After Helaine went to bed I stayed on the sofa, playing a little poker and watching TV. As is typical of late Saturday night there was nothing on. Click.
On one channel some guy was wielding a pneumatic wrench assembling a brand new Corvette as the real workers looked on. There’s a confidence builder for potential buyers! Click.
The Seth Rogan making a porno movie I lost interest in a few weeks was back. Click.
John Stossel. Good grief he’s pissed at everything. Click.
And then, finally, I hit ESPN2HD.
The first thing that caught my eye was the LIVE font. There’s not much live overnight especially in daylight. It was Australian Rules Football live from Etihad Stadium in Melbourne (or maybe near it… I don’t know if Docklands is a neighborhood or separate city). Carlton was playing Hawthorn.
Australian Rules Football is crazy. As far as I can tell there’s no padding and the action never stops. They don’t even break for commercials except at the end of each quarter.
The Wikipedia entry has two sentences that puts it all into perspective.
Unlike most similar sports, there is no offside rule, and players can roam the field freely. Possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick is paid
Get the ball and you’re a target. There’s no “in the grasp” crap here. The NFL is a sissy league compared to the AFL!
The field is immense. The teams are 18 a side and as far as I could see nearly all young, muscular, fearless and Caucasian.
May I be honest? The real reason I enjoy Aussie Rules Football is watching the umpire signal a goal. He thrusts out his arms which are bent at the elbow. It’s tough to explain except it’s reminiscent of Isaac the bartender’s move on the opening credits for Love Boat.
Today’s game was a blowout. The Blues crushed Hawthorn.
Back in the early days of cable Australian Football was an ESPN staple. I haven’t seen it in a long time. It’s like an old friend is back.
I LOVED watching Aussie Rules Football! As you said, it makes our American Football asnd even Rugby look like sissy sports.
Guess I need to stay up late!
I impressed some Aussie friends with my (passing) knowledge of Aussie Football. I explained that in the early days of ESPN, they couldn’t afford broadcast rights for the big sports they show today and they broadcast what they could get. I was a teenager in the 1980s and the boys of my generation watched whatever sports we could see. ESPN showed us Aussie Rules, so we watched it.
For schedules and up to date info you can go to http://www.afana.com We’ve got the word on ESPN coverage etc. Check out our TV Info page, TV schedules page, etc. The game this past weekend is part of a 4 game experiment by ESPN to see how the sport does. The next ESPN2 match is in 7 weeks in Round 15 of the season. Three matches a week though are on ESPN3.com
Aussie Rules is tough? lmao
Aussie Rules is considered by 1/2 the population of the only country it is popular in to be about as tough as Draughts. NFL, Rugby League and Rugby Union make it look like what it is, a girl’s game played by nancy boys.