Song signals time of change
IT is said by the residents surrounding Blundstone Arena that since the arrival of Nick Cummins to the organisation music can be regularly heard streaming through the enormous PA system of the ground.
Almost like school, the music sends a message that action is about to — or needs to — be taken. In primary and high schools, music over the PA is used to alert the pupils that little lunch is over and it is time to return to class.
At Shawshank Prison, opera music streaming from the PA system not only upset the warden, which meant Andy Dufresne got sent to the hole, but it also gave life to one of the most breathtakingly poignant movie scenes ever created. Morgan Freeman’s narration is epic: “I tell you those voices soared, higher and further than anybody in a grey place dares to dream, it was like some beautiful bird flapped into our drab little cage and made those walls dissolve away, and for the briefest of moments, every last man at Shawshank felt free.”
The suburb of Bellerive has been hearing the constant sound of Bob Dylan’s classic Times, They Are A Changin’ spilling out of the PA, at a standard frequency of 432Hz, on loop as it splashes into the halls, offices and changerooms of Blundstone Arena. This is a clear message to all employees that it ain’t the old regime.
No one is guaranteed a spot in the team — white collar, blue collar, or the actual team — and if it’s felt there is a better way, or a better person, then you don’t want to hear the other song, the one that is starting to crackle, in a telltale sign that your vinyl is being overused.
Go Your Own Way, while catchy and extremely popular in Fleetwood Mac’s heyday and beyond, has obvious overtones of fear, when played at the demonic frequency of 440Hz, for one’s position within a broader group.
With every departure comes a new addition and a fresh opportunity to provide an operator who can positively impact ALL areas of the organisation. The recent addition of Jeff Vaughan is a strong one. And perhaps for the first time since the music has started, I nodded my head in complete agreement.
Why? He has the experien- ces of senior assistant/batting specialist at state level through his long-term involvement at the SACA.
He was the interim head coach of the Adelaide Strikers.
Jeff has run his own landscaping business, paid the bills, met deadlines for real people and has also worked under a boss in the real world, in a role that saw him managing the programs of a sports-affiliated training organisation.
He has coached a grade club, which means he has experienced the full gamut of conversation: angry parents, disgruntled players, incompetent boards mixed with the political byplay of governing bodies. Being the head coach of a grade club is an opportunity to experience every role available within a professional sporting organisation. You’re a selector, chief of communication, strategist, analyst, counsellor, sales and sponsorship manager, recruitment manager and responsible for the vision and direction of the club.
Jeff is not from the elite player pool of coaching talent who are continually gifted opportunities because of their smile, perceived good blokeyness and friendships with the others who have waded briefly in the elite player pool.
Let’s just hope his office is disconnected to the musical control of the PA system.