Chalk it up!

Rd 10 v Essendon

Let me start by very happily eating a big piece of humble pie. Last week I suggested, and I quote, that Melbourne ‘Take the water bottle.’ For those who haven’t read the last post this relates to my suggestion that the Dees snuggle up in bed and wait for GWS to visit before trying to win a game.

Yum, I’m humbly full.

Also of note was the decision by the powers that be at Melbourne and Essendon to ignore my coach swap suggestion…look how that turned out Mr Hird and Mr Thompson.

I had a thought at the conclusion of this round; Melbourne, Brisbane and Port Adelaide beat Essendon, West Coast and Carlton respectfully, maybe we could recognize this as Charity round? We seem to have every other kind of round these days so why not one where premiership contenders give wooden spoon contenders and their supporters a week of joy. If nothing else it would be a very nice thing to do.

So the game, it was great. The first half was marred by difficult conditions, skills were lacking, but this proved a good lead-in for the Auskick game at half time. The two were almost inseparable. So much so that I required confirmation from my brother that the Auskick kids had indeed left the ground and Melbourne and Essendon returned.

Early in the third quarter I sneezed; when I turned my attention back to the game Essendon had kicked three goals. Anticipating the worst I went and purchased the worst, why do I love MCG hot dogs so much? They'd have to be in the top three wastes of money. The only thing that beats them are an 82 minute call to Bangladesh with PhoneCardPoint and the rights to five Stephen King short stories.

But this hot dog tasted different. It was better than normal. Was it the lightly drizzled mustard I’d so eloquently applied? Maybe it was the decision to drown the sugary bread in liters of sauce. The mixed offal (commonly known as a sausage) certainly didn’t have any noticeable differences. I think the reason it tasted so good was because I wasn’t interested in it. Instead I was solely on the Demons going hard at the ball. Wanting to prove something. Wanting to…wait a minute…win? I have to extend thanks to Essendon for giving us every opportunity to do so.

I can also only assume Michael Hurley had eaten something ridiculously greasy pre-game because that poor bloke couldn’t catch a cold let alone the football. On this topic, kicking 6.16 would leave the Bombers feeling pretty empty. As one fan put it rather confusingly after the game “They didn’t play well enough to win the game but Essendon played well enough to lose it.” Playing ‘well enough to lose’ is mixing a lethal grammar concoction of positive and negative.

So we’ve chalked one up and I’m absolutely stoked. I don’t care how messy the game was, how ridiculous some of the errors made were or the fact that 94% of the fans at the ground donned red and black. It’s a win and we’ll take it.

If I’m being honest, next week’s looking like a shoe-in too for three reasons. One: It’s our one ‘big game’ of the year on Queen’s Birthday (and if you can’t get yourself up for the Queen who can you for?). Two: Mark Neeld knows the Pies inside out and he can now be classed a ‘winning coach.’ Three: The new Buddy Franklin of the comp Colin Garland. Give him a weeks training to settle into his new position and 13.4 will be a broken record come Monday.

2-9 HERE WE COME!!!