It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that one of our legendary old timers has gone to the great Brookvale Oval in the sky. The Silvertails poster Earnie the Eagle passed away on the weekend. News of which took me by great surprise when I received a PM from his son today saying his Dad wouldn't be entering his tips in the tipping comp this weekend after I had sent him a reminder PM. His son Anthony explains as below;
I am sorry to have to tell you this but Dad lost his battle with cancer over the weekend and I am just in the process of tying up loose ends on the net. I know that Silvertails was his favourite place, he spoke about it often. He was one of the most passionate Manly supporters I have seen.
If you want an indication of what sort of a fan Earnie was, then check out this recent thread
http://forums.silvertails.net/Thread-Who-here-actually-went-to-all-8-sucessful-grand-finals
He had seen every one of Manly's 8 premiership victories live. No mean feat. Not many people around with that claim to fame, especially those with the ability to remember them all and still have the 90c entry ticket to prove it. More to the point, to have the ability to engage with the current generation over the internet and via a forum that unites those with his shared passion, something that must have seemed almost beyond comprehension back in 72.
Anthony also took the time to give me a bit more of an insight into Earnie and the depth of his passion for the mighty Maroon and White.
He once went to buy a new car from a dealer in Goulburn where he lived, he was wearing his manly shirt. The owner happened to come out just before he signed all the paperwork and made the mistake of putting s**t on Manly, well Dad got the papers in his hand and ripped them into pieces and told them in no uncertain terms where they could stick the place and went to Canberra to buy his new car.
He used to take my brother, sister and I to see Manly as often as he could, but he only brainwashed my younger brother and some of his grandchildren. (Edit - good on you Earnie, that’s not brainwashing, that’s giving them the best possible start in life)
Mum did say to him last year "where are you going to put the next wall up in the house for all your Manly things" He told her " There are priorities in life, Manly comes first, we will simply have to move to another larger house"
Mum did however did draw the line with him when he wanted to paint the house maroon and white. He didn’t speak to her for a week after she told him that.
Anthony did also want to make the following point
I know he was extremely grateful for the Silvertails forum post that was done and the member, and my apology I dont know who that was, who came to his rescue when he lost his "I'm a Silvertail " badge and gave Dad his own one. That tells me that Silvertails is a very unique family of Manly supporters.
You can read about that here; http://forums.silvertails.net/Thread-Lost-Silvertail-Badge
I urge all of you to take 5 minutes and visit Earnie the Eagle's profile page, read a couple of his posts and then have a think about what 50+ years of supporting Manly would be like. Imagine the highs and lows he experienced. The great players he saw wearing the maroon and white. The memorable wins. The heartbreaking losses. The games that make you proud. The games that test your loyalty. The evolution in this great game we follow. The changes in the world, and life in general. He saw 8 great teams achieve the highest honour, and he never saw his beloved Sea Eagles finish last.
We have lost one of our own, and a true supporter if there ever was one. Hopefully the Sea Eagles can deliver one last premiership for Earnie in 2013, where he'll have the best view in the house.
Vale Allan aka Earnie the Eagle
I am sorry to have to tell you this but Dad lost his battle with cancer over the weekend and I am just in the process of tying up loose ends on the net. I know that Silvertails was his favourite place, he spoke about it often. He was one of the most passionate Manly supporters I have seen.
If you want an indication of what sort of a fan Earnie was, then check out this recent thread
http://forums.silvertails.net/Thread-Who-here-actually-went-to-all-8-sucessful-grand-finals
He had seen every one of Manly's 8 premiership victories live. No mean feat. Not many people around with that claim to fame, especially those with the ability to remember them all and still have the 90c entry ticket to prove it. More to the point, to have the ability to engage with the current generation over the internet and via a forum that unites those with his shared passion, something that must have seemed almost beyond comprehension back in 72.
Anthony also took the time to give me a bit more of an insight into Earnie and the depth of his passion for the mighty Maroon and White.
He once went to buy a new car from a dealer in Goulburn where he lived, he was wearing his manly shirt. The owner happened to come out just before he signed all the paperwork and made the mistake of putting s**t on Manly, well Dad got the papers in his hand and ripped them into pieces and told them in no uncertain terms where they could stick the place and went to Canberra to buy his new car.
He used to take my brother, sister and I to see Manly as often as he could, but he only brainwashed my younger brother and some of his grandchildren. (Edit - good on you Earnie, that’s not brainwashing, that’s giving them the best possible start in life)
Mum did say to him last year "where are you going to put the next wall up in the house for all your Manly things" He told her " There are priorities in life, Manly comes first, we will simply have to move to another larger house"
Mum did however did draw the line with him when he wanted to paint the house maroon and white. He didn’t speak to her for a week after she told him that.
Anthony did also want to make the following point
I know he was extremely grateful for the Silvertails forum post that was done and the member, and my apology I dont know who that was, who came to his rescue when he lost his "I'm a Silvertail " badge and gave Dad his own one. That tells me that Silvertails is a very unique family of Manly supporters.
You can read about that here; http://forums.silvertails.net/Thread-Lost-Silvertail-Badge
I urge all of you to take 5 minutes and visit Earnie the Eagle's profile page, read a couple of his posts and then have a think about what 50+ years of supporting Manly would be like. Imagine the highs and lows he experienced. The great players he saw wearing the maroon and white. The memorable wins. The heartbreaking losses. The games that make you proud. The games that test your loyalty. The evolution in this great game we follow. The changes in the world, and life in general. He saw 8 great teams achieve the highest honour, and he never saw his beloved Sea Eagles finish last.
We have lost one of our own, and a true supporter if there ever was one. Hopefully the Sea Eagles can deliver one last premiership for Earnie in 2013, where he'll have the best view in the house.
Vale Allan aka Earnie the Eagle
