Question for the Aussies

[Fishlore]

I'm from the US and we just had a Sydney vs Collingwood Aussie Football Match on TV. I was just wondering if Aussie Football was more or less popular than Soccer, er.. Regular Football(?)?

I've never watched it before. I liked it. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the scoring aspect, but I think I'm learning the rules. The crowd definitely seems passionate. I was just curious if people took it as seriously as Soccer.

 

[ríomhaire]

I'm from the US and we just had a Sydney vs Collingwood Aussie Football Match on TV. I was just wondering if Aussie Football was more or less popular than Soccer, er.. Regular Football(?)?

I've never watched it before. I liked it. I'm still a bit fuzzy on the scoring aspect, but I think I'm learning the rules. The crowd definitely seems passionate. I was just curious if people took it as seriously as Soccer.

Tip, when talking to someone outside the US don't refer to American football as 'Regular Football'.

Edit: There is no 'Regular Football', there are lots of kinds of football.
Soccer
Irish
American
Aussie
International rules
Rugby Union
Rugby League
and probably more.

 

[mindless_moder]

yes but soccer is the real football.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

yes but soccer is the real football.

agreed woo woo woo

Ive watched international rules before, its almost as if they just made the rules up as they went along, maybe there is something deeper to it?

 

[nick_t]

Tip, when talking to someone outside the US don't refer to American football as 'Regular Football'.

Edit: There is no 'Regular Football', there are lots of kinds of football.
Soccer
Irish
American
Aussie
International rules
Rugby Union
Rugby League
and probably more.

soccer is the only sport that actually makes sense when called football because its played with the feet 95% of the time!

 

[xLostx]

who cares about soccer? it's all about the kangaroos

 

[JellyWorld]

soccer is the only sport that actually makes sense when called football because its played with the feet 95% of the time!

Actually nohandsball might be a better word.

 

[Steve]

Actually nohandsball might be a better word.

Well, no, because there are throw-ins. And keepers.

 

[venturon]

Well, in footy there are points (or 'behinds') and goals. A goal is worth six behinds.

People definately take Footy seriously over here -- in fact an entire culture revolves around the game -- but rioting is generally very, very rare. You never see people tipping over cars or huge brawls between supporters here. People generally don't care if you barrack for Sydney or Collingwood or Bombers or whatever.

I think the reasons for this are that it's a fast and generally exciting game to watch, as well as the fact it's a pretty high-scoring game. There's still a degree of tension amongst the audience, but generally people walk away feeling that they've been entertained by the spectacle.

 

[Jintor]

It's considered entertainment as opposed to an excuse to go crazy and overturn cars and kill people.

It's big, but not fanatical big.

 

[bliink]

I'm from the US and we just had a Sydney vs Collingwood Aussie Football Match on TV. I was just wondering if Aussie Football was more or less popular than Soccer, er.. Regular Football(?)?

"Aussie football" seems to be more popular on TV here (etc), but "Soccer" has a larger amount of players countrywide

 

[Fishlore]

Tip, when talking to someone outside the US don't refer to American football as 'Regular Football'.

Edit: There is no 'Regular Football', there are lots of kinds of football.
Soccer
Irish
American
Aussie
International rules
Rugby Union
Rugby League
and probably more.

I didn't refer to "American football" once in my post. I called Soccer regular football because I understand that people don't call it soccer overseas, they call it football. In order to prevent confusion, since my post was about Aussie football, I called soccer regular football.

Thanks Venturon, Jintor and Bliink for actually answering my question, I appreciate it. It definitely was an entertaining game to watch. I was slightly confused about "behinds." Is it possible to score both behinds and goals, or is every score a goal?