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The beers are being chilled, the snags are in the freezer and your mates are on the way over. The only way footy finals time could get any better is by grabbing the latest copy of ALPHA. If footy is religion then it’s only natural that two Saints grace this…
Steven Seagal!
If you want any proof of the big gap that sometimes exists between AFL’s fans and the clubs and administrators, it’s the ongoing fallout from Brendan Fevola’s antics at the Brownlows.
Most fans think it’s hilarious, partly because it’s the kind of stuff most of them have done themselves after a few brews, and partly because if anyone needs having the stuffing taken out of him it’s Very Serious Chris Judd, who is very serious indeed.
The trouble is not what Fevola did, it’s the fact that he did it on television, embarrassing all the suits no end. Fevola just ran about having a bit of a giggle, but the way the authorities (and some of the media) carry on, it’s like he murdered someone with a shovel. The Bucket has just heard someone on Fox describe it as “atrocious”. Jeez, mate, haven’t you even heard of Steven Seagal?
“That is the sort of forward thinking that I think the game requires.”
England’s Graham Swann, on Gary Kirsten’s belief that players should have sex before games.
A sad day for readers of Alpha (yes, there’s an actual magazine to go with this site!), as news hits our virtual desks of Jodie Henry’s retirement. The Olympic champion featured in our first issue, and was a lovely, if slightly flaky subject; an exasperation to coaches, she was fantastically talented, but had a complicated relationship with training. For Jodie, there was always more than the black line, and now she’s banished it for good.
The Bucket has come across this exclusive interview with a Typical Melburnian, earlier today:
Journo: Looking forward to the Grand Final?
TM: The Grand Final is over.
J: Don’t forget the NRL one, featuring the Melbourne Storm.
TM: Melbourne storm? Where’s my umbrella?
J: They are a rugby league team, playing in yet another grand final. Very exciting.
TM Didn’t you hear me? The Grand Final was last weekend. That’s it.
J: But NRL…
TM No! That’s it, I said.
J: You don’t know who Billy Slater is, do you?
TM: Go away now.
Have your say:
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Comments
On 8 October 2009 paddy says:
fev should really go to brisbane so i can see Jonathan brown hit him or something
On 9 October 2009 paddy says:
i’m sorry fev you are a bit of a legend ok
vossy you should take fev but not give daniel bradshaw to carlton
On 12 October 2009 Chloe Davies says:
It’s only sport. It’s only football. It’s only a player. So why do I feel so bad knowing Fevola is leaving? I just don’t want him to go. I still want to share his magic.
Carlton is on the verge of something special and like so many other fans, I wanted him to be part of that - and right now, I can’t imagine it all without him.
I remember the first time I got real close to Fev. I was ten years old and Carlton was playing at “Optus Oval” I was sitting in a red seat behind the players box stretching my neck out as far out as I could to see over the big men sitting in front of me.
He was running off the ground but didn’t get any applause like he does today. In fact no one even noticed him, except for one man with a beer in his hand that shouted, “Must be hard work running around in circles Fevola!”
Fevola looked in our direction and mouthed, “F-k off.”
Fevola is a brute. He is big and brazen. Yet somehow I believe underneath it all he has a good heart. A heart shaped like a giant football - That of the art he mastered so well.
Everyone wanted him to be a role model, but I wonder, if he wasn’t the Fevola we love to hate - or to love, would he still be the spectacle he is today?
How many players run through Collingwood huddles, mark a ball with one hand - consistently, kick a goal right off the boot and shush the crowd with his index finger after a goal. How many players can rouse a crowd in the way Fevola does?
The irresponsible nature of Brendan Fevola, who some say is the product of a kid who never grew up, is part and parcel of what makes up the electrifying character of Fev. And we’ve seen this eclectic mix before in the likes of Wayne Carey and Ben Cousins. The personal qualities that add to the spectacle on field are also the qualities that lead to their downfall off it.
And of course something had to be done. Fevola has had his fair share of chances - and he hasn’t taken them. I don’t blame the football club and I don’t think its fair that so many blues fans do.
Carlton have invested a huge amount of time and effort in developing Fevola and shaping the great player he is today and he hasn’t payed back the respect. Carlton had to make a tough decision and what we must remember is that it was Fevola who put the club in that position. He has been given plenty of chances and must be punished - not rewarded - for his actions.
The fact that they traded him merely hours before the deadline suggests that Fevola’s behaviour may have been worse than originally thought; I don’t believe we’ve heard the end of it all yet.
And that’s why this is all so hard. How much do we let a champion get away with? Because he is a champion.
And that’s why this is all so confusing. I support the clubs decision yet I feel sad and angry seeing him in a Brisbane jumper. It’s my head vs my heart.
Brown. Bradshaw. Black. And Fevola. Together. Brisbane is going to give it one hell of a crack next year and will be force to be reckoned with.
And Fevola will be magical and ferocious at the Lions; I have no doubt about it.
I think back to when I first saw Fev up close. In many ways he is a reflection of the clubs progress. He started out a frustrated youngster in need of direction to an exciting cocky character, exuding the type of arrogance that only Carlton can when they’re up.
I will miss seeing Fevola in a blue jumper. I will miss his magical moments. I will miss the crowd’s roar of “FEVOLA!” the old dark navy Blue.