Pride Cup history – 2013

Way back in 1995, with the AFL season the season fast approaching, the Pride Cup was formed between three men during a simple interstate phone call.

 

Russ, as most people know, can’t talk enough footy.  I’m prone to the same thing.  As we talked that night, my brother Nick was in the background, offering sledges about the cool weather in Melbourne.

 

Against relayed insults, I suggested writing our names on separate fixtures and having a three-way competition.

 

It was March.  Russ, who is an occasional gambler, wanted to know how much the winner of the new three-way competition would win. 

 

‘How much does he want to lose to me,’ Nick said.

 

The figure ended up being nothing.  ‘We’ll play for pride,’ I said.

 

That first year, Nick won by eight tips.  Russ came second.  I achieved a podium result, but in a three-way competition, I was last.

 

After the season, Nick admitted his selections were based on the five-match form guide offered by the Herald-Sun, which highlighted each team’s performance over the previous five rounds.

 

‘That’s all I look at,’ he said.

 

Russ won in 1996, the yearNorth Melbournewon the premiership.  It was a sweet year for the three of us because we all follow North.  It was his second win over me in two years.

 

I returned the favour in 1997, only to have him thrash me by eight points in 1998, the year North went belly up against Adelaide in the grand final.

 

1998 also saw the introduction of Adam Lewis to the unnamed competition.  He would finish fourth, or last.  The Roos won the premiership in 1999.  Russ beat me again.  Nick was the outright winner.  Adam L finished fourth, or last, something he was getting used to.

 

In 2000 I finished ahead of the quartet.  The competition was six years old.  Only Adam L hadn’t won.  He still hasn’t.

 

When I was introduced to email in 2001, the Pride Cup went national, becoming open slather, a competition free to anyone with access to the internet, anyone who wanted to play for Pride instead of price.  It was the first year the competition attracted more than four members.

 

Russ continued his good form during the national competition’s first two years, winning outright in 2001 and drawing with Nick in 2002.

 

After his win, Russ let me in on a little secret.  ‘I always pick the favourites,’ he said.

 

That led to change.  Each week I posted the odds, so everyone had access to the same information Russ had. 

 

A few rounds into 2003, Nick quit the Pride Cup.

 

‘There’s too much pressure,’ Nick said.  He would return in 2004, leading early in the season but ultimately quitting again before it was over.

 

In 2003, Andy Blyth became the first Queenslander to win the Pride Cup.  To prove how tough the Pride Cup is, Andy has finished in the top three just once since his win, in 2009.

 

Adam G won his first Pride Cup in 2004, sharing the spoils with myself.  We both polled enough points, 125, to win any media tipping competition Australia wide.  Money might’ve been made, if we’d been willing to gamble.

 

2004, it must be said, was the beginning of Adam’s remarkable run of excellence. 

 

Wayne finished three clear in 2005, his only triumph but one that was well deserved.  A new person winning the Pride Cup made the competition interesting.

 

Wayne is a former student of Oak Park High School, as is Nick, Adam G, Russ, Paul and myself.  So far, of the students from that high school, only Paul hasn’t won the competition.  His best finish is second in 2010.

 

It was the usual suspects in 2006, with Adam G, Russ and myself tying for first.  There is no count back in the Pride Cup, and the finals can’t be used to break the deadlock.

 

Anne, in a major breakthrough in 2007, became the first woman to win.  She was rightly celebrated.  Some of the comments about a woman winning the competition were actually printable…

 

The history of the Pride Cup showed it was getting harder to make the right selections.  In 2004 the winners notched 125 points for the year.  Wayne was seven below that in 2005. 

 

In 2006 and 2007 the winners racked up 117 points. 

 

But it got easier when another woman, Katy, won in 2008, sharing the victory with Adam G.  Their scores, 126 tips, set a Pride Cup record. 

 

Katy and Adam defended their title in 2009, becoming the first people to win the Pride Cup in consecutive years.  But there was an addition, Sandra, who also finished in a tie for first, with 122 points.

 

Sandra became the third woman to win the Pride Cup, and that is good for football.

 

There was a crisis, when Katy withdrew from the competition late in 2010.  Being a long way behind, there were rumours she wasn’t handling the pressure.

 

Pressure, in the Pride Cup, is intense.  In truth, Katy believed her achievement as a dual winner was couldn’t be bettered, and she withdrew gracefully.

 

In 2010, Paul had a four tip lead with two rounds to play.  In the last round, leading by two, Paul inexplicably picked three upsets and lost the Pride Cup to James, by one tip.

 

For James, winning was offset by again beating his long-time agitator Adam L.  Paul tried explaining his tips, I thought I had to pick upsets to win, but that didn’t make sense.

 

Dave was introduced to the Pride Cup in early in the new century.  He didn’t tip well in his early years, but in 2007 and 2009 he finished in second place, and sent the now infamous email, I’m not quitting until I win.

 

After finishing outside the top three in 2010, Dave got serious.  He won by a single tip in 2011.  His score, 143, was bolstered by the introduction of the Gold Coast Suns, but it set a new Pride Cup record.   

 

Dave promptly retired from the Pride Cup.  His hiatus has lasted two years.  He might never be back.

 

Anne proved her ability by winning the Pride Cup again in 2012.  Her score, 155, set another record that may never be beaten.  She became a two-time champ, and remarkably has another seven podium finishes to her name.

 

With a little more luck, she might’ve had four titles.

 

The Pride Cup winner for 2013, Adam G, led for most of the year.  With five rounds to play, Adam G led by five tips.  But Wayne, with some inspired tipping, whittled away at the lead and put some pressure on.

 

Going into the last round, the lead was three.  Wayne would have to score a perfect round to win.  Adam G fretted, and long after the tips were lodged he asked for a peek.

 

The Pride Cup was his, for the fifth time.  He joins Russ as a five-time champion.  Those men share excellence and consistency in tipping.  It is clear that they know footy. 

 

But knowing footy isn’t often enough.  Many knowledgeable men have failed.  It’s a hard-fought prize.  Participating isn’t a cake and arse party, as Adam G says.

 

Former champions have withdrawn from competition, notably triple-champ Nick, Katy, Dave and Adam G.

 

In 2007, Adam G pulled out three rounds into the season, only to return in 2008 and claim back to back titles.  After missing out on podium finishes in 2010 and 2011, he retired again. 

 

‘I can’t enjoy footy anymore when there is so much pressure,’ he said.

 

His comeback, in 2013, has paid off.  Maybe the break refreshed him, because he was never going to lose.

 

The Pride Cup is one of Australia’s most ignored tipping competitions, where one plays with their pride.  There could be no prize otherwise.

 

Since 2001 there have never been more than 25 members in any given season.  The lack of members, however, doesn’t diminish the achievement. 

 

In almost every year of competition, the winner has outscored those feted winners of newspaper competitions Australia wide.

 

The Pride Cup is decided by guts and glory, luck and controversy.  No wonder there has been victims.

 

I enjoy running the Pride Cup.  It irks me that my last win was in 2006, but that proves beyond doubt that this is an ethical competition.  I lodge my tips, like we all do.  Those I talk to know my tips.

 

To all the previous winners, I extend my congratulations.  I can barely remember how it feels to win.  When you’ve won multiple times, I guess you just expect to win, but expectations are like promises.

 

If they don’t come true, you lose.

 

To those who haven’t won the Pride Cup, do not give up.

 

As Dave said, I’m not quitting until I win.

 

Once you win, you can do what you want, because you’ll forever be known as the champ…

 

 

Pride Cup winners

 

Pride Cup champions
Total	Winner
5	Adam G, Russ
4	Matt
3	Nick
2	Anne, Katy
1	Andy, Dave, Wayne, James F, Sandra

 

 

Pride Cup history

 

 

Year	Winner	Score	Second	Score	Third	Score
2013	Adam G	147	Wayne	145	Russ	144
					Matt
					Anne
					Kristine
2012	Anne	155	Matt	153	Russ	151
2011	Dave	143	Anne	142	James F	141
2010	James F	118	Paul	117	Anne	115
2009	Katy	122	Dave	120	Anne	118
	Adam G		Neal		Andy
	Sandra
2008	Katy	126	Anne	125	Russ	123
	Adam G		Matt
2007	Anne	117	Dave	115	Kim	114
					Matt	114
					Russ	114
2006	Adam G	117	Wayne	116	Paul	115
	Matt	117
	Russ	117
2005	Wayne	118	Anne	115	Matt	114
			Adam G	115	Russ	114
2004	Matt	125	Anne	122	Kim	121
	Adam G	125	Russ	122
2003	Andy	122	Adam G	120	Matt	119
2002	Russ	122	Eric	120	Wayne	119
	Nick	122
2001	Russ	121	Adam L	120	Matt	119
2000	Matt	116	Russ	115	Nick	113
1999	Nick	122	Russ	116	Matt	114
1998	Russ	113	Matt	105	Nick	100
1997	Matt	117	Nick	114	Russ	113
1996	Russ	119	Matt	117	Nick	116
1995	Nick	116	Russ	108	Matt	105

 

Comments