"Footy"

This afternoon I went to an Australian Rules Football game. To me, it seemed like a cross between rugby, soccer, and football with a lot of men in tiny shorts running around on a circular field. I went with a bunch of other exchange students and Gumby. We took the bus/train to the game in West Leederville, a suburb of Perth. The teams that were playing were the West Coast Eagles and the Gold Coast Suns. At the start of the game they didn't sing the national anthem. Instead, they released a real eagle out in the stadium! It must have been trained or something because it didn't fly away.

Here are some photos of the game in action (I probably shouldn't take up a career in sport photography):

Note the tiny shorts above.

I was slightly confused the whole time because there were referees that ran out into the middle of the field and they also threw the ball back in from the side backwards and over their head. The stadium was packed with about 35,000 people. Most were dressed in blue and yellow for the Eagles, but there were a few people in red and yellow for the GC Suns.
If you are curious: here are the official rules.



Oh, and the Eagles won! 85-67.