2009 - A Year for Firsts

Allow me to go all introspective for a while. Permit me, if you will, a little self-indulgence. Well, considering what I usually right, a little more self-indulgence than usual.

For all intents and purposes, 2009 looms as the best year of my life. You see, I'm getting married, an event which a small, now dead, part of me thought unlikely to ever happen. While trying unsuccessfully most of the time to avoid cliches, I really do feel like the luckiest man on Earth. And because of what is happening this year, perhaps the busiest.

Getting married is something that is, to a certain extent, within your control. Once you find yourself in the right circumstances, you can decide to get married, or not to get married.

Likewise, you can decide to have children or not to have children. To change jobs or stay in a job. To eat a roast beef sandwich or ... you get the idea.

When I think about all the things I want the most in my life, I can conjure up some way through which I can have control over the realisation of that goal. I can work harder, choose more wisely, talk to the right people, come down on the right side of an issue. All except one.

I have no control over whether St Kilda wins a premiership or not.

How frustrating this must be for Saints supporters. We can buy our membership, attend club functions, buy club merchandise, and so on. But that only has a small affect on the club's on field fortunes. We can send positive vibes down to Moorabbin, but that's getting into the highly untested category.

I'm nearly 29, and hopefully have plenty of good years ahead of me. But I really want to see a St Kilda flag. I mean, I reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllly want to see a St Kilda flag.

Last year's final series was a long feat of endurance, as I battled an uneasy nervousness and excited nausea about five weeks, right from the moment we beat Adelaide. Then came the overwhelming greatness of beating Essendon by 18 goals to finish fourth, the expected capitulation to Geelong, the equally expected rebound against Collingwood, and the long, drawn out death rattle to our season and Robert Harvey's playing career against Hawthorn.

And yet, we didn't get there. At testing times like these, one's thoughts turn inwards, asking questions such as "what more can I do?". The sober conclusion is very little. People like to use we when talking about their sporting teams, but as Jerry Seinfeld put it, "they play, you watch".

I don't particularly want to go through that ordeal again. It won't be like that once we win one. But will we win one? I mean, will St Kilda win one while I watch, in the stands?

Well, let the karma battle begin. I'm drawing the line in the sand now. I'm pushing all my chips in the table. I'm all in. If you're with me, say it now, otherwise, you're out.

This year will be the best year of my life. I'm going to get married. And St Kilda are going to win the premiership.