French Fries aren’t French. They’re Belgian. Thebarton is actually “The Barton”. It’s named after our first PM, Edmund Barton, so saying the “The Thebbie theatre” is just grammatically retarded. And Bryan Adams is definitely not singing about having his “first real sex dream” in “Summer of ‘69”. That would just be creepy…
Over the last few weeks, David “Eldo” Eldridge has been kind enough to allow me to watch him work with the Schoolgirl’s U16 State Teams. It’s a 9:00am start up the freeway at Heathfield, but well worth it to watch a master craftsman at work. Whilst it would be improper of me to give away the many trade secrets that I get to see, there is one anecdote from his first training session that I’m sure is harmless enough to share. The anecdote is one of Etymology (For some reason, the origin of words has always been of great interest to me) and relates to the positions that “1” and “5” must assume when expecting an attack – known colloquially as the “T”.
We’ve all had a coach or teammate yell at us to “Get on the T”. It’s commonly referred to be where the attack line bisects the sideline. But apparently not. Eldo puts his players in “1” and “5” two-metres in from the sidelines and one-metre behind the attack line. From here the players are in good position to receive an overpass or tip, before moving to the perimeter if the ball is set.
According to Eldo’s anecdote, a useful visual cue for telling his players where to stand was an alternative set of court markings (presumably a basketball or badminton court) in the old Heathfield gym* that formed the letter “T”. As the phrase “Get on the T” became familiar with Heathfield teams, the visual cue took on a viral life of its own and became used by everybody. However, without having Heathfield’s unintended court markings in every gym throughout Australia, the location of the “T” became misappropriated to the now-common spot of where the attack line bisects the sideline.
A lot of coaches and players (including me) identify the “T” to be where the attack line meets the sideline. I’m sure there are a lot of good coaches and players who don’t, and place it closer to where Eldo does, but there’s no denying that if Eldo’s story is true, then most of the time the phrase is used, it’s referring to the wrong spot. Where exactly the right spot is is a matter well above my pay-grade. There may even be conflicting explanations to the origins of this visual cue. But the proposition that an idea can take on a life of its own, catch on, and come back unrecognisable can definitely be as funny as watching a Bulgarian Idol contestant singing a cover of Mariah Carey’s “Ken Lee” (which was actually first sung by Dolly Parton).
* Post Script: On the “Big courts” of the new Heathfield gym Alternate markings for badminton courts actually indicate Eldo’s “T” in striking black. Whether this was deliberate or coincidental remains to be seen. Having it pointed out to you is like a watching a scene out of The da Vinci Code.
