Tonight, dh & ds1 are off to see a live football match. I'm talking Aussie Rules Football, generally known as "Footy". Logan's favourite team, Port Adelaide Power are hosting the Saint Kilda Saints, one of Victoria's many teams. After several trials of getting there, Andrew & Logan have worked out the easiest way to attend. They catch a special "Footy Bus" from our local shopping centre which goes straight to the big football stadium, at the other side of the city and drops its passengers right near the entrance. It is a much better system than trying to find a carpark, probably having to walk a few kilometres because that's as close as you can get, and then sitting in a traffic jam for 45 minutes before you can move two inches. I know what I'm talking about because I've been along when we've done it that way.

My 12yo son is very serious about his footy, and could tell you every player on every team across Australia, including their vital match statistics. He & his dad participate in on-line "footy tipping competitions". In the past, he's been a very one-eyed supporter of his team. It was a fun experience when we visited other states and saw his reaction to their own blinkered attitudes about their local teams. We happened to arrive in Brisbane the very day before Logan's team, Port Adelaide, were due to fly in for a Saturday night match. A TV advert said, "They come from Adelaide, a lovely city full of churches and flowers and wine. Well, we'll give 'em something to WHINE about!" I think it was a good experience for Logan to rub shoulders with supporters of many other teams in caravan park TV rooms, when they watched evening matches.

As I said, I've been along to a few games here at home. On one occasion, it was a Sunday and we were going to go straight after church. As it was cold, I put on a warm red jumper with a pair of black jeans. As we walked among a crowd of other Port Adelaide supporters, I noticed that I was getting some funny glances. I looked down to see if anything was wrong with my clothes but nothing seemed amiss. When I looked up again at the other Port supporters in their team colours of white and teal blue, it dawned on me with horror what the problem was. The colours of the visiting Victorian team, the Essendon Bombers, are red and black. I gasped, "Oh no, I look as if I'm supporting the Bombers!" Then Andrew was horrified and said, "Well, of all the silly things you could do..." I reminded him, "You saw me! You could have tipped me off!" There was nothing for it but to sit through the game in the Port Adelaide stand, standing out like a sore thumb in my red & black. One friend told me later, "You're a brave, brave lady, Paula. I wouldn't go wearing Essendon colours in the middle of a swarm of vicious Port supporters, like shark bait!" This story just shows two things. 1- If you haven't guessed, I'm not a 'true blue" footy supporter, and 2- Husbands don't necessarily pay any attention to what their wives wear.

On the subject of sport, I have to mention how excited Logan & I were recently when we visited New York City on Google Earth to find a live baseball match happening at Yankee Stadium. To start with, Logan was talking about the difference in shape between the baseball pitch and our football & cricket ovals & stadiums. Then I noticed that the carpark and surrounding roads were crammed with cars, like one of our footy match Saturdays. We saw that the spectator stands appeared to be crammed to the hilt and then, as it must have been a clear day, we saw tiny little players standing on the baseball pitch. (I'm sure the players aren't really tiny, but they appear like little ants on Google Earth). We were both delighted to think that we managed our cyber-visit on a day when a game was on.