Specky Magee Read Free

instead?’ he suggested. But Specky had persisted. He pleaded with his dad for weeks on end, until eventually it paid off. He was finally permitted to play. Since then, there had been many times when Specky privately yearned for his father to just join him in the backyard for a friendly kick-to-kick game, or come and watch him play for his school. Even his team-mates’ parents thought it was kind of sad that Specky’s dad hadn’t made any effort to support his son—especially since he was one of the team’s best players.
    Specky knew his father loved him, but he was never going to share Specky’s enthusiasm for football. Specky was finding it increasingly difficult to get used to the fact that his father was a non-footy dad. Even his mother and his older sister couldn’t care less about the game. Not once did his family get excited about things like the Brownlow Medal or that special ‘one day’ in September.
    Specky glanced down at the newspaper article again. He wondered if he had any footy-bloodin him at all. If he did, it certainly wasn’t from his mum or dad, he thought.
    One hour later, Specky’s father finally turned up. Specky moped over to the car and got into the front passenger seat.
    ‘I’m sorry I’m late, son. I have to blame work again.’ Specky’s father was the owner of an art gallery. ‘I was stuck at the airport waiting for this incredibly talented Peruvian artist to fly in, and his plane was late. So, how did my front-forward man play?’
    ‘ Full-forward, Dad, not front-forward!’ Specky sighed and gloomily dropped his head against the car window.

3 FOOTYHEAD
    As soon as Specky got home he ran upstairs to the study, plonked himself in front of the computer and began surfing the net. He checked out all his favourite footy blogs and sites, which he loved to do.
    ‘Hey, squirt, my notebook is getting repaired. Get off!’ It was Specky’s older sister, Alice, barging in. She was 14, and very bossy.
    ‘No! Rack-off!’ snapped Specky. He wasn’t in any mood to argue with his sister after the day he’d had.
    Alice leaned over his shoulder to take a closer look at the computer screen. ‘Arggh! Always footy. There’s more on the net than footy, you know,’ she scoffed, then stormed out of the room.
    Specky frowned. ‘Well, not for me there isn’t…’ he mumbled to himself.
    Specky clicked on to a footy forum site and was instantly messaged by someone called CHRISkick s. Specky’s user name was FOOTYHEAD. Not surprisingly, the username ‘Specky’ was already taken.
    CHRISkicks : Hi. Who do you think is going to win the game between the Crows and the Kangaroos today?
    FOOTYHEAD : The Kangaroos. How old are you?
    CHRISkicks : I’m 12 and that’s the truth, I swear. I know people lie heaps in these chat rooms.
    FOOTYHEAD : Yeah, I know. There’s a few freaks out there. I’m 12, too.
    CHRISkicks : So who do you barrack for? I barrack for Carlton. Come on the mighty Blues!
    FOOTYHEAD : Is that where you live, in Carlton?
    CHRISkicks : Yes. Do you live in Melbourne or somewhere else in Australia?
    FOOTYHEAD : Yeah, I live in Melbourne, in Camberwell.
    CHRISkicks : So, you must barrack for Hawthorn then? Since you live near there.
    FOOTYHEAD : No, I don’t.
    CHRISkicks : Then who do you follow?
    FOOTYHEAD : Well, I don’t barrack for one team exactly. I barrack for five teams!
    CHRISkicks : You what? That’s crazy! How can you barrack for five teams?
    It was true. As long as Specky could remember, he was unable to support just one AFL team. His friends, especially Robbo and Danny, used to affectionately tease him about it. They originally thought it was a cop-out, and pressured him for a long time to make up his mind and choose only one team. But Specky couldn’t. He was an avid fan of the actual gamerather than any specific team. So he decided to support a group of teams that he felt he had some sort of personal connection with. They were Essendon, West Coast Eagles, Brisbane