AFL

I went with people from the hostel to an AFL game last night. AFL stands for Australian Football League or more commonly referred to as Aussie Rules Football. The sport was first played in Melbourne in the 1890s. For awhile the only teams were in Victoria (the state that Melbouren is in) but it is now a national league and the game has spread to some parts of europe. It the most popular sport in Melbourne and most of Australia (Rugby is still more popular in Queensland and Sydney).

The game is a crazy combination of soccer, rugby, american football and maybe even a touch of basketball. The ball is oblong but not pointy on the ends like American footballs, the field is round (it is literally a cricket field since when the game was being invented those were the fields that were available in existing stadiums) there are goal posts on either end of field but without the horizontal bar. Players can throw, kick or carry the ball, but if they are carrying, the ball must touch the ground once every 10 steps which means they either bounce it (not easy with a ball that is not round) or they literally bend down and touch it to the ground. Tackling and even leaping up and stepping on another players' back or shoulders to get leverage are common... as well as fighting. AND they don't wear any equipment. No helmets, no pads, not even shin guards.

I didn't understand all the rules but here is a website that explains them if you'd like to find out more. http://www.afl.com.au/FanZone/Rules/tabid/7892/Default.aspx

I took some pictures which I will add here soon

The refs, who are dressed in yellow are acually responsible no only for making calls but for throwing the ball in (backwards over the head) from the sidelines when it goes out. There are also two people in flourescent yellow on the field. Each team is allowed one message runner --- meaning if the coach wants to tell a player something he sends out one of these flourescent guys to sprint across this gigantic field to talk to the player. As soon as he gets back again another messanger is dispersed. At other points in the game (i think after a goal is scored) dudes in red jackets run (and by run I mean sprint) onto the field with waterbottles. This is one game where everyone involved has to be in good shape!

I ate a meatpie. Apparently meatpie at a AFL or cricket game is like hotdogs at a baseball game. And they call the french fries "crisps" and ketchup "sauce".

At the end of the game they play the winning team's song and people sing. The song for the team that won sounded like it would have been a school song for a British boarding school... so wierd to end such a violent game with a song so... delicate. Had the other team won, their song was "When the Saints Go Marching In."