Alf, you trend setter

[Mike]

Stumbled across this slightly old article while looking for something else. You're ahead of the pack Alf.

Academics prefer to study footy
by Ian Royall
The Herald Sun
March 14, 2003

Footy is the new boom topic in academic research: 16 people are either working on or completing PhDs in Australian football.

But it's not about knowing who played on the Collingwood half-back flank in 1954 - these scholars are rising above the pack to research how footy affects our culture and community. Victoria University lecturer Rob Hess said football reveals much about our society.

"You can't explain Melbourne without explaining the football culture." he said.

Dr Hess, who wrote his doctoral thesis on the development of Australian rules between 1896 and 1908, said football seemed to be a hot topic in the academic world.

Scholars are tackling the history, management and culture of the game.

Australian football was unique among football codes in that it had always embraced both sexes, all ages and ethnic groups, Dr Hess said.

"Why do more women, about 50 per cent, attend Australian rules more than any other football code?" he asked. "It's just not the shorts. It's the culture of the game."

Dr Hess, a Collingwood nut, conceded his loftier academic pursuits did not always guarantee a head start in footy tipping. "I'm afraid that when it comes to tipping, I tip with my heart, not my head."

Dr Hess teaches in the university's School of Human Movement, Recreation and Performance and is co-editor of More Than a Game: An Unauthorised History of Australian Rules Football.

Victoria University's sports history unit teaches a range of elective subjects.

"My job is to give them a dose of history in sport and human movement," Dr Hess said.

His colleague, Margaret Trail, a Victorian University lecturer in performance studies, is seeking her doctoral holy grail by analysing the distinctive noises of footy matches, including shouts of "ball" and "you white maggot" at the MCG.

Ms Trail is recording crowd noises, fans' abuse, players and coaches, and even the intrusion of PA announcements and shouts of doughnut sellers to see how they make up the unique AFL experience.

Dr Hess described the research paper, There's The Siren!, as cutting-edge. "It's part of the total package - the sound, the smell, the whole culture and ambience of the game."

[Joe]

It is the greatest game in the world
GO PIES

[CQ]

[Adz]

When i grow up, im going to get a footy phd