Quote Originally Posted by mjp View Post
See - the game itself obviously sucked but I bounced back pretty quickly...because I was just so sure that 98 would be our year. Then we started so well in 98 - so well - and I seriously could not imagine anyone beating us.

And then - like that - it was over. And the '98 prelim just seemed so - PREDICTABLE - as it was happening. And we got flogged from the first bounce to the last bounce as Adelaide steadily pulled away. Weird finals system back then as well - I am sure we finished second but played West Coast (7th) in the first final...and won by 90 points or something. Then had a week off. And it was preliminary final week. It just all seemed upon us so quickly.

Anyway - back to the subject. The 97 team remains my favourite. Succeeding when no-one expected us to do so, winning pretty much every week, every other side hating us because of the whole Libber/Jose stuff...and gave a good account of themselves on Prelim day and seriously *COULD* have (not 100% on should have) won.
The '98 prelim was an interesting experience for me. I had become a dad a couple of months before and I loved that baby so much that I just sat there with a massive smile on my face. Playersw would stand on the mark with their hands above their heads and I would say something like "Harvey held his hands up like that in his little cot the other day, Harvey did this and Harvey did that, yah yah yah" After a while I was looking down at my jumper and said something else abouy Harvey and the old man had had enough. "will you shut the *!*!*!*! up about that baby? You're carrying on like your the only person ever to have fathered a child" and I said "But he's perfect though, you have to admit that" and the old man smiled and said "yeah, well you've got me there, he is perfect. Lets go home and see him!"