A City Obssessed

If  you’re a visitor to Melbourne you can’t be blamed for thinking that Aussie Rules Football (otherwise known as AFL – Australian Football League) is a religion in this rather large city.

You hear about it almost every single day. Come to think of it, it is EVERY day.  From the time we wake up in the morning (usually the 6am news) to when we go to bed at night, the news on both the radio and TV seem to carry a story that relates to the AFL in some way.  And that story is frequently headline news or in the main part of the news before the sports section – and then more footy news.

What is going on? Isn’t there anything else more interesting to report on? Frankly I feel that the stories reported just show how immature most of these boys in men’s bodies really are.  It wouldn’t be so bad if it were ‘good news’ stories being reported but they nearly always relate to fights, sexual complaints of some sort, drunken behaviour, traffic misdemeanors, court appearances and so on.

Let’s face it, the AFL isn’t giving a very good example at the moment to our young people are they, nor to the rest of the world who might tune in from time to time.

When our family shifted to Melbourne from Adelaide in the early 1990s we didn’t take much notice of the footy at that stage. We had other things going on in our lives but steadily over the years it’s become obvious that this state lives and thrives on footy!  I mean for a Winter sport it certainly seems to be in the news a lot during Summer, Autumn and Spring.  It seems like it’s all year round.

And heaven forbid if you plan some event like a wedding or something on the AFL Grand Final weekend (which I have known to happen).

C’mon Melbourne – you have lots more on offer, let’s hear less of footy and more of other things in the news and current affairs programs.