Touch of the Fumbles
When you have started to believe that, as The Killers would put it, destiny is calling you, ‘tis a sad thing indeed to suddenly realise at the end that you have been all along nothing more than a supporting character in someone else's fairytale.
Touch of the Fumbles
You’d like to think that we’re better placed than the Tigers to break our drought, but we are, like them, perpetually haunted by history.
When you actually stop and think about it, Port’s heartbreaking exit after an epic draw-into-extra-time elimination final wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t put in such a relatively half-arsed effort against the Eagles in Round 23.
The finals are finally here. Well, almost. Which means it's time for a key Adelaide midfielder to get hit with an unforeseen medical emergency. After all, as our Fumbles correspondent observes, we'd hate to break with tradition, wouldn't we?
The Crows have roared into the minor premiership on the back of two stirring losses to end the 2017 season. It's the perfect cue for a heady mix of wistful hope and gloomy cynicism. Fortunately, our Fumbles correspondent is well-practised.
Having spent the entire season being despondent despite Adelaide's sparkling form, our Fumbles correspondent is today perversely upbeat about the weekend's loss to Sydney. For now, at least.
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
It was as convincing a win as an unconvincing win can be, and our Fumbles correspondent is looking on the bright side. After all, there are worse teams to support than flat track bullies.
Touch of the Fumbles
As Oscar Wilde would have probably written if he’d had the misfortune to be an Adelaide Crows supporter: To lose one game against a middle-rung opponent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.
Touch of the Fumbles
Normal service was resumed on the weekend, as the Crows reverted to type by failing spectacularly to live up to the hype. Fortunately, so did almost every other contender - including Port. And despite the crushing disappointment, our Fumbles correspondent is, perversely, looking on the bright side.
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
So it turns out away semi-finals are not really our thing.
Touch of the Fumbles
While the rest of Adelaide may be back on the Crows bandwagon, Tom Richardson still has plenty of concerns. Chief among them, is Kurt Tippett's absence a Good Thing or a Bad Thing? And is "sudden-death final" an acceptable excuse for missing a pre-planned 40th birthday bash?
Touch of the Fumbles
The Crows dropped their bundle on Friday, and have now dropped out of the top four on the eve of the finals. That means it's time for Adelaide supporters to wallow in self-pity, Port fans to become insufferably smug and Tom Richardson to vent.
Touch of the Fumbles
Tom Richardson reflects on Showdown 41. In which Port Adelaide threw a proverbial banana skin and one of its supporters threw a literal banana. Guess which one we're all talking about today?
Touch of the Fumbles
Port's season is over, but with the Showdown looming, Tom Richardson is tempering his ebullience. A bit. Although, he argues, a loss for the Crows in the coming fortnight could be a blessing in disguise.
Touch of the Fumbles
Right, the Crows got a win. Now let’s never speak of it again.
Touch of the Fumbles
As the Prime Minister might say, there's never been a more exciting time to play Fremantle. Yes, despite a heart-stopping loss, Tom Richardson is upbeat this week. But as the Divinyls (and Don Pyke) might say, there's a fine line between pleasure and pain. Or not such a fine line, if you're Port Adelaide.
Touch of the Fumbles
We’ve been avoiding it for a couple of weeks now.
Touch of the Fumbles
Touch of the Fumbles
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