A Day at the Footy

AFL, to be precise, though most of you would know that already. I will get to all of this, including what happened in the match both as a whole (we sucked) and quarter by quarter. I will get to all of this... right now.

I woke up around 7:30, again (I seem to be falling into a rhythm here). I went on my laptop, and messed around on Spore for a while. I've still to get to my book. When I'm not out for 7 hours. Which is what happened. Anyway. After a while of doing nothing, we left for the ground around 11:30, with me bringing my iPod (for breaks and in the car), my flag, and several Carlton items of clothing, like a guernsey (if you don't know what that is, Wikipedia to the rescue.), a hat and scarf. We (my Dad, EJ, my brother, and Uncle Nudge, who came to watch the game with us.) kicked the ball outside the house for a while waiting for Alan and Ethan Bartley to show up. When they arrived, we all went to go pick up Josh from EJ's footy team (who was in Sydney garb. He was the odd one out.), and then we all drove to the SCG. Once we were there, we took our seats, and waited for the game to start. When the banners were held up, after the training, Carlton's fell apart, which was all at once funny (I mean, the whole thing just broke), embarrassing (because it was my team), and an omen.

When the quarter started, Carlton seemed to be in control. In fact, they were dominating. But they weren't making the most of it. They kicked the first three scoring shots, all behinds. Sydney goals. After a while of jostling in the centre, Carlton kicked two goals, with one spectacular goal by Houlihan, then two behinds in quick succession. Goal Sydney. Goal Carlton. On the siren, Sydney kicked another one. At the end, it was Sydney: 3.0, 18 to Carlton: 3.5, 23. (The scoring system in brief for this post: Team: Goals.Behinds, Points.). In the second quarter, it all fell to pieces. 3 Carlton behinds and one by Sydney in the first 5 minutes. A goal to Sydney followed, then a Carlton behind and a quick goal left Carlton trailing by 4 points. Then there was a period of about 12 minutes where Carlton just kept squandering opportunities, getting two behinds, and Sydney getting one. 2 goals in 2 minutes by Sydney with a rushed behind for Carlton left Sydney up by 14 with Sydney: 7.2, 44 to Carlton: 3.12, 30. This was not good. (And, no, I'm not remembering all of these scores. It's on the AFL website.) That was really worrying, and my Dad was none too happy, I'll say that. At half time, we went down to get some food, where we saw on a screen that Carlton were leading in everything (kicks, disposals, etc) but points. Bloody hell. The third quarter began: 4 Sydney behinds, but it didn't seem like Carlton were in it. Carlton goaled, after being held goalless for too long. I heard somebody in the row behind us yell 'First one for 50 minutes!' (A Sydney supporter, of course.) Which was painfully true. 4 Sydney scoring shots in 9 minutes, resulting in 3 goals and a point, made it seem like it was all over. They were dominating. But two goals by Carlton, and things were looking up. They could have been doing a lot better, but they weren't out of it. Three-quarter time score: Sydney: 10.7, 67 to Carlton: 6.12, 48. I was still optimistic though, only needing 4 goals to get in front. At last, the fourth quarter. It opened with a stalemate, of sorts, with no teams scoring anything for a while. 3 Sydney behinds followed, and though they weren't making the most of it either, it didn't seem to matter. Carlton goaled, only 16 points behind. Another period of Sydney control, with 2 behinds and 2 goals followed, and they kept the momentum going. We were 5 goals down with not enough time to get them. It was over. 2 goals and a behind to Carlton in the dying minutes, but it was too little too late. Another quarter, I think, and we would have had them. The final score was Sydney: 12.12, 84 to Carlton: 9.13, 67. It was a low scoring affair, and though the scoreboard said 17 points the difference, it seemed like a lot more. If I had picked Carlton, my tips would have been shot, with Collingwood turning the tables on Brisbane with a 6 goal-to-1 second half, and Port Adelaide shocking everyone by beating Hawthorn. I would have been none from three. Anyway. After the game, there was a kick-to-kick, so we all went down to kick the footy around. I had a panic attack about halfway in, though, so I had to sit down (Long story short, panic attacks are when my heart just starts beating really fast, and I get tired even from standing up, so I have to calm down to stop it. Sometimes I can ignore it and it will go away, but it's best if I just sit down. They used to be a lot worse, lasting upwards of half an hour. Now they usually last about 10 seconds after I sit down, and only occur once in a while). I played Solitaire on my iPod to calm down, and I didn't bother getting up again, except to leave. Ah well. Though I probably should have, because while I was sitting down, I was slammed into. I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and then all I saw was a man flying over me, and all I felt was this massive pain in the side of my head. What I think actually happened was this guy (presumably Irish, from the accent), was playing footy, and was running after a mark, when I happened to be in the way and he came tumbling over me. And that hurt. I told the guy I was OK, and there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage, but I was in a fair bit of pain. Though I'm used to that sort of thing. These things seem to happen. Though, I've never broken a bone or got concussion. Ever. It's weird. Then on the way home, there was traffic. A lot of it. So it took us 3 and a half hours to get home, in the dark, with no book. So I played Solitaire (until I realised it was really using up the battery), and listened to music. When I got home, I had dinner, and then went straight on my laptop. So, as usual, right now I'm blogging, on MSN, and listening to music.

OK, to comments. 4 yesterday, from... 2 people!? Where the hell is everybody? Victor? AC? Rosa? Mango? Shafi? Where did everybody go? Bloody hell. But, I will reply, and hope more people comment.
*Karen: Yes. Yes you are.
*Karen: That's OK: my rule is that if you beat Victor in commenting, then first-ing is OK by me. You know, for some reason, I don't use notes. Cramming is what I do, and by god, it got me through two years of Japanese and one year of Woodwork. And your Swans have beaten my Blues. *sigh* Maybe by the time I'm 20 they'll have won in Sydney.
*Ebony: Ahem. The Victor Fan Club meeting, second meeting. Mango apologises for his absence. All rise for the anthem: *cue death growls*. ...I kid. And your point is made, relaxation is not all it's cracked up to be. And MSN takes up a lot of my time as well. It's the main reason why my blogs are late.
*Karen: Don't worry. You're awesomer than Victor.

Going to finish now. Who do Carlton play next week? *checks* Bulldogs. Maybe we'll win, maybe we won't. We beat them last year, but we're on a losing streak. Well, at least we're not playing St Kilda (and I never though I'd say that).

Carlton will beat Sydney.... eventually,
AB