June 03, 2003
ACCURATE ARTICLE WRITTEN
Rick Hiebert sends a remarkable article on Australian Rules Football being played in Canada. Remarkable because, unlike practically every other article on the game ever to appear in North American newspapers, this gets almost everything about the sport right. I blame the Internet and its abundance of facts.
Congratulations to writer Howard Tsumura. One small error (that I noticed, at least) did creep through; see if you can spot it.
Posted by Tim Blair at June 3, 2003 07:53 PM"played Down Under since 1896".
That was the foundation year of the VFL, but the VFA, WAFL and SANFL had been around before. The game was first played on July 10 1958.
Posted by: Gareth at June 3, 2003 at 08:41 PMAnd also the factfile at the end: "Players: 18 per side with three interchangeable players" instead of four interchange.
Posted by: Gareth at June 3, 2003 at 08:44 PM"Points are scored by forcing, carrying or kicking the ball through a set of four parallel goal posts situated at the end of each field. "
Unless they have changed the rules a lot since I last saw an Aussie rules game you can't score by carrying the ball between the posts.
Posted by: Russell at June 3, 2003 at 08:55 PMDoesn't say that though, does it Russ. Says "points are scored".
Posted by: Gareth at June 3, 2003 at 09:04 PMI have found the error:
Runtime Error
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.
1958? An unexpected fumble from Gareth in the goal square!
Posted by: tim at June 4, 2003 at 01:15 AMYou need to fix the link to the story. An extraneous HTML tag appears in the middle.
Posted by: Eric Jablow at June 4, 2003 at 01:24 AMAs a player at the tournament the article describes, I can assure Gareth that we were allowed four interchange, not three.
Posted by: marc at June 4, 2003 at 03:35 AMIf the link isn't working, try here. And bonus points for Gareth on the interchange issue!
Posted by: tim at June 4, 2003 at 03:46 AMHere's the error:
"In Australia, you drive on the opposite side of the road," he said. "My first job in Canada was working for a company that sold high-end luxury cars. So right away, I had to get used to driving Ferraris on the wrong side of the road."
The right side of the road is the correct side to drive on, not the wrong side.
Posted by: Moira at June 4, 2003 at 07:57 AMTim:
Glad to help! Thanks for the link
For his readers...if his link to my blog doesn't seem to be working, try:
http://www.ricksmiscellany.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Rick at June 4, 2003 at 08:14 AMTim:
Glad to help! Thanks for the link
For his readers...if his link to my blog doesn't seem to be working, try:
http://www.ricksmiscellany.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Rick at June 4, 2003 at 08:15 AMPristine beaches in Geelong? You said the story was accurate Tim!
Posted by: pezza at June 4, 2003 at 10:32 AM
There's no mention of how much beer must be consumed. I believe the answer to that question is: a lot.
I've discovered a modified rule Andrew. Drinking NO beer at the footy. Gives the game a whole new complexion. Sport's boring without beer.
My school invented the game. Ra! Ra! Ra!
My team was the first ever team. Go Dees!
Re the article...
1) St Kilda's more like the LA CLIPPERS.
2) Plenty of water in Geelong but NONE of it drinkable.
3) We don't dribble it. We BOUNCE it. It being the AGATE.
4) We drive on the RIGHT side of the road. The LEFT side.
5) 20 Minute quarters in name only. Up to 10 minutes stoppage time (Time On) on average.
6) You don't place the ball on your foot. You DROP it.
7) 1958 - BAD year
The BC footy club's been fairly successful at bringing the game into local elementary schools. Between our games, they had a match between teams of Canadian kids.
another problem in the news story: the rules quoted at the end, particularly the handball rule, is lifted directly from the official AFL rulebook (cf. http://www.usfooty.com/docs/AFLLaws2001.pdf), and the source is not credited! Plagiarism!
Posted by: marc at June 4, 2003 at 02:53 PMOnly fair we should give footy a try, since you lads have been playing lacrosse for years. But I suspect St. Kilda's are really more like:
http://www.mississaugaicedogs.com
Posted by: Jim Whyte at June 4, 2003 at 11:59 PM