A national game it’s supposed to be
But alas the Brownlow count I’ll again not see
It’s that time of year again, when all thoughts head south.
The Brownlow Medal count isn’t screened into the states that the AFL can’t get to quickly enough. Hmmm….?
Not screened live that is. Past bed time screening doesn’t count (The Brownlow will be screened at 20 minutes to midnight in NSW.)
The glamour, the glitz, players in suits, rumours and hot tips – are all left to the imagination.
NSW is not yet aligned with the AFL football season. School doesn’t break up until a week after the grand final.
The build-up to the greatest day of the year on the sporting calendar is missing.
Despite the tyranny of distance, over the years my own Brownlow tradition has developed.
My youngest sister in Melbourne always rings me here in the Snowy Mountains after Round 15 to give me a progress report. Then she rings back after Round 20 and turns the sound on the TV up so that I can hear the excitement live. We usually chat and discuss plans for Grand Final weekend during breaks in the vote counting.
We never fail to reminisce and laugh about the year her boss gave her the hot tip that Justin Madden was a certainty. He didn’t come close.
Every year at this time I promise myself that next year I’m going to take the whole week off and go to Melbourne to absorb the atmosphere of finals week.
Getting updates via the internet is possible now but as I’ll be working away from home this week I’ll have to rely on a late mobile phone call or text message.
Hopefully when the national game becomes truly that, the Brownlow count will be delivered to the national audience at a reasonable hour.
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Pamela, it’s all about ratings; which is the elephant in the room. Obviously the fat cats of screen media “Telly Tubbies” know that apart from a few purists such as you nobody else in NSW cares so they do as they do.
The AFL brains trust (Can you put AFL and brains in the same sentence?) just havent sussed it out yet.
When they do maybe the AFL will have to sign some extaorninary fabulous deal for television support which further disadvantages the proletariat.
Your right Phantom, brains, trust and AFL don’t go well together, but we can always hope. Expansion is all about money and ratings yet there are still some footy followers out there.
Check to see if SEN are doing it on the radio (Internet).
If so, that might partially help.
PAMELA, it’s 2009.
Log onto the AFL website and you can see the votes coming through round by round. We were in Tokyo this time last year and one of my nephews had his laptop jigged up to do just that.
We watched the whole thing unfold, on line.
Similarly with a daughter in London. She watched the Cats demolish the FlagPies on the goggle box last Sat. morning-early afternoon (her time, on ESPN) but the Friday nite game wasn’t able to be accessed via a live telecast.
What will she and London-born hubby be doing this evening (our time)?
Why, watching the votes click through on the AFL website.
Thanks for the tips all – unfortunately I will be out of computer range shortly.