Oh this is lame. The AFL is fining players for wearing yellow armbands in a game as a show of support for a fellow teammate who is battling cancer. Here's the really lame part. The AFL said if they let this team do it then they will have to let the other teams do it too. And their point is? So the AFL is going to fine the team $20,000 and then donate the money to cancer charity. In this case, not a redeeming gesture. When Essendon requested permission to wear the armbands in a show of support for player Ramanauskas, who is fighting for a third time of cancer recurrence, the AFL denied the request -- probably based on the fear that if you let one person do it you know what is going to happen next -- everyone is going to want to do it. It's a stupid rule. I am guessing that's what the players were thinking when they went ahead and wore the armbands during the game against Melbourne at Telstra Dome. It's not like players haven't worn armbands during a game. Once a player wore a black armband in a game in memory of his pet dog who had died, while another player wore a black armband in memory of his family's pet goat. Serious -- that is what the news is reporting happened in the past.
Yeah, if I was one of the players, I woulda worn the yellow armband yesterday too.











1. Sorry guys, I think you have over simplied this issue. They didn't get fined as much for wearing the arm band as much as they did for flirting with an AFL rule. If your interested, I have talked about the issue on my AFL Podcast.
It should be noted that the AFL offered all sorts of other options to the Club like having the umpires where yellow, etc.
HTH
Molly
Posted at 8:10PM on Aug 2nd 2006 by Phillip Molly Malone