ANZAC Day - First Footie Game!

Melbourne is Australia's Sports capital of the world and as Aussies like to put it: "We got sports up to our arseholes!" The sports that define the country; Soccer, Cricket, Rugby and...Footy?

Admittedly, when I first heard the word "Footy" the image of a padded-up, helmet-wearing, 300-pound, American football player prancing around a field and flamboyantly exclaiming with a subtle clap of his hands and a pop of his foot "Lets play Footy!" came to mind. But in reality, its a pretty rugged and masculine sport (if you omit the super short shorts). Australian Rules Football, officially known as Australian football, is also called football, Footy or Aussie Rules, and sometimes AFL, is played on a 135 meter field with eighteen players on each team. Games consist of four twenty-minute quarters. Players may bump or tackle the player to obtain the ball; the players don't use any sort of padding or helmets. A player may run with the ball, but it must be bounced or touched on the ground at least once every 15 meters. Even though their are refs, it seems that there must be some tacit agreement between them and the players because no one ever breaks up Footy fights and there are A LOT of them. One shove of another player leads to all 36 of them on top of each other, jerseys ripped off, and Australians go crazy for it here.

Every year on ANZAC Day, the national holiday that honors all Australians and New Zealanders who served their country (think Australia's version of Veterans Day/Fourth of July combined) there's an annual AFL clash, and since kids are out of school and parents are off of work, the Footy game draws in a huge crowd. In commemoration, there's always a special memorial service in honor of ANZAC Day, so tickets go faster than if Billy Joel was doing another final show at The Garden but we managed, luckily, to secure standing room seats.

We arrived at the game as imposter fans, adorning red and black (the colors of Essendon) pretty much because the group of girls I was with collectively thought this team was overall better looking than their (and now our) rivals: Collingwood. We'd heard a rumor that Collingwood fans were the most obnoxious, so at first we thought we'd support them knowing we'd fit right in perfectly..but then Angus changed our minds ..
   

It was evident from the moment we arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) that this was no ordinary Footy match. Decorated men in their service uniforms, suits with medals and pins, gloves, and hats could be seen everywhere. There were men in current service, veterans, and men who were still in training, proudly walking around the stadium in their uniforms. As you can tell, I didn't mind them man in uniform aspect of the game..

Somehow me and my friend Alex managed to sneak into the fans section right behind the goal post. These were the best seats, where all the rowdy fans were and where you could get the closest pictures of the game. I attempted to strike up a casual conversation with security to elude from the fact that I shouldn't have been there and managed to get some really close pictures... in between trying to get Angus to wave at me.

The ANZAC memorial ceremony was really moving, and was a defining cultural experience during my time abroad. Veterans were driven around the sold-out stadium, as an announcer stated their names and service they provided for their country. There was the salute of the flag, the playing of the national anthem, the annual Lest We Forget Speech.


Alright, I'll have to stop right here to tell you that your not gonna get a play-by-play of the game. I can't tell you the highlights or the memorable goals because honestly, I had no idea what was going on the entire time. Who's on defense? Was that a goal? How many points is that? Truthfully, we had an eleven year old, James, as our personal commentator to tell us what was good, what was bad, when to cheer, and when to let out an exasperated groan.


In the end, Collingwood ended up beating Essendon. Immediately after their loss, I received a couple texts from native Footy fans who were envious of the game we were just at not for the fact that it was sold-out, or that it landed on their national holiday but because "we had just witnessed one of the closest and most impressive games in Footy History!"

Why was it so impressive? Wish I could tell you. Ask James..