Think Australians don't love their football as much as Americans love theirs? Check it: 98,002 people showed up at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday night to watch the top-seeded Geelong Cats hold off the Collingwood Magpies, 92-87, in what's already being called a Finals Series classic.Gary Ablett kicked what proved to be the game-winning goal with three minutes left to put the Cats 11 points ahead, but Anthony Rocca won a free kick for high contact inside the 50m zone with 70 seconds left. Rocca was hurt on the play, so Paul Medhurst kicked the goal that cut the Cats' lead to 5.
From that point on, the Cats and Magpies both scrapped and hustled to get the ball, and while Collingwood managed to get the ball back inside the 50 one more time, Geelong managed to prevent them from setting up one last scoring opportunity.
Geelong football manager Neil Balme, however, seemed less than impressed, telling a Channel 7 reporter after the game that he told his players not to celebrate too much, because it wasn't a very good win. You'd think any win that gets you into the Grand Final, Australia's answer to the Super Bowl, would be a good one, but Balme insisted that his team could have played better.
Geelong will have to play better if Port Adelaide wins its preliminary final against the Kangaroos on Saturday. Port is the only club that has beaten Geelong since the end of April, and that game was something of a classic, too. A Geelong v. Port Adelaide final could be even better. But will it bring 98,000 to the MCG? At this point, I wouldn't rule that out.
