-wits.

But footy has become more of an entertainment than a sport.

Players worry about their hair, umpires want to have more impact, and fans pay

ridiculous prices for terrible food and mid-strength beer.

Maybe having a say is the last thing fans can actually do, because other rights are denied.



The umpires are a joke.

In years past, I went to the footy to see high marks, brilliant goals, and great acts of

courage.

The aesthetics that make our game the best on earth.

The umpires were necessary but not to be noticed.

That is not the case today.

The umpires must be noticed, they must be part of the game.

They must talk to players, use nicknames.

But when a player talks back to an umpire it is as if they have never been talked back too

before.

So often a fifty.

So rarely warranted.

Do the fans hear it?

Do they know what this ridiculous penalty is for? No.

All they know it is against their side.

All because the umpires, a non-professional position want respect.

What a joke.

If you can’t take a little abuse, do something else on the weekends.

Don’t make footy people suffer.

Everyone these days seems to want people to follow a group of unwritten rules.

Be polite, respectful and never be really controversial.

Because that can upset people, and we don’t want to do that.

We want everyone to have a great time.

It is just a soft attitude.

Late in the second-term I see a great fly from Schneider on the flank.

He can’t mark, but the Saints grab the crumbs and kick a great goal.

I am excited, but a whistle has sounded.

Who’s free kick is this?

Carlton’s, against Schneider for hands in the back.

As the replay comes up on the big-screen people everywhere moan and whine.

It’s a fair contest but a free-kick has been found.

I couldn’t find it.

No-one could.

But that is how it is now.

Its easier to pay a free-kick than not too.

And the worrying thing is that the fans are adapting.

Instead of looking at a great goal and a high-mark for its great aesthetic value,

they always have an eye on the umpire.

A free-kick is expected rather than something that should be well earned.

Players play for them now.

I don’t blame them, there is a good chance they’ll get one.

But it looks terrible from the stands.

Not that the AFL care, they have all the money.



Gotta wet the whistle at half-time.

I go to get three beers from a bar on the wing at Telstra Dome.

Bouncers guard the doors like two vicious dogs protecting a bone.

I wonder to myself weather they have been told they are at the footy, or perhaps they

really think they are on the door of a nightclub.

I approach the bar and order three beers, knowing they are mid-strength because they are

to be drunk in the seats.

I get presented with a tray of beers, of which I am to take three.

All of them valued at $6.50 each and all of them without any semblance of a head.

I have to say something,

‘I want three fresh beers, none of this tray bulls***, there is no bloody head and how the

f*** do I know how long they have been sitting there?’

He pours the beers, and I pay the ridiculous price that it costs.

They charge you monstrous prices, the beers are poured badly from a machine at some

point earlier, because they want to sell more, and the people are supposed to be happy

because it takes less time to get drinks.

I walk back to the seats puzzled not only because of the beer situation but also the fact

that I need to have a little paper carry tray to transport the beers.

Which costs 40c.

I have to buy one because I can’t carry the three beers.

Shiit, now I have to get food.



I stand at half-time and look around the ground.

The Saints major sponsor is Jeld-Wen.

I think they make doors or something.

As long as the money goes to the club, I don’t care who it is.

A Saints advertisement runs on the big screen.

Gotta get members.

I remember the SOS days of 1995.

It was tough then but we are healthy now, and that is all that matters.

My mind wonders to thoughts of Osterhoudt’s essay about Hegel.

That we can relate art to sport.

We can.

We shouldn’t.

We live in an age where people will buy a circle on a piece of paper if it is done by the

right artist.

And is the right price.

Idiots guide idiots.

The last thing we need is university people writing bloated sentences stuffed with huge

words about sport.

It may look good but the more sport is interpreted, the more it loses what it is.

Segraves’ talks about sport being akin to life.

Sport can be an escapism of life.

Sport can be a way of life.

But sport is not life.

Never has been.

Never will be.

I wish Segraves, Osterhoudt or Hegel were here to help me deal with this f***-wit.

Pity they’re all dead.



The third quarter starts. Ball misses a target, then Clarke does, then Riewoldt misses a

goal, ‘St Kilda, they can’t hit targets, the worst kicking side in the comp’.

I hate when the f***-wit makes stupid statements.

Carlton brings the ball out, it is intercepted by Gilbert who pumps it to Milne.

He marks, plays-on, snaps, and misses.

I can’t control my rage.

‘You little fucck, how on earth could you do that. You fucker’.

I have probably been drowned out by the moans of other supporters, but the man in-front

of me turns around.

He looks at me as if I have stolen his wallet.

I stare at him until he turns back the right way.

I’d forgotten you weren’t supposed to swear at the footy.

What a disgrace I am, I swore in-front of children.

They would never have heard that word if I didn’t just say it.

Children need to be protected from this language, especially at the

footy, where passionless people should just sit there and politely clap.

If children need to be screened from bad language they should have no access to the

computer, no access to computer games, extremely limited access to television, and they

should be home-schooled.

When that occurs, then we can ban bad language.

But it does appear that some adults are offended by bad language also.

It may limit their enjoyment of the game.

Gee, I would have imagined most people are offended by disease and illness

and war and poverty.

But apparently swearing is just terrible.

If people don’t like swearing, they should go to the theatre, a movie, a restaurant.

If they come to a competitive sport, they should accept swearing.

But unfortunately it has been banned at the footy.

Like so many things.

Late in the third-quarter, Dal-Santo misses a target.

He is dragged.

I stand-up.

‘It’s about time, f***-off Dal-Santo’.



Australian Rules has always been uniquely that.

A game that is appreciated by Australians.

It’s mostly because it is about toughness, hardness, discipline and skill.

Traits that Australians like to think they have, perhaps that embody what being Australian

is about.

About values.

It doesn’t matter about ethnic background or religious beliefs or

colour, or how much people earn.

They can all have a passion for the one club.

It is the great leveler of society.

This is not lost, but it is being lost.

It is being lost because people are being denied.

They are being financially killed by food and mid-strength beer.

They are being short-changed by a hike in ticket prices.

They can’t smoke, they can’t swear, they can’t be demonstrative.

And worst of all, they are subjected to a game that is becoming increasingly soft and is

terribly over-umpired.

They are coming to a game with a diminishing number of great marks, tackles and acts of

courage.

But they are coming, and they always will.

They always will because they are real supporters.

They pay their money and will go every week.

These are the people who need to be protected, they make the game.

Yet these are the people who get shafted.

They are taken for granted, because they are a given.

They are taken advantage of.

They will take all the crap that the AFL introduce because they love to watch their team

play.

It is disgraceful but it is happening.

And I can’t see when it will stop.



It is late in the last quarter. The Saints have killed Carlton but it has been an unimpressive

display.

‘Carlton have made us look ordinary.

We can’t make the finals with this side.

Why didn’t they trade Riewoldt in the off-season? He can’t kick’.

There is a fucck-wit behind me.

But even fucck-wits are allowed their say.

[GrumpyOne]

But even fucck-wits are allowed their say.

Obviously.

[plumtire]

drugs are not safe

[karnaby]

I enjoyed the read sainter27, a lot of it really rang a bell with me tho I try to remember that apart from the flower wit behind me there is also one inside waiting to escape

[st.byron]

Lovely essay there Sainter 27.
You should send that into the Age.
What to do about the umpiring? It's not the umpires fault, it's the AFL's.
We even get thanked after the game on behalf of Telstra Dome management for attending. $4.20 for a tray of chips that wouldn't feed a seagull. Crap food, crap beer, sanitised, sanitised, sanitised.
9 Melbourne clubs, only two home grounds. They're not homes, they're places of packaged, sanitised entertainment.
No hard tough contests, it's a free kick instead.
In spite of all this, we still keep turning up.

[jonesy]

Post of the year

[St.Kenny]

Excellent post which gives gets we [cynics] nodding our head. Remember there are a lot of tools who support our beloved team too if that is consolation to you. You'll find a few of them on this site if you upset them. As for the umps ...couldnt agree more. Far too noticeable with their flurescent shirts , knee jerk use of the whistles and above all 'egotistical' approach to adjudication.

[GrumpyOne]

Post of the year

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

[evertonfc]

Great post.

Reminded me of Saturday, in my reserved seat - directly behind the cheer squad, where I had some 50-year-old clown in face paint yelling like an absolute tool "Kick it kick it kicccccccccccck itttttttttttttt" every 14.6 seconds. I reckon 20 people told him to zip it, but he just kept going.

Then there was a bloke on my left who knew simply nothing about how football works, but just kept calling out the usual "why don't you just kick it up the guts" - and inevitably when we did, it would be to a 4-on-1, inadvertantly setting up Geelong for a thrust forward.

It never ceases to amaze me how little people actually understand about football. But at least I console myself with the knowledge they are forking out their hard-earned to support the club, which is something I suppose.

It just makes watching football a bloody difficult thing when you've got people around who know screw-all about the game.

Does my head in. Does this sort of thing happen on Level 2? I am tempted to upgrade just to get away.

[karnaby]

Post of the year

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

I too don't like abuse of our own players (both at the game & in here!) however I do find myself wanting to "hurl" frustration at them all too often.

[karnaby]

Does this sort of thing happen on Level 2?

I suspect that you are well aware that it actually happens everywhere. Put a few supporters together, add a dose of frustration & bingo - you've got instant angst.

[jonesy]

Post of the year

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

Keep it civil or don't bother posting,surely you know the rules after your squillion post count

[GrumpyOne]

Post of the year

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

Keep it civil or don't bother posting,surely you know the rules after your squillion post count

And I would say to the original poster to keep it civil or don't bother supporting. There are enough abusive tools calling themselves supporters in the crowd as it is, without producing a post that lauds that type of activity.

[i_luv_nick_riewoldt]

nice read! Its a true account of what it can be like to go to the footy.

[aussierules0k]

[boneless23]

Best post, I have read on this site in 6 years. I found myself relating perfectly to about 20 points you made. I think a lot of us will.

I think Grumpy One was the bloke sitting in front of you!!

[The Saintsational Man]

But even fucck-wits are allowed their say.

Obviously.

HAHAHAHA that'll have me laughing for a few days!!!

[Saint_in_SA]

Yep, cracker post..... makes you realise when you add it all up how SANITISED not just footy is, but life as well.

All of this political correctness and legalised theft makes me sick

[Iceman234]

I find you and your seat neighbour the reasons I prefer to buy different seats each week in the social club area.

I couldn't stand to be locked into being near either of you.

[luckysaint]

that I need to have a little paper carry tray to transport the beers.

Which costs 80c.

edited for accuracy

[aussierules0k]

[st.byron]

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

Jesus Grumps, what's up your nose about the OP? Seemed like a bloody good read to me.

[GrumpyOne]

Crap!!!!!!!

Is it acceptable to hurl obscene abuse at our own players?

Look up supporter in the dictionary, TOOL.

Jesus Grumps, what's up your nose about the OP? Seemed like a bloody good read to me.

This:

intercepted by Gilbert who pumps it to Milne.

He marks, plays-on, snaps, and misses.

I can’t control my rage.

‘You little fucck, how on earth could you do that. You fucker’.

and

Late in the third-quarter, Dal-Santo misses a target.

He is dragged.

I stand-up.

‘It’s about time, f***-off Dal-Santo’.

I have absolutely no time for fwit supporters who abuse players like that.

BTW, you dont have to use my full name in posts. Just Grumps will do.

[Rooy_coin]

But even fucck-wits are allowed their say.

Obviously.

[Cairnsman]

Melbourne is a bubble. Unless you burst out you may never know what I mean.