On the day that Bridgenorth beat Longford in under-18s, reserves and seniors to progress to three grand finals earlier this year, one of the club's junior players was so badly concussed that he had to be taken to hospital.
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The doctor who was carrying out the usual tests to ascertain the extent of the dazed teenager's memory asked various standard questions which included: "What year is it?"
Dazed teenager didn't hesitate.
"It's the year of the Parrots!" he exclaimed.
All too often in the course of a sports reporter's daily rounds stories like this emerge.
Not the sort of snippet likely to be included in a match report, but a gem clearly deserving of a wider audience.
A generation earlier, another footballer, asked his chances of playing at the weekend, responded: "I'm probably 50-50 at the moment, but if I get through training OK, I should be more 70-50."
To keep such treasures to oneself would be selfish.
In 2004, The Examiner's then editor, Dean Southwell, urged me to write a daily column about my observations of the Athens Olympics.
The column went weekly after those Games and offered a portal to share such amusing sidelights with like-minded readers.
I'm probably 50-50 at the moment, but if I get through training OK, I should be more 70-50
You are currently reading Shaw Thing no.800 if my calculations are correct, but I should point out that I was pretty rubbish at maths whenever Paul Duggleby refused to let me copy his answers. But we've moved on from that. Well, Paul has.
So when it was suggested I should publish a compilation of my favourites, at least I knew I had plenty to choose from.
Eight months of subsequent compiling plus six months in the publishing/printing process equalled a year-long project which came to fruition with last week's launch of Shaw Things.
See, nothing wrong with my maths.
The principal side-effect of this process was the ability to reflect on the sparkling variety of stories that Tasmanian sport throws up.
The cliché about punching above its weight may be officially banned in Tasmania but it does sum up the state's success in everything from the national summer/winter sports of cricket and footy to the traditional mainstays of cycling, hockey, rowing, basketball and athletics.
Having a weekly column has presented the chance to reflect on Tasmania's impact on the national and international sporting scene.
And it hasn't always been a good news story.
Richie Porte, who kindly launched the book on Friday, knows better than most the fickle nature of sport with his nine Tour de France races blighted by everything from sickening crashes, punctures and illness to a motorcycle rider deciding to stop right in front of him as he attempted to climb Mont Ventoux.
Similarly, George Bailey, who wrote an amusing foreword, has had his share of misfortune and disappointment, not least getting out for a first-ball duck in his last first-class innings on Monday.
But for every down there have been plenty more ups.
Names like Porte, Bailey, Ockenden, Titmus, Riewoldt, Birtwhistle, Deavin, Ponting, Goss, Birchall and both spellings of Hore/Hawe have ensured Tasmanian sporting journalists always have plenty to write about.
But Tasmanian sport isn't just about the elite performers, it's about the quiet achievers that enable those stars to shine and, hopefully, the book also sheds light on them.
They include Wayne, who gave up a week of his time to keep the toilets clean when Lake Barrington hosted the 2009 Australian rowing championships, and Gerald, who also neglected his own responsibilities to look after two elite runners and one lazy reporter when the Three Peaks Race landed on Flinders Island in 2008.
From the MCG on AFL grand final day to Queenstown's gravel oval on a windswept winter afternoon, the book meanders its way around iconic sporting venues, with detours to Croatia, England, Brazil, France, Scotland and New Zealand and several gratuitous mentions of Brighton and Hove Albion.
The Buggles' criminally-underrated classic Video Killed the Radio Star also gets a fair bit of airplay, but why wouldn't it?
It may be doubtful whether this column makes it to another 800, but the nature of Tasmanian sport suggests there will be no shortage of subjects to write about if it does.
- Shaw Things ($29.95, Forty South Publishing) is available at The Examiner's office in Cimitiere Street and outlets across the state
- Book signings are being held at Legana News and Lotto between 11am and 1pm on Thursday and Petrarch's Bookshop between 10am and midday on Saturday
- More info: www.facebook.com/ShawThings
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