This is an open apology letter to all soccer fans in Australia and worldwide.
In closed circles and private conversations, I have sniggered and sneered at the world game, labelling it as a low-scoring bore, littered with diving and acting.
I was wrong.
In the wee hours of Monday morning I stayed up to watch the EPL’s final day, a day that seemed to have as many unbelievable plot lines as an episode of the ‘Bold and the Beautiful’. The result was captivating.
Yesterday’s match between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers was hardly the greatest game of soccer ever played.
In fact it should have been a thrashing, with Manchester City having 81% of the possession and 15 shots on target opposed to QPR’s three.
As is so often the case with sport, the statistics don’t tell the story of how great this match was. It was the sheer drama of the contest that made it enthralling viewing for sports followers of all codes.
I have failed to acknowledge that I am a 19-year old Victorian. Typically my passion is AFL, being from the sports-mad town of Melbourne.
For some reason, this did not seem to matter.
Last night was not a case of soccer stamping its authority over the AFL or any rival code.
In our bias for a particular code, we can often become mistakenly disenchanted from other codes, simply because we feel the need to pick a sport and stick to it.
The Manchester City game reminded us of what we can miss out on if we do that.
It was 90 minutes of pure enjoyment, with Manchester City no different from the Sydney Swans of 2005, searching for that drought breaking win.
For so much of the last half an hour, QPR keeper Paddy Kenny looked set in my mind to be remembered in the same vein as Leo Barry’s match-saving mark.
Sure Barry Hall’s hit on Brent Staker made Joey Barton’s brain-snap – that included an elbow a kick and a head butt – look more like child play, yet the similarities are uncanny.
As for two goals in injury time, I don’t know what to compare that too; it was simply astonishing.
It is these separate story-lines that make sport so engrossing, so entertaining, not the shape of the ball they kick or how many players they have on the field that makes a sport great.
My attention then turns to our local competition, Twitter and Facebook went Joey Barton last night with messages of agony and joy depending on which Manchester side you followed.
The world cup also proved there is strong support for soccer in Australia even if we are currently lying dormant.
Somehow and someway, the A-League need to capture the spirit and excitement, the pain and ecstasy that was on display last night.
If they can, me and my fellow converts are waiting.
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Fussball is right Tim you have to accept the good,bad and the ugly of the sport,lets not forget all the bandwagoners of 06 who suddenly became football experts after our amazing win against Japan to then hating the sport again after Grosso's dive.I definaltey recommend you enter this crazy world though its an amazing ride if you can handle it.
timmy_morgs
Roar Rookie
Thanks Bondy. It is an interesting point I guess with less scores depending on the side (eg the Man City game) you always feel as if you are in the game, thus less of a chance you thinking the match is over. With Soccer I don't know if the scoring is the main part of the enjoyment, a lot is also in part to build ups and good opportunities. Poor games are more likely to be catergorised not by the score but by the amount of shots and chances generated. Though a high scoring AFL game (albeit close) is better than a low scoring one
timmy_morgs
Roar Rookie
Cheers Agga amazing footage. To be honest I haven't experienced much of the HAL, though did attend the Grand Final Victory won 1-0 and didn't overly enjoy it. Though the challenge the HAL faces that the EPL doesn't is that not everyone loves soccer in Australia (sorry I can't bring myself to say football just yet) and apart from the HAL fans who have commented here sharing the highlights of the A-League the main stream media usually only wants to convey the negative aspects of the sport (eg Clive Palmer). So if the drama is there i'm unsure how the A-League converts the regular sport follower who sees it as second rate to support the local league. When they do I think it will be great to have a third big sporting competition in Australia
timmy_morgs
Roar Rookie
Yes I meant crazy or stupid when referring to Joey Barton. Thanks Kasey was talking to a friend today about the Melbourne derby. Feel shattered I have caught the bug at the end of both seasons
The Cattery
Roar Guru
There's stacks of ambiguity. Finding out what people might do each week (somewhere on the internet) is a completely different thing to finding out that one million were watching a specific program for three hours. And there's no way known that that number is replicated online (for that specific program).
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"36.1% of this demographic across Europe sign-in online to watch their favourite sport or team play on a weekly basis, compared with just 32.1 per cent doing so on television " Can't see any ambiguity.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I'm not saying either of us have to do legitimate research, I'm saying we both need to use our faculites to register the ambiguity contained in the survey question. That such and such a percentage of the population goes online to consume sport, compared to such an such a percentage consuming sport on TV is ambiguous and meaningless information. When oztam calculates that one million watched last night's game, it is calculating an average audience for the full three hours - that's usefull information for advertisers - and only the most optimistic would believe that that number again has been replicated online. But when some bright spark says more are consuming sport online than on TV, that's an ambiguous and useless statement, afterall, we are all consuming sport right now, we consume sport when we come onto the Roar; we consume sport online when we look up highlights on Youtube, etc, etc - it's scattered all over the shop; it's for bits and pieces here and there - in no way can you compare the value of that to an advertiser with the certainty of one million watching at the one time. I'm talking the here and now, obviously it's changing, but in Australia, we are still a few years away from that tipping point.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Middy To be honest, just about anyone with sports broadcasting experience - from anywhere in the world - becomes a player! Al Jazeera Sport is making a huge play for football coverage - has already won the rights to broadcast Ligue 1 in France, Serie A in USA & is likely to break Rupert Murdoch's hold on EPL rights in the UK. SBS is already broadcasting all its football content - UCL matches, TWG, all the Cup finals - LIVE via the TWG website as well as on TV. Interestingly, FoxSports allows us to watch EPL live via their "EPL on demand" web-channel but still hasn't done this for HAL ... maybe it's coming? The stage is being set for major transformation to the way we watch sport.
Jack Russell
Roar Guru
65k is better than every non-football discussion show on Fox. Only other talkshows on Fox Footy rate better on pay TV. On topic - I thought the game provided one of the greatest moments of sporting drama i've ever witnessed. It's events like that which make me wonder why some people hate sport, yet love scripted, contrived drama shows on TV as if they're real life. And this isn't something unique to any particular sport. Game 6 in last year's World Series was as good as anything i've seen. Or Sydney's win over Geelong in 2005. Or Australia's win over South Africa in the World Cup in 1999. Just about all sports - ones with a decent following anyway - have the ability to throw up circumstances that make some of the great drama movies look mundane in comparison.
Midfielder
Guest
Fuss Interesting comments and makes Fetch TV a real player in the next deal .... add Optus & Fox wanting the streaming rights... worth a mention is the National Broadband rollout passes more addresses as each day passes...
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I haven't conducted any legitimate research on the subject, so I'll listen to the experts who found: 1. 36.1% of this demographic across Europe sign-in online to watch their favourite sport or team play on a weekly basis, compared with just 32.1 per cent doing so on television (My note: sign-in regularly doesn't indicate a few seconds viewing, or watching whilst playing video games) 2. Lucien Boyer, CEO of Havas Sport & Entertainment, said the results of this survey: a) "mean advertisers, content providers, broadcasters, rights holders and athletes will all be affected by the changing ways sport is watched b) "represent an important evolution in consumer behaviour c) "(have) implications (that) are huge and suggest the broadcast sales model for sport needs to be carefully considered in the future." --- Seems pretty clear to me. The average HAL TV audience is around 60k .. it would be interesting to know the number of people who watch HAL highlights on TWG, FoxSports, etc. I reckon it would be more than 60k in AUS.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
That's interesting, but there are plenty of doubts about the result. When we say "consume' that might include catching a 20 second replay - a lot might be doing that, but that's very different to sitting down for 3 hours to watch something. Alternatively, it might mean having a small window open while you play WOW, which, once again, advertisers will not necessarily place the equivalent value on that as watching a game on TV. I'm just looking at the ratings for the 16 to 39 demo now for Sunday night, the biggest rating show was Masterchef with 505k. Are another 505k 16 to 39 year olds watching it online somewhere? I have my doubts. But it might be happening, you never know.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I think the TV industry is fully-aware of the changing viewing habits of sports fans. According to new research conducted for the Global Sports Forum Barcelona, the internet has surpassed television as the primary platform for 18 to 35 year-old sports fans to watch their favourite sport. http://www.insidethegames.biz/latest/16145-internet-surpasses-television-as-primary-viewing-platform-for-younger-sports-fans-new-survey-reveals
The Cattery
Roar Guru
I see - you're saying that more watched it online after the event than watched it live on Fox on the night. Someone needs to alert the television industry to the fact that this is happening.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I wasn't at my primary residence, so no Foxtel. Fox needs to create an online channel for subscribers. But, the full interview (& extras) was posted on the Football pages of FoxSports. Most people, whom I liaise with on Twitter, watched the video the next day - that's when it went viral on Twitter; not on the night of the show.
The Cattery
Roar Guru
You didn't watch it Fussball? I'm genuinely surprised to hear that. Judging by the ratings, it wasn't a huge platform. Now let's be honest, why on Earth would anyone connected with the AFL want to appear on SBS? If they want to promote the league, SBS would be the last place they'd use as a vehicle. No disrespect intended in relation to SBS in any way, shape or form. I've seen enough lesbian vampire films on SBS to know that it has merit as a broadcaster.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I'd be surprised if many Football fans tuned in - I didn't - and, given your comment about poor ratings for the show, it seems AFL fans aren't watching Eddie's show in large numbers. But, I appreciate Eddie McGuire giving the FFA Chairman a platform to reach fans, who may never normally engage with AUS football. I can't imagine Les Murray inviting Mike Fitzpatrick onto TWG ... perhaps, Fozzie might be more hospitable to the AFL Chairman?
The Cattery
Roar Guru
Yeh, well, all that online chatter about Lowy appearing on EMT gave it one of its lowest ever ratings.
Midfielder
Guest
Tim Welcome and the door is always open.... suggest you pop along to a MV or MH games against Sydney or Adelaide ... As to opening your eyes to other codes ... well done its takes courage and intellectuality needs clear thinking to make the choice you have and write and article on it... I have three teams in football the Mariners, in RL Manly and in RU Eastwood [the Woodies] ... my preferred choice is football but I can still appreciate rugby in all it forms, union, league and touch... in fact I still love playing touch and enjoy a five a side touch match as much as a five a side football match.. So keep your open mind take a few like minded mates along to the above matches and watch the Socceroos and other national sides ... the world is an amazing place and it is encouraging to see people your age looking to explore it ... so welcome to not only the world but Football as well.....
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
"It just goes to show, we sometimes over-estimate just how influential the online chatter is." You're kidding right? There would be very few people on the planet, who think "the influence of online chatter is exaggerated". Online chatter was a major driver of regime change in Egypt & Libya; it dictates government policy & corporate policy. Financial experts are predicting the IPO of Facebook - basically a website dedicated to "online chatter" - will value the company at US$100 billion! Do you honestly believe: "we sometimes over-estimate just how influential the online chatter is"?