The Chi of Port (or China - Part II) [Bye Week]



Through sports, we may learn that finding something bigger than ourselves can make us greater than we ever thought we could be.

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I am trying to understand what may Port’s efforts to establish itself and the game of Australian football in China represent not only for the club, but also for the league, for Australia, and for the game itself. The idea of two double-headers, opening and closing an “Australian Week in Shanghai” was supposed to illustrate how all this seems to have outgrown what Port was trying to accomplish when the club went to China in the first place. [1]

The club, however, has not found yet that for which is looking: a reliable source of income. It is getting closer to it, though. The club was able to find something else already, which is essential for the success of the enterprise: the right place to be. Australia can no longer afford to be an island. The future of the game is abroad. Shanghai, alone, is a bigger market then the whole of Australia, and there are Chinese people willing to promote the game there. Port was able to promote the link.

The path for footy reaching China and vice-versa passes through Port Adelaide. Port has done everything in a way that, for now, if “no Port, no China.” It is the Chinese who wants the AFL; not, the other way around. The AFL does not want China; it NEEDS China. Hence, it is the AFL who must adjust itself to the Chinese. That’s why having more clubs on board would be helpful, instead of harmful. There is no risk of Port getting de-zoned out of China as it ridiculously was of the Northern Territory, for instance. There is enough space in China for everybody, and the control-freakism of the AFL is innocuous against the Chinese. China is too great an Empire to be controlled by outsiders.

Port will eventually find its sponsors and achieve its independence from the AFL, as a son who leaves his parents’ home, but remains part of the family – which was the club’s main goal all along. However, during this process, Port Adelaide will continually be directly or indirectly responsible for an ocean of unintended consequences – all challenging, but most, probably, good consequences.[2] All the groundwork made so far, however, is helping the club to be ready for these tasks.

"The Adventures of Marko Porto in China" has been a self-discovering journey for the club. All the growing pains due the move from the SANFL to the AFL are becoming assets as the club’s ship becomes steadier. In its struggle for survival, Port Adelaide Football Club has rediscovered itself as “One Club,” but as one of many identities. At the same time: it is Power, and it is Magpies; it is black, it is white, it is silver, and it is teal; it is British, it is Aboriginal, it is South Australian, it is Australian, and it is Chinese [3]; it is men, it is women, and it is children; it is professional, and it is amateur; it is “winning premierships,” and it is “making the community proud.” Port Adelaide Football Club is fundamentally "us," and “We are Port Adelaide:”

– "They can never tear us apart"[4]

CARN THE PORT!

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Notes:

[1] It is also an illustration of why it wouldn’t be necessary getting rid of Gold Coast.
[2] Not all consequences would directly affect Port, just to be clear.
[3] And it is Brazilian! Why not?
[4] The piece as a whole doesn't have a proper structure. The text is a mess. I've decided to publish its two parts anyway because I ended up liking it as raw as it is. In many ways, such an intense free flow of ideas and emotions is me.

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