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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:10 pm 
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Ken Hunter
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Location: Coburg
WHAT BECOMES OF THE BROKEN-HEARTED?


The off-season always unsettles a small patch of soil in my soul; what’s left after the passing of another winter? In the stillness left behind a wind ruffles the surviving weeds, like a chill rustling through a graveyard. And it is a graveyard of sorts.

There is a silent space in navy blue hearts where all the ex-Carlton players reside. Of course there are the sunny spots, grassy knolls where Jezza's mark and Gag's head ducking are forever etched. A place where the champions frolic in their Carlton jumpers, forever young, forever mighty blue legends who win the ghostly games with their final marvellous kick.

Then there is the patch for those Carlton players who never achieved superstar status, a quiet, peaceful place for the unobtrusive, unassuming players who did their job week in week out until the day they retired. Michael Sexton sits there, his feet dangling in the cool waters of past achievements. Beside him sits Peter McConville, his brave chest jutting out, filled with pride, and even while he rests his blistered hands, his eyes search the sky for another mark in the offing. They, too, wear their jumpers and wait for the occasional game with Big Nick or Stephen Silvagni.

There is another, sadder, rarely visited section to this graveyard though. A sad, lonely place whose inhabitants lay about listlessly, their bare backs baked hard by the sun of rejection. These players have no jumpers, for they had them stripped off them like old soldiers branded after failing in battle. Here the rejects weep tears shaped liked tiny, wet footballs and seek a major calamity that might mean their sudden reinstalment. Players lost to us in the corridors of time lay down in the dust, their cracked and parched lips begging for a recall. Here lay many players, joined just recently by a few more lost souls.

In time though, like a football purgatory, these lost souls float across to the grassy side and find themselves resplendent in their navy blue jumpers again. Time has healed their faults and they are remembered for one single thing - they played football for Carlton. Whether one or one hundred games, they donned the jumper and played for the old dark Navies. These souls will find redemption.

There is a final place, a hell of sorts I suppose, the bottom of Dante’s rung, the place where all those who got so close but never wore the jumper reside. Sadly for them, there is no second coming only a transitory fading until they are lost in time. They were just as needed but are never remembered. Their deeds remain on the training track, or haunt the corridors of junior clubs but for reasons as varied as life itself, they never received their moment in the sun.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:23 pm 
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Geoff Southby

Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:29 pm
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Location: Melbourne
Nice work Danny.

But can you make a special place for Stephen O'Reilly?


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:28 pm 
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Ken Hunter
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Location: Coburg
its called a bog!

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 12:58 pm 
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Mike Fitzpatrick
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JohnM wrote:
Nice work Danny.

But can you make a special place for Stephen O'Reilly?


Excellent work Dannyboy,
let's not start the lists.....
Except for O'Reilly and Maguane...



and....

oops sorry

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:04 pm 
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Harry Vallence
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Location: My social club stand, Princes Park
Have you got a place somewhere in your arse... I mean, heart... for Mick Mansfield?

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NOW YOU'RE JUST SOME CLUB THAT I USED TO KNOW.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:14 pm 
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Stephen Silvagni
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Location: Southbank.
...and Craig Devonport?


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:20 pm 
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Alex Jesaulenko
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Location: Heartbroken
Corey McKernan spent his entire Carlton career suspended somewhere between heaven and hell.

Hell - The first two and a half quarters of every game, while the opposition trotted away to a healthy 15 goal lead.

Heaven - The last quarter and a half of every game, as he kicked three or four pointless goals to give the illusion that he'd been a decent contributor.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:36 pm 
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Herald Sun columnist
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Location: Visy Park
Nice post Danny. Very eloquent.

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“It is a state of mind, a system of belief, a way of seeing the world, a deep faith that, because you are Carlton, you belong to something great.” - Mike Fitzpatrick articulating what Out of the Blue means.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2006 3:55 pm 
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Stephen Silvagni
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Location: Southbank.
I forgot to mention danny...........nice post in a BLUE mood.


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