a change of mood from all the frustrations of the last two weeks. one question that can evoke a different variety of answers.

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Why do YOU love the Carlton Football Club?

we have nice uniforms

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Bruce Doull is the coolest man in the universe.

We have the best looking supporters

(come on, who hasn't thought that way about Barb once in a while?)

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Barack Obama barracks for Carlton.

good coffee

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|♥♥♥♥♥♥| http://www.blueseum.org |♥♥♥♥♥♥|

Because i was brought up to love Carlton and taken to PP as a 4 year old and just fell in love with it......... "peanuts shilling a bag" Need i say more.

Mr Barassi signing a 10 year olds autograph book with a knowing wink wasnt bad either.
Then Jezza came along and i hadnt seen footy played like he played it.
Not many have since either.
Then i liked a long haired hippy looking bloke who looked like he came straight from Woodstock, but then owned the half back flank (and then EVERY vfl forward) for about the next 15 years.
And i loved watching Jimmy Buckley and Wayne Harmes go about their work.

And here we are today, struggling to climb out of the doggy doo of the last 7 years.
Think we all know its going to happen, just maybe not as overnight as we all hoped.
But the love affair continueth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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I wore number 25 on the back of my jumper 40 years ago..... yes, pre Marchesani !!

Stephen Kernahan pure and simple.

He's the only reason I started following the Blues.

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Go to http://www.snoutslouts.org/ for a look at the mighty GFC...

the moment i was born my old man put on me the navy blue and white booties my nan made me and ever since then ive been obsessed with the navy blues.love the club because of its history. dont care if its good or bad we are the navy blues and im proud to say it in good time and in bad. Everybody knows im a carlton supporter coz i have a carlton tatt on the lower part of my arm with another 1 to come very soon

Through all the bullshit im still navy blue through and through

GO BAGGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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It's not the size of the man in the fight,but the size of the fight in the man

As a kid I arbitrarily picked them as the team I wanted to win while watching the '79 GF.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

Because I am true blue

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FEVELENKO! YOU BEAUTY!

a good quote from a Blues supporter at work " if your not carlton Get F*#ked"

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It's not the size of the man in the fight,but the size of the fight in the man

Now corrected

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FEVELENKO! YOU BEAUTY!

La Porchetta's

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Just circumstantial for me...I was bred to be Blue and that's what I am...kinda like the love I have for my family...I was born into it and can't change it and love em with everything.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

It's in the blood. Will never leave me. Will be there on my last day when I insist on the song being played.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.

Let's hope that's not for a long, long, long time yet DUC

GO BLUES !!

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

I’ve thought about this long and hard.

I grew up in the 80s, so as a young boy I was fortunate enough to follow a team that had huge success. Winning Premierships indeed felt like a birth right.

In essence then, my initial impressions and memories of the Carlton Football Club were of dark navy blue jumpers slamming goal after goal at Princes Park, usually in the Premiership (third) quarter, and usually towards the Heatley Stand end, where waves of blue support would erupt in repeated rapture.

Mosquito Fleet names like Johnston, Marcou, Ashman, Buckley, and Cataggio would reign supreme.

As a young boy, the navy blue brand and logo was forever etched into my soul. This love was to be eternal.

Of course as the years passed by, the rules of the game changed and our fortunes simultaneously changed for the worse.

While the winning ways of the 80s form the basis of my devotion to this great club, these days what I love about the club is probably more evident in the strong connections I have with similar Carlton loyalists.

My fiancé works with a Greek lad who is about 7-8 years my senior, and whenever we talk about the Blues, it’s clear to me his passion runs as deep as mine. In one sense, we are blues brothers, part of the brotherhood, we share the same culture, history, love.

Like I, I know he will be walking around at work with a sullen face today because of the news of Richard Pratt.

And I know he would have been as grumpy as I on Monday after the weekend’s loss.

Us Carlton folk are united by this great club. We are bonded and in a way moulded by the successes, failures, miracles and tragedies that have formed the history of the Carlton Football Club.

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Yep - I love Carlton...I'm not convinced they love me back - but as others have said...it's in the blood. Nothing I can do.

My love for Carlton has been greater....when I was a kid it was all I cared about...going to a game at Princes Park was what I lived for - winning was everything and something we did quite well; and even in the 80's I'd analyse the game, critique it in the car on the way home and provide a summary to Mum while she was cooking dinner that Saturday night.

I wrote letters to David Parkin and when on a holiday to Europe in 1982, aged 8 - sent him a postcard from France stating that 'while the Eiffel Tower was very impressive, it just didn't have the atmosphere of the Gardiner Stand on a Saturday afternoon'. Mr Parkin would often write back. The club valued it's supporters like never before. There wasn't much infighting among supporters - we left that to the club - safe in the knowledge that this club had survived on infighting and coups that would often bring about more sustained success for the club we loved.

Nowadays I go to training sessions from time to time...mostly in order to relive greater days, when the crowd was jammed in like sardines to see their heroes on display, when the men in front of us would quickly drink their cans of beer before half time in the seconds and give them to me to stand on so I could see. I still remember Frank, Tom and Leo...the old doormen (now departed) of the club who along with Dad would challenge me to 'just watch Bruce Doull - don't worry about where the ball is - just watch Doull'.

I can hear it still....especially when it comes out of my mouth as I say to a youngster 'watch Judd - don't worry where the ball is - just watch Judd'. Luckily Juddy, like the Flying Doormat, is easy to spot!

On Monday I turn 35. I don't feel 35 in any other aspect of my life other than when it comes to following Carlton. I wonder if anyone else my age or older feels the same? The supporter gives emotionally, financially and does so because they care - because they love the simple things about the club. For me - it's the jumper, the history, the memories...

These days, I mostly go to games by myself. While my father gave me the opportunity to love Carlton, he's no longer interested in going to the MCG or Docklands or listening to the people around him - or watching the game as it's played today. He'll watch it on TV...but will rather watch his old side Williamstown run around.

I'll always love the Blues. But I'm waiting for Premiership 17...just holding out for one more before I walk away. The game and the club have changed. Neither for the better and no one can convince me otherwise. Just let me savor one more Premiership...you'll still find me down at Princes Park, at the odd game, or bidding against me on eBay for Carlton memorabilia pre-dating 1982, but the love is slowly waning...

I really enjoyed reading that, great post.

For those of us that were brought up at Princess Park, things will never ever be the same. That said, I don't think I could ever walk away, it's too much a part of me.

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues