Thom and I just spent a suprisingly large amount of time watching Australian Rules Football on TV. Since neither of us knows exactly what is going on, it’s kind of bewildering–I’m going to look up some of these so-called rules–but it’s actually entertaining as well. And no, it’s not just the guys in uniform. Though that is a definite plus.
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Aussie rules
Thom and I just spent a suprisingly large amount of time watching Australian Rules Football on TV. Since neither of us knows exactly what is going on, it’s kind of bewildering–I’m going to look up some of these so-called rules–but it’s actually entertaining as well. And no, it’s not just the guys in uniform. Though […]
2 replies on “Aussie rules”
Aussie Rules football has a number of advantages over the other sports commonly played here: it’s much faster and much less obscure than cricket, the players are more sportif than in rugby (and there’s less violence, the uniforms are ludicrous (particularly when, as with the Sydney Swans, they wear horizontally striped knee socks), the officials are required to perform their various functions with as much swagger and ponce as possible. I’ve only been twice, and it is a game better live than on video, because the field size is vast, without any zones regarding ball handling or goal scoring, so play is only limited by the accuracy of passing the ball, either kicking or “punting” by hand. But I don’t think you’re going to find a lot of it in D.C.
err … actually a ‘punt’ is a style of kicking the ball, more or less by kicking out from one’s own hands, (compared to a ‘drop kick’ where the player drops the ball towards his feet and then kicks it before it hits the ground.
Players are not allowed to throw the ball, but they can ‘handpass’ it by holding it steadily in one hand and punching it away with the other.