Guest Post: What’s a Sherrin?

By Karen B.

When Amanda first told me about her “30 things to do before she turns 30” list, I thought wow! That’s awesome!

When she followed it up by saying that she was asking her friends and family to populate the list, the thought was, wow! She’s game!

For those of you who know me, you will know that I am “a bit” of a sports nut. So it is quite ironic that my oldest friend is, simply put, possibly the furthest thing from it. There has been more than the odd occasion where I have been on the receiving end of rolling eyes when sport related topics or footy plans come up…

When it came time to submit my challenge for the list after a great deal of consideration I really could not go past the idea of getting Amanda to an AFL game.

As game day approached, to her credit, Amanda approached it with the required sense of enthusiasm. I do believe the mindset was, well if I can survive a league game then I can survive an AFL game, right?!

First point of difference – the duration of the game! AFL games go for about an hour longer than league.

So tickets were purchased, transportation organised and promises of the footy classic of a pie and chips were made.

To get Amanda and Andy into the spirit of the occasion (and also minimise the stand-out factor – we were in the Swans members section after all!) my bag was a little heavier than normal with Swans merchandise to kit our guests out. (Special thanks go to my sisters here for the loans!)
Before they even settled down into the seats I (rather excitedly) started to pull out the outfit that they would be spectating in. There was a Guernsey, polo, hats and scarfs. And I have to say, not only did they look pretty awesome decked out in Swans gear, they fit right in amongst the diehard fans!

Now appropriately attired the crash course in the rules of AFL began. We started (and finished) with the scoring system in AFL – 6 points for a major goal; 1 point for a behind through the side posts; and 1 point if it is touched and goes through. The score board looks like: 17.13. 115 to 8.7.55 (namely the final score, for those who are interested) Easy enough, right?

Then the official player intros start rolling. As I excitedly started to talk about each of the players as they came up on the screen, I was met by the appropriately enthusiastic nod and smile. Although I feel that there was much more of a reaction when to told them about the nicknames for the umpires!

And so play started. My planned distractions of fit men in short shorts was foiled by the first of Amanda’s many bad footy puns. Actually they became a bit of a theme, bad footy puns as only Amanda can! One of the better ones was when the opposition kicked the ball into empty stands to which Amanda commentated “kicking it to all your supporters hey”. It really was downhill from there. They were so bad that I have blocked them from my memory!

All in all a great Sunday afternoon at the footy in the sunshine was had. The crew looked great decked out in red and white. We baked in the glorious April sun and while it wasn’t a close game it was great to sing the team song at the end. Well, I cheered on the red and the white and Amanda clapped!

I can hand on heart say that I never thought I would see the day when Amanda made it to an AFL game. While it was probably one of the less involved or commitment requiring challenges (I think Andy wins that one!) I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to bring her along to experience one of the big passions in my life. Even if it is likely to be the first and only time that it happens!
As for setting the wedding date on Grand Final day, let’s just not go there…..

What did you think of Karen’s contribution to the list? Let us know in the comments below!