In this week’s thrilling installment, we go to the underside of the planet to learn about Australian Rules Football … or “Life isn’t dangerous enough here, let us create our own sport that contains high exertion, possible mayhem and most likely some harm!”
By BP (w/assist by Raven Nation)
Aussie Rules! Football down under.
Those of us USA Gen Xers who grew up when ESPN first came on the air in the early 1980’s were greeted by a new sport: Australian Rules Football. (We can assume Ozzies and Kiwis were already well familiar) Desperate to have something to fill airtime, ESPN made a deal with the AFL, (and possibly Kerry Packer) to put Ozzie footy on US TV. While it has some superficial similarities to rugby, it’s a quite different sport.
The basic rules are to carry the ball down the pitch (either bouncing it every ten meters while running, or passing it by kicking or ‘hand punch’ until a player of the same team gets near to the 4 goalposts. An opposing player can tackle him, or (better for them) intercept a handball or kick. Any kick over 15m that is caught by a member of the same team is called a “mark,” and the player can either play on, or take a free kick from (typically) about 5m behind the place of the mark. This is very important when it comes to marks caught within 40m or so of the goalposts, as they can then usually aim for a goal.
Happy Landing!
Regarding the goalposts, the middle two are the ones to aim for: a goal between then gains 6 points. On either side, a mis-fired attempt (called a “behind”), gets only one. (see graphic) You can see this in the scores: i.e., ‘14.10.94’ is 14 goals= 84, 10 behinds= 10, and well, you can do the rest of the math yourself.
Raven Nation: For the goal to count 6 points, it has to leave the boot and travel between the goalposts without being touched by anyone else. And then, if the ball strikes one of the two goal posts, it counts as one point. If a kicked ball strikes one of behind posts without hitting the ground or being touched by another player it’s “out of bounds on the full” and is a free kick to the non-kicking team. If the ball strikes one of the behind posts in any other fashion, then it’s just out of bounds and results in a throw in.
Keep yer jokes about scoring a “behind” to yerself, mate!
Preface by Swiss Servator: Only because this is so well written do I not intrude into this column to proclaim the obvious superiority of Rugby Union. I will get my chance in future, after we have done a couple more of these – stand by for an Aussie Rules “explainer” in our next thrilling installment).
A Brief History of the National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (NRL) is a club-based competition in Australia and New Zealand, generally considered the best such competition in the world.
Note the positioning of the official.
Rugby League vs. Rugby Union
Before embarking on a history of the NRL it may be helpful to explain the origin of rugby league and how it differs from rugby union. Many cultures have a history of games involving the movement of a spherical or ovoid objection. However, the specific origin of rugby comes out of England sometime in the mid-nineteenth century (sadly, the story of William Webb Ellis, the boy who “who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time, first took the ball in his arms and ran with it” at Rugby School is apocryphal). The Rugby Football Union (RFU) emerged in 1871 following a number of clubs in England refusing to adopt the rules laid out by the new Football Association. Rugby League broke from the RFU after a schism which resulted from disagreements over payments to players (won’t bore you with the details). Today, in England, rugby league’s heartland is in the Midlands and the north of the country. Because of the popularity of soccer and rugby union in England, in 1996, rugby league in Britain switched to a summer season.
Rugby spread to Australia (& other parts of the world) mainly through the agency of British imperialism. In Australia, there was a split in rugby in the early twentieth century, again over professionalism. Both sports faced competition in other parts of Australia. In large part, this stemmed from the country’s colonial past: each state was originally a colony with its own imperial government and with the main population centers far apart. Rugby League is the most popular football code in Queensland and New South Wales, but lags far behind Australian Football in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, and Tasmania.
To the uninitiated, Rugby League & Rugby Union appear similar and they certainly bear much closer resemblance to one another than they do to soccer or Australian football. There are three main differences: rugby union teams have 15 players, league teams 13; when the ball goes out of play in union, it leads to a lineout, in league, it usually leads to a scrum; in union, at each tackle, both teams can enter the ensuing ruck; in league, the team with the ball retains it uncontested through a maximum of 6 tackles.
A ruck.A lineout.
The National Rugby League Competition
(A completely unbiased account).
Beginning in 1908, the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL), based in Sydney, organized a club competition. This was followed by multiple regional and city competitions. By the 1940s, there were two dominant club competitions. One was the NSWRL, an evil empire operated by very bad men and whose clubs raised money using corrupt instruments known as poker machines. The other competition was based in Brisbane and known as the Brisbane Rugby League (BRL). This competition was one of pureness and light promoting the highest levels of decency and eschewing the use of the evil poker machines.
Unfortunately, from time to time, some of the good men who played in the BRL fell upon hard financial times and in order to support their families (and for no other reason) accepted transfers to clubs in the NSWRL (for more on this, look up State of Origin series for the story of how good won a partial victory over evil). Over the decades, the NSWRL began to expand, first accepting new clubs from western Sydney, then from Newcastle and Canberra. In order to keep up with the growth of Australian Football, in 1998 the NSWRL eventually accepted a club from Brisbane. This led to the demise of the BRL although the governing body in Queensland established a successor state-wide competition known as the Queensland Cup.
The Sydney-based competition went through several names changes until adopting National Rugby League in 1998. Teams have left the NRL, gone defunct, and new teams have been added. Some of the current teams are mergers of teams from the old NSWRL days. Today the competition consists of sixteen clubs: eight in Sydney and the surrounding area and one each in Brisbane, Townsville, the Gold Coast, Canberra, Melbourne, Newcastle, Wollongong, and Auckland, New Zealand. Most clubs are run by corporate boards although some of the older Sydney clubs still have a local league club which has some say over the running of the club. All clubs sell memberships to individuals.
Since 1998, 12 different teams have won the championship. During the season each teams plays 24 games (along with 2 bye weeks) with the top 8 teams making the finals (think playoffs). Teams are awarded 2 points for a win, 2 points for a bye, 1 point for a draw, 0 for a loss. During the regular season, “golden point” is used if scores are level at the end of regulation. Teams play a maximum of extra 10 minutes, 5 in each direction. However, any score ends the game. A team losing in “golden point” receives no competition points.
The finals series is more complicated than the straight single-game process in the NFL. Teams placed 5-8 are eliminated by one loss, teams 1-4 would need to lose twice to go out. The last two teams standing meet in the Grand Final, played on the first Sunday in October. The 2016 Grand Final was watched by 3.7 million Australians (total population: 24.5 million). The extra time scenario is a little more complicated for the finals series.
Scoring: teams are awarded 4 points for a try (think NFL touchdown except the ball must be grounded rather than just being moved across the goal line), 2 points for conversion (think PAT but the kick must be taken on a line drawn perpendicular to the goal line), 2 points for a penalty goal (think field goal but only taken after a penalty has been awarded), and 1 point for a dropped (or field) goal.
This is a try.
The 2017 Season To Date & Round 16
The season started March 2. Among the favorites were: Melbourne, Canberra, Cronulla, Penrith, and North Queensland. On June 12, at the end of Round 15, the top 4 were: Melbourne Storm, Sydney Roosters, Cronulla Sharks, Brisbane Broncos. Position 5-8: Manly, St. George, North Queensland, Penrith.
Round 16 was played June 23-25 with 14teams in action (byes: South Sydney and Parramatta).
The highlight of the round was the Roosters (2) vs. Storm (1) game which was actually played in Adelaide, South Australia – another of the NRL’s almost certainly futile attempts to break into an Australian Football stronghold. In something of a repeat of the previous week’s close run against North Queensland, Melbourne took an early lead before blowing the game, giving up 13 points in the last 10 minutes. This time, Melbourne were unable to find a late game-winner. The Roosters’ win sees them close to within 2 points of the Storm.
The other highly anticipated game of the round was the match up between 3rd placed Cronulla and 5th placed Manly. However, the games turned out to be one-sided as Manly easily overcame last season’s premiers 35-18.
Seventh-placed North Queensland came into its crucial clash with #8 Penrith on the heels of the news that its superstar Johnathan Thurston (think Bart Starr levels of greatness) was out for the season. Trailing most of the game, the Cowboys scored a score-levelling try with 3 minutes left when winger Kyle Feldt caught a chip kick and managed to get the ball down. Ethan Lowe kicked the game-winning conversion.
The number 4 Brisbane Broncos travelled to Canberra to take on the Raiders who were just outside the top 8. After trailing 14-12 at half-time, the Broncos outscored the Raiders 18-6 in the second half for a 30-20 win.
Second from bottom Newcastle started strong against St. George-Illawarra building a 28-10 half time lead. However, form asserted itself in the second half with the Dragons scoring 22 unanswered points to win 32-28. The loss was Newcastle’s 22nd straight road loss setting a new record.
The 11th New Zealand Warriors took a big lead then held on to beat the 12th placed Bulldogs 21-14. The result led NZ media to declare the Warriors “within striking distance” of the top 8. While true (the win leaves the Warriors 2 points outside the playoff spots), it’s likely they will fade by season’s end.
In a near bottom-of-the-table clash, the 14th placed Gold Coast Titans—led by former NFL wannabe Jarryd Hayne—defanged the last-placed Tigers, 26-14. The Tigers have no chance of making the playoffs while the Titans win will serve to give their fans false hope for a few more weeks.
So, at the end of Round 16, Melbourne retain top spot but are now only two points ahead of Sydney. The Brisbane Broncos move to 3rd with Manly jumping to 4th ahead of Cronulla on points differential. Positions 5 thru 8: Cronulla, St. George, North Queensland, Parramatta. Position 3 through 7 are separated by only two points. A further 5 teams are only 4 points outside the Top 8.
I’ve been mulling over a segment focusing on statistics and data for a while now. But since I suffer from (highly likely) ADHD and can’t seem to find time to properly give such a segment justice, I’ve sat on it. Aieee, sit on it, Potsie!
With that sparkling opening introducing a new feature, enjoy these “Take that for data!”
Ever wonder who the ‘drinkiest’ people in the world are?
It’s been put forth the New England Patriots benefit from being in a weak AFC east. So I investigated.
Let’s start in the AFC north with the Steelers and Ravens. In the Belichick era: The Patriots are 6-3 against the Steelers in regular season play and 4-0 in the playoffs. They’re 5-1 against the Ravens but are 2-2 in the post-season facing them. Nonetheless, it’s a dominant edge for New England.
Moving onto to the AFC south. The key team there are the Colts (who played in the AFC east for two seasons). Regardless, different team and division same result. New England is 12-5 against the Colts in the regular seasons and 5-1 in the playoffs. Again. Dominant.
The only team to give them a run are the Broncos out in the AFC west. The Pats are 7-5 against them in the regular season but 1-3 in the playoffs.
All-combined the Pats are 23-10 against those teams in the regular season and 12-6 in the playoffs. 35-16 overall.
Not enough to weaken Graca’s argument you say?
Check this out. Since 2000 the Patriots are:
77-29 against all AFC east divisional teams – .726%
70-26 against the AFC – .729%
53-17 against the NFC – .757%
That’s a .737% winning percentage for those of you scoring at home.
That’s a lot of cheating, eh?
Anyway. They won 74% of their games in the Brady/Belichick era. In addition, they’ve compiled a 25-9 record in the playoffs (.735%). In other words, they maintain their excellence in the playoffs.
The New England Patriots would likely be just as successful no matter what division they played in. The only division that *could* conceivably halted the is the NFC east. It’s historically a ferociously competitive division with strong teams at different intervals. Alas, they’re not an NFC team.
So last Saturday night I attended my first bout of the 2017 season with my new home team – the Charlottesville Derby Dames. Technically it was a doubleheader, but due to the location – about 45+ min away and my busy weekend, I didn’t stay for the second bout. Still, I had a blast watching the Derby Dames All Stars crush Mother State Roller Derby 318 to 104.
Apparently leaving early was a mistake though – it looks like the second match was a lot closer. That comes as a bit of a surprise though because most of the matches I’ve attended have been fairly one-sided. The scoring format tends to favor that – but it really depends on the teams too.
A little more background is probably in order – all the teams I’ve followed have been members of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) – which definitely seems to be the most common format these days (as opposed to the older tilted track). I attended one multi-team bout in Honolulu, but most of my experience has been attending bouts of the Fredericksburg Roller Derby (formerly 540 Roller Girls) team the last couple of years.
Rather than trying to explain it all, I’ll let the graphic above break down the basics (more here). Starting with what’s essentially a rolling scrum, it takes some effort to break through the inertial crush and get a good lead. Then to actually score, you need to pass at least one member of the opposing team on your second time around the track. And that gets to be a lot more complicated due to all the blocking and checking. The Jammer (scorer) can also end the Jam (play) at any point once they’ve taken the initial lead by getting through the initial scrum – whether or not any points have been scored. Generally, each team has 3 or 4 members that take turns as Jammers rotating on and off the track while the blockers stay on the track for extended periods of time.
On the whole, though, it tends to be very entertaining. I think for me it’s a combination of factors – between the overall athletic factor of amateur sports, the retro/vintage/pin-up crossover themes, the family-friendly entertainment and the general sense of humor involved (I also have a lot of nostalgia from rollerskating as a kid). I’ve never been a big fan of sports in general (at UNC-CH I attended a grand total of 2 exhibition basketball games and 1/2 a football game – and those were free) – but as a form of entertainment, this appeals to my sensibilities a lot more.
Every bout is a mini-event in itself – lots of merch (I like to collect t-shirts and can cozies – the pin-up designs are always a draw). Generally, there’s a variety of additional mini-events – pinball tournaments, raffles, giveaways and other family-friendly attractions – not to mention craft beer or local winery promotions along with the other sponsors – and after-parties (not that I’ve made it to one yet).
As I understand it, a lot of the recent cultural interest was reignited by Drew Barrymore’s 2009 film “Whip It“. I’ve seen some references that call out 3rd Wave Feminism as being a major influence in Roller Derby, but I can’t say that I’ve really seen much of that in the sport from my limited experience (certainly nothing toxic). I’d say it appears to be an empowering experience for the participants and entertaining for the audience, but it doesn’t have any of the negative side effects that come from some other cultural events – for one thing, there’s no competition with men (forced, implied or otherwise). Of course, that’s based on my experiences – I know in some areas they allow men or trans participants as well – for the bouts I’ve seen, men are only coaches, referees or other non-skating officials. From my perspective attending events in Hawaii and more frequently/recently in Virginia, these bouts have been far more “A League of Their Own” and far less “SJWs on Ice” – YMMV depending on region.
Unlike many sports (amateur or otherwise), there’s little to no barrier to entry – most teams host regular events for folks interesting in joining up. All it takes is an interest and some energy – no prior experience required.
I’m definitely looking forward to the next double header on 3 June. You’ll be able to recognize me in my new shirt.
If you’re interested in checking out local events, I’d start here. Alternatively just googling “Roller Derby [your location here]” seems to have pretty good results.
Like the first installment, I talk about a bunch of different things in one or two sentence snippets. First off, some music to set the mood.
I’m continuing to listen to my biography of William Tecumseh Sherman. I feel like I have a new revelation every day about how fucked up our cultural memory of the Civil War is. For example, the guy had absolutely no love for slaves. He seemed to think it embarrassing that the abolitionists pushed “the negro issue” to the point of war. For him, slavery wasn’t the slap in the face, secession was. There seemed to be a general consensus in the mid-1850s that slavery would eventually go away if they didn’t politicize the issue.
Yuengling is better than I remember it. It’s a good “cheap beer.”
Baby Trshmnstr is hours or days away, and she’s already expensive. A questionable result on a sonogram resulted in 2 specialist appointments before the specialist came to the conclusion that this was all kicked off by a shoddy original sonogram. Sometimes things just work out, and you don’t need tech to monitor every little thing. We were teetering on the edge of inducing at 36 weeks because a sono tech was having a bad day.
Just like in most other parts of life, negotiating is all about preparation. Without preparation, you’re pretty much guaranteed to be taken advantage of.
Paying college athletes is the dumbest idea ever. I’d be cool with a small stipend increase or something, but paying them a salary will torpedo non-revenue sports, put the final nail in the coffin of the “student-athlete,” and intractably separate the blue-bloods from everybody else.
You know what’s dumber than paying college athletes? The solution some moron on a sports board had to the issue: socializing all aspects of college so that the athletes didn’t have to pay for a night out at the movies.
Something has changed recently in the way that California is viewed by the rest of the country. It’s one thing for people in Texas and Nebraska to see California as a completely different country. It’s another thing when the Mid-Atlantic and New England have a complete disconnect from California. I don’t think it’s quite there yet, but I’m a little surprised how much the DCers I’ve met since moving here are just as down on California as Texans are.
I’ve tried concealed carrying my S&W M&P9 Shield, but my holster is uncomfortable. Some of it is that I need to lose some of the muffintop so it stops rubbing on the butt of the gun. Some of it is that it’s a single clip holster, so it’s constantly rotating on my belt into uncomfortable positions. Here’s the holster I got. Any suggestions?
The AFL started its season with 2016 Premiership winners Western Bulldogs handling Collingwood 15.10-100 to 12.14-86 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The Richmond Tigers swatted Carlton 20.12-132 to 14.5-89. The good news for the Blues is that they have 10 days to get themselves sorted out before they take on Melbourne.
Western Bulldog
The league really gets going Saturday, with a full slate of fixtures. Some matches of the top-of-the-table teams include the heavily favored Sydney Swans taking on Port Adelaide Power, Geelong vs. Freemantle Dockers, but the best match is likely to be the (Premiership betting favorites) GWS Giants (#4 in 2016) against the Adelaide Crows (#5).
Champions League –
There hasn’t been too much action in the Champions League, other than lots of teams being fined for their rowdy fans. Barcelona, St. Etienne, Arsenal, Bayern, and Manchester City all racking up fines.
There won’t be any matches until April 11, when the Quarterfinals start with Juventus vs. Barca, and Dortmund vs. Monaco.
Rubgy (pasted in by Swiss Servator, naturally)-
The Southern Hemisphere is so damned good at Rugby, and often tired of trouncing everyone else, that the various nations of the lower half of the planet set up Super Rugby. teams from the various killer rugby lands (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa are now joined by Japanese and Argentine squads) get together in a 4 conference brawl that turns out some of the best rugby you can see. Go here and find a team to cheer for! *Cough* Brumbies *Cough*
My brain is going in a thousand different directions today, so I’m gonna roll with it. I’m just gonna write a few sentences for each thought in stream of consciousness form and see whether it gets me booed off the stage.
It’s amazing how much money touches every sore spot in a relationship. My wife and I are going through Dave Ramsey’s FPU to “tune up” our finances now that I’m making a paycheck again, and it’s painfully obvious how different our respective priorities are. I’m very risk averse and want to be completely out of debt within 5 years. She’d rather have nice things and not think about money. There was definitely some sleeping on the couch happening this week.
Am I the only one who couldn’t care less about this Russian bullshit? It didn’t pass the smell test in November. It didn’t pass the smell test in January. Now it smells like an Obama fart as we are starting to get wiretapping information.
I’m not at all surprised that the Whatever 7 from Wikileaks was another big nothing. We learned more about how utterly out of control our intelligence agencies are, but none of it was a “shocking revelation.” Wikileaks needs somebody to better market their info dumps because they’re all hat and no cattle at this point.
I think the NFL is suffering from the same problems as the NBA, and their ratings will continue to decline in the next few years. The players are less and less interesting to the majority of the population, prices for tickets and apparel are out of the reach of many, and the media spends more time on who beat up their girlfriend than on actual football anymore.
Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell is a great read! I think I’d recommend Economics in One Lesson by Henry Hazlitt first, simply because it’s shorter and less repetitive. Either book is a great primer on why everything politicians say about economics is crap.
Complete detox from the MSM has been nice. I’ll watch the occasional local news segment or click the random link to a MSM outlet, but generally I just avoid it. It gives a level of perspective to the daily Olympic pants shitting that happens in our culture. Also, nothing pisses a prog off more than when they’re hyperventilating with “Did you see that Trump did that????!?!?!?”, replying with “nope, must’ve missed it. Doesn’t sound very important.”
After watching a few Dateline episodes with Mrs. trshmnstr (what is with women’s obsession with that show??), I’ve come to the conclusion that if the random guy you met at a party texts you 2 hours later, he’s already in your garage getting ready to rape you, strangle you, and dump your body three counties over.
Final thought: I had always thought of the Civil War as being fought mostly in open fields. My visits to the Manassas Battlefield have disavowed me of that notion. I’m sure the artillery were set up in large fields, but it looks like much of the battle must have taken place in densely forested areas.
