Wildman wrote:
DenimUndies wrote:
Possibly more than any other in the competition ( excluding The Bulldogs) the rich multicultural histories of both teams from player and supporter representation create a natural link to the theme.
As DenimUndies said the Bulldogs are the other team with genuie Multicultural ties, not Essendon* - the article pointed out their long history and listed Epis, Misiti, Mecuri and Alessio - thats a long history! three blokes from the 90's and some bloke I've barely heard of.
Carlton plays both Collingwood and Essendon* twice every year anyway, we don't need to lock in a game. Now a game against the Bulldogs or any other Victorian club in the first part of the season ensures we play a return game in the second half of the season. This is what Collingwood has managed to do so well, locked in games against other Vic teams to reduce the travel. The label blockbuster is overused and so inaccurate, we will play blockbusters again when we start to win games and the crowds will return. As others have said saying something is a blockbuster means nothing and does not ensure a big crowd
How many extra people go to the Aboriginal game Essendon* and Richmond play, I don't know anyone who goes to this game because it's labelled as a blockbuster fixture. It's all a load of crap. I agree with those who say it just a thinly veiled shot at Carlton from Sheedy, we aren't broke, we aren't rattling tins - its just Sheedy trying to look like a nice guy. It's similar to the pathetic pictures of Joffa outside Flinders Street in a Carlton jumper. We are not that desperate, we aren't begging anyone - when we do then we can accept all these sympathy offers from people.
I'm all for the multicultural concept and think it has great merit for our club and for the rest of the competition, its a concept that the club should explore.
In retrospect however perhaps the idea can exist in a purer more beneficial form by having Carlton and the Bulldogs as the participants, rather than a Blues Bombers combination.
To begin with its fair to say that the blues Bomber rivalry has reached a peak level of maturity from a cyclical point of view .
As has been mentioned already that the theme concept is unlikely to have a further major impact in increasing memberships, gate takings or intensifying the rivalry but rather it takes advantage of a competitive rivalry that already exists as a result of a long history.
As has also been mentioned this rivalry and the interest will likely exist regardless of what title is given to the game and the benefits will be there as long as both teams remain competitive.
It is in our interests however to look at opportunities that may help create new rivalries, new block busters and give meaning to new histories with other teams.
In this case the bulldogs from a conceptual point of view are a far more fitting participant and I think the concept of a title to a game on a fixed round is more likely in my opinion to be embraced by its members and supporters than Essendon- ( purely because of the fact they don't have a recognized fixed event in the calender it will give their supporters a sense of recognition and pride and an identity they can more readily relate to).
A combination of Blues Bulldogs will still have the same big picture benefits discussed earlier but is likely to result in the higher gate takings being suggested given that your starting from a much smaller interest point in the game in its current theme-less state.
Such a move also decentralizes the power of Melbourne football away from just the Essendon* and Collingwoods.
In this case I would like to see our club exploring potential growth in relationships with other Clubs and considering the viability of the Bulldogs who have a bright on field future given their current list.
At the end of the day the reason a concept such as the one as presented by Sheedy would have legitimacy is more so because of what the blues history brings to the table on the concept of Multiculturalism not what Essendon* brings.
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