it's football jim, but not as we know it

When in Rome and all that, obviously I had to go to a game. I was going to go to Richmond-Collingwood on fri night, but, well, that's another story. Luckily there was plenty of games ovr the weekend to give me another chance, so, sunday afternoon, off I went to the magnificent Telstra Dome to see what passes for entertainment over here. Fabulous stadium, by the way, but, cos it's a big oval, probably be a nightmare to watch a real football match. As for aussie rules, a very quick rundown of the rules (as I understand them) The pitch is a huge oval; the ball's like a squashed oval, and can be moved by kicking, running with it in your hand (so long as you bounce it every so often) or a handpass, which is a kind of punch; you score by getting the ball between one of the four big posts at one end of the pitch, a ball thru the middle 2 is a goal, worth 6 points, between a mmiddle and an outer post is a behind, worth 1 point, hence the confusing-looking scores 5.9 (39) ie 5 goals, 9 behinds total 39 points. Clear as mud? And if that wasn't enough, there was an additional super-goal rule for this game, any goals kicked from outside 50 metres would be worth 9 points, so you could get a score of 1.5.9 (48) Anyway, as it happens, the footy season doesn't start in earnest for a few weeks, so this was a kind of pre-season warm-up, hence the crowd of only 25,000 and the laid-back atmosphere. The game was pretty scrappy in places as a result, but when they got going in little spells it was actually quite entertaining stuff. And I was delighted to discover there was a bar in the concourse, so I treated myself to a beer (then discovered it was weak-piss carlton, but there you go) For anyone who's interested, Carlton started stronger, opening up a lead of a couple of goals by the end of the first. Essendon came back well though, and at half-time the only difference between the sides was a supergoal for the Blues. But after the break Carlton piled on the pressure, and the Bombers had no answer as they ran up a massive 42-point lead by the end of the third. Essendon came back bravely in the last, but Carlton still ran out comfortable winners by 2.13.11 (107) to 2.7.10 (70) Did that make sense?

Carlton Blues vs. Essendon Bombers