Football (1), Football (2), Football (3), Football (4), and Football (5)

There sure is a helluva lot of football going on. Australia has just entered the "footy finals" -- in American terms, the playoffs for both the Australian Football League (AFL -- Aussie Rules, you know the rounded field and the guys in lab coats who do a cool little hand signal when a goal is scored) and the National Rugby League (NRL -- plays Rugby LEAGUE rules, not to be confused with Rugby UNION rules) began this weekend, and the airwaves were full of big tough guys running and tackling.

The games themselves are entertaining, if a bit odd to American eyes. But what's really odd is the actual playoff system. Both the AFL and NRL take the top 8 teams into the playoffs. But they use what's called the McIntyre System. Basically, all 8 teams play the opening weekend. The two lowest-seeded losers are done for the season. The two highest-seeded winners get a week off (and get to host the semifinals), while the other four teams play another round to determine which two will play in the semis. Adding a twist to things, the AFL doesn't match 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7, etc (NRL does); instead, it matches 1 vs 4, 2 vs 3, 5 vs 8, and 6 vs 7 to make the opening round games more competitive. That seemed unfair to me at first but remember -- only the two lowest-ranked losers are eliminated, so teams 1, 2, 3, and 4 are guaranteed to go through to the next round. But they play for the right to have a week off and host the semifinal game.

It's very weird and exotic to somebody used to American sports -- but it has the great benefit of giving the top teams a little margin for error. One loss does NOT necessarily put you out of contention, although it certainly makes the path to the championship more difficult. (Unfortunately, the local Canberra Raiders were bounced out of the NRL playoffs.)

OK, that's Football (1) and (2). In Football (3), Australia was defeated by South Africa in an international Rugby Union match. That game was on at some weird hour (played in S. Africa) so I didn't see it.

Football (4) is here too, but like Americans, the Aussies call this one soccer. Aussie soccer fans are still ruing the national team's 2-0 loss at Kuwait in Asia Cup qualifying (no worries though, the Socceroos are already qualified) and the loss of Sydney FC star Dwight York (Trinidad international) who left to join Sunderland in England. Soccer is definitely the poor cousin to its rougher cousins here.

And Football (5) isn't as far as I can tell actually played here, but I was glad to see #1 Ohio State pounded #2 Texas (in Austin!) 24-7 in the opening week of American college football. Go Buckeyes! And go Bengals -- the NFL is firing up too.

So much football, so little time.