The one about the champion becoming the coach

Today, a dream I didn’t know I even had, until about maybe two months ago, came true.

I’ve copped a bit of flak over the years as an obsessed Essendon supporter with a crush on former captain, Brownlow medallist and all-round golden boy, James Hird. And today, it became official; Essendon’s favourite son is returning to coach the black and red. Hird’s return marks the end of a difficult period under the now-sacked Matthew Knights, a man who over promised and, by all accounts, significantly under delivered.

But as I rejoiced, it appeared, the rest of the nation got their cynical on.

I get it. He’s a 37-year-old untried coach. A former club legend whose appointment may be viewed as a marketing / supporter ploy. And while we’re all entitled to an opinion or online rant, this hardly justifies the barrage of negative comments posted on the Herald Sun website in force. Less than two hours after the story broke, I posted the 172^nd comment. Recognising my clear bias, my issue is not with the question mark around the appointment as such, but more so the unsportsmanlike display on a mass scale.

Just because you don’t agree with the decision, doesn’t give you the right to literally hate a team, or their supporters with an intensity usually reserved for a war criminal. While passion is a staple of sport, stating that you hope the team finishes last, that he’s crap and never wins a game, that he’s undeserving or that Essendon deserves a bad coach, is nothing short of unsportsmanlike and quite frankly, embarrassing. Criticism is path for the course for high profile sports men and women, but Hird hasn’t so much as held a team meeting. The animosity that came through today was bewildering. Debating the decision and advocating a position is great, otherwise what's the point of even barracking for a team if you can't get involved in the banter? But I'm not sure why so many comments took a nasty note.

Interestingly, a lot of others asked the same in the latter comments that came through. And no, not all were Essendon supporters.

One line of commentary that caused particular exception was the angry call of dishonesty; that Hird had deceived the nation by failing to put his hand up publicly for the position. I commented on the Herald Sun website, and I ask the same question now, who tells their current boss they’re going to quit their job before they’ve lined up something else? Furthermore, few of us would have a multi-million dollar business to consider.

I want the haters to be wrong, not just because I’ve barracked for the club my entire life, but because I’d be very interested to see, come round 22 next year, what everyone will be saying.