round 14...eye on the prize!!!!

it is renault round viewers!!! are you a member and are you attending the big game? ps i heard it is going to be blowing a gale and there will be terrifying thunder and lightning strikes and buckets and i mean buckets of rain. i sincerely suggest you stay at home for your own safety and watch it from the comfort of your couch!!!! go on i promise not to tell anyone...hee,hee,hee!!!   
OMG the car is up for grabs and i will be there with my eye on the prize in the hope that the footy gods have been noticing my impeccable football behaviour. well if not me then i sure hope it is little lovie, (although personally i feel i am just a little ahead coz she has piked out on some games due to the cold)...shame on her and shame on me for wanting that car more than my mama and thinking i deserve it!!! hee,hee. if anyone deserves that renault for endless good deeds and genuine kindness it is my ma, the one and only lovie and complete angel. that woman's resilience knows no bounds and what i admire and love about my mum the most is her natural intelligence, calmness in the face of adversity and her beautiful soul that is kind, caring and knows the ways of motherhood in such an effortless way. (although i have to admit before i elevate her to saint like status, she can drive me kinda crazy with her virgo ways!!!! when she comes down on me with a ton of dirt, AGHHHH!!! have you put your lipstick on? mm, why are you wearing that? you know you shouldn't be taking risks... seems like the earth signs might be the fuddy duddy's of the zodiac...are they???

     well gotta say two big games this round to sway the ladder in one teams favour. the dockers vs the pussycats who had better pull out their claws if they are going to do battle with the anchor. a freo win will see the dockers surpass the cats on the ladder by two and a win by us would give us a stronger foothold on the eight. the pressure, the pressure and perhaps the expectation after knocking off the reigning premier. should be a good game and a bigger attendance but if you are coming just for the car well then poo poo to you...i hope it goes to someone who truly deserves it!!!
      well my guest tipster big ivan faired reasonably well last week considering not many would have tipped PORT or the lions for that matter. however,this week i would like to introduce you to my new guest tipster who shares the same initials as moi. she is a long time devoted and passsionate power supporter. we went to the first game in melbourne to see the POWER smash the demons in their season debut. in fact maria and i also went to the same local primary school, to the same teachers college and now we work together at the same school as colleagues. some of my fondest memories of childhood involve walking to her parents fish and chip shop...the infamous Jack's. legendary and of the days when things were completely homemade. i remember my dad would send me there to buy two hamburgers with the lot. the fish shop had a juke box which is now housed in my friends loungeroom and has been fully restored. i can still see her gorgeous mum smiling, such a warm and friendly face and such a beautiful family. but what i also vividly recall is the way my dad would unwrap the first hamburger and sit at the table while us kids watched like hungry, pesky, little seagulls. it would seem an eternity that he would torture us with the delicious smell and the vision of him devouring that homemade burger. but of course in the end he would cut up the second one and we would gulp it down as quick a a pelican would shovel a fish into its bill...those were the days and childhood was sweet.
     so from my dear friend and esteemed colleague the tips for this week are west coast by 17, swans, crows, POWER, cats, demons, hawks, the roos and the saints. mm, must say looking at them myself i am surprised she has gone for the saints and the demons. i guess we will just have to wait and see. and of course she also has her eye on the prize so if it's not my mum or me i would happy to see the renault go to my wonderful friend.

    and to another interesting twist which could affect the standings on the ladder. jobe watson has admitted to taking the anti-obesity drug. listening to the talkback radio the feeling in the air is that perhaps essendon may lose premiership points and that watson could be stripped of his brownlow. well all i will say about that is something i re-iterated before concerning football and the pursuit of winning. personally i believe it is just a crutch and is certainly not a positive way to instill in young players who already possess the talent, the skill and the genetics to just get out there and do their best. what about passion folks?? what about the time when players had a fulltime job and trained and let off steam at the pub? i bet some of those blokes are glad they were never under the same pressure as the players of todays game, apart from perhaps not minding their pay packets. well i guess it remains to be seen just as it remains to be seen if we can claim another worthy scalp to boost our respectability factor. i will wait for saturday to find out and in the meantime continue to do my good deeds for the day!!! anyone need their dinner made? perhaps i can sing for some senior citizens??? perhaps i should get the week off after all it is ladies round so you blokes get off your bums and get into the kitchen. bring out those vacuum cleaners and polish that silver because you never know with all that extra help around the house you might just kick the winning goal...wink,wink nudge,nudge say no more!!! hee,hee...love FFFXXX

post game wrap...glory to the footy gods in the highest!!!! YEE HAH!!!

glory be to the footy gods in the highest yes indeedy!!! YEE HAH!!! WOO HOOX1000. man those hail mary's must have worked a treat. looks like i am gonna have to double them, maybe treble them for this next round. well viewers if you hadn't noticed i am feeling and sounding rather happy with the outcome. you bet and to be there with son number two freezing our butts off even better. i just had a good feeling, yep that much is true. i was just feeling good and that goodness spilled over pre match to donations to sport for the blind, letting the lady who was busting in the loo go ahead of me and donating to our veterans...perhaps the footy gods were impressed with my genuine, admirable behaviour. i think they were so maybe i should turbo boost my good deeds for this week. i could look for little old ladies who need help crossing the road. maybe i could repair some punctures in the gopher of some senior citizen stranded on the roadside. maybe i could climb a few trees and rescue a few kittys, maybe, maybe, maybe i should just calm down and get this surge of excitement under control. oh well it all sounds a bit funny doesn't it? and if you got a chuckle out of my creative sense of humour then my job has already been done. 

     well not too many would have expected that result. to be perfectly honest i was not expecting a thrashing but a good, gutsy game where an honourable loss would have be fully accepted without question. but to be there on the fence line with son number two who is really very enthusiastic was worth the freeze. to say we loved it would be an understatement. to watch the guys play hard, contested footy for an entire game was awesome. the third quarter set us up for victory. and who would have thought there were only 16,000 plus at the game. i say well done die hards for braving the conditions and showing your true allegiance. we certainly made enough noise. the only slight disappointment was that son number two did not score the footy from alipate, post match. i bet if he knew he had been sitting there all game freezing his little bum off and not just for 5 mins like the kid who scored it, he would have handballed the footy straight to him instead. oh well better luck next time!!!

      and to another surprising result and extraordinary comeback...the lions. who would have picked that one especially after such a commanding lead in the third? the lions finally roared, declared themselves kings of the footy jungle and took a chomp out of the pussycats lead in the last 24 seconds of the game. remarkable victory and a huge disappointment for some. i heard a rumour that one disgruntled cats supporter spat the dummy but i won't name and shame!!!! hee,hee, footy certainly can bring out the best and worst in spectators whether you are at the game or doing the couch thing. me i am passionate but take it with a grain of salt. the dark years have strengthened my resilience and transformed me into the optimistic realist. well done POWER and definitely a surge towards the prospect of hanging on to a spot in the eight and yes some deserved respect and credibility...

PS an honourable loss to the eagles, watched that one friday night. son number two is doing his footy calculations and is becoming quite the analyst. he was hoping for a lions victory to help his other team FREO which indeed it did just as PORT has improved FREO'S standing on the ladder. in anycase it sets up for two crucial games next round, FREO vs the CATS and PORT vs PIES... FREO to jump ahead of CATS and PORT to get a stronger foothold on the eight. and i have no doubt a few CROWS supporters might be feeling a little apprehensive about the game against the suns too...hee,hee

round 13...the big scalp

is this the bogey round? will some teams like melbourne get another win on the board after the exit of their coach? sometimes they do seem to pull it off, sometimes they don't. well i say i wouldn't be surprised... the saints haven't given us much of a dazzling display this season. and will our young guns get some serious respect by claiming the big scalp of sydney? i don't know. i am hoping for a gutsy display and nothing is impossible. maybe we will rise to the occassion or maybe we will get our butts kicked or maybe we will be somewhere in between. i will have to wait for saturday to find out.

    to round 13 we go with some teams glad to have the bye to lick their wounds and rethink their game plans. we have just passed the half way mark and i have to say i am certainly enjoying this season so much more compared to the past few years. enjoying it more because i am optimistic about PORT'S future and also because regardless, i love a great, gutsy, hard fought game, the closer the better. there is a lot to learn and admire from those teams who seem to be travelling effortlessly. and who would have thought that i could admit to a soft spot for a few? yes a soft spot for a few outside my beloved POWER and maybe one of them i will have to adopt come finals time. my prediction mid season...a fully fledged bird grandfinal...swans and hawks. we will just have to wait and see. and yes i do love watching the grandfinal especially when it is a great game. nothing more disappointing than an annihilation but let ,me just stop right there...the only way is forward now and i can't ever imagine being able to drink that much again!!!
     to my guest tipster this week i have none other than my brother in law. a true irishman who has come to love the ways of australia. come to love and appreciate them so much he married my sister and claimed his citizenship. i met him first in london when my sister was lovestruck or was that lust struck? hee,hee and i could tell you a few stories but i won't. let's just say we have managed to set him straight and get him barracking for the right team!!! go the POWER!!!
so uncle ivan as i affectionately call him or big ivan coz he is rather tall has decided upon the hawks, swans, saints, richmond, freo and the cats. this is a man not to be swayed by emotion. (besides he is in his works tipping comp and the first prize is a thousand bucks so he takes it seriously as do all the others...) good luck viewers and may you continue to climb the rungs of the tipping ladder. may the footy force be with you not against you!!! ciao for now...love FFFXXX  
    

post game wrap...round 12...imagine

ha, ha!! i got my get off the couch free card on sunday. had tickets to the thunderbirds and took my niece to relive the netball dream. sometimes i imagine (briefly) how my life would have been different if i had made it down the netball path...almost did. but back in my day, netball was more about politics than talent. still i have a newspaper article to prove it, not meaning to hoist up my netball skirt but once upon a time sport was my greatest passion and i lived for it. some of us are just the physical type and me that is what i am mostly remembered for. unfortunately i cannot boost any mature age sides these days as much as i would love to, a hip injury has all but rubbed me out of that. boo hoo but that is the card i was eventually dealt. and sometimes i dwell on it but most of the time i keep on moving on doing the best with what i've got...end of story.

     and imagine if we had lost to GWS? i didn't really believe we would but have to admit i was somewhat apprehensive. were the signs there? well kevin sheedy seemed to think so and for goodness sake all the talk about playing their grandfinal. talk about getting ahead of yourself...naive mistake!!! and me i sat with girlfriend number one (who is an outstanding netball player herself) and who i could well imagine might yet still give some of those thunderbirds a run for their money. if she was any younger she would be there for sure and me i would probably seem like a midget compared to some of those glamazons. yes i sat there with GF number one and we were giving our 20 cents worth wondering why the GK hadn't been taken off already because the opposition GS was killing it. and we also sat there wondering why on earth of all colours they had to go pink. a bad season and the headline would scream...PINK STINKS!!! but fortunately for them they are top of the ladder. and there i was with my trusty iphone AFL app checking the score and showing my niece and going OMG we are smashing them, exactly what we needed and well done young guns. my letter must have obviously motivated them and yes PORT are in definite favour with son number two. and double well done to son number two for 6/6 tips.  

     and imagine if we beat the swans??? perhaps another plea to the footy gods are in order...dear footy gods at least let us have a great game and not get flogged like the CROWS, amen, bless you all and allelujah, hail maryx1000. and that is all i'm gonna say except well done hawks, the rest of the round was pretty predictable and i have the flu just like a thousand other people or more, flu shmoo what ya gonna do? get better of course viewers!!! over and out, FFFXXX

from the couch...round 12...team play

man sometimes i feel like i am in a war zone. dealing with conflict, dealing with undisciplned behaviour and individuals. not enough players who want to work for the team. maybe i need to change some of my training methods...maybe i should blow my whistle but i would probably set off the fire alarms. sometimes i wish i had those sprinklers in the ceilings, ha! nothing like a bit of cold water therapy wouldn't fix and yes i would time it perfectly, set them off and go and hide in my storeroom and laugh my head off. in fact i think all classrooms need to be equipped with the sprinkler system, i think it would be effective!!!! hee,hee...imagine that??? but then i would probably be hauled in front of the human rights commission, poo, poo!!!

     the reality is that all players come with a different set of skills and experience and level of support to follow their dreams. not meaning to sound depressing or be on a downer but the reality for me is that right now more often than not i get players who have no support to follow their dreams and quite frankly if you were to ask some of them what they were they wouldn't be able to tell you. and that is a real shame because sometimes there is genuine potential to be tapped. a gem to be polished, but as a coach you don't always get to hand pick your team and the reward for me anyhow is not necessarily having the most skilled or exceptional player but one who has the motivation and determination to suceed for themselves but not at the expense of others. one who leads by example and is a positive role model for others to follow. and what makes a good team should never be left up to one individual but to everyone involved. of course you have your key players but to rely on them and not pull your weight is not what team work is all about. and seriously it takes time to get the balance right for all involved to know their role and where they belong.  it takes time to move as one, to hone that intuition and skill and some days your team are just in the zone and it all comes together effortlessly. now that is something to witness and is a joy to watch. makes me think of the burgoyne and lade combination, what a partnership that was, a wonderful marriage of players.

     if you dissect some of the top teams at the moment and have a look at where they are travelling i would have to say the swans and hawthorn followed by the cats are the standout teams for me. as for mine well i am still deciding whether to take my pole position on the couch and watch the game. yes i know that might sound a bit pathetic but a lot is at stake this week. the pressure is certainly on more so than ever. on one hand we have one young side who is yet to win a game and the other, PORT, under enormous pressure to turn a losing streak around, let the mind games begin...sheedy was the one to start that. and when doubt begins to creep in and you begin to listen to those outside forces well there has to be a crack. is there a crack in my support? well technically no but to be truthful i have had a tough week and i will cop a loss if so be it and still support my team but maybe now is the time to say a little prayer to the footy gods...my request... to spare us the embarrassment of being a media headline and the first scalp to fall to GWS. memories are long and that is all i will say about that one, lest i jinx them!!!
     my guest tipster continues where he left off last week. son number two has selected the hawks, richmond,freo, essendon, port and collingwood. and so to that i will leave you viewers and with something i found in a colleagues classroom many years ago. TogetherEveryoneAchieves More. where once i strove to develop independence i have now changed the game plan to interdependence because after all no man is an island...that much is true.
love FFFXXX

from the couch...post game wrap...round 11

well gotta say i do admire sydney. the swans are the quiet achievers who come finals time seem to get the job done. what impresses me most about them is that they seem to be a balanced team right across the board (still with some key players to come back in). they have yet to fall from grace and meander through the football wilderness which seems to happen to a few after a run of glorious victories. somehow they have managed to keep their list healthy and apart from some big, standout players like adam goodes who is certainly to be admired and respected they just keep on going on. personally i have always maintained apart from the advanatge of finishing in the top four and getting a double dip, finals are a completely different ball game. doesn't matter how well you played throughout the season. doesn't matter if you finished top. doesn't matter if you are even undefeated. if you cannot produce on the one day that matters... the holy grail of football, the premiership cup will be out of reach. it is completely understandable how dejected players must feel to lose the big one after all that training and stress to ones body. not being able to drink or have copious amounts of sex or eat their mamma's cream laden homemade pasta or stay out past nine o'clock...must completely suck!!!!

     also one should refrain from big noting themselves and making outlandish claims or claims that post match can make your words appear foolish. if you can't back it up then don't say it. yet interesting what has been written in the papers and yes i would agree, season 2012 was a season of the luck of the draw and overachievment...dare i say it for the CROWS? and should i really admit to what i thought about their demoralising  loss??? should i restrain myself??? the moment i enjoyed the most i have to confess was when the score blew out to 102 ahead, OMG could it be that they would surpass the number all POWER supporters have indelibly etched deep into their subconscious? it ain't pretty when your team gets their ass kicked but all is fair in love and war i say...and me there is nothing you can say because i have plummeted to such depths, notably the 2007 final. just ask my sons who found their mother unconscious on the bathroom floor, to this day i still feel guitly. i also feel guitly for trying to pass myself off as a vitenamese cats supporter ( no disrespect to the vietnamese community but the alcohol made me do it) on the local radio footy hotline. that i have to admit is completely true and i almost had him fooled, hee,hee. so the only way is up viewers and the signs are there and i applaud chris mcdermott for writing it as it is. certainly a reasonable assessment of the POWER... thanks dermy!!!

     well to my junior tipster this week, son number two. he scored a very good five from six. well me i was not surprised by the suns victory. they should no longer be considered a walk in the park and are on the improve. winning a few more games will just kep adding to their self belief and well GWS they took it to the pussycats for three quarters until the cats woke up and sprung into action. and do you know what else? forget about pencilling in the wins. of course with some games there does seem to be a certainty about the result but as history seems to  prove, getting closer to the final rounds inevitably produces some surprise results. so me what am i feeling??? honestly i am not pencilling in the win. i don't want to think about it much. the fallout from a loss will be ringing loud and clear through the printed media no doubt, a close win will just be dismissed as no big deal beating another team in the bottom eight. but what can be learnt viewers is this. playing the big guns will show you where your'e at and is a test which can leave teams with the harsh reality that there is still have a long way to go, a long, long way to go...yeah a long way to go, just think about that you one eyed supporters, you know who you are!!! lol...love FFF XXX

round 11...to indoctrinate or not to indoctrinate???

well almost exactly half way through the season and thankfully we have a bye, some time to recover, regroup and rethink. i have communicated my thoughts/feelings to the team and hopefully they will pull their fingers out...god forbid should they lose to GWS, i can't even contemplate that  (now that would be an absolute footy nightmare!!!) and am not sure i will even be able to watch the game but somehow i am sure to come up with a solution to face this fear.

to indoctrinate or not to indoctrinate??? that is my big question for this week...and mm, i have had a 50% success rate in regard to my two sons. of course with son number one i went outta my way, yes outta my way to set him upon the path of the POWER. beanie, bib, tv replays, jumpsuit but to no avail. with son number two i just kind of forgot about it and let him decide for himself, although after last week he is threatening to defect. if i have my way there will be none of that!!! and speaking of son number two who has become quite the football enthusiast and frequent user of my iphone AFL app he has requested to be my guest tipster. and how can a mum say no to her enthusiastic nine year old?

      son number two is nine years of age. he is a keen footy enthusiast and accompanies the lady army to the home games. he barracks for port, freo but likes the cats and the swans too. he can get quite emotional and has taken to calling the umpires a cyclops. and using a few choice words which i actively discourage. however one cannot cover their ears during the games and control what is being said, seriously some of those supporters need their mouths washed out with soap, srumtibillo as us croats would say (and in english it simply means shame on you god knows i heard that enough during my childhood...hee,hee) but now i am rather fond of  it.

     so here are his tips for round 11. the bombers, cats, sydney, north melbourne, wet coast and collingwood. he was going to tip carlton but i kind of influenced him there. so if your team is not playing. which game will be the match of this round for you? personally it will be the crows vs the swans for me. i am almost tempted to go and watch it myself all in the name of footy research of course. i cannot divulge my secret fantasy coz i kind of believe in footy karma. so let's see if they are really in the hunt for the top eight or will they be the ones who have their feathers truly plucked?

from the couch...post game wrap...supporter passions and the dear port letter

well my guest tipster julie bache had a respectable round, seven from nine absolutely no shame in that. i did have an ominous feeling regarding the port game, don't know why, just did, it was a gut thing but the eagles... didn't expect that. however, i do believe that richmond are bit of a dark horse and are beginning to canter along nicely. let's see if they can gallop their way into the finals and stay there come september!!!

     supporter passion...yes supporter passions run deep. footy is such an emotional game and yes i did manage to complete my undercover mission. son number one piked out and bloody pathetic but son number two well he has become quite the football enthusiast. yes just ask my purse!!! damn those footy cards how they suck our kids in and us mamas who buy them. then of course one has to buy the album and deal with the inevitable sneaky trading and sometimes stealing that surfaces, that game is certainly not on. but i do have to agree with his father's suggestion just take the doubles to school and leave your good ones at home.

     well what do i have to report? the weather conditions for the adelaide/freo game were atrocious and my take on the dockers at the beginning of the season...waiting to see if they were going to be the great pretenders. ha nothing like being in enemy territory and of course i had no visible signs of my true allegiance. i bought tickets undercover up in the northern stand but alas someone had taken our seats which was no big deal. after five mins son number two informs me he doesn't like the view and i have to agree with him. we like it closer at ground level where all the action is. so we just leave and change our seating arrangements to join our friends who just so happen to be CROWS supporters and passionate ones at that. i have to say the crows fans certainly turn out in numbers but what they have in numbers (and of course this is just my observation) they lack in passion. yep, apart from some of my crows mates the rest of 'em well i could fart and i would be heard, hee,hee. true the only noise you will hear is when they are winning, losing and it is almost silent. call me harsh but i couldn't care less if some crows supporters start getting on their high horse and having a tizzy fit. i'm just calling it it the way i saw it. and boy did we love it. love it probably a little too much as i was on the receiving end of a few punches but thankfully we had a few freo supporters behind us to collectively cheer the purple and white. freo way to go!!! and i will have to add (although one must be careful of not tarring all the supporters with the same brush) but yes there were ample sore losers amongst the crowd. one in fact told son number two... "to shut up kid," so what is a mum suppose to do? well in this case a mum with a voice loud enough to shatter glass but sing the freo song at the top of her voice, take that and double sucked in to you!!! how very dare you!!!

      i can say i had one very happy boy who still respects and loves his freo roots. and to top it all off we met the goffa of the freo army splendid in his purple suit. he was obliging enough to have his pic taken with us and kindly allowed me to wear the blazer. i must say he was a bit sozzled but hey better to be sozzled and a winner than sozzled and a loser!!! hee, hee and although victory was sweet it wasn't to be so in the case of loungeroom spectating which left son number two in such an emotional state that he declared he was officially switching sides. OMG what is a POWER mama to do? write a letter to the team of course which i should personally deliver but right now i am in the midst of report writing which is difficult because we are not really allowed to tell the truth because if we did...well put it this way some of my students will never get to hollywood even though they try, tee,hee!!!!

      so i wonder just how many TV sets were smashed in frustration on saturday night?? not mine because i was too busy consoling myself with frangelico on ice and fresh lime juice. seriously you should try it, delish but it creeps up on ya and before you know it you have enterd the alcohol zone. girlfriend number two left it behind at my house and i can well imagine after her beloved eagles loss last night she might be wishing she took it with her. the pain, the pain...not really. after a good start and first half i was pretty optimistic. it was certainly a game for the taking and one in which would have put the brakes on five straight losses. the diffculty for me was trying to reason with son number two who was losing the plot and my little sista who is quite the vocal passionate supporter and who can get a bit narky.( we were at her house) in the end i had to leave. i couldn't take it anymore and had to retreat to the safety of my own loungeroom. i forced myself to watch till the very end with upset boy who seems as though he may have taken after his aunty. well at least i enjoyed the frangelico. can't say i enjoyed that loss but hey i am not going to become a disgruntled or fairweather supporter. through thick and thin, for better or worse they are my team and there certainly will be no divorce in this household. it just was so heartbreaking to see son number two in such pain swearing to throw in the towel. and me well i saw all my hard work going down the drain before i could find the plug to put a stop to it. so here it is boys...

dear PORT POWER PLAYERS

hello you don't know who i am but i am a passionate supporter and club member. i am from the ebert era where yes i was more like the bogan in her black duffle coat down at alberton cheering on the black and the white. i am under no illusions as to where you are at. in fact i am not expecting you to even make the finals although if you did i would be jumping for joy and doing the high five and maybe even give my boys permission to play computer games for the entire day and to raid the fridge at their leisure. but hey guys i need you to understand that you have now put all my hard work in jeopardy...yes indeed you have and i am not happy!! i have tried extremely hard to indoctrinate my boys into the ways of the POWER. i dressed my first born in a power bib and beanie. i placed him in his jolly jumper in front of the tv and forced him to watch replays but alas to no avail. he turned against me and took practically no interest in football at all. but my motto is... if at first you don't suceed well try again and that i did. along came son number two and presto my hard work began to pay off. a footy enthusiast he is and a POWER fan like his mama he is (although he was born in WA and supports freo as his second side). i even went undercover into enemy territory and took him to the crows and freo game. i placed ourselves in extreme danger by taunting the supporters ( and justifiably so). one did say shut up kid so a mother just does what she has to do...sing the freo song( well at least the chorus coz that is all i know) but now my youngest son is threatening to officailly demote you to side number two and elevate freo to his number one side. how can this be so and more to the point what are you going to do about it??? as you can see i am not exactly happy with this revelation. the reality is that all the effort i have put into adding a fan to your supporter base could now become undone. so lads do this mother a favour and pull your fingers out.

yours sincerely, 

FFF ( footy, female and fabulous)