Season 2011 began in the best possible fashion with a win and a wonderful night thanks to the Spirit of Carlton. Your humble correspondent took advantage of a ticketed night of entertainment from the Spirit of Carlton Past and Present, all the following for just $35.
The night began by finding the Ron Barassi room and settling down for a quiet drink (at bar prices) and speaking to fellow Blues supporters about the most interesting thing in the world, the Carlton Football Club! The night was generously sponsored by Cameron Knight of Jim’s Roofing Services, you can see the business details in the photos associated with this article. The album of pictures can be accessed here: http://spiritofcarlton.com/blog/photos/carlton-vs-richmond-march-24-2011/
About 40 minutes before the game started the MC for the night, the famous Jimmy Buckely got things started with a few well timed gags and then introduced Geoff Southby who spoke about what the Spirit of Carlton had been doing in recent times. We were informed about the preservation of history program the SOC is building in association with the club and in particular Tony De Bolfo. The most obvious result so far to Carlton supporters is the spectacular new display case in the foyer at Visy Park. Geoff also kindly talked about developments such as this website and how the SOC is getting serious about connecting with supporters through the internet and social media (as an aside our twitter account ticked over 1000 followers this morning, check us out at https://twitter.com/#!/SpiritofCarlton). The support that the SOC has given the current playing group was also mentioned. The SOC has contributed over $330,000 so far to the club for use in specific projects to benefit the current playing group. 
Some of the items the club now has thanks to the SOC include, a new golf cart for the property steward to transport training gear, GPS units for the players to track their matchday performance, iPads and accompanied software that helps with their weights management training and support for the father and son training academy to name a few.
After this I was eyeing off the raffle item in the corner, a signed Brent Crosswell guernsey. This is quite a rare item and would be a fine addition to any supporters memorabilia collection. The picture of Barassi and Croswell on the item was a beauty as well and reminded me of the interesting path these two men followed through three different football clubs together.
It was time to wander to my seat and I was happy to find a spot beautifully positioned on the ground level near the fifty. As usual the atmosphere at the MCG was magic and 60,000 Blues and Tigers supporters yelled and clapped and booed with gusto through the first half.
When the half time siren sounded I hightailed it back to the Ron Barassi room. Ken ‘Bomba’ Sheldon took the podium and gave a summary of the first half of the game. Also up on the stage were Peter McConville and Alex Marcou completing a trifecta of triple premiership players, the triple tripletts. Peter and Alex spoke with fondness about their time at the Blues and how close the team was as a unit back in those days. It was then time for the auctions and the raffle result. 
By this time I had made my way through several vietnamese rolls and party pies, the SOC put on a big spread of food which was enthusiastically eaten by guests in attendance. Apart from over 100 SOC members and supporters there were a lot of past players in the room apart from those already mentioned including Syd Jackson and David Rhys-Jones. The auction items were a guernsey signed by the entire 2011 playing list and another guernsey signed by the three amigos, Garlett, Yarren and Betts. The lucky winner of the raffle prize was non other than the best racing caller in the land (and Richmond supporter) Greg Miles.
It was time to return to the game and despite some nervous moments the Blues managed a win. It was then time to enjoy a quiet after the game drink in the Ron Barassi room with the SOC boys and chat about the game.
All in all a great night out at the footy!
If you want to enjoy a night (or day) out like this one make sure to check out our upcoming home game functions on our calendar here: http://spiritofcarlton.com/blog/events/ The next home game event is for the round four clash against Essendon at the MCG. Be sure to secure your tickets by calling Justine Wratten on 0438 271 948 between 9am and 5pm weekdays.