Football versus Football (versus Football)

We get TV channels from Australia and so we have been watching Rugby on television for the past couple of months. We’ve learned many things from watching that perhaps you might not know. First, there are three different leagues (at least) that play variations of Rugby.

The Australian Football League plays a brand of football that combines a little soccer, with football and (as odd as it sounds) ultimate Frisbee. We don’t understand many of the nuances of the game but the ball can be moved from end-to-end through hand passing or by kicking and catching the ball. Goals are scored by kicking the ball between the middle sticks, the center sticks are worth 6 points, the end sticks are worth a point. There is some tackling involved but it’s not an extremely rough game (I can say that because I don’t play it, let’s just say it’s not as violent, the collisions are less extreme). I think we may have seen this type of football every once in a while at home. This usually features a lot of scoring and the ball can go from end to end very quickly through a series of kicks and accurate hand passing. Our Kiwi friends (just to be clear, New Zealanders are called Kiwis, don’t make the mistake of calling them Australian, they don’t like that.) have indicated that the AFL is a “less than manly sport”. Although it seems to put more butts in the seats and has a large fan base, it isn’t for the “Blokes” it’s for the “Sheila’s”. I guess you could call me a Sheila because this looks like a game I could’ve played in my youth (and I would’ve screamed like a girl when I got tackled).

Then there is the National Rugby League. This is the man’s game. Based on what I have seen, I think it’s mandatory that you have at least 35% of your body covered with tattoos (not that it makes them bad people) in order to play in this league. All the scrums, the bone-crushing tackling and “five meters and a cloud of dust” type game. They get so many touches to move the ball as far as they can through either running on their own or pitching the ball back to their teammates. The players are built like tanks and just try to destroy each other. This one is okay to watch but there are times where you just wonder how they can take the abuse. Here you can see the bones break and watch the guy stagger off the field (with the birds flying around his head, coo-koo, coo-koo) and see the blood that you’ve been missing (John Madden would have a heart attack from trying to keep up with the bam, boom, whap). This is the game our Kiwi friends like, but it’s doesn’t have the draw of the AFL. Honestly, I enjoy watching either game although I don’t know that I understand the rules. For the NRL, they score a “try” (what we would call a touchdown) and it’s worth 4 points but in order to score the ball has to touch the ground inside of the try line. They even use instant replay to determine if it is a “try” or “no try”. After a try, they have to attempt a “field goal” worth 2 points. There is usually not a lot of scoring in this game which I think that is what takes away from some of the fervor (like soccer in the US, a lot of movement but usually not a high scoring game). However, in either league, the fans are just as rabid as any college/pro Football fan from the US. You’ll see them painted up, dressed in outlandish costumes and swearing at the players like any “good” fan would be in the US.

The third league is the Tri-Nations Rugby. This is a blocked channel (pay per view) so we’re not sure exactly what goes on with that league but I suspect that it is a lot like the NRL. This is the league that our Kiwi friends watch. In an effort to understand the sport, we (Tammy and I) have asked to be able to watch rugby with our friends to help explain the rules (while we drink beer and watch the screens at The Blue Marlin). Keep in mind that these are true fans so probably after about 10 minutes of questions they will hate us since we are interrupting the game. So, we’ll learn something and have to find new friends.

So today (Sunday), the AFL held their Grand Finale for the Premiership of the League. We would call this the Super Bowl. The match pitted Collingwood (a team we have watched all the time since they always seem to be the team on the telly) versus Saint Kilde. It was a back-n-forth match with Collingwood taking an early lead but Saint Kilde pulled close and tied the match very late in the game. It came down to the final seconds with a tied score and it seemed neither team had the upper hand. So as the final seconds ticked off the clock, there was no other score and the game ended in a draw. The players all dropped to the ground exhausted and we just watched wondering “what do they do now”? The announcers indicated the game was a draw but none of the players looked like they were happy at all. In the NFL, we would go to overtime to decide the contest. Well, this isn’t the NFL and we found out that the game would remain as draw and the teams would play again next weekend to decide the winner. WHAT!?!?!?!?!? Next week?? 100,016 people in attendance and they didn’t get to see the winner. Can you imagine? You pay around $150 USD for the cheap seats (to see the Super Bowl) and you don’t get to see the winner. Instead, you have to try and get tickets for next week’s game and hope to get lucky. I should mention that this game is about the same length of time as an NFL game so the players are worn out and expecting the season to end today but now they have to turn around and get ready for next week. We watched the Australian News channel after the game and found out there is even more to this story. They are actually postponing the start of the Cricket League season, the Spring Horse Racing season will also be pushed back and many other events (soccer matches, etc.) have been moved out to prevent clashing with the Grand Final. It would be like the Super Bowl being played on the same day that the NBA and MLB start their respective seasons. No one wants to have to compete for the audience so they are holding off a bit. I know you are asking yourself, “What happens if the replay match ends in a draw?” (Thanks for asking) They add 5 minutes of extra time to decide the contest (and what if that doesn’t decide the match? How do I know, I just started watching this!). Why don’t they have the same rule for the Grand Final original match? I don’t know but from what we heard and read, it doesn’t seem that they will change that very soon (like MLB taking years and years to accept video replay, in sports things take time to change).

With things not looking so good for my Cowboys thus far into the season, I may have to become a Rugby fan and forget about the NFL. Unfortunately, the Rugby season is just about over so I’ll be left without anything to watch. The silver lining to this is that I don’t have to watch the Cowboys stink it up, I can just get up on a Monday morning and find out if they won or lost (hopefully they win). It’s kind of a rehabilitation program for football addicts (but without the 12 steps, only 1 step; move to China). So whether it’s football (NFL), football (AFL) or football (NRL), I’m going to watching if and when I can.