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Round 14 of the AFL saw some amazing football played, from Thursday to Sunday.
We had Essendon’s emotional, impossibly resilient victory to kick off proceedings.
The Swans put the heat on the Blues the next day, possibly consigning them to missing finals in Mick Malthouse’s first year.
The Dangerfield Crows kept their season alive on Saturday arvo, while Port continued on their giant-killing ways, further widening the already dangerously simmering cracks at the Collingwood Football Club.
On Saturday night, Geelong out-Freo’d Freo, and Melbourne won their second match of the year in the most thrilling circumstances, staving off a nine goal Western Bulldogs final quarter surge and thus preventing their fans from spiralling into an even deeper depression.
Sunday played out with a series of predictable big wins, as the Hawks and Tigers continued their surge.
But the biggest issue of the entire round if social media, talkback radio, forums, and media commentary is to be believed? The booing of Jobe Watson by the partisan Subiaco crowd.
It was hard to work out what was more inane, the booing itself or the ensuing debate.
As one wag on Twitter put it – “Every time I hear a crowd boo, it just makes me sad knowing 90% of them are adults. Who actually boos past the age of nine?”
If they are indeed the sample of the Australian public at large, then it’s not hard to understand our politicians behaving the in the childish way they do. We get the politics we deserve in this country.
That said, when it comes to crowd behaviour, the West Coast throng set the bar so low that even one of their players couldn’t duck under it. They are the finest example of uneducated mob mentality or mass psychosis we’ve seen since the Fanatics.
At least the latter mean well, and are not the ill-humoured, mean-spirited mass that present themselves at Paterson’s Stadium every second week.
They make Eagles home games nigh on unwatchable.
So, even allowing for the fact that booing is for children and those unworthy of civilisation, was Jobe Watson worthy of any sort of taunting or abuse after his frank interview during Fox Footy’s On The Couch?
The simple answer for any respectable, mature person is of course not. There may be equals of Jobe in AFL circles when it comes to carrying themselves with class, dignity and respect, but none surpass him.
And didn’t he do exactly what we want out of our elite sports people in the era of vanilla, robotic, unemotional answers? He didn’t hide behind company talk, didn’t speak about processes and structures, or mention taking anything one week at a time. He spoke the frank truth lucidly, however controversial it may have been.
He was open and honest about the situation he and his club face, and should have been applauded for his candour. If he was a touch naïve, then so be it. He can’t be blamed for having an optimistic outlook in a dire situation. Firstly, it is a line being peddled by the club, and secondly, it’s human nature to hope for the best.
Surely there’s no doubt among reasonable people that Jobe Watson isn’t what we’d consider a drug cheat in a Lance Armstrong/Marion Jones way, and any attempt to tar him with the same brush is a despicable act that speaks volumes about those who would.
I’d be surprised if there are more than a handful of people who know the precise details of the ASADA investigation into the Essendon Football Club. And how many people really have an understanding of the complexities and legalities involved in such a case?
Everyone is looking for, and expects there to be, an easy and simple answer. Are Watson and his fellow players guilty, or innocent? Will they be suspended or not, and if so, for how long?
Why is it so hard to admit that there might be shades of grey, and that, perhaps, just maybe, you don’t know as much as the authorities?
While it’s tempting, and easy, to grab the pitchforks and storm the club in search of Watson after his supposed admission of guilt, it’s better for all concerned to take a deep breath and a step back.
There are plenty of people riding a schadenfreude-induced wave at the breaking of every piece of news pertaining to the Essendon drugs saga. And those people may well get their druthers. But spare me the bloodlust in the meantime.
ASADA will complete their investigations, and when they do, we will all be made aware of the outcome. They will not tread lightly if guilt is to be apportioned. One suspects the penalties may send shockwaves through the sporting landscape of this country. It could get incredibly ugly.
Or they may determine that the Essendon players don’t have a case to answer. If so, it won’t be an AFL-led conspiracy protecting the code or the club. Make no mistake though, there’ll be more than a few north of the Victorian border trying to enforce that argument.
Patience, so my mother used to tell me, is a virtue. Let’s exercise some of it.
And in the meantime, just worry about your own team or enjoying each game you watch, and leave the booing to those in the schoolyard. In other words, grow up.