Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Now I know asking this is a bit of a gamble....As alot of you are now probably thinking "What is this mad Aussie on about...What's "Footy" ?"
If your not sure what it is?..."Australian Rules Football" is pretty much the National sport of Australia, It's a unique running style of football and overshadows rugby and soccer in this country
I'm really just wanting to know, How popular the sport is in the USA, I'm aware that you have a large Number of teams (Infact you have more Teams than we do! ), A National Competition and even a International Team! (We're selling the game to many other countries aswell)
The sport seems to be going quite well there and I would just like to add a few more questions?
* What's the media coverage like, Due to it being an imported sport?
* What size crowds can a game expect?
* Has it been easily accepted by people Seeing it for the first time?
* For those on this forum who might have played it? (Or play it?), Whats your view of the sport?
Or, If you want to ask me questions, I'll gladly try my best to answer them?
While I've never played, I do know of people who played in the Baltimore-Washington Eagles program. I DO however play the footy cousin sport of Gaelic football and the growth of the 2 sports here in the states follow similar lines. So I can do a pretty decent job of answering your questions.
*There's no coverage of it whatsoever here unless you have a subscription of Setanta and are watching real AFL at midnight.
*Most games are not played on anywhere near a regulation pitch. In some cases, they're being played on pitches that have thrown up poles in a cow pasture! Crowds are pretty much restricted to family and direct friends of the club.
*Typically, I'd say that most Americans who are watching it for the first time have sought it out and are very willing to accept it. In the odd chance someone gets to see it who had never heard of it before, they probably think it's a bit bizarre and kooky and totally fail to understand it. I think most Americans have heard of it by now and have a fair idea what the game looks like even if they don't an inkling what the rules are.
*My personal view of footy is that if you lads would wear respectable unis it might be something I'd try, lol. Partly serious but mostly in jest...those sleeveless tops are really really...not something i'd wear! My serious critiques of the game are that it lacks cohesive flow because there's always such a mass of people around the ball, the 6 point goal is overvalued (it renders the behind more or less totally worthless so there's no incentive to kick at the posts from further away), and I don't really like the mark concept.
I don't think Aussie rules will EVER be widely accepted here in the states as long as you have to put that adjective "Aussie" in front of it for people to know what it is. I don't think Americans like to play sports that are in your face imports. We all know soccer isn't from here but it doesn't really "belong" to any one country anymore and it's gaining some acceptance here. Same with rugby.
I have to agree with you, That the sport will never be big in the US, I would have be quite shocked if it is?.......If it's any consolation?, The majority of Australian's don't understand American Football either.
* Most games here are played on a "Cow Pastures" aswell.....Really Only the AFL at the top level, Give any concrete regulations, As too the quality of the playing surface!, Alot of The regional leagues and even the state leagues too an extent! (Though they do have some stipulations?), Play on some pretty awful surfaces...I myself, Remember playing the game on dirt!
In fact, The game was originally designed to be played on Cricket grounds, That weren't in use during the winter months, When Cricket isn't being played (Hence the oval Field setup)...As such, The pitches often weren't in the best condition, As cricket was seen as being the more important sport at the time......The game of Empire and all that.
* Your point about the mass of players around the ball, Is a result of having no offside rule, Which allows all players to have free movement across the field.....The unfortunate result of not having this rule, Is the game can become chaotic and often bogged down with disputes, Which end up resulting in free kicks or bounce downs
The behind is kind of worthless really, As it's more of a punishment for inaccurate long distance kicking, But it's usefull For very close scoring games. Where you can win by just 1 point.....Though I've always thought they should get rid of the, 'Hitting the post equals a behind' rule, As the game already has a behind scoring zone, Why have another?
Having all the defensive players inside the fifty metre line, Does slow the game down and leads too alot of disputes, Right in front of the goal square, Where alot of short punts are used to score....Meaning that long kicks are often only due to marks, Running kicks from beyond the 50 metre line, Do happen..But they're not that common?
Also, "Marking" dosen't always refer to the free kick scenario, Where the opponent player, Stands infront of the possessive player and attempts to 'Smother" the ball, When the player kicks it......Marking is just catching the ball, The big pack catches, Where one player trys to leap above the rest, Are known as "Screamers" or "Speccies" (Specatcular)
...And last but not least, Whats wrong with the Sleeveless shirts and tight shorts?....The ladies seem to like them?
I have to agree with you, That the sport will never be big in the US, I would have be quite shocked if it is?.......If it's any consolation?, The majority of Australian's don't understand American Football either.
* Most games here are played on a "Cow Pastures" aswell.....Really Only the AFL at the top level, Give any concrete regulations, As too the quality of the playing surface!, Alot of The regional leagues and even the state leagues too an extent! (Though they do have some stipulations?), Play on some pretty awful surfaces...I myself, Remember playing the game on dirt!
In fact, The game was originally designed to be played on Cricket grounds, That weren't in use during the winter months, When Cricket isn't being played (Hence the oval Field setup)...As such, The pitches often weren't in the best condition, As cricket was seen as being the more important sport at the time......The game of Empire and all that.
* Your point about the mass of players around the ball, Is a result of having no offside rule, Which allows all players to have free movement across the field.....The unfortunate result of not having this rule, Is the game can become chaotic and often bogged down with disputes, Which end up resulting in free kicks or bounce downs
The behind is kind of worthless really, As it's more of a punishment for inaccurate long distance kicking, But it's usefull For very close scoring games. Where you can win by just 1 point.....Though I've always thought they should get rid of the, 'Hitting the post equals a behind' rule, As the game already has a behind scoring zone, Why have another?
Having all the defensive players inside the fifty metre line, Does slow the game down and leads too alot of disputes, Right in front of the goal square, Where alot of short punts are used to score....Meaning that long kicks are often only due to marks, Running kicks from beyond the 50 metre line, Do happen..But they're not that common?
Also, "Marking" dosen't always refer to the free kick scenario, Where the opponent player, Stands infront of the possessive player and attempts to 'Smother" the ball, When the player kicks it......Marking is just catching the ball, The big pack catches, Where one player trys to leap above the rest, Are known as "Screamers" or "Speccies" (Specatcular)
...And last but not least, Whats wrong with the Sleeveless shirts and tight shorts?....The ladies seem to like them?
There's a lot of Americans who don't really understand American football either, LOL!! The game has a LOT of rules and conditions...too many really
The thing is, in some places where footy is played here in the states, the pitch isn't big enough for a proper game. Same with Gaelic sports here. Sometimes even the "cow pasture" approach isn't a proper size. It's not so much the condition of the surface as it is the size...and tilted posts and such.
Gaelic football doesn't have an offsides either and we always get the pack forming around the ground ball too but it doesn't seem to be quite as many people. At least guys get to pick the ball straight up off the ground though!
Don't get me wrong there are a lot of things I like about the game. The oval pitch is great. Gives you a lot of room to work the ball up the field and funnels it to the posts.
The ladies down there may think the sleeveless jumpers are great but here, it's sorta perceived as "white trash".
I for one wouldn't mind seeing it become a bit more popular here. For a time during the 70's there was some late night coverage and I think that's when the USAFL got it's start. I must say, the organization looks like it's fairly well run here and they should be able to make some inroads. It would help if footy was being played at high levels in other countries besides Australia. We seem to be more willing to embrace non-American sports if they're more multi-national, i.e. soccer and rugby.
Well, It is very hard to embrace a sport that's only played at a serious level in one country.....Thats why the AFL International Competition was formed.
Thinking about it, Australian Football and Gaelic Football do have alot of similarities?....Of course, We like to think that the game is unique to us, But no-one is entirely sure if it is?, As the game's true origins are quite hazy.
Now I know asking this is a bit of a gamble....As alot of you are now probably thinking "What is this mad Aussie on about...What's "Footy" ?"
If your not sure what it is?..."Australian Rules Football" is pretty much the National sport of Australia, It's a unique running style of football and overshadows rugby and soccer in this country
I'm really just wanting to know, How popular the sport is in the USA, I'm aware that you have a large Number of teams (Infact you have more Teams than we do! ), A National Competition and even a International Team! (We're selling the game to many other countries aswell)
The sport seems to be going quite well there and I would just like to add a few more questions?
* What's the media coverage like, Due to it being an imported sport?
* What size crowds can a game expect?
* Has it been easily accepted by people Seeing it for the first time?
* For those on this forum who might have played it? (Or play it?), Whats your view of the sport?
Or, If you want to ask me questions, I'll gladly try my best to answer them?
Well, It is very hard to embrace a sport that's only played at a serious level in one country.....Thats why the AFL International Competition was formed.
Thinking about it, Australian Football and Gaelic Football do have alot of similarities?....Of course, We like to think that the game is unique to us, But no-one is entirely sure if it is?, As the game's true origins are quite hazy.
Man, they're incredibly similar! Of course, the Irish like to claim Aussie Rules came from Gaelic but I've seen it argued that footy was more responsible for the current look of Gaelic. The truth of the matter, we'll never know. One thing I do like about footy is how you guys would really like to see it the sport spread. The Irish aren't necessarily so keen on spreading their sports. The attitude is if it happens that's great but they're not going to take great efforts at marketing it.
Yeah, New Zealanders do play AFL.......Though they're still mainly A Rugby nation
AFL is spreading slowly, It's been established in a few European countries (Denmark, Spain, Ireland, England), Japan is the only country that plays it in Asia, Apart from the Pacific Islands (Nauru, Samoa, New Guinea)...Plus the US, Canada and South Africa.
I like Aussie Rules football and have for many years. Did like Fremantle, but now am leaning towards the West Coast Eagles. Never get to watch a game though, so have to follow on the web.
I like Aussie Rules football and have for many years. Did like Fremantle, but now am leaning towards the West Coast Eagles. Never get to watch a game though, so have to follow on the web.
Setanta.com UK - Setanta Sports. You can get it either via directv or they also have a broadband subscription. However, they NEVER seem to do many replays so unless you like staying up well into the wee hours you may not get to see much that way either.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
), A National Competition and even a International Team! (We're selling the game to many other countries aswell)
