Risky Business

About five minutes into the second quarter I paused before taking another mouthful CUB’s finest and proclaimed to Steve, my football viewing partner for the day, “Port are gone; they’re second to the ball every time.” And as soon as I said this, I knew what Steve’s response would be; not due to Steve being predictable, but due to Geelong supporters being predictable and because I was thinking the exact same thing; “Don’t jinx it.” For whatever reason, Geelong supporters seem prone to this line of thinking and I am no exception: If I was watching any team other than Geelong I would have confidently and correctly called the winner even earlier.

But after saying it, and after having the usual reaction, I thought about it; yes, there was a long way to go in the match but Geelong was looking quicker, stronger and hungrier. They were forcing the pace, they were making things happen and Port Adelaide was being made to look like they didn’t want to be there. (Its times like these I wish I had Mark Williams phone number – hows the tie, Mark? A little tight, Mark? How’s ‘Tredders’ doing, Mark? Ready to drop your captain, Mark? It worked out alright for us, Mark…)

I then reached the conclusion that, after a while, the success of a team must change the mindset of their fans. They expect victory instead of dreading a ‘let-down’ loss to an inferior team. If they lose, they accept being beaten on the day and move on. Eagles or Swans fans, for example, have tasted the ultimate success which brings with it, not only that level of confidence, but also that ‘grace’ period

It’s a bit like a movie studio hiring Tom Cruise for their latest blockbuster; odds are it’s gonna sell tickets, and if it bombs, then the odds are even better that the next Tom Cruise piece of shit is raking in $200 million.

We Cats fans have neither such luxury; we’re more so your Vince Vaughn type of actor, mostly good, (Thumbsucker) capable of greatness (Swingers) but prone to mental lapses (Dodgeball). We may also have a slight alcohol problem. However, we should still be able to muster some positivity.

As I wrote not long ago, looking back at Geelong’s losses, they haven’t been too bad considering the form of the opposition. And in the past 3 weeks the Cats have knocked off West Coast, Fremantle and now Port Adelaide in Adelaide. That’s pretty good form too.

So as we come up against an injury depleted Saints outfit this weekend (Colin Farrell – been the next big thing for a while but when you check imdb.com there’s not much worth watching) we’re going to be red-hot favourites. Let’s embrace that favouritism. Let’s say we’re gonna smash ‘em. I mean sure, we didn’t play finals last season. And sure, we haven’t won a premiership since Australia was on the pound and women weren’t allowed to vote but who cares. As Tom Cruise himself once said, "sometimes you just gotta say 'what-the-fuck’".