Rob's ThoughtsThoughts by the Chairman of the Australian Football Association of North America on Aussie rules football, life, TV coverage, the AFL, etc.Exhibition Match in LA - Redux- February 12, 2004 Late January came and went without the rumored exhibition being so much as officially announced, never mind played. It also came and went without a courteous response from the AFL to the concerns we raised either by mail or to our Melbourne representative. It even passed without the proponents of that event coming forth to defend their efforts against our criticisms. I'd like to say that all of that is surprising, but it isn't. The...http://www.afana.com/blog/archives/000038.html AFL Parity and a Dozen Clubs- February 10, 2004 Quite by accident, I was talking to a member who rang AFANA yesterday and he asked my assessment of the new top management at the AFL. That's still pretty much an open question at this early date but among the questions facing Mr. Demetriou and the other top AFL execs is the future of some struggling AFL clubs. An interesting argument by Scott Wickstein is here: Ubersportingpundit: AFL Perestroika. While I'm not yet convinced the...http://www.afana.com/blog/archives/000037.html US-Aus Free Trade Agreement- February 10, 2004 The free trade agreement announced this past weekend between the USA and Australia is good for AFANA and footy. Here's why: When AFANA left the merchandise business a few years ago, one of the contributing causes was the difficulty in importing merchandise from Australia. While some organizations skirt the law by importing under an individual's name or use other tricks as a cover such as having people "bring" their merchandise in when travel between the...http://www.afana.com/blog/archives/000036.html Wither TV Coverage in 2004- February 9, 2004 Hi all, In advance of a TV newsletter now in preparation (sign up here), I wanted to post a brief update on the TV coverage situation north of the Rio Grande. Last month, AFANA was able to confirm from FOX Sports World Canada and from MHz Networks (Washington DC metro area) that those networks planned on carrying the sport again this season. More curiously however, we were told by FOX Sports World US that they...http://www.afana.com/blog/archives/000035.html |