Originally Posted by
Jules
Good, you're actually making some solid points now MFKS, well done.
I've already told you in this thread. I worked with a lot of English people in Sydney and they loved AFL. They much preferred it to the NSL at the time, when Northern Spirit was in its prime. The reasons were many. Firstly, they came from the home of football, so our version wasn't anything special to them. Secondly, they appreciated what was good about the game, without any chip on their shoulder: because it is unique to Australia and they came here to experience our lifestyle, the action moves long distances quite quickly, the players are athletic and brave without being thuggish to the extent rugby league players are (and they were biased against the Northerners game anyway), there is a gradual progression to the score of the game, so while teams can certainly turn a game around, the rewards for effort are spread over the a greater span of time (sure, it doesn't shoot the dopamine up like a goal in football does but most sports are like this - cricket, baseball, every other type of football, basketball - it is only football that condenses scoring into a few microseconds per game).
I also love that it is just plain Aussie pragmatics that a country that loves cricket would create a sport that uses the same oval in winter.
Well, I'm not sure I agree with you on this. It assumes, like Craig Foster argues, that we have to create a performance pyramid from children all the way up, to achieve those few, fleeting moments of national pride. And I've already mentioned that the corruption of FIFA, the Olympic Committee, basically any group that feels they can lord it over masses of population, does not sit well with me. We've been humiliated enough, through our World Cup bid, and bowing to the FIFA overlords over various other things. It has left a very sour taste in my mouth.
I've taken my kids through the football factory, as it's just becoming full of ego and career coaches who'd rather coach then deliver washing machines. Kids sport should be about fun but the football factory, with the national curriculum etc, is all geared toward international competition for the few elites that make it. I'm not saying that kids sport shouldn't focus on skill, of course it should, but what I see is beyond that. Half the coaches and parents are focused on the FFA ideology and half the coaches and parents just want kids to get exercise and have fun. But lets be clear, it is a top down ideology, not a grassroots up movement. Its a cultural imposition. So, is that really being Nationalist? Is having our kids free time dictated to by the Dutch methodology really Australian?
Cultural Nationalism is something that you should be able to feel every day. You shouldn't have to wait until you compete with another nation until you get a chance to experience it. In that respect, AFL is the only sport that makes the grade, because it is the only true Australian sport. Even cricket and the rugby codes come from England.