21 replies to this topic

[Lisbon]

Great news for me. I was channel surfing the other day and I noticed that Eurosport 2, the channel that usually broadcasts AFL games, is finally available here in Portugal and apparently free of charge! Let´s hope they will continue to show footy this coming season and that they remain available, because if that is so, I'll be able to watch AFL games and highlights on TV for the first time in ten years!

[Caveman]

That is fantastic news, the more exposure for and of the game, the better and it is great that people from the far flung corners of the globe will be able to watch Footscray in action.

You should be in for a good spring summer in Lisbon this year, especially when the round ball code goes on its summer break ! Then again there is the Euro 2008 tournament to give a few more weeks of football (soccer)

[Lisbon]

Well, the way the Portuguese League is shaping up, I'm in for three more months of heartbreak. Sporting's great 2-0 victory against Porto was followed by a meek capitulation before city rivals Belenenses one week later and current-and-future champions Porto are already 14 points ahead of Sporting. I can only hope for a victory in the first ever Portuguese League Cup final (March 22) and, who knows, retaining the Portuguese Cup come next May. I'll surely be following Footscray's season all the more closely, that's for sure.

And yes, I can't wait for Euro 2008. In the last few international competitions Portugal performed very well and nothing beats the feeling that's created by our national eleven's victories. This may sound like a bit of a cliché, but everyone suddenly becomes happier, friendlier, nicer around here. People walk around with jerseys and scarves on and complete strangers start conversations with you out of the blue, just to talk a bit about Portugal's performances and chances of an ultimate triumph. Great stuff!

[Caveman]

You only need to improve one place this time around in 2008 after being runners - up in 2004.

Will be an interesting competition, it will be funny though without the English being there though?

[Lisbon]

Well, I suppose that our game against Italy the other day (1-3 defeat) showed that we still lack "something", but hope dies last!

The English will be missed, but then again I wouldn't want to suffer through another penalty shoot-out against them. In 2006 I must have drunk some 5 litres of beer during the Portugal-England game and I was stone cold sober at the end. That's drama for you... I think Capello is the man to turn England's fortunes around, he has been very successful in some of the hardest coaching jobs in the game. His performance at Real Madrid, against a backdrop of bickering players, an uncooperative president who let him no he had no future at the club and a seemingly unassailable FC Barcelona lead was miraculous.

By the way, it seems that Eurosport 2 will continue to broadcast AFL games. Great news for me!

[Caveman]

Sport coverage is now possible all the time- the English Premier League (gee I hate that wish they would just go back to Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 and Division 4 instead of this Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2 gobbledegook) is fantastic forthe armchair fan here in Australia in that on the Saturday night which translates to Sunday morning you can select which game you would like to view.

It is is just a matter of showing it or rather making it available for people to watch, some networks buy thr right s and then deliberately refuse to air it!

Anyhow looks like you will be in for a great 2008 Aussie Rules season on the television, which is great news.

[Lisbon]

Already watched two games, St Kilda v Sydney and Essendon v Geelong. The second one was definitely the better one. Until now, Geelong have impressed me the most, they play very well indeed.

[Caveman]

Geelong should be back in the Grand Final again in 2008, unless something mad happens down there, they will march on.

They have few weaknesses and having claimed the flag last year, that bogey has been lifted, so there will be no self confidence issues with them.

They are such a precise side, everything appears to be pre- determined with the Cats, in all the games that I see of them.

[Lisbon]

At last! A Footscray game! The round seven game against Sydney, another win! Europe finally met the 2008 Dogs. Is it just me or are Sydney, with their mini ground, probably the last team to enjoy a real "home advantage" in the AFL? All the other grounds seem more or less the same. I enjoyed the game very much (obviously). I liked Murphy's performance, especially the way he smothered that kick late in the match, ending Sydney's "rally". It was also good to see so many Footscray supporters in the stands. Is it always like that in Sydney or are people really starting to get behind the team this season?
There's one thing I'd like to know: is this Footscray's best start to a VFL/AFL season ever?

[Caveman]

The best start to a Footscray season since joining the VFL in 1925 from the old VFA was in 1946. Footscray won the first nine games, the first loss was by just 4 points in Round 10 to Carlton at Princes Park.

That was a 19 round season - 1946 and it finished with 13 wins and 6 defeats. Essendon on top, Collingwood second, Footscray third and Melbourne fourth. The last two games of 1946 were losses- a thrashing at Kardinia Park in that Round 19, then the following week, put out of the finals by Melbourne.

Geelong began playing at Kardinia Park in 1941 and that Geelong defeat of 1946 was our first ever loss at Kardinia Park, having won there in 1941, 1944 and 1945. Geelong didn't compete in 1942 and 1943 due to the war.

If we had of won that 1946 clash, then we would have finshed the season in second place and therefore would have had the double chance. Then again if, but, if, but, if, but, etc etc

It could be argued that 1946 is one of Footscray's best seasons as we only lost 6 home and away games- the same number of defeats we endured in 1954, 1955, 1985, 1992 and 1998.

[Lisbon]

Thanks for that information. Let's see how far we'll go this season and how it will compare to the great years that you mentioned!

[Caveman]

Closing in on that 1946 record, although it will be for consecutive non-defeats as compared to consecutive victories, with the draw of a few weeks ago.

[Lisbon]

On Friday, April 30, for the first time ever, that's right, for the first time since the Big Bang, a Footscray game will be broadcast live in Portugal, on the Eurosport 2 channel. That's right, a live Dogs game, against St Kilda to boot.

At 11.45 am, Portuguese time. On a Friday. And where will I be at 11.45 am on that particular Friday (as on all other Fridays)? Why, at work! Is this luck, or what?

[Caveman]

Oh dear- that was NOT a good advertisment for Australian Rules Football and I would imagine that any potential Portuguese convert to the great Australian game would not bother again after watching the mutual 'lets strangle each other' phenomena that was supposedly football on last Friday night.

I hope that game didn't lose you Lisbon?!

The game has evolved so much that we have reached the top and all we can do now is go backwards. A bit like what may happen with warfare,

That Western Bulldogs v Southern Saints match reminds me of Albert Einstein's magnificent quote about the future with nuclear weapons-

I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.

This planet hasn't had World War 3 yet, but we must have had it in Australian Rules Football, because Friday night at the Docklands Stadium was football's World War 4.

[Lisbon]

Don't worry Caveman, I ended watching a replay of the match on Saturday, but I'll still keep coming back for more. Bring on Einstein!

There'll be a big problem if St Kilda keep on winning, as other teams will be tempted to imitate their way of "playing". They should consider changing they're name to AC St Kilda or Internazionale di Santa Kilda, as they look like the Australian rules version of an Italian soccer club to me.

[Caveman]

Don't worry Caveman, I ended watching a replay of the match on Saturday, but I'll still keep coming back for more. Bring on Einstein!

There'll be a big problem if St Kilda keep on winning, as other teams will be tempted to imitate their way of "playing". They should consider changing they're name to AC St Kilda or Internazionale di Santa Kilda, as they look like the Australian rules version of an Italian soccer club to me.

They have played a better brand to watch in recent weeks the Southern Saints- so we can try and forget that horrible game of a few weeks ago. That really was year zero stuff.

[Lisbon]

So here I am, calling the Grand Final in Portuguese, the original English commentary being piped in through my headphones, and suddenly I hear someone saying that Mick Malthouse started his coaching career in... the Western Bulldogs. Really? In 1984? This triggered a Pavlovian response and suddenly there I am, reminding everyone that Malthouse first coaching gig was with FOOTSCRAY.

[Caveman]

Great work again Lisbon.

It is marvellous that someone from around 12,000 miles away knows the real story!

Your not letting them recreate history

Fantastic!!

[Lisbon]

Just got back home after calling the Grand Final, and this is a season I'll always remember, because I finally called a Footscray win! Two wins, actually, against Carlton and St Kilda. I did my best to be professional, but Murphy's heroics against the Saints made it very difficult. "And Murphy is giving a footy recital" was one of things I ended up shouting. And then there's Ryan Griffen... Until now I had only called losses. Hard-fought losses, horrible losses, unfair losses, but losses nonetheless. It was brilliant too finally call a win!
And today, at the start of the fourth quarter, I said that although backmen rarelly win it, Lake should win the Norm Smith Medal. It felt nice to gdt that right. If only he had stayed...

[Caveman]

  ^{Imagine 3 years ago at the 2010 Preliminary Final between the Southern Saints and us, at the half time interval with the game in the balance and someone exclaims how Brian Lake will win the Norm Smith Medal at the 2013 Grand Final. You would reckon that this was a pretty reasonable prediction.}

 

^{But who would have thought that he would win it- in the gold and brown Hawthorn Guernsey?}

 

^{Anyway well done Lisbon on calling the Grand Final and also the two Footscray wins in 2013 against St Kilda and Carlton. You might be Martin Tyler soon!}