Something is happening at Kotaku HQ. All the men and women who work here that don’t necessarily like video games (and some who do) are talking about the sports balls. They’re talking about the AFL and the Rugby League. As someone who only really likes the soccer ball version of sports ball, I’m confused. What are the kinds of sports ball that you like to shout at?
I thought I’d just chuck it out there as a broad topic: are there any teams you support? Do you watch Rugby League or AFL? Which do you prefer?
I’ve actually gone to a couple of matches here and there — I went to watch the Parramatta Eels play since I live within walking distance of their stadium. I’ve also gone to see the Sydney Swans play a couple of times. Personally, if I had to choose between the two, I think I enjoyed AFL most mainly because Rugby League felt a little too much like two lines of human flesh colliding into one another constantly for 80 minutes. But yeah… that’s just my completely uneducated opinion!
I think I could get behind AFL, it seems like there’s a lot of skill to it, and the pacing often feels a little bit like soccer, which I love.
Comments
115 responses to “Off Topic: Do You Even Sports Ball?”
Title needs to end with “, Bro?”
lol what. why would you have people not interested in games :/
Kotaku shares offices with Gizmodo, Lifehacker & PopSugar, I believe.
so yeah… pretty sure it’s the LifeHacker guys who aren’t fans :p
What I don’t get is the implication that there is some sort of rule that people who do like games don’t like sport.
Calling it “sports ball” as though it’s a generic waste of time, while playing the latest Mario game aged 37…
I love gaming, and I also love football (AFL), cricket (tests) and F1.
What would you call it?
Using the term sportsball covers the range of different sports that people prefer. It also differentiates it from esports so that we don’t have to go through that “is it a real sport or not ” arguments every time one of these is posted.
I think the article quite clearly suggests that all sports are a sort of generic faux manly thing that is of no interest to the writer.
I don’t know, considering they talk about loving one of the football codes I don’t it is all that negative. I understand the point you are making about the implication and it is often used that way. But at the end of the day that is just tribalism, the same as you won’t have people talking about designer fashion at a football game.
As for where it comes from a lot of it is the left over chip on the shoulder from people being bullied in school by the people who were good at sport,
Yeah I’m with you. People are always trying to defend gaming as being an adult hobby and trying to be taken seriously. Belittling sport because you aren’t very invested is kind of hypocritical from a site that has featured more than one article on gaming being taken seriously. That one a why ago about the team of sports casters poking fun at esports and kotaku’s reaction for example.
I read it more as Serrels having a dig at his own ignorance of the codes (and as Tigerion mentions above, he actually says he loves soccer in the text) rather than pushing the implication that people who like video games are distinct from people who like sports…
That being said, you do have a point about gamers in general getting a little high and mighty when it comes to comparing the two past times. Again, I think Tigerion is right above in suggesting it’s tribalism in action (I often get incredulous expressions from other guys when I say I don’t watch any sports aside from the occasional NFL game).
What do you mean they are talking about the Sports Balls?
I don’t know what it means to ask if I even Sports ball??
big fan of proper football (soccer). I get along to A-League matches when I can, & watch the free to air broadcast on SBS each week & the W-League on ABC. watch the EPL on foxtel whenever I’m up at my parents place.
I’d probably still be playing, but I messed my knee up playing a few years ago.
AFL… nothing against it, but it’s not a big thing in NSW & I’ve never bothered to learn the rules.
Rugby. I dig it. Watch the Shute Shield if I ever catch it on TV & World Cup, but not a big follower.
NRL. cant stand it.
other sports, like tennis, I’m a fan of.
but cricket… I cant watch it. too slow.
“Proper” football – please. Get Eurass back to Eurasia! (Simpsons quote before I get modded).
AFL – fast, high scoring, tough, varied, tactical, exciting, crowds are passionate but not violent, 99% of players don’t engage in staging, poor umpiring unlikely to affect outcomes, game invented in and played only in Australia, best players are here
Soccer – slow, low/no scoring, soft, attracts players interested in promoting genocide through racial taunts, appears to be exclusively followed by ethnic gangs looking for a good place to riot, players fake constantly, poor umpiring/staging totally ruins many games, game imported from overseas and totally generic, best players wouldn’t play here if their life depended on it
I personally think it’s a shame people are so desperate for soccer to succeed in Australia when we have such a great footy code of our own. My perception is that soccer is followed by a lot of people who can’t let go of the ‘old country’, while footy is a game for people who regard themselves as Australian, not as an English/Greek/Serbian/whatever ex-pat.
But then, you like rugby and dislike cricket, so there’s no helping you.
Wat.
I kinda think you’ve got the impression on AFL a bit wrong there.
Non violent fans? There are always violent fans.
No staging? There is always staging in every game I’ve seen.
Good umpiring? Ha! HAHAHAHA! Even if it doesn’t affect the outcome people always whine about it.
It’s not exactly fast either.
It gives the impression of being fast in comparison to say soccer and curling (which is totally a sport!), but it’s not very fast. High scoring is because kicking the ball high enough means no one can stop it from scoring, each goal is worth 6 points, and even if you miss the main goal you pretty much get a point for effort, so long as you were close.
Your description of Soccer was borderline offensive, so I’m not even going to bother fixing that one for you.
I’d much rather play Soccer than Football to be honest. But I hate watching either of them 😛
Reading your post I sincerely believe that you have never watched a good game of AFL in your life.
Regarding your previous post I sincerely believe that you have never watched a good game of soccer in your life.
Your comment is a bit…offensive. Not the Simpson’s quote, just the whole rest of it. Oh and wrong, so very wrong. In so many ways. I usually like to stay polite on Kotaku but you’re rudely and even racistly judging people based solely on what sports they like and this is not the place for ridiculousness like that.
Wow. I think you are totally misreading me.
Which part of my post is inaccurate?
There HAVE been repeated incidents of players and fans inciting racial/ethnic hatred in Australian soccer. It’s a serious problem which has been openly acknowledged by the FFA.
For example – racial violence at a ‘friendly’ in Australia:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/divided-we-fall-20110820-1j3ir.html
There IS a history of Australian soccer clubs having particular ethnic associations, and those associations being the source of significant problems at games.
Example: Australian soccer player gives salute associated with Serbian nationalism and causes a pack of opposition fans from a ‘Croatian’ club to start a riot at the end of the game:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Despotovski
Example 2: club with a support base drawn from a particular ethnic community:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Knights#Supporters
Example 3: a whole blog about “Ethnic Victorian Soccer” celebrating the fact that soccer teams playing represent clashes between ethnic groups, with lots of great reading material for you:
http://ethnicvictoriansoccer.wordpress.com/
I am the least racist person you can imagine, and I find your suggestion offensive. I am an immigrant to this country myself. One of the great things we have going for us here is that we don’t have a history of nationalist or racist hatred and war. My whole point was that soccer appears to have racist (or at least, nationalist) associations, while IMHO AFL does not, especially since Nicky Winmar took his famous stand. I was suggesting that people should get over the hatreds that existed in their ‘old country’, and that soccer is an unhealthy environment in that regard.
I mean, what is good about a system where fans of sporting clubs compete on the basis of competing racial allegiances? Rather than encouraging good natured sporting competition, this encourages the continuation of the same prejudices and hatreds from previous generations and other countries.
A few Melbourne AFL clubs used to have strong associations with local ethnic communities, but that is no longer really the case and I have never heard of AFL fans clashing because of things that happened a generation ago in Europe.
Wow, another pro AFL fan who is panicking about the state of their game in there beloved country lol. I’m a football fan and a AFL fan but whenever the conversation comes up about “Real” football it’s only the AFL supporters who go on on about it.
I have played both (Football at a high level currently) and you would have to be blind not see that more skill is needed to play the beautiful game.
But on the other hand AFL is really exciting to watch (On TV). IMO its not nearly as exiting at the ground.
My perception of is that AFL is followed by the low income part of Australia’s population and is fulled by alcohol. I believe that the players playing the game are caught up in drug scandals, bikie gangs and all take performance enhancing drugs (I don’t really believe any of this, I’m just pointing out how ridiculous you perception of football is)
How about you appreciate a game that’s played all around the world (Including you own) with a long history and huge supporter basses all around the globe……………..or you could just continue to stereotype it supporters and use peoples cultures as an excuse as to why people in Australia follow it.
I love both games but for completely different reason.
Please see the post and links above. I’m not sterotyping anyone, I’m observing things that have actually happened and continue to happen in Australian soccer.
PS if soccer fans don’t have an issue, why do they insist on attempting to appropriate the word “football”. Just like in the US if you say “football” you mean grid iron, in Australia if you say “football” you mean Aussie Rules. Get over it.
And that right there is the rub.
If you say football in QLD or NSW – it generally means NRL.
If you say football in SA or VIC – it means AFL.
In Canberra, chances are you’d be referring to NRL or Union.
By my estimation – NRL is more popular overall (and I think State Of Origin/NRL Grand Final ratings between the two are close, but obviously NRL has more casual appeal as while %5 or so less people watched the NRL than AFL Grand Final – the 3 state of origin matches also made the top 20 – which means the casuals at least get involved 4 times a year, unlike the annual county fair of the AFL Grand Final. http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/the-ratings-reality-show-the-most-watched-tv-of-2013-20131204-2ypc6.html
So stop kidding yourself that “football” means AFL to even a majority of Australians, let alone Austwide. When the FA was formed in the 1800’s, The Rugby school, whose style of the game was played as well as the “no hands” football – chose to keep their code, and the Rugby name – separate.
And just because some bunch of blokes in Melbourne decided to invent their own game as a dumbed down version of Rugbys code (and both football proper and Rugby were played many years prior, even if not formally incorporated, due to variance of codes played) with points for punching the ball not quite between the posts and the like – and the same bunch of guys formally incorporated the newer sport – is no claim on the title “football”.
Football is the one where 20/22 players are only allowed to use their feet. And the one that the Football Federation Australia governs.
Why is it these VFL (what I knew it as growing up in the 80s) guys feel so threatened? Probably because only one state really cares enough to have more than 3 teams. And its not even the most populated state in the country.
AFL, NRL, UNION and FOOTBALL.
Is basketball a sports ball? I watch a lot of NBA and follow it religiously. Little interest in following egg shaped sports balls.
I also play a lot of basketball. Almost got pretty good, then didn’t.
Also, I’m a MUFC fan. Grew up supporting them in the UK, Dad’s a die hard fan and I’ve been to a fair few games before moving this side of the world. So I don’t mind football, used to play a bit, but just not as interested.
TBH, I enjoy watching any kind of sports other than baseball, cricket, golf and racing.
Big Clippers fan right here!
You must be enjoying Blake’s continued development. He’s shaping up as the best PF in the game. I’d love to see Clippers do well in the playoffs, but I can’t see it happening if they get Spurs/Thunder in earlier rounds. West is too strong for it’s own good.
Definitely enjoying Blakes development. It’s pretty clear he worked hard in the last season to add to his repertoire at the cost of his traditional game and it’s paying dividends this season. I think he might start to earn the accolades he was getting 2-3 seasons ago.
You’re right though, they’re going to struggle in playoffs again. They tend to taper off a little towards the end of the season and I can’t even remember the last time they beat Thunder. They COULD beat Spurs, they’ve done it consistently for periods in the past but playoff-Spurs are a power to be reckoned with. Even by some miracle Tony Parker gets injured, Patty Mills has proven he can step into those shoes comfortably.
Clippers won’t get any further until something new happens to their roster. I’d doubt they’ll take back Lamar Odom (they worked hard on this guy but it’s never paid off) but the vague rumours of Lebron moving to Clippers makes me excited no matter how unlikely.
Who do you follow?
Blake is a beast ! but I think come playoffs that Doc will be the best addition to that team. He knows how to win and how to get players to buy in, but your right not sure how they will go against a playoff vet team like Spurs etc.
also goooooooooo Patty ! he has really shown he can ball with the best this year, he just needed a chance to shine.
I more follow a player. So I was a KG fan since I started watching NBA which meant I was a T’Wolves, Celtics and then Nets fan. However, I hate the Nets now and KG’s time is up, so I’ve moved on to my next young gun – Andre Drummond. Being a Pistons fan is tough, I’m really hoping he ends up on a decent team sooner rather than later as he has championship potential. Other than that, I like watching the Clippers, Heat and Thunder. I’ve watched a lot of Thunder recently as Steven Adams is starting and I played against him in NZ when I lived there.
@falkirion001 Yeah tough time for the Celtics, no doubt they will get back on track it just may take 2-3 years. Yeah I’d like to see Warriors do well. There’s a good rivalry between them and the Clippers so that will be an awesome series if it happens. You know what’d be good is if Matthew Dellavedova went to the Spurs. He’s a decent Aussie player coming off the bench for the Cavs, but could be better (like most people) playing under Popp.
Yeah I have a KG jersey from all his NBA teams (T/wolves, celts (x2) and Nets), its pretty sad to see him struggling with his back now, I think the writing is on the wall. Hopefully he can get healthy for the playoffs and the nets can make a decent run of it for him, as i’m not sure if he’ll be back for another round next season.
Drummond is going to dominate once he gets it together (and maybe goes to a better team), I’m keeping close tabs on Kawai Leonard I think him coming into the Spurs under Popp and being sort of underrated will allow him to develop nicely, I think he may be a massive star in the making.
Also keen to see what happens with Dant Exum in the draft and if he can fit into NBA and develop, kids got mad ball skills from what I’ve seen.
Definitely, Exum looks awesome. Leonard is completely underrated, if he was on any other team I think he could be a star already! Come playoffs, I think he’ll end up playing a massive piece in the Spurs success.
I haven’t got a KG Nets one yet! I’d like the black one, but haven’t seen either in Australia and I’ve come to the conclusion they’re not going to be. 🙁
Yeah I had to grab one from the NBA store, cant seem to find any current players in most stores I look at. I find plenty of past players (bird etc) or Current players on wrong team (if I see one more Howard Magic uniform I will burst!)
@venophaze There’s a http://www.culturekings.com.au in Sydney which has become my haven. I can always go in there and find something to buy. I bought 2 amazing alternative/swingman jerseys from there last year (KD and Rose.) I’m not sure if they deliver though, but if you ever go to QLD or NSW!!
Cheers for the heads up.
Yeah im from SA so we don’t have many of those kind of stores here.
I am in NSW/VIC/QLD often but usually for business so not much time for other things (except drinking which seems to be the sports ball for business people), and when I do go on holidays its usually to the country/regional areas and not the cities.
but I see they deliver, ill deff keep that in mind for future. cheers to you again !
Kawhi Leonard under-rated? didn’t you guys watch any of the Finals last year? He was the Spurs best player for quite a few of the games. He had LeBron locked down tight in most of their wins and was getting huge recognition for that defensive effort.
He would certainly be a much bigger star if he was not in small-market San Antonio plus they already have established stars which also doesn’t help.
@glock Well that’s what I mean. Of course he’s rated by his own commentary team! It’s the league wide recognition and general fan recognition which I don’t think he gets enough of, however it’s only really Duncan on the Spurs that gets that now. Even TP is so often looked over at times.
Another NBA fan here. Big on the Celtics but I knew going into this year that it was rebuild time after we lost Pierce and KG, then Doc to boot. Hoping to see the Warriors do well in the west, Bogut’s been big for them at times this year. Patty Mills too on the Spurs
Love my Celtics, Nets are kinda my second team so I was at least happy KG a Truth were traded to them. But Doc to Clippers, well that kind of hurt a bit.
Not sure how the warriors will do come playoffs not sure they are a 7 game series team, full of talent no doubt, but not sure how many series they can grind out.
Yeah B-Ball is deff a sports ball. I’ve played since I was about five (im 33 now), was playing twice a week + trainings throughout but had last season off (due to injury) and will only be going back for one night a week social ball (I think my competition days may be behind me now).
Get to as many 36ers games as possible (usually 4 or 5 a year). Massive NBA fan (Originally just Supersonics then Celts and Nets, but mostly just follow players these days rather than teams). I have league Pass so that helps with watching games after work hours etc while I game (its a bloody awesome combo !
I also follow the Crows religiously for AFL (cant remember the last game I didn’t watch) and go to at least 5 games a year, catch some NRL and super rugby/wallabies on TV where I can, and get to a couple of Adelaide United games a year also.
WOW looking at all that I am obviously a massive sports ball fan !
Sounds like it indeed! I guess I am myself. Happy to watch most sports, especially if there is a beer in my hand. Also, played a lot of sports growing up, predominantly basketball and playing again now at a social level, may get back in to a league soon once my fitness is up. I went and saw the Kings play a couple of weeks ago which was pretty fun. Good to see Sam Young in person! However, Perth handed them a beating.
So you didn’t follow Ray Allen to the Heat?!
Yeah beer makes most things better !! I have been getting calls from the team I used to play for seeing how my injury is going and if I wanna come back for some tryouts, but I think I might call it a day (I run my own business so im always busy and like to chill at night now im an old fart lol !) Social ball im up for, but that’s about it I think.
Perth is gonna be hard to beat this year (as always), but hopefully 36ers can get Gibson back in time for finals and we can give them a run for the title !
I really like Ray but not really a bandwagon fan ! didn’t really agree with how Lebron handled his trade from Cavs so couldn’t bring myself to follow them. Still keep tabs on Ray though. I see he had a big night in the Heats win the other day, so ill watch that game on League Pass at some stage.
Yeah he had a great game.
I was disappointed to see the Breakers just fall apart, I was a big fan of theirs as I lived in NZ for 6 years (been in Sydney for 3.) The little I’ve seen of the 36’ers they looked pretty strong. Hopefully someone can give Perth a run for their money.
Crows! Adelaide Oval games woo!
Like this + 10 000 000 !
Hell yes, my good man. Take my upvote! TAKE IT!
I watch a heap of NBA (dual screens + quiet workdays + NBA League pass) but am finding this year pretty lackluster. Mainly coz the East is so terrible.
99% of the time at home I’m either watching Foxsports 1,2,3, ESPN or ESPN2, otherwise the tv is off.
Follow AFL, NBA, NFL, NHL & EPL pretty closely. Love watching the tennis and golf majors too. I’m also a WACA member and go to the Test there each year.
So yeh, I do sports-ball.
Sounds like you made sports ball your bitch!
It’s a real shame about the East, I just hate how it unbalances the play offs so much. However, I think the season has been far from lackluster!
Yeah its funny when you look at the standings and the 3rd place east teams would barely scrape into 8th in the west.
But not so many years ago it was the opposite so I guess it will even out or swing back the other way eventually.
yeah I am also finding this season pretty good to watch, lots of side stories going on like
doc and the clips
can heat go again, then keep together after free agency
can spurs once again prove everyone wrong and prove they are not to old again !
Underdogs (suns etc) and if they can keep it going into finals
+ many more, so yeah sorry to disagree but I cant say its been lacklustre from my point of view
I wish they’d go back to the best of 5 format for the first round of the playoffs. Seems like every year there are some boring sweeps or 4-1 series wins. I guess best of 7 = more $$$….
I think maybe even best of 5 for round 1 & 2, but then 7 for Conference Finals and Finals. On that note, I really want them to shorten the season. For three reasons: 1. Too many injuries. 2. Playing each team home and away once should make for more competitive regular season. 3. Too many games on one day means I’m often stuck for choice!
The east being constantly terrible doesn’t bother me as much as the injury bug that has been poking it’s ugly head around for the past couple of seasons. No Kobe and D Rose shows have let me down (especially in Kobe’s case, with me being a Laker’s fan), and the continued spotty appearances by Rondo, the Spurs roster, Brooklyn’s roster, CP3, Davis, Nash, Love.
Very excited for the Laker’s next two years to see what exciting free agent hauls Kupchak will bring in.
Also follow the AFL. Big West Coast supporter.
Days of basketball and footy are in the past due to the knees unfortunately.
Yeah it’s a pretty tough time to be a Lakers fan, which makes me quite happy inside. Does garnet23 refer to KG (and MJ)? Surprised you’re a Lakers fan if one of your fav. players is Garnett! No doubt they will get back on track, can’t wait to see a decent Celtic/Laker rivalry back in place.
Injuries are just the worst. I’ve especially felt the frustration this year with going in to a Fantasy League with some mates for the first time.
Awkward story. When I was making my gamertag back in the day I was desperately flicking through players and numbers names like Kobe 8 and Duncan 21. Then tried garnet 23 and was hell stoked to get it. Except he was and has never been 23 and was in fact 21 -_-
Lakers and Celtics struggling so hard is a weird thing to be witnessing. The new collective bargaining agreement should keep those two a bit more balanced compared to the rest of the league which is probably for the best, competition wise.
Pacers all the way baby. Been a Pacers fan sine 92 , got to see some vintage Reggie with Rik Smits and Detlef , through to the Davis brothers era ( whilst not actually brothers ) , then onto the Jermaine and Artest show , and now to the beast of the east days.
This is our year.
Wow that’s impressive man. I was only 2 years old then :p. Seeing Reggie vs Jordan back in the day (and all the other great 80s/90s matchups) would just be awesome.
Hmmm, the Eastern Conference Final is gonna be a treat to watch. I may need several sick days for that. I still think Heat will pull it out of the bag, but they need a healthy team and ideally Oden to play full minutes.
I worked in a basketball trading card shop at the time too, best time ever. Just watched games all day and took on all comers on the instore NBA Jam. it was sensational having the key to it and playing non stop.
:O…sounds…heavenly.
I throw the destroyed soccer ball or hand egg for my dog, that’s about as close as I get to any form of sports now.
Can’t stand Football, probably because every time I read the news the players are up to no good… Difficult to have any respect for it whatsoever.
Which is ironic, because I agree with Mark in his love for Mixed Martial Arts and watching UFC, it gets a very bad wrap and it shouldn’t, incredible sport.
Sea Eagles. Yay football!
Sport is the greatest. If you’re not good enough to play it at a high level, becoming invested in a team can give you some of the highest highs (and lowest lows) possible. Thankfully my team of choice is still providing more highs than lows. Though attending losing grand finals suck 🙁
Manly’s reign is over. This is the Titan’s year to shine!
…
…
*cries*
I Follow The League (Warriors and Titans in the NRL) and Union (Hurricanes in the super Rugby and of course The All Blacks)
Tried watching AFL numerous times, but I just can’t get into it.
Not a fan of soccer. I will watch a game or two when the World Cup is on, but that is it.
I love sport. I have Foxtel just for the HD Sport.
Being a Queenslander, I was brought up on rugby league. Never really been into AFL. I played football (soccer) from 6yrs old until up to a few years ago when I gave up playing futsal (indoor soccer). I have also played basketball since I was about 7yrs old and still play that to this day.
I like watching most sports. I support the Broncos (NRL) Reds (Super Rugby) Roar (A-League) the Hammers (West Ham – Premier League) and Brooklyn Nets (NBA). I also love watching cricket – used to play it during primary school/high school years.
As for motor sports – I like the F1 and try to watch all the races during the season but I don’t really follow any other motor sport.
So yeah, I’m a big sports nut. Sport has always been a big part of my life. I’ve always been into video games and sport. Probably most of what I do apart from work. And really, work just gets in the way of watching sport and playing games! But it is a necessary evil to accommodate those hobbies.
Big fan of NBA. It’s just such a huge spectacle and there is so much room to show personality. I also like the way the draft works, it consistently gives teams an opportunity to break out of the lower-tiers.
Also enjoy some Rugby. I grew up next to Eastwoods rugby field so it’s hard for me not to appreciate it. Usually just stick to going to a couple Waratah games and watching the occasional Wallaby games.
I grew up with Rugby League but hate it now. I find it hard to get past the people who play it. It really displays some of the worst aspects of Australian society.
Yeah the NBA sure does know how to put on a show ! we could learn a thing or two about how to jazz it up a bit from them, then again if NBL had a massive budget like NBA im sure we would get to see more glitz and glamour (unfortunately we would probably end up with more self involved d**ks just like the NBA, which I think is the only draw back of the NBA, not all players but plenty of them are).
I follow AFL quite closely, and am a member of the Fremantle Dockers cheer-squad, though living in QLD now limits my ability to get to games.
Also, being American and from New England means I follow the Patriots though not religiously.
There was this weird time in 2012 where I started to understand the sportsball. Both League and AFL, thanks to having to a job testing games based on them for a while there.
It’s ok though, I’ve since forgotten pretty much all of it. More prefer soccer as a sportsball anyway.
I watch the AFL and NRL.
Swans supporter for AFL, Warriors for NRL.
I used to much prefer NRL. Probably because I grew up in NZ where rugby is huge and there are more similarities between the two then with AFL.
But I have more and more come to prefer AFL now.
While still enjoying both I would choose a good AFL game over a NRL one.
Never could get into football (soccer). Which will be interesting since I think it is the only sports ball my wife will let our kids play if / when we have them.
I also love cricket which I grew up playing.
i used to follow the Knights in the NRL, but it makes it kind of hard to keep up to date with when you’re living in Melbourne, so I follow the AFL pretty closely, and Carlton even closer.
Although my sportsball of choice is NFL. I’ve been a huge 49ers fan for about 20 years. I even played some gridiron in the Victorian league for a few years until a few back injuries made me choose between “continuing to play” and “doing serious and permanent spinal damage” (amongst all the other injuries along the way). I really miss playing gridiron, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done sports-wise.
Oh yeah. Love the ‘niners. Watched them since I was young and the Rice Montana days.
Last season was shattering.
I thought they would make it.
tell me about it! Especially after that woeful Superbowl
Yeah that was pretty bad.
Proves the old adage that “defence wins games” though.
And in fairness the Bronco’s saved their worst game of the year for the Superbowl.
But yeah it was pretty terrible unless you were a Seahawks fan.
Super Rugby and AFL. League is for peasants…..
Still follow my UK footie team – Wimbledon FC/AFC Wimbledon (no Milton Keynes jokes please, they stopped being funny on 28 May 2002). Enjoy the A-League, and been a Victory member pretty much ‘since I moved to Oz.
AFL I got into and go to a few games a season. My main passion these days in the ball sports is rugby – I’ve travelled a fair way following Melbourne Rebels over the last 3-and-a-bit seasons including Brisvegas, Canberra, Perth and Christchurch. Off to Sydney to watch us get thumped by the Waratahs this Friday night…
Plus there’s the cycling… Spring classics and early season pro-tour races going on, it’s the build-up to the Giro. Love it.
so let me get this straight, since this has always confused me, is Wimbledon FC now MKdons, and AFC Wimbledon was a start up by disaffected Wimbledon FC fans? Like the whole Manchester United/FC united thing?
I Love my football. Big Tottenham Hotspur fan here. It saddens me that we lost to Arsenal the other night. I also have a big soft spot for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga. Really struggle to get into the A-league though, the pace, and technical skill of the game is severely lacking in comparison to European leagues
tl,dr: Yes, very similar to ManU/FCUM, except they weren’t moving ManU to Dublin…
Longer version for football nerds: on 28 May 2002, an FA Commission gave permission for the owners of Wimbledon FC (which had been groundsharing with Crystal Palace since 1991) to relocate the club to Milton Keynes, on the basis that a new stadium would be built for them there (and after attempts to move the club to Belfast and Dublin in the past). This was despite football in Britain being particularly parochial and based on the FA pyramid that goes down 9 to 10 divisions depending where in the country you are…. and despite Milton Keynes also having a perfectly good non-league side called Milton Keynes City FC that went bust as a direct result of having a level 2 side dropped into the area.
Wimbledon fans had a very active Inpependent Supporters Association and a fan-owned Trust, and some excellent people who I’m very proud to know set in motion a “phoenix” to be Wimbledon’s football club. Managed to get elected to the Combined Counties League (Surrey/Sussex/Hampshire area), had player trials on Wimbledon Common, found a place to play, and off we went.
Just 10 years later, AFC Wimbledon had climbed back through the pyramids and was in the League, owning a small stadium (Kingsmeadow, home of Kingstonian FC, who sadly got screwed by owners like we did…). Negotiations between MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon and Merton Council lead to MK Dons handing back the history and honours to Merton Council, and are recognised as a new club founded in 2002. AFC Wimbledon are technically in the same position being founded in 2002, but pretty much everyone regards them as the direct successor to WFC as the commentators’ gushing in our couple of short FA Cup runs has shown, and the number of old WFC players associated with the club, including current manager Neal Ardley….
The best news: it’s looking increasingly likely that AFC Wimbledon will be in a position to move to a new stadium on Plough Lane, just a few tens of metres from the site of the old Plough Lane stadium (now a housing estate). And on that day, I hope to be able to make the long trip to see the Dons play at home for the first time since 1991.
Weird asides: Glenn Mulcaire, one of the people involved in the newspaper phone hacking scandal, scored our first ever goal. And Shane Smeltz (currently of Perth Glory) played 61 games for us…
did you see that ludicrous display last night?
What was Wenger thinking sending Walcott on that early?
The thing about arsenal is, they always try to walk it in
Soccer is a game where you spend 80min pretending to be hurt , Rugby is a game where you spend 80min pretending your not
Rugby and AFL.
Guys go down permanently in soccer when they haven’t physically been touched. Yet I’ve seen guys play out games of football with broken bones.
I just can’t believe anyone can care about a sport where this happens:
Patrick, you’ve spent every breath on this topic trying to badmouth football, for some reason I don’t understand other than you feel threatened by its growing popularity.
As for Rivaldo’s dive, you cannot condemn a whole sport (one that is played FAR more than any other sport in the world) based on the ridiculous actions of a few.
As for pretending they’re not hurt, if we’re going to pick and choose example to prove our points, here – http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1335087784/449/6788449.jpg
That’s Perth Glory striker Shane Smeltz, who had his nose broken and cartilage shattered in the first 20 minutes of a grand final, and kept playing. After the game he went to hospital and had surgery done, which involved needing a hefty amount of stitches.
As for your hobby of condemning an entire sport for the actions of a few, take a look at this, I’m sure you’ll find that there aren’t any Australian football players who have been convicted of any of these:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/photos-fn8ymmuy-1226081519137?page=5
no sportsballs, just hiking and archery.
I’m a Swans member, and I like putting on the cricket in the background. Think League and Union are utterly brainless though – can’t stand them (despite being born and raised in a league state).
My wife is a long suffering Eels fan. My tolerance for rugby league has faded significantly since the introduction of the second on-field referee. Even with two of them and a video referee, they just can’t seem to get it right/consistent.
I love watching the NBA. Also the soccer World Cup – Go my beautiful Oranje!
I’m a Richmond member, get along to all their games in Melbourne.They’ve been shit pretty much my whole life, but i still love them! I also like to get to local footy too, when it doesn’t clash with Richmond.
Play cricket during summer, volleyball every Wednesday night and golf whenever the weather permits. I’ve played cricket since I was 9, so even though I suck, I still love the game.
I really enjoy sports. Probably as much as I love gaming. Competitive sports can be the most fun thing ever, and the worst!
You gotta hand it to Richmond supporters. Years of perpetual 9th place has created a rather unique and enjoyable mindset in the fans.
Also best club song, hands down.
my mate’s grandfather wrote tigerland 😉 and we haven’t finished 9th THAT often, that’s something the internet trolls created.
I know you guy’s haven’t finished 9th that much. I just think of it as one of those running jokes. Like how Collingwood supporters have no teeth, and West Coast supporters are Chardonnay sipping tossers. :p
I thought you were saying that it wasn’t true 😛
richmond member here too 🙂
If I had any interest in any sport it would be rally and maybe hockey. I’m curious about hockey and seen it on news a few times that’s it. Rally I just really like.
I don’t mind playing some sportsballs (not currently playing any, but have a long history of basketball, and a much more distant history of cricket), but have no particular interest in watching others play.
I follow the NFL religiously. The New England Patriots are my team of choice.
I also Play in the NSW Gridiron league for the Newcastle Cobras.
I sportsball hockey.
Other than that i race/ride mountain bikes
And sometimes casually do other sportsballs.
I follow most forms of cycling pretty closely.
I follow the crows in AFL
I follow road cycling closely and track cycling if it happens to be on.
I see very little mountain biking anywhere
As for other sportsball I have teams I follow and will watch when they play. Much prefer international sport to local leagues. Will not sit down and watch a game when my team isn’t playing unless it is finals and then perhaps.
Yeah the only time mountain biking is on free TV is SBS’s cycling central after one of the world cup round usually; or some of the bigger Australian races
Mountain bike world cup events are on Eurosport, but hardly ever live. Sunday mornings they seem to have round up shows.
The men’s road racing definitely gets the lion’s share (and possibly the tiger’s and the bear’s shares too) of cycling coverage.
More downhill unicycling on telly, that’s what I say… 😉
Cycling and frisbee (casual and the odd game of Ultimate) are the only sports I’ve done since leaving school.
Yeah i usually end up streaming the world cup rounds and other events on pinkbike.
Also Ultimate Frisbee is the man!
Olympics time is the only time we get hockey broadcasts 🙁
Or when the hockey world cup is on 🙁
GO PARRA WOOT!!!
AFL: Geelong
NRL: Storm
EPL: Chelsea
SPL: Celtic
NBA: Hornets (They’re coming back to Charlotte!)
Sportsball of little interest. Esports for me 🙂
My favourite sport is watching the UFC and then telling @markserrels on Monday mornings that Machida is over rated 😉
I loved NBA when I was young and I actually have to thank NBA 2K14 for bringing me back to the game. When I was young I played a lot of district basketball, played for a team with the same colour’s as the Bulls and was given number 45 (back when MJ was still 23 so I was completely stoked being a kid and having him come back with my number). When I got NBA 2K14 it drew all my old love of the game back and I started to watch the games again. I still follow the Bulls, my gf loves the Phoenix Suns.
AFL – I like the sport, i was partially brainwashed into it by my dad but i’ll support my team.
Tennis, volleyball thats about it for me.
That’s awesome about your number!
Yep big fan of Blood bowl…..thats a sport ball game isn’t it ?
Crazy about sport. Cricket is number one, but I have teams in every major footy code (Hawks, Storm, Force and Liverpool). Love watching NBA and NHL. Will watch the Super Bowl if I feel like it and I watch UFC whenever possible.
I have no interest in any variation of sportsball. The only sport I engage with these days requires snow.
NRL: North Sydney Bears! I miss them being in 1st grade and still can’t bring myself to cheer for Manly
AFL: Swannies
NRL was my main, but that all went to shit at the end of 1999… I still follow the North Sydney Bears in my heart and am a member with the Central Coast Bears at the moment, I would love to actually follow a team again, but as it stands, don’t really follow it anymore and will just look at the scores.
I’ll support the Tahs and Swans also, but generally won’t head out to the games.
I did jump on the Soccer bandwagon for a few years and go to almost all the Central Coast Mariners games for a couple of years, but life came about and it’s not that feasible anymore despite living 5-10mins from the ground.
Perhaps one day my team will be back in the top grade and I can attend games and be silly once again!
I’m more into what are seen as american sports than australian ones, but i can still watch a game of AFL with mates.
I’m mostly into Basketball, Perth Wildcats member so i go to almost every home game.
i will watch NFL if i see it’s on, and actually also enjoy Baseball, watched a few of the ABL games this, was pretty great!
I used to hate sports back in high school but over the last couple of years I’ve started following NRL and AFL and watching them alot. I do prefer AFL though because NRL players tend to get into trouble with the law alot more and I don’t like the whole “pubs, drinking and pokies” culture that’s associated with NRL.
Don’t mind a bit of Cricket in the Summer either. Always good to have on.
Real football hands down. EPL or La Liga only, I don’t find other leagues interesting enough. EPL and La Liga attract top talent more so than other leagues. In Italy and Germany there are only 1 or 2 teams with highly talented players.
I don’t even sports ball
’twas a really big Aussie rules football fan from 2005-2008. I was a West Coast Eagles supporter, and loved it when the won the premiership in 2006. However, my favourite team was Port Adelaide Power. Many people protested to this, as they were not a local team, whereas the Eagles were. 2007 was a good year for the Power. I remember that Geelong had a winning streak of about 15-17, and the Power were the ones to break that streak, winning by a goal in the last few seconds of the match. That was a fun moment. Port Adelaide coming second in the premiership was disappointing, but it was still awesome.
In 2008, my interest began to wane. The West Coast Eagles was collapsed upon itself, and Port Adelaide weren’t doing as well. I had better things to do with my weekend. Like video games!
In 2012, I decided that I wanted to get back into Football. I decided to go with a fresh slate, and picked the new team, the Western Sydney Giants or whatever the f**k they are called. My plan was that I would support the Giants, and watch them rise from the underdogs to a very capable team.
I lasted about half a game before getting bored and went back to video games.