Big Yellow Taxi

Despite everything, AussieRulesBlog can’t help but feel sorry for Brendan Fevola. The lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi are, we think, appropriate to Fevola’s situation.

 

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone

 

Through season after season, his on-field talent had got him out of tight off-field scrapes. Kicking goals was a cure for all ills — until . . .

 

We can feel the cogs turning in Michael Voss’ mind: “Surely he’s seen that he’s almost had this extraordinary opportunity taken away. We throw him a lifeline and he’ll be so grateful he’ll become a Pentecostal preacher!” Ok, there’s a bit of licence at the end, but you know what we mean.

 

Without a trade deal, it’s looking increasingly likely that Fev will not be playing AFL again. And, despite the NFL rehabilitating players who’ve transgressed, such as Michael Vick, Fev is not going to be a potential game changer, as Vick is. Fev’s NFL cards might also be marked, no matter how good a punter he could eventually turn out to be. Punting is just not that crucial to NFL teams to take a chance on a loose cannon.

 

Both Andrew Lovett and Leon Davis look to have also finished their elite level careers, for quite different reasons. ‘Neon’ Leon has, quite simply, miscalculated. Lovett missed his best chance by turning the Bombers against himself.

 

All three will have a quite powerful feeling when they hear Joni’s clear voice ringing out.

 

You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.