The Love of My Life

[Dogwatcher]

I just uncovered this.
Wrote it on May 22 seven years ago.
I still have fantastic memories of this particular night.

The love of my life

Football is often regarded as a passion killer by the partners of sports obsessed members of the male species.
It can sometimes even cause a messy end to an otherwise loving relationship.
While it hasn’t ever come to close to that drastic step in our household, a recent trip to Footy Park for the Adelaide and Collingwood match provided Mel and I with plenty to, well, not talk about afterwards.
The match, which I’m sure you all know resulted in Collingwood winning a thriller, provided me with my proudest moment as a Magpie supporter.
Walking out of Footy Park after the match with just about the biggest grin I’ve ever had on my smacker, having survived my trip into the ‘lion’s den’, gave me a huge victory induced high. But reality hit home very quickly afterwards.
All I wanted to do was share my joy at such a fantastic moment and talk to someone about our escape to victory.
But, no, there was no avenue to do that with my Crows supporting fiancée.
I was met with a frosty wall of silence every time I talked about Tarrant’s kick under pressure, which sailed through the goals and over our heads. It’s a wall the women in our life have perfected – I’m sure you’ve all experienced it.
The ride back to our hotel wasn’t really much fun either. Football talk on the radio was vetoed and my scarf, which usually hangs out of the window in the football tradition after a win, remained coiled up on the back seat like a black and white snake.
The scarf wasn’t going to bite – but the love of my life might well have.
I learnt early on in our relationship that it wasn’t a good idea to cheer too loudly when my team plays the Crows.
In 1993, when we had been together for around six months, Collingwood travelled to Adelaide for a crucial game.
A win in the last match of the minor round would secure the Magpies a position in the finals. A loss would doom the Colliwobbles to an inactive September.
I became very, very ****y after Collingwood started off in blistering fashion and headed to a six goal lead. Jumping on the couch I happily spruiked to Mel and her fellow Crows supporting friends that Collingwood were on their way to another premiership flag.
To my total dismay, the Pies self exploded after half time and the Crows plucked at the visitors’ carcass as they headed to a win and their first taste of finals action.
I deservedly copped a complete bagging and the biggest villain was the love of my life, who took great delight in reminding me of my comments.
My confidence in Collingwood was forever shattered and even to this day I’m never certain of a win until the final siren sounds.
It was with these thoughts in mind that I knocked back a ‘friendly wager’ on the outcome of the most recent game. It was a match we were attending, almost masochistically, as a 10th anniversary present to ourselves.
After the first quarter, my reasoning for not taking the bet seemed ominously accurate. My loving partner and the 40,000 or so Crows supporters in the stands reminded me of this as the margin exploded to six goals at quarter time.
When our forwards came to the northern end an Adelaide supporter joked “I suppose we won’t see much action up this end for a quarter”.
But then the fight back started. Our midfielders Shane O’Bree, Nathan Buckley and Paul Licuria started to dominate and the margin was whittled away ever so slightly.
At the end of the quarter Mel again offered me a bet. I stayed true to my resolution, much as a peace loving Gandhi would have when faced with impending violence.
Throughout the following two quarters the Magpies battled the odds until finally gaining the lead with a Scott Burns goal early in the fourth term.
An Anthony Rocca soccer goal put us further in front, but then the Crows took flight – finding reserves of energy to regain the lead and move out to a five goal margin. Miraculously the Magpies clawed back until when with about 25 seconds in the match remaining they forced a boundary throw in on the eastern wing.
At this point, I looked at Mel, put my around her and wished her good luck. Not expecting the result to favour myself, I was hoping she wouldn’t be too cruel when the Crows held on for a one point victory.
But then a miracle was produced by our courageous captain Nathan Buckley. Poor Adelaide defence allowed the great man room and his kick under pressure found Tarrant 30 metres out on a slight angle.
The crowd collapsed into virtual silence as the slim forward lined up for the all important shot. Then the hooting started as Crows supporters made their last desperate attempts to put off the man known as Chris ‘Talent’ by his fans.
He goaled, I went mad, cheering, screaming, giving high fives to the nearby Collingwood cheer squad and enjoying the most chaotic few minutes of my life.
Then reality came down like a kind of iron curtain as I realised the love of my life would not be in the least bit happy with the result.
How to handle that? Simple, just shut the hell up and talk about it illicitly with your mates later.
It proved a wise decision. Our January wedding date still stands.

[A Mum]

Very good - love it DW.

Fortunately my husband and I both barrack for the same team in AFL

[Big Phil]

Great read DW, well done mate...

I'm lucky in one sense that my wife doesn't follow the footy (being of European origin, she doesn't really appreciate our great game or has at least chosen not to - her loss ) but on the other hand, I still have the issue of spending too much time away from her at the footy !!

Parts of me wish she was into the footy so we could enjoy it together but as per your experience(s) above, I would want her to support my team as well to avoid any rivalry.

She is kind of a Central supporter (actually, she has no choice really being married to a fanatical one) and has been to a couple of games including the 2007 SANFL Grand Final. When the game got underway, she decided, despite knowing my love for the red, white and blue, that she was going to 'barrack' for North Adelaide. This was because red was her favourite colour and red and white, North's colours of course, are the actually colours of her native homeland, Poland !!

Needless to say, when the Doggies ran away with a comfortable 10 goal win in the Premiership decider, she was happy that 'our' team won, at least that's what she told me !!

The thing I love the most about her is that she somehow understands and appreciates that the SANFL and Central's are one of my great passions in life and she understands (although sometimes doesn't like to accept) that it involves me spending most of the weekend at the footy, thus encroachoaching on our 'quality time' together, particularly even more so now as we have only been married for about 9 months.

After all this though, she still puts a huge smile on my face as I leave the house to head off to the footy, standing at the front door giving her a kiss goodbye, when she says to me - "Hey babe, have a good day, enjoy the game.... AND BABE - GO DOGGIES !!!"

I love it !!! (and her of course !!)

[Footy Chick]

The words "Mel" and "Frosty Wall of silence" don't fit in the same sentence!

Lies people, it's all lies!

oh..Good Story btw

[godoubleblues]

cheers for the story DW, it was a good read

I actually dont have that same kind of rivalry with my wife, she follows Geelong and me Carlton but I can live with Geelong beating us

but then again my rivalry with her brother is different though, he follows Collingwood

[Dogwatcher]

Thanks for that GDB - I agree with the brotherly rivalry too.

My b-i-l is Crows and Newcastle, I'm Collingwood and Sunderland. Leads to some interesting convos.....


And FC.... I've had many "frosty walls of silence", that might well be the happiest one I've had.

I should write a yarn about last year's final as further evidence!

[fisho mcspaz]

My partner and I both follow the Crows so no problems there - however, in the SANFL I go for the Eagles and he's a Norwood fan. Fortunately the Eagles have been beating them more often so there aren't any problems (he is more easygoing than I am and thus does not get offended by my gloating). It might be a different story if the shoe was on the other foot.

[JK]

My partner and I both follow the Crows so no problems there - however, in the SANFL I go for the Eagles and he's a Norwood fan. Fortunately the Eagles have been beating them more often so there aren't any problems (he is more easygoing than I am and thus does not get offended by my gloating). It might be a different story if the shoe was on the other foot.

You'll have to let us know how that goes Fisho

[Psyber]

My wife was training in Ballet technique at the ADT when we met and was inclined to comments like "What is football?"
However, she lived near Unley Oval and would declare some support for Sturt as the local team in football orientated circles.
With time, and my influence, she became a casual Norwood supporter, but once she became interested in watching AFL with me she returned to her family roots* and supported the Power vs my support for the Crows.
In the end we adopted each other's teams and only disagreed during Showdowns..
[*Her French grandfather left his merchant ship and settled in Port Adelaide as a ships' carpenter, and lived there for the rest of his life.]

[Drop Bear]

Great read DW. Well done mate.

My missus isn't a mad sport fan, but she's a Lions supporter now. Makes life a bit easier!