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| This is a image from last season's Grand Final, not some kind of war. |
The United States of America is, arguably, the best country in the world for sports. There’s something for everyone. We have four gargantuan professional sports leagues, a steadily growing soccer league with a bright future, a thriving college sports organization, motorsports, horse racing and poker. Americans are always a major competitor in the Olympic Games. I’ve even seen a game of chicken foot broadcast on ESPN. The USA sports party is wild. But there are a few guests, some foreign, others local but a little shy, leaning against the wall that we should offer a few drinks.
We’ll begin the series with one of the many sports in the world referred to by its fans as “football". The Australian football code is the most popular sport down under, in terms of television viewership. The premier level of competition is the Australian Football League (AFL), which has existed in various forms since 1897. It boasts 17 football clubs around Australia, most of them located on the eastern side of the nation.
WHAT KIND OF A SPORT IS IT?
Australian football, to an American, looks like a hybrid of soccer and our own version of football. When it comes down to it, however, it is truly a first cousin of rugby. The object is to score as many points as possible by kicking (or occasionally throwing or punching) an elliptical ball between either the two central goal posts (referred to as a ‘goal,’ worth six points) or the two outer posts (referred to as a ‘behind,’ worth one point). The sport is played on a large elliptical surface, and each team employs 18 players at a time.
WHY IS IT SO COOL?
The game features beautiful, long-sailing goals, much like the 63-yard field goal on Monday Night Football this week, or one of Ronaldinho’s famous free kicks. Try this on for size:
There are also insane, “how did he do that?” goals, like this:
Don’t let me paint too lovely a picture for you. Australian football may be pretty when it comes to scoring, but what happens within the 150 meters between the opposing goals can be brutal. There are 36 players on the field at a time, and each is uniquely pissed off.
The fast-paced fluid motion of the sport is excellent for television viewership. With so many players on such an enormous playing surface, there’s rarely a dull moment.
If you’re a fan of historical value in your sports, then Australian football is for you. The game has a relationship that’s as long-lasting and deep as America’s to baseball. Most of the AFL’s teams have been around since 1925 or earlier.
Finally, here’s an intriguing quirk that, as far as I know, is unique to Australian football:
Imagine that your favorite NFL team is in the Super Bowl. You’ve been waiting your whole life for this moment. You’re biting your nails the entire game. You won’t eat the chicken wings your aunt brought over. You won’t take off your lucky jersey even though you’re sweating profusely. The fourth quarter ends in a tie. Oh no. Overtime.
Not in the Australian Football League. In the AFL’s Grand Final, it’s championship game, like every other sport’s playoff matches, cannot end in a tie. But they don’t have an overtime period. The two teams go home, practice, and play another Grand Final the next weekend. Yes, there can be two Grand Finals. This has only happened three times in the league’s history (most recently in 2010), but can you imagine living through that as a diehard fan? The Australian heart-attack rate in the week between Grand Finals must increase ten-fold.
WHERE CAN I WATCH THIS?
The 2010 Grand Final (both versions) was broadcast on the ESPN family of networks last season. That’s how I found out about the sport. The AFL is in the midst of its regular season right now, and ESPN3 broadcasts three games a week. You can catch live games on the weekend or recorded games in ESPN3’s Replay section.
Michael Allen is a writer at Students of the Game. He is currently studying at Auburn University and majoring in English.
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