Who cares about soccer???

OK, so I have now alienated a huge percentage of the world’s population who are no doubt glued to their respective television screens, anticipating the next winner of the World Cup. To me soccer is a boring game. It’s a bit like watching a race to the bottom between two raindrops on a window. In the end it takes far too long and you wonder if it was worth it.


I know the World Cup is exciting to most people and I enjoyed the small bit of the opening ceremony I watched. The enthusiasm of the South African people is definitely contagious and it’s a joy to see them dancing on the streets. Although I would love to visit Africa, I’m kind of happy that I’m not there at the moment. The sound of those horns 24/7 would drive me nuts!

My boys like watching the World Cup. My youngest even got up at 4.30am to watch Australia get annihilated by Germany. But when I’m in control of the remote the television is turned to a different channel.

I am, however, a huge fan of Australian Rules Football. I watch it on TV, I listen to commentary on the radio, I watch my boys play it, I read about it in the newspapers and on the internet, I am an addict! Thank goodness there are only four months of the year without games being played. With each elite season ending in September, by the end of January I am suffering massive withdrawal symptoms.

I am just as addicted to the sport at a local level as I am to the AFL (Australian Football League) the elite level of the game. All three of my boys play in different leagues for different clubs and to try to cover all their games is mostly impossible, at best requiring advanced scheduling skills. My youngest son gets the majority of my attention, which is only natural as I have to drive him to his games. Once his game is finished I try to make a mad dash to my middle son’s game. If the youngest doesn’t play, for whatever reason, I make the trek out to the country to watch my eldest son.

I take my youngest son’s stats for him when he plays. I write down how many marks, kicks, handballs and tackles he gets each quarter. He then transcribes them to an excel spreadsheet where he can analyse them. I just bought a video camera and will start taping his games. After each of his games we discuss how he played or, at times, we don’t as silence is sometimes the better option.

If you have never seen a game of Australian Rules Football, please check out this site: http://www.afl.com.au/
Clicking on the link to “videos” will get you to replays of matches. Maybe you too will become an addict!