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April 30, 2007
The Real Thing
Someone on the mainboard started talking about Gary Snr. Rather than bump an old post I thought I might use the Blog to restate my thoughts on the man
…
Some say when you watch a great talent that they can make it look easy in their area of expertise. Its true they can make it look effortless but then some like Gary not only do that but they realise your own limitations . When I watched Gary , I could be stunned by the audacity of the man , to attempt such feats and then be amazed by his ability to complete the task .
Champions and great talents in sport elevate the athletic performance beyond the normal grunt ,sweat and grind to the level of art. They don’t just play a sport as an activity and play it well , they transcend the level of physical effort and define the level that others can aspire too. They can make the very talented look ordinary, they can make others look more like tradesmen than artisans.
A film that I’ve always thought explored this theme is Aradeus. As I remember it, the film revolves around two composers , Salieri and Mozart. Salieri, religious, pious, man, a man who is a very good composer, a man who is content with the talent that he believed that God had given him. This is until Mozart arrives in Vienna. When Mozart appears its obvious who has the real talent, Salieri has worked and worked, polished his talent and he is good but Mozart is great, he appears not to need to work because of the talent he has been blessed with. He makes Salieri seem pedestrian by comparison., a labourer compared to a natural. More over , Mozart is not only talented beyond compare he is a fool, a party goer ,a philander a person who appears to squander his talent and not care much of it. As represented in the film he is the personification of underserved talent, he is represented as person of such low morals and such high natural talents that Salieri questions his own relationship with GOD. To paraphrase ‘How could you have given so much talent to ..him and me so little to me” .In the film, Salieri becomes so obsessed Mozart he eventually conspires to kill him but of course that’s not the end. After the death of Mozart , Salieri realizes that he really hasn’t rid himself of the genius because his music endures while Salieri's fades into obscurity.
To me, its not much of a leap to compare Gary to Aradeus. I can remember a story relayed by Gerard Healy. He was playing in that early State game which as previously mentioned Gary got a gig on the word of Cool Rockin Teddy. He was still so unknown at that time that I can still remember the WA commentators calling him Geoff. I think he kicked 8 and certainly should have one the medal for BOG. Anyway at one stage in the game he took a mark about 55-65M out close to the boundary. Gerard Healy screamed to pass the ball but Gary ignored him and continued to line up the shot. Healy thought, “Who the hell doe this guy think he is, you cant even make the distance from there”. Well after it cleared the sticks at goal post height , there was no more a questions about who the hell he thought he was. Talent like his could make his fellow players even shake their heads in awe.
Its not really fair to have so much talent , on the rest of them and probably on Gary himself. I can imagine how someone who had to work there “A” off to make it would question the fairness of it when they watched Gary. Imagine kids everywhere playing footy, junior team’s everywhere with one or two kids with standout ability. Those kids then proceed to the next level. , where yet again one or two standout. By the time most get to the AFL , every player there is playing against a guy who was a standout among standouts, most who did it easy now have to work like never before. How talented must you be, to come in and standout without really working that hard. I was there that day Gary played Fitzroy. He Williams and Jacko all debuted for us. Gary was Gary , a standout player on the wing and got reported and got 3 weeks, ahh what start. His whole career from that time on was anything but forgettable.
For the rest of that year I think he took a “Mark of the Year” every week. And every year from then on produced something that has become a pearl in somebody’s memory The day he kicked a torp goal from the middle of the G, the day he cleaned up Worsfold, the day he kicked 14 against Richmond and Ess and Swans. What about the day he was basically held most of the day by Gafer but broke loose in the last .That dash coming from at least 25m behind the 2 Pie players pushed the aside grabbed the ball, ran on and kicked the goal .Its remembered as the "Gary Ablett ,what more can you say". That’s why people went to watch him , he could make a day at the footy a memorable experience. Every game there would be something that would amaze you even if it was the only thing he did.
Another movie that I see parallels with Gary is ‘The Natural” . The movie itself is like a parable , of good and evil. Roy Hobbs , The country bumpkin kid with talent, that can do anything. His goal is simply "to be the best that ever was" It contains a woman in Black who's name was Bird(Birds traditionally are related to bad luck or a forbearer of evil) and a woman in white, wholesome saviour, the cleanser, the true path to right
And just like Sampson , Hobbs has an almost fatal flaw, a weakness. Its Choice. So good on the field yet he can make muddled choices off it. This weakness brings him down. But like all great sports movies its about redemption and over coming weakness , unfortunately life isn’t always like that. Anyway near the end of the movie when Roy has concerns over not reaching his potential as being the best ever Iris tells him “With or without the records …they’ll remember you”. And so it will be with Gary. No premierships, 1 B&F yet his on ground performances have effected many an observer. People would go to watch Geelong just to see him , for many the game was never the same when he finished. For all my disappointment of being a follower of the hoops, I thank GOD for me being able to see Gary in full flight , the one drawback I suppose is that all that all that now follow seem like Salieri , hardworking disciplined toilers. A pale imitation of the real thing.
Posted by Turbocat at April 30, 2007 10:31 PM
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