thanks hase

so paul hasleby announced his retirement from the afl today. hase has long been one of my favourite freo players and it's sad to see his career come to a premature end. it's also sad he experienced so few finals campaigns but he's certainly in elite company with that given champions such as robbie flower and bob skilton also went through their careers with clubs mostly anchored to the bottom of the ladder. the pride and passion hase showed for the freo footy club was inspirational and i've no doubt he'll still be around the club post-retirement.

good luck with your future endeavours hase and also with your impending fatherhood. i've really appreciated all you've done and the pleasure you've given me over the years.

the power of music

i'm watching rage at the moment and once again the power of music to pull me back to particular places in time has astounded me. listening to certain songs is like a time machine. they just showed the clip for joe jackson's "steppin' out" which always takes me back to the trampoline and putt putt centre in augusta (around the corner from the colour patch general store) where we'd go as kids in 1983. they played a compilation cassette over and over and the songs that i most remember from it were steppin' out and UB40's cover of red red wine. every time i hear either of those songs i'm immediately back there.

next they played 'smooth operator' by sade and suddenly i'm a 14yo year 9 student at scarborough high school waiting for stephen buhlman to bring me a tape-2-tape copy of a compilation cassette with that song on it.

it's the same when i hear 'last chance on the stairway' by duran duran off their incredible 'rio' album. it always takes me back to kalbarri in 1986 when brett arnott came on holiday with us. i'd only just bought 'rio' (4 years after it's release) and this was the only track i hadn't heard before so it stuck in my mind.

now comes on 'superfreak' by rick james. this always takes me back to the mid 90s and into adam brown's flat in vic park with the como bapo youth group as it was the first time i heard this song. yep... i heard mc hammer's sample before i heard the original.

another song that always takes me back is the rather awful '(i've just had) the time of my life' from the dirty dancing soundtrack. it pulls me back to 1988 and the school bus on the way back from our year 12 camp at club capricorn just outside of yanchep. for some unknown reason the girls loved the dirty dancing soundtrack and inflicted it on us as we headed back from camp.

i could keep going on but i won't. the point is that music has a stunning ability to transport one back to a certain place and time. it does it better than any other medium and the sensory feelings it brings are undeniable. i don't know how it affects others but for me, i grieve deeply for my lost youth. i guess that says a lot.

western derby XXXII

well, what can i say about sunday's wonderful western derby. i clearly remember a time when freo were crap and i'd turn up to each derby with a dream that we'd win but knowing it was pretty unlikely. at the time i regularly said to people who queried why i stuck by freo that the hard times would just make the good times all that much sweeter. now i know just how right i was. the really great thing about watching freo this year has been seeing the young fellas playing good hard footy and playing with an intensity we've not had in the past. i really hope this is something we'll see a lot of in years to come and that the club's culture of accepting mediocrity is being permanently changed now. we had a false dawn in 2006 and i'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that history doesn't repeat itself.

of course, the flip side to the great enjoyment of watching freo heading towards the finals is the schadenfreude of watching the weagles wallowing at the bottom of the ladder. i didn't hear until after the game that harvs and pav had asked freo members not to bring wooden spoons but i doubt it would've stopped me. part of the great sporting rivalries is taking joy in your bitter rivals doing it tough. i've sat through many derbies when we've been belted and taken the jibes of the weagles fans on the chin (and never left the game early - take note weagle fans) so it's only fair they take some of their own medicine now. what i didn't expect was to for a photo of me to grace the media! ahh... it's all a bit of fun.

the other significant thing that happened at the derby was that i finally fulfilled my end of the bet and wore a weagles jumper for the whole game. for those not in the know, in late 2003 i made a bet with doc munners that freo would win a premiership before the weagles won another. at the time it was a reasonable view given we'd just finished the home & away season in 5th place and had dominated the weagles during the year. history shows we got smashed by essendon in the elimination final and didn't play finals again until 2006 whereas the weagles developed a brilliant midfield, played in a number of finals series and won a premiership. the terms of the bet was that the loser had to wear the opposition guernsey to a derby and it's taken me a while but i've now done it. thank goodness i don't have to it again!!