The Australian Football Thread, 2009

[BB61]

Well, we're just at the three-quarter point in the season. Five games remain, and St. Kilda is a lofty 17-0. Geelong, which had looked like the stronger team heading into their clash of the unbeatens against the Saints in Round 14, lost two in a row and had to muster all of their strength to earn a 1-point win against the Hawks last week. The Western Bulldogs and Adelaide are proving to be dark horse outsiders for the flag, and anything is possible in footy.

And last week, the AFL made a lot of Americans and ex-pat Aussies living over here very, very happy when they showed all eight games from Round 17 live via streaming over their site (well, Bigpond) for FREE. I hope they'll at least do this until the end of the season, especially since this is a great way to get more Americans into the sport (by word of mouth, anyway).

Meanwhile, over in the US, the New York Magpies have dethroned the Baltimore/Washington Eagles as the top team in the country, and barring another trip up, will probably end the year at #1. Considering the fact that most of their players played either in the AFL or in the AFL reserves, it's a surprise they didn't trounce everyone last year.

[friarcanuck]

TV coverage starts this weekend for Round 19 in US and Canada on ESPN and TSN.

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/news/2009/08/...turns_espn-1555

Only problem is most of the OAFL games are Saturdays and the AFL games are scheduled for early Saturday mornings i.e. 3AM EST.

[BB61]

And the Grand Final is going to be on ESPN2. Wow.

This is quite possibly the best thing that could happen to the sport in this country. Hopefully it will gain interest and help boost membership in USFooty which, while growing, is still lagging behind rugby and other sports. The good news is that new clubs are coming into the league in Columbus, Des Moines, and Sacramento, and with this new development it'll help those programs as well as the ones that are already established grow even more. I'm not talking about Footy being "the next big thing", but it will help it be more recognized.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Hawks will be in (on?) Staten Island in 48 hours to take on the #1 team in the country, the New York Magpies. I'm excited, and hoping that we'll do better than last year's 102-10 beatdown to the 'Pies.

[DEAD!]

TV coverage starts this weekend for Round 19 in US and Canada on ESPN and TSN.

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/news/2009/08/...turns_espn-1555

Only problem is most of the OAFL games are Saturdays and the AFL games are scheduled for early Saturday mornings i.e. 3AM EST.

Great news, for sure. Once I found out that the new ESPN UK was going to show AFL matches, I was wondering what would happen to North America because of Setanta's problems. I found out through AFANA yesterday that ESPN360 was going to show games, then I looked at TSN's schedule, sure enough I found Australian rules football on the schedule. Now, the issue for us Canadians is if the Grand Final is on TSN or TSN2

[Discrim]

shoot, i gotta mark that down...assuming i don't get roped into some other bull.

[BB61]

I just want to say that I'm getting tired of the entire continent of Australia ganging up on Kelli Underwood (who several weeks ago became the first woman play-by-play announcer to call a regular season AFL match). I don't think she's that bad, she's certainly better than half of the announcers I've listened to over the years, and if they give her more games, she'll only get better.

And damnit, she's cute as hell.

Menwhile, St. Kilda rolls on against the Hawks on a rainy day in Tasmania as the defending premiers look finished for the year. Geelong loses again, and Collingwood sneaks up into third place.

Meanwhile, we went up to Staten Island to play the top ranked New York Magpies, and only lost by twenty-nine points (94-65) after giving them a close contest throughout. It was the best game we'd played in a long, long time, and the highest we've scored in two years.

[rmered]

I just want to say that I'm getting tired of the entire continent of Australia ganging up on Kelli Underwood (who several weeks ago became the first woman play-by-play announcer to call a regular season AFL match). I don't think she's that bad, she's certainly better than half of the announcers I've listened to over the years, and if they give her more games, she'll only get better.

And damnit, she's cute as hell.

Menwhile, St. Kilda rolls on against the Hawks on a rainy day in Tasmania as the defending premiers look finished for the year. Geelong loses again, and Collingwood sneaks up into third place.

Meanwhile, we went up to Staten Island to play the top ranked New York Magpies, and only lost by twenty-nine points (94-65) after giving them a close contest throughout. It was the best game we'd played in a long, long time, and the highest we've scored in two years.

She is absolutely terrible.

She is a walking advertisement for only hiring people who can do the job, not basing their tenure on their gender.

I don't know if you've seen our version of Kath & Kim, however I guess, if you've been exposed to the nasal offerings of Miss Underwood, you might not need to.

Unusual. Different. Hen's Noight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_Hm6qr8qj8

Blockbuster Match-up. No Doubt About That. Not to mention at 1.40 Stevens used his body well. (which was completely wrong).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQBF5YT-Pa0

Compare & Contrast.

I found her to be a bad impersonation of about 2 or 3 other (male) commentators.

What a guy trying to break into commentary would have to do is years of calling games in lesser leagues, or do what is called Ghost FM, which is basically getting in to the game, commentating as if you were live, but only ever recording it for your own practice.

[DEAD!]

TV coverage starts this weekend for Round 19 in US and Canada on ESPN and TSN.

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/news/2009/08/...turns_espn-1555

Only problem is most of the OAFL games are Saturdays and the AFL games are scheduled for early Saturday mornings i.e. 3AM EST.

Great news, for sure. Once I found out that the new ESPN UK was going to show AFL matches, I was wondering what would happen to North America because of Setanta's problems. I found out through AFANA yesterday that ESPN360 was going to show games, then I looked at TSN's schedule, sure enough I found Australian rules football on the schedule. Now, the issue for us Canadians is if the Grand Final is on TSN or TSN2

Update: By the way friar, TSN.ca is now showing games on demand.

[goalieboy82]

North Melbourne beat the Saints.

[DEAD!]

Ah Now Bombers lost to the Dockers. Next, is the winner take the 8th spot against Hawthorn... GO BOMBERS!

[BB61]

St. Kilda loses their second in a row, this time to lowly North Melbourne. Meanwhile, Essendon blows a chance to clinch the eighth and final spot by getting blown out to lowly Fremantle.

So here's how we stand heading into the final game of the regular or "home-and-away" season, remembering that:

-- The top eight teams make the playoffs,

-- The top four get a "safety net" in the first round

-- Wins are four points, draws two, and losses none,

-- The first tiebreaker is points percentage (%), which is (PF / PA) * 100.

The following clubs have clinched finals spots:

1. St. Kilda -- 76 points, 154.99% -- will finish first

2. Geelong -- 68 points, 153.95% -- will finish second

3. Collingwood -- 60 points, 125.03% -- need to win to finish third

4. Western Bulldogs -- 56 points, 122.21% -- need to win and have the Magpies lose and get some percentage help.

5. Carlton -- 52 points, 115.27%

6. Adelaide -- 52 points, 114.42% -- Both the Blues and Crows need a win and a Doggies loss and some serious percentage help to crack fourth place, worst each team can finish is seventh.

7. Brisbane -- 50 points, 106.62% -- best they can do is fifth.

The following teams are still on the bubble for the final spot:

8. Essendon -- 38 points, 96.84% -- clinches with a win.

9. Hawthorn -- 36 points, 92.96%

10. Port Adelaide -- 36 points, 88.50%

The following teams have been eliminated from finals contention:

11. Sydney -- 32 points, 93.20%

12. West Coast -- 28 points, 89.11%

13. North Melbourne -- 26 points, 82.60%

14. Fremantle -- 24 points, 78.20%

15. Richmond -- 22 points, 76.40%

16. Melbourne -- 16 points, 75.50% -- Wooden spoon winners

The eight spot will be decided by Saturday night. Hawthorn plays Essendon Saturday afternoon at the 'G. The Hawks have a bit of a % advantage on Port, so if it's a close game, that Port / 'Roos game that night will be huge. If the 'Dons win, though, it'll be moot.

Should be a great last week of footy.

[BB61]

Round 22 is done, and with it the 2009 Home-and-Away season.

Essendon defeated Hawthorn soundly to clinch the last finals spot, meaning that the Hawks are the first team since Port Adelaide in 2005 to miss the finals in their Premiership defense. Meanwhile, Adelaide's whooping of Carlton means that the Crows and Lions leapfrog the Blues into fifth and sixth respectively. The weekend's last game decided third and fourth (and my fate in the WAFA Grand Final ) with the Bulldogs overtaking Collingwood.

So here's how this weekend shapes up:

The Qualifying finals see Geelong take on the Bulldogs, with the Cats looking to straighten things out after a bumpy stretch. The St. Kilda, who took a while to warm up against the wooden spooners, takes on a determined Collingwood team. The Elimination finals pit high flying Adelaide (my dark horse to win it all) and Essendon, while the Brisbane Lions take on the fledgling Carlton Blues.

Meanwhile, back in the states, the New York Magpies clinched their second EAFL championship with a 33-6 win over the Boston Demons in Yonkers. The 'Pies are the top ranked team in the country and will be the team to beat at Nationals in October.

The other big story was what appears to be several USFooty records falling in the same game as the Baltimore/Washington Eagles waxed the North Carolina Tigers in a friendly at DC by the score of 35.12 (222) to 1.1 (7). Yup, you saw it right.

[BB61]

ESPN is at it again.

According to AFANA, the advocacy group for the broadcasting of AFL matches in the US and Canada, ESPN2 will be broadcasting the AFL Grand Final on a two hour delay in an edited, two hour format.

Let me repeat that.

ESPN, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports", who just purchased the rights to broadcast AFL games from Setanta which (while reaching a smaller audience) devoted five hours to live Grand Final coverage, is going to broadcast a sporting event that is regularly attended by ~100,000 people ON AN EDITED, TWO HOUR DELAY.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to devote the time to showing 100 hours worth of the Little League World Series and high school football games from Frog Balls, Iowa, then the least you can do is find somewhere on your family of networks to devote three hours to broadcast the game live, commercial free. Anything less is unacceptable.

[friarcanuck]

ESPN is at it again.

According to AFANA, the advocacy group for the broadcasting of AFL matches in the US and Canada, ESPN2 will be broadcasting the AFL Grand Final on a two hour delay in an edited, two hour format.

Let me repeat that.

ESPN, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports", who just purchased the rights to broadcast AFL games from Setanta which (while reaching a smaller audience) devoted five hours to live Grand Final coverage, is going to broadcast a sporting event that is regularly attended by ~100,000 people ON AN EDITED, TWO HOUR DELAY.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to devote the time to showing 100 hours worth of the Little League World Series and high school football games from Frog Balls, Iowa, then the least you can do is find somewhere on your family of networks to devote three hours to broadcast the game live, commercial free. Anything less is unacceptable.

Boo! ESPN you suck! I'm still waiting for TSN to announce their coverage. I'm hoping it will not be the same.

Looking forward to seeing the Cats/Bulldogs game live tonight on TSN2.

[DEAD!]

ESPN is at it again.

According to AFANA, the advocacy group for the broadcasting of AFL matches in the US and Canada, ESPN2 will be broadcasting the AFL Grand Final on a two hour delay in an edited, two hour format.

Let me repeat that.

ESPN, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports", who just purchased the rights to broadcast AFL games from Setanta which (while reaching a smaller audience) devoted five hours to live Grand Final coverage, is going to broadcast a sporting event that is regularly attended by ~100,000 people ON AN EDITED, TWO HOUR DELAY.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to devote the time to showing 100 hours worth of the Little League World Series and high school football games from Frog Balls, Iowa, then the least you can do is find somewhere on your family of networks to devote three hours to broadcast the game live, commercial free. Anything less is unacceptable.

Boo! ESPN you suck! I'm still waiting for TSN to announce their coverage. I'm hoping it will not be the same.

Looking forward to seeing the Cats/Bulldogs game live tonight on TSN2.

Damn, if only I had TSN2. I guess I'll resort to the web to watch that. Well, for the moment I might was well watch that massacre that was Adelaide v Essendon online on tsn.ca...

[Sodboy13]

Quite a good bit of back-and-forth in the Geelong-Bulldogs match. Bulldogs never seemed to have quite enough in them, though, and missing those two easy goals in the 4th pretty much sealed it.

And I can't effing believe ESPN2 has something better to air at midnight on a Friday/Saturday, that they have to push the broadcast back to a literally unwatchable hour. And even then, cut an hour out of the proceedings. Horsecrap. They've given beach soccer better clearance than this, which stunningly, is not a sport I just made up. If it's on live at 11p Central, I'm watching it at The Globe in a likely raucous atmosphere. As it stands now, I'm either watching it on the stream at home, or on the DVR at some later point.

I will say, though, that this ESPN360 gadget of theirs is mighty nifty,

[DEAD!]

Disappointed by the huge defeat by the Bombers, but LOL at Carlton... up by 30 in the final quarter, but the Lions came... uh... "roaring" back to win by 7

[buzzcut]

ESPN is at it again.

According to AFANA, the advocacy group for the broadcasting of AFL matches in the US and Canada, ESPN2 will be broadcasting the AFL Grand Final on a two hour delay in an edited, two hour format.

Let me repeat that.

ESPN, the "Worldwide Leader in Sports", who just purchased the rights to broadcast AFL games from Setanta which (while reaching a smaller audience) devoted five hours to live Grand Final coverage, is going to broadcast a sporting event that is regularly attended by ~100,000 people ON AN EDITED, TWO HOUR DELAY.

I'm sorry, but if you're going to devote the time to showing 100 hours worth of the Little League World Series and high school football games from Frog Balls, Iowa, then the least you can do is find somewhere on your family of networks to devote three hours to broadcast the game live, commercial free. Anything less is unacceptable.

ESPN2's schedule for Grand Final "Morning"(all times Central):

9 PM High School Football from the West Coast

Midnight Baseball Tonight

12:30 AM NFL Live

1 AM The Grand Final

If any one of these hours were shown as SportsNation, this entire board would explode.

[Sodboy13]

A high school football game takes priority. Who the hell watches high school football, outside of people actually from the communities involved, and possibly Drew Rosenhaus?

[BB61]

And NFL Live. Because we need another half hour of NFL coverage.

Just give the damn thing back to Setanta already.

Now, if they plan to show it live on ESPN360, that wouldn't be too bad, though there will need to be a lot of laptops hooked up to big-screens.