And the winner is...

I guess we've all have those types of days when things just don't workout despite the best planning. With today being a public holiday and our streets teeming with tourists I had decided it was the perfect day to hibernate at home and catch up with the videotape of the Anzac Day game which Alan taped for me yesterday.

I had assiduously made sure that I had heard no news bulletins between the end of the Trades Hall show yesterday and not read or lookied at a newspaper (real or online). I even began to cook a 38-hour (yep no typo there) slow cooked Greek lamb dish at midnight last night whilst I blogged here.

Waking to the wonderful aroma of lamb, oregano, thyme and rosemary, I decided it would be a cooking day until the afternoon when I would sit down and catch up with The Game.

After preparing mushroom risotto, Tira Mi Su, some cookies and hummus (for the forthcoming week... not today's menu solely). I readied myself for the Bombers Pies Showdown.

Would you believe that this house has three VCRs (for three people of course).

The main lounge VCR had a tape wedged irretrievably inside which was not budging.

Take two. Move to my bedroom and my VCR. Yep, not working either. A simple matter of tuning in the VCR to the TV... a task that Panasonic always felt was a easy judging by their diagrams in the manual. Yep, simple for Einstein.

Take three. Calling (desperately) to my son, he stripped his wall unit and removed his VCR, bringing it to the lounge room and again I readied myself for The Match. Coffee, freshly cooked cookies, all the baked goodies stored, sealed and frozen, lamb basted and monitored.

Carlo's VCR dedided at this moment it wouldn't re-wind or fast forward. Oh well not so bad... until it decided it wouldn't stay playing either. The switch just randomly turned off without a person sitting on the floor finger pressed to said PLAY button. In frustration Carlo gave it one God-Almighty WHACK and the bloody thing behaved itself (enough to begin to watch the lead up commemorative ceremony).Then complete STOP.

Coffee in hand back to my bedroom VCR to begin the epic channel-tune-in excercise. SUCCESS AT LAST... only the videotape was "much loved" and the snow and tracking quite distracting. Never mind, it was great Alan took the time to tape it. I have watched worse broadcast images in my time, so I did my usual, cried over the Last Post, and the banner run-through by both teams and began to watch the drama.

I had told Glenice yesterday that judging by the faces of the Collingwood fans and the expression on the Essendon supporters I was sure we had lost. But the first quarter was amazing, for a PIES supporter, and even more so for me.

Travis Cloke (a player who frustrates me endlessly with his inaccuracy kicking for goal) absolutely shone and drilled FOUR! Even the tape was far enough in to be picture-perfect with the tracking and snow virtually non-existant.

Casting my mind back to Melbourne Central station and the train home yesterday... How could we have lost with such a HUGE LEAD? But, as every Magpie fan knows this is a team that can easily snare defeat from the jaws of victory.

Second quarter. Even scoring and the Bombers looked like they were getting their act together. On to the third... and the man-on-man tension intensified with mistakes and turn-overs from both sides.... AD BREAK....

With a fresh coffee I return to find the broadcast stopped. Yes, stopped. The tape had RUN OUT! Not a four hour tape as Alan had thought, a three hour tape!

It was just never meant to be. I had missed my first ANZAC day match ever, and to make matters worse I did not know the results. I had told Louis to take the papers with him, so I couldn't even read the post match coverage. Grabbing the Foxtel mag and the Green Guide I searched in vain for a replay of the BIG GAME!

ZILTCH

ZERO

NADA!

Carlo then told me we had actually won by 60 or so points but heck it's not the same. I don't even know who won the ANZAC DAY medal or why? How many did Cloke finish up with. Even Fraser kicked two before I stopped watching and Thomas had nailed one. (Yep, these are the fab trio I call Dumb, Dumber and Stick. They had actually done what I had never seen them do before... play with excitement and accuracy!). What a game to have missed TWICE).

And to think, I was supposed to happily go back to writing later in the day. Yeah sure, definitely in the mood for that (as you can see, I am still bitching). What a wasted day... but then again the highs and lows of supporting Collingwood just match today's mini-drama and seem so in sync.

The only positive to have come out of today (apart from copious food preparation) is that I now know who-the-bloody-hell Justin Bieber is. As George Negus said on 7pm Project... my life is complete!