To be honest I do not care about who wins on Saturday, I really don't. Will I watch the game? No, in fact I haven't watched a whole nonCarlton game in about 5 years and about 10 mins in total this year. On GF afternoon I will be in the gym as I know it will dead quiet and I can train without being distrubed. I haven't cared about anything to do with the AFL in years. New teams. Pffft. International rules. Pffft. Draft time and trades Double Pffft. If it doesn't involve Carlton I just don't care. Hell I even do not watch the various footy shows expect for On The Couch as they are more about the personalties than any serious anyalsis of the game.

It didn't always be like this. I used to watch massive amounts of footy, discuss footy with friends and collegues. Devour opinion pieces. But then it changed. For some the world changed on Sept 11, for me the world changed in the aftermath of Black Friday. The day we got scewed not only by the AFL but by the other clubs as well. Yes we were in the wrong and were prepared to take our medicine. But what occured was pure vindictiveness, a genuine attempt to destroy our club for decades. There was no consideration for the fact that the members had got rid of the administration responsible for the breaches, no consideration that we were on our knees financially. None. The knives were out and plunged into our body with glee. Later we find that those who plunged the knives in with the most enthusasism were every bit as guilty, if not more so, than we were. Shady land deals, dodgy websites, massive wages to show up for a coffee and a bikkie once a week at a major company, it was all creative but every bit as dodgy as a brown paper bag. I could never abide by hypocrisy

Prior to Black Friday I was genial about footy and happy to discuss it with anybody, then the abuse started. Being called a lair and a cheat to my face. Having people laugh and take shear joy in our plight scared me in a way that I will never, ever forget. I will remember each and everyone of them. Forever.

So now if it doesn't involve Carlton directly, I am not interested. Period. Each and every Carlton player is precious to me. I am more concerned on why Micheal Shields left than who won the Brownlow. Each and every Carlton supporter is family, no matter how dysfunctional they are.

You can call me bitter and twisted, a paranoid holder of grudes if you wish.

But just call me Carlton

And stuff the rest.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

I only care because of Clarkson's cowardly king-hit on Ian Aitken, which pretty much ruined his career. And the bastard's behaviour as a senior coach shows that he hasn't changed his spots since then either.

So in a roundabout way, it's because I care for Carlton that I want Hawthorn to lose on Saturday. (As Frankie pointed out in another thread)

POTY!!

Fabulous stuff BM full of passion for our great club and "stuff" the rest!

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

Don't like Kennett or Franklin ... Go Cats.

Don't like Kennett or Franklin ... Go Cats.

Don't like Kennett or Franklin ... Go Cats.

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BlueMark - I must admit to feeling a bit the same way.

Prior to 2002 - I knew all 16 clubs lists intimately - I didn't need to buy a Football Record (and wouldn't knowing whose salaries I was subsidising ) I knew all the numbers.

I must admit these days I had to ask Agro Jnr - who our number 26 was (sorry Joey ).

But when we win number 17 - I will be close to being arrested at the MCG - after I vent out to all and sundry who have arseholed us since 2002 - I have a list and each one is going to cop it - and if that big fat greasy bastard who cant even read the right rounds out at a Brownlow Medal Count so much as even touches the Premiership Cup as it is handed to Chris Judd on the Victory Dias - he will be very thankful that the right to bear arms is not mandated in the Australian Constitution.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Wow, just wow... great post. Could not agree any more.

I can;t watch games without Carlton involved, knowing the teams I am wathcing were happy to enough to try and make sure we would end up like Fitzroy or something. They are all scum, not just Collonwood, but all of them.

Brownlow Medal = crap
Rising Star = crap
Carlton B& F = most important individual award in the world

Seriously dont care who wins, if half the Hawthorn team get injurred, I dont care... that being said, I do like Chance Bateman.

Geelong, good luck to them... cos when we come through, its gonna be hell to pay!

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The AFL equalisation policy (designed with StKilda firmly in mind) is the only reason they exist.

Like all on this thread, great post, BB; AGRO, take me with you on that soon-to-be-realised vent.....actually, I'll go further. I'd doubt the fat slug will ever hand the cup to Juddy, knowing he'll face the full opprobrium from Carlton fans. Instead, he'll slip through the back door and I'll be waiting, reminding him gently of his failure to kill this great club......

Up until a couple of years ago I felt quite bitter about the trade sanctions. These days I look at the likes of Judd, Gibbs, Kruezer, Murphy and feel that the penalties were perhaps a blessing in disguise.
Without the trade sanctions we probably would have been a "ninthmond" type side throughout 2005-07 instead of bottoming out and recruiting very well.

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There is no footy god

Couldn't agree more BM. Magnificent post.

As much as I admire the passion of the post, I can't agree with the sentiment. Firstly, even though I love our club, and have done so for forty years, I always bear in mind that we are talking about football. It's not finding a cure for cancer, and it isn't a deadly issue such as Iraq, or any of the other drama that's going on in that region.

But even without a rational perspective, and as much as I hated what happened in 2002, I can't bear a grudge, because I look at what our team is becoming, and realise that those penalties gave us the enema we had to have.

Australian Rules football is a beautiful game with an edge, and is a magnificent spectacle. For that reason I'm looking forward to the Grand Final, because it will be an example of the best our game has to offer.

As for those with chips on your shoulders, I can't help but think you are only defeating yourselves, and have let those you supposedly hate have a win. At the end of the day, I watch AFL because I choose to do so, and won't allow my actions to be determined by the behaviour of others, especially those I despise.

Did you wake up this morning and think "I think today I might just be a self-obsessed, petulant little turd!" or did it happen by osmosis?

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

I have similar views but for different reasons.

I only watch parts of non-carlton games out of my pure hatred of the opposition.

I used to love all AFL games, I would go to many non carlton games a year, but to be honest, footy isn't a great sport to watch anymore. If it isn't the umpires and rule interpretations screwing it up it is the style of play that teams are using.

I had every intention of going to most of the finals game this year, but when it came to the crunch I just couldn't be bothered - now I'm glad I didn't waste my time.

Add to this the crap idea about a West Sydney team rather then a Tassie team and it just turns me off the game even more.

If people ask me 'do you like footy' I always reply, not really but I love Carlton.

I will be watching on Saturday though, some traditions are hard to break.


Plus I can't wait to see the hawks cry.

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

I for one go every year, will be going this year and can't wait to re-experience the atmosphere and for the action to start. I feel for anyone that won't/can't enjoy this weekend for whatever reasons because nothing beats GF for me, bigger than the Melbourne Cup!!

Feel pretty much the same above about not watching non-carlton games but I always watch the GF

Bluemark
Yeah, I feel that way myself, hardly watch any non Carlton game on TV.
But I think that is a result of our poor record over the last 6 years.
I have been spoilt by the Carlton football Club in my near 58 years.
Once we become a contender again and start smashing a few teams and knowing we can mix it with the best, then the enthusiasm for the game will return.
I hope the Cats win and by plenty because the Hawks play an awful, horrid game and if they win then other sides will follow suit.

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CFC. EST. JULY 1864: PREMIERS. 1869 1871 1873 1874 1875 1877 1887 1906 1907 1908 1914 1915 1938 1945 1947 1968 1970 1972 1979 1981 1982 1987 1995

aww.....shucks!

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Blues Forever!

I'm with you, Doully !!

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1. Walker,
2. Menzel,
3. Murphy,
4. Gibbs,
5. Judd.

The Aitken's were and have been neigbours of my family for over 50 years now.We lived that incident back then with the Aitken family after Clarkson" King Hit" Ian Aitken in his Rookie year and i always said"he'll one day get his"....
Karma works in strange ways JohnM and i'm sure we'll find this out come 5Pm Saturday.