Sit back, make yourself comfortable, maybe grab a hot drink, some biscuits to dunk, because I want to take you into the land of fairy stories. A land where things may seem real. Where you will be told amazing tales. Be aware though, not all are real and not all of it is true. Yet you will believe that they are because the storytellers will convince you that they know the difference between what is real and what is not. They will be that one person who is convinced that they have their “finger-on-the-pulse” of reality and can determine the difference between speculation and reality. They can put aside their biases, they can use their magnificent “ability” to come to conclusions about what is going on and legitimately believe that what they are saying is factual and not a fairy story.
I am not talking about anyone else other than the AFL media – the journalists and the commentators in the world of footy. They are fast becoming one of the biggest fairy storytellers this sporting world has seen and what is more surprising is that they really believe their own hype and their own belief that what they are saying is valid and true. Yet they are nothing more than fairy storytellers.
As a bit of background, fairy stories grew from a movement in France around the 17th Century where ladies-in-waiting would tell each other stories. Sitting around open fireplaces, they would base these stories on actual events or experiences but would embellish and infuse in the stories the fantastical and mythical elements to make them more intriguing and exciting to hear. The AFL media world is not far from this very scenario, but instead of open fires, it is in technology that they gather around. The difference here is that back then, everyone knew they were fairy stories, now, the media believe their own stories. They believe they have the only finger-on-the-pulse, the only ear-to-the-ground of newsworthy information.
A journalist in SA has stated that Adelaide’s Don Pyke met with the Board to get reassurance that he will not be fired, and Pyke came out and categorically stated that this did not happen. Journalists are stating that Alistair Clarkson has been offered a mega-deal to leave Hawthorn and coach Carlton. While he may have been offered it in the hope that it could be possible that he leaves a club he has shaped and continues to shape – he is not leaving. According to another journalist, Brad Scott will be coaching Carlton and this very same journalist came out and stated that the AFL had sent the Carlton Cheer Squad a “please explain” letter about an “incident” back in May. There was no “please explain” letter from the AFL, yet we are to believe what this journalist is stating as being correct because he is adamant that his story is spot on!
Now another journalist who really should know better, has stated that the players of Adelaide are wanting to get David Teague back to the club to take over from Don Pyke. While this very same journalist could not state with certainty that this happened, they just put two and two together to come with nine! Now I’m not saying this could not be true, because it could be, but let’s be logical here. For Pyke to get the sack and bring in Teague, Adelaide would have to fork out $3 million to pay out Pyke’s contract. That would mean that while the club could afford it, it is a big chunk of money that would eat into what they had to work with to get players into the club. This is a prime case of a major fairy storyteller looking at what is in front of them and, as all fairy storytellers do, maybe embellish just a little to make this person seem more relevant and outlandish and believable.
With three clubs who have caretaker coaches and each proving not only their ability to actually be a senior coach of their respective clubs, each has come out and stated that right now is not the time to deviate from the final matches of the season to discuss this with the storytellers. But the storytellers have not given up on creating their fairy stories. When SOS met with Ross Lyon it was touted as being a meeting to discuss the senior coaching role.
Some supporters believe that what a journalist or a commentator states is actually true, but for the most part it is just a story, a fairy story. It is one that is based on speculation, conclusions that they themselves believe based on their “brilliant” powers of deduction (they are not Sherlock). They look at what is actually real then embellish it just a bit to create a bit sensationalism across the AFL world. Don’t be fooled into what they are saying as being real as the sad truth is that what is real and what is not gets mushed around in the muddied pool of the media world and the need to be the first to break a story or to get it right.
Only believe in what the clubs come out and state even if they themselves change what they say from one week to the next. Due to circumstances in this world of a game that is based on the success that a club brings on the field, this is the only source that has their fingers on reality and not clouded in the pages of fairy stories from the media.
I am BOUND BY BLUE!
SPORTZ 