I'm 50 years old.
I started following the Tigers as a 10 year old in '71, when I first moved to Melbourne. Royce Hart was my hero.I guess I was lucky enough to see the back to back flags in '73-'74. I was 19 when we won again in 1980. I remember after we flogged Collingwood so easily that year, commentators predicting that we would be the team of the decade. Like a lot of Tiger fans at the time, I guess I thought our glory days would just go on and on forever. Nobody could have known how completely and utterly it would all fall apart.
1982 was a bitter pill to swallow, and it still haunts me. I think a lot of Tiger fans of a similar vintage can understand these sentiments. The last 30 years have been nothing short of a NIGHTMARE. For our once great club to have been reduced to this kind of laughing stock is hard to bear. Everybody has enjoyed kicking us while we've been down for S-O-O long, yet even worse in some ways is the pity that a few of the kinder individuals out there feel for us.
What was so devastating about the last two weeks is that recently we were starting to believe that the Tigers were finally on the right track. The Melbourne loss was another example of Richmond letting a golden opportunity go begging when a spot in the 8 was there for the taking. Just like they have done so many times in similar situations over the last 20 years. The Carlton debacle was even more gut-wrenching, because to serve up that garbage on a day when the club was asking so much of its "19th man", who duly responded, showed nothing short of contempt for the jumper, and all the names printed on the sash.
I honestly believe our problems run far deeper than the lack of a few key playing personnel. What will be harder for any well-meaning administration and coach to eradicate, is the acceptance of mediocrity and failure which now appears to be deeply ingrained in our club culture.
