Last night I went to the MCG to watch Richmond lose to Port Adelaide. That was not a poor choice of words, I did actually go there expecting to see that eventuality. I knew that was what was going to happen, and I had prepared myself with an emotional detachment that resulted in some incessant sarcastic commentary throughout the course of the match.
Richmond is my team, and I will watch every game we play, usually multiple times, even when we lose, even when I know we are going to lose, even when we are diabolically shocking. I pay my membership, I want the best for my side, and support them even though my version of support can be different to others’.
Last night I pretty much spent the night mocking my own players, and the stupid game plan they are trying so fruitlessly to implement. Or sort of trying to implement, as it seems they’ve given up on it, as it is yesterday’s news, and clearly beyond them. I didn’t even like our game style when it was sort of working, let alone now that it has fallen in a big crumbly heap.
Perhaps it’s easier to remain somewhat aloof when you have lost hope, as the game plan seemed to affect me more when it was working a bit better. I must confess that earlier this season I did get very angry a couple of times, but last night I was mostly just watching with bemusement. Still, on a couple of occasions I did lose track of my emotional detachment and start barracking.