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MAFIA TEES
Just $20 a shirt, a steal!
Not often you steal from the Mafia and live to tell the tale...
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Written by The Dejected Fan in the Stand
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Thursday, 09 October 2008 |
The Fan arrived at McLean Park, Napier last Friday evening and observed that the cheapest seats were $20 a pop, no discount for kids. For $10 ($5 for kids) you could sit or stand on a grass bank. Having pondered whether it would be more entertaining to view the local Art Deco architecture, I chose to stand on the grass for two hours. The Fan now regrets this hasty decision.
Having suffered greatly at the game, our group went in search of comfort food to relieve our misery. Various colourful local inhabitants engaged us with witty banter. The pick of these was combing the dark recesses of his brain for a suitable put down comment as we passed. With the spittle freshly dribbling down his chin, he finally arrived at a phrase which pleased him. “Bay of Nothing” he repeatedly shouted at us as we disappeared from his sight before no doubt seeking out some friends with which to discuss philosophy.
His phrase came back to me the next day and it was actually the perfect description of our performance. We gave nothing to the game and as feared, the second half turned from a heavy defeat to an embarrassing trouncing. Once the admirable Nigel Hunt went off injured, there were more gaps in our midfield defence than in the stands of Waikato Stadium. Fingers crossed that this performance was an elaborate attempt to lull our quarter-final opponents into complacency.
We Bay fans once managed to remove from our memory a certain game that never happened in New Plymouth in 2004. This Napier debacle is heading in the same direction.
Imagine yourself being told back in July that the Bay would have a home quarter-final and that it would be against Southland. This is a great opportunity to make the semi-finals. The Fan would have been more than happy with a top eight finish, in fact after 2007 any sort of improvement would have been acceptable.
It has been a triumph for the team that has played most of the season. We have been lucky with injuries although maybe some players have been playing when a rest would have done them some good. Working on our depth will be our project for 2009.
We will have to rely on home advantage to bring out another big game from the team so here is the Fan’s 3 point plan for quarter-final success.
1. Everyone who has taken advantage of a free ticket this season turns up again on Saturday night.
2. Make some noise. The large crowd at Baypark has been eerily quiet at times.
3. From 7.30pm onwards, Southland must know they are on enemy territory while the Bay boys are inspired.
How hard is that? Turn up and shout especially in the second half if only to keep the Bay players from nodding off again. Go the Bay!
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Buy "If Only No More" |
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Steamers 2009 |
| : Air New Zealand Cup |
| Position: 7 |
| 31 July: Northland, W 19-14 |
| 9 Aug: Counties, W 32-9 |
| 15 Aug: Wellington, W 21-17 |
| 22 Aug: Waikato, W 32-16 |
| 30 Aug: Auckland, L 14-29 |
| 5 Sep: Canterbury, W 19-17 |
| 11 Sep: Southland, L 12-19 |
| 17 Sep: Tasman, W 24-13 |
| 26 Sep: Otago, L 17-26 |
| 2 Oct: Hawke's Bay, L 19-22 |
| 10 Oct: Harbour, L 7-28 |
| 16 Oct: Manawatu, W 28-27 |
| 25 Oct: Taranaki, L 24-30 |
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News and Opinion 
