footy

Yesterday, we watched our first Australian rules football game (aka footy). The Sydney Swans vs. the Hawthorn Hawks. I had assumed that because the Hawthorn shirts say "Tasmania" on it, that they were from that state. But you cannot go by what the shirt says; they are from Melbourne (the city that is the arch-rival of Sydney).

We arrived just in time to walk into the stadium with all the other fans.

As we were walking to our seats, we found someone passing out these cardboard clappers. Who knew that a simple piece of folded cardboard could make so much noise (and save you the effort of clapping). I loved it. (See video demonstration below.)

There wasn't a lot of pomp and circumstance at the start of the game. No national anthem. No pumped-up music for the football players to run out on the field to. Just the Swan's song (I wish I could think of a clever way to use swan song with Swan's song--but I can't) and the players running a little lap around the field.

We found our seats and Fede's boss Andrew. We needed to sit next to him so he could explain to us what the heck was happening.

 

The clapper is multi-purpose. It makes a lot of noise. You can wave it around, and show your support. It also works brilliantly as a sun shade.

Here's a picture of the Swans Fans who wave giant flags when the Swans make a goal. They sit right behind the goals posts.

The fans are really quite civilized. No standing up to yell and scream. Most of them were smart enough to wear a hat--so no need to use the clapper as a sun shade.

The Swans were pummeled by the Hawks (which seems fitting considering that swans seem likely to lose any battle with a hawk--swans seem so elegant and delicate).

This score did not really inspire us to become die-hard fans.

After the game, people were allowed out onto the field. Most people were kicking or throwing a football around.

At some point, as we were walking across, it felt like at any moment, we would be hit by a flying ball. Amazingly, we did not. The fans had the skills to avoid hitting innocent bystanders.

It was a fun game to watch. Very fast moving. Completely different from American football. (No helmets, no padding, no protective gear. Very few breaks in between plays. It reminded me of basketball. The ball is constantly being moved from one person to another.)

Maybe some day I'll figure out how Aussie rules football is an analogy of Australians. (I could probably make up something about how American football is like Americans.) But now, I can only say it was a fun outing.