ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
In the midst of the intense Victorian Rules Football Grand Final showdown between the Collingwood Magpies and the Brisbane Lions, dedicated Lions fan Mark Thompson found himself seeking solace elsewhere. Sensing his team’s impending defeat, he made a surprising detour from the game’s heart-pounding action, sending a message in his group chat: “Hey, is anyone else watching the Ryder Cup? My boy Rory [McIlroy] is carving up.”
His abrupt shift in topic left the group chat momentarily stunned. Friends exchanged puzzled emojis and questioned his loyalty to the Lions. One friend, Liam, responded, “Are you serious? You don’t even play golf?”
Another, John, chimed in with, “You fucking coward.”
As the final between the Magpies and the Lions continued to unfold, Thompson seemed more engrossed in the responses to his Ryder Cup query than the football match. Despite the disapproving messages from his friends, he persisted in discussing golf, mentioning how the Ryder Cup seemed like a haven of tranquility.
“Oh man, Brooks [Koepka] is such a poon. He’s folded like a card house,” Mark added.
“Should’ve picked that other poon, Bryson [DeChambeau]!”
While the Lions’ eventual defeat cast a somber mood over the group chat, Thompson’s unexpected detour into the world of golf during a pivotal moment in Victorian-Rules football provided an odd, yet amusing, diversion for the participants.
It became a topic of bemused conversation, highlighting the unpredictable nature of sports fandom and the strange tangents it can take, even in the midst of a significant sporting event.
“Anyway, we going to the bottom pub tonight to watch the rest of the Ryder Cup or are we saving ourselves for tomorrow?”
More to come.
