|
|
home
letters & comments
footy
cricket
reviews
books
film & tv
music
food
travel
other arts
email the editor
footy links
> footypedia
> dockerland
> fullpointsfooty
> realfooty
> wafl clubs
cricket links
> baggygreen
archive
> 2008
> 2007
> 2006
> 2005
> 2004
> 2003
> 2002
> 2001
|
|
Let's get little
|
by RICK KANE
LET'S think little. This is not, by any stretch of
the imagination, a new concept. Those of you familiar with Lyotard's work, for
example, would recognise in such a simple statement the similarity to his
argument for little narratives.
So, with the big night, awarding and celebrating the toppest player done with, as
the season draws to its magnificent conclusion, and the media spins into a
tsunami of rhetoric, half blown analysis, self congratulatory reflections from a
brown eye, mythological malapropisms and profound opinion pieces that equate
football with the core of the human spirit in a way that would have Hegel
heaving, let us stop and take stock of small organs that are also a part of the
game's life system.
This year marks the end of Channel Seven's 45 year, psuedo-totalitarian reign as
footy's TV station. Some might argue that it is also the beginning of an even
more frightening reign - in the land of the struggling dollar, the US currency is
king. In the shadow of such grand edifices I choose to shine a congratulatory
light on a relatively inconspicuous organ in said system, Channel 31's football
coverage. (I am, here, referring specifically to the Melbourne community
station.)
If you care to move the thumb about 1cm across the remote that you undoubtedly
have in your grubby little clutches to C 31 and thereby take a break from what
you so rigidly watch it is a wonder you require a remote at all, you could chance
upon ... wait for it - more FOOTY.
It ain't the slickest, hippest stuff going round
but it is footy. And C 31 has a stack of it. Squeezed between exotica such as
Romanian Mozaic and Entre Todos you will find Dee TV or WRFL Footy Fever. Dee TV,
by the way, is a program about Melbourne Football Club. It ain't the reality TV
cum soap opera of the actual comings and goings of that club but you do get to
see Nicky Buckley passionate about something more than a new fridge.
C 31 caters for the greater community. So, when channel surfing across its
choices you should expect a fairly wide representation of cultural and
sub-cultural groups telling their stories, delivering their news. The range is
impressive to say the least. You can watch Tamil TV, Vietnamese programs, Arab TV
and Somali TV, as well as heavy metal music programs, Student productions and
Bent TV. When the station closes at the end of the night they run this thing
called Fishcam, which creates the effect of a fish tank in your living room. I'm
told it's a big hit with the stoner generation. In that milieu you can still
access about 10 hours of footy a week. This includes suburban footy games, club
footy shows with production values barely higher than Wayne's World and
discussion groups that don't have to rely on host and guests being 'on'.
There is something neat about C 31 broadcasting footy. It gives the game a
certain something that other TV stations and media outlets, as well as the AFL
(even with all the money and prestige they might be able to create) still can't
provide. Channel 7 kids' show, Just Footy and Channel 9 with Street Talk and
Almost Football Legends are about as close as it comes to capturing the spirit C
31 seems to possess without trying.
Channel 31's focus is on the local. On Saturdee mornings, for example, you can
watch Eastern Suburbs football from 8.30 in the morning. It ain't grand. Hell, it
ain't too far removed from sitting in the car, pulled up behind the goals, ready
to blow the horn when Bluey Allen snaps one from the pocket. And that's its
charm. The audience, the spectator seems to be one layer closer to the game
itself. The closer the fan stays to the game the more chance there will be that
care for the game remains. No amount of smoke and mirrors will be enough once the
fan starts to care less for the game. Channel 31's little narratives are crucial
to the football story in the same way Lloyd's goals are and in the same way club
presidents hogging the media limelight aren't.
|
australianrules.com.au
|
|