Are Melbournites really more passionate at the AFL?
Roar Pro
By Gruffalo, 23 Jun 2008 The Crowd is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- AFL, Swans, Sydney Swans, umpiring
A Melbournite was lecturing me recently about how Sydney (Swans) fans lacked passion at games – compared to his Melbourne brethren. How so?, I asked. Apparently, it goes like this.
If you are louder at the game, more abusive, more violent in your shrieking condemnation of the umpires etc, that makes you more “passionate”.
In other words, if you are recognised as being more offensive in public, you are regarded in Melbourne terms as a great supporter.
I don’t agree. My passion, my desire to see my chosen team succeed is very strong.
I detest umpires and the umpiring that is so often detrimental to the Swans. I am the first to tell the friends around me some select “facts” about the umpires’ parentage in no uncertain colourful terms.
Of course, I am vey aware, as a Sydneysider, that it has taken me a very long time to understand and appreciate the incredible complexities of the game that Melbournites grasp so easily – so they tell me.
However, I don’t believe that the measure of passion is being the loudest, most obnoxious, attention-seeking git in the vicinity.
Passion comes from within – or do Mexicans have a mortgage on passion?
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The Crowd Says (9) | Page 1 of Comments
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Ando said | June 23rd 2008 @ 8:24am | Report comment
I completely agree, although I’m not the biggest AFL fan.
I read every article possible about the Socceroos. I am passionate and crazy about the team, the coach, every little aspect. Yet when I go to a match, I don’t scream and swear and yell abuse at the opposing players or criticise our own. I prefer to sit back, enjoy the match and appreciate the skills and the atmosphere.
I was at the Sydney FC vs Queensland Roar 08 home semi, where a father and his young son who were forced to move because the dad didn’t want his son to be hearing the swearing and cursing being yelled from people sitting behind them.
Is this really the way sport should be? A place where we can’t even take our children?
Redb said | June 23rd 2008 @ 10:36am | Report comment
I was at the Essendon v Cartlon game at the MCg yesterday with 60,000 and would say you are generalising a fair bit. I think the criticism of Swans fans and it is not a criticism really is that they perhaps dont know when to cheer or applaud the wrong things like the umpire throwing the ball in from the boundary
Never been to a Swans game in Sydney but from what I observe on TV i think that criticism is old and out of date.
Redb
Redb said | June 23rd 2008 @ 10:48am | Report comment
Ando,
Again at the MCG with 60,000 fans of both clubs – all age groups – the odd moron (Carlton fan for sure) and we won.
Families, men and women, children , grandparents,etc all make up a typical footy crowd.
Redb
Lachlan said | June 23rd 2008 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
Victorians… The AFL Army… Im a Melbournite that recently moved to the Goldcoast. But the same passion and thirst for a footy match on a saturday afternoon is not present in the North. Ive been a passionate North Melbourne supporter since a young age. What does it mean to be an AFL supporter? Can you sing the club song? Can you name the playing list? Do you know the numbered jerseys off the top of your head? Do you feel an incredible swelling feeling at the pit of your stomach when your team has a win? The answer to these for every Melbournite should be yes. I miss the smell of deep heat wafting over from the interchange bench, I miss having a cold beer on an even chillier winter afternoon with the mates down at the boundary fence. So when comparing Queenslanders with Victorians or which you have labelled “Melbournites” then yes I would have to agree that we are infact more passionate about the AFL. The AFL claims to be bringing AFL to life in Queensland, but until they start televising the AFL Footy show earlier on a Thursday night, until they start showing programs like Before the Game, Footy Classified and other AFL programs. Only then will Queensland stop being a Union and League dominated land.
Wally said | June 23rd 2008 @ 2:43pm | Report comment
Ando,
I was at the game before that, Sydney FC against Melbourne and I can say when Archie Thompson got the ball it went from the usual yelling/criticisng to outright racist abuse.
I’ve never heard anything like that at a sporting event and always thought sport was the great equaliser,
Redb said | June 23rd 2008 @ 2:58pm | Report comment
Lachlan,
As mentioned was at the Ess v Carl game at the MCG yesterday, talk about pit of your stomach, we were 25 points up at three quarter time, should have been 31 points thanks to a last minute goal by Carlton. The first 20 minutes of the last qtr was all Carlton, the MCG erupted in blue and white as they came at us again and again until they got in front by 1 point, then missed a difficult shot at goal. Bloody Fevola is a freak! At this point still suffering from the 1999 prelim loss to Cartlon by one point, yes I know it was 9 years ago we sprang to life, one goal, then two, they got one, we got another but still not home. Then the ball flew into our goal square the crowd is going ape droppings, the ball hits the deck, play is frenetic and Lovett bangs one through and we’re home . My voice is still hoarse. Carn the Bombers!
Redb
Millster said | June 23rd 2008 @ 3:27pm | Report comment
RedB, MC – you will be pleased to know that this weekend I went to a game of AFL. You might be less pleased to know that it was at Subi, witnessing the near-historic flogging of the Eagles by the Cats. As a neutral somewhat painful as there was no suspense in the game but some of the Cats skills were not bad at all.
This related to the thread because I wanted to add how ferally passionate the folk over West are about their club. I already kinda knew this having lived there for 15 years and being a Saints follower, that is insofar as I follow any AFL team at all. The day after such a drubbing, you’d expect people not to wear the team colours out of sahme. Yet at the beach, in kings park, around the city, there was every bit as much blue and yellow as there always is… which is quite a bit as any of you who know Perth will realise.
So this week I’m giving my vote for passionate fan-dom to the sandgropers. Despite the ladder, despite the scandals, and despite delusions that the ‘eastern’ umpires are biased, the ball has been tampered with, and the entire rest of Australia is against them, they are totally one-eyed for the Eagles. And will they be there in their seats at Subi, all 40000 of them, for the next dose of pain to be inflicted on the Eagles? Damn right they will…
Redb said | June 23rd 2008 @ 3:45pm | Report comment
Millster,
A great and proud club the West Coast Eagles – the win by Geelong was no doubt only fun to watch if you barrack for Geelong as two of my family do. We (Essendon) have been on the receiving end of a few Cat’s drubbings including 99 points early this year. The Cats are awesome, Garry Ablett a true star – the main focus of enjoyment for a neutral is to watch Garry Ablett weave his magic. Not a great result for footy though – 130 odd points – ouch!
its not fun watching Cats fans jump with glee as they smash you to a pulp. I’ve endured a couple of games with my eldest daughter singing the Cats song with great gusto whilst trying to be sympathetic, i love her dearly but thoughts of ‘catapulting’ her over the top deck of Telstra Dome scarily come to mind on occasions.
The thing about Geelong is that they dont take the foot off the peddle its attack, attack, attack, its unlikely anyone will beat again this year if Ablett is playing, not even the Bulldogs.
Redb
Lachlan said | June 23rd 2008 @ 9:40pm | Report comment
Ah yes the forever unbeatable Geelong! But like many of the AFL coaches state, and AFL football itself proves, that in today’s game, with the right pressure and hardness at the ball, any team in the comp has the ability to win. No doubt your Ablett’s, Fevola’s, Buddy’s, Scarlett’s and so on contribute to a team that is consistent. Consistence is definitely a problem in today’s game, but is necessary to be unbeatable. No doubt Geelong are a brilliant football side, but when you analyze the game, they’re a good side because they hit the targets, they smash the opposition with more inside 50’s, more tackles. Almost every time the ball goes to ground in a pack mark, or stoppages, guaranteed when the umpire steps up to do the honors for a bounce, it will be a Geelong player at the bottom of the pack. Geelong are a hard football side, and correctly put that they continue to attack and attack time and time again, but with the correct pressure for turnovers and the right counter attack no team is unbeatable in this game. Like the North Melbourne football club proved on the weekend against the hard running and dominant Hawks. This is the team that all year has been talked up to beat the reigning Premiers. Either Hawks are still as good as everyone states they are, or we have an unlikely challenger in the North Melbourne Kangaroos. One thing is for certain, and I touch again on my point about consistency, which North Melbourne proved last week when they were downed by the Fremantle Dockers (who are just above Melbourne on the bottom of the ladder) by 53 points, that consistency will continue to play a major role on who is “unbeatable” and who will play finals footy in September.