Saturday night

[CureTheSane]

I get to see my first Swans game for the year.

The first one I missed because I was in Surfers Paradise and it wasn't televised.

The next week I was driving home from Surfers.

Last week it was in Sydney and not televised.

So I get to see Spida in Swans colours for the first time, and our new players etc.

Sort of lost a fair bit of interest not being able to see the team play, and I've decided to pretty much just concede that I am just not going to be a passionate supporter as I have been in previous years.

I normally would travel to every Melbourne based game, but this year we have only planned the Kangaroos game.

I wonder how many other supporters there are out there who are going down the same road?

[goswannie14]

I'm still passionate about the Swans, I just am annoyed that we don't get to see them on TV as much this year as we can't afford Austar (have friends who do) and am working every Saturday night, except when the Swans are playing in Melb.

So...can anyone tape Saturday nights game for me? PM me if you can help out.

[is2SWaNz]

Sad to hear you've lost passion or is going down that road.

But the round 3 game was televised on channel seven...

[goswannie14]

But the round 3 game was televised on channel seven...

Not in Melbourne, it was on Foxtel. (as are all early Sunday games under the new agreement.)

[JF_Bay22_SCG]

I get to see my first Swans game for the year.

The first one I missed because I was in Surfers Paradise and it wasn't televised.

The next week I was driving home from Surfers.

Last week it was in Sydney and not televised.

So I get to see Spida in Swans colours for the first time, and our new players etc.

Sort of lost a fair bit of interest not being able to see the team play, and I've decided to pretty much just concede that I am just not going to be a passionate supporter as I have been in previous years.

I normally would travel to every Melbourne based game, but this year we have only planned the Kangaroos game.

I wonder how many other supporters there are out there who are going down the same road?

I noticed how people's attitudes to the footy have changed since we won the flag when I was at the Cricketers in Melbourne with Ert & Ando before the Tigers game. Mine most definitely has. We are still at the game & stuff but the desperation in our passion is nowhere near as intense as it was pre-flag. We chatted about pretty much things other than footy, like how we were, what we were doing etc etc.

Don't get me wrong. I still want to win. But the pain when we lose (ie against the Eagles) is nowhere as strong any more. You aren't asking yourself the existential question of why you are constantly doing it to yourself & whether we will ever see us win a flag.

To be honest I don't think I'd have made the step I have made to move to Melbourne and change my priorities in relation to work & outside social life vs sport had Leo not taken that mark back in 2005. we have won a flag, so I can start moving on in life, looking for new stimulations I guess.

The footy (especially) in Melbourne is as much about hanging out with my good friends pre, during & post match. we are all from very different walks of life but all get on like a house on fire. Even if the game is crap or we have lost, we can still have fun in each other's company.

I actually think living in Melbourne may re-generate my enthusiasm for the footy a bit. Because there will only be 6 games a year, so it won't be a ho hum weekly thing like it has been for me in Sydney.Plus there are always the away trips interstate. Apart from Perth which I think I'll miss this year, there really are only home matches (meh) & the away trip to Brisbane (where again I'll get to catch up with AnnetteF & LesCygnes).

Watching home games could be tough. May I suggest that those of us who do not have Foxtel maybe meet up and watch the home games together at the Danish Club.Maybe make it an official RWO get-together or something? It is social, you can have a chat & maybe a bite of roast members of Princess Mary's family. And you aren't watching the footy on your own which totally sucks.

JF

[CureTheSane]

I'm still passionate about the Swans, I just am annoyed that we don't get to see them on TV as much this year as we can't afford Austar (have friends who do) and am working every Saturday night, except when the Swans are playing in Melb.

So...can anyone tape Saturday nights game for me? PM me if you can help out.

Yeah, I mean I make this post for two reasons.

One is that I am actually losing a fair bit of passion.
I really know nothing about who's in and out at the moment, because I don't bother reading those threads because I don't get to understand the importance of losing say Maleski at the moment, as I don't know how good for us he's been this year.

The other reason is not so much to vent being pissed off to the AFL, but to let whoever from the AFL, media, Swans etc who sometimes read this forum know that not being able to see your team play will cause a loss of interest.

[goswannie14]

Yeah, I mean I make this post for two reasons.

One is that I am actually losing a fair bit of passion.
I really know nothing about who's in and out at the moment, because I don't bother reading those threads because I don't get to understand the importance of losing say Maleski at the moment, as I don't know how good for us he's been this year.

The other reason is not so much to vent being pissed off to the AFL, but to let whoever from the AFL, media, Swans etc who sometimes read this forum know that not being able to see your team play will cause a loss of interest.

With this new Tv deal Victorian based Swans supporters got shafted on two counts,

1) We now have less games on FTA

2) With the draw being done before the deal was finalised (who would televise what) we miss out on seeing the early games on FTA, which means under the new agreement we get to see 7 less Swans games televised in Melb than in the past.

[CureTheSane]

I noticed how people's attitudes to the footy have changed since we won the flag when I was at the Cricketers in Melbourne with Ert & Ando before the Tigers game. Mine most definitely has. We are still at the game & stuff but the desperation in our passion is nowhere near as intense as it was pre-flag. We chatted about pretty much things other than footy, like how we were, what we were doing etc etc.

Don't get me wrong. I still want to win. But the pain when we lose (ie against the Eagles) is nowhere as strong any more. You aren't asking yourself the existential question of why you are constantly doing it to yourself & whether we will ever see us win a flag.

To be honest I don't think I'd have made the step I have made to move to Melbourne and change my priorities in relation to work & outside social life vs sport had Leo not taken that mark back in 2005. we have won a flag, so I can start moving on in life, looking for new stimulations I guess.

The footy (especially) in Melbourne is as much about hanging out with my good friends pre, during & post match. we are all from very different walks of life but all get on like a house on fire. Even if the game is crap or we have lost, we can still have fun in each other's company.

I actually think living in Melbourne may re-generate my enthusiasm for the footy a bit. Because there will only be 6 games a year, so it won't be a ho hum weekly thing like it has been for me in Sydney.Plus there are always the away trips interstate. Apart from Perth which I think I'll miss this year, there really are only home matches (meh) & the away trip to Brisbane (where again I'll get to catch up with AnnetteF & LesCygnes).

Watching home games could be tough. May I suggest that those of us who do not have Foxtel maybe meet up and watch the home games together at the Danish Club.Maybe make it an official RWO get-together or something? It is social, you can have a chat & maybe a bite of roast members of Princess Mary's family. And you aren't watching the footy on your own which totally sucks.

JF

I thought after the GF win I would pretty much lose all interest in the Swans and football for a few years.

When you've waited all your life for a flag, have been through the relocation and the low low low times at the bottom of the ladder, all you ever wanted was to see your team win.
and they did.

I found that I didn't care as much about a loss.
It becomes clear that all that is essentially needed to win the flag is a spot in the top 8.

In effect rounds 1 - 22 are meaningless in the grand scale of things.
We played well for 22 rounds last year and then did well in the GF.
Going back to back would have been great but I found it easy to live with a one point loss.

I don't get out to bars etc to watch Swans games on pub foxtel.
I have kids to attend to.
Which really is the bigger picture.

I have 6 little Swans supporters here.

They will probably get to see a handful of games this year.

What happens to their passion?

[goswannie14]

I thought after the GF win I would pretty much lose all interest in the Swans and football for a few years.

When you've waited all your life for a flag, have been through the relocation and the low low low times at the bottom of the ladder, all you ever wanted was to see your team win.
and they did.

I found that I didn't care as much about a loss.
It becomes clear that all that is essentially needed to win the flag is a spot in the top 8.

In effect rounds 1 - 22 are meaningless in the grand scale of things.
We played well for 22 rounds last year and then did well in the GF.
Going back to back would have been great but I found it easy to live with a one point loss.

I don't get out to bars etc to watch Swans games on pub foxtel.
I have kids to attend to.
Which really is the bigger picture.

I have 6 little Swans supporters here.

They will probably get to see a handful of games this year.

What happens to their passion?

I understand where you are coming from. I was the same after the GF last year. If we hadn't won the year before I would have been shattered. The little Swans supporters for me are the real concern, but hopefully next years coverage in Melb will improve.

[swansrock4eva]

Must admit I'm in a similar boat. Not being able to afford foxtel, I've found I'm becoming less of a Swans supporter and more of a football supporter since having moved to Melbourne. I spent an hour chatting with a uni friend yesterday about the TAC Cup and VFL, rather than the AFL. I'm going with my dad to the Bulldogs-Tigers match tomorrow night and am looking forward to going to a game of footy where the result isn't so much the thing for me, but the actual footy is. I'm happy to sit down and watch any match of footy on TV so I can see other games and other teams taking my interest a bit more than they have in the past simply because I'm more exposed to them than I have been in the past. But not having as much exposure to the Swans as I'm used to, I'm finding it harder to be as passionate about them. I'm still going to the games down here, going back to Sydney a few times etc, but it has already become a bit more for the novelty factor of actually seeing the boys than because I HAVE to see them if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm still red and white through and through and will be until I die, but I do feel very cut off from my club because of the TV deal.

[CureTheSane]

Must admit I'm in a similar boat. Not being able to afford foxtel, I've found I'm becoming less of a Swans supporter and more of a football supporter since having moved to Melbourne. I spent an hour chatting with a uni friend yesterday about the TAC Cup and VFL, rather than the AFL. I'm going with my dad to the Bulldogs-Tigers match tomorrow night and am looking forward to going to a game of footy where the result isn't so much the thing for me, but the actual footy is. I'm happy to sit down and watch any match of footy on TV so I can see other games and other teams taking my interest a bit more than they have in the past simply because I'm more exposed to them than I have been in the past. But not having as much exposure to the Swans as I'm used to, I'm finding it harder to be as passionate about them. I'm still going to the games down here, going back to Sydney a few times etc, but it has already become a bit more for the novelty factor of actually seeing the boys than because I HAVE to see them if that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm still red and white through and through and will be until I die, but I do feel very cut off from my club because of the TV deal.

How about if I went to the US and bought an over the counter gun and came back and put it to your head and said "change teams now!"
would you be a Swans supporter until you die then?

*Disclaimer for all the "holier than thou people here who can't take a joke - I actually have no intention of flying to America to buy a gun and putting it to SR4E's head.

Simply, if we can't see the Swans play, we lose interest.

I refuse to purchase Foxtel.
Not because of the expense, but I don't want to encourage more TV for my kids.
I'd love it, there is a lot of cool stuff on Foxtel.
and my wife begs for it occasionally, but the right thing to do is not to get it.

The AFL know how important exposure is for the game.
This is why there are so many games televised live into Sydney when the game is being played there and anyone can hop on a bus and go to the ground and see it.
The AFL know that in the long term, televising the game in Sydney will bring in more and more supporters and expose many many people to what a great game it is and they will solidify AFL in that state.

Unfortunately, sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees (note to self: daily quota of silly sayings has been exceeded) and they seem not to care about anything that is not standing in front of them wobbling its arse.

[blinddog]

So...can anyone tape Saturday nights game for me? PM me if you can help out.

Tape, whats that?

[Zlatorog]

I record every game won by the Swans. I missed only a few. I remove all the commercials (if recorded from FTA TV) and store them on DVD.
Sometimes I watch them to pump myself up for the next round.

[goswannie14]

Tape, whats that?

I meant record. I have a DVD recorder as well as a VCR.

[Damien]

In terms of passion, the Premiership actually increased my passion for the Swans, i want more and more, plus witnessing the club finally develop a true "classic rivalry" with West Coast, like the big Melbourne clubs did during the late 70's and 80's is pretty damn exciting to me.

I think the Swans will get more FTA games from next year, as 7 would no doubt prefer to be able to show the Swans V a Vic club on Sunday's nationally, but the reality is that a 4/4 split between FTA and Pay is here to stay and will remain with us forever.