The Knights Biggest Fan

Introduction to Jason Uden

The best days of Bryan Adams life was the Summer of 69. Standing on his girlfriends mama’s porch, she tells him that she will wait forever, but he knows that its now or never. That summer seemed to last forever and if he had the choice, he would always want to be there. We all have our own summer of 69 to recall. Mine was the summer of 1992. And while Adams has spent a lifetime trying to relive the good old days, my summer of ’92 set me on the 3 loves of my life that I still enjoy today. Woman, Farming and Northern Districts Cricket, now known as the Yahoo NZ! Northern Knights.

I had left school and taken up my career as a dairy farm cadet, working a thousand hours a day for $171.97 each and every week. I then used my very first pay cheque to woo a young lass with a not so flash dinner and some not so flash flowers for what resulted in a not so flash moment reminiscent of Bryan's scene on ‘her mama’s porch’. A hammock seemed like a good place to get better acquainted I told her. When it rolled over, dropping her on her head and entangling me like a spider web, the moment was lost and after cutting me out, I was marched off to my car, the cheap flowers hitting me on the back of the head as I made my way. An epic failure it was but I knew the fleeting experience had me hooked on the fairer sex.

Three days later, it was a Tuesday February the 11th to be exact, I found myself in Hamilton on a farming course, my usual route was blocked so I found myself travelling through the centre of town past Seddon Park. It was a nice evening so I stopped to watch some cricket. We were playing Wellington and the heinous scum had set us 370 in about 78 overs to win.  Matthew Maynard and Shane Thompson were flaying them, Maynard went on to score a hundred and promptly got out at which point the baby faced Thompson was joined by Grant Bradburn. They put on 90 at damn near a run a ball, absolutely flailing the likes of Heath Davis all around the beautiful Seddon Park. We got home with just a few balls to spare and my other great life long love affair was alive and kicking, and thankfully the ending was a tad more successful than 3 nights previous.

I have followed this team to the end of the country and since Grant Bradburn got the coaching gig, got to know the players. Pete McGlashan took the time to talk to myself and Mike Read, another of the sycophantic supporters, while we were in a drunken state after watching us lose to CD at New Plymouth, he said he would hook us up with some of the players old kit so we could wear their colours with pride and the rest is history.

The players are champion guys, they accept our unconditional support at games as far away as Invercargill and while we might embarrass them at times, they always allow us to feel like we matter, that we are a part of the highs and lows. It’s an emotional ride being so emotionally invested in a sporting team, thankfully there haven’t been to many lows akin to dumping a girl out of a hammock and plenty of trophy’s to boast about. So get out there and support our guys and make this season better than Bryans Summer of 69.

Tune in again shortly for my next blog installment. And if you think you are a bigger fan than me, then enter the competition and you can (try) to replace me!

Cheers, Jase