A tie is like kissing your sister

'A tie is like kissing your sister...'
Eddie Eedelatz, Navy football coach 1953

I wish the rest of that quote was known as it probably would make Eddie's place in history a little different. Scrolling through the post match interview's and press conferences of the Swans/Dockers and Storm/Sea Eagles game I didn't stumble across Eddie's famous phrase, but the crowd outside certainly knew it.

I attended my token Dockers game of the season when they visited Sydney on Saturday night, quietly confident of a win even given the injury list at the club. The game was an opportunity to go the SCG for the first time, to tick it off the sporting bucket list. The ground was everything I imagined minus to confusing arrangement of one exit after the game. From the Members Pavilion and Ladies Stand with the flags flying and the moon rising above them; to the famous names adorning the stands, the likes of Churchill, O'Reilly, Trumper and Brewongle (only non sportsman's name) proudly standing tall; to the list of Bloods members in the concourse. If you block out the construction work at one end you can appreciate what a ground this is, a perfect blend of old and new.

Saturday night marked a historic night for the Fremantle Football Club as they secured their first ever draw. Did it feel like a historic night? No! It felt like despair, hope, excitement, disappointment and relief all rolled into one. No sooner had the game finished than the 'what ifs' began (the biggest being what if the two old Fremantle supporters hadn't left when we were 27 points down to catch an early flight). What if Michael Walters hadn't been injured forcing Lyon to put Johnson down forward? What if Sam Reid, who couldn't catch a cold all year hadn't taken that mark? What if I hadn't convinced myself we would win the game with 12 seconds left?

It is a strange phenomenon the old draw. We live in a society that feels the need to force a result or create a winner. Yet here we are with neither. The AFL has never had the pressure that the NRL faced to implement extra time. Not even the 2010 Grand Final could change that sentiment (sorry Dad). On Saturday night as the siren sounded the crowd didn't know how to react. For the 22,546 in attendance it wasn't a win but it wasn't a loss. There was no song to sing, no high fives to be given and everyone would have left happier if there team had won.

Yet as I left the ground my own thoughts were echoed by those around me. Dockers and Swans fans alike weren't complaining about the draw. Most were simply relieved their team hadn't lost, not that they didn't win. They were talking about what could have been, what might of happened, what didn't happen and of course what should of happened.

On the way home as the bus wound down Oxford Street I realised how fortunate I was to witness a draw. Before Saturday night Fremantle's win loss record was 170 wins and 233 loses. It had taken them 404 games to get a draw. On top of that there is only a draw every 95 games in the AFL.

Then before I could finish my story the Storm and Manly followed suit. At 8-8 the likelihood of a draw was slim given they still had golden point. Even heading into golden point at 10-10 I was still confident of a result, given that in the 72 games that have ever gone to golden point 61 have had a result and only 11 have ended in a draw. Of the 61 games 14 have been decided by a try, 7 by a penalty and 40 by a field goal. Even starker is the fact that the last 21 matches that have gone to golden point have been decided off the boot and not through a try.

The worst thing with golden point is that you spend the whole time worrying about your team not losing than you are about them winning the game. This goes against everything we should be doing as a sports fan. As Gus Gould points out, it doesn't seem fair that a team that looses in golden point gets the same points as a team that gets beaten by 50.

On this night at least I didn't have to worry the win or loss, as the 15% roughie came through and we got a draw. I don't know what Tom Waterhouse's odds would have been, but I would have loved to of seen the odds for both games ending in a draw. Given that 0% of Fremantle games had previously ended in a draw and 1.2% of Storm games had, I'd say they were longer than a those for a truthful statement in the More Joyous saga.

All of this raises the long discussed over the water cooler question of whether a draw or extra time is the right choice. In the NBA they play till they pass out or someone wins, likewise in ice hockey and baseball. In soccer a draw is a draw (however the sport can have a 0-0 scoreline). The NRL is based on the NFL model, where if extra time doesn't work its a draw.

So has the weekend changed my view on draws? Yes. Now, even more so than last week, I support the idea of a draw. You play the game to the end. As a player you know when time is winding down. You throw your body on the line and go the extra mile to ensure your team wins.

For both of these games no team deserved to lose. Who deserved to win? Well that's up to the fans and the commentators. For once we have to accept that there isn't a result, and as the Storm proved, some times no amount of extra time can change that.

Coming of Age

‘notch on the belt we never had’ was the quote. Some said we've now accomplished everything we can in sport. America’s Cup, Tour de France, World Cup qualification are all ticked off the checklist. Australia has won cricket, union, netball and hockey World Cups plus many more. But there is something that hasn’t happened in our major sporting codes, in particular the AFL that is yet to happen.

A face to remember (Kwaku Alston/For Sports Illustrated)

Most of you won’t know his name, let alone his face. You probably won’t even know which sport he plays or what records he holds. He is a journeyman, a team player and a pioneer. He has evoked fear in other players with the way he plays and now fear in some for their beliefs. He is a multimillionaire and a twin. He will be remembered not for his 12 years as a professional, but for what was written on the 29^th April 2013. Maybe in 50 years time it won’t seem like that big a deal, but for millions of people around the world who don’t normally care about sport, this is huge. So who is he? In the words of Jason Collins ‘I’m a 34 year old NBA centre. I’m black. And I’m gay’.

As the Sports Illustrated piece pointed out, this is a man who led the NBA in fouls one year. A tough guy centre who’s been to the NBA Finals mixing it with Shaq and Kobe. In the late 2000’s he was seen as the anti-venom to the NBA’s best centre Dwight Howard. Not your typical gay guy many may say. Then again what is? He talks openly about the Christian values his parents instilled in him and how he takes the teachings of Jesus seriously, particularly those of tolerance and understanding. It wasn’t until last year that he told his twin brother the news. He wanted people to know because he had told them and not because they found out on a gossip website. For a country where religion and sport run deep, it will be interesting to see which runs deeper in this case.

Many my age, including me, are too young to remember former NRL player Jason Roberts announcement in 1995. For our generation this is a first. For American sport fans it’s a first full stop. Never before has an active NFL, NHL, MLB or NBA player come out. In a country where the four major codes have thousands of active players, it is hard to imagine he is the only one. In Australia there are over 500 active AFL players, yet not one is openly gay. AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said that the code is ready to embrace its first openly gay player. But even that comment itself makes you wonder why it needs to be said. If as a society we have to wait for the head of a sporting body to declare the time is right for acceptance, then maybe we aren’t ready. Maybe players, fans and the general public don’t know what to expect if it happens. However it isn't something new to all of us, as illustrated perfectly by Collins himself.

Three Degrees of Jason Collins. As he describes it is the simple game that shows by three simple steps, from person to person, we all know or know of someone who is gay. So is there a difference between your co-worker, your uncle or your postman being gay and a sportsperson we know?

My immediate thought and best comparison was Magic Johnson’s sudden retirement 1991 after tests confirmed he had contracted HIV. The similarity may seem strange but let me explain. By 1991 most people knew what HIV was, how it was treated and what it meant for Magic. Most of the players believed that they could continue to play with Magic had he not retired. In 1992 that was put to the test when he came out of retirement. There was anger, there was trepidation, but in the end if was just basketball.

Because after all is said and done, we are still watching an athlete, a footy player, a basketballer. We appreciate the athlete for their skills and talent on the court, not their sexuality. Just like Majak Daw will go from being the first Sudanese person to play AFL to just another forward from the Kangaroos, Jason Collins will go from the first gay guy in the NBA to the NBA veteran in his 13^th season looking for a team.

I applaud the courage of Jason Collins for his honesty, just as President Obama did, as his idol, tennis legend Martina Navratalova did, as teammate Bradley Beal did and as NBA legend Kobe Bryant did. It is not about rights or equality in this case though, it is about Collins and his decisions.

Earl Lloyd 63 years ago

63 years ago Earl Lloyd become the first African American to play in the NBA. Today no one knows his name or remembers the day. Today we live in an age where there is no need to separate by ethnicity. In 63 years time we won't recall who the first gay NBA player was, but for today at least we can appreciate Jason Collins and his honesty.