A post for any stupid AFL people who read this forum....

[Triple B]

....but I really don't mind if I miss a game that is played in Melbourne.

That statement would suggest, well, you don't really care if you miss a game that is played in Melbourne.

That's not twisting any words.

But if you don't really care if you go when they're playing in your own backyard, why be so indignant because you cannot sit in your loungeroom and watch them live on free to air when they play interstate?

[Triple B]

Just saw your edit.

If I lived in Melbourne as a Swans fan I'd have have Foxtel connected before I worried about anything else.

No brainer.

[CureTheSane]

Originally Posted by Cure the Sane
....but I really don't mind if I miss a game that is played in Melbourne.

That statement would suggest, well, you don't really care if you miss a game that is played in Melbourne.

That's not twisting any words.

But if you don't really care if you go when they're playing in your own backyard, why be so indignant because you cannot sit in your loungeroom and watch them live on free to air when they play interstate?

You've misinterpreted what I MEAN'T

I don't mind if I miss out on seeing a live game, because it's MY FAULT.
I chose (or had no choice) to miss it, and it was being played in my backyard, so there is only one person to inevitably blame for missing it - me!

Hence my post is about the games that are not played in Melbourne.
The ones I cannot go and see.
That's what pisses me off, because they aren't readily accessible top me like a live game being played in Melbourne is.

[CureTheSane]

Just saw your edit.

If I lived in Melbourne as a Swans fan I'd have have Foxtel connected before I worried about anything else.

No brainer.

I had Foxtel last year,and for a whole plethora of reasons I had it disconnected.
They ranged from value for money, overall cost, but mostly due to the zombie like state that it turned my kids into.

and I understand that they are a big player in the TV rights, but what I am suggesting is that for people like me, who refuse Foxtel (for whatever reason) allow us to shun all forms of media for the 12 hours following the game and watch it in the middle of the night when ratings mean zip.

[Triple B]

That's what pisses me off, because they aren't readily accessible to me like a live game being played in Melbourne is.

But they ARE readily accessible, which brings us back to the old chestnut of Foxtel.

You have stated many times before that you don't want Foxtel, from memory it had something to do with the kids, but I fail to see why your refusal to get Foxtel is the fault of the Swans or the AFL.

[originalswan]

Well guys I'm an AFL member (Sydney Swans) and was at the game on Saturday night.

CTS is right in saying that we in Melbourne were promised all kinds of things by the pro Sydney group and VFL (at the time) when we were contemplating/fighting the move to Sydney.

Unfortunately, many a sweet thing is said until they get you into bed!!!

It's quite perplexing though how the Swans free to air coverage, in proportion to Foxtel has diminished since Demetriou came into office. Are the AFL perhaps deliberately trying to dissuade Melbournians (indirectly through lack of coverage) from the Swans and to other Melbourne based clubs?

Anyway I know that I never get my full monies worth with an AFL membership and that getting foxtel as CTS has said would be almost as futile as my small kids would also ensure that I didn't have the chance to utilise the service.

So therein lies the problem; we are not a priority in Melbourne (supporters of the Swans). The media moguls currently pull the strings. What do you expect though when they inject hundreds of millions into the game.

[swantastic]

I'll get out when I can.
My wife is working on Sunday, and I really don't ant to be dragging 6 kids to a pub.



Stuff that.
I can do without the 'support your club' rhetoric
The club doesn't seem to be really giving two @@@@s about me.
I've emailed them my concerns season after season and I get the same old generic replies.
he Swans a couple of seasons ago were trying to build the base in Melbourne.
I see it diminishing if there is not change.

I'll look after the Swans if they look after me and the rest of the Victorian supporters.
That sounds like a fair deal.

I understand supporting your team financially even if you don't get to many games.
But what people forget is that 'giving' money to your team is something people are happy to do IF they get something in return.
I find it hard to throw away my money like that.

The more people that just give the Swans their money to feel good about themselves will culminate in one thing - missing out on more.

I refuse to give them my money until they start to at least seem interested in looking after my interests.

And one other thing, I'd feel really bad about contributing financially to SSI if I had.
You'd think they would be out and about trying to do something for their 'kin'
With all that pulling power they had to get Roos the job (lol)

I'm taking the missus so she can look after my kids.

It serves your self right for having bloody 6 kids,you must be catholic or you dont have a TV

I wouldn't say that the club doesnt care about its Melbourne supporters,but it could do a lot more to help us out i agree with that.

When i got stooged over a 2005 premership gurnsey the media manager got the 3 sigs that wernt on it which i thought was very good of him.

So if some one asks you for help on the side of the road before you help them you say,whats in it for me?

Maybe your right on the diminishing supporter base in Melbourne,after all we struggle to get 10000 members in Melbourne.

[originalswan]

I'm taking the missus so she can look after my kids.

It serves your self right for having bloody 6 kids,you must be catholic or you dont have a TV

I wouldn't say that the club doesnt care about its Melbourne supporters,but it could do a lot more to help us out i agree with that.

When i got stooged over a 2005 premership gurnsey the media manager got the 3 sigs that wernt on it which i thought was very good of him.

So if some one asks you for help on the side of the road before you help them you say,whats in it for me?

Maybe your right on the diminishing supporter base in Melbourne,after all we struggle to get 10000 members in Melbourne.

Funny you say that as I had a guernsey that required a few signatures and the lady I spoke to at the Swans basically said "sorry can't help you". That's when it hit me that I really am a small miniscule member (at the time Premiership memebership) that has no hope of truly feeling part of the "Swans family".

[liz]

Funny you say that as I had a guernsey that required a few signatures and the lady I spoke to at the Swans basically said "sorry can't help you". That's when it hit me that I really am a small miniscule member (at the time Premiership memebership) that has no hope of truly feeling part of the "Swans family".

Look at it from the club's point of view, though. There are 25,000+ members. Imagine if they all wanted the club to co-ordinate getting a few signatures for them.

They do provide opportunities to get signatures. In Melbourne you have the family days, while if you're in Sydney and pop along to a training session any time, the players usually seem more than happy to sign a few things as they are leaving the ground. Alternatively you have access to them at aftermatch functions or one of the numerous shopping centre visits they do just before the start of each season.

[stellation]

There was a comment on getting the club to organize a signed jumper made by Spida in an interview last year, he said that all clubs are loathe to do it as if they did every free signed jumper request they receive it would detract from the value of the ones that are auctioned off for charity.

[CureTheSane]

It serves your self right for having bloody 6 kids,you must be catholic or you dont have a TV

Nope and nope.
Blended marriage.

I wouldn't say that the club doesnt care about its Melbourne supporters,but it could do a lot more to help us out i agree with that.

We are not a priority for either the Swans or the AFL
2.

So if some one asks you for help on the side of the road before you help them you say,whats in it for me?

Of course not.
Let me put it this way.

1. The Swans ask you to pay $100 per year but they tell you that you won't get to see any game at all.
Do you pay it? I don't think so.

2. The Swans ask you to pay $100 per year and in return they give you 11 live games and every game televised into Sydney on FTA.
You'd pay that.

Somewhere between 1. and 2. everyone here would have a point where they'd say "no"
For me, I am at the point of saying "no"
What is on offer for me over the 22 rounds does not inspire me to pay for a membership, nor will it peak my interest in the team for the full 22 rounds.

In a way I am a casual supporter.
I'll go to the games when I can, and I'll watch them in TV when I can.
If I go to a pub I'll remember the first half of teh game and see who won in the morning

Maybe your right on the diminishing supporter base in Melbourne,after all we struggle to get 10000 members in Melbourne.

[hammo]

I really didn't want to be the one to point this out, but the Swans moved to Sydney 26 years ago! There would have been a lot of tv deals negotiated and signed over that time, so what the VFL and club said in 1982 would have no relevance now.

The other factor of course is that the free to air networks in Melbourne will always give precedence to Melbourne clubs to maximise ratings. Sydney vs Port is not going to attract the sort of audience that one or even two Melbourne clubs would.

Finally, you are mostly right about members not being important anymore. The money available through TV should easily be able to keep 16 clubs afloat, and those with strong corporate support (e.g the big Melbourne clubs and the interstate clubs) are on easy street. The "price" to pay is some games on Foxtel but overall it means financially the game is much better off.

[CureTheSane]

I really didn't want to be the one to point this out, but the Swans moved to Sydney 26 years ago! There would have been a lot of tv deals negotiated and signed over that time, so what the VFL and club said in 1982 would have no relevance now.

*covers ears* "not listening, not listening....."
to quote the Bangles (I think) "time time time, look what's become of me.....

The other factor of course is that the free to air networks in Melbourne will always give precedence to Melbourne clubs to maximise ratings. Sydney vs Port is not going to attract the sort of audience that one or even two Melbourne clubs would.

Finally, you are mostly right about members not being important anymore. The money available through TV should easily be able to keep 16 clubs afloat, and those with strong corporate support (e.g the big Melbourne clubs and the interstate clubs) are on easy street. The "price" to pay is some games on Foxtel but overall it means financially the game is much better off.

So what is your take on the potential for pirate games being shown on the internet?
I think it's a massive concern.
Only 10 minutes ago I saw a link for a download to some new 2008 Monopoly game download.
Constantly I come across links for CD's, DVD's and the like.
it won't be long before the feed from a tuner card will be transmitted over the net much like live concerts and feeds are currently.

Kind of like that Underbelly show being banned in Melbourne.
Right now probably 90% of people who wanted to see it,haven't
I'd say that if the same thing happens a few years from now, that percentage will be massively reduced.
I should pose all these Swans related and pirate related questions to someone in the AFL and see what they have to say about them.
Or better yet, send this thread to one of the stupid current affairs shows and let them do all the work.

[AnnieH]

Finally. Some sense.

Ring up Anna Coren. She'll back ya.

[CureTheSane]

Finally. Some sense.

Ring up Anna Coren. She'll back ya.

Anyone but that bitch Mia Greeves
I handed her an exclusive story, she woke me up at like 6am to film it, told me they'd pay me for the story (which I didn't ask for) and then when I chased it up a month later her producer denied everything (like he'd know what she said) and said he'd have her call me back - she didn't.

Like I GAF about a couple of hundred dollars to chase it up further.
I'll just keep it in the back of my mind and when a bigger better story comes my way I'll pass it on to 7 or 9 or both