Aussie Rules Football

[Steadmund Brand]

well there was no deal made with ESPN.. so the coverage will be no more, however the AFL was able to sign a 3 year deal with Fox Sports Plus in America, 2 live games a week and all finals live... so thats something, will be an extra $14.99 a month but well worth it!!! getting so excited about the season...

How are things with you Adam? anything new and exciting?

And any other footy fans out there, please feel free to post/or respond, let us know who your team is, and your picks for the season, or just stop in and say hello,

Lets all have a great season!!!

Steadmund Brand

[Steadmund Brand]

Looks like a deal may be close, as it looks like teh AFL and TSN (Canadian network) did come to terms, and TSN is owned by ESPN...so a contract "should" be signed in a matter of days.... and none too soon eh?

Looking foward to the season but not so sure I am willing to say my Lions will be in the top 8.....but one can hope!!!

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Hey Steady,

I wonder if the dropping of the contract in the US had anything to do with the new contracts on the broadcasting rights over here? Is there any way you can live stream the game over there, perhaps? I'm sure it would be available somehow, there's a lot of ex-pats who would be wanting to see the game.

Lions haven't played yet but Tigers got a win in their first round which was a promising start.

Glad to hear you're still off the cigarettes and hope you've been keeping well, catch up with you soon.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

Sad news from the USA, as of right now there will be no coverage of AFL in the United States....ESPN dropped the contract, and as of today, there isnt one with any network......fingers crossed it can be fixed soon... I need to watch my Lions (I know this is the year we make it back in the top 8!)

How goes everything...so sorry been a bit quiet, been a very stressful few months here.. on the plus side,I'm still of the cigarettes... on the downside.. I REALLY WANT A CIGARETTE!!

hope to hear from you soon.... and from anyone else out there who is a fan of AFL.

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Can't stand tennis, Steady. Not too bad if you're playing it but watching it drives me batty. Definitely was an epic in the final though....

It's still all about the cricket here at the moment.

As for footy, not long to wait now! Another 16 days until the NAB Cup (pre-season practice type comp) kicks off....

Hope you're well,
Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

No Aussie Rules news here, but wow what an Australian Open eh!!! A bit sad that Federer didn't win (and Clijsters on the womens side) but that was the best grand slam in recent memory huh, and the mens final was one of the best matches I ever saw (and have been watching tennis my whole life...thats a long time hahah)

Di you get to enjoy any of it, and how big a deal for your country is it? Sad as it may be when the US Open is played most of the country doesnt care, doesnt get top coverage or anything.

your friend

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Cricket is going brilliantly, Steady.....we're flogging India at the moment, you can see more in the Cricket thread in the Pub Talk section where the resident Poms are currently quivering with fear.

Very nicely done on the effort at quitting smoking, hope you keep it up!
There should be an e-mail waiting for you from a few days ago too...

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

Happy new year.. and I hope this one will be better then the last..starting off ok... havent had a cigarette in 9 days... so we shall see how long that lasts!!

hope all is going well for you... and hope Cricket is going well!!

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Haven't even had a chance to look at the draw yet Steady, still focusing on the cricket....very pleased to see some of the oldies come out of retirement for the new domestic Twenty20 competition down here.

But no doubt we will play Carlton first round, that's how it usually works.

Hope you have a happy Christmas and New Years, catch you soon!

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

I see the new schedule is out and looks like Richmond will have to wait till week 19 for their beating at the hands of the mighty Lions

Actually looks like a pretty hard draw for Brisbane... I do hope we have a better season then the last...

How does your draw look?

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

What game were you watching, Steady?

The Tigers are over in your neck of the woods at the moment, by the way....doing some altitude training or something in Arizona!!

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

hahaha Cricket was on TV here last night.. watched for 2 hours and didnt understand a damn thing... but did enjoy it

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Steady:

Wanna run that by me again? Haha.....I think we both understand the basics of one another's sports but it's almost as though you have to be born into it to completely understand it, it takes a lot of effort to learn a new game thoroughly - very much like learning a foreign language!!

American sports don't get much coverage on free-to-air down here, but there's several channels which cover it on Pay TV.....we have ESPN and the likes.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Steadmund Brand]

Actually, failure in this case means anything that prevents you from getting on base, a strike out, or a ground out or a fly out..any time you do not reach base safe (or by a walk. as if you walk, then there are 4 pitches that are bad before you make out, you get awarded 1st base, but it does not count as a time at bat for your stats.... hmm it is far more confusing than I thought.... )

Yeah Babe Ruth is pretty big a name for a guy who hasn't played since 1935 eh??

I have been meaning to ask, do American sports get TV coverage there.. as I said very very little coverage of Aussie sports here

Steadmund Brand

[Adam Went]

Hey Steady,

Well when you watch baseball on TV, it looks like it would be near on impossible to hit a ball like that, certainly takes a fair amount of skill - or luck. Of course we used to play baseball or softball now and then back in the school days but nothing like what they do over there.

I bet a few cricketers would like to still be called superstars despite failing 7 out of 10 times, haha. I'm presuming a "failure" is a "strike out".

Yeah everybody down here knows who Babe Ruth is, it's not that we are particularly big fans of baseball but we still know who the big stars of international sports were.....Michael Jordan was massive when I was growing up, along with Tony Hawk.

Take care,
Cheers,
Adam.