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So what if AFL is not an international sport

Roar Guru
8th September, 2009
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Roar Guru
8th September, 2009
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Followers of AFL often hear that our game mustn’t be any good because it’s not a truly international game. Perhaps. But obviously the same must apply to American Football.

However, America is a vast, geographically diverse nation of just over 300 million. It seems that much of their internal sport must be world class. It’s just that it’s not ‘international’, so the international-snobs are able to discount it.

Really though, how does England Vs Australia in the Ashes compare to the LA Lakers Vs Chicago Bulls in basketball?
How does the All Blacks Vs the Wallabies compare to the 49rs Vs the Jets in the Grid Iron?

In many cases, ‘international’ as a vindication of a sport seems more a claim for self-validation.

Is Luxemborg Vs Andorra as a football match up any better than Collingwood Vs Carlton? Does it really matter if anyone outside of the stadium is watching a given game on a given day?

Players don’t hear the ‘roar’ of the crowd via the internet or satellite from the other side of the world whilst the game is on. An 80,000 crowd is an 80,000 crowd all over the world. Does it really matter how ‘international’ or otherwise the game is?

Although, I did read the other day that the number of Chinese internet uses has surpassed the total population of America. Perhaps you could hear their ‘roar’.

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