There Are Other Types Of Magpies Too!

There Are Other Types Of Magpies Too! 27/4/2009
Just to finish off this series on the Australian Magpie, I have to add that there is also another type of Australian Magpie too. Originally a Victorian one, but now one that flies all over Australia now, even if it has to use an aeroplane to do so!
Although long aware of them, (like every other Victorian,) I hadn’t intended to write about them. Well not until my good friend *** reminded me of them with this comment: “ I have a friend who barracks for the Collingwood Football team (called the Magpies) (Oh how sweet it was for Essendon to beat them with 10 seconds to go on Anzac Day.) ******* taught his son to barrack for them also until one day a swooping magpie cleaned him up properly!! Now the boy barracks for the West Coast Eagles!”
I replied with:” It gave me a good laugh but I am sure *******'s son didn't think it funny at all. Rather strange, if not funny too, that he has gone for another team with another Bird symbol with a savage reputation?”
Not defending the Collingwood Football Club here, but talking strictly about birds, while I would much rather not be attacked by either, I would rather be attacked by a magpie than an Eagle.
Without going into the rights and wrongs of supporting the Collingwood Football Team (Which I don’t, and which is the most hated Club in Victoria, if not the whole of Australia), what do you do when you find fault with your old team/Job/partner? Do you, like the Boy above, just change to a similar team? Or do you go and look for one completely different, if not totally opposite? What say you?

Are You Asking Yourself Too Many Times Too, Like Leigh Matthews?

Heard on the TV yesterday that Leigh Matthews, the Coach of the Brisbane Lions AFL team had quit after 10 years at the helm there, even though he had one more year left on his contract had he wanted it. Although during his time there, they won three premierships in a row, this year they finished 10th,out of 16 teams. (One spot below my Tigers!) Although some might try and make a case that he walked before He was pushed, he has gone out on his own terms, as he had indicated a little while back that he might, if he felt the time was right.
He also said he had not made a final decision until their last game for the season (which they lost) when he found that not only was he asking himself “was this the time to walk away?” But that he had been asking that question of himself a lot lately and that that was in fact a sign that it was indeed time for him to walk away and let someone else take on the task, as he had given his all and now it was time for someone new to have a go. While his decision has shocked many, I believe it was a wise one and like he also said later on the News, that even if he was wrong to go now, that he “would rather walk away one season too early, than to stay one season too Long.”
What about you and I here? Do we perhaps need to have a look at our own performances and jobs too? Maybe we too have been asking that question and maybe the answer is that we have given all that we have to offer, and now is time to walk away too like Leigh.
It my case I believe I still have at least one more year in me here, but what about you there? Have you found yourself asking that question too many times lately and now is the time to at least consider your options, before continuing on for one more year? Over to you for some thought and reflection now.

Once a Tiger, always a Tiger. (John Northey)

Although not as keen a follower of the Richmond Football club as I was back in the later 60’s, I still keep an eye on them and their progress. (Which of late hasn’t been that much although they did win their last game this week!)

Anyway, although not a great "footie tragic" I like to read about "my Tiges” if I see something in the Newspaper, especially like last Sunday when it was on one of the players of “my era” of the late 60’s. It was a long article on one, John “Swoopy” Northey, who after playing one hundred games for Richmond and becoming a legend of his era, went on to coach 300 Games at 4 of the top clubs, including the Tigers.

Now at 65 he is coaching a country-side at Ballarat. He says that he had no idea of continuing as a coach, as he thought his days as a coach were behind him, but was persuaded to do so again in 2005 for Ballarat.

In his interview John mentioned a couple of players who, when he took over were full timers in the Reserves but now are champions of the club, because of the training that they put in. John went onto say, “ Until people put the work in, they don’t often realize the ability they have.”

What about you? It doesn’t matter if you are a young footballer or an “old timer” coach, you too can be successful, if you are prepared to give it one more go and put in the preparation work, the training, the practice and the old boring grind, that is often all that is required to take you to the next level!

Unfortunately most of us want the glory and the success, but we are just not prepared (or willing) to put in the extra work and effort required to go from being a full-time second stringer, to a full-time stalwart of the team.

Sometimes we use our age as an excuse to just not try, saying that we are past that stage, but in fact we are not but need the motivation to continue on.

What is there that you need to put in the extra miles of training and preparation the will take your from fulltime mediocrity, to fulltime success? Over to you for comment, but maybe you need to go back to what you started and see it through to the end by giving it your all?

VFL Park Waverly And You.

When we first joined our current church, it was in the throes of Change due to a decline in attendees. So much so, that soon after we joined, it was evident that they/we could not afford to maintain the property properly, and so the painful decision was made to sell the property and move onto a rented Hall for the time being. Although that was very painful and upset a few people among us, the Property was sold to another Church group, and we, as a congregation were able to move on and are now into our second year there in the Hall, and doing fine, although I ‘m sure we could always find a seat for you if you wish to join us anytime.

What happened to our Church is neither new nor unique. It happens in all forms of Life too.

I was reminded of this as I pondered on the changes in Australian Rules Football here in its home base of Melbourne during my lifetime. They are currently celebrating the 150^th Anniversary of the first Game of ”Aussie Rules” football in the world being played here.

Despite what some unkind people imply, I was not around then but only since the 1950’s and only really getting into “Footy” in the mid 60’s. At that time one Kenneth G Luke and others of like mind were in charge of the then Victorian Football League (whose 12 Teams all were within Melbourne or surrounds, with the furtherest being 40 odd Miles away).

It was KG’s dream for the VFL have to have their own Ground and base in Melbourne and so land was bought at Waverly and finally VFL Park was built and opened. At that time, although the name indicated it was the Victorian Football league, the real focus was on Melbourne as the Mecca of the Game. With the passing of KG and his generation, a new generation arose who had their focus on spreading the game from a local to National Game and so soon there was a move to move existing Clubs interstate and finally to create new clubs there, so that there are now 16 clubs, (2 more in the pipe-line) with at least one Club in 4 States other than Victoria. Thus the name was changed to the Australian Football League (AFL) to cover this change from Victorian Football to Australian Football.

Somewhere along this process, to the great disgust and dismay of many, the decision was made to abandon the VFL Park Ground at Waverly and sell it off. The Ground and sporting Facilities themselves still remain and are enjoyed by the surrounding Community, but much of the remaining property was sold off for Housing Development. So the Ground itself remains, but the purpose has changed.

A bit like with our old Church property and us. The old premises that we could not maintain, were sold to another Church who could, and is now being maintained as it should; and we, as a congregation, are still continuing but in a different place and way.

What about you? Have you long held dreams that finally came to fruition, only now to find that the time has again come to let go and move on again? Not necessarily to let all that has happened be destroyed and go to waste, but to allow it to blossom and bloom under others but perhaps in a different way to what you first imagined. Are you stuck in the past, or prepared to build on the work of others who came before you but to perhaps take it into a slightly different direction to that first envisaged, like how KG Luke and Co’s, view for VFL Park differed from those who followed? Over to you for comment!

Have you Too Used Up All Your Excuses Too?

If you have been reading my blogs you will know by now that after finishing 9^th last year my Football team hit rock bottom this year and finished stone motherless last of 16 teams this year.

In this week’s paper, their President said the following, “Sure there have been excuses, serious injuries to key players, an extremely difficult draw, average training facilities, but in reality that’s all they are – excuses. For far too long, this club has made excuses.”

Certainly as a man whose own position must be under fire you expect him to make a strong statement. But what about you?

Are you too making excuses for your lack of success? Sure like Richmond, most of those excuses are legitimate, but they are also excuses that others also have, yet have risen above them so why can’t we?

Do you see obstacles as excuses for your lack of effort, or do you see obstacles as opportunities to both overcome and use for your own benefit? Do you allow problems to stop you or do you use them to make you stronger and better? What say you? Walter

Acknowledged Publicly at Last!

When I was a lad, way back in 1967 the Richmond Football Club had a full forward called Paddy Guinane. Paddy could kick goals from acute angles every time, but put him dead in front of the goal square and he would most likely miss. Consistent accuracy was his weakness.

When we returned to Oz back in 2002, I found that Richmond again had a full forward who also lacked a little on the consistently accurate aspect of Goal kicking.

Earlier this year, on the one day, (but in another game,) one player had ten scoring shots for an 8, 2 ratio. That is a total of 50 points. Our boy Matthew Richardson, also had 10 scoring shots but with a 2, 8 ratio that is only 20 points for his efforts.

But that is not to say our boy is a bad player. In fact this year Matthew again topped His team’s highest Goal Kicking list, and was the third highest Goal kicker, out of all 16 teams, so all in all not a bad effort for a guy who has been playing for them for 15 years now.

Not only that but he was also awarded as Richmond’s Best and fairest Player of the Year for the first time in 15 years. Mind you he came second on four previous occasions.

So erratic he may be, but he is also very consistent as a team player. On receiving his award Matthew said, “ You don’t play for personal glories but, in saying that, it’s nice to be recognised by the match committee. “

Some revere Matthew for his strengths and others ridicule his weaknesses. But he never let it bother him but kept on going. Even when others got the recognition and not him, he didn’t lose heart or give up but kept on going and finally official recognition has come his way. Instead of saying about time too, he graciously accepted it.

What about us? What about you and me? Do we always give our best even when we are not getting the scores on the board that we would like?

Are we real Team players or are we only after personal rewards and recognition? Are we prepared to plug away year after year, without getting the public acknowledgement that others are getting? And when public recognition does come our way, are we gracious in accepting it, or do we complain how long we had to wait? Over to you: Walter

Wait A While Before You Judge AFL.

Way back when I was a lad, yes I know that that was along time ago! Anyway, in my youth Australian Rules Football (ARF) was very big in Victoria (Vic) and a little less so in Tasmania, (Tassie) South Australia (SA) and West Australia (WA), but not big at all in Queensland (QLD, New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In fact, AFL was so big in Victoria that the Victorian Football League (VFL) was the pinnacle for all ARF players.

Back then, Victoria had 12 teams and for any AFL player from anywhere, it was really hitting the big time to play in one of the VFL teams.

The VFL was actually a misnomer, as eleven of the 12 teams were either in Melbourne or it’s inner suburbs and the 12^th was only an hour or two down the road then (Now about 45 minutes) at Geelong. So it really was a Melbourne based league in reality!

Anyway having 12 teams in or around Melbourne started to become unviable and in an effort to make the game more a national game than a local game, the VFL Administration sent one team to Sydney in NSW and a little latter created a new team “ex niliho” in Queensland on the Gold coast.

This latter team struggled and later it was amalgamated with another former Melbourne club and moved to Brisbane itself. Since then, new teams have been formed in both WA and SA and so the Game is now more national with 16 teams in the competition. Also as it has long moved out of being Victorian Football the VFL became the Australian Football League.

As part of its drive to make interstate football more attractive to the best Victorian players and to even out the competition a little, certain advantages were given to the interstate clubs to level the playing field so to speak.

However as since 2000 interstate Teams have won most of the grand finals with the Victorian Teams missing out there have been rumblings of discontent.

Before and just after the start of this season there was a great hue and cry about not only doing away with the advantages the other states had but also to give Victorian teams special help to get them back on top again as Victorian teams were then still struggling.

However the AFL did nothing at the time and now that hue and cry has well and truly died down greatly, as week-by-week Victorian teams were winning.

When it came to the final 8 for the currant season, half were Victorian Teams and after the first week of finals, we were down to 2 interstate clubs and 4 Victorian Teams. Then after last week, we are now down to 3 Vic teams and only one interstater.

Now at this point of writing that one team could still fight its way into the final and even win it but the point is that now at season’s end Victorian football is not in as dire straights as a lot of people thought.

As I thought about this I came to the following conclusions:

1. Sport like life, is often very cyclical and there will always be ups and downs.

2. To be a marketable Item or popular sport, you have to go out into the market place and compete with a wider competition.

3. However, all competition takes time, so don’t be too impatient.

4. Expect ups and downs as part of your own peculiar life cycle and learn from them.

So, what changes have there been in your life or work situations that you are not happy with?

What realistically can you do to adjust to these new situations? Endure them or embrace them? Fight against them, or fight for them?

And should you, whilst still striving for success, just wait patiently for the desired effects, knowing that success takes time and effort and often-extreme patience? Again, what say you? Walter

Devilment? Pure Nasty? Or Conversation Starter?

Recently I was asked why I supported a loosing Football team like Richmond, which by the way went from 9^th last year to 16th this year and the only reason that they didn’t go any lower is that they couldn’t. There are only 16 teams in the Comp.

The long answer I gave for following Richmond now, is that I used to years ago and more recently I felt like I had to chose an AFL team again, even though I am no longer really into football, so I went back to them for old times sake.

Upon reflection I realise now that I am my father’s son and I did it out of devilment. Something deliberately said to provoke a response, even if you didn’t really believe it yourself.

Being a shy person, I think that he found this a good conversation starter and one that always broke the uncomfortable silence that often surrounds a shy person. Being shy myself, that is why I do it.

It has always amazed me that you can be in a room of silent people, but once someone starts a conversation that others can join in, they usually do. Some times to the point of completely dominating the conversation and often squeezing you out.

I am also amazed at the friendships I have had a part in creating down at the railway station simply by provoking conversations that others continue. Not just there in my presence, but on the train, and in some cases even going to the Footy together when their teams are playing each other.

So for me, when I am being tongue in cheek provocative, it is neither out of pure nasty, nor shear devilment itself, but as an effective conversation starter among similar shy people.

How about you? Are you often being provocative and why? To prove a point or provoke an argument or simply tongue in cheek as a conversation starter? And do the other people recognise the difference? It is one thing to say it tongue in cheek, and another to make sure that the listeners understand it as such and take it in the same vein and not take offence.

It is a fine line; so do you really know the difference and are you always aware of how other people are responding? What say you? Walter

All Depends On How You See It.

In my earlier “When Is A Win Not A Win?” blog, I was bemoaning how my once Glorious Football club was having a disastrous season. After a promising previous season, we have not achieved a win after the first 9 games. I like every Tiger supporter that I spoke to after last weeks draw, was not happy with this lack of success and bemoaned that we couldn’t bring home the 4 points for a win instead of only two for the Draw last week.

This gloomy attitude was quickly challenged by a new American friend. She rightly stated ”Sometimes you just have to be happy to get what you can and work from there.”

It reminded me of the story of the two people arguing whether their glasses were half full or half empty, whilst a third person looking on lamented that he would be happy just to have a glass!

Sometimes, when all is said and done, like my young American friend implies, we should just be grateful for that which we do have, no matter how little in comparison to others; and just accept it and move on. Instead of moaning, we need to accept what is dealt us, work with it and go from there. Otherwise, we will find ourselves wasting our time and energies on fruitless endeavours, like the guys arguing over whether the glasses are half full or half empty. Instead we should just be grateful for what we have and go from there. Like the third person, we should be looking for the glass, albeit empty. We should be happy to have a glass that we can fill later.

The above concept is nothing new to me, but something that I again needed to hear, so I am very grateful for my new friend’s challenge.

But what about you? Is there something that you need challenging on, yet when someone tries; do you shoot the messenger, so to speak, rather than listening and evaluating their challenge to you? Or perhaps there is someone like me, who needs a friendly challenge? Over to you.

When Is A Win Not A Win?

Another little riddle for you. “When is a win not a win and a loss not a loss?”

As you know by now I am a Tiger Supporter and our start to this season has been bleak indeed. After 9 games we have yet to have a win, despite only losing 8 games. How can that be you ask? Well the answer to that is the same as the answer to the riddle that started this blog. The answer is “When it is a draw!”

Yes, although they didn’t win again, they did manage to come from behind and scramble a draw, and gained 2 points for doing it. Unfortunately they are still on the bottom of the ladder as the only other team yet to win after 8 games won their 9^th and the 4 points that go with a Win.

So whilst a draw is better than a loss by far, it is still only half as good as a win, and the rewards that it brings are only 2^nd best. Better than nothing at all, but still not all that is available.

As I pondered this situation I wondered how often I am content with a Draw, rather than going for the Win. Am I content with second best or will I struggle for the best that is available? As I go through my life, will I continually settle for Draws or will I consciously strive for the Win when it is available for just a little more effort? What say you?

Not Lost – Just Hidden in plain view.

Last year I bought a cheap Beanie in my AFL Football team’s colours to keep my ears a bit warmer, while I worked in the kiosk down at the sometimes windy and always chilly Railway Station. The Beanie was in Richmond’s colours of Black and Yellow and even had “Tigers” stitched on it in yellow. While not the greatest beanie in the world, the Beanie did its job very well until the end of the cold weather, at which point I took it out of the kiosk to take home and put away for this winter.

That was the plan but something went wrong and I lost it. This winter it is again cold and I again needed something to keep my ears warm. Yet when I looked for my yellow and black tiger’s beanie in the house on more than one occasion, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I knew where a black one was in my car but not the one in my Team’s colours.

I had intended to buy another one but never got around to it and then one day at the Kiosk my ears were so cold that I ran out to the car and grabbed the old black one from there. It was not good enough last year, but I figured that anything would be better than nothing that morning. To my surprise, when I went back inside and turned it inside out, I found that it was not my old black one but my tiger’s one, which had in fact been inside out and not revealing its full colours.

You see I had always assumed that it was yellow and black all the way through and not just on the outside as it is so now obvious.

So although I had been looking for this Beanie half-heartedly for some time now, it had always been obvious and in plain sight in the back of my car, but being inside out I only saw one side of it and I could not see its true colours, until it was turned back out again. What I thought went all the way through was only on the outside and for show and not the real colour all the way through.

What about you? Are you true all the way trough or are you a bit like my Tiger’s beanie and presenting one side on the outside and a different one on the inside? Are you like my beanie in the car? On show, but showing the wrong message? Are you there to be used but not being used because you are displaying a false image and the wrong side of you? Do people have to turn you inside out to see the full and true you? That seems like it could turn out to be quite painful to do, doesn’t? What say you?

Found My Beanie.

In the kiosk down at the Railway Station where I work, it gets rather cold in the winter months and although I have a heater for my lower half, my ears often get cold. So last year I bought a cheap Beanie in my AFL Football team’s colours to keep the ears a bit warmer. The Beanie even had “Tigers” stitched on it in yellow. (It also had a "Pom-Pom" on it but it was a nuisance to me and so I cut it off and threw it away.) The remaining Beanie did its job very well until the end of the cold weather.

At the end of last winter I put my Beanie away and evidently lost it. As this winter it is again cold and I needed something to keep my ears warm again I started looking for my yellow and black tiger’s beanie again in earnest. Unfortunately I couldn’t find my Tiger’s beanie anywhere. I knew where a black one was in my car but not the one in my Team’s colours.

Anyway this particular day my ears were so cold that I ran out to the car and grabbed the old black one from there. However when I went back inside and turned it inside out, I found that it was not my old black one but my tigers one which had in fact been inside out and not revealing its full colours.

So I proudly put it on my head and once again clearly showed my allegiance to the world. Well those parts that flow through the Railway station while I am there each morning five days a week.

As well as getting the normal Mocking from the other 15 club’s supporters, I once again was surprised at how many other tiger supporters are out there but who don’t normally reveal their true colours until they see someone else do the same.

What about you? Are you like that? You support something, but are not yet quite ready to reveal it to the world for fear of the Knockers? Yes there will always be knockers and you will have to live with that, but there will also be many, many others who think just like you but need some way of identifying you. Often if you don’t identify yourself, others will never know, and each of you/us will be the poorer for it.

What about it? Are you prepared to proudly announce your affiliation, whether it is to an organization, a Football club or like me, to Christ? Or are you going to hide behind your anonymity all your Life?

Lost My Beanie.

AFL football is a winter sport here and often played in atrocious weather. Thus supporters rug up well to protect themselves from the weather. Thus hats, gloves and scarves are very popular, so much so, that there is a big market for them in the various team’s colours.

In the kiosk where I work, it gets rather cold in the winter and although I have a heater for my lower half, my ears often get cold. So last year I bought a cheap black beanie somewhere and wore it for a while but it was a bit short and didn’t properly cover my ears, so seeing some even cheaper Beanies in AFL Football team colours, I decided to buy a Tiger’s one and wear my Team’s colours proudly on my Head. At the time it was a brave (Silly?) thing to do as we were languishing at 15 out of 16 teams, although we did end the year at number 9. As a result of proudly wearing my team’s colours, I copped a lot of flack from the supporters of the other 15 teams. None the less I survived that, as it seems we usually do.

At the end of last winter I put my Beanie away and evidently lost it. This winter it is again staring to get really cold again (for me, if not everyone,) and I needed something to keep my ears warm again. Unfortunately I can’t find my Tiger’s beanie anywhere. I know where a black one is but not the one in my Team’s colours. Which in itself is not really a big problem now as I no longer need to advertise that I support the Tigers, because as they have yet to win after 8 games I have been copping a lot of flack over it. Although it has to be a good 8 or 9 months since I last wore the colours, very few have forgotten whom I support or how badly they are currently going, and take every opportunity to tell me so. None the less I would still wear my Tiger Beanie again if I could only find it.

What about you? Are you proud to wear your heart on your sleeve, or your team’s beanie on your head, or do you keep your affiliations secret to avoid notice?

Are you proud to support your affiliations in the good times and the bad? Or are you just a “Fair weather friend”? The Tigers were a great team once and I believe they will be again and I am not ashamed to be known as one; in the bad times as well as the good. What about you? Are you proud of what you do and support? Why not?

When Things Are Bad.

In an earlier blog, “Saint or Demon? Neither I’m a Tiger!” I mentioned that “in Melbourne, Australian Rules Football, is king, and that some have even called it our own unique religion, with people often more committed to their particular team than to anything else.” Although only nominally so, I am a supporter of the mighty Tigers, from Richmond.

Before the Season started I read an article about the Tigers, where both the Captain and Vice Captain said that their goal for the coming year was, “Finals or failure.” In their minds, if they didn’t reach the final 8 in the coming Season, then they would consider the Season a failure. At the time I commented that “ In one sense it sounds a noble goal but considering that they finished 9^th last year, an improvement of one position doesn’t seem that ambitious, does it? However as I thought about it, I realized that although they only needed to move up one space to reach their goal, there really is no guarantee that any movement they have, will be up. It is just as likely that the movement could again go the other way, maybe not to 15^th (Or worse) again, but still worse than 9th.”

Well, after 8 games with no win, it seems that I am an even worse prophet of doom, because we are now sitting at the bottom of the ladder with 15 teams above us. So as a supporter of a team in the doldrums completely, what should we poor old Tiger supporters do?

Look for a new team? No! Stick with what we have and move on. Most importantly we need to keep on believing! There is always next week and another chance, and if not then, there is always next week or next month, or even next year. Success will come eventually, as long as we don’t get discouraged and give up.

Secondly we need to keep the faith and hang on in there and not get discouraged. As long as we (the team) are doing the right thing and their best, success will eventually come. Where we can be of practical assistance to the Team, we should, but when we can’t we should simply continue to give them our vocal and moral support and hang on in there with them until success returns. As stated in point one, it may take time but it will come again and be even sweeter for the wait.

Finally we need to draw support from other supporters and in turn support them, and be of mutual encouragement to one another. In these things, we are not alone, although we often think so. (More on this point in a later blog.)

How are things in your game of life? Does it appear that you too are in the middle of an extreme loosing streak and you just feel like giving up? Well don’t. Take the advice above and keep on believing in yourself and or your team, hang on in there, and draw on fellow travellers for support. Walter