Good Old Collingwood Forever
I know Dead Serious is not about AFL footy or soccer (despite recent posts), however now that the AFL home and away season is over and we start the finals this weekend, I just want to let you all know I am a proud Collingwood supporter………..a legacy from my dear old Dad who died in January 2004.
As I hung my big black and white Magpie flag in the front window of the house this morning, in preparation for the first finals game we play this weekend, I could feel Dad beside me. I saw (in my mind’s eye) the silly face he used to pull when he threw his head back and laughed. I heard his voice saying, “We’ll do it this year……..don’t you worry” and I smiled.
I love it when Dad just ‘appears’, always at the footy after an amazing Collingwood goal, but often when I least expect it. When something funny happens, when i feel sad or melancholy or often just for no reason at all…………I feel him there, I see his face and I hear his voice………..then I think to myself how lucky I am that he takes the time to be with me, even though he’s no longer here physically.
On the other side of the equation is my beloved. As it happens, he barracks for Footscray (the Bulldogs)…….a legacy from his Dad who died in April 2003. He was a sports journalist, so my beloved spent many Saturday afternoons in the wind and rain with his Dad while he reported on the Footscray football games.
This weekend the first of the elimination finals is between Collingwood and Footscray…………..BUMMER! This means by this time next week, either my beloved or myself (and the two of our kids I have managed to convert to the black and white army) will be miserable and grumpy because the team we love is out of the competition for another year.
I can’t help but wonder what the two Dad’s will think and wether either of us will get a consolatory visit from our respective Dad’s to offer us an ounce of comfort in the midst of defeat.
i know my Dad will be sitting next to me on the couch as we watch the game on the big screen in the loungeroom, add the beloved and his Dad and the couch could get a little crowded come the first bounce of the ball.
Go the Maggies……………………”We’ll do it this year………..don’t you worry”!