Essendon v. Melbourne

Tonight I joined Michelle and her parents to watch Essendon play Melbourne at Telstra Dome. After a brilliant first quarter we were ahead by 37 points. Matty Lloyd kicked the 800th goal of his career. However, Melbourne started to gain ground in the second quarter and took the lead shortly after halftime. At three quarter time a bit of a scuffle broke out on the ground between the two teams, but no damage was done. It wasn't looking good for us in the fourth quarter, and with five minutes left Essendon was down by 17 points. A quick goal from Alwyn Davey started to ignite the team and in the final 5 seconds Scott Lucas kicked the winning goal! The Essendon supporters lept to their feet and screamed with joy. It was so fantastic, but sad for Melbourne as this was their coach's last game. We were lucky to pull it out in the end, but we needed the win because the next few games are going to be really tough.
   
Final Score
Essendon: 19.11 (125)
Melbourne: 18.15 (123)

Blades of Glory

With winter settling in here in Melbourne, what better way to spend a Friday night than at the movies. Belinda and I went to see Blades of Glory, which was just released here in Australia. Will Ferrell plays "sex addict" ice skater Chazz Michael Michaels, while Jon Heder plays his innocent orphan rival Jimmy MacElroy. After an unfortunate incident on the gold medal podium, they are both banned from male figure skating. A few years later they find a loophole that allows them to come back to competitive skating as an all male pairs team. The movie was very funny in spots and there were lots of cameos from former US skating champions. I really enjoyed Will Arnett and Amy Poehler (married in real life) who played an incestuous brother/sister skating team who will do anything to win. I'd probably recommend waiting for DVD or cable on this one, but it's good mindless fun to watch.

See the Bombers Fly Up, Up!

In the greatest win so far this season, Essendon beat reigning premiers West Coast by one point tonight! We played a horrible first quarter and were down by 30 points at half time. Thankfully the boys did not give up and played much better in the second half. It was a nail-biter at the end, but they prevented West Coast from scoring in the final seconds. In the last two weeks we've beaten both teams from last year's Grand Final by a point each. What a fantastic start to the three day weekend!

Final Score
Essendon: 15.5 (95)
West Coast: 14.10 (94)