Australia: My First Footy Game

After a week of total isolation in Melbourne with no one but myself to talk to (Justin doesn't arrive for another 2 weeks; Ben is in Nepal for a wedding; Jimmy and Noules are vacationing in HK), I have doubled my friend count from four to eight in just one weekend - quite an accomplishment as you know I'm painfully shy and socially awkward. On Saturday night Nikki whom I met through Ben invited me to attend an AFL game at the Telstra Dome with her and her friends - my very first footy game in Australia - and I'm sure it won't be my last since I live with a footy fanatic. The autumn weather's been seasonably chilly so I put on my thick red hooded sweatshirt with a white sleeveless down puffy jacket. Who would've known that I had accidentally worn the team colors - red, white, and black- of the St. Kilda Saints? Naturally I had to cheer for them which happened to be the team Nikki grew up supporting. (Remember, we don't use "root for" as it has a whole new meaning here.) Their opponent was the Carlton Blues whose team colors are blue and white.

I won't even attempt to explain Aussie rules football for you. It involves kicking and catching the football, a lot of running, and two goal posts at both ends of the field. The game moves very fast and is pretty exciting to watch. It certainly got my adrenaline going especially since I had a team to cheer for. Unlike the NFL, Aussie football players don't really tackle as much as they push and shove each other. And their uniforms consist plainly of a short-sleeve jersey and nude colored nut huggers with short shorts over them and strip knee-high socks - no shoulder pads or helmets. Very manly actually. Ok not really. Their players also lack multi-million dollar contracts the way American pro-athletes are accustomed to. Each football team (known as club) has a salary cap to divvy up between their players. The half-time show involves a quick footy game for little kids playing for the same teams. There's no such thing as scantily-clad cheerleaders here either, but they do have massive pompoms that resemble floor mops in their team colors that are waved at the end of each goal post.

But what the AFL does have in common with the NFL is the passion (and anger) exhibited by their devoted fans. The guys sitting behind us were screaming so loud during the entire 3-hour-long game that I think they shot my right ear drum. The team I ended up cheering for (purely by my coincidental choice of clothing) kicked the other team's ass - 125 to 85! As a tradition, after every game fans of the winning team get to sing the team song and hang their flags out in the car. The St. Kilda's team song is When The Saints Go Marching In. It's always that much more fun to cheer for the victor, unlike the Pittsburgh Steelers (a five-time NFL champion who is used to a losing streak in recent years).