Back Porch International Football

While those of us in the United States have been focusing on the Balloon Boy, the folks on the other side of the pond have been obsessing about another balloon controversy: In a soccer game between Sunderland and Liverpool, Sunderland won 1-0 on a goal that bounced off a red balloon that had been thrown onto the field.

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A soccer game in Bolivia was called off Tuesday when a knife-wielding fan ran onto the field and attacked a player.

The Roughriders won their third Grey Cup today, their first in 18 years, by defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 in the 2007 Grey Cup, held at Toronto's Rogers Centre. A crowd of 52,230, mostly clad in Saskatchewan's blinding green, enjoyed a fun filled Canadian afternoon in the former SkyDome, the title game ending a week-long festival of all things CFL. The Canadian national anthem was sung by Winnipeg's own Burton Cummings of The Guess Who The Barenaked Ladies while Lenny Kravitz performed a halftime spectacular worthy of eight years ago.

In a hotly contested match that included three Winnipeg safeties, five field goals, and absolutely zero rouges, Saskatchewan cornerback James Johnson won the MVP award for his three interceptions. Winnipeg's Ryan Dinwiddie made his first CFL start at QB, replacing the injured Kevin Glenn. Dinwiddie came to the Roughriders Blue Bombers by way of Boise State, NFL Europa's Hamburg Sea Devils, and the Chicago Bears, making him the second Bears quarterback to ruin a title game in the same calendar year, an unconfirmed record for North American sports.

Geelong Cats supporters had been waiting 44 years for a day like Saturday, and they couldn't have asked for more.

The Cats dominated the Port Adelaide Power from the opening siren and never let up, finishing their dominant season with a 163-44 victory in the 2007 Australian Football League Grand Final.

Geelong's 119-point win was the highest margin of victory in a Grand Final since 1985. They earned it by swarming the ball and taking advantage of the Power's lackluster form. Any time Port tried to handball their way out of a jam, Geelong was there with a key tackle or takeaway. The Power struggled to take a mark the entire game, while the Cats had no trouble running through the center corridor and setting up goals on the run.

How many goals? Geelong outkicked Port 6 goals to 1 in the second period, 7 goals to 1 in the third, and 6 goals to 1 in the fourth, by which time the Power was just waiting for a merciful final siren. Their supporters must have been wondering if someone secretly replaced the Power with the Carlton Blues' reserve team.

All told, it was a shockingly one-sided finish to an electric Finals Series -- not to mention a bit of a disappointment after the last two Grand Finals, which were both decided by one point. In the end, the Cats had lost only one game since the start of May -- against Port Adelaide, ironically enough -- and their dominance throughout the regular season was rewarded with an AFL Premiership title.

Good show, AFL. Let's do it again next year.

Being that I live on the other side of the world from Australia, I missed out on the Brownlow Medal ceremony earlier this week -- as opposed to our pals Jeff and Paul here.


Just because I missed that party, though, doesn't mean I'm going to miss out on the next big party -- the Australian Football League Grand Final. It's the equivalent of the Super Bowl for this unique and entertaining football code, and an estimated 300 million people will be watching live around the world.

Of course, watching a live event that starts on Saturday afternoon in Australia means staying up really late on Friday night in America, but you don't have to go through that alone. Dozens of pubs throughout the U.S. and Canada will be hosting Grand Final parties for footy fans in those countries, and the Australian Football Association of North America (AFANA) has a complete list of Grand Final parties taking place on Friday night.

If there's a party near you, you might want to go check it out. Aussie rules -- which is not rugby, by the way -- is a fun game to watch once you figure out what's going on. (Here's a quick primer.) The two teams playing in the Grand Final, the Geelong Cats and the Port Adelaide Power, finished 1st and 2nd in the AFL this year. The Power uses their speed to great advantage, while the Cats like to swarm on defense and move quickly up the center square to get scoring opportunities.

The last game these two teams played a month ago was an instant classic. Port won that game by 5. Will Geelong get their revenge? We'll find out by early Saturday morning.

It will be #1 vs. #2 for the Australian Football League Premiership, as the Port Adelaide Power blasted the North Melbourne Kangaroos, 133-46, to advance to the Grand Final against the Geelong Cats.

This victory was just as dominating a victory as the scoreline indicates. The Power out-kicked, out-marked, out-hustled the Kangaroos in every possible fashion. The 'Roos managed to stay with Port for one quarter, thanks to two early goals by Shannon Grant, but the Power extended its lead to 36 by halftime and stomped the 'Roos in the third, outscoring them 55-9 in that frame.

It was an injury that spurred that 3rd-quarter run. Defenseman Michael Wilson ruptured his Achilles tendon in the 2nd quarter and will miss the Grand Final. His teammates picked up their pace in the third to make up for his absence in the back.

Brett Ebert, Daniel Motlop and Warren Tredrea all chipped in with 3 goals for the Power, who were the only team to beat Geelong since late April, and that game was a classic. This year's Grand Final could be much the same.

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.

I was away for the weekend, so I neglected to mention that over the weekend in the semifinals of the AFL Finals Series, Collingwood knocked off a depleted West Coast Eagles squad, 93-74, in extra time, while the Kangaroos rebounded from a triple-digit loss to the Geelong Cats to defeat Hawthorn, 93-60. Collingwood will face Geelong in next week's preliminary finals, while the 'Roos will take on the Port Adelaide Power.

Footy fans, however, are paying little attention to those games at the moment. All eyes are focused on Chris Judd, the West Coast Eagles star who announced yesterday that he wants to leave the club and return to Victoria.

Try to imagine Larry Bird in his prime announcing that he wants to leave the Boston Celtics and be traded to the Indiana Pacers, because it's closer to his hometown. That's pretty much what this is, and clubs based in Melbourne are lining right up to get their hands on Judd, a former AFL MVP who may be the only real role model the Eagles have. Losing Judd will be a huge blow for West Coast, though they can expect a pretty sweet trade deal for him.

Collingwood and Carlton seem to be the leading clubs for Judd's services, with the Blues offering some very high draft picks, though not their #1 pick. They have denied offering Brendan Fevola in trade, though, which is a shame, because Fevola in Perth could be the greatest train wreck in sports since Tonya Harding. We are all poorer for that trade not happening.

He is no longer Buddy Franklin. He is now Buddy Jesus.


Hawthorn Hawks 105, Adelaide Crows 102. Despite dodgy marking early, Lance "Buddy" Franklin kicked 6 goals to spark a Hawthorn Hawks comeback against the Adelaide Crows in the first AFL Elimination Final. After taking their first lead midway through the final quarter, however, four Hawthorn kicks at goal went wide, and a late Adelaide goal helped them retake a slim lead.

That's when Buddy Jesus stepped up and kicked his 7th goal to save Hawthorn, who won their first Finals Series match since 2001. If you want to introduce someone to Australian football, this would be a fine game to show them.

Port Adelaide Power 68, West Coast Eagles 65. Despite Daniel Kerr missing the game after wrist surgery and Chris Judd limping around with a busted groin, things were going pretty well for the Eagles, who were up 13 midway through the third. That's when Ben Cousins popped a hamstring. From that point on, the Eagles were doomed. The equation is just this simple:

No Kerr + No Judd + No Cousins = No Win.

Port came back and won the Qualification Final, and they advance to the Premlinary Finals in two weeks. Oh, and right as the final siren sounded, Power head coach Mark Williams received word that his wife had just given birth to their fifth child. Her water broke at about the same time Cousins' hammy broke. Spooky coincidence, that.

As if the start of the Rugby World Cup weren't enough to whet the sporting sporting appetites of our friends down under, the Australian Football League Finals Series begins this weekend, and Finals Fever is sweeping the continent.


Our boys Jeff and Paul there aren't the only ones obsessed with the AFL's postseason party. Everyone raises their game when they battle for the right to be called the Premiers of Footy. The tackles will be a little harder, and the contests for the ball will be even fiercer than before. If you haven't gotten swept up in the wonder that is Australian football, now's a pretty good time to start. The level of play this weekend may top anything seen all year.

Here's your Finals bracket. A quick overview of the games -- and broadcast times for American audiences, so you can set your DVRs -- is after the jump.