Perhaps it's a legacy of growing up at a time when big sporting occasions weren't as scripted to within an inch of their life as they are now, but the thing in modern sport I lament the loss of the most acutely is spontaneity.
I've felt it a lot in recent years, just about always when there's been a big moment in AFL football which could be reasonably anticipated.
What I haven't felt nearly as much is the reverse of that scenario, something of which very little is expected which turns out to be much bigger and better than anyone had anticipated.
That's why a couple of games last weekend I thought provided a particularly interesting juxtaposition.
Like everyone, I feel privileged to have watched Dustin Martin at his peak, and while just over 100 players in VFL/AFL history have now reached the 300-game milestone, there's no doubt the triple Norm Smith medallist sits right near the top of that tree.
But the week or so of salivating over "Dusty" in all corners of the football and media worlds bordered on over-the-top at times, particularly when it became clear he wasn't about to suddenly pour out his heart in an expansive interview, which somehow then sadly also became a story in itself.
Did the media types sooking it up about Martin's failure to play ball think that the shy and uncomplicated Martin of the previous 15 years was suddenly going to turn into a raconteur holding court about this or that incident in his long career?
And I don't think I was the only one feeling vaguely uncomfortable when Fox Footy had Jack Riewoldt interview Martin out on the ground for an extended time after Richmond's loss and his own fairly mediocre performance.
I understand why it happened given Fox was the rights holder with all eyes upon its footy channel and they had exclusive access to the man of the moment.
But Martin's team had been badly beaten, he hadn't played that well, and a one-on-one interview in the middle of a ground whilst a live audience of 92,000 effectively twiddles its thumbs isn't ever going to be particularly special or riveting. It was instead just mingling with his teammates old and current and his chairing from the ground which was going to hit the right note. Having to wait as long as we did for it I felt removed some of its gloss.
IT JUST HAD TO BE DUSTY!
— AFL (@AFL) June 15, 2024
The @Richmond_FC champion kicks off game 300 in style 🙌#AFLTigersHawks pic.twitter.com/R3fAkKwmdE
I've actually enjoyed the fact that Martin, like Lance Franklin, and like Gary Ablett senior before him, hasn't felt any great need or compulsion to conduct some sort of public therapy session to provide more content for hungry media outlets.
The aggrieved kept trying to argue about Martin's obligations, and that the Richmond fans were being deprived of access to their hero. But I'd argue most of them couldn't give two hoots. They've had the only access which really matters, to some of the greatest games and highlights on the field we've seen.
Which is also kind of ironic given that these days it often feels like aside from live match coverage on TV, there's not nearly as much time and energy expended upon detailing and analysis of what happens in the actual games as the various isolated talking points out of them. Are the punters really always being given what they actually want? I'm not convinced.
Switch forward less than 24 hours, though, and we had a game between North Melbourne and Collingwood expected to result in a routine thumping of the Roos turn into arguably the game of the season.
Who seriously gave the Roos any sort of chance of even winning, let alone racking up a lead as big as 54 points early in the third quarter?
And it wasn't just the margin, it was the way North Melbourne built it. At no stage was it like the reigning premier was just having "one of those days", as shocks of this sort of magnitude generally pan out.
Instead, the Pies were simply being outplayed with free-flowing, fast and exciting football from young guns the likes of Luke Davies-Uniacke and George Wardlaw.
But Collingwood's comeback was the Pies at their best, leading to a suitably pulsating, dramatic and yes, controversial finish with ramifications going way beyond merely the heartbreak for the Roos of their one-point loss.
What were they? That not only is this team which only a few weeks ago was being confidently tipped to have a winless season capable of actually beating the competition's best on a given day.
But that the Roos actually look like a team which could have a very exciting future once that now far more obvious talent is being delivered more consistently and supplemented by a handful more early draft picks.
The extent of that upside for North Melbourne was in the most unexpected circumstances made clearly visible. It was a day when the script and the plans went out the window, and spontaneity reigned supreme.
No, it wasn't anticipated, and therefore in a timeslot far from the brightest lights of Thursday or a Friday evening, missing the accompanying cheesy TV promos and stagey build-up.
But on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon, on social media and around Melbourne at events like the Reclink Community Cup, the word that something special was happening down at Docklands seemed to travel pretty quickly, ears tuning into to radio apps on phones and live updates being sought in unusual places.
It's those sort of occasions when sport, and particularly Australian football, really hits that sweet spot between entertainment and a shared community connection that makes everyone feel part of a big moment that came out of nowhere.
And as big as Dusty Martin's 300th was, I have a sneaky suspicion that ideally, he would have loved his moment to feel a bit more like that, too.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly's work at FOOTYOLOGY.