Another Yank Footy Fanatic

CarBigDog

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May 27, 2015
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i first became a footy fan in the early 1980's when I was in my late teens and ESPN started showing games. Although I am also a fan of Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and MMA, by far, my two favorite sports to follow are American Football and Footy. My athletic background was mostly American Football and Baseball but from the moment I saw a Footy game on television and understood the rules, I thought to myself that, if I lived in Australia when I was younger, it would have taken a court order and military help to get me off of a Footy field. I actually played it (or a bad facsimile of it) one time with a bunch of guys that we were all American Football players that had become ESPN fans of the game. It was funny because we had to play with an American Football (not conducive to true bounces to say the least) and all of us that thought we were in real good shape, by our standards, after playing Footy for an hour, we're so exhausted that it felt that we would step on our tongues from panting like overheated dogs. As far as an exciting and compelling game, with an incredibly complete test of all around athleticism, nothing beats Footy. It became very frustrating that when ESPN stopped showing the games, I really could not follow the sport for a long time. Now I have the AFL Global Pass and with all the online information, I can follow it closer than ever. I watch at least a portion of almost every game. I am a Carlton Blues fan and if the Board wants to consider an American of Cuban descent from Ohio to replace Mick, I am waiting on the call. :)
 

Contra Mundum

To Know Nothing is the Happiest Life
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i first became a footy fan in the early 1980's when I was in my late teens and ESPN started showing games. Although I am also a fan of Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and MMA, by far, my two favorite sports to follow are American Football and Footy. My athletic background was mostly American Football and Baseball but from the moment I saw a Footy game on television and understood the rules, I thought to myself that, if I lived in Australia when I was younger, it would have taken a court order and military help to get me off of a Footy field. I actually played it (or a bad facsimile of it) one time with a bunch of guys that we were all American Football players that had become ESPN fans of the game. It was funny because we had to play with an American Football (not conducive to true bounces to say the least) and all of us that thought we were in real good shape, by our standards, after playing Footy for an hour, we're so exhausted that it felt that we would step on our tongues from panting like overheated dogs. As far as an exciting and compelling game, with an incredibly complete test of all around athleticism, nothing beats Footy. It became very frustrating that when ESPN stopped showing the games, I really could not follow the sport for a long time. Now I have the AFL Global Pass and with all the online information, I can follow it closer than ever. I watch at least a portion of almost every game. I am a Carlton Blues fan and if the Board wants to consider an American of Cuban descent from Ohio to replace Mick, I am waiting on the call. :)

Good on you mate - and you should contact the Blues here - you are a good news story they need at the moment
 

the PILL

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Jul 29, 2007
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Aussie Rulz is the MMA of all contact ball sports imo and i follow most, we are just really bad at international promotion...

I had a yank mate that was hell bent on Cricket too... teaching him how to bowl a ball, priceless :D Goodtimes... :)

Welcome man!!!
 

simmo_bc

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i first became a footy fan in the early 1980's when I was in my late teens and ESPN started showing games. Although I am also a fan of Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and MMA, by far, my two favorite sports to follow are American Football and Footy. My athletic background was mostly American Football and Baseball but from the moment I saw a Footy game on television and understood the rules, I thought to myself that, if I lived in Australia when I was younger, it would have taken a court order and military help to get me off of a Footy field. I actually played it (or a bad facsimile of it) one time with a bunch of guys that we were all American Football players that had become ESPN fans of the game. It was funny because we had to play with an American Football (not conducive to true bounces to say the least) and all of us that thought we were in real good shape, by our standards, after playing Footy for an hour, we're so exhausted that it felt that we would step on our tongues from panting like overheated dogs. As far as an exciting and compelling game, with an incredibly complete test of all around athleticism, nothing beats Footy. It became very frustrating that when ESPN stopped showing the games, I really could not follow the sport for a long time. Now I have the AFL Global Pass and with all the online information, I can follow it closer than ever. I watch at least a portion of almost every game. I am a Carlton Blues fan and if the Board wants to consider an American of Cuban descent from Ohio to replace Mick, I am waiting on the call. :)

Good work mate, welcome to our game.

Given you are from Ohio, I reckon if you could convince LBJ to quit the NBA and play for Carlton in 2015 you could probably take any job at the club you want!

Hope the Blues bring a smile to your face at some point in 2015.
 

simmo_bc

Cancelled
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Feb 7, 2010
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Aussie Rulz is the MMA of all contact ball sports imo and i follow most, we are just really bad at international promotion...

I had a yank mate that was hell bent on Cricket too... teaching him how to bowl a ball, priceless :D Goodtimes... :)

Welcome man!!!

we are getting better though don't you think? it is a slow burn but we are making inroads.

I travelled through the US and worked with Americans and they love the AFL..

the game suits Americans as there is always something happening in the game.
 

the PILL

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Jul 29, 2007
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we are getting better though don't you think? it is a slow burn but we are making inroads.

I travelled through the US and worked with Americans and they love the AFL..

the game suits Americans as there is always something happening in the game.

I'd have to take your word on its getting better but I dont doubt that amongst punters into fast contact ball sports, its highly desirable!

From what I have witnessed with American sport is that if they like it they eventually own it, ie MMA, Drifting, extreme sports (super cross, bmx etc)... But its different with ball sports because of huge leages like the NFL, NBA mogul status...

Soccer seems to be getting there but it has YOYO'd for years trying to get any viewer share...

I love watching a newbie click with AFL though. ;)
 
Jan 12, 2013
821
828
Tailing foxy_dal
AFL Club
Carlton
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Arsenal, Ravens, Hornets, Oilers
i first became a footy fan in the early 1980's when I was in my late teens and ESPN started showing games. Although I am also a fan of Baseball, Basketball, Soccer and MMA, by far, my two favorite sports to follow are American Football and Footy. My athletic background was mostly American Football and Baseball but from the moment I saw a Footy game on television and understood the rules, I thought to myself that, if I lived in Australia when I was younger, it would have taken a court order and military help to get me off of a Footy field. I actually played it (or a bad facsimile of it) one time with a bunch of guys that we were all American Football players that had become ESPN fans of the game. It was funny because we had to play with an American Football (not conducive to true bounces to say the least) and all of us that thought we were in real good shape, by our standards, after playing Footy for an hour, we're so exhausted that it felt that we would step on our tongues from panting like overheated dogs. As far as an exciting and compelling game, with an incredibly complete test of all around athleticism, nothing beats Footy. It became very frustrating that when ESPN stopped showing the games, I really could not follow the sport for a long time. Now I have the AFL Global Pass and with all the online information, I can follow it closer than ever. I watch at least a portion of almost every game. I am a Carlton Blues fan and if the Board wants to consider an American of Cuban descent from Ohio to replace Mick, I am waiting on the call. :)
Great to have you on board as a blues fan, mate. Unfortunately, this season has been ordinary for us :cry: hope you'll be around for the good times
 

lethal03

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Feb 27, 2007
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I actually played it (or a bad facsimile of it) one time with a bunch of guys that we were all American Football players that had become ESPN fans of the game.

Get hold of an Aussie rules football, get some lads and head down to a park and play kick to kick absolute tradition of footy. Great fun marking, kicking and competing without the restrictions(fitness) of trying to play a game. Enjoy.
 

CarBigDog

Debutant
May 27, 2015
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106
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Thank all of you for the warm welcome. I don't like to stereotype even in a positive way and I am sure that you have your share of people that are not good people but in my experience, Australians have been amongst the nicest, friendliest and warmest people I have ever met. Look forward to being part of the forum.

To Contra Mondum, Better Loosen Up and Jaymasha: Thank you. It has been a tough season for Carlton but hopefully it's always "darkest before the dawn". When I became a Footy fan, I gravitated to Carlton because I am and have been a fan of Chelsea of the English Premier League and since they are also the Blues, and I became a fan of those great Carlton teams from the 80's with Fitzpatrick, Johnston and later Kernahan and the others and I went towards them. It was pretty easy being a Carlton fan back then in the early eighties, not so much now, but I will stick with them through thick and thin and appreciate their rich history. I am getting my 24 year old son hooked on Footy, like the stereotypical drug dealer giving him his first fix. He has taken to the West Coast Eagles, so I at least, have another team to root for and they do play an entertaining brand of Football. Although I don't necessarily root for them, I do enjoy watching Freemantle, Hawthorn, Sydney etc..

To The Pill and Simmo_BC: I agree that if Americans were exposed to Footy, they would fall in love with it like I have. The problem besides the lack of exposure, is that the other sports are so ingrained in the landscape, that it is hard for any other sport to break in. ESPN is such a huge part of sports here and their coverage of the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball is so saturating, that it becomes a 24 hour a day commercial for them. It would be so hard for a sport played primarily elsewhere to break into that crowded landscape. It would take a grassroots commitment to the sport. Another part of the problem is that Americans have never followed a sport that Americans haven't played at an elite level. Soccer has run into that problem. That even though the USA has vastly improved in Soccer and more kids play Soccer than any other sport, we still aren't at an elite level and therefore Soccer still has a LONG way to go before they approach even the NBA or MLB and they are light years away from the behemoth of the NFL. It's a shame because if they were exposed to it, they would see what I see, that there isn't a better or more exciting sport or a more complete test of total athleticism than Footy.

Simmo_BC: My son and I were talking about LBJ and the New England Patriots TE-Rob Gronkowski the other day. Can you imagine if they would have been exposed to Footy at an early age? They would have been tough to handle around the goal for sure. I don't know if they would have developed elite level kicking ability and accuracy to succeed at the highest level and in the case of James, I don't know if he would have developed the physical aggressiveness necessary, but with their size and athleticism, they would have given physical specimens like Buddy Franklin and Travis Cloake a "run for their money".

Thank you again Andana, Dream Team Buff and the others for the warm welcome and Lethal03, I tried to find an Aussie Football here locally but the sporting goods stores here don't have any, so I am going to order one online, just to have it. I would absolutely LOVE to be able to play some age appropriate Footy but because of American Football and I was a Catcher in Baseball, I ended up with over 20 knee surgeries starting at age 16 and now, even though I turn 50 this year, I have had both knees totally replaced, including my left one twice. So I have to limit my athletic exploits these days to jumping up and yelling at the TV screen when one of my Carlton forwards drops a mark (happening much too often these days) inside the 50, "I COULD HAVE CAUGHT THAT ONE WITH MY CATCHER'S MITT".
 

CarBigDog

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BTW. I don't know if this has been a thread elsewhere but it would be an interesting topic as to which athletes in other sports might have made great footy players. The one all-time that comes to my mind is Bo Jackson. He was such an amazing athlete that I think in the midfield or as a HF, he would have been unbelievable. I don't know for a fact if this story is true, although the people there swear to it's veracity. When the University of Auburn, where Bo went to college, was playing in the Sugar Bowl, in the Louisiana Superdome. A couple of the Auburn punters were messing around before practice trying to hit the TV screens that hang from the roof of the Superdome with a punt. They weren't even coming close. There had been a couple of NFL punters that had hit the stanchion previously. Bo, who might have punted some in high school but wasn't a punter, saw them doing this and thought he might have a crack at it. They say he boomed one high of the TV screens on his 2nd attempt. I wonder what some of the other athletes that people think might have been great Footy players.
 

Contra Mundum

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BTW. I don't know if this has been a thread elsewhere but it would be an interesting topic as to which athletes in other sports might have made great footy players. The one all-time that comes to my mind is Bo Jackson. He was such an amazing athlete that I think in the midfield or as a HF, he would have been unbelievable. I don't know for a fact if this story is true, although the people there swear to it's veracity. When the University of Auburn, where Bo went to college, was playing in the Sugar Bowl, in the Louisiana Superdome. A couple of the Auburn punters were messing around before practice trying to hit the TV screens that hang from the roof of the Superdome with a punt. They weren't even coming close. There had been a couple of NFL punters that had hit the stanchion previously. Bo, who might have punted some in high school but wasn't a punter, saw them doing this and thought he might have a crack at it. They say he boomed one high of the TV screens on his 2nd attempt. I wonder what some of the other athletes that people think might have been great Footy players.


We love your passion brother - the NBA is full of guys that would make ******* scarey mid-fielders!
 

Contra Mundum

To Know Nothing is the Happiest Life
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BTW. I don't know if this has been a thread elsewhere but it would be an interesting topic as to which athletes in other sports might have made great footy players. The one all-time that comes to my mind is Bo Jackson. He was such an amazing athlete that I think in the midfield or as a HF, he would have been unbelievable. I don't know for a fact if this story is true, although the people there swear to it's veracity. When the University of Auburn, where Bo went to college, was playing in the Sugar Bowl, in the Louisiana Superdome. A couple of the Auburn punters were messing around before practice trying to hit the TV screens that hang from the roof of the Superdome with a punt. They weren't even coming close. There had been a couple of NFL punters that had hit the stanchion previously. Bo, who might have punted some in high school but wasn't a punter, saw them doing this and thought he might have a crack at it. They say he boomed one high of the TV screens on his 2nd attempt. I wonder what some of the other athletes that people think might have been great Footy players.

Just get a new Sherrin mate - if only to feel it and smell it - I use mine as an oversized stress ball - take down the park. Even if your kicks go a metre because of your knees its still great fun.
 

CarBigDog

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Just get a new Sherrin mate - if only to feel it and smell it - I use mine as an oversized stress ball - take down the park. Even if your kicks go a metre because of your knees its still great fun.

Thanks Bud, I might just have to do that, although I don't think it would go much further than a meter. :)
 
Jan 12, 2013
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Tailing foxy_dal
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To Contra Mondum, Better Loosen Up and Jaymasha: Thank you. It has been a tough season for Carlton but hopefully it's always "darkest before the dawn". When I became a Footy fan, I gravitated to Carlton because I am and have been a fan of Chelsea of the English Premier League and since they are also the Blues, and I became a fan of those great Carlton teams from the 80's with Fitzpatrick, Johnston and later Kernahan and the others and I went towards them. It was pretty easy being a Carlton fan back then in the early eighties, not so much now, but I will stick with them through thick and thin and appreciate their rich history. I am getting my 24 year old son hooked on Footy, like the stereotypical drug dealer giving him his first fix. He has taken to the West Coast Eagles, so I at least, have another team to root for and they do play an entertaining brand of Football. Although I don't necessarily root for them, I do enjoy watching Freemantle, Hawthorn, Sydney etc..

Seeing the blues during the eighties was a little before my time :(, nonetheless, my old man is always talking about it. Great to see you're sticking fat mate :thumbsu:
 

CarBigDog

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They also need some news players as well.

True, I hope the board and the fans don't think that sacking Mick cured all. Toughest part for me hasn't been losing, it's been the readiness and eventuality that losing has been accepted by the players on the field. The comments in the interviews have been spot on but it hasn't been indicative of their attitude during the actual games. I like to see a little more "chippyness" when the result is still in doubt and even more when it isn't.
 

jatz14

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BTW. I don't know if this has been a thread elsewhere but it would be an interesting topic as to which athletes in other sports might have made great footy players. The one all-time that comes to my mind is Bo Jackson. He was such an amazing athlete that I think in the midfield or as a HF, he would have been unbelievable. I don't know for a fact if this story is true, although the people there swear to it's veracity. When the University of Auburn, where Bo went to college, was playing in the Sugar Bowl, in the Louisiana Superdome. A couple of the Auburn punters were messing around before practice trying to hit the TV screens that hang from the roof of the Superdome with a punt. They weren't even coming close. There had been a couple of NFL punters that had hit the stanchion previously. Bo, who might have punted some in high school but wasn't a punter, saw them doing this and thought he might have a crack at it. They say he boomed one high of the TV screens on his 2nd attempt. I wonder what some of the other athletes that people think might have been great Footy players.
I always thought wide receivers would make great footy players. Able to catch, fast and elusive, from what I have seen, often rangy.
 

CarBigDog

Debutant
May 27, 2015
99
106
U. S. A.
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Miami Dolphins, Hurricanes, Heat
I always thought wide receivers would make great footy players. Able to catch, fast and elusive, from what I have seen, often rangy.

True, but many of them lack the physical aggressiveness needed for Footy. Guys like Andre Johnson would have been great, if they developed the requisite kicking skills.

Welcome friend, Geez you yanks can talk/post :p:drunk:
:);)
 
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