Too cold for footy
Posted by Les on 9th July 2010
By Les Everett
WE’D managed to snag the worst seats at Skilled Stadium.
They were behind the goals at the unprotected end, elevated so as to provide not a better view but full-faced access to the icy wind.
We took our seats maybe 15 minutes before bounce down and it was raining. I was wearing a t-shirt, thick shirt, windcheater, coat, weatherproof hooded jacket and a Dockers scarf. My jeans were soaked before the siren sounded.
At some stage the ground announcer said it was seven degrees – we didn’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind was blowin’. Geelong captain Steven King won the toss and decided to kick towards us.
“Go Fremantle!” I yelled and icy rain hit the back of my throat, “These are our conditions.”
Two of our party, one at her first footy game, left before half time. They weren’t the only ones. Someone said he hadn’t seen such conditions for 30 years – he can’t have been much over 30-years-old.
A fan behind us bemoaned the inability of modern players to handle such conditions – local games around Geelong were being called off, players were being taken to hospital. Even the greats of yesteryear when men were men didn’t play on days such as this.
Before quarter time I noticed an uncontrollable shivering and when I moved at half time realised my legs weren’t functioning well and my jaw was locking.
My companion fellow Almanacker Neil Belford and I had an out. AFL media accreditation. We spent half time looking for the media box. Past experience at Kardinia Park had told me staff members are pleasant but no one knows where the media facilities are located. I didn’t mind. During one fruitless search we found ourselves in a windowless concrete stairwell – it was warm. I wanted to stay.
Finally we were ushered into a curious glassed-in room occupied by the non-playing members of the Geelong squad (counting their blessings) and other Cat faithful including the legendary Doug Wade. One of the players was Corey Enright, then a fringe member of the squad.
The game, up for grabs at half time, drifted like an iceberg out of Fremantle’s grasp. For the first time in my footy supporting life the result meant nothing, I just hoped the players were ok.
It ended. We headed zombie-ilke toward the Sawyers Arms Hotel. We didn’t need beer; we required rum and red wine and an open fire.
They played the Geelong song and people sang along while body temperatures returned to something like normal.
They played it again.
“Turn it off!” I cried and people smiled.
I realised I liked Geelong fans. Back then they knew pain.
But this game was too much. No one should been outdoors in Geelong on Saturday 14 August 2004.
First published on australianrules.com.au
Postscript: Later I heard that at the half time break Fremantle players were give cups of tea and coffee rather than water and sport drinks. Most were shivering so much they could barely drink. Jeff Farmer’s shivering was so out of control that he was covered in blankets and towels and had heat lamps directed at him. I’ve never been back to Kardinia Park.
Tags: Fremantle, Kardinia Park, weather
Posted in General Footy Writing | 8 Comments »