JLT Community Series- Essendon v Collingwood

It's hard to believe but we have reached the start of the AFL pre-season, this year represented by the JLT Community Series over the next few weeks around Australia. Tonight Belinda and I headed to Etihad Stadium to watch the first game of 2017 between arch-rivals Essendon and Collingwood. There was a large turn out of Essendon supporters to welcome back our players who were suspended by WADA last year over the 2012 supplements scandal.

It was great to have new captain Dyson Heppell playing again, along with former captain Jobe Watson, Michael Hurley, Ben Howlett, Travis Colyer and David Myers. We also had the debut of our number one draft pick Andrew McGrath tonight. The game itself was quite enjoyable and free flowing at times, and Essendon led for the majority of the match. We had quite a few goal kickers, which was an encouraging sign considering last year's scoring issues. The moment of the night for me was in the second quarter when Jobe took a mark and had a shot at goal and the crowd erupted in cheers for him (unfortunately he only kicked a behind).

We went into the fourth quarter with a 23 point lead, but a combination of our veteran players coming off the ground for the night and two super goals by Collingwood sparked the Magpies to make a comeback and ultimately win the game. Although I didn't get my birthday wish of a win, there were a lot of positives to take out of the match for the Bombers, including the fact we played competitively and everyone got through the first match injury free.

Final Score
Essendon: 0.14.10 (94)
Collingwood: 2.13.9 (105)

Le Ride

The 1928 Tour de France still stands as the toughest race in its history, with only 41 of the 161 racers who started the race finishing it. It was also the first Tour de France to feature an English speaking team with Australians Hubert Opperman, Ernie Bainbridge and Percy Osborne, and New Zealander Harry Watson making the long six week journey via ship to France to participate.

The story of this Australasian team is not very well known, which is why Phil Keoghan (host of The Amazing Race) and his friend Ben Cornell decided to retrace the route of the 1928 Tour de France and film their adventure. Le Ride documents their insane journey riding around France on those heavy, steel 1928 bikes that don't shift gears or have strong brakes. The film also shows footage of the underdog Australasian team and what they endured on each stage of that gruelling 1928 race competing against 10 man European teams on unpaved roads and riding for hours on end almost every day.

Phil and Ben gained a lot of respect for these riders and what they went through as they rode the route (although at least they had paved roads). The mountain stages in the Pyrenees and the Alps were particularly brutal, with the 225 miles of Stage 9 taking them 23 hours to complete. I really enjoyed the film as I'm a long time fan of Phil (since his mid-1990s Fox After Breakfast days) and I admired his optimism in tackling an adventure everyone else was telling him would not be successful. The film also showcased the beautiful scenery of France and you got to learn some Tour de France history along the way.

We were fortunate enough to have Phil in town to do a Q&A with Lee Turner from the St Kilda Cycling Club after the screening. Phil discussed what it was like to do the ride in 2013 at the age of 46, especially on those 1928 bikes (he did allow himself a modern ergonomic bike seat though). He discussed the physical toll it took on their bodies, which included hip pain for him for over a year. Since they were riding for so long every day it was impossible to eat enough to match the calories they were burning (hitting up French bakeries and eating quiches seemed to be one solution). They drank a magic concoction each night which seemed to help their recovery and prevent muscle cramping. They were also very fortunate to not have any punctures throughout the whole race (unlike the 1928 riders who faced multiple punctures in each stage), although Phil's handlebar frame cracked on the first day and had to be welded back together.

If you love the Tour de France or are a fan of Phil's you should definite check out Le Ride. It is screening at ACMI through 12 February and will have a showing at SXSW in Austin in March 2017.

Expat Observations: Australian Rules Football

If Melbourne had a religion, it would be Australian Rules Football. Aussie Rules is the native game of the country, played on an oval field with an oval shaped ball. Players are allowed to kick and handball the ball to teammates on the field, and you score by kicking the ball through the posts - 6 points (a goal) if through the center of the tall sticks, and 1 point (a behind) if through the sticks on either side.

The game is fantastic to watch as there is such a flow of play as players run up and down the field. One of the unique features of the game is players leaping and elevating themselves onto the backs of other players to mark the ball. There are also some amazing goals that are kicked from impossible angles.



When I first arrived in Melbourne I was living in Carlton so I thought I would pick them as my team. However, my friends talked me out of that decision and I ended up becoming an Essendon supporter. While they are a proud and successful club, it has been a trying past few years with the 2012 supplements scandal still hanging over the club and players. I am hopeful this will all be over once the WADA appeal is done in December. With new coach John Worsfold (ex-premiership coach of West Coast) it may finally be the turning point the club needs to have a successful season.

You may assume that the game would be the equivalent of the NFL in popularity nationally, but that is not the case. While Victoria is firmly Aussie Rules, New South Wales and Queensland are rugby states. There really isn't a unifying sport that everyone watches around the country. Aussie Rules is also the only sport I'm aware of that seems to have significant rule changes every year because the AFL brass can't seem to help themselves.

Melbourne Victory v. Melbourne City

The 2015 A-League season has just begun and tonight was the derby game between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City FC at Etihad Stadium. Justin was kind enough to invite me along once again this year, and he has amazing seats in the center close to the field. The atmosphere was fantastic as usual with all the chanting and singing in the north and south ends, especially as it was the first home game for Victory this season. I was looking forward to a bunch of flares being lit like last year, but there were only two throughout the whole match and those came from the Melbourne City FC corner of the ground.

The game itself was quite entertaining. It was a pretty even match, and Victory went into halftime with a 1-0 lead off an own goal, and then scored their second a bit over 10 minutes into the second half. Everything was looking good, but then Melbourne City came back and scored two goals within 3 minutes to tie things up 2-2. It seemed like the game would end in a draw but Besart Berisha scored a goal in the 90th minute and Victory won the match 3-2. It was a very exciting finish, but would have been devastating for Melbourne City supporters.

Essendon v. Port Adelaide

Tonight's game at Ethiad Stadium against Port Adelaide was always going to be an interesting one from an Essendon perspective. With our shot at finals over for this year the coaches have been playing the "Baby Bombers" for the past couple weeks, which has brought some much needed excitement and energy to the team. Dyson Heppell, currently acting as captain with Jobe Watson out injured for the rest of the season, was celebrating his 100th game. In addition, we had the return of two popular former Essendon players now with Port Adelaide- Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder, who was facing his old side for the first time.

Essendon got off to a fantastic start by scoring 6 goals in the first quarter, but unfortunately in the second we couldn't kick through the middle and had eight behinds to just 2 goals. Although we were down 8 points at halftime, we managed to come back to life in the third quarter and tie up the game heading into the final term. However, Paddy Ryder managed to kick a few goals in the fourth quarter (despite boos from the crowd every time he touched the ball throughout the game) and although we got on a couple runs and clawed the score back to be in touch, Port managed to kick away and win by 13 points. It was a disappointing loss due to some questionable umpire calls and skill errors in defense, but it's good to see the young Bombers starting to play well and give us some hope for the future.

Final Score
Essendon: 17.14 (116)
Port Adelaide: 20.9 (129)

Essendon v. Hawthorn

It has been an unusual start to the 2015 AFL season for Essendon. The 34 current and former players who were serving provisional suspensions after being given infraction notices by ASADA last November over the 2012 supplements program were finally cleared by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal just days before the start of Round 1. While this meant our 13 current players could finally play in the team, they hadn't had any match preparation until our first game last week against Sydney. Although we started strong and had a 41 point lead into the third quarter against the Grand Finalists, we ended up fading in the fourth quarter and got overrun, losing to Sydney by 12 points.

For today's Round 2 match we faced the reigning Premiers Hawthorn. No one really had any hope that we could win, especially after Hawthorn's emphatic win over Geelong last week. I joined Tash and her mum and sister at the MCG, seated behind the Hawthorn goals for the game. Amazingly Essendon had another fantastic start and we were up by 22 points at half time (which should have been more but we allowed two late goals before the siren). In the third quarter Hawthorn started to come back, and we went into the fourth quarter with an 8 point lead and a sense of deja vu from last week.

Hawthorn kept coming and eventually went in front by 16 points midway through the fourth quarter. Although it looked like the game was over, the Essendon players did not give up and they cut Hawthorn's lead down to 10 points with 2 minutes left to play. We then somehow managed to kick two goals in a little over a minute, with defender Cale Hooker's goal putting Essendon back in front by 2 points with 57 seconds left on the clock. The ball was back in Hawthorn's 50 as time ran down, and they would have won the game had the siren not sounded a couple seconds before Luke Breust kicked the ball through the goal. The Essendon supporters erupted as we somehow managed to beat the best team in the competition, while the Hawthorn fans were in shock that they lost the game. As the Essendon club song played over the loud speakers former coach Kevin Sheedy walked around the boundary waving his scarf over his head and the crowd joined in.  It was a great moment and a fantastic win for the club.

Final Score
Essendon: 12.6 (78)
Hawthorn: 11.10 (76)

Super Bowl XLIX

The Super Bowl is like an American national holiday, so my fellow Ameristralian Danny and I took today off work so we could watch the big game. Once again we went to Burger Mary's Super Bowl party, which was held at the Waterside Hotel on Flinders Street. This year's game was between last year's winner the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots, who were three time champions under coach Bill Belichick. Normally I would have been a fairly neutral observer, but after last year's NFC Championship game loss against Seattle and their cornerback Richard Sherman's post game comments, I was firmly cheering on the Patriots today.

We had reserved seats up on the third level where there were long tables set up for people to sit at. It was amusing to see all these Aussies going crazy for Miller beer and the 15 varieties of chicken wings (especially the guy across from us who I think ate at least 20 wings himself). The game got off to a slow start, with the New England offense dominating time on the field but not translating that onto the scoreboard. At halftime the game was tied 14-14 after a brave decision by Seattle to go for a touchdown on fourth down in the dying seconds of the second quarter.

After enjoying Katy Perry's half time performance (especially loved seeing Missy Elliot) it was back to the action, and Seattle looked to be in the driver's seat with a 10 point lead going into the fourth quarter. However, you can never count out a team with Tom Brady as its quarterback, and he had two great drives resulting in touchdowns to give the Patriots a 4 point lead with 2 minutes to go. Then came the most insane couple minutes I think I've ever seen in a football game, with Seattle getting quickly down the field in a few plays, including a 33-yard juggling catch by Jermaine Kearse while he was on his back. It looked like the game was all over when Marshawn Lynch was stopped just short of the goal line. One would think you would just run it in, but then Seattle decided to throw the ball and it was intercepted in the end zone by Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler and that was it- the Patriots managed to hold on to win the Super Bowl. It was an amazing finish to a very entertaining second half.

Final Score
New England Patriots: 28
Seattle Seahawks: 24

Melbourne Victory v Melbourne City FC

The A-League season commenced a couple weeks ago, and tonight was the first of the Melbourne Derby games between Melbourne Victory and the newly branded Melbourne City FC (formerly Melbourne Heart).  Justin was kind enough to invite Neil and me to come along to this sold out match at Etihad Stadium.  His seats were ridiculously close as we were eight rows up near the center of the field (Etihad moved all the lower level seats out towards the rectangular ground).  The atmosphere of the game was fantastic, and the North end Victory fans were lighting flares even before the match had started! 

Melbourne City FC struck with the first goal in the 13th minute, but Victory tied things up about 10 minutes later with a goal from Archie Thompson.  Then City came back to score again within the next 5 minutes, and held a 2-1 lead until Victory's Besart Berisha tied it up just before half time.  In the second half it was all Victory as Berisha again scored right at the start of the half and in the 67th minute.  To put the icing on the cake Thompson got another goal a few minutes before the end of match resulting in a 5-2 win for Victory.  The crowd were super excited throughout and flares got lit after each goal.  We were also lucky to get to watch Spanish player David Villa, who is on loan for up to 10 games to Melbourne City FC from New York City FC, which will compete for the first time in the MLS in 2015.

Essendon v North Melbourne Elimination Final

Twelve months ago Essendon finished eighth and should have been in the finals, but due to penalties by the AFL for the supplements scandal were stripped of the opportunity.  This year we finished seventh and tonight faced the sixth place North Melbourne in an elimination final at the MCG.  Both teams have not played that consistently throughout the year, so it really was anyone's game.  My ticket guardian angels for this season Simon and Colette were kind enough to let me join them for the match.  Essendon had an excellent start kicking the first two goals, but North played well in the second part of the quarter and brought the score back to within a point.  However, the second quarter was all Essendon as we gained a 27 point lead and held North to only one point for the whole quarter.

Essendon's lead was up to 33 points early in the third quarter, but then the tide turned as North managed to kick five goals in eleven minutes.  The burst came out of nowhere and completely shifted the momentum of the match as North got to within 3 points.  Both teams kicked goal for goal for a period, but as we entered the fourth quarter you could sense it was only a matter of time before North hit the lead.  Once they did, Essendon managed to get back in front, but from there on it was a nail biter as the lead switched back and forth.  Within the last four minutes North managed to kick two goals and that was it for Essendon and our finals hopes.  It was a disappointing loss as we shouldn't have given away the game after such a big lead.  Not playing for the full four quarters has been an issue all year and this time it cost us dearly.  Considering all the distractions the players have faced it was a great effort to make it into the finals.  Hopefully they will take some lessons from this season and come back next year mentally stronger.  I also hope that Mark "Bomber" Thompson stays at the club as he has been so entertaining as a coach this year while James Hird was suspended.

Final Score
North Melbourne: 14.9 (93)
Essendon: 12.9 (81)

Essendon v. Adelaide

It's been a tough few weeks for the Essendon Football Club as we've likely lost captain Jobe Watson for the rest of the season due to a hip injury, had 34 current and former players issued with show-cause notices by ASADA over the 2012 supplement program, and managed to lose to Melbourne last week by one point (after kicking 17 behinds). We weren't favorites going into tonight's game against Adelaide, but I had a feeling the players might stand up and fight this week.  Essendon had a fantastic first quarter scoring 7 straight goals to Adelaide's 2 goals and 6 behinds.  This helped set us up for the rest of the game as each side had patches of strong play, including former Bomber Josh Jenkins who kicked 4 goals.  Adelaide managed to close the margin down to 9 points a couple times during the last quarter, which made for a nerve-racking finish, but we managed to hold on and get a confidence boosting win.

Final Score
Essendon: 15.11 (101)
Adelaide: 14.8 (92)

Essendon v. Sydney

It was a big Friday night of footy at Etihad Stadium as Essendon faced the Sydney Swans and our nemesis over the years, former Hawthorn and current Sydney player Lance "Buddy" Franklin.  Considering how we have been playing lately I wasn't overly optimistic about this match, but I did not expect us to only manage to score 1.1 and be 6 goals behind by the end of the first quarter.  It was good to see Tom Bellchambers back from injury, and that freed up he and Paddy Ryder to go forward from the ruck at times, although it didn't have a massive impact on the scoreboard.

Of course, the biggest worry was Buddy, and he was up and about getting 3 of his 5 goals in the second quarter.  In the third quarter an umpire collided with a Sydney player and was down on the ground motionless for 5 minutes before being stretchered off.  Some in the crowd were actually booing him, which was a bit rough (Onagh and I even had a guy sitting behind us who wanted him put down like a race horse).  Part of the reason for the booing was likely the bad umpire calls, with the last straw being Michael Hurley getting a head high bump from Sydney's Dan Hannebery that put Hurley on the ground for a few minutes and resulted in no free kick.  Jake Carlisle was our sub for the game and managed to kick 2 goals, so hopefully that is an indication of his form starting to improve.  In the end Essendon lost by 50 points but at least we managed to stop Buddy from getting his 600 career goal!

Final Score
Essendon: 9.10 (64)
Sydney: 18.6 (114)

Essendon v. Western Bulldogs

It's been a mixed start to the season for Essendon.  After the first three rounds we had two wins and a close loss to the reigning Premiers.  Everyone was very optimistic for our prospects this year.  However, we have lost the last three games and have not been playing consistently, so it was very important to get a win tonight against the Western Bulldogs.  As Belinda is a Bulldogs fan she joined me at Etihad Stadium for the match. 

It was a scrappy game from the start with the Bulldogs going into half time with a 14 point lead as we had another disaster second quarter for the second week in a row and did not score a goal.  After watching Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers walking along the boundary at half time (there was some strange Star Wars cross-promotion going on) I was hoping the force would be with Essendon in the second half.  Thankfully a few minutes into the third quarter the boys started to show some life and kick goals again, and we went into the fourth quarter with a 13 point lead.  The last quarter was tense as the Bulldogs got within a goal, but we managed to hold on for a gritty win as our senior players stood up.  Dustin Fletcher had an amazing game but we are still having issues with the forward line.  Hopefully the team can start putting together a full four quarter effort and play better in the coming weeks.

Final Score
Essendon: 10.13 (73)
Western Bulldogs: 9.11 (65)

NAB Challenge: Essendon v. Port Adelaide

Can you believe that the footy is already back?  This year the AFL has created an 18 day carnival of footy with the NAB Challenge (aka preseason).  Tonight was our first opportunity to see Essendon play in town so I brought Leilani along to Etihad Stadium for her initial foray into Aussie Rules.

Essendon started the game well against Port Adelaide although we kept missing shots on goal and getting behinds.  The second quarter was a shocker and Port soon took the lead.  This is the preseason so you'd expect some mistakes but it was as if many of the players forgot even basic hand balling skills. The amount of times we kicked the ball to the opponent was very frustrating.  By the end even Lei was yelling at the players and completely over it like the rest of us.

This was the first game back for several of our veteran players, including new Geelong recruit Paul Chapman.  It was also nice to see former player Angus Monfries on the field again, and he sealed our defeat with a goal after the siren.  Hopefully this poor game will wake up the players to the fact they have a lot of work to do before the season starts in a couple weeks.

Final Score
Essendon: 0.9.11 (65)
Port Adelaide: 1.11.15 (90)

Fitzroy, Collingwood and Melbourne Victory

To give Leilani a taste of Melbourne hipster life we headed to Fitzroy and Collingwood this afternoon for a bit of a wander around.  We started our adventure on Gertrude Street and then turned up Smith Street.  While there we stopped for lunch at Jimmy Grants and had tzatziki dip with pita bread and some very yummy souvas.  Next we hit Gelato Messina for dessert.  This was my second time there and I tried out the tiramisu and choc mint flavors.  While they were both good, I still prefer Spring Street Grocer for the freshest and tastiest gelati in town.

We next turned left and travelled down Johnston Street, where our street art hunt began in earnest.  There are so many little side streets with hidden treasures located inside them.  You just never know what you might find, and we were fortunate to spot some amazing pieces both here and around Brunswick Street as we also browsed in some shops and stopped for a coffee at The Fitz Cafe.

 

 

 

  

After our fun afternoon we headed to the train station to get to AAMI Park and partake in another of Melbourne's favorite past times- sport!  Tonight thanks to my friend Justin we got to join him to watch Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United in an A-League football match (or soccer for us Americans).  The Adelaide fans were in their own small corner of the stadium, but they made up for it through their loud voices.  There was also the amusing chanting and dancing from the Melbourne Victory supporters in the north and south ends of the stands throughout the night.  

The game itself was quite a good one in this battle for third place on the ladder.  Adelaide scored a quick goal at the start and were leading 2-1 at the half, but the Victory came back in the second half and scored 3 goals within a 19 minute period, which had the crowd jumping and cheering each time.  Despite a goal by Adelaide near the end of the match Melbourne held on to win 4-3 in one of the more entertaining matches of the season.

Food Trucks, Monet, and the Bombers

Melbourne is known for its food, art and sports culture, and since there is always so much on it is easy to find activities relating to all three things to do in one day!  Food trucks have been slowly taking off here over the past couple years, and a new event called Trailer Park has started at Village Melbourne on St Kilda Road where a group of food trucks are featured each month on Saturdays and Sundays.  Tash, Carly and I met up for lunch there yesterday, and were able to sample some food trucks we haven't tried yet.  We shared tacos from Cornutopia, a mesquite smoked pulled pork po' boy from Gumbo Kitchen, and a combo plate from The Curry Truck.  Of the three my favorite was the po' boy, but they all tasted good.  For dessert we each picked a different flavor creme brulee from The Brulee Cart, which while tasty was not worth the price considering the size of the serve.  Trailer Park has a great atmosphere and we look forward to coming back in September to sample the next group of food trucks.

Tash and I then headed to the NGV to catch the Monet's Garden exhibition.  It mainly featured paintings Claude Monet did of his garden at Giverny in northern France, including the waterlilies and Japanese bridge he is most famous for.  It was so interesting to see these impressionist paintings up close and compare the variation of colors used to paint the same setting at different times of the day.  I didn't realise that later in life Monet had cataracts issues which affected his vision and perception of color.  Thankfully he was able to have surgery to restore his sight, but it must have been fairly devastating to go through that as an artist.  At the end of the exhibition there is this great panoramic film of the gardens at Giverny which makes you want to go there to visit it in person.  The exhibition is on until 8 September so if you are in Melbourne get down to the NGV to check it out.

After a mulled apple cider at the Tram Bar outside the NGV we hopped onto a train to get to Etihad Stadium for the twilight match between Essendon and North Melbourne.  Tash's cousin Nick O'Brien was starting in the team this week, and we were fortunate enough to get tickets from Tash's aunt.  The Bombers have not been playing well for the past month, and with the interim ASADA report on last year's supplements program and the club and senior officials being charged this week by the AFL for bringing the game into disrepute, I did not have high hopes for this match.  The skill level was poor throughout the game and we paid the price for errors on the scoreboard.  Although the boys finally showed a bit of life in the fourth quarter it was way too late and we ended up losing to North by 45 points.  There are two more matches left in the regular season, and we are going to make the finals no matter what (as long as we don't get stripped of our premiership points by the AFL).  I hope the team can find some form so we aren't completely embarrassed in the first round of finals.

Final Score
Essendon: 9.16 (70)
North Melbourne: 17.13 (115)

Essendon v. Western Bulldogs

It's been an embarrassingly long time since I was last at an Essendon match so I dusted off my Bombers scarf and headed down to Etihad Stadium this afternoon to see us play the Western Bulldogs. While Essendon are having a great season and currently sit third on the ladder there is a dark cloud that has been hanging over the club since the start of the year around the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into the supplement program last year and whether or not players were injected with performance enhancing drugs.  Their report is due next month and depending on the results we may be facing some severe sanctions.

Today's game was a bit frustrating as we would get a comfortable lead only to let the Bulldogs kick themselves back into contention.  I think the team was missing captain Jobe Watson, who is out for the next 4 weeks with a broken collarbone.  There were some amazing goals, including one by Jason Winderlich which could be in contention for goal of the year.  And Tash came along to the match to see her cousin Nick O'Brien play his first senior game of the year (It's the only time she will be caught supporting Essendon!) as he came off the bench in the third quarter as our sub.  Thankfully we won comfortably in the end.

Final Score
Essendon: 18.13 (121)
Western Bulldogs: 14.6 (90)

Here's the Winderlich goal:

Super Bowl XLVII

After the San Francisco 49ers won the NFC Conference Championship I could feel a "Niners Flu" coming on for 4 February.  I received a tweet from Burger Mary about a Super Bowl party she was hosting at The Precinct Hotel in Richmond with an authentic menu of American food and decided to get a ticket.  I also managed to convince Danny take off work and come along as well.  It was nice to have a reserved table in a room where most of the people there were interested in watching the game.  We got a breakfast burrito on arrival, and also sampled the buffalo wings, shrimp po boy and loaded potato skins during the game, which all tasted good.

The 49ers were their own worst enemies in the first half, while the Baltimore Ravens pulled off some miraculous plays that defied belief.  The kick off run back for a touchdown at the start of the second half was almost the final nail in the coffin for the 49ers.  But then the power went out in the Superdome for 35 minutes, and after that it was like the Niners had finally gotten a spark and pulled it together as a team.  They stormed back to within 2 points and it seemed like the power outage would claim the MVP award, but unfortunately the 49ers failed to make it into the end zone on the final drive and the Ravens won the Super Bowl.  It was a disappointing outcome, and the "Quest for Six" still continues.

Of course, the Super Bowl is not only about football, but also the half time show and commercials.  Beyonce's performance was pretty amazing with her use of the screens, and I actually cheered when Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams popped up onto the stage for a mini-Destiny's Child reunion.  The Aussie broadcast doesn't show the American commercials, but I've watched them all on the NFL site, and the Tide "Miracle Stain" one was, not surprisingly, my favorite of the bunch:

Footy in Sydney

Since I didn't have any solid plans for today, I joined Tash for the train ride out to ANZ Stadium at Olympic Park for the Sydney v. St Kilda footy match.  I'm a bit embarrassed that this was my first footy game of the year (and not even an Essendon one).  Before it started though there was an AFL International Cup match between South Africa and the USA, which the USA won!

Tash's friend Belinda joined us for the Sydney match.  We were quite amused throughout the game as the big screens were used to explain the footy rules to the crowd as things happened on the field.  I know rugby is the preferred sport outside of Victoria, but this was a bit ridiculous.  The game was close, and although St Kilda led for most of the afternoon, Sydney won in the end (despite their inaccurate kicking). 

Final Score
Sydney Swans: 10.23 (83)
St Kilda Saints: 10.8 (68)

After the game we headed back into the city for a bit before catching the train out to the airport for our flight home.  We spotted a few of the St Kilda players at the airport at Krispy Kreme of all places.  We flew Tiger Airways back to Melbourne and I thought Tash was joking when she said their terminal was in a shed.  Sadly she was telling the truth- it was comical.  You even have to walk back to the main terminal to catch a taxi!  In any case, it was a fun little weekend trip away and a brief preparation for my much longer flights to the States in a couple weeks time.

Melbourne Victory vs. Brisbane Roar

After drinks to celebrate surviving the first week of the new government, Chantal, Amrita, Justin and I headed into Chinatown for dinner at Ants Bistro.  Justin goes there frequently enough that they were pouring him his beer by the time we sat down at the table.  It was a good and filling meal and I'll probably go there again.

Justin and I then left and headed to AAMI Park to watch Melbourne Victory take on top of the table A-League team the Brisbane Roar.  This was my first time attending a professional soccer match, and the atmosphere was quite entertaining.  On the north and south ends of the grounds behind the goals are the hard core fans who chant and sing (and sometimes throw flares) during the match.  Justin is a mad soccer (or football) fan and was explaining the nuances of the game to me throughout the evening.

The first half was a bit of a disappointment as Brisbane ended up scoring two goals.  However, Melbourne fought back in the second half, scoring three straight goals and had the lead going into stoppage time.  In the last minute of the match Brisbane's goal keeper appeared to pick up the ball outside of the box, which wasn't called by the officials.  The ball then made it's way down the field and Brisbane ended up scoring a goal off a rebound from the Melbourne goal keeper in the dying seconds to bring the match to a 3-3 draw.  The crowd was not impressed and the officials were booed off the ground.  Even though it was a heartbreaking draw, the match was very exciting, especially in the second half.

New Essendon Coach

The Essendon Football Club announced today that former great James Hird will be the new coach of the club. He replaces Matthew Knights, who was fired a few weeks ago after what was possibly the club's worst season in 40 years. While Hird has no AFL coaching experience, he will help reunite the various factions in the club and shore up the fan base that has been unhappy over this past season. Hirdy will have a lot of work to do to bring the club back to its former glory, but we have a good list of young players who will only get better in the coming years. And with a four year contract, hopefully the club and the board will be patient and give him time to improve the team.