I wanted to skip this one, but I ended up waking up anyway, because my nose was so congested I couldn't breathe. I looked at the clock, and the game was about to start. I should have taken my wife's advice and not watched the game. At halftime, I had lost one hour of my life I will never get back…





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In brief, the game was pathetic. It was a ridiculous performance from both teams; definitely, not a game to show to someone new to the sport. Thankfully, no one was watching with me. I gave up by halftime, but I still put the game on the radio. I ended up falling asleep midway Q3, when Port was still leading by 2. In the morning, the news that we had lost didn’t surprise me. It was, indeed, a “very bad horrible no good day.”[1] The loss was fitting.



Something was off from the start, but our superiority in the middle kept Freo away — even with all our mistakes and turnovers. In Q2, we couldn't make anything right, but Freo kept kicking behind after behind.[2] At a certain time in Q3, the score was Port 2.4:16; Freo 1.9:15. Both teams had combined, after 2 quarters and 11 minutes of football, for 3 goals and 13 behinds – missing some simple shots along the way.



When I slept, fewer than 10 minutes later, the score was 3.5:23 to 2.9:21. The radio commentator had just laughed saying that “it is raining goals here at Optus!” Raining two goals… However, it was an omen. Even though this time Port didn’t win while I was sleeping, goals have indeed come.[3] From that point on, Freo scored 6.3:39 against Port’s 4.3:27.



Needless to say, but Port’s BigFooty community is in full “doomsday” mode. It is “déjà vu all over again" over there,[4] with many posters showing deep signs of P.T.S.D. or “Port Traumatic Stress Disorder.”[5] There are reasons for that. I, for one, had already seen this game before twice this season.



Sunday’s loss was a rerun of our games against Essendon (R4) and Hawthorn (R11).[6] Both Fremantle and Essendon have ended our winning streaks by beating us physically, dominating the midfield by force, and taking some of our players out of the game. Against both Fremantle and Hawthorn, Port started the game off, but still better than the opposition; than they improved their game enough to steal a close victory.



Sunday was also a game after 7 days of rest. We have played 7 times this season after 7 or more days of rest: R1 (Freo), R2 (Sydney), R4 (Essendon) , R11 (Hawthorn) , R14 (Melbourne), R15 (Carlton), and R17 (Freo) . Except for R1, we have struggled in all others, especially our midfield.[7]









Now, there is a bye right before the Finals. Although we won’t have more games with extended rest until then, this means we won’t have any opportunity to test if we have fixed the problem. Moreover, with the season on the line, games will become nastier. Port cannot expect to win only when conditions are favourable to us. We are not Richmond. I think that those could be signs that we: (a) tend to turn ourselves off when there is too much rest; (b) don’t like much when a game gets “dirty,” or (c) when it is too windy, or (d) when the surface is hard. I have no idea why nor how to fix these issues.Now, there is a bye right before the Finals. Although we won’t have more games with extended rest until then, this means we won’t have any opportunity to test if we have fixed the problem. Moreover, with the season on the line, games will become nastier. Port cannot expect to win only when conditions are favourable to us. We are not Richmond.









This is on the players and on the coaches. Next game, will we capitulate as we did in R5 against Geelong or will we rebound as we did in R12 against Richmond? The whole season is approaching to its end: are we pretenders or contenders? Next game against the Giants is going to provide the answers.[8] "We are Port Adelaide!"This is on the players and on the coaches. Next game, will we capitulate as we did in R5 against Geelong or will we rebound as we did in R12 against Richmond? The whole season is approaching to its end: are we pretenders or contenders? Next game against the Giants is going to provide the answers.[8]





CARN THE POWER!



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P.S.: "Hey, Mom, look! I am famous!"



Port just published an article on me in its website, and a picture of me on Twitter. Here, the links:

https://twitter.com/PAFC/status/1016585312393281536

https://www.portadelaidefc.com.au/news/2018-07-10/brazil-fan



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[1] A day that includes an absurd defeat to the Lil’Crows in SANFL. Really… Notes:[1] A day that includes an absurd defeat to the Lil’Crows in SANFL. Really…





[2] Freo scored nine unanswered behinds in a row, to be exact.



[3] It didn't POUR goals, but in a quarter and half of footy, there were 10 goals - a respectable improvement.



[4] It is so "déjà vu" that we even have lost Ryder before — during the "2018 Perfect Shitstorm:" http://farwestfooty.blogspot.com/2018/04/2018-perfect-shitstorm.html



[5] Kudos to BigFooty’s manureid, who came up with the term.





[6] The game against Hawthorn was covered here: http://farwestfooty.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-monomyth-port-is-hero-of-thousand.html



[7] We have a 4-3 record in those games. For comparison, this season, our record in games after regular 6-day rests or shorter is 7-2.



