CROWN - Croatian World Network

Wacky Days by Tom Peric

The following appeared in today's Haddonfield Herald from in the
Philadelphia suburbs of New Jersey. John Kraljic

Haddonfield resident pushes 'Wacky Days'

By Martin C. Bricketto , Correspondent 03/04/2004

MARTIN C. BRICKETTO -- Tom Peric stands next to a stack of his book,
Wacky Days! in his office. How to create a 'real' holiday.

Fifteen years ago, Tom Peric was a Cleveland-based reporter in the
middle of a slow day. He opened his copy of Chase's Calendar of Events -
a national registry for holidays, saw that "National Epitaph Day" was
approaching on Nov. 1 (All Saints' Day) and decided it would make a neat
story.
He eventually interviewed Lance Hardie, who founded "National Epitaph
Day" to suggest people think about what becomes the most important short
sentence of their lives and to promote the fact that he would write
anyone an epitaph for $5. Around Nov. 1, radio stations would call him
for interviews on the notion of epitaphs.
"I was fascinated by this guy," Peric said. "And this was before I was
interested in public relations."
Now - after a career-switch, marriage, the birth of a son, and a move to
Haddonfield - Peric is hoping Hardie's formula works for him. He
recently created "Publicity for Profit Week" in celebration of his book,
Wacky Days!: How to Get Millions of $$$ in Free Publicity by Creating a
"Real" Holiday and Other Tactics Used by Media Experts, which came out
in February.
"I'm convinced I can take this book to the airwaves," he said.
Peric is the president of Galileo Communications, a seven-year-old firm
in Cherry Hill that deals in editorial products and public relations
consulting. The journalist of 25 years started the company in Ohio with
a printer, funeral home, and furniture store as his initial public
relations clients.
Since then, he has accrued clients with stock on the New York Stock
Exchange and the 25th largest privately held company and 12th largest
investor-owned utility in the United States. He speaks at conferences
and teaches at the Haddonfield Adult School on public relations topics.
In 2001, he decided to put the tricks of his trade into book form.
"I'm convinced that everyone has a story that's newsworthy.
Unfortunately, people don't understand what makes news," he said.
The end result is a guide for small businesses and not-for-profits to
generate free publicity for their ventures. But to attract media
attention for his own venture, Peric needed a hook. He chose one of the
quirkier pieces of advice in his book - create you own holiday.
"One of the most unusual pieces that no one knows about is how weird and
unusual days that we hear about and celebrate come to be," he said.
And according to Peric, creating your own holiday doesn't take a
presidential edict.
"It's shockingly simple," he said. "It's so simple you almost want to
faint."

All it takes is submitting your holiday to a registry like Chase's
Calendar of Events - a veritable bible for national holidays located in
every library across the country. It mixes the silly and solemn. "Dump
Your 'Significant Jerk' Day" is just entries away from "National Breast
Cancer Awareness Month" or "Black History Month."
"It would be like saying there were one or two yellow pages for the
United States." he said. "But instead of having to pay for an ad, you
can get in for free."
Creating your own holiday is just one of the PR tips in Wacky Days! that
Peric simultaneously recommends and employs. Following his own advice,
he started a toll-free number (866-WACKYDAYS) and website
(www.wackydays.com). Other tips in the book focus on writing press
releases, how to become an expert in your field, and what to do when
someone from the media contacts you.
But regardless of what happens with Wacky Days!, Peric said he is living
the American Dream. Of Croatian descent, he was born in an Austrian
refugee camp in 1951 and is the second oldest of nine children. He moved
to Haddonfield from Ohio in 1999. His wife, Cheryl Federline - a former
international trade expert Spanish teacher in the Woodbury School System
- went to the same grammar school that their 10-year-old son, Andrew
Paul currently attends.
"I think I always wanted to live in a small English village," he said.
"Haddonfield is my version of that."

ŠHaddon Herald 2004

Gibson's 'Passion' rakes in US$125.2m in first five days

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ'' took in $125.2 million in its first five days, passing "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' for the best gross by a movie opening on a Wednesday.

In its first weekend, "The Passion'' grossed US$83.8 million.

The top 20 movies at North American theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. and Nielsen EDI Inc.:

1. "The Passion of the Christ,'' Newmarket, $83,848,082, 3,043 locations, $27,554 average, $125,185,971, one week.

2. "50 First Dates,'' Sony, $12,565,729, 3,450 locations, $3,642 average, $88,683,963, three weeks.

3. "Twisted,'' Paramount, $8,904,299, 2,703 locations, $3,294 average, $8,904,299, one week.

4. "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,'' Disney, $6,346,941, 2,503 locations, $2,536 average, $16,905,932, two weeks.

5. "Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,'' Lions Gate, $5,811,325, 2,042 locations, $2,846 average, $5,811,325, one week.

6. "Miracle,'' Disney, $4,469,617, 2,222 locations, $2,012 average, $56,328,330, four weeks.

7. "Eurotrip,'' DreamWorks, $4,051,428, 2,544 locations, $1,593 average, $12,758,176, two weeks.

8. "Welcome to Mooseport,'' Fox, $3,279,764, 2,868 locations, $1,144 average, $11,539,863, two weeks.

9. "Barbershop 2: Back in Business,'' MGM, $3,125,536, 1,524 locations, $2,051 average, $57,575,543, four weeks.

10. "Broken Lizard's Club Dread,'' Fox Searchlight, $3,035,688, 1,807 locations, $1,680 average, $3,035,688, one week.

11. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,'' New Line, $2,174,665, 1,112 locations, $1,956 average, $364,115,612, 11 weeks.

12. "Mystic River,'' Warner Bros., $2,085,463, 1,125 locations, $1,854 average, $82,234,706, 21 weeks.

13. "Monster,'' Newmarket, $2,006,422, 968 locations, $2,073 average, $26,815,006, 10 weeks.

14. "Cold Mountain,'' Miramax, $1,333,182, 1,113 locations, $1,198 average, $92,685,850, 10 weeks.

15. "Against the Ropes,'' Paramount, $1,333,157, 1,601 locations, $833 average, $5,104,925, two weeks.

16. "The Butterfly Effect,'' New Line, $1,254,484, 1,035 locations, $1,212 average, $55,377,579, six weeks.

17. "You Got Served,'' Sony Screen Gems, $1,226,543, 816 locations, $1,503 average, $38,145,620, five weeks.

18. "Something's Gotta Give,'' Sony, $811,412, 672 locations, $1,207 average, $122,736,489, 12 weeks.

19. "Along Came Polly,'' Universal, $690,560, 664 locations, $1,040 average, $86,149,245, seven weeks.

20. "In America,'' Fox Searchlight, $514,012, 202 locations, $2,545 average, $14,058,905, 14 weeks. - AP

Croatia in New Grove

Because I teach music history (and because I found a really good
bargain price!), I recently purchased the entire hard-bound, 29-volume
set of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. It was a joy to
see a nice long entry in volume 6 on Croatian music, from pp. 700-709.
It covers both Art and traditional music from medieval times to the year
2000, including musical examples when needed. And (as usual with
Grove's) the entry includes an excellent bibliography in a variety of
languages. The bibliography covers the following areas: art music, music
collections, studies of special regions, instruments, dances,
recordings, and other studies.
Many thanks to the excellent work of Stanislav Tuksar and
Grozdana Marosevic for this English-language source. Many thanks to the
New Grove editors for this, as well as entries on over 50 composers now
identified as Croatian on the online Grove. And many thanks to Croatia
for being a small but excellent country full of incredibly talented
musicians!

Suzanne Lord
lordlord@siu.edu

Nenad: it's a paid subscription. Our university subscribes, as do others. I would imagine that English-language libraries (at least the larger ones in metropolitan areas) would also subscribe. The home page address is:http://www.grovemusic.com/

PS: Congratulations on your Vanguard entry! The cream always rises to the top!

Justice on many Film Festivals

Editor's note:

Film that I scored (wrote music for) is playing all over the world. If you are in Cleveland, you can see it. If you are in New Jersey, you can see it too. And soon (march 31 in Toronto). Played in Brasil, Hawaii, Asia, Europe etc.

Nenad

http://clevelandfilmfestival.com/films/index.php?Get=Film&Film_ID=95

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Justice
USA, 2003 - 80 minutes
Directed by Evan Oppenheimer
After "American Splendor" how about another funny-sad rumination on making sense of a crazy world through the comics? That would be just. In fact, that would be JUSTICE, set in a post-September 11 New York City. Drew, a comics writer who lost his best friend in the Twin Towers, tires of penning hackneyed superhero word-balloons. He envisions a new character more in step with a shaken society. No superpowers or radioactivity. Only a decent citizen (albeit cloaked), fighting mortal villains. Needing real-life inspiration for the average-avenger "Justice." Drew strategically befriends Tre, a handsome substitute teacher he finds playing pickup basketball. The debut issue is a hit, and a Village Voice reporter fan starts asking questions. How does Drew tell Tre he's a hero, with a secret identity so secret even he didn't know he had it? On the edges of the narrative are Roberta, an activist lawyer fighting Mayor Giuliani's city hall, and Mohammed, a Muslim from India selling bagels from his cart. When we realize their significance, it hits harder than the Hulk. This Marvel of a sophomore feature puts Evan Oppenheimer in a League of Extraordinary Filmmakers.
Producer:	Amy R. Baird, Amelia Dallis
Screenplay:	Evan Oppenheimer
Cinematography:	Luke Geissbuhler
Editing:	Allison Eve Zell
Music:	Nenad Bach
Principal Cast:	Erik Palladino, Catherine Kellner, Michael Jai White, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Ajay Naidu, Marisa Ryan, David Patrick Kelly
About the Director:	Evan Oppenheimer graduated with a degree in English from Yale University. After editing books for Atheneum Publishers he enrolled in film school at New York University.
Selected Filmography:	"The Auteur Theory" (2000), JUSTICE (2003)
Print Sources:	Evan Oppenheimer 12 East 14th St., 5C New York NY 10003 USA p: (212) 924 4994 f: (801) 217 5834 e: evan@nyc.rr.com
Category:	American Independents, FilmSlam

http://www.myhelan.org/Pages/FFschedule.html MYHELAN Indie Film Festival. (I'll try to be there on Saturday night March 6,2004)

Look for Toronto Film Fest.

Prijatelji Kreimirgrada
&
Gift and Breath of Life Foundation

Cordially Invite all Croatians and friends
To
ibenska Noć
Gala Banquet
With

Special Surprise Guest
Direct from Croatia Renowned Singer

Gourmet Chef Ivo Svirčić from the Croatian Embassy in Washington, DC
will create gourmet fish dishes, risotto and other Croatian culinary delights

All proceeds from this event will benefit
ibenik Hospital

Saturday, April 24th, 2004

St. Anthonys Croatian Catholic Church and Cultural Center
712 Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Holy Mass 6:30pm
Social Hour Reception 7:00pm
Dinner & Entertainment 8:00pm

Reservations: $50.00 (tax-deductible) for Full Event (Entertainment after dinner only: $25.00)
Table Reservations:
Natalie Sutlovich 310.547.5391
Sandra Prebanda 310.514.2629
Further Information, Tickets and Advestising:
Mato Cvjetković 562.884.4456
Mirjana Grgas 310.548.4536
Joica Mijat 310.833.4717
Croatian Consulate General Office 310.477.1009
St. Anthonys Croatian Catholic Church 213.628.2938
To make reservations by e-mail, forward message to: mijat@cshs.org
(Advertise in our booklet: $100 full page, $50 half page and $25 business card size)

Prijatelji Kreimirgrada

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure for us to announce and invite you to join us on Saturday, April 24th at our ibenska Noć Gala Banquet.

Come enjoy an evening of festive melodies by our very special surprise guest singer from Croatia to celebrate this special event. Sveti Ante Kolo Group will further entertain us with traditional Croatian folk music. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet some old friends and make some new acquaintances. We are hopeful that this event will continue serve as a reunion of Croatians from all the beautiful regions of our beloved homeland. In the same fashion, may this event serve to bring together Croatians and our friends from Los Angeles, San Pedro, Orange County and other regions of Southern California and beyond.

All proceeds from this event will be donated to Sibenik Hospital which is in much need of renovation and upgraded equipment to better serve people in need. Thank you for your support, it is greatly appreciated.

Respectfully,

Prijatelji Kreimirgrada Organizing Committee

`ROLLING STONE' JOURNALIST FINDS FAITH DURING INVESTIGATION OF MIRACLES

The Miracle Detective: An Investigation of Holy Visions
By Randall Sullivan
Atlantic Monthly Press; $25; cloth
ISBN: 0-87113-916-2
Pub Date: April 9, 2004

Contact: Linda Shockley
(212) 614-7868
lshockley@groveatlantic.com

RANDALL SULLIVAN IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS. PLEASE CONTACT LINDA SHOCKLEY AT (212) 614-7868 OR AT Lshockley@groveatlantic.com

March 1, 2004 -- What starts out as an in-depth investigation into the phenomenon of Marian apparitions becomes an eight-year personal and spiritual journey in "The Miracle Detective: An Investigation of Holy Visions," a gripping look into the extraordinary phenomenon of Virgin Mary sightings around the world, the priests and scientists who investigate them, and a powerful examination about what constitutes the miraculous in the contemporary world.

In a tiny, dilapidated trailer in northeastern Oregon, a young woman saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in an ordinary landscape painting hanging on her bedroom wall. After being met with skepticism from the local parish, the Catholic diocese officially placed the matter "under investigation."

"I was drawn to those initial reports of an apparition in that trailer park in Eastern Oregon by the realization that I was unwilling to simply dismiss them as hallucinations or confabulations, and that to me the fundamental source of them was a mystery," says "Miracle Detective" author and "Rolling Stone" contributing editor Randall Sullivan.

"Admitting the mysterious left me with a sense of wonder, in both meanings of the word: puzzlement and awe. I wondered what was there, and I wondered how I felt about it. Also, I felt compelled to learn more about how the Church proposed to 'investigate' an alleged miracle or purported revelation. What possible criteria, I wanted to know, would one apply?"

Sullivan set off to interview "the miracle detectives." These were the theologians, historians, and postulators from the Sacred Congregation of the Causes for Saints who were charged by the Vatican with testing the miraculous and judging the holy.

"My first visit to the Vatican in the summer of 1995 was an overwhelming education in the theological underpinnings of Catholicism," says Sullivan. "I became fascinated not only by how the church goes about authenticating miracles, but also by how it deals with its mystics, and their claims of divine revelation."

What Sullivan didn't know was that his own investigation would lead from Vatican City in Rome to the tiny village of Medjugorje in the former Yugoslavia, where the Virgin Mary reportedly first appeared to six young people in 1981.

"The more I learned about the controversy surrounding Medjugorje within the Church," says Sullivan, "the more remarkable it seemed to me that an event considered to be on par with Lourdes and Fatima was happening right now in a country that was being torn apart by the bloodiest European civil war in fifty years. I had to go there."

Sullivan's harrowing search for an explanation of the miraculous, specifically in Bosnia-Herzegovina, occurred at the very same time that the country was being torn apart by the worst of humanity's evils: war, ethnic cleansing and mass graves.

"The war in Bosnia-Herzegovina and all its attendant horrors was an essential aspect of my experience and of this book," says Sullivan. "This was the first time I had ever seen the effects of war in person, and I doubt anyone is not changed by the direct and visceral engagement of humanity's capacity for savagery. In that place, at that time, it was difficult to doubt that evil exists. Equally impressive, though, was the human capacity for heroism, for charity and for sacrifice. I sensed almost immediately that the events in Medjugorje were somehow inseparable from the war, and I wanted to understand how that could be. What I learned about this was disturbing and inspiring in equal measures."

It was in Medjugorje that Sullivan encountered an unexpected turn in his investigation -- a personal religious experience in which a mysterious young woman came to his aid as he made a pilgrimage up the mountain of Krizevac.

"What happened to me in Medjugorje was a kind of conversion experience," says Sullivan. "I was raised by a pair of atheists who took the Jesse Ventura view of religion -- that it is a crutch for the weak-minded. Both my siblings are avowed atheists. I was never really comfortable with this; even as a child I sensed that there was a divine source. Yet I had an experience of God's mercy and of Christ's sacrifice that was unprecedented in my life, and that I found myself unable to deny and unwilling to disavow even after I returned to my secular reality in the United States."

Sullivan interviewed dozens of theologians, believers, skeptics, and apostates in an attempt to make sense of what he found in Medjugorje, from the compassionate Father Slavko Barbaric, an intellectual priest known as the Medjugorje seers' "spiritual director," to the legendary Father Benedict Groeschel, who is continually called upon to investigate supernatural -- or at least strange -- phenomena across America, culminating an eight-year investigation of predictions of apocalyptic events, false claims of revelation, and the search for a genuine theophony, that is, the ultimate interface between man and God.

Although these raptures in Medjugorje have been the subject of more medical and scientific examination than any other purported supernatural event ever recorded, "The Miracle Detective" has already been hailed as "one of the most comprehensive and engaging modern works on the subject." (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Sullivan himself has been profoundly shaped, spiritually, by the eight-year journey he took to write and finish this book; first and foremost is that he now he considers himself a believer in miracles.

"I don't pretend to understand their operation, or even their specific purpose," says Sullivan, "and I live with doubts about every assertion I've heard or read in these regards. But I've come to the conclusion that to believe in God is to believe in miracles. And I believe in God."

http://www.religionnews.com/press02/PR030204C.html

Connor Vlakancic for Congressman

Posted on Wed, Mar. 03, 2004
Risley to run against Farr

By DAN LAIDMAN

dlaidman@montereyherald.com

A Pacific Grove businessman and rookie politician looks to be the Republican nominee to challenge incumbent congressman Sam Farr.

As results trickled in Tuesday, Peninsula Sports Management owner Mark Risley held a consistent and commanding lead over challenger Connor Vlakancic. At a party for supervisorial candidate Steve Collins in downtown Monterey, Risley said he was looking forward to the admittedly daunting challenge of taking on a popular incumbent.

"I think the people of this area deserve to have a viable challenger to Sam Farr," he said.

In the Democratic primary, Farr, D-Carmel, appeared to have easily vanquished challenger Art Dunn.

Risley, who has never held elective office, spent much of the primary season attacking Farr. In print ads and on his Web site, Risley tore into the congressman for being a career politician and for his votes on taxes and foreign policy. Farr has responded by calling Risley "angry" and saying the novice politician has yet to lay out an agenda of his own.

Risley denied Tuesday that he was running a negative campaign, saying he was merely laying Farr's record out before the voters. Still, he signaled he wanted to shift tactics for the general election, calling Farr "a very nice man" and saying "it goes against my grain to run a negative campaign."

Vlakancic, owner of 5 Star Group International, a company that imports wine and food from Croatia, had made several previous unsuccessful runs for Congress in Silicon Valley.

Dan Laidman can be reached at 646-4346.

Source:http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/8094076.htm

Hotel group sells Wyck and sets sights abroad

Wrens Hotel Group has sold its four-star Wyck Hill House hotel in the Cotswolds to Alan Corletts Niche Hotels company for Ł4m.

The 32-bedroom Wyck, which recently underwent a Ł1m refurbishment and dates back to 1722, will become the second hotel in the Niche portfolio, following the 2002 acquisition of The Queensgate hotel in Kensington, London.

Niche revealed that the purchase of Wyck would be followed by the acquisition of a third hotel within the next three months.

The sale comes as Wrens Group is looking to inflate its international portfolio, while limiting its UK properties.

The group has expanded rapidly in Croatia, building a portfolio of five hotels under its Adriatic Luxury Hotels brand, while opening two resorts in the Seychelles. Details: www.wrensgroup.com or www.wyckhill.com

Wren's Hotels was born in 1995 when Chairman and founder, Goran Strok acquired Sir Christopher Wren's House Hotel. The famous British Architects family home beside the River Thames in Windsor. We now own and manage two exquisite portfolio's under the Wren's Hotels name, Wren's Hotels UK, the British portfolio including hotels in the Thames Valley and the Cotswolds and Adriatic Luxury Hotels, the fast growing Croatian arm with hotels in Dubrovnik and Rijeka.

http://www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/newsdetail.cfm?codeID=7156

Voice of America is seeking Croatian journalists

Dear all,

Voice of America is seeking Croatian journalists to work for its Croatian-language broadcasts. Please see the ad below if you are interested. Please circulate this to any Croatian journalist you may know.

regards
Sanja

********

CROATMEB is now official Newsletter of Croatian House in
Washington D.C. (www.croatianhouse.org)!
==================================================
MESSAGE FROM: Voice of America
REPLY TO: croatmeb-owner@yahoogroups.com
MESSAGE:

Glas Amerike trazi kvalificirane osobe koji bi radili kao vanjski
suradnici. Rad se sastoji od pisanja, citanja, prevodenja,
emitiranja, produciranja, snimanja televizijskog i radio materijala
te postavljanja na www novinarskih radova na hrvatskom jeziku.

Opce informacije:
1. posao se obavlja u Washingtonu
2. potrebna vazeca radna dozvola u Sjedinjenim Drzavama
3. vanjski suradnici placeni su na osnovu narucenih priloga,
ovisno o potrebama Glasa Amerike
4. kolicina priloga uvjetovana je potrebama programa Glasa
Amerike. Iako Glas Amerike ne jamci koliko ce priloga trebati
mjesecno, kao niti koliko ce dugo imati potrebu za vanjskim
suradnicima, trenutno se traze kandidati koji su u mogucnosti
raditi najmanje 5 dana tjedno.
5. Glas Amerike je dio Ureda za medunarodno emitiranje
americke vlade. Kao takav, Glas Amerike je organizacija
americke vlade. Sve vladine agencije, tako u ovom slucaju i
Glas Amerike, imaju obvezu pregledati rad vanjskih suradnika i
upotrijebiti ih jedino ukoliko je proizvod obavljen u skladu s
onime sto je zatrazeno. Glas Amerike ce odbiti sve radove koji
ne zadovoljavaju interne standarde.
6. emisije se emitiraju 365 dana u godini, po danu i po noci.
Radno vrijeme ukljucuje i rad vikendima, po noci kao i
blagdanima.

Kriteriji koji se koriste pri evaluaciji kandidata za vanjske
suradnike:

1. novinarsko iskustvo
2. iskustvo u sastavljanju i emitiranju vijesti putem radija,
televizije i/ili interneta
3. hrvatski materinji jezik
4. odlicno poznavanje engleskog jezika
5. sposobnost da se proizvede novinarski materijal koji pokazuje
podrobno poznavanje svjetske politike i tekucih tema iz drugih
podrucja, poput znanosti, tehnologije, sporta, zabave i sl.
6. sposobnost predocavanja slozenih pojmova logicnim, lako
shvatljivim, modernim i jednostavnim hrvatskim jezikom
7. adaptibilnost na promjene i sposobnost brzog reagiranja

Zainteresirani kandidati koji smatraju da imaju potrebno
iskustvo i/ili sposobnosti da obavljaju jednu ili nekoliko od gore
navedenih radnji, molimo da se jave na slijedecu adresu:

Ivana Kuhar
Glavna urednica programa Glasa Amerike na hrvatskom jeziku
e-mail: ikuhar@voanews.com
tel: (202) 619 2314

The passing of an era

By Michael Lynch
February 29, 2004

"The Knights are a member-based club and the site also contains the Croatian Social Centre."
"All that comes to an end today when the team from Sunshine plays its last game in the national league. A club established 51 years ago by Croatian immigrants, the Knights have, down the decades, clung strongly to their roots. Whether as Essendon Croatia,Croatia, MelbourneCroatia or the Knights, they have been able to mine a generous seam of talent, the sons of generations of Croatian immigrants from Melbourne's western suburbs and Geelong."

Melbourne Knights, Somers Street and passionate fans proved a heady mix, writes Michael Lynch.

What Andrew Marth remembers most is the crowds. The noise, the atmosphere, the chanting, the intimidation, the
sense that the Melbourne Knights could not lose in front of that passionate, hostile Somers Street crowd.

That was back in the mid-1990s, when the team from Sunshine was the football power in the land. Five grand
finals in six seasons, two premierships and three runner-up trophies - a sustained period of success that few
football teams in any code have equalled in the modern era.

Back then, in a golden period from 1990 to 1996, the Knights supplied Australia's footballer of the year four
times, its under-21 player of the year twice and its top goal-scorer twice.

With players of the calibre of Mark Viduka, Danny Tiatto, Steve Horvat, Frank Juric and Josip Simunic, to name
just a few who went on to have significant overseas careers, the Knights set a standard few other teams -
either then or now - could match.

"Without a doubt, my greatest memories in soccer have been here at this ground," said Marth, the grand
final-winning captain, this week as he reflected on the Knights' imminent demise.

"For the quality of the teams we had at Somers Street in 1994-95-96, I don't think there's any around that
touched them. The Carlton team I played in my first season there was good, but I think the Knights teams in
the mid-1990s were very special.

"We used to pack the crowds out then. Thousands of them would come. It was a great atmosphere. People said
they (the crowds) used to put all the other teams off and give us a big advantage. It did give us a lot of
confidence to know that other teams didn't like coming there, that they expected a belting."

All that comes to an end today when the team from Sunshine plays its last game in the national league. A club
established 51 years ago by Croatian immigrants, the Knights have, down the decades, clung strongly to their
roots. Whether as Essendon Croatia, Croatia, Melbourne Croatia or the Knights, they have been able to mine a
generous seam of talent, the sons of generations of Croatian immigrants from Melbourne's western suburbs and
Geelong.

"Without a doubt, my greatest memories in soccer have been here at this ground."
- ANDREW MARTH
In the end, what gave them such strength (as is the case for so many of the traditional ethnically based
National Soccer League sides) is proving to be their undoing. Soccer no longer exists in the ghetto of
mainstream sport. Its days as "wogball", a sport played, as Johnny Warren was so memorably taunted as a
youngster, only by "sheilas, wogs and poofters", are long gone. It is now the most popular sport for
youngsters nationwide and the new board of the Australian Soccer Association is desperate to tap into this
latent audience for its new, reformed national league. But clubs with an overwhelming ethnic base are not
wanted.

It is, as the Knights' hierarchy admits, the cost of progress. Bigger budgets ($5 million a year will be
required to sustain a side in Frank Lowy's planned Australian Premier League) are beyond the imaginings of
clubs such as theirs. Their supporter base - as the dwindling crowds this season in their least successful
campaign in years show - is either dying out or disinterested. Sponsors are ever harder to find.

The future of Somers Street is as yet unclear. The Knights want to play next season in the elite state
competition, the Victorian Premier League, but with their players dispersing after this game to other VPL
clubs, it is unclear how many will come back.

The Knights are a member-based club and the site also contains the Croatian Social Centre. An extraordinary
general meeting is planned for later this week to determine its fate. The options are to raise the funds to
pay off the remaining debt on the venue - about $1.3 million - or sell the complex and play elsewhere. A lot
could hinge on the fate of the application by the new Melbourne United consortium to join the APL. It has been
offered the Knights' facilities as a training venue should it want them.

Whatever happens, it cannot be denied that Somers Street has left an indelible mark on the NSL. Visiting
teams, as Marth pointed out, hate going there; the surroundings - industrial sites, urban waste grounds - are
far from inviting and, in the glory days, the revved-up crowd chanting "Cro-at-zi-a, Cro-at-zi-a" at top
volume, was intimidating.

The venue always has a down-at-heel, scruffy, look, allied to a "So what? We don't care what you think of us"
attitude.

Flares are all part of the experience on a visit to Somers Street and, doubtless, many will be dispatched
today. While the more sensational elements of the press and tabloid television create the impression that
Knights supporters are hooligans, the reality is that there is rarely any trouble.

The supporters' worst offence was three years ago, when a tiny group of so-called fans attacked Perth Glory
coach Bernd Stange and a handful of Glory players, citing the "Serbian salute" that Perth striker Bobby
Despotovski had allegedly given the crowd as justification for their action.

It was inexcusable and the club was fined, ordered to improve ground security and play its next home game
against Perth in Tasmania.

Source:http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/28/1077677014015.html