Two weeks ago I received the usual end-of-season letter/apology from the team I’ve supported ever since I was old enough to realise that going to the rugby with the men of the family was preferable to spending a Saturday afternoon in M&S with the women.
The exact wording of the letter escapes me, but it usually starts off with something similar to: ‘Dear Rhys, Thank you for your support this year, we couldn’t do it without you, you bloody legend’. As I say, the exact wording escapes me, I’m pretty sure it’s along those lines! However, that was not the highlight of the piece.
Near the end of the correspondence there was the typical plea for me to “renew your Season Ticket now for next season to avoid disappointment”. Comedy gold!
My beloved club, Cardiff Blues, have just completed yet another awful campaign. Winning just 15 of 35 games in all competitions (2 of those against a team of part-time Italians with admittedly outstanding hair) and boasting a defensive record that makes the Andorran football team look watertight, it was a torrid season for those of us who stand on the terraces at the legendary Arms Park.
Back in August, there was hope. It was an innocent time; I was still in my twenties, we had a new Kiwi Director of Rugby promising Super 15-style rugby & Adam Jones photobombed our squad photo to announce his arrival. Naively, I promised my long-suffering fiancé that the journey from Bristol would be worthwhile this season…
Fast forward to February. Our Kiwi DoR was gone (apparently our players took exception to training hard), results were going the same way as the previous four seasons & the journey back across the Severn Bridge was once more a somber one, my moody silence only broken by the occasional bout of road rage. Deep down I knew my fellow motorists didn’t deserve the abuse I spewed at them on a regular basis, of course I did, but the anger that filled my soul had to be dispensed with in some way.
By May, we were 10th in the Pro12 (any follower of that league will tell you that’s last place, we all know the Italians don’t count) and all hope was gone…again.
And so we return to the letter…book now and ‘avoid disappointment’?! Any rational being will tell you that disappointment is pretty much the only thing guaranteed when you sign up to the Cardiff cause!
That’s the beauty of sport though; rationality means nothing! I will renew, of course I will! We have a new Head Coach, a host of young talent looking to burst into the first team squad and take the league by storm! I’d be mad not to!
Right?!
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