A Weekend of Foot{y,ball}

The weekend of September 3rd was a weekend of sports spectating- with the Australian Rules Football season coming to a close and the college football season just kicking off, we were excited to watch both sports, attending a St. Kilda/Carlton game Saturday evening and watching the UGA/Boise St game Sunday morning.

Even before leaving for Oz, I started reading up on Aussie Rules Football (AFL), as I knew that it's a big deal in Australia, particularly in Melbourne.  I had the opportunity to watch an Aussie Rules game on TV while out in Binna Burra in 2007 during my study abroad.  While fun to watch, figuring out the rules in one game proved to daunting a task.  Watching the game on television amongst dedicated AFL fans was both exciting and amusing; a big play or contention would occur, and inevitably one of us Americans would ignorantly ask, "what just happened?" or "can you explain why that was a foul?" or "will you kindly put me back on the floor, I am asphyxiating as a result of this celebratory gesture?"  AFL is a sport unto its own, with elements vaguely similar to American football, soccer, and most closely, Rugby.  Its has a complex set of rules as a result, and even after researching the game here and there via Wikipedia, AFL.com.au, and watching the games online, it was due time that we actually attended a game.  This weekend was really our last opportunity as it is the last weekend of the regular season, after which point, tickets prices raise substantially and are harder to come by.  Lydia and I chose to attend the St. Kilda vs Carlton game because it was Saturday evening, tickets would be available at the gate and both teams were nearly evenly matched (ranked 6th and 5th respectively out of 17).

We opted to support St. Kilda because they were the underdogs, we've been told that Carlton supporters are "bogans," and St. Kilda's colors are red, black, and white- colors with which we are well-equipped (not to be confused with Essendon, who are just red and black, and another potential option for us to barrack for).  Having UGA games my only point of reference, and knowing that if you show up any less than an hour in advance, you're lucky if you find a seat, we arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground ("MCG") an hour early in hopes of getting tickets not in the nose-bleeds.

A little background about the MCG- it is one of two multipurpose cricket grounds in Melbourne (the other being the smaller Ethiad stadium) that seats 100,018 footy fans.  It is merely one kilometer away (15 minutes) from our apartment, although we are never able to hear the games (probably because it's down hill).  Needless to say, if you're on level 4 (the top level), you'd likely need binoculars to make out how many players are on the field, let alone where the ball is.  To Lydia's and my mutual surprise, when we arrived, there were plenty of tickets and general admission seats on level one still available.  We promptly went inside to find some prime seats, which we were instructed that if we hurry, we could find good seats in sections M25-M27... unfortunately we entered at M57 so we had to walk nearly 180 degrees around the stadium to get to the sections.

After 10 minutes of brisk walking, we came to section M16, which was gated and manned by what we could only assume were geriatric ward patients granted temporary leave.  We showed one of the aged gentlemen our tickets who promptly responded that we were not permitted to enter the section as it is reserved for "AFL members."  Suppressing our frustrations, we patiently explained that we had been directed there by another staff member and kindly asked how we could reach our seats.  The gentleman, almost automatically, replied, "this section is reserved for AFL members and you have general admission tickets, so you cannot enter, you must be AFL members.  Only AFL members may enter this section"  Lydia and I exchanged a knowing look, sensing that this wasn't going to be an easy answer and that we may be there for a while.  We explained that we understood that we could not enter, but needed to know what section we could enter with our tickets.  Sparing you the agonizing details, this exchange continued for another four hours, give or take, when we realized that the information we were seeking was not among the wisdom this kind, although unhelpful, gentleman had to offer.  Exercising the highest degree of restraint from a sarcastic quip, we politely thanked him for his help and promptly turned around to find another staff member.  In approximately 12 seconds, we learned that the sections we needed to find were not M25-M27, but M29-M32 and that we could obtain a "pass out," exit the stadium to continue walking around, and enter again on the other side of the members' section to find our seats.

We made it to the general admission section, where we found a plenitude of vacant seats, and chose our seats a handful of rows from the front.  After having secured our seats, and another thirty minutes remaining before the game started, we decided to check out the concessions to get some fries and drinks.  I reserved the seats (which likely wasn't required, given the abundance of open seating), and Lydia set off for the concessions.  She returned in a remarkably reasonable amount of time with a cup of steaming fries, a beer for me, and a cider for herself (note: a testament to the efficiency of the concession areas, not to the fact that Lydia is usually slow..).  I didn't have high expectations for the beer (tragically, as I feared, the Australian beer market is lacking the variety and quality with which I am familiar with in the States), but the beer was surprisingly refreshing, complementing the fries and quite appropriate for a game of footy.  The fries were delicious and we admired the ingenuity in their condiment packaging- their condiments come in small packs that when bent if half, create a squirt-bottle effect, making it easier for tableless eating.  I promptly tested this clever engineering marvel on my jeans, learning quickly that the amount of pressure required to extract the contents is indirectly proportional to the consistency of said contents.

Shortly after finishing our pre-game snack, the game began and the fans around us started oohing and aahing corresponding to plays on the field, although to exactly what Lydia and I did not know.  A quick break down of what we figured out follows:

• There are 18 players on each team on the field at any one time, with four substitutes on each bench
• The game consists of four quarters, 25 minutes each, with injury time included in at the end of each quarter
• Players can run in any direction with the ball, but must bounce it on the ground every 15 meters
• Although we are sure there are defined positions on the field (forwards, wings, mid-fielders, etc), any player can move anywhere on the field and there does not appear to be any regular pattern of routes/plays like in American football
• Players can pass the ball by either a handpass or by a kick, and it can be in any direction.  There is no throwing of the ball
• If a player kicks the ball and another player catches it without the ball hitting the ground, it's called a mark.  Play stops until the player who marked the ball kicks it (typically forward) to either his team mate or through the uprights.  Generally, the idea is to get mark right in front of the goal so the player can then kick it through the goal.
• To score, there are four uprights; two tall ones in the middle, and two shorter ones marking the outside.  A kick between the two tall uprights is a goal, which is six points, and through either side of the "goal" uprights (and between the tall and shorter post) is a "behind" which is one point

After the half, we went and got a traditional footy meal, where we each got a meat pie and a drink; I opted for a peppered meat pie and another VB Gold, whereas Lydia went with the original meat pie and a Jim Beam and cola- a common practice here is that they'll often served pre-mixed whiskey and cola drinks in cans:

The verdict was that the pepper meat pie was better, but Lydia's drink was surprisingly better than expected.  Admittedly, one of the highlights for me was this commercial, which they showed on the big screen at the game:

Hilarious.

All in all, we really enjoyed the game, partly because of the athleticism and skill involved in the game, and partly because it was fun to try to figure out when to cheer- (Lydia often inadvertently cheered on Carlton, I'm sure to the chagrin to the Saints fans around us).  St. Kilda was down most of the game, but made a fourth quarter comeback to win the game.  The final score was St. Kilda 13.8.86 (that's 13 goals, 8 behinds, for a total of 86) and Carlton 9.12.66:

The game finished up before ten, but Lydia and I hurried home to have a quiet evening and prepare for Sunday's UGA season opener against Boise State, which was at 10:00am local time.

I'm not entirely sure why- perhaps it's because we have the potential to be a decent team this year- or maybe because we're just so far away, but I've been much more dedicated to UGA football this year than in the past few.  As a result, I've been getting psyched up for big season opener, and have in the past few weeks been reading and watching all publications regarding the Dawgs- oh Athens, how I miss thee.

We woke up early around 9:30 this morning to get ready for the game. I made my best effort to "tailgate," which involved me putting on my UGA sweatpants and a red shirt, and cracking a Carlton Draught before kickoff, thus introducing Lydia to time-honored college football tradition of "Kegs and Eggs."  To watch the game, we were able to use espn3.com.  We can't use our Australian internet connection, as ESPN3 requires  a subscription to a participating cable provider, which we don't have here (we don't own a TV yet).  But fortunately enough, my parents use AT&T Uverse which does have an agreement with ESPN3 (thanks Mom and Dad!), so we're able to VPN to the server back in the States to access the site; no login required.

All in all, the quality is pretty good via the internet, we're able to watch full screen and the site throttles the quality of the video dependent upon the connection, however it did pause several times, one of which was rather untimely as it occurred during kickoff.  As it turns out, given Georgia's performance, we almost had wished that it would've paused more often, skipping over parts of the game.  Without sulking in my sorrow, I must admit that I was rather disappointed with the level of play.  While having some rather choice words during the game, I believe I was able to quell my frustration enough to not make Lydia want to move back to the States.  We did watch the entire game (no fair-weather fans here), but the last quarter was not a fun one.  Oh well, the Dawgs took a risk with playing the #5 pre-season ranked team and it didn't pan out.  Regardless, we still have a full season ahead of us, perhaps next week they can have a better showing (uhm, Aaron Murray and O-line) when it really counts in the SEC East.  Despite the loss, it was nice feeling part of the Bulldog Nation, even across the world and 14 hours ahead.  We are planning on having a proper tailgate with our Australian friends, although we'll have to either hope for another night game, or watch a recorded version of the game.

All in all, we had a great weekend and are looking forward to watching both the AFL Grand Finals and the rest of the Dawg's schedule.  Ironically, to watch AFL online live, we have to use ESPN3.com via the VPN server in the US, as the games televised here are delayed an hour, so as to not discourage people from actually attending the games.  Given that Georgia's next matchup against USC is a 3:30pm (ET) game, it'll be a 5:30am game here the Sunday morning after my birthday party, so watching that game live may prove a little more challenging.