My First Australian Football Game

Aussie Football... All I can say is it is extremely interesting, yet for the average American or any person from outside of Australia, it can be a bit confusing!  I would say it is a mix between soccer, football, basketball, and volleyball (hard to imagine, but the only way I can even come close to explaining it).  I suppose it is similar to rugby, but there are still differences.  There is really no protection, such as helmets or any sort of padding, which I found surprising, because it is a rather rough game!  The field that Aussie Football takes place on is HUGE, much like an American soccer field, but a bit larger and round in shape.  Since I am no good at explaining, I thought I'd post a website that explains a bit better, and feel free to YouTube some videos, to see the game in action!  http://www.upfromaustralia.com/ausrulfoot.html

I was fortunate enough to experience a Footie game, and went with my roommate Erika.  We met up with some other friends while at the game, and it was an all-around fun time.  It is the end of the footie season, and we went to the last game before the playoffs began.  There are many teams in the south of Australia, and especially in the Melbourne area.  It is a predominantly South Australian sport, located in the state of Victoria (the state where I reside), with only a few teams in the eastern, western, and northern Australian states.  One of the highest ranked teams is Collingwood, and they just might win it all.  However, most Aussie's I've spoken to, do not much care for Collingwood.  I think it is just because they always win, but I can't be sure.  

I am lucky enough to experience a number of things here for free, because I have a culture card.  I received the culture card, because I am here on exchange.  It is extremely nice, because they always have some fun activities either for free, or for a substantially discounted price.  We picked up our tickets for the game, by the extremely large beans cans.  It was a great experience, and even greater, because of the fact it was FREE!  Can you tell I love anything free?!  We saw Port Adelaide versus Essendon.  It was a pretty good game, because Essendon was trying to get into the playoffs.  Neither team was very good, so it was kind of fun, because both teams were on the same playing level, which made the game a pretty exciting one!  Most people have their team preferences here in Melbourne, and that is always fun to see, because being a huge Chicago sports fan, I can relate with supporting your home team! 

That's all for now, but for all you Chicago sports fans out there... BEAR DOWN!!