Pumpkin Seed Eater Origins artefact Wednesday

Way back in the mists of time, the NSL was still dead, but the A-League had not yet officially begun. In those days, there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth, as well as trepidation - and anticipation - of what the A-League would bring.

Many people had chosen sides, while a lot of other people hedged their bets. In amid the clamouring, there were many op-eds. and roving reporters, and prognostications. Would it work? Would the tribes be united? 

In Melbourne, this situation was probably more heated than anywhere else; one can speculate in their own time why that might have been.

Forums (remember them?) old and new were filled with passionate arguments and open hostility. Many were willing to offend, and many more were willing to be offended.

Come to think of it, that seems a lot like the present, too.

One of the most contentious (relatively speaking) comments made during that time was often attributed to then Melbourne Victory majority (or was he outright? Doesn't matter.) owner Geoff Lord.

He was accused of calling the old soccer guard 'pumpkin seed eaters'. 

Of course, later on the phrase 'pumpkin seed eaters' would be taken up by a podcast of the same name, one which others enjoyed more than myself. 

Then, as the arguments for and against got stale, and as 'three years tops' became many more, the phrase slipped out of the Australian soccer lexicon. 

But what was the context for that statement? How did people come to hear of this utterance? That seemed to get lost in the wash somewhat.

The answer lies, at least partly, in this week's artefact. In the Wednesday July 13th 2005 edition of Goal Weekly (remember print journalism, kiddies?), in Eddie Krncevic's 'Krncevic's Korner' segment - why did I think it was Krncevic's Krunchlines? - where Eddie opines on said incident.

Right off the bat, Krncevic makes it clear he didn't hear the comments made himself, nor does he name the person involved. And while Krncevic is concerned at the offence caused, he doesn't see it as a deal-breaker by any stretch of the imagination, only more of a misstep that should not be repeated if Victory and the A-League were to succeed in Melbourne.

Of course, as with many of these kinds of 'outrages', though they were heartfelt by many of those who were listening at the time, the fact of the matter was that most weren't - just as today most Australian soccer followers or participants have no idea of the debates being had on Twitter and the remaining forums and blogs.

Besides which, as was noted by a member of the Victory forum at the time, even one of the blokes who sold pumpkin seeds at Lakeside ended up outside Victory games anyway.

Google Translate

This is pretty much only for the Greek speaking and reading folks out there. Some random reader recently translated a post in here, which in turn translated several of the labels on the right hand side. See if you can figure out what they're all supposed to be, and have fun. I was going to be in a lot more, but decided to go for what I thought was the cream of the crop.

1. Τώρα Ακρόπολης
2. Όλα τα λευκά
3. Brisbane απεργούς (my personal favourite)
4. Πασπαλισμένο με φρυγανιά Πικάντικες Πτέρυγα κοτόπουλο
5. Doug Καφέ
6. Frankston Πεύκα
7. Κατεψυγμένα δάκρυα 
8. Πράσινο και του Στρατού Gold 
9. Καταπράσινη ρεματιά
10. Χαϊδελβέργη Φίλε Laser 
11. Hooped Κάλτσες 
12. James Σπανός 
13. Φιλί του θανάτου 
14. Μεγάλα Έργα Βικτώρια 
15. Ο κ. Cleansheets
16. Κανείς δεν μας αρέσει εμάς δε μας ενδιαφέρει 
17. Φυστίκι Man
18. Κολοκύθα Eaters Σπόρων 
19. ΚΠΡ
20. Πίνακας αποτελεσμάτων  
21. Sno Κώνοι
22. Η ηλικία 
23. Δυτικά του Σίδνεϊ Μούρα

What it chooses to translate is too random. Some Greek names are entirely in English; others half and half; others still, entirely in Greek. The same word or phrase will sometimes be translated into Greek, while other times it's just left alone. And then, just when you thought it couldn't get any stupider, some obviously not-Greek names, like Ante Kovacevic, get the full Greek treatment. Going through this has also reminded me of how much crap I have written.

Late Pumpkins

A bit late, but whatever. You can download it from here. The most notable thing for mine is the reference to a passionate Marxist appraisal of the merits - or otherwise - of the monocultural A-League over the pluralist National Soccer League, by a Queensland academic named Kieran James. I'll have more to say on that in a few weeks. If you're on the Pumpkin Seed Eaters mailing list, you've probably already had it come through your inbox. If not, email me and I'll send you copy.

And the rest? Sounds from the World Football Gala, outdated reviews (my fault), a Singapore Cup preview, Aussies Abroad and the usual angry rhetoric. It's abrasive, sure, but someone's got to provide the Mr Hyde angle to the Dr Jekyll stuff, I suppose.

More Pumpkins

You know the drill.

Podcasts and such

The Pumpkin Seed Eaters latest missive has hit the streets. The latest South radio broadcast is also out - probably the best one yet.

You may have also noticed that there's a few new links underneath the banner. This has helped slightly unclutter the right hand side, as well as explain what's going on, how to heckle or praise us, and paying credit to those who've chipped in along the way.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters back for 2010

The Pumpkin Seed Eaters are back - this time with promises to put episodes out on a more consistent basis. 2010's first episode is available for download here.

Final Pumpkin Seed Eaters podcast of 2009

I can't be arsed doing an intro for it today, so here's their spiel verbatim.

Believe it or not, the Pumpkin Seed Eaters are finally back for their first show in over 3 months...and final show for the year!!! Slack, we know! Anyway, on this week's show, we will we reviewing the 2009 VPL season and handing out some awards of our own! There will also be a few of our regular segments, including Mail Bag and Media Watch, during which we discuss the progress of the A-League as well as dissect the FFA's World Cup bid. Aussies Abroad also makes a return to the show, during which we head to the shores of South-East Asia where we hope lies a happy finish for a prospective Socceroo who is currently plying his trade in Vietnam!

http://podcast.pumpkinseedeaters.com/PumpkinSeedEaters-2009Episode5.mp3

Pumpkinseedeaters ep 4 season 2009 out now

Get it from here.

New Pumpkin Seed Eaters Now Out

If you'd like to participate in all the fun that the word schadenfreude was invented for, download episode three from here.

New Pumpkin Seed Eaters episode out

I haven't listened to it yet, but apparently South of the Border gets a plug, which is cool. Download from here.

Fanatic Of The Week - Helen Menidis

This probably breaks at least some aspect of copyright and privacy laws, and probably lacks a bit of decorum, but there's two things I'll say about it before we get into the nitty gritty. Firstly, it's still on the net, and therefore I can use it as long as I make valid comment; and secondly, you people can do an online search with my name and see my halcyon days of making faux-teenage intellectual comments on Monsanto and Trent Croad, and the other Paul Mavroudis who's the president of Melbourne's 'Thessaloniki Association'.

Anyway, while searching through the ancient archives of South Melbourne websites past, I found an interesting semi-regular segment called Fanatic of the Week. Naturally, everyone claims their loyalty to South forever in these things... but where are they now? Are they still supporting the club? Unfortunately the archives don't work in their entirety... so this segment will last for three weeks or so. Shame really... some people are getting off lightly. We'd love to know if these people have jumped off South and onto some other bandwagon and professed their new undying love for that cause - or whether, against the odds, they're still hanging round the joint.

In it's own way, this is a similar idea to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters 'Poulimeno of the Week' (which should be 'Poulimeno of the Month' seeing as how it's a monthly show... and perhaps should have been 'Poulimeno of the Fortnight' seeing as it used to be a fortnightly show, but I digress), but with the added possibility of some genuine redemption for the individual and South itself, if they're still following this great club. And now on with the show; this edition first hit the internet airwaves Friday 8th June, 2001.



FANATIC OF THE WEEK

Friday, 8th June, 2001

Welcome to 'Fanatic of the Week'.

This week’s fanatic is Helen Menidis from Ringwood who misses Ange Postecoglou as senior coach of the club.

See below for full fanatic profile:
----------------------------------------

NAME: Helen J Menidis

AGE: 20

SUBURB: Ringwood

INTERESTS: Soccer, shopping, travelling and sleeping

FAVOURITE SOCCER CLUBS: South Melbourne


ARE YOU A MEMBER OF SOUTH MELBOURNE?
No, but I will be next season

WHAT AGE DID YOU EXPERIENCE YOUR FIRST MATCH?
My family and I have always followed this club and I watch all the games on TV, but my first ever game attended was the Major Semi-Final 2nd Leg against Wollongong this year. I also attended the Preliminary Final against Sydney Olympic and the NSL Grand Final at Parramatta Stadium in Sydney.

FAVOURITE SOUTH MELBOURNE MEMORY?
Meeting all the players and staff behind the team.

MOST MEMORABLE GAME WATCHED?
Our win at Olympic Park because I was there and it was much better than watching it on TV.

FAVOURITE CURRENT PLAYER?
All of them. I see them a lot and they are a friendly and down to earth bunch of guys.

BEST SOUTH MELBOURNE PLAYER EVER?
Ange Postecoglou because he was a fantastic player and a legendary coach. He had the passion that champions are made of as a player and a coach, and took the boys all they way to give them the great reputation of being Australia's Most Successful Club. I miss him as a coach!

WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Everything

WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE ABOUT SOUTH MELBOURNE?
Nothing

WOULD YOU EVER SUPPORT ANOTHER NSL TEAM?
Never

WHY?
Because they are the team I strongly support, and I will always cheer them on through good times and bad.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME HELEN.

Jesus Christ on a crumpet

The Pumpkin Seed Eaters are back. Fuck. Me. Dead. The link is on the sidebar somewhere down there. They're doing it on a monthly basis now. You should know by now if you like their thing or not. I still think they miss the point somewhat. Not sold on the use of Kenny Rogers either. It will be interesting to see how they avoid controversy and legal action this time around.

Best first year of this blog ever

Kind of like the Festivus 'airing of the grievances'. this entry will look at where South of the Border failed to make an impact, and also did ok. Suggestions and additions welcome. More important stuff tomorrow.

A look back at what worked or went well this year.

• International exposure achieved very early on Bolosepako. Thanks Po Hui.
• Stood up for what is right in regards to the Pumpkins Seed Eaters thing, irrespective of what happened afterwards.
• Lasted for more than a few weeks. Followed by having something new almost everyday during the season.
• Got stuff printed in Das Libero and Neos Kosmos English Weekly, and the official site.
• Kept people in touch with stuff that is largely ignored by the mainstream side of the club's media wing.
• Getting on radio, in another state/territory mind you.
• Got a book of sorts done up. Here's to the future

And what didn't go so good

• Failure to get the point across effectively to the Pumpkin Seed Eaters. You know what I'm talking about. But they're dead now, or in hiding. Or something. I dunno.  But I'm not laughing because it may happen here too.  Apparently there a few sensitive souls out there who don't like people taking the mickey out of them, or heaven forbid, disagreeing with them verbosely, just being twats. Go figure.
• The lack of a link on The Supermercado Project. Sure, link to Atlanta Falcons malakies, but not to the blog that was inspired by your other blog. Disappointing.
• The lack of almost any outside contributions. I wanted this site to be for all the creative, angry, multi thousand dollar camera wielding South fans to put forward their story; as well those with no talent but far too much time on their hands. This is a chance to put forward their point of view, on their club, in a place where people outisde of smfcboard will see it... maybe they want to complain about the lack of coverage and freedom of speech? Or maybe they're too busy using their free (see sponsor derived via contra deals) Victory tickets. The offer is still there people.
• No ongoing column on Das Libero. The land where associate editorships mean not much and where promises of glory go to die. But then again, the whole shebang seemed to die in the arse, but that wasn't really my fault.
• The semi-disastrous Nearpost radio interview. It could have gone better to be honest, in terems of the what the final product ended up as. Still, nice to have the opportunity.

Thankyou to Ian, Cliff, Paul, Jim, Nats, Neil, Guido, Po Hui, Eamonn, Cuddles, Psile, Tony, John,  Michal, whoever the mysterious women's team person was who fed us info, anyone who said 'this doesn't go on the blog', everyone who left a comment, and all those people who got us to 20,000 page views.

Popularity Stakes

Pissfarting around with this stupid site that guesstimates how much your site is worth, and thought I'd see which South site was worth the most... and it was...

- South of the Border at $461 (with a potential of $65,902)! Ding ding ding! Worth more than smfcboard and the official site combined! Awesome. Fabulous. I'm going to cash that cheque in right now. Other South related sites (that weren't piggybacking off a higher rating site) included

- South official $125
- Smfcboard $95
- South Women's blog $10

a look at some of the other stuff that gets linked here

- Astronomy Pic of the Day $264,309 - can you put a price on such a tremendous site?
- Nearpost, $7,663 - I'll get there soon
- Bolosepako $120 - lift your game po hui!
- Pumpkin Seed Eaters $9 - a) lol. b) kicked their arse c) shows just stupid this ratings site is and d) not quite so funny now they've departed the building.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters episode 8 - Special Edition

Highly recommended episode (best so far...), revolving heavily around an interview with FFV CEO Mark Rendell. If you can't be arsed listening to it - and you really should - here's the gist of it. Apologies for the messiness of the summary.

• FFV/Foxtel Cup promotions - no idea how to effectively use their spending money.
• FFV has no money because all money gets sucked upwards. That may change in a few years if the FFA gets better sponsorship and TV deals.
  
• Victory influence - sit there and take it.
• 2008 Preston/South incidents - not our responsibility, and besides, inside was all fine! Really!
  
• Summer League - went around and talked to lots of people, and it was the stakeholders who asked for it. Specifically who asked for this stuff is not made clear.
• Summer League clubs will not receive transfers and such... duh.
• They more or less expect clubs within the designated regions to fund it. In effect, still a lot of dithering going on, largely clueless.
  
• Basically the FFV believes that the 20-30 clubs within a zone, and their supporters, will support the representative zones.
• Clubs will not required to participate in the Summer League, and there is flexibility in how much they may participate.
• FFV to A-League transfers - it's being looked at - lalalalalalala...
• The $3000 rule has been ratified by FIFA.
• Dockerty Cup, lack of a suitable financial model.
  
• Mark Rendell has a voice which could send anyone to sleep.

Final word from me. The FFV is fond of passing the buck. To the clubs. To the fans. To the FFA. Take little to no responsibility for their own fiefdom. Essentially saying, we are powerless, do it yourselves. Rendell may very well have gone in to this with the best of intentions. as a way of communicating the FFV's stance on a number issues directly to the fans, and not appearing as some mischievous clandestine organisation. But always, in the back of my mind, the attempt to neutralise any backlash by tackling it head on, and therefore taking the sting out if it.

It is quite sad that the Pumpkin Seed Eaters are taking what appears to be a near permanent hiatus. The reasons for this, whether due to legal or time constraints or both and other things, are unknown to me. I've given my fair share crap towards the Pumpkin Seed Eaters, as well as praise. They could've gone in harder at times, and occasionally went in on the wrong target, but the show improved just about every episode. They had a style that saw them reach out to the disenfranchised and captured the imagination of the haters alike, and achieved a rarity in local soccer in managing to unite, for around 40 minutes every fortnight, the disparate and mostly self-interested fans of the local scene.

In closing... thanks for the plugs... the site hits went up considerably whenever South of the Border got a mention. It was nice to contribute some material for the show occasionally... even if it wasn't always intentional. Here's to the future... fight the power. Vale PSE, for now at least. 

If someone wants a copy of the episodes... I have all of them, just ask and ye shall receive.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters Episode 7

Hmm. Another fortnight, another episode. This time around, mailbag, previews, Chelsea headhunter returns, gold logie award, their continued surge in popularity across this big brown land, and music which or may not be to your taste - needs more Holy Bible era Manic Street Preachers in my opinion. And then there's the good stuff. The aural equivalent of a pretty fucking nasty angry pill which will get even cynical members of Generation X off their arses to fight the power, namely an analysis of an interview which Evil Geoff Lord did on on SEN. And an actually rather clever and well executed parody of the 4Diegos, also of SEN.

And in some serious postmodern headfuckery, another plug of South of the Border, with particular focus on my review of their episode 5. Selective quoting? Elaborate gamesmanship in order to receive and send reciprocal plugs, or just an attempt to use South of the Border for certain slightly nefarious purposes? It's all a bit much to think about at the time of writing this, (11:30 on a Wednesday night), but for those of my 10-20 regular readers who haven't downloaded the show by now, you'll want to head straight to 35:25 minutes into the episode and hear it for yourself. But really, you should all know whether you enjoy their stuff or not by now anyway. National audience, does your head in contemplating the ramifications. Soon, like South of the Border, they'll be an international phenomenon. And Zeus help us all when that happens.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters episode 5

Episode 5 now out. Petty milestone, really. Ah, I remember the 5th entry on here. Anyway, it includes a fairly silly telephone call to the FFV, a rather unfunny bit with Archie Thompson, an unnecessary and poorly researched swipe at Gamba Osaka - not named after 'some car company', but rather a clever combination of the Italian word for 'leg' and the Japanese phrase meaning 'stand firm' or 'do your best '- a very interesting Poulimeno of the Week, and bonus! a segment dealing with feedback from the Victory forum to their 'ethnic cleansing' editorial from the previous edition, provided by research monkeys working for less than minimum wage in their offices.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters Episode 4

So episode 4 is now available, download here. Usual shenanigans which, again, I'm not necessarily comfortable with or agree with, in particular their continuing smart-alecky take on our 2nd meeting, - our first meeting by the way was in a churchyard where they told me of their plans for the show - but there is the addition of a very important element, a lengthy editorial. It focuses mostly on the post-NSL era treatment of the ethnic clubs. I agree with much of it, disagree with other parts, worry about many of the generalisations and there's stuff that I would contest the accuracy of, but above all, it is mellow, measured and something which should definitely be heard. Now, will they make the transcript available? This way a proper round debate and analysis can be set up, and hopefully some good points will come out of it. I for one would appreciate the opportunity to give it the once over on here, without fear or prejudice to anyone's feelings.

'Seth' from 'Caulfield' - South of the Border makes an enemy of sorts

A little while ago, one may remember this blog plugging an online radio show called the Pumpkin Seed Eaters. South of the Border's review of their debut instalment was generally and cautiously positive, with a couple of suggestions, most notably to an unnecessary anti-Semitic remark. After making the hosts/producers aware of the review, I received an encouraging reply from one of the hosts (who go under pseudonyms, though I know who one of the hosts is), basically saying thanks for the feedback, that they realise there's room for improvement, and that South of the Border would get a mention on the next show. Seemingly having taken my review well and with the bonus of the blog getting a reciprocal plug, the experience seemed to go swimmingly.

Alas, no. No plug for the blog (which is not really important, because I do this mostly for the amusement of trusted friends and associates and whoever else happens to stumble upon here), but also no genuine remorse or acknowledgment of the poor taste of the relevant joke. My words, used as part of a segment on feedback received of the first episode were attributed to a Seth from Caulfield - get it? only a Jew would be pissed off at an anti-Semitic remark - thus continuing to tap into the already far too prevalent strains of anti-Semitism that exist amongst certain 'traditional' fans, evidenced most notably in the past few years with regards to attacks on FFA head honcho (and former Sydney Hakoah chief) Frank Lowy.

Now, I'm for free speech. Having that stance means that I have to tolerate (not accept) the fact that this means opinions will exist that I do not like and am not comfortable with. And it also requires the acknowledgment that freedom of speech (in its varying degrees) is one of the core strengths of Western society, in that in the plurality of voices that should ensue we will be in a better position to critically analyse our society. Or something like that. But as you might have guessed, I have a pretty massive problem when people start using that freedom of speech to racist and defamatory ends. That kind of thing serves no one well. Nevertheless they'll still have their place on the 'link hall of fame' on the right hand side of the blog, because their program comprises the voice of a very underrepresented segment of Australian soccer, and that this voice, irrespective of whether you agree or disagree with its content and style is one that should be heard.

Pumpkin Seed Eaters and format changes

You may have noticed some minor changes in formatting recently. Or not. Nevertheless these should be explained. There has been a counter installed at the bottom. This is mostly for me so I can see if people are visiting (apparently they are, which is good), and how many are returning. It is a little disappointing that you people seem to prefer Internet Explorer and Mozilla over the brilliant Opera browser, but whatever. There's also been a little blog bio and disclaimer put up. There's a couple of new blog adds as well, worth checking out. The number of articles on a page will also be increased.

But perhaps the most significant addition has been a link add for a new online radio show by and for self-styled traditional fans called the Pumpkin Seed Eaters (based on a comment which they attribute to Gary Cole, but I'm pretty sure was actually made by Melbourne Victory supremo 'Evil' Geoff Lord). Anyway, for less than 10mb, and at 42 odd minutes, it's pretty good, taking into account also that it is their first episode. There's an interview (at the cost of pizza) with Rockem Sockem Poutakidis and some Berger chump, and regular segments and whatnot. A warning though: it's not intended for people with weak hearts or those who love the A-League. It's a bit South-centric at the moment, but that's probably a good thing. In short, I enjoyed listening to it, and reckon it'll get better. The anti-semitism at the end wasn't really necessary though. And boys, there are plenty of frogs in Greece, trust me.