FOOTY !!!!!!

This past Sunday some friends and I went to a Footy Match. No not rugby, Footy. Footy = Australian Football. I don't know if this sport is new to any of you but of course it was for me. The Melbourne Demons were playing against the Sydney Swans- yes Swans. Even if I was not living in Melbourne, there is no way I would yell for a team named the Swans =) [ Note: Australians don't "Root" for teams. "Root" actually means to perform a sexual act, or something along those lines ]
I really am not a big fan of attending sports events, not a fan of sports at all. I actually don't quite understand sports culture.... but I digress. The stadium- Melbourne Cricket Garden (MCG)- is a short trip from home. We walked part of the way. [Though it is the peak of winter, it feels like a New York Fall- i.e I wore a sweater out today and was fine] It was a nice walk downtown pass countless shopping areas and a Hungry Jacks on every corner. [Hungry Jacks is the Australian Burger King; All the same, even the logo, just different name. I actually wonder why "Burger King" didn't cut it as a fast food franchise name in Australia ..... hmf] We then took a tram the rest of the way. [Speaking of trams- we were clueless- or maybe its just me. We still don't get the tram system. Trams are like trolleys- like those in San Fran ? Here, you purchase a ticket and then get it validated on the tram. I don't know how to do the validating part. But we just sat at the back without tickets. Lucky us there were no policeman randomly patrolling the trolleys for tickets. The Australian government loves giving large fines for just about everything.
Though I am not one for sports events I did get excited once arriving at the stadium. Can you tell I have never been to a major sports event ? Just seeing the hyped locals- decked out in their teams colors was enough (Mel: Blue/Red; Syd: Red/ White). The tickets were really cheap, especially with the student discount, and for great seats- Gen.Adm. really close to the field. While looking for our seats I was distracted at the sight of the field. The sun was shining perfectly on the field, as if its purpose that day was to keep just the Footy players warm. The game had already started once we sat. By then I was thinking what a mistake it was for me to attend the game without doing any research on the sport. I had to quickly try and catch on to the rules as I watched- its much more difficult to cheer for your team when you can't even understand what just happened. I shortly put two and two together- Easy.....Just yell really loud when Melbourne gets the funny looking ball past the goal and/or when they knock someone on the opposing team down to the ground- which can get quite ugly.
Footy doesn't look much like American football. The large and aggressive men sport small shorts which show off their massive thighs and by half time, some of the players were also sporting bloody noses that matched the red on their uniforms perfectly. Pretty standard. The ball looks like a rugby ball. The players run with the ball, kick it to pass, and dribble every so often, all with the intent of getting it to the goal of course.
And in the end Melbourne won !!!!!! By a lot. Apparently it was a big deal for them because they had not won a game against Sydney in a long time. All in all it is was a great experience- this "not a big fan of sports" young lady was pleased once leaving the game. I mean, there is no way I could come to Australia and not see a Footy game. And just between me and you, later that night when seeing the replays on the news I could not help but think "oooh oooh I was there for that !!!"- Maybe it took for me to watch footy in Australia for me to understand a bit of "sports culture". Maybe Cricket next ?