Another great tweet.....the sound of the SCG at the Buddy 1000 moment.....from 1 km away. It's amazing!
Andrew Brown on Twitter: "The roar of the SCG crowd from 1km away when Buddy kicked his 1000th #Buddy1000… "
Another great tweet.....the sound of the SCG at the Buddy 1000 moment.....from 1 km away. It's amazing!
Andrew Brown on Twitter: "The roar of the SCG crowd from 1km away when Buddy kicked his 1000th #Buddy1000… "
Yep…talking to the media about your coach’s drunk wife may not be the best idea, but I imagine it’s easy to forgive Chad.Originally Posted by i'm-uninformed2
Shout out to Alex Wheeler. The ball couldn't have landed in the paw of a nicer Swans' supporter! Another quirky story to add to the day. Good to see that Buddy and the Swan's are treating him well.
Exactly....he is now part of Swans folklore....instead of fading away as some twit who stole the ball and only shows it to his mates....or being the A-hole who tried to sell it on Ebay.
Good on him.
It’s a feel good story.
But, devil’s advocate, what was he supposed to do?
What are the rules with match balls? Any match ball (not just this one). If one is kicked into the crowd, it’s generally returned, but if it isn’t, is it theft? At the Sydney Olympics, if a softball was hit into the crowd, they were told NOT to throw it back - for fear of injuring players - you got to keep it. Some tennis tournaments, it’s the same. I have seen, at footy matches past, a ball go into the crowd and a spectator try to pinch it and security sternly retrieving the ball.
In today’s age of mobile phones everywhere, from every angle, he’s captured, clear as day full face view. Wide eyed he yells “I’ve got the pill! I’ve got the pill! I have to get out of here!” And he does get out of there (I’ve ready various reports of him going out onto the ground, while others had him not even hanging around for the rest of the game with his salvage). His face is then splashed over social media. And shared virally. Not like to grainy, blurred long distance channel seven shot of yesteryear. Now, there is no hiding. Someone will know the guy.
He said he did take it home and hide it away for the night (it gave him time to think and reflect the “right” course of action) but any other course would likely result in public ridicule. He couldn’t very well hide the ball. The whole country - via every social network and every media outlet - had either shown his face or named him. Plenty of people would know who he was. If he sold it (especially on eBay or an auction house) the entire country would know what he got for it and would brand him as mercenary.
He is part of folklore. And the right thing was done. And the spectator was generously rewarded (perhaps shy of the estimated $200K that some media aoutlets have valued the ball at). But if he could re-write history, perhaps the first thing that he could have said was “I’ve got the pill! I’ve got the pill! I have to get it back to Buddy!”
There is an article in the media re this issue. Softballs and baseballs don't cost a lot. Sherrins cost $200 apiece and belong to the home team who are given six for the match, but can be asked to given back to the AFL to give to sponsors etc, e.g., they might want to donate the ball from the Indigenous Round etc to someone.
That ball belonged to the Sydney Swans as the home team. Interestingly, if Franklin had kicked five last week or got the 1,000 next week, the ball would belong to the Giants or Dogs and it would be the Swans negotiating with the other team to donate the ball to them (or the AFL could tell the Giants/Dogs to give them the ball to then give it to Buddy).
A few more Youtube highlights of Buddy's milestone.
The Story of Buddy 1000 | AFL - YouTube
AFL 2022 Round 2 - Buddy’s 1,000th goal celebrations - Top Stand View - YouTube
Why didn’t the fan put the ball in his bag and take the ball down to the Swans dug out. He could have walked across the ground and informed security that he had Buddy’s ball and wound like to give it to a recognised club official so that it could be passed onto Buddy.
A recognised club official would have come up, thanked the gentlemen and given it to Buddy after the game.
First chart for the year. Here's Buddy's climb to 1000 (brown = Hawthorn, red = Swans), versus every other player who kicked at least 1 goal. Maybe you know or can guess some of the other interesting lines.
Lol, yeah that would have been an easy thing to do. Just ask Warner and Florent ....
Love a bit of spontaneity, don't you?
Aahhhhh I see Rod Carter forms the X axisFirst chart for the year. Here's Buddy's climb to 1000 (brown = Hawthorn, red = Swans), versus every other player who kicked at least 1 goal. Maybe you know or can guess some of the other interesting lines.
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