I put my speech up on the ongoing blog but I have had a couple of requests to put it up as a blog of its own. 

Forgive me the indulgence.

Sir COL’s Memorial

THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME TO THIS CELEBRATION OF COLS LIFE

MY NAME IS DAVID AND YOU CAN CALL ME POPPA….. I’LL EXPLAIN WHY!

FROM NOW ON I WANT TO REFER TO COLIN AS HIS ANNOINTED NAME IN LEGEND IE

SIR COL THE MUSHROOM

YES YOU CAN ALL ASK WHAT THIS MEANS

ILL START SOMEWHERE NEAR A BEGINNING

MY FRIENDSHIP WITH SIR COL STEMS FROM A RUGBY LEAGUE SUPPORTERS SITE CALLED THE ONE EYED EEL……..WELL THAT’S NICE YOU MAY SAY BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

WELL YOU SEE THIS SUPPORTERS SITE IS A SOCIAL MEDIA SITE FOR FOLLOWERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE PARRAMATTA DISTRICT RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB……IN SIR COL AND MY EYES AND PROBABLY AFTER TODAY YOURS AS WELL  IT IS THE GREATEST RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB IN HISTORY…….

WELL COL AND  ME DO EXAGGERATE A LITTLE………

WE BECAME GREAT MATES ON THIS SITE AND USED TERMS OF ENDEARMENT WHEREAS I WOULD REFER TO HIM AS “THE SILLY OLD BASTARD” AND HE WOULD REFER TO ME AS “GREAT DEMENTED ONE”……………….

HOW DID THIS START AND OBVIOUSLY POPPA         IS A LOONEY TUNE…..BUT COLIN MY GOD WHAT HAPPENED

WELL IT STARTS THIS WAY…………….SIR COL WAS BORN IN SYDNEY NOT FAR FROM PARRAMATTA AND WENT TO MARSDEN STATE HIGH SCHOOL  AGAIN NOT FAR FROM PARRAMATTA

GUESS WHO ELSE WENT TO THAT HIGH SCHOOL ……..YES THE LOONEY TUNE………….

GUESS WHAT ELSE……WE DIDN’T KNOW EACH OTHER THEN

OK GO FORWARD 60 YEARS OR SO AND WE MET ON THE ONE EYED EEL AND BECAME GREAT MATES…….YES TWO GUYS FROM SYDNEY THAT FOLLOW THE SAME TEAM ARE LIVING IN BRISBANE  START UP THIS FRIENDSHIP BY FORMING A SUB GROUP ON THE SITE KNOWN AS THE NURSING HOME.

LETS JUST SAY THAT SIR COL AND I BELIEVED THAT THE OLDER MEMBERS WERE  (THAT’S IN YEARS LIVED BY THE WAY) WERE MUCH WISER AND LETS ADMIT IT SMARTER THAN THE YOUNG ONES…..

WHICH WE NOW ALL KNOW HAS BECAME THE NORM IN MOST SOCIAL MEDIA SIITES…..LOOKING AROUND HERE I CAN SEE NO DISAGREEMENT AT ALL ………..!!!!!!!!!!

NOW WHAT HAPPENS ON THIS WONDEROUS SITE ……OF COURSE YOU WOULD HAVE REALISED BY NOW……MOSTLY BULLSHIT AND ADORATION OF OUR SELECTIVE MEMORIES AND OPINIONS.

YOUR TWO CORRESPONDENTS HERE NAMELY SIR COL AND MYSELF BEING NO EXCEPTIONS!!

NOW LETS SET A SCENE HERE FOR SIR COL’S ROLE AS AN ABSOLUTE LEGEND OF THE SITE…..ARGUABLY ITS GREATEST MEMBER AND ONE THAT HAS DRAWN MORE ATTENTION WITH HIS ILLNESS AND SUBSEQUENT PASSING THAN ANY OTHER IN THE MEMORY OF THE SITE IN HISTORY

PARRAMATTA HAS THE LARGEST FOLLOWING OF ANY SYDNEY BASED RUGBY LEAGUE TEAM, THE ONE EYED EEL HAS OVER 5000 MEMBERS AND YES YOUR SIR COL IS ARGUABLY THE MOST FAMOUS.

THE CEO OF PARRAMATTA FOOTBALL TEAM JIM SARATINOS IS AWARE OF SIR COL’S PASSING  AND WHILST SENDING HIS COMMISERATIONS TO THE FAMILY HAS ALSO ARRANGED FOR LAST WEEKEND TO HAVE IT NOTIFIED OVER THE BIG SCREEN AT PARRAMATTA’S HOME GROUND

PHIL SIM IS THE FOUNDER OF THE ONE EYED EEL AND A CURRENT DIRECTOR OF THE LEAGUES CLUB AND WROTE A SPECIAL ARTICLE ABOUT HIM CALLED ………………..”FAREWELL TO A GENTLEMAN”

A SUMMARY OF THIS IS BEST ENCAPSULATED  WITH A SINGLE SENTENCE OF A LENGHTY ARTICLE…………. IT GOES LIKE THIS……………………………

“UNFORTUNATELY THE ONE EYED EEL FAMILY HAS LOST ONE OF ITS MOST TREASURED FATHER FIGURES, WITH PASSING OF THE GREAT “SIR COL”………………..HE WENT ON TO SAY

“I CALLED HIM LAST MONTH WHEN I LEARNED HE WAS SICK…….WANTED HIM TO KNOW HOW MUCH HE WAS APPRECIATED FOR ALL HE HAD CONTRIBUTED TO THE SITE OVER THE YEARS.”

“COL IMMEDIATELY THREW BACK  SOME SELF DEPRACATING DIGS AT HIMSELF AND SENILITY THEN GUSHED HOW WONDERFUL HE THOUGHT ONE EYED EEL WAS.

THIS NOW LEADS ME TO SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS WHEN THE FAMILY AND A FEW OTHERS REALISED THAT SIR COL DID NOT HAVE TOO LONG LEFT

WE MADE IT KNOWN THAT COL WAS NOT WELL ON THE ONE EYED EEL SITE …………….AND WITH ADRIANA’S PERMISSION ENCOURAGED  ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY TO CONTACT HIMAND HAVE A CHAT TO CHEER HIM UP.

WELL IT GOT TO THE STAGE THAT ADRIANA AND THE GIRLS HAD TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS----SUCH WAS THE RUSH TO TALK TO HIM

NOW THIS ALL LED TO A COUPLE OF SPECIAL MOMENTS

ONE OF OUR OLD TIMERS ON THE SITE NAMED “SLUGG “ HAS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A FORMER TEST PLAYER AND  PARRAMATTA GREAT……..GRAHAM OLLING

SLUGG REALISED OLLING LIVED IN BRISBANE BUT DID NOT KNOW THE GEOGRAPHY……HE ARRANGED FOR GRAHAM TO SIGN A PHOTOGRAPH OF HIMSELF AND POST IT TO HIM WISHING HIM WELL………………..IT TURNED OUT GRAHAM LIVED AT SHORNCLIFFE AND HE DECIDED TO PUT IT PERSONALLY IN COL’S LETTERBOX……WHEN GRAHAM GOT THERE HE SAID BUGGER IT, I WILL GO IN AND GIVE IT TO HIM.

ADRIANA WOULD BE BEST TO TELL YOU WHAT IT MEANT TO SIR COL      TO HAVE GRAHAM OLLING COME THROUGH THE DOOR AND PROCEED TO SIT AND CHAT ABOUT OLD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN FOR AN HOUR OR SO………………………..THERE WERE A COUPLE OF OTHER PERSONAL TOUCHES THAT WILL REMAIN IN ADRIANA’S CONFIDENCE , OTHER THAN TO SAY GRAHAM OLLING IS PRETTY SPECIAL!!!!!!!!!!!

WELL THAT ALL HAPPENED ABOUT 10AM IN THE MORNING

AT ABOUT 3 PM THAT SAME DAY ------OUR SIR COL RECEIVED A TELEPHONE CALL FROM SOMEONE SAYING……..DID YOU PUT IN AN ORDER FOR AN OLD CROW?

SIR COL WAS INITIALLY CONFUSED  BUT COUNTERED WITH…………..THAT ISN’T MICK CRONIN IS IT????

YES IT WAS THE CROW HIMSELF…….MICK REPLIED YES, I’M RINGING FROM MY HOTEL IN GERRINGONG  ON THE NSW STH COAST.

AGAIN I WILL LEAVE THAT TO ADRIANA  TO SET THAT SCENE PRIVATELY WITH YOU……OTHER THAN THAT…………… THE CALL WAS SET UP BY ANOTHER PARRAMATTA TRAGIC ………WHO GOES BY THE NAME OF PARRAMATTA TRAGIC ……LOL

I SPOKE TO SIR COL THE NEXT MORNING, KNOWING ALL THESE EVENTS HAD TAKEN PLACE……..LET ME TELL YOU HE WAS LIKE A CHILD AT HIS FIRST XMAS

WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT LOVE TELLING STORIES ABOUT SIR COL

ONE IS A SITE ICON NAMED KRAMER……….HE REMEMBERS JOINING THE SITE QUIET A FEW YEARS AGO BUT STILL REMEMBERS SIR COLS FIRST INTERACTION WITH HIM WHEN HE REPLIED TO A POST MADE BY KRAMER……..

COL SAID WELCOME YOUNG FELLA, WHAT YOU POSTED WAS AN OXYMORON…….ACTUALLY I THINK YOU COULD BE AN OXY MORON AS WELL …………….MINUS THE OXY!      

USING  KRAMERS WORDS “THAT WAS CLASSIC COL”, HE DIDN’T SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY BUT IT TURNED OUT THAT  KRAMER BECAME ONE OF THE MOST CHARASMATIC POSTERS ON THE SITE  AND HE WILL TELL YOU WITH OUT  SIR COL’S…………….. ASCERBIC WIT HE WOULDN’T NEVER  HAVE MADE THE SEINFIELD SHOW!

YES THAT’S BULLSHIT         BUT YOU WOULD SWARE BLIND THEY ARE ONE AND THE SAME……LOL

ACTUALLY MY FIRST CONTACT WITH SIR COL WAS HE HAD A FRIED EGG ON THE FACE OF A MAN FOR AN AVATAR…….BEING AN ARROGANT SOUGHT OF PERSON …..I THOUGHT I WILL TAKE THIS GUY ON….AFTER ALL HE MUST BE A DICKHEAD IF HE IS WEARING A FRIED EGG ON HIS FACE…….L HAVE BEEN WEARING EGG ON MY FACE EVERY SINCE….LOL

WE DO HAVE LADIES ON THE SITE , THE MOST FAMOUS BEING CARLO EEL LET ME TELL YOU SHE DOESN’T SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY EITHER…………………………..SHE WROTE A LOVELY PIECE ABOUT SIR COL AND SHE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM LIKE A PROTECTING DAD  OR  GRANDFATHER  QUICK WITTED & CHEEKY BUT RESPECTFUL AND WELCOMING……Who else but a father of 3 girls would be like that

THE FOOTBALL SEASON USUALLY RUNS FROM MARCH THROUGH TO OCTOBER -----WHICH MEANS THAT 5000 lost souls  HAVE NOTHING TO DO BETWEEN NOVEMBER AND FEBRUARY.

DURING THIS PERIOD THE SUBJECTS UP FOR DISCUSSION WILL VARY GREATLY AND THE SANITY OF MANY PARTICIPANTS COMES INTO QUESTION……………….EXCEPT ONE PERSON THOUGHT BETTER AND SUGGESTED THIS INSANITY NEEDS TO BE DIAGNOSED AND PLACED AS A CREATION OF A GREATER INTELLECT

THIS INTELLECT DECIDED THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS IS TO CHRISTEN IT WITH A NEW…….. A SPECIAL NAME THAT ONLY CERTAIN PEOPLE WITH WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING  CAN POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND………….CAN ANY ONE GUESS WHO THAT PERSON IS YES THE MASTER HIMSELF SIR COL THE MUSHROOM……..

IT IS CALLED THE           “ORF SEEZUN”

NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME AND YOU PEOPLE LISTENING TO ME WILL BE PLEASED TO KNOW I HAVE NEARLY FINISHED…… THIS IN EXTRACT OF SIR SUPER EEL THE CEO OF THE ONE EYED EEL SITE.TALKING ABOUT SIR COL’S LEGACY

Sir Col

From Sir SuperEel 22 H… to You

Sent on Monday

Priority: High

Col was essentially the grandfather of this site. He was never short a word, a quick wit, or the occasional clip around the ears. He didn't suffer fools but was never mean. He could deliver a stinging rebuke but it was always fair. Joining the site as a teenager, my early interactions with Col were as someone looking to an elder to gain a better understanding of the club. It was clear Col loved the club. He had a great affinity for the side through good times and bad. 

As a moderator I had my odd run in with Col but he was always a gentleman about it. 

He was on the site year round and it wasn't the off-season until Col officially declared ORF SEEZUN. He was a part of the furniture. You couldn't come on 1 Eyed without interacting with him. His perspective and insight was heavily valued. When the side struggled, Col would remind us all of the years he supported the club through wooden spoon after wooden spoon.

I met Col in person once, at Nathan Hindmarsh and Luke Burt's final game. He was a great person to watch the game with. He mixed his self-deprecating humour with astute observations. It's a night I'll always remember.

When I found out Col passed, I contacted Parramatta's CEO, Jim Sarantinos who immediately asked me to pass on his and the club's condolences to Col's family. To add to that, the Eels take care of their own and the blue and gold army will be with you.

I was fortunate enough to speak to Col a few weeks ago and that phone call gave me more of a lift than he realised. I lost my grandfather two years ago. Like Col he was a lifetime supporter who loved Ken Thornett and everything about the Eels. For those 20 minutes it was like I was speaking to Pa again.

The site will be poorer without Col. We will miss him dearly. I have not witnessed an outpouring of grief such as this one in a relatively small yet tight knit online community. He meant something to everyone on this site.

I have to thank his family for lending him to us. My condolences go to his wife, children and his extended family. 

Finally, I would like to add that I will be declaring all future offseasons the Sir Col Orf Seezun. It would only be fitting that the term he coined becomes part of his legacy on the site.

SO ladies and gentleman  IT IS WITH THAT WONDERFUL TRIBUTE  ABOUT A MAN WHO WAS ACTUALLY A LEGEND………….. I PERSONALLY WOULD SAY HOW LUCKY HE HAS SUCH A WONDERFULL FAMILY BOTH CONNECTED THROUGH YOU HERE TODAY AND HIS EXTENDED ONE EYED EEL FAMILY and to me personally to have known him.

ADRIANA & YOU 3 GIRLS YOU HAD A WONDERFUL HUSBAND AND FATHER

THANK YOU FOR THE HONOUR OF PRESENTING THIS MEMORIAL FROM A FRIEND TO YOU TODAY.