I see your true colours shining through

For most Chicagoans, this past Friday was just like any other. But for the Aussie expats living in the Midwest, Friday was the biggest day of our sporting year, because it was the kick-off of the AFL Grand Final.

I hadn't seen a professional game of 'aerial ping-pong', as rugby fan Mero calls it, for nearly 2 years, so I was really looking forward to the celebrations and theatrics. Being an Adelaide girl, I did not have any particular allegiance to either team, though I donned the red & white of the Sydney Swans in deference to my work colleagues, and also to Pete who went along to the pub with me.

The Globe Pub is the local watering hole for the Chicago-based AFL team so it was the perfect home to host the AFL Grand Final on 17 widescreen TVs in an audio visual spectacular.

Attendance was capped at 150 around 10pm, and there were some grizzly footy fans left out in the cold because they got there too late. Some sad Aussies rang my cell phone and I tried to negotiate with the bouncers and club owner to let them in. Fortunately I can be quite persuasive and managed to grant them admission. I got to know the owner very well that night, let me tell you - he really was overwhelmed by the whole attendance!

I was fortunate to know quite a few of the Aussies in the pub and I had a great time mingling and catching up with people. First bounce wasn't until 11.30pm so it's no wonder I got home at 3am. But the best part about hanging around until the ened was that one of the footy boys gave me an ice-cold can of VB; truly the rarest Aussie beer in Chicago. The only importer we know of is on the east coast and I believe only looks after the Embassy. Not fair. But I didn't question how the footy boys ended up with a slab. I just enjoyed being one of 24 lucky footy fans presented with a cool can at the end of the night. Sweet.

Perhaps my wannabe team support was bad luck - wearing red & white didn't exactly guarantee victory for the Swannies. But the Eagles scored a one-point win right at the last minute, and doesn't that always make for a superb game?! It was golden footy.