I played at various times, but was one of the world’s worst fielders. People rarely believe you when you say that, and want you to actually demonstrate your lack of ability in games. The problem was that I was a decent hitter, and they thought that was important until they realized how truly abysmal I was catching and throwing a ball.
]]>I played baseball here at College. 🙂 I like baseball actually, a good friend was an umpire, and his son was a pitcher who ended up pitching for a US major league team (in the 90’s). A number of Aussies play for the US major’s.
]]>The games take forever because there is almost no real flow to them. They spend more time talking about what they are going to do than actually doing anything. A real football match is rarely stopped. Baseball is even slower.
Of course, nothing will ever approach cricket for boring. I think NewsBiscuit is right about cricket.
]]>We have a LOT of… disagreements (to put it politely) over *real* Football here, between the Aussie Rules fanatics, and the Soccer crazies, and not to forget Rugby League nutters and the Rugby Union lunatics!! 😆 I expect there will be a civil war over it one day. 😉 And now we have the original Gaelic Football growing in popularity here (I think there are a few teams now)! Yeah… We love our footy (so long as it isn’t Gridiron! We don’t get that.
]]>The real football only exists in areas with large immigrant populations, although it has become a very popular children’s game, especially with parents, because shoes and shin guards don’t cost nearly as much as the equipment for baseball, and no where near the cost of the protective gear for American football.
I started playing when we lived in Germany, and have followed ever since, although my team, Alemannia Aachen, can’t seem to get out of Bundeslige 2. It takes real dedication to support a team called “the potato bugs”. [It’s the uniform, if the yellow and black had been horizontal, they could have been the bees or hornets.]
My younger brother played real football and Rugby for local clubs in and after college. He would have loved Australian rules.
I had a friend who was a referee and I used to give him rides when his car didn’t run [often], but the parents were a major annoyance. These were kids leagues, and the parents acted like it was the FA Cup. I told the guy he needed to start carrying a weapon to protect him from the parents. Most of the parents would have been better off if they started playing with their kids and running around a little, instead of just driving and bitching.
]]>Wikipedia- Australian rules football in the United States
The *real* official AFL site!
AFL
Amazing! 😀 (Lot of Aussies living in the USA. Crazy people.) 😉
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