Chicago 1 - Jim's is not a puppy love

[The Coon Dog]

Cheryl Critchley - Herald Sun - 8 March



IS this our most devoted Doggie?


http://resources3.news.com.au/images/2010/03/08/1225838/443227-jim-sheahan.jpg
Devoted fan: Chicago based Jim Sheahan
watches games on his computer at home.


Jim Sheahan has never seen his beloved Bulldogs win a senior Grand Final, despite going to more trouble than most just to watch them.

Mr Sheahan, 57, follows his team from Chicago, often in the middle of the night.

When Saturday's NAB Cup Grand Final against St Kilda starts at 2.10am his time, he'll be "glued to my internet connection", sausage roll and chips in hand, cheering on his boys.


Article in full... (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/jims-is-not-a-puppy-love/story-e6frf7jo-1225838443140)

[LostDoggy]

Nah -- Jim's story is great but I know heaps of other long-term overseas Doggies fans who sound just like him. Working for a humanitarian emergency organisation I see footy fans on long-term deployment in emergency zones going to great extremes to get game feeds on short-wave or internet (not always available), and it can get pretty hard-core, especially around finals time.

Also, every fan of a soccer team in Europe living here goes through exactly what Jim goes through.

[LostDoggy]

At least he is a paid up member, so he is supporting his club even though he is so far away :-)

[LostDoggy]

Ive met him before, hes a good guy.......love seeing stories like this.....

[bornadog]

Ive met him before, hes a good guy.......love seeing stories like this.....

also a member of WOOF;)

[Twodogs]

Nah -- Jim's story is great but I know heaps of other long-term overseas Doggies fans who sound just like him. Working for a humanitarian emergency organisation I see footy fans on long-term deployment in emergency zones going to great extremes to get game feeds on short-wave or internet (not always available), and it can get pretty hard-core, especially around finals time.

Also, every fan of a soccer team in Europe living here goes through exactly what Jim goes through.



Jim's is a little different in that he grew up in America, moved to Melbourne and lived here for 30 odd years. While he was here he fell in love with the Bulldogs and became as fanatical a fan as you could meet (and I've met him many, many times) but in the end his parents illnesses meant he had move back home. Jim might be in America but at heart he is Australian.

[The Coon Dog]

Jim's is a little different in that he grew up in America, moved to Melbourne and lived here for 30 odd years. While he was here he fell in love with the Bulldogs and became as fanatical a fan as you could meet (and I've met him many, many times) but in the end his parents illnesses meant he had move back home. Jim might be in America but at heart he is Australian.

Just ask KT! :D

[The Adelaide Connection]

Just ask KT! :D

Sounds like Jim needs some lowdown on how to *ahem* stream a game. I would be happy to PM him the details if anyone knows who he is. At least he will be able to see the game then, even if it is just a small window.

[KT31]

Jim's is a little different in that he grew up in America, moved to Melbourne and lived here for 30 odd years. While he was here he fell in love with the Bulldogs and became as fanatical a fan as you could meet (and I've met him many, many times) but in the end his parents illnesses meant he had move back home. Jim might be in America but at heart he is Australian.

Must be something in the name.:D

[LostDoggy]

Yes, I've heard Jim on 774 radio, where he gives his tips during the footy season. Always thought he must be totally dedicated to be speaking live on our radio in the afternoon, when whatever the time is over there! :)

[Remi Moses]

He follows the Cubs as well ! Sporting torture for Jim:p:p

[Chicago1]

Sorry, I didn't even notice TCD posted this here. I'm sure that there are many far more fanatical fans of various sports around the world than me. I was just lucky enough to meet a columnist from the Herald Sun who finds my story interesting and has written a few articles about me over the past eight years. I'm just amazed at how the articles have changed my life. Late last week I received an email from a former student who I haven't seen in 32 years. She had seen me in the H/S, contacted Cheryl Critchley and Cheryl passed on the student's email address to me. I'm now going to Docklands with the student(she's now 45!) and her family for Round 1.

Cheryl has written a book about footy fans which will be published later next month. I've been included in a chapter I share with an Aussie Saints supporter living in Detroit who flew to Melbourne for the Grand Final last year. We're just ordinary people who try our best to preserve our passion for our clubs from afar just as many ex-pats do for their various teams from around the world. This could not have happened without the Internet. In my 25 years in Melbourne I only saw my Chicago Cubs three times, in the National League Championship in 1984. When I move back to Melbourne I'll be able to watch many of their games on my computer live. I guess as an older person who grew up without computers and who didn't even own one until I returned here ten years ago next week, it still amazes me that I can listen to Melbourne radio(as I am at this moment) in my bedroom from 10000 miles away. To have been able to watch the Bulldogs last weekend at 2am LIVE still astonishes me.

And yes KT saw the kind of fanatic I am. He might have even made a few cents from it! ;)