[dropcap]O[/dropcap]n the bright side, the Opera House horse race brouhaha gave the footy fans a leaf to cover their withdrawl symptoms over the weekend.
And that’s all that needs to be said about this crazy episode that can only happen in Sydney.
But it was interesting in that it came the same week bulldozers were moving in to demolish the Sydney Football Stadium as part of another crazy Berejiklian Government decision.
Gladys and her band of amateur politicians will be spending the best part of one billion dollars to knock down and rebuild Sydney Football Stadium.
They pressed ahead with this ridiculous plan despite the fact hardly any sane person in NSW thought it was a good idea to give the worst supported football team in the universe, the Eastern Suburbs Chooks, a gleaming new sport palace.
But once again we must look to the bright side in this desperate period when footy fans are starved of footy.
Countdowns to next season have started in scores of homes occupied by rugby league and Aussie Rules fans across the country.
Without looking at the calendar there’s a full five months before a Steeden or a Sherrin is kicked in anger, so the truth is we must try harder to fill our free weekends with alternative sports.
And that’s where Top 5 comes in, with a starter kit that hopefully helps a few fans survive the next five months or so.
Number 1. A-League. It kicks off next week, and while the politics of the game leave Canberra for dead, the elite soccer product in Australia is better than a lot of people realise. What it lacks in poise it more than makes up for with uncompromising physicality and lots of energy. Those soccer snobs who only watch the English game don’t know what they’re missing out on.
Number 2. Horse racing. What can I tell you my friends, it’s desperate times. But once you get into it, the sport of kings looks more complicated than it does from the outside. And those online gambling ads don’t seem as out of place as they do while watching the footy.
Number 3. Golf. It is said that golf is a game better played than watched, but as a seasoned hacker, let me assure you that’s not necessarily true.
Number 4. Motor racing. Vroom, vroom. Yes, indeed and guess what was on this weekend? No less than the iconic Bathurst 1000. You can dip in and out of the coverage as often as you like, and I have to admit, as a non fan, it was rather interesting.
Number 5. Gather round, comrades, because now we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. No, not wrestling, although that was a close guess. Maybe I move in a very small circle but I don’t know a single person who likes this UFC caper. The Irishman who seems to be the world champion in all this seems to be as mad as a cut snake. And yet, how’s a footy fan going to fill his time for five whole months…
