Watchin' Footy in AUS

Bryan was invited to attend his first AFL (Australian Football League) "footy" game this weekend to watch the Brisbane Lions play the Sydney Swans. We have been watching several different types of rugby and football games on Australian TV since arriving here and slowly learning and trying to understand the rules so Bryan enjoyed attending a "real" game and having the locals fully explain the in and outs of the sport. I'm going to let Bryan take over here for just a minute and share with you some of the facts of the game that he learned:

1. The clock counts up and is not conclusive. Even though the ball is dead when it goes out of bounds, the clock does not stop. While a quarter is supposed to be 20 minutes long, the final quarter ended with 29:21 on the clock...I'm not sure how the players know when the end of the game is really coming.

2. The game, based on Gaelic Football from Ireland (home of most of the football games...soccer, rugby, AFL, American football) is jokingly known as aerial ping pong and seems to be a cross between soccer and rugby. Passes to your teammates must be via a kick or "punching" the ball (not sure what they really call it.) When the ball is kicked, they kick the point of the ball and are amazingly accurate on the run. Oh, by the way, the oblong ball must be "dribbled" every 15 yards...surprising how well it bounces up for these guys on the run.

3. The field is typically also the cricket field and is shaped in an oval. Not all fields are the same size...this goes back in history a long time. 18 players are on the field at all times and 4 subs come on at any time. The coach sends out "messengers" in bright yellow clothes to communicate coaching changes while play is still going on.

4. There are 4 poles on the field. Kicking between the center poles is 6 points...hitting a pole and going through or going through one of the outer pairs of poles is worth 1 point.

5. Contact is hard to describe. There is a lot of childish like shoving that goes on and no unsportsmanlike penalties. Tackling takes place, but not nearly as vicious as rugby.

I have joked with some of the locals about why they don't play normal sports like football, basketball, and baseball. They quickly point out that the world is much more than the US and thus they question where the World Series gets its name since nobody outside North America is invited to compete...good question!

Here are a few pictures of the game.






Australian Education: As part of this weeks Australian education I thought I would share a few food items that are unique here. Here is a picture of three different items I found in our cupboard and wanted to explain further: cereal, ketchup, and pancake mix.
1) CEREAL - Sultana Bran: This is actually Raisin Bran but raisins are referred to as sultanas in Australia.
2) KETCHUP - We call it ketchup but in Austrlia it is called "tomato sauce". It does have a different taste than the ketchup we are used to in the US. I still can't remember to ask for tomato sauce packets when eating out though . . . I always ask for ketchup and sometimes get interesting looks.
3) PANCAKE MIX - No Bisquick in Australia! This bottle of pancake mix makes one batch of pancakes (8-10), so you if you are feeding several mouths you will need several bottles. A simple breakfast of pancakes can get quite expensive compared to a large box of Bisquick that lasts several breakfasts!