Oops! Possibly accidentally misled people there! Sorry! He was just a spectator. He was 3 months old and the pride came from doing for my son what my dad had done for me.Originally Posted by 09183305
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Yep, we beat Melbourne at Etihad and I think Richard Colless brought Wally's sons onto the ground to celebrate with the team. Very emotional!
That man keeps popping up. We will miss him.Yep, we beat Melbourne at Etihad and I think Richard Colless brought Wally's sons onto the ground to celebrate with the team. Very emotional!
And yes, the Alessio game. First time by myself, sitting on the second level with a lot of friendly Bombers around, even shared their afternoon tea. Shook my hand at the end and said "Great game!" Yes, I guess it was; enjoyable? Another matter.
He reminds him of the guys, close-set, slow, and never rattled, who were play-makers on the team. (John Updike, seeing Josh Kennedy in a crystal ball)
In some ways, it's just as significant. It's often a rite of passage that leads to a lifetime of devotion to a Club that evokes passion, joy (& yes, heartache) but a special bond nonetheless.
A players debut is special, yes, but they may or may not always have that special lifelong bond with the club, careers are all to often fleeting, and many, many players change clubs at least once.
Your son's first game as a spectator was indeed very special.
1977 v Collingwood at Victoria Park Graham Teasdale tore them apart with some ridiculous number of marks. He was everywhere. Made Len Thompson look ordinary. Gave them a hiding.
You understand! Thank you! That son is now 14, has seen 2 Premierships, a one point loss in a GF and has absolutely no idea of what it's like to barrack for an unsuccessful club!
I'm in the same boat 14 y/o son thinks it's all too easy. I had to wait until I was 37 and my dear mum & dad who brought me up to be the resilient Swannie I am passed away in '99 & '05 respectively without ever having that joy!
There was some bombers game we lost in 2001/2002/2004 (I have a terrible memory) ?....we lost by a point or 6....I threw the remote control at mum and dads and declared I was going to my room until further notice. I would have been 24 yrs lol...my mother came storming out to see what the drama was and to yell about the broken remote to only hear my dad say "leave the girl alone....I would have broken it if she didn't"
Love how you all remember games..I am hopeless unless it is a finals game, you'd never guess I watch most games twice.
you know what they say, dirty pants- clean botty
I have memories of one game that will have been consigned to the "delete" tray of pretty much any other Swans fan. It was a game late in 1995 against the Lions at the SCG. Our season was petering out, notwithstanding some exciting, unexpected wins earlier in the year, while the Lions were making a late charge to the finals. It was a beautiful late winter afternoon and there were probably fewer than 10,000 people scattered around the SCG,
I remember it because my dad and his wife were over visiting me from the UK and this was the one and only game I ever took them to. I'd only discovered the game for myself a couple of months earlier and they were keen to see what I was so excited about. The only perception they had about AFL was that it was quite a violent, dangerous game, with lots of injuries. I spent the lead up to the game trying to persuade them that this wasn't really the case (though mindful of the fact that their game was soccer (both ardent Fulham fans) so compared to that, it was a little more physical) and that serious injuries were relatively infrequent.
Anyway by quarter time, the game was all but over on the scoreboard. I think the Lions had kicked something like ten goals, to the Swans not very many. But more telling was that by that first break, no fewer than three players had been carted off the ground on stretchers!
The 2005 Premiership must have been extremely emotional for you. Sort of know how you feel as I lost my Mum in '04 but at least my Dad has seen '05 and '12 and anything else that comes along in the next few years. At least you know your son has already experienced what your parents unfortunately missed.
Don't mean to bring the thread down for others but for me this kind of stuff contextualises sport (esp footy) and the impact it has on family bonds, spanning generations and having such an intimate connection with a city, a club and a shared passion.
'05 was tough as dad passed on unexpectedly in late August but in a Zen type scenario the pride in having my then 6 y/o with me knowing the joy he brought to my mum in the first year of his life (great memories of sending mum photos of him in his swans baby suit while watching plugger kick his1300th against the Pies in '99), and dad up until he left us.
'12 was a lot sweeter as I was able to enjoy it with mum's twin which was a beautiful experience for both of us.
Time to bring the tone back up - go you mighty Swannies!!!
Anyone remember that night game against Carlton at the SCG in I think 1997, we kicked something like ten goals straight and it was spellbinding, no behinds. Kept wondering what was going wrong..... And Snapper took off like a loon in a high stepping run while pumping his arms after kicking one of his very few goals (he was a backman who wanted to be up forward). It was used in advertising later.
As for family....I was on my own, sort of....definitely not a sporting family. However when my mother was deep in dementia she always knew that for one day on the weekend I was not available, I was at the football. It gave me a lot of pleasure to think she could remember just that one lone thing.
I will also treasure being monstered by a female security guard at the Noble Stand for having my bag on a seat beside me. The people around me (all seven of them) were in stitches, it was the start of the ressies gamme, and there was noone else at the ground. Never saw her again after that day.
Last edited by Primmy; 6th August 2013 at 09:12 PM.
If you've never jumped from one couch to the other to save yourself from lava then you didn't have a childhood
Ok everyone remembers this game, but the 2005 GF is the only game my dad & I have been to together. I - like all RWOers - am a Swans tragic. Dad was never a big footy fan but, seeing my passion for the Swans since I was 8, he is a Swans convert. The 05 GF was the first AFL game he'd attended & the only one we've been to together. A very special day for both of us!
The Swans victory over the Crows in last years finals was equally memorable for me ... for all the WRONG reasons. I moved to Adelaide in '95 & from the pre-season night game that year, I have not missed a Swans game at AAMI since (pre-season, practice match, regular season or final) until that day. The first game I missed in 17 years and it was a final ... that we won ... convincingly ... to go to a wedding of my girlfriend's friend. The things we do for love! What were the odds of my beloved Swans getting an unscheduled game in Adelaide on the same day as a wedding that had been scheduled months earlier? Pretty good actually ... since at the start of 2013, when the Swans bowed out of the NAB cup, their first NAB practice match they were given Port at AAMI - I was all excited (I'd have 3 Swans games at AAMI in 2013!!!) until I got home & was reminded "we have a wedding that day". ?#??!!! But after witnessing my devastation last year I was excused this time to attend the practice match. While it didn't make up for missing the second greatest game I'd have attended in 2012, it went a little way toward easing the pain. Attending the 2012 granny made it A LOT better!
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