WCQ (we wuz robbed but so wuz they) and Disc Golf. A good night in North Hobart.

 

Every now and then you meet someone or learn something that really does add to the way you see the world.

Tonight I went to the Waggon and Horses in North Hobart to watch the Australia v Japan game. Quality by the way. We have a real rivalry that will sustain the game for years to come. We should have won 3-1 again but were lucky not to lose. Dumb send off, dumb penalty, dumb send off etc. Felt tense, felt miserable, felt slight elation. All we needed was for TIMMAY to pop up and score and I would have been back in the back bar of the North Fitzroy Arms in 2006 feeling the feeling that rarely comes but when it does is rare joy.

Of course we had to have Mr Rofl wandering round the bar bagging sokkah, "0-0, 0-0, 0-0." He said nothing after Japan scored. He'd kind of set a stall from which he had no room to move. And no bites. Well done North Hobart sokkah people. Well done me!

Great night, Five pints of Fat Yak! So that might explain things from here on. But then again maybe it really is a good Neos Osmos type story.

Sat with Richard Sampson, coach of Sandy Bay under 7s and severely cheerful bloke. Played soccer in England and three years in Hobart before injury/old age cut in.

No. Not Adam Gilchrist. Richard Sampson.

But that didn't stop him. His thing now is frisbee disc. And his special thing is disc golf. Frisbee played like golf with par threes, fours and fives, holes in one and drivers and all the other discs you might expect over eighteen holes. Each hole looks like a regular golf hole - though the fairways don't need to be so fair - with a bizarre spaceship contraption (see above) as a the 'hole'. A par 3 is about 120 metres, a par 5 around 200. 

The golfers have sets of discs that give them options for different situations. Richard plays with a set of around 20. Some go left, some go right and some hold their line. 

And yes. Richard has had the odd hole in one.

Richard is in the top ten in Australia and has a world ranking of 978. Before you scoff, if you were the world's 978th best soccer player you'd have all your 'mates' lining up to borrow money from you if they could get past the security guards.

Unfortunately the money's not so good in disc golf. Even the gun professionals get by on the odd tournament win. $10K is top-end prize winnings. It keeps them going to the next tournament.

Richard loves the game and the community he has met through it. He speaks about it with passion and knowledge and while he doesn't make any grand claims about his sport you can tell he'd be pleased if it managed to find a better footing in Hobart and elsewhere. The council has been supportive and he and a few mates have been able to rejuvenate the Poimena disc golf course at Austin's Ferry.

Saw a great game. Had five pints. Learnt something new. Had a good night.