Or 'the one where the Eagles Lose to a Team that shouldn't be playing, in a fixture that should never have been scheduled.'
It's always hard to lose. Especially at home. Especially when your season depends on it. Especially when you've lost 4 at home already.
But what I can't stomach, this is no joke, is having to endure losing to a pack of morally bankrupt, cheating, defiant fools. Surely this charade of Essendon being somehow a viable club this season must end. Surely a man who goes on national TV and says "I took a banned substance" can't then play 2 days later. It's making a mockery of the game.
As for Boo-gate, well I booed Jobe. I bloody enjoyed it too. And I'd do it again. He has shown contempt for the football public, as has Essendon, as has the useless, weak-willed AFL.
Then there's the fools in the media who condemned us for booing. Fans boo for all reasons. They boo players that used to be on their team. They boo players that have hurt one of their guys. They even sometimes boo the best players on the other team...just 'cause. No, this booing was far more justified than any of the above scenarios. I don't know Watson, I'm not booing the person. I'm booing the fact that he's playing, that he's been allowed to play after his admission on Monday night.
So to Richo, Darcy and all the rest, how do you justify condemning fans who are merely reacting to an unjust situation, whilst celebrating a man who admitted to taking a banned substance and stubbornly said "I don't feel guilty"? We shouldn't expect any less though, should we? It's still the VFL, always has been, always will be. That includes the media, nearly all former players who will blindly support the current players no matter the circumstances. The fact that they have the collective brain power and independent thought of...erm...an Essendon player recklessly signing a consent form, shouldn't be lost either. Remember Richo is the guy who thinks that there's more space between the goal-posts the lower they are to the ground.
As for Essendon, it seems bizarre to me that Watson, Hird and the rest think that by 'succeeding' on the field, their behaviour off field is somehow made good. Not at all. It merely masks the truth for Bombers fans, who, in all their naivety, don't understand that their team has let them down.
Then there's the AFL. The league that let's an admitted cheat play the next week. Let's a team that at the least has bought the game into disrepute play on.
But my main problem with the AFL is this: Why, in your infinite wisdom, did you schedule a game on a Thursday night? Why did the Eagles have to play the best team the week before, in Victoria, on a Friday Night? Why, do the seemingly untouchable Bombers get to come off a bye to play this Thursday night fiasco? Greed, ratings, money. That's all that matters.
Anyone, who thinks this fixturing inequity didn't effect the game isn't thinking. The game came down to the final minutes and clearly the Bombers were the fresher, the ones with more run in their (needle-marked) legs.
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But screw that crap.
Let's talk about us. I merely wanted to put our performance (and the result) in the context above.
Essendon will get theirs and then I'll post a celebratory toast to the vanquished.
We're not good enough. Not tonight, not this season. As I was waiting outside the ground about 5:10, I saw Luke Shuey arriving at the ground. My heart sank. I honestly thought we couldn't win without him, not with the other missing players.
But, to be fair, although it looked very bad very early, we played some very good football after that. We pretty much dominated the next couple of quarters. Our midfield held up very well without Wellingham, Selwood and Shuey. I thought Priddis was outstanding. All over, in fact it was a very solid effort.
However, despite all that I said above, we still should've won. We had chance after chance to push the margin higher in the 3rd quarter. Naitanui missed an easy set shot. Lecras tried a few miracle shots throughout the game. Darling missed a sitter, for some reason running away from the goal, in the last. Our goalkicking again came back to haunt us. Not having Hurn kicking the ball 70 metres, hurt us.
But what really cost us, and this was one of the most frustrating aspects of the game, was the atrocious, abysmal, unforgiveable decision making in the backline. NEVER kick back or sideways unless your teammate is wide open. I don't how many goals they scored after turnovers, but it was significant. Then there was that kick-in in the 3rd quarter. Please just bomb it long if there's nothing on. Don't mess around with short kicks. It was astoundingly poor.
There were a couple of players who were especially bad last night. Waters, like last week, is failing to adjust after his return; too slow in making decisions and bad kicking. Rosa, I think, is struggling mightily. And Sheppard, oh man, there was nothing good about this Sheppard last night.
The effort was there, the intensity was pretty much there. Unfortunately, it's too late in the season for that to count for much.
We're now 6-7. We lost a total of 7 games last season. Whichever way you look at it, whatever the reasons for this record, 2013 has to be considered an abject failure.
Adelaide next week. Then Freo. Then Sydney.
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