Footy Feaver

 21/7/2012

Paluulippu ostettu. Lahtopaiva on 31.7 ja paivat hupenevat. Silti viela niin useita asioita, joita haluan nahda ja kokea. Ehdottomana ykkosena oli paasta nakemaan footya. Tuota ihmeellista urheilulajia, josta itsellani ei ollut hajuakaan. Laji on kuitenkin suosituin urheilulaji koko maassa ja olin asustanut kyseisen lajin syntypaikassa jo nelja kuukautta, niin oli aika menna paikan paalle ottamaan selvaa, mista kyseisessa lajissa oikein oli kyse. Paikkana tietenkin piti olla Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), joka on ehdoton ykkospaikka pelin nakemiseen. MCG on Australian suurin stadion, nayttamo useille ja tarkeimmille urheilutapahtumille ja sita pidetaan "henkisena kotina australialaiselle urheilulle". Yksinkertaisesti, jos haluat menna katsomaan footya, MCG on se paikka.

My return ticket to Finland has been paid. The days are almost over. And still so many things I want to see and do. The absolut number one thing to do was to go see footy. This strange sport which I didn't understand or knew about it at all. Anyway footy is the most popular sport in Australia and I have been living in the birth place of this sport for almost 4 months now so it was time go and see what is it about.The place of course had to be Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) which is the definitely the number one place to go see it. MCG is the biggest stadium in Australia and it hosts many big events like AFL finals. It is also referred to be "the spiritual home of Australian sport". Simply MCG is THE place to go and see footy.

Local match : Collingwood vs. Hawthorn

MCG stadium

Olen maininnut kyseisen lajin muutaman kerran aiemmin, mutta kerron viela kerran, mita itse olen saanut naiden neljan kuukauden aikana lajista selville. Footy on australialaisten oma versio jalkapallosta ja huippusuosittua ympari mantereen. Laji on yhdistelma eur. jalkapalloa, amerik. jalkapalloa, rugbya, kasipalloa seka koripalloa. Rugbypallon nakoista pelivalinetta voi kuljettaa potkimalla, heittamalla (handballing) tai sitten kuljettamalla, mutta palloa taytyy talloin pompauttaa aina maan kautta eteenpain kulkiessa kuten koripallossa. Maalin voit tehda potkaisemalla pallon kentan paadyissa olevien paalujen valista. Peli on erittain fyysista ja suojuksista ei ole tietoakaan. Eli jalleen vain uusi versio sille, etta miehet saavat juosta paattomina ympari kenttaa ja taklailla toisiaan. Joka tapauksessa laji on enemman kuin suosittua Australiassa ja tallakin kertaa MCG:lla oli yli 83 000 katsojaa seuraamassa pelia !!! Aikamoinen kokemus likalle, joka on kotoisin 1300 asukkaan kunnasta.


I have mentioned about the sport few times earlier but let I tell you once more what I have found about the sport during these four months. Footy is Australia's own version of football and very popular through the whole country. The sport is mix of soccer, American football, rugby, handball and basketball. The allowed methods to move the ball are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. But for example the player running with the ball must bounce the ball like in basketball. The score can be done by kicking the ball between the goal posts. The game is very physical and there's no word about shields. So just one another game for men to run around th efield and tackle each others. Anyway it's more than popular in Australia and at MCG was more than 83 000 people watching the game !!! Quite an experience for a girl who comes from a town where there are only 1300 people ..

Where all these people come from?

Kun nain suuren stadionin aukeavan edessani ja yleison hurraavan ja kannustavan oman joukkueensa pelaajia, melu oli huikea. Mahtavaa ! Suomessa ei ikina paase kokemaan mitaan tallaista. Suurin stadionimme Helsingin olympiastadion sallii istumapaikat vain 40 000 ihmisille ja koska paikalla ei pelata jaakiekko ne paikat harvoin tayttyvat. Sen lisaksi, etta olin innostunut, minusta tuntui kuin olisin astunut keskelle Harry Potterin maailmaa ja huispausmatsia. Footy-kentta nimittain muistuttaa mielestani kovasti huispauskenttaa ja se kaikki melu ja pauhu rinnalle, niin olin keskella taikamaailman mitteloa. Meno oli muutenkin melko mystista minulle, silla minulle lajin saannot olivat edelleen hepreaa. Onneksi sain kaksi miespuolista irlantilaisherraa seuraksi (tai he suostuivat ottamaan minut mukaansa), jotka avarsivat minulle footymaailman salaisuuksia.

The athmosphere was great when we entered in. Big crowd and everybody were cheering. Awesome. In Finland you can never experience anything like this. For example our biggest stadium in Helsinki have seats for 40 000 people and anyway .. As they don't play ice hockey there the seats get full rarely. Besides that I was excited it also felt like I was in the middle of Harry Potter movie. The field reminded quidditch field and the bir roaring crowd who was wearing their own team's colors .. Also the rules were mystireous for me as I didn't understand them at all. But luckily I got company from two Irish guys (or they let me come to the game with them) and explained little bit the rules for me.

It looks like quidditch field doesn't it?

My Irish escorts

Probably I asked again silly footy question and David thinks ..

Ennakko-odotukset pelillisesti olivat myos kovat. Pelaavat joukkueet Collingwood ja Hawthorn ovat talla hetkella neljan parhan joukkueen joukossa talla hetkella, joten tiukka ja kovatasoinen ottelu olisi pitanyt olla tiedossa. Lisaksi molemmat joukkueet ovat Melbournesta kotoisin, joka takasi kuuman paikallisottelun tunnelman. Ennakkoasettelu ei siis olisi voinut olla parempi. Urheilussa kuitenkaan mikaan ei mene kaavan mukaan ja ei myoskaan talla kertaa. Hawthorn osoitti melko selvasti paremmuutensa talla kertaa ja Collingwood jai melko selvasti jyran alle. Harmin paikka. Olin nimittain sattumalta pukeutunut Collingwoodin mustavalkoisiin savyihin ja sen vuoksi paatin kannattaa kyseista joukkuetta. Tosin, koska en pelista paljoakaan ymmartanyt, hurrasin melkein joka tilanteessa kuin vain oli mahdollista (Collingwoodin tai Hawthornin hyvaksi), joten tappio ei sattunut kovinkaan karvaasti ..

Expectations of the game's quality were also high as the playing teams were in top 4 in the league. So I was waiting for tight and upscale game. Also the both teams are from Melbourne which increased the tension and the ambience. So the preview of the game couldn't have been better. But in sports nothing goes like it should go according the statics and happened also then. Honestly saying Hawthorn kicked Collingwoods ass. Shame as I was kind of supporting Collingwood. I had accidentally choosed black and white shirt and those are Collingwoods colors so I decided to support them. But in the end as I didn't understood much of the game I was cheering almost always (was it good for Hawthorn or Collingwood) so the lost didn't felt too bad ..

Excited Hawthorn fan

I could see more brown and yellow colours that day (Hawthorn's)

Kunnon urheiluhengen mukaisesti hoidimme oman pelimme loppuun asti ja totta kai suuntasimme jalkipeleihin laheiseen baariin The Corneriin. Tassa kohtaa kuitenkin sensuuri iskee ja taman illan lopputulos jaakoon avoimeksi muille ..

In sports the players should always play until the end and also we did that. We had after games in the local bar close to the stadium and .. Well now the censor strices and the end will remain mysterious for everybody else.