Last Saturday In September

With the famous Last Saturday In September only a few days away, I believe now would be a good time to reflect on the last two Grand Finals I have watched, since I will be missing this years due to work commitments.

2008 and 2009 Grand Finals were memorable and enjoyable, and both had a different atmosphere, but created lasting memories. So what I am going to do right now, is go through the days events of each year, sharing what I remember (and don't remember) and maybe a little sook at the end about missing this years.

2008, Hawks V Cats

This Grand Final was a true reflection of that year for me, and what made it a great day was my band-wagoning with the Hawks for the season.

I invited a few close mates over to watch the game at mine, with the original plan being, sit outside with a TV, pool full of ice and drinks, and enjoy the game in the sun. While it sounded good in theory, practical wise, not so successful. Silly me put water in the pool, then ice, so the ice ended up melting and did not keep the drinks cold. The TV did not get good reception, and the direct sunlight caused a glare. However, I was determined and spent the whole morning trying to get it to work, then my brother called me an idiot, and we moved to inside. At the time, I didn't like the idea, but in retrospect, was the better option, as inside provided fridge, 42" high def TV, pool table, couches and air-conditioning.

We all settled in our spots, me, with my Hawks jumper on, and a couple friends with their Cats one on. The opening bounce proved to be a heart stopper, and we were underway, but while the game just started, the drinks were already flowing.

Half-time, and the game was a good'in, which created a great atmosphere. We needed our own half-time entertainment, so this is where the pool table came to be quite handy, so a few games were played, and a few drinks consumed. 99% of the group were getting to the stage of noticing the alcohol effect, while 1% (well actually, just one of us) was drunk before the opening bounce, as someone opened a beer near him and he smelt it, causing him to get drunk.

With the close game underway again, cheers, boos, and abuse was been hurled throughout the room. This wasn't just directed at the TV, but also each other, which caused me to have a blood nose during the 4th quarter. With about 15 minutes left in the final, Hawks were in front and looking strong, so I confidently downloaded the Hawks club song and started playing it with 10minutes to go. My brother told me to turn it off, as anything could happen. Fast forward 10minutes and I played it again! Being drunk at this time, I rang every Hawk supporter in my phone, which was like 1 or 2 I think, and cheered and sung with them.

With excitement running through my veins, I ran up to the local pub, burst through the door, jumped over the bar and hugged the publican (being a mad Hawk supporter). I then made my disappearance back to the house, where I cooled and calmed myself by jumping in my inflatable. So in the end, it turned out to be a handy device.

With all of us still wanting to party, we thought the most fitting place to do it would be the Mulwala Ski Club, or the Skibi as we like to call it. So we got our sober friend, well, my sister-in-law to drive a car load of us over to Mul. First stop was dinner, which was Maccas, and it turned out to be Cyril. Second stop was the Skibi, where we drank, carried on, and cheered. By the end of the night my jumper was taken by a Hawks fan, and I never did get it back.

Once the Skibi closed, we headed to our usual spot, RickyD's, grabbed ourselves a pizza, and headed to a mate's place to sleep it off.

Next morning, we were picked up, taken back to Oaklands, where many hours of rest occurred, and the excitement of the Grand Final subsided. But boy, it was a great day/night.


2009, Cats V Saints

This Grand Final was a special one, with the main one being, it was my mate's 21st birthday party, so I had to party hard for him, and boy did I. This was also when living in Melbourne, so a few weeks before hand I started a saving plan, so I had money to spend this weekend. So let the story telling begin...

In the morning I thought I'd be a good friend and get him a birthday cake, so I drove to my place of work (which I told them I could not work that day due to Grand Final) and purchased a cake. I was eager to get home and open the bottle of vodka I bought for myself the previous night, so I also made sure I purchased orange juice whilst getting the cake.

Once I arrived home, I informed my housemate I will need a lift to my friends place, to which she agreed. Then we both foolishly agreed not to worry about a GPS because (famous last words) "Don't worry, I remember where it is" Oh how wrong I was, as we spent 20+ minutes trying to find the place. After countless phone calls, U-turns and F words, we eventually found the place for party. I prepped myself, got my present ready, cake ready, and vodka ready.

I greeted my mate with a hug, a manly hug of course, and handed over the presents. I arrived in good fashion, with a St Kilda hat, mini football and a TAB ticket with $10 for the Saints to win. I was ready for a great game, I only wish I remember the game.

Much like the '08 Grand Final, the opening bounce was electrifying. Many drinks were being consume, by all, and by half-time, I was feeling the effects. Half-time also saw the sausages being ready to eat, which turned out to be helpful in a way. I checked my bottle of V, (that's short for vodka, not the V energy drink) and made sure I was going at a good pace, which turned out to be somewhat true.

Half-time also saw a new, uhh, interesting kind of entertainment, where videos of the, uhh, adult kind was shown, where the storyline was about pirates.

I believe the next incidence happened during the 3rd quarter, where to this day I still hold my head in shame, in where I brought up pretty much everything consumed in the last 24 hours. I thought I was a good aim in the toilet, but my soaked socks proved otherwise, as I seemed to miss the toilet, and get it all over the floor. Walking out with soaked socks, and a glazed look in my eye, I asked for the mop and bucket, then a loud gasp occurred, followed by some cursing. It appears one of the girls that lives at the house doesn't like vomit all over her floor, huh, who would of thought?

While this was being cleaned, I decided to slow down a bit, until I was encouraged to keep going. I spent the 4th quarter on the couch, drinking my OJ with V, and to this day, I do not remember a single thing that happened in the that. All I remember is hearing the siren, and throwing my hat across the room.

Now the party was far from over, as a party bus was planned for the night. We needed some time to kill, so what better way than with a football. Yup, nothing says "No Broken Windows" like a bunch of drunk guys kicking a footy out on the road in a court, hitting a couple cars, but luckily causing no damage. At the end of this activity, it seems me and a newly-made friend declared ourselves the winner, and premiers of Rhonda Court.

We then made the trek to where the bus was waiting for us. Upon arrival, I was given a Jim Beam can, well, not so much given, but found un-opened sitting in the gutter. If you know me, I do not drink anything else other than vodka, and apparently, Jim Beams. During the drive to the city, I consumed about 3/4 of this can, which was amazing in my books.

We arrived at our first of 5 clubs, Icon Bar. For those who do not know Melbourne nightclubs, Icon Bar is, I think, the only bar which allows patrons to dance on the bar. In fact, they encourage this behaviour, and with several litres of vodka in my system, I took advantage of this, much did the rest of the party crew.

Interesting story arose from Icon Bar, as a couple months prior to the Grand Final, I attended my favourite place in all of Melbourne, The Eagle Bar with my friend (the birthday boy). At the Eagle Bar, we chatted to two lovely, but sober girls, and appeared to be funny (which isn't a surprise really). However, by the end of the night, I did not remember names. Fast forward to the last Saturday in the 09' September, and I had two lovely ladies randomly come up to me, all excited and actually knew me. My face would have been priceless, as I did not know this girls at all, or did I.....

Turns out, these two "random" girls, were the two girls from the Eagle Bar. They remembered and recognised me, and they had to just talk to me. Thankfully, by the end of the night, I remembered there names.

So that was Bar #01, with four more to go, so we boarded the bus and went to our second stop. I do not remember the name of the bar, or anything, as I was in there, got a text of the "random girls" requesting I come back to Icon. So I left pretty much unannounced, and the journey back to the bar proved to be quite difficult. After asking complete stranger and security at other nightclubs, I finally found the bar. Walked up to show them my cool stamp to show I've already been in, but was rejected straight away. Something about being too drunk, pfft, whatever!

Calling the two girls inside, I got them to come outside, and the bouncer allowed me to enter, on one condition, that I do not drink, otherwise cops would be call. Not wanting to cause trouble, I agreed to these terms and conditions. I must of spent an hour or two, dancing, drinking water, then the girls had to go home. So here I was, alone at this bar, not knowing where the bus was. If I thought the journey back to Icon was difficult, I was in for a real treat.

I rang my friend, finding out where the bus was, and it was going to be on King's St by the time I got there, I think it was King's St. Anyway, I started off with my usual, asking strangers for direction. Then two guys I asked, who looked very seedy, started following. With me being drunk and friendly, I gave them false hope as I told them they could come on the bus to the next stop. Little did they know, or myself know, there wasn't going to be a next stop. Dum, dum, dum.

I eventually found the bus, with two random, drug-dealing-looking guys, in fear of getting bashed, I boarded the bus. My bigger friends told my new "friends" to go away as they aren't coming on and we are going home. That took care of that problem, the next problem was every one's rumbling stomachs. We founded the nearest MickyD's, grabbed our food, and jumped on the bus, to take us all home.

To no one's sup rise, the bin, which was allocated for rubbish, ended up being for my vomit, as I had a few chunders on the trip home. I got the bus driver to stop just off my street, and decided I would walk home, which was only 600m or so. During this trek, I brought my insides up 4 times, which proved to be quite effective in the morning. Stumbling upstairs, I crashed onto my mattress, and slept it all off.


So '08 and '09 created some stories, and sadly my '10 story will go something like this....

"Tore some tickets, directed people to cinemas, cleaned popcorn, heard the score of a stranger..." But I may plan on going out upon completion at work, which is 9:30pm. So I have some time to go out, have a couple drinks, and least pretend I watched the game. However, I already know the memory of this Grand Final will not come close to the past two years. Maybe I should be preparing and looking forward to the '11 Grand Final, and I might let work know I'm not available that day....


From The One They Call Anthony, This Is The Life And Times