The Bus Trip From Hell

Added 13 August 2007

On Saturday night, 25 die hard Magic fans made the trip down to Rosebud on board the Bus Trip From Hell. The show they were following were the Hawthorn Magic mens team who were taking on the Southern Peninsula Sharks in game 2 of the BigV Division One semi final series. The mob were full of confidence following the thrilling game 1 victory over the Sharks at the home of the Magic, the BSC.

At 5:30pm on Saturday, bus driver Cal Connor pulled up to the front of the BSC in our Budget rental bus. We hopped aboard but it wasn't until 5:45pm, 15 minutes after the scheduled departure time that we left as we were waiting for strays who were running late. The ride there featured a smorgasbord of chips, chocolates and lollies, washed down with a lot of soft drink. The clock at the front of the bus was centre of attention as we were against the clock to get to the game by tip off. As the bus approached Rosebud, the mob warmed up for the match with the synchronised sounding of party horns being blown.

We finally arrived at the venue during a timeout 2 minutes into the game. Five Fingas Fyffe announced our arrival with a friendly signal to the home Sharks fans. Following our arrival, the Magic stepped on the accelerator, increasing their lead. The loud cheering from the away fans turned a few eyebrows of the Sharks fans. A Magic victory looked very possible early in the 2nd quarter. However, the Sharks steadied with a barrage of 3 pointers from Matthew Willmott which had the Magic crowd subdued. The Magic were unable to maintain the energy in the 2nd half as the Sharks ran away with the win. It didn't stop the Magic fans supporting and didn't stop a friendly exchange of words between the Magic fans and Sharks import Ben Kersenbrock.

Back to the bus and the drive to Mornington for McDonalds. Alas, it was closed. We continued on to Frankston in search of food for our rumbling stomachs. On the way there, there was speculation about the Magic's chances of an unlikely game 3 victory on the road. The meal at Maccas was satisfying and we were later graced by the presence of Magic players Zac Barry and Peter Jordan who dropped by the say hi. During the meal, we witnessed the breaking into a car in the Maccas carpark...only in Frankston. The drive back to Melbourne was significantly quieter than the drive down there following the loss. But we still kept the faith in the team for a game 3 victory.