Dear oh dear oh dear

Prospects not good...

Prospect Oval, 1 May 2016

How wrong can your correspondent be?  About a week ago, he wrote: “The team is good enough and things will fall into place soon.”

In what should have been a close game, the Roosters got out of the blocks fast, soon led, and by mid-game it was 9 goals to 2.  We apologise for the poor quality of our photo of the scoreboard (see below) – our hands were shaking with fear, loathing, rage and despair.  I don’t know who has the task of apologising for the performances of the Tigers.  The team was (it must be reported with candour) slow, lazy, soft, reactive, skill-free and inaccurate.  Sheer bloody-mindedness and grit kept a looming 100-point blowout to a 33-point one.  Still.  CAN DO BETTER!

There should be greater reward for a long-suffering Bay fan who troubles to attend charmless Prospect Oval and pays $5 for a can of tepid beer.  Also, one could have done without a series of umpiring decisions that seemingly obtained from intimidation by a crowd of Rooster boors more brain-dead than your average Power supporter.

Moreover, we didn’t appreciate the pre-recorded ‘cock crow’, although the North folks showed great restraint in only playing that once, thank god.  At every quarter, the announcer helpfully screamed out a glowing summary of stats, but discreetly avoided mention of the number of frees awarded.  Not that that obvious and embarrassing disparity mattered to the result.

P would have preferred attending a May Day march, but since we’re in South Australia, that was held yesterday.  In this State, a command and control economy where our licence plates read “SA: Waiting for Instructions”, the government keeps the trains running (more or less) and owns the means of production, so we march to their tune.

While we’re on a tear, nobody could credibly say this, but conspiracy buff Oliver Stone might blurt “The SANFL Premiership has been decided….in a boardroom in Adelaide.”  (But then, he doesn’t follow local footy).  South beat Adelaide by a point today and are undefeated.  Well done to the Panthers – obviously everyone would love them to win the Grand Final against Adelaide this year, preferably by a point.  And they haven’t won a pennant since 1964, so they’re due.  Only one problem: won’t they be at a disadvantage come the finals, given their schedule confines them to about 22 minor-round games at their home ground?

Glenelg 11.11 (77)  North Adelaide 17.8 (110)