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Richmond Football -- Round 10! If you've been with me this long, you already know that I'm no footy expert! If you're new to my site, the disclaimer is at the bottom of the page! Please read it so you know where I'm coming from!!
Whether you're new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, your comments and questions are always welcome! Send 'em to me and I'll share them here!
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Yeeks. Yikes. We lost AGAIN! This is bad, sooooo bad!!! If we're looking for excuses we can say, as the papers have widely reported, that no Victorian side has won the week after playing in Perth. (For those who aren't familiar with Australia, think of the Seattle Seahawks playing the Miami Dolphins.) Yadda yadda yadda. Fact is, we didn't play to our potential. In the words of Danny Frawley, "too many passengers." If you want to read about the details of the game, you can get your fill at the AFL.com website or the Richmond Tigers website. Rather than discuss the pros and cons of this particular game, I'd like to share some details of a video I watched this week. My mate in Australia sent me some video tapes of the Richmond games played earlier this season as well as some footy talk shows. Good stuff, I'm here to tell you! As I watched the tapes, there were two particular things that came to mind that I think are unique to Australian Rules Football. The first is the aerobic fitness of the athletes. Unlike the NFL where strength conditioning and quickness off the line (from a standstill to a collision) are priorities, endurance fitness is essential to footy players. I've mentioned it before, but it really jumped out at me during halftime of a game when they talked about Nathan Buckley. They'd put a tracker on him prior to the game to measure the distance he's run during the game. At half time he'd run in excess of 10 kilometers! TEN KILOMETERS!! I think that's totally amazing! That's not a nice leisurely jog around the neighborhood, that's up and down the field, kicking, jumping, tackling, being tackled, catching the footy, crawling around for the footy -- you name it! I truly admire the athleticism of these men! The second thing that stands out in my mind is the fact that we, the fans, are taken into the locker room! HOW COOL IS THAT?? Prior to the game we watch the boys warming up, getting rub downs, going over the game plan with their mates, pacing, pacing, and pacing some more! At halftime we see them taping up or stretching out, listening to the coach, talking with other players, etc. And at the end of the game, we see the joy of victory or the agony of defeat. At times it must drive the players mad, don't you think? But for me, a fan, it's like I'm there! It gives me a more personally connected feeling. It's SO cool!! I'll talk more on this in next week's report, as we cover another Aussie tradition! Watch for it!!! Disclaimer: This site is intended for those of us who are relatively new to Aussie Rules Football. I don't claim to be an expert -- in fact I'm as green as they come! The ideas expressed are accurate to the best of my wee, limited and infantile knowledge! Please keep in mind that my comments come strictly from listening to the game, not viewing it. I'm putting a lot of weight into the way it's called. Thanks so much to the Tiger fans from Australia who have taken time to write! It's been great fun and I love hearing from you! That said, kick back and have some fun with me as we go through a season of Aussie Rules Football!!
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