Expansion or Scorched Earth

I'm a devout Australian Rules Football fan. I employ the word devout with deliberation in this instance. Yet as a person currently residing in the ACT I feel that the rest of the Eastern Seaboard holds something of a grudge against Australian Rules and it's governing body, The AFL. The Television stations put the games on at the worst times, putting wonderful shows like The Ghost Whisperer on in favour of a game. Some games are, much to my ever thankful prayers, put on at 23.59 on a Sunday night. Fantastic.

It is not at all helped by the attitude of a great many of the populace of the cities of Sydney and Brisbane who sneer at Australian Rules on the grounds of some misplaced bollocks machismo and an attitude of thinking with your dick. AFL and League can easily co-exist, people are able, and do, follow more than one code of sport "Which is best" is an argument for people who skipped the evolutionary chain from fertiliser to person.

Hopefully with the AFLs spread across the Eastern Seaboard this type of malarky will subside, yet even this very morn, a fragile and chilled thing laying expectant, was shat upon by a member of the moron non-press which caused a stir in my heart that I can't help but try to alleviate.

Let me explain;

The morning shows that exist on the commercial networks are terrible shows. What is more terrible is when these terrible shows give terrible persons of terrible anti-knowledge a chance to pontificate upon all those unwary souls who have been cast adrift and stumbled upon a television in their morning stupor. One such collection of demi-humans were talking about the Greater Western Sydney team that are to join the AFL in 2012. Personal thoughts aside, one harridan whom I am led to believe was a former sportsperson at some stage, declared that because the Sydney Swans couldn't fill a stadium, team GWS was doomed to fail especially with the fact that the team is to be set up in the Rugby League Heartland®. She further enlightened us with the fact (a meaning of the word fact that I have struggled to uncover) that Victorian teams were on the verge of collapse and the AFL should worry about it's own backyard.

What.

Here's a clue for you harpy. The clubs in AFL may have been complacent because they get handouts from television rights and other lucrative business deals but they consistently get crowds over and above 35,000 people with the swans getting an average of 30,000 people.

What pray is the average attendance of a crowd in Rugby League Heartland®? It's waaaaaay down on the list at a paltry 16,000 troglodytes per game, that's less than the Sydney Swans average numbers! Now some clubs, namely the Broncos, have very high average attendance numbers. But hey you know what? Brisbane has both an NRL and an AFL club and the world hasn't ended, it's an example of coexistence with no loss on one side or the other.

Anyway, enough ranting on that.

As a Carlton member I was delighted when Bryce Gibbs announced his resigning with The Club. Next week I will be able to enjoy The Club versus Melbourne who have been on the up this year and then in the week following, versus North Melbourne, who I am led to believe, in watching their staccato-like progression throughout the year, have the shingles.

This pontification has gone on way too long.