2012 AFL Thread III - Why Do We Even Bother With Our Stupid Teams?

[intedomine]

Originally Posted by U2inUtah

I know next to nothing about AFL, so I looked it up on wikipedia and read a little about it.

Why are there so many teams in Melbourne, and only two in Sydney?

Because the Australian Football League (AFL) grew out of the old Victorian Football League (VFL) which consisted of mostly Melbourne teams alone. The league was strong, and begun a program of national expansion in the early 80's.

Sydney aren't all that interested in AFL, or the sport in general. They tend to prefer rugby league, while in Melbourne, the AFL is followed quite religiously by it's inhabitants.

One of the Sydney teams only entered the competition this year, while the other is actually an old Melbourne side who relocated to Sydney just over 30 years ago. This was due to financial troubles and the league administrative body wanting to commence expansion of the league nationally.

Whereas the league consisted of 12 Victorian (11 from Melbourne + Geelong) teams in 1980, there are now 10 Victorian clubs and 8 clubs from other parts of Australia.

It's a fascinating league history, even of you go back as far as the late 19th century.

[U2inUtah]

Interesting. Thanks for the info. I guess I am just used to American sports where there is only one team in each city, with maybe two in New York or LA.

[intedomine]

Yeah, it's different because it's not a franchise system as most of the major leagues in the US tend to have developed. The national rugby league is the same. It all kind of just evolved quite organically. Our soccer league does have the franchise arrangement happening though, 'cause its only 7 seasons old.

[Alisaura]

Originally Posted by Vlad n U 2

I should probably do something about that GWS tip before it's too late but I can't bring myself to do it because it's Port they're playing.

You made the right decision!

Originally Posted by Axver

Fuuuuck. NEVER TIP PORT, AX; NEVER TIP PORT.

I know... I'm going to blame the coin for this one! Well done GWS.

And... way to go, Freo, so far...?

[Axver]

Originally Posted by U2inUtah

I know next to nothing about AFL, so I looked it up on wikipedia and read a little about it.

Why are there so many teams in Melbourne, and only two in Sydney?

Yeah, it was originally slightly strange to me too, coming from New Zealand where there is only one team from a city/region - and we don't have a franchise system (well, the Super Rugby is now a franchise system, but not quite like US franchises). inte covered things pretty well; Aussie Rules originated in Melbourne so it naturally has a proliferation of teams, and the sport was based around state leagues until the early eighties. The Victorian league was the strongest, wealthiest one so it was the one that morphed into a national league. The state leagues in Western Australia and South Australia remain pretty strong locally, and the Tasmanian state league used to be huge there too but stumbled hard in the late 20th century.

Australia is traditionally divided on football codes by what's called the Barassi Line. Aussie Rules, however, is doing well breaking through - partly because of the large population of Victorians who have moved to southeast Queensland, and partly due to recent premiership success by the Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans. It will probably keep growing there too. Rugby league's forays into Aussie Rules territory have been markedly less successful; even the Melbourne Storm continue to generally be reliant on NSW/Queensland exporting rugby league players, while Queensland produces enough of its own Aussie Rules talent to largely support its two teams without interstate imports (in fact, until the creation of the Gold Coast team, it had begun to export talent).

[Vlad n U 2]

Fremantle making a run towards the 8 now. I wouldn't have believed it a few weeks ago but Essendon aren't too far away from falling out, they're in 8th at the moment.

[Axver]

Oh I believe it all too well. Fuck me, how can Essendon go from being equal first to missing the finals? I'm worried we won't make it, especially not with Collingwood as our final game. This is going to be galling.

And as for West Coast, they're starting to look troubled too. They're fifth now, and could slip far enough to not even get a home elimination final, let alone make the top four. Their run to the end includes Geelong, Collingwood, and Hawthorn (though only travelling to Melbourne for the Hawks). That could go very pear-shaped; the only assured win the Eagles have left is against Port.

[Vlad n U 2]

Pav is killing it.

[The Sad Punk]

This is horrible. Thank god I'm getting drunk.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by The Sad Punk

This is horrible. Thank god I'm getting drunk.

Drink hard, Bonnie. Drink hard.

[bono_man2002]

The big Pavlova!!

[Alisaura]

Wow, my tips are looking shit this round! Thank god for North Melbourne?

[Axver]

Yeah, North Melbourne's the only one I've got so far too.

St Kilda started nicely but should've been further in front at quarter time - they blew a whole bunch of prime attacking opportunities simply by rushing. And now Collingwood's come out after the break to snatch the lead decisively with three goals in under three minutes!

[Axver]

Also, BT is having a shocker tonight - it's hilarious! But why the hell did he call Saad "the garage man"?

[The Sad Punk]

Why do I even bother with my stupid team?

[Axver]

Holy fucking shit, the end of the Pies/Saints game! The last ten minutes had EVERYTHING.

Got to say though, an atrocious umpiring decision might've cost the Saints the game. There were a bunch of bad calls against both teams, but the worst was with seven or so minutes left when Harry O'Brien struck Milne in the Saints' attacking fifty, inciting Milne to retaliate. Instead of giving St Kilda the penalty and a good shot on goal (when they were just four points down), O'Brien got the penalty and Collingwood went the length of the field to score a goal. Horrible decision.

But in the end, christ, that was just frantic, thrilling footy, and I'm glad I finally got another tip (especially in light of what's happened to my Brissie pick; "they're good at the Gabba", I said, ugh). I swear to god BT must've been on the piss before the game. He was losing his mind.

[bono_man2002]

Steven Miline gets what he deserves. That's all I'll say. I dunno if what he did to Jolly was as bad on TV, I didn't see a replay because I was too busy hurling abuse. Very unlike me, but I hate the Saints.

Moving on, that game was pressure intense. We had far to many opportunities to finish them off and just didn't. Great game of footy otherwise

[Axver]

Baffled by your player who played on in the dying minute and kicked a behind when he would've been dead certain to kick a goal had he gone back and set it - not to mention the fact he could've wound down the clock a fair bit!

Oh, and Harry O'Brien was really ringing up the dodgy decisions; I'm doubtful he deserved that final-seconds penalty. St Kilda probably should've been allowed to keep playing ... which would've led to a draw. God, a draw - BT would've had a heart attack!

And on another note, I see we've already got a bunch of memes doing the rounds about how Pavlich on his own kicked a higher score than West Coast. Ouch.

[The Sad Punk]

Pav is a superstar with a magnificent nose. We're a shit team with a lot of injuries. I'm gonna go call up 2013.

[Axver]

Originally Posted by The Sad Punk

I'm gonna go call up 2013.

Might want to wait a bit - I've got that line all tied up right now.