Footy

Well, the footy's over for another year, and the Cats have gone home with the gold, and we with the wooden spoon. Not often you can leave with this and having most football fans not think you were the worst club in the league. That little trophy has to belong to the greatest tankers ever: Carlton. How their players and coaching staff hold their heads up, I don't know, but it made the wooden spoon just that little bit sweeter.

I can understand the rationale in tanking to get better draft picks, but another part of me wonders what the point of not trying to win a game is. Why sacrifice one season so you can get better players in another. (Mind you, this from the person who gets seriously frustrated about the barters her club sometimes makes with draft picks.) At least our players went out to win each week. I don't mind a belting (well, like anyone, I don't like it), but to lie down and not try -- that's something else altogether. If I were a Carlton supporter, this would be the point when I'd be seriously questioning whether I wanted to swap clubs. Not that I can swap -- my grandfather played for Richmond, so it's in my blood. But I have to say, I'm glad I'm a Tiger supporter. It's widely acknowledged that we have the best song in the league, and that "yellow and black" refrain sends shivers up your spine. Well, up my spine anyway.

So, congrats to the Cats and all their fans. This year the worst team may not have come last, but the best team certainly won. It's kind of nice when that happens, because it doesn't always, but the Cats deserved their win and, boy, didn't they let us all know it with the final scoreboard!