Ok, what I am about to express is my view only, so to all you die hard fans of this Oval Ball game please do not fetch your voodoo dolls of me and poke them with pins. Now that said I will continue.
Football, Footy or Australian Rules as it is known, is a game that I do not understand. It is a game that no matter how hard I have tried ( and I do admit I have not tried very hard ) just does not install a sense of passion in me. I just don't get it.
Lots of men wearing tight shorts and sleeveless tops running around in an oval of mud chasing a ball made from the hide of some poor beast to the cheers of a crowd. The shorts are usually way too small hence leaving not alot to the imagination..( prob why some women like it.) Wearing tops that show off muscles that are .. ok .. I admit are rather nice, but still I don't get why some people virtually pass out at the sight of a footballer. Don't they realise this game is played in winter with rain, hail and freezing temperatures?? Didn't their mums tell them to wear a nice warm thermal to keep their torsos warm? I still don't get it. Maybe there is something wrong with me?? Hmmm ( all those agreeing please nod head now ;-) )
Footy is a game played by youngsters from a very early age. It is probably born into many of them. It is expected that boys especially will love the game and want to follow in the foot steps of some bloke who kicked 100 goals. Still I don't get it.
I see parents out on the weekends watching their future champions of the game, supporting them from the side lines, encouraging them to mark the ball or kick it for all they are worth. Some I see, I have to admit, do tend to get a bit over zealous in their encouragement but probably most games can be the same. But still it is a game that is played through out this vast country to almost cult proportions.
The ball itself I have never been able to master. Yes it is oval with laces on top but it also has a huge mind of its own when it comes to going the direction it is intended. I know there is a certain way in which it should be bounced but I have no where near mastered that. The ball I try to control usually ends up the other side of whoop whoop with me chasing after it cursing under my breath.
As for kicking it. Ha ha what a joke !!! Don't ever ask me to demonstrate to ferals the correct technique for kicking this piece of leather. I would usually land on my derriere in a not so lady like display of foot ball uselessness. Not one of my mastered talents.
It is a ball that apparently has to be held the right way up. Held at the right angle and kicked off ones foot at a certain spot. Nope my attempts do not even come close.
I have only ever been to 1 .. yes 1 .. foot ball game. Hub took me years ago in the capital city of footy. All I remember was it was freezing, some bloke in front was a bit over intoxicated and that the fans on the edges would yell and scream at the poor umpires with an aggressive manner. Hmmm it was a bit of an eye opener for an innocent country girl like me ( cough cough ).
He has tried to encourage me to go to another but personally I would rather wax my legs after 20 weeks of growth and I am sure I would probably enjoy that pain more !!
The supporters are a league of their own. I do actually admire them, especially the totally devoted ones who live and breathe footy. To have a belief in something so passionately must in my books be worth a footy supporters jumper at the end of a game. The intensity that these people can feel is something that I never have, so I suppose I can not understand. But it is still just a game. !!!
I have said numerous times to those following this Oval Ball game that it is indeed, just a game. I am then eyeballed with the intensity of a cat watching a rat and told ever so politely .. " It is more than a game ". Huh.. more than a game? Isn't it still the same game they were told as a kid that it does not matter if you win or loose? The same game that you are told " As long as you tried and had fun ". The same game where you were told as a child that it is " just a game".?? Apparently not.
It is more than a game .. to some it is a religion worth worshipping.
Grand final is in September. It is a day that the majority of Australia stops for. A day when BBQ's are organised at a mates house with a few tinnies thrown in, and chips to be chucked around. A day when supporters decorate their homes and them selves in the colours of the team they support as a sign of solidarity ( and to probably peeve off others who's team did not make the final ). A day when Australia holds its breath while the Australian National Anthem is sung to the roar of the 100 000 strong crowd. A day when shopping is a breeze as the crowds are few and far between which suits me just fine !!
But in the end all are entitled to their own opinion and for those who love this game with passion I say good on you. It may not be my cup of tea but if it is yours I am sure I will hear you yelling at the top of your lungs when some big burly muscled man with tight shorts and that cut off sleeveless top kicks another goal between those posts to score the winning goal. Still... its just a game !!!
P.S. Ouch ... I am sure I just felt a pin prick ... ahhhhhh !!!!
Cheers Dilly xx
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