During Saturday’s match between the Melbourne Demons and the Carlton Blues, Melbourne defender James Strauss came down hard on his left leg after going airborne for a marking contest against Jeff Garlett, resulting in a broken fibula and tibia.  Strauss will now require surgery to repair the extensive damage, and is expected to take at least one full year to recover.

Here is a look at the nasty incident.

Hat Tip – [Triple M Footy]

With his club in control, Carlton’s Andrew Walker was looking to put an exclamation mark on the victory.  He did so with just over six minutes left in the game, as he climbed onto the shoulders of Essendon’s Jake Carlisle and made an incredible leaping catch for what many AFL fans have already labeled as the “Mark of the Year.”

Here it is.

That is Barry Hall of the AFL’s Sydney Swans – now with the Western Bulldogs – delivering a knockout punch to the chin of West Coast Eagles defender Brent Staker a few years back.  While most would call this type of act a “cheapshot,” the Australian media prefers to refer to them simply as “brain snaps” when they involve Hall.  I guess that somewhat explains why Barry didn’t seem to understand exactly what he had done wrong.

A 17-year-old high school student by the name of Kim Duthie is claiming to have had sex with several AFL players, including members of the St. Kilda club, whom she claims impregnated her during one of their encounters (the child was stillborn).  As for the players involved in the scandal, they were not punished because the sex was deemed consensual and Duthie lied about her age.  Displeased with the way she was treated during the entire investigation, Duthie has now taken her fight to facebook, where she released two nude photos of the St. Kilda players and claims to have 19-21 more, including images involving the use of drugs.

Seems like some pretty wild stuff.  However, we tend to refrain from posting images of naked males on our website, leaving us with little reason to even talk about it, until now.  Thanks to this animated recreation of the entire incident, we have no choice but to now consider this story post-worthy.

Hat Tip – [The Score]

If the Seattle jersey debauchery was not enough, there was also some confusion occuring on the other side of the country just hours earlier, when the Tennessee Titans dressed as the Houston Oilers were taking on the New York Jets dressed as the New York Titans.  So the Titans were playing the Titans?  Yes, such is the magnificent idea of the NFL to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the AFL.  Who would have thought someone was capable of screwing up a jersey even worse than Regis Philbin.

It was a day of awkwardness for NFL jerseys, but the Seahawks uniforms easily took the cake.  At first glance it looks as though they are wearing pinnies.  Sadley they are not.

What is more embarrassing?  Blowing a 13-0 lead, or doing so while looking like a comic book character?

Now football fans from “The Land Down Under” are getting in on the act in what has become a worldwide throw-a-beerathon.  It’s enough to make you shed a tear.

During an Aussie Rules Football game, Brad Johnson of the AFL’s Western Bulldogs made his way towards the stands following a game to greet fans and provide them with some souvenirs.  This delighted most, but one female was intrigued only by the opportunity to throw her beer on Johnson.

After she commits the act she continues her conversation on the phone, likely thankful for the lack of retaliation on Johnson’s behalf.  A classless act by the attention-starved blond, she would have made much better use of herself had she done the more respectful thing and simply flashed the players.

Save a beer.  Show your breasts!

Hat Tip – [Sports Rubbish]

The Australian Football League (AFL) is a game that involves hands and feet, and provides a rough and physical product for spectators, much like American football.  In order to differentiate the two games, Australians often refer to the NFL as “grid-iron” and almost never refer to it as football.  This is similar to the way in which North Americans reserve the term football for the NFL and have nicely coined the phrase “soccer” to refer to that other game so to speak.

Nevertheless, this battle of terminology proves that sport is sometimes more than just a game.  In this case, football is a tradition, that in three respective continents has deep cultural roots that people are not willing to relinquish.  This pride is something that can be detected when traveling and speaking of foreign sports in other countries. One thing is certain, regardless of which football game you are most familiar with, they are all important traditional staples to their respective societies.

With the struggles that the NBA have shown with their decline in attendance and the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes soon to file for bankruptcy.  It’s only fitting that a league like the Arena Football shuts their doors completely.

If a major sport like the NHL, and the NBA can not draw fans to their game to watch some of the top athletes in the world.  How can a league like the Arena Football draw fans to watch athletes who were not good enough to make the NFL?  That’s the main question here.

I remember the Toronto Phantoms, I think they were called.  For the whole 1 year they existed in Toronto, I went to watch them 0 times.  I didn’t even care they existed, the only reason I ever considered watching them was to get drunk and go out somewhere Downtown after the game.

“It’s just tough,” Crush player Delvin Hughley said Monday night at the Denver Sports Fans Choice awards dinner. “I talked to some friends around the league. . . . We don’t know. We’re under a lot of pressure right now and just don’t know what to do.

“Hopefully, we can come out of this thing and everything will be OK.”

The Arena Football opened its doors in 1987 and has 15 organizations, by the end of this week we will definitely have seen the last of the AFL. You won’t be missed!!!!1