My tenth anniversary supporting the Dogs!

[Dry Rot]

I just realised that 2007 is the tenth season of supporting the Dogs for me, starting in the '98 season.

What a ride: almost a minor premiership and a PF loss, finals appearances, beating the unbeatable team, sliding out of the 8, club teetering on financial collapse and the coach walks out, a wooden spoon, a near wooden spoon, hope with a great new coach, back in the finals.

Almost seen it all - but where's that premiership? :)

[Mofra]

Congratulations.

I started a little younger, I must admit.

I call the aniversary of the beginning of my support of the Bulldogs a "birthday" :D

[BulldogBelle]

Good effort DR, congrats. You're complaining of not having witnessed a Dogs Premiership since you started being a Bulldog Supporter 10 years ago? Spare a thought for me...supporting the Dogs for 36 years and I am still waiting for that magical day to materialize in September for us. I feel the time is not too far away now. :)

[southerncross]

Well done DR. They way I look at it is the wait will be soooo much sweeter when we win the big one. I have never regretted barracking for the Dogs.

[bornadog]

I remember going to my first match when I was about 4 or 5 years old ( I was born at the Footscray and District Hospital). We moved away for about a year when I was 4, then moved back for almost two years when I was 5. We lived down Barkley street and we used to walk to the ground when I was a about 6 years old. We must have won a few as it was 1961, the year of our last grand final, but I can't remember much about that year. I think we pretty well went down hill after that and the next final wasn't till 1974. I stuck with them all through those years as I was growing up and don't regret that fact one bit. So DR stick with them I feel we are on the right track.

[alwaysadog]

I just realised that 2007 is the tenth season of supporting the Dogs for me, starting in the '98 season.

What a ride: almost a minor premiership and a PF loss, finals appearances, beating the unbeatable team, sliding out of the 8, club teetering on financial collapse and the coach walks out, a wooden spoon, a near wooden spoon, hope with a great new coach, back in the finals.

Almost seen it all - but where's that premiership? :)

Congratulations.. it has certainly been an exciting ride and one suspects even more is to come in the near future in spite of your ultimate cynicism. However the real celebration for me is that you are not only a person of wit and charm but also a friend who I value highly.

Maybe we should make a joint appointment with a psychiatrist to explore this fixation with apparent lost causes.

What else can I say? It's a long time since 1953 when I first recall watching things dog like. It's possible I actually went to the WO in 1952 but then I was too young to distinguish between seasons, having come to this fine land the year before.

In the end what sustains us is not triumph or disaster but our refusal to accept defeat, and to affirm that the Dogs will rise up in the West.

As Rabbie Burns would have said, and if memory is correcty actually did, "Lang mae yer lum reek".

[Sockeye Salmon]

I can't put a date on when I started following the Dogs, it's just been a constant all my life.

I looked back on some old results and I'm certain I was at a game v Richmond at WO in 1972. Richmond had a huge lead and we gradually pegged them back only to fail by 2 pts.

I also remember seeing us beat Richmond @ WO before then but we beat them @ WO in 69, 70 & 71 so it could have been any (or all) of those years.

My family was split between Richmond and Footscray so as a kid I only ever got to see us play Richmond.

[Go_Dogs]

Good to see you have stuck with us too DR - unlike a lot of fickle supporters - and especially for a man living in Sydney when your home team was doing so well.

[firstdogonthemoon]

When we moved from Sydney to Melbourne for work in 2001 - my boss said "You have to get a football team". I was slightly bemused, and thought "whatever, we live in Seddon, might as well support Footscray". Didnt realise they were such rubbish at the time, signed up just when Wallet quit. Didnt realise it was a life long commitment that would impact my whole family on so many levels, from the emotional, spiritual, theological, geographical and economic. Everywhere I went, everyone had a team - it was like a cult. I didnt understand, I thought it was ridiculous. I couldnt comprehend how everyone, from every walk of life was engaged at some level - it crossed (and reinforced) class boundaries, it transcended race and gender (gender! - chicks dig this stuff, man). If you supported NRL in Sydney, the way most people support AFL in Melbourne you would be considered a hard core league nutter.

I watched a bit on telly - still didnt get it. I went to a game, it was all over. Epiphany City! I was gone, horrified the wife - "when i married you, you werent into any sport at all". Joined the club - never looked back. Now I am the kind of person who writes on football message boards, only my friends from Sydney think that is weird.

Didnt realise that you actually do have to a have a football team if you want to get by in Melbourne. Certainly if you dont want to get "those" looks from people and be the odd one out who has to justify why they dont follow footy, certainly if you want to be able to talk to people, certainly if you dont want to stand out like a weirdo. You must have an AFL team if you want to be involved in the greatest achievements of the human race along with the invention of writing and Devo's first album "Are We Not Men?".

And of course if you want to be part of a real football adventure, a life affirming journey that tests the depths of your compassion and resilience, a journey that lifts you to celestial heights just before it crashes you lost and alone the rocks of despair, then the only team for you (and me) is the Western Bulldogs.

woof

[Go_Dogs]

Good post FDOTM.

[The Coon Dog]

Congrats DR!

There's just something, I don't know what it is, but there's just something about following the Western Bulldogs.It's unique, it comes from within, you can't explain it to 'outsiders' & even if you could, they just wouldn't understand it.

Most of us live for the footy season to come around. Those 6 months where it's cricket season bore me to tears, & I like cricket, but not like footy.

I'm sure there are many of us who know people that support the Bulldogs, not by name, would have no idea where they live or whether they're married, single or divorced, but you just know their face because like you, they turn up week in week out, year in year out. You always say g'day, it'd be rude not to, exchange pleasantries & wonder how we'll go this week or this year. I LOVE these people!!

How could you possibly barrack for anyone else?

I'm extrremely fortunate that my wife is & always has been a Bulldogs supporter (she grew up in the Eastern Suburbs) so our children didn't really have a choice about who they support. I feel for families whose support is divided.

You could give me all the premierships in the world & they'de mean NOTHING to me. That's why when we do achieve the ultimate success (hopefully this year, been saying that since I was a tacker) it will mean just so much more to people like you & me, the very fabric of the club, because it will have all been built on our collective blood, sweat & tears.

[Dry Rot]

Good to see you have stuck with us too DR - unlike a lot of fickle supporters - and especially for a man living in Sydney when your home team was doing so well.

Yep, in for life now.

IIRC, the Bombers and the Blues were the dominant teams in 2000 until Kouta got injured.

I remember us beating Carlton at Optus Oval. I watched it on TV, thinking we had little hope as we were undermanned. Big day for Bartlett, I recall.

When we won I clearly remember punching the air and shouting that I go for a great team. Same feeling beating the Bombers later that year. The bonding was well and truly complete.

I used to hate the Swans under Eade but now quite like them under Roos - the play a rugby league style of AFL. ;)

[Dry Rot]

Congratulations.. it has certainly been an exciting ride and one suspects even more is to come in the near future in spite of your ultimate cynicism. However the real celebration for me is that you are not only a person of wit and charm but also a friend who I value highly.

Maybe we should make a joint appointment with a psychiatrist to explore this fixation with apparent lost causes.

What else can I say? It's a long time since 1953 when I first recall watching things dog like. It's possible I actually went to the WO in 1952 but then I was too young to distinguish between seasons, having come to this fine land the year before.

In the end what sustains us is not triumph or disaster but our refusal to accept defeat, and to affirm that the Dogs will rise up in the West.

As Rabbie Burns would have said, and if memory is correcty actually did, "Lang mae yer lum reek".

Thanks AAD and for the kind words from others.

[alwaysadog]

Thanks AAD and for the kind words from others.

And you call me an optimist.

[alwaysadog]

Congrats DR!

There's just something, I don't know what it is, but there's just something about following the Western Bulldogs.It's unique, it comes from within, you can't explain it to 'outsiders' & even if you could, they just wouldn't understand it.

Most of us live for the footy season to come around. Those 6 months where it's cricket season bore me to tears, & I like cricket, but not like footy.

I'm sure there are many of us who know people that support the Bulldogs, not by name, would have no idea where they live or whether they're married, single or divorced, but you just know their face because like you, they turn up week in week out, year in year out. You always say g'day, it'd be rude not to, exchange pleasantries & wonder how we'll go this week or this year. I LOVE these people!!

How could you possibly barrack for anyone else?

I'm extrremely fortunate that my wife is & always has been a Bulldogs supporter (she grew up in the Eastern Suburbs) so our children didn't really have a choice about who they support. I feel for families whose support is divided.

You could give me all the premierships in the world & they'de mean NOTHING to me. That's why when we do achieve the ultimate success (hopefully this year, been saying that since I was a tacker) it will mean just so much more to people like you & me, the very fabric of the club, because it will have all been built on our collective blood, sweat & tears.


My favourite poet the Russian, Yevtushenko wrote in "Telling Lies to the Young is Wrong"

Who never knew the price of happiness will not be happy.

I'm sure had he been a Victorian he would have followed the Dogs or at least empathised with the struggle.

[Twodogs]

My favourite poet the Russian, Yevtushenko wrote in "Telling Lies to the Young is Wrong"

Who never knew the price of happiness will not be happy.

I'm sure had he been a Victorian he would have followed the Dogs or at least empathised with the struggle.


I saw him do a recital of his own work at Caulfield town hall in a desperate attempt to impress a girl.

A/ I was very impressed with his stories of standing in front of tanks
B/ Impressing the girl worked amazingly well.

[Go_Dogs]

How did said night end Twodogs? Haha.

[LostDoggy]

Late post on this thread but just want to chuck my hat in the ring as to why I support the Doggies. From Perth. Proud West Aussie. Always loved the footy (East Fremantle). Never had a VFL team. Loved watching it. Lived in Europe mid 80's. Returned to Australia, to Melbourne. Found a house and job in Footscray. Terrific to be living in a suburb with a VFL team. 1989. Amazed at the depth of affection and loyalty for the Dogs. My kind of supporter, my kind of team. Returned to Perth 1990. Took the red, white and blue with me. Love those Doggies, even more from a distance. I try to get to Subiaco for as many Dogs matches as possible. Be assured that I bark as loud as possible for all the dishlickers.

[southerncross]

Late post on this thread but just want to chuck my hat in the ring as to why I support the Doggies. From Perth. Proud West Aussie. Always loved the footy (East Fremantle). Never had a VFL team. Loved watching it. Lived in Europe mid 80's. Returned to Australia, to Melbourne. Found a house and job in Footscray. Terrific to be living in a suburb with a VFL team. 1989. Amazed at the depth of affection and loyalty for the Dogs. My kind of supporter, my kind of team. Returned to Perth 1990. Took the red, white and blue with me. Love those Doggies, even more from a distance. I try to get to Subiaco for as many Dogs matches as possible. Be assured that I bark as loud as possible for all the dishlickers.

trevnosh, great to have a read of this.
Not sure if you are going to Saturday nights game against the Eagles but if so it would be a great help for our regulars to get an eye witness account of the game.
It should be a ripper.

[LostDoggy]

Thanks southerncross. I'll be at the game- Long Distance membership has to count for something! I'll try to keep an eye on the game while I explain to the Eagles-supporting missus (choke) why McDougall can score heaps for us but not for them. cheers

[LostDoggy]

Thanks southerncross. I'll be at the game- Long Distance membership has to count for something! I'll try to keep an eye on the game while I explain to the Eagles-supporting missus (choke) why McDougall can score heaps for us but not for them. cheers

I really look forward to reading this. Getting info out of the papers only goes so far. Far better to hear 1st hand info from someone who was there. Welcome aboard by the way

[Dry Rot]

Thanks southerncross. I'll be at the game- Long Distance membership has to count for something! I'll try to keep an eye on the game while I explain to the Eagles-supporting missus (choke) why McDougall can score heaps for us but not for them. cheers

Good one and welcome aboard.

I've visited Perth a bit because my mum lives over there. Found Dogs fans aren't too popular there. Ditto where i live (Sydney).

[Sockeye Salmon]

Late post on this thread but just want to chuck my hat in the ring as to why I support the Doggies. From Perth. Proud West Aussie. Always loved the footy (East Fremantle). Never had a VFL team. Loved watching it. Lived in Europe mid 80's. Returned to Australia, to Melbourne. Found a house and job in Footscray. Terrific to be living in a suburb with a VFL team. 1989. Amazed at the depth of affection and loyalty for the Dogs. My kind of supporter, my kind of team. Returned to Perth 1990. Took the red, white and blue with me. Love those Doggies, even more from a distance. I try to get to Subiaco for as many Dogs matches as possible. Be assured that I bark as loud as possible for all the dishlickers.

Not capable of long sentences.

[LostDoggy]

Not capable of long sentences.

Wrong.

[southerncross]

Found Dogs fans aren't too popular there. Ditto where i live (Sydney).

That has a lot to do with the Sumich/Southern rumble but there were a few other heated confrontations over the years between the two sides.

[alwaysadog]

That has a lot to do with the Sumich/Southern rumble but there were a few other heated confrontations over the years between the two sides.


In earlier days Supa McPherson and Lewis had a private war going. Had Marxist overtones as Supa reported taking objection to all the lower class aspertions that Chris was want to enunciate regarding our team and club.

Supa as you would all know was a sensitive person who took offence easily.

[LostDoggy]

Hello one and all - first (long:o ) post from me a 'newbie'. :)

I can't for the life of me remember what the actual turning point was for me to follow the bulldogs. I am an ex pat Kiwi who came to Melbourne in 1980 as a teenager to visit my big sister and ended up staying for good. I was never into rugby much in NZ - except as a point of pride when we played other countries (as well as having Fergie McCormack as a relative for those of you who know anything about All Black royalty). Big sis and co were all mad collingwood supporters.
Collingwood played off against Richmond in the gf that year, and I was told that it was in the bag for Collingwood. Well as history showed, Richmond stormed home easily against Collingwood and that was a turn off for me. I think it was probably about another year later that something about the Bulldogs attracted me and I started saying I supported them, which was quite strange considering I lived in Prahran at the time. Move on a couple more years, and I ended up living in the west in Newport and Yarraville and my interest in the bulldogs started to increase, especially as I met other supporters. At that stage I had watched games on tv but hadn't actually been to a live game. 1996 - a chance drive past Whitten Oval - showed that a game was about to start - so we took the kids out of the car and into the game we went. Will, it was actually poor old Fitzroy that was playing that day against Sydney - one of their last games.
Over the next few years, I started to really switch on to the doggies, knew who the players were and started to understand the game - and I took a lot of pride in sticking up for them against other supporters. The mixture of a young family, me returning to uni and my partner supporting two families meant we simply could not afford a family membership in those days ( mind you if they had direct debit back then we probably could have). Anyway, out of the three boys two are doggie supporters (one as fanatical as me) and sadly one is an Essendon supporter - although he still comes to many of our games. We finally became members in 2003 - the year we won the wooden spoon (I felt personally responsible for that) and each year we upgrade our membership a little more. I will be a member of the bulldogs now until the day I die. I think that every disappointment that we suffer will just make the victory we will enjoy very soon, that much sweeter.

[Dry Rot]

Hi dogs_r_barking,

Welcome aboard here. I think we became members at about the same time. :)

[LostDoggy]

Hi dogs_r_barking,

Welcome aboard here. I think we became members at about the same time. :)

Aha - so it was you as well as me that put the moz on the doggies that year:)

[alwaysadog]

Hello one and all - first (long:o ) post from me a 'newbie'. :)

I can't for the life of me remember what the actual turning point was for me to follow the bulldogs. I am an ex pat Kiwi who came to Melbourne in 1980 as a teenager to visit my big sister and ended up staying for good. I was never into rugby much in NZ - except as a point of pride when we played other countries (as well as having Fergie McCormack as a relative for those of you who know anything about All Black royalty). Big sis and co were all mad collingwood supporters.
Collingwood played off against Richmond in the gf that year, and I was told that it was in the bag for Collingwood. Well as history showed, Richmond stormed home easily against Collingwood and that was a turn off for me. I think it was probably about another year later that something about the Bulldogs attracted me and I started saying I supported them, which was quite strange considering I lived in Prahran at the time. Move on a couple more years, and I ended up living in the west in Newport and Yarraville and my interest in the bulldogs started to increase, especially as I met other supporters. At that stage I had watched games on tv but hadn't actually been to a live game. 1996 - a chance drive past Whitten Oval - showed that a game was about to start - so we took the kids out of the car and into the game we went. Will, it was actually poor old Fitzroy that was playing that day against Sydney - one of their last games.
Over the next few years, I started to really switch on to the doggies, knew who the players were and started to understand the game - and I took a lot of pride in sticking up for them against other supporters. The mixture of a young family, me returning to uni and my partner supporting two families meant we simply could not afford a family membership in those days ( mind you if they had direct debit back then we probably could have). Anyway, out of the three boys two are doggie supporters (one as fanatical as me) and sadly one is an Essendon supporter - although he still comes to many of our games. We finally became members in 2003 - the year we won the wooden spoon (I felt personally responsible for that) and each year we upgrade our membership a little more. I will be a member of the bulldogs now until the day I die. I think that every disappointment that we suffer will just make the victory we will enjoy very soon, that much sweeter.

Welcome dogs_r_barking, that is a great post and a terrific read. You have all the qualities evident in a true Bulldog tragic. You support underdogs, you like community and people, you have a self deprecating manner and you write with passion. I could go on but that's enough for starters don't want to scare you off. Looking forward to your future posts.

[LostDoggy]

Welcome dogs_r_barking, that is a great post and a terrific read. You have all the qualities evident in a true Bulldog tragic. You support underdogs, you like community and people, you have a self deprecating manner and you write with passion. I could go on but that's enough for starters don't want to scare you off. Looking forward to your future posts.

Thanks alwaysadog - I have faith that our great club will always survive with the grit, tenacity and passion of the true believers that frequent this forum:)

[GVGjr]

Thanks alwaysadog - I have faith that our great club will always survive with the grit, tenacity and passion of the true believers that frequent this forum:)

As others have echoed, welcome aboard DRB.

[Sockeye Salmon]

We finally became members in 2003 - the year we won the wooden spoon (I felt personally responsible for that)

Peter Rohde will feel relieved. He was starting to think some people were blaming him.