Sending an RL fan to cover an AFL carnival

[dukey]

Just read this in the local paper's website. [icon_lol1.

For my first “assignmentâ€Â, the editor of the Magnet asked me to make a few notes on the AFL carnival today, and write 300 words about it on Monday in her offices, turning what was going to be a casual day of drinking beer with mates and generally ignoring the footy into one of work.
So on my day off from Real Work I dragged myself out of bed at 9:15 and down to the sportsground to cover the first match of the day, the Eden Whalers vs the Merimbula Diggers. Despite the casual nature of the editor’s suggestion, I was determined to cover the event right; I’d equipped myself with a (borrowed) $5000 Nikon 35mm SLR camera, a notepad full of photography pointers, story direction ideas, and a list of players whom I was reliably informed would be the Ones to Watch.
The crowd, at this hour, was sparse; just the supporters of the two teams. With the tournament being a round-robin event, teams were only required to turn up shortly before their own game commenced. I had no difficulty finding a parking space, and decided against any photos of the crowd at this point.
Knowing their form in recent years, I decided to bet against the home team for the first half of the game and sit behind their goals, expecting the Diggers to be the more controlling team.
Unfortunately, my enthusiasm for the day began to deteriorate from the opening whistle as I remembered what a dull and unstructured sport Australian Rules is to watch. Nonetheless, for the first game I took three pages of notes, and ran through an entire roll of film before the second half was even close to finishing. For the record, Eden won the game 6.1.37 to 4.5.29, despite some poor kicking and placement by kick receivers. The fast pace of the shortened games, comparable to Twenty20 cricket or rugby sevens, seemed to suit the Whalers, who maintained a high level of stamina and ebullience for the entire duration.
In addition to my apathy, another problem was that I didn’t really understand the game - despite having trained with the Whalers and planning to play this season myself. I felt that this wouldn’t be a major hurdle: if you can write about one sport, you can write about them all, especially when you are writing for a small town newspaper with no specialist readership. Speak about enthusiasm, ball control, the obvious effects of pre-season training on the players, the new coach’s impact on the side, etc. It works for everything from gridiron to netball.
I watched part of the second game, between Bermagui and Pambula, before deciding that I was not going to cover every game, but would merely cover every Whalers game. With a little luck, they’d lose the next one and somehow be out of the running for the finals, which would get me out of the place by 2PM rather than six.
I left midway through the Bermagui/Pambula game to get more film and beer money and ferry two friends to the field. By the time we got back, parking spaces were few and far between, and in driving around the field looking for one I managed to drop the front left of my Ford Falcon into an enormous pothole with a huge, scraping thunk.
Here are all of my notes for the second Whalers game, starting at 12:50.

EDEN
6.4.40
TATHRA
4.8.32

Much more cohesive.

Unfortunately, the excitement of watching Aussie Rules proved too much for me, and I had to go home and pass out for five hours. By the time I awoke, the carnival was over, and I had no idea about how it had panned out at all. Fortunately, the editor’s brief was so vague that I could just elect to write 300 words about the atmosphere of the game and the optimism of Whaler’s fans about the season ahead. Hope was abundant amongst them, despite the fact that the team winning a few 20-minute games is as good an indicator for a season of full length football as my performance in mini golf would be for a crack at the PGA tour.
Notes for next event:
Wear sunscreen, or at least sleeves. My arms look redder than Whalers guernseys, and I’ve used almost an entire bottle of moisturiser since I woke up three hours ago. Face is burnt also, should try to find a variety of hat to cover my bulbous misshapen head.
Avoid, at all costs, covering the AFL ever again. Stick to rugby league or basketball or some other sport played photogenically and comprehensively on a reasonably sized field.

 

[Coxy]

LOLZ. So true.

 

[mrslong]

Avoid, at all costs, covering the AFL ever again. Stick to rugby league or basketball or some other sport played photogenically and comprehensively on a reasonably sized field.


CLASSIC!