# AFL Grand Final 2009 LIVE on ESPN Classic Friday/Saturday



## Chandu

AFL coverage has returned to ESPN family after ages (although back in those days, I believe it used to be called VFL) with extensive coverage on espn360.com so far. The 2009 Grand Final itself between last year's runners-up Geelong Cats and St. Kilda Saints will be shown LIVE on ESPN Classic. Of course as usual, espn360.com will cover it as well.

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/news/2009/09/17/2009_grand_final_live_espn_classic_espn360_and_tsn2_north_america-1671



> ESPN Classic and ESPN360 in the USA and TSN2 in Canada will carry the Grand Final between St. Kilda and Geelong LIVE on Friday night / Saturday morning, September 25th / 26th. US coverage will begin at 8:30 PM Pacific/11:30 PM Eastern Friday including most pre-match festivities; Coverage will continue until 1 AM Pacific/4 AM Eastern Saturday concluding after the awards ceremony. Canadian coverage begins at 12:27 AM Eastern and concludes at 3:30 AM Eastern on TSN2.


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## MrSmartyA

You failed to mention that Setanta Sports had the broadcasting rights for the AFL, but due to financial problems the license was revoked halfway through the season. 

Also ESPN360.com is not available nationwide, only to ISP's that made a deal with ESPN. 

I subscribed to Setanta mainly for Rugby Union & League and AFL. But since I missed the whole playoffs and the game is being broadcasted in HD in Australia but only in SD on crappy ESPN "Classic I DECIDED THAT I WILL PASS. Goodbye AFL. And goodbye Setanta Sports subscription.


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## Chandu

MrSmartyA said:


> You failed to mention that Setanta Sports had the broadcasting rights for the AFL, but due to financial problems the license was revoked halfway through the season.


No, I didn't fail to mention anything.

Nothing in the above statement you made precludes or negates anything in my post.


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## MrSmartyA

whatever, dude


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## Chandu

Wow, what an incredible championship Grand Final!!!! Those who didn't watch it sure missed some great football action. (For whatever it is worth, and for those who have access to espn360.com, it is possible to watch it again by going to the Replay section. In that case, stop reading any further now!!! :lol

Considering the way Geelong literally thrashed Collingwood in the semi-final, I was somehow expecting them to do the same to Saints. But it was nothing of that sort. Saints played football for their life and gave one heck of a fight to the Cats. It was all tied up 67-67 with only about 9 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. Saints scored a crucial behind with only about 1 minute to go, which put them within 1 goal, score being 68-74 in favor of Cats. The 4th quarter was simply a nail-biter; I really, really felt the tension and anxiety! But in the end Geelong prevailed in the critical moments of 4th quarter and showed their class. This is now their 2nd Championship in 3 seasons. And they were runners-up last year. Something tells me Geelong Cats are on their way to building a dynasty now.


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## Chandu

Video of last few minutes of the 4th quarter of 2009 Grand Final:






Poor Saints, only once they've ever won championship was in 1966 back when it wasn't even AFL, rather VFL. In the AFL, they've never been champions. Yesterday, they came so close, yet so far away!!


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## Chandu

Program alert if anyone of you are AFL fans here:

For the first time ever, ESPN2 is showing Saturday Afternoon Football between Geelong Cats and Hawthorn Hawks LIVE in HD. Tune to it right now if interested.

Eons ago, ESPN used to show the old VFL matches live. But apart from the regular espn3.com live coverage, the telecast right now is a new one.

BTW, I heard 2010 Grand Final will be shown LIVE in HD on ESPN2 as well.


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## Chandu

Chandu said:


> BTW, I heard 2010 Grand Final will be shown LIVE in HD on ESPN2 as well.


Program alert for the 2010 Grand Final between Collingwood Football Club and St. Kilda Football Club this Friday night.

MAGPIES versus SAINTS

For the second year running, ESPN Classic will have LIVE coverage of the final championship match. Also, once the MLS coverage on ESPN2-HD ends (LA Galaxy vs New York Red Bull), ESPN will join the live coverage in HD.

It will be the first time ever, that the Grand Final will be covered in HD in this country.

More information here:

http://www.usfootynews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1029&Itemid=201

Will the Saints finally win, ending their drought since 1966 becoming football champions?


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## Chandu

Due to the MLS coverage on ESPN2-HD currently underway, Grand Final is being currently aired LIVE on espn3.com as well.


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## Chandu

And now that MLS coverage is over, it's LIVE and in high-definition coverage (for the first time ever in this country) on ESPN2-HD. Just in time for start of 2nd quarter.

Magpies leading Saints 26-20.


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## Chandu

Whoa!!! What a bizzarro, strangest situation!!! For the first time ever, the AFL Grand Final ends up all tied - a 68-68 draw! Second year in a row, what a tense 4th quarter in the final. But what happened this year clearly tops the excitement of last year.

Having said that, I find it incomprehensible that instead of playing extra-time (overtime) to decide the champion - they replay the entire final next Saturday afternoon! This is totally insane; maybe the Saints have a football curse on them. :lol: They just aren't meant to become the champions, or what?!?!?!

Actually, there have been 2 previous times of Grand Finals being replayed. But those were back when the top tier league was called VFL. In AFL, a Grand Final has never ended in this situation.

I wonder if ESPN2-HD will carry the replay again next week, this is so hilarious!  The funniest joke would be on poor brides who scheduled their weddings for next weekend - assuming it would be the week after Grand Final. Only to find out the nightmare continue for them; the curse of the Grand Final ruining their weddings. That's too funny. In this day and age it's absolutely ridiculous that a champion isn't being decided by playing extra-time.

Oh well, it's time to sleep after scheduling the DVR recording for Manchester City vs. Chelsea.

BACK IN 1 MORE WEEK!!!!!  :lol:  :grin:


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## Greg Bimson

I wonder if the replay next weekend will be shown on TV next week...


Chandu said:


> Actually, there have been 2 previous times of Grand Finals being replayed. But those were back when the top tier league was called VFL. In AFL, a Grand Final has never ended in this situation.


Until 1982, there was the VFL, where 12 sides in and around Melbourne, Victoria. Then someone bought the Swans and moved them to Sydney.

As the VFL was paying the best, most of the best footballers were in the VFL. The other major state leagues at the time (the SANFL and the WAFL) were starting to decline.

As the Sydney experiment proved to be somewhat successful, the VFL decided to add teams elsewhere in Australia. In the later 1980's, the VFL added the West Coast Eagles in Perth, Western Australia, and the Brisbane Bears.

One of the bigger fanbases in Australian football was Adelaide, South Australia. In 1990, the VFL granted Adelaide an expansion team, the Crows. As the league was truly Australian, the name was changed from the Victorian Football League to the Australian Football League.

So they are the same league. There was a separate league for smaller teams in Victoria called the Victoria Football Association. Later, that league adopted the VFL name and acts as a farm league for the Victoria teams in the AFL. The other state leagues act as farms for their respective entries, e.g., the Western Australian Football League is a farm system for West Coast Eagles and Freemantle Dockers, the South Australian National Football League feeds the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide Power. Sydney and Brisbane field sides in the VFL (I think). That changes with the inclusion of newer teams, the Gold Coast Suns (from Queensland, starting next year) and the team based in Greater Western Sydney which starts in 2012.


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## Chandu

Greg Bimson said:


> As the league was truly Australian, the name was changed from the Victorian Football League to the Australian Football League.
> 
> So they are the same league.


I know. I was simply stating that in its current "AFL" incarnation, there had never been such strange Grand Final deadlock before.

Thread diversion:



> Name changes and re-branding of sports leagues have happened in many other cases. The biggest example being: With introduction of Sky satellite TV in Britain, old "Division 1" in England football was re-branded as "English Premier League". With the re-branding, everything about the league's marketing and its international exposure was polished up. New TV sponsors arrived. Polished up highlights shows etc. were created. There were big changes in player salaries, training academies etc. Exactly like that, when old VFL was re-branded as current AFL, all sorts of polishing up occurred. I'm sure it upset many nostalgic "back in our day" people. With any change, there is bound to be some contingent who is not happy.
> 
> Even for American Football, there have been bunch of changes and re-brandings. They weren't exactly along the lines of above 2 examples. But there were 2 competing leagues called AFL and NFL, which merged with each other creating currently branded "NFL". (Lamar Hunt being a very important architect of the merge.) I think there was also some other competing league called USFL for a while. Although it didn't merge into NFL, some rule changes from that league were imported into current NFL. I don't know if Lamar Hunt had any part to play in either USFL's existence/demise or rule importation. I'm somewhat sketchy about details on demise of USFL. Personally, I do not take as much interest in NFL re-branding compared to the other 2 re-branding examples above. Anyway, enough with this off-topic thread diversion.


Getting back on topic : There has been some discontent expressed about the "replay" rule among hardcore fan community. It includes some players, some coaches. There have been calls to bring overtime to Grand Final, aligning it with most other sports. But the league commissioner is adamant, claiming that the old rule is here to stay. In the unlikely scenario that the replay ends up in a draw, there will be 2 overtime periods of 5 minutes each. Thank goodness!!!

Still no word if the replay will be televised on ESPN2-HD. I'll keep monitoring on AFANA for more information.


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## Chandu

Good news: From Mike Soltys, ESPN's VP of communications:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/25624257030


> Old fav, Australian Rules Football Grand Final, ended in tie. So they play the whole thing again Friday; so will we.


And the second time, there won't be an MLS telecast competing during same time-slot on ESPN2. (Not that it bothered me.) So they will show the entire telecast starting from pre-game to post-game in HD on ESPN2-HD.

It would be quite something if it ends up tied even the second time, and needs to be decided in an overtime. The post-game coverage will spill over in that case, I guess. In the interest of time, I really hope that doesn't happen. Just decide on a champion, already.

[I say, just hand over the trophy to the Saints out of sympathy factor.  But I'm sure Magpies supporters will get mad at me.]


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## Chandu

Chandu said:


> BACK IN 1 MORE WEEK!!!!!  :lol:  :grin:


Alright, so here we go.

One more iteration of this tonight! And if still all tied-up after today's game, there will be an overtime.

And maybe they'll use an arm-wrestling contest or something to decide on a champion if still can't figure out a winner!!


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## sigma1914

Chandu said:


> Alright, so here we go.
> 
> One more iteration of this tonight! And if still all tied-up after today's game, there will be an overtime.
> 
> And maybe they'll use an arm-wrestling contest or something to decide on a champion if still can't figure out a winner!!


When is it on? My late father loved AFL.


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## Chandu

sigma1914 said:


> When is it on? My late father loved AFL.





Chandu said:


> And the second time, there won't be an MLS telecast competing during same time-slot on ESPN2. (Not that it bothered me.) So they will show the entire telecast starting from pre-game to post-game in HD on ESPN2-HD.


Oops, looks like I goofed up when I said there is no MLS clash this week. ESPN2-HD is showing MLS again tonight LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA. So the schedule is exact replica of last week.

Pre-game and 1st-quarter will be LIVE on ESPN Classic. (Actually, entire match will stay live on ESPN Classic. But it will be in SD.) From 2nd quarter onwards they will join LIVE coverage in HD on ESPN2-HD.

I realize it is very odd hour for most people except in Pacific/Alaska/Hawaii timezone. So depending on whatever timezone you're in, you can schedule 2 DVR recordings adjusting times to your timezone. And then remember not to check here or elsewhere on internet for result spoilers!!! :lol:

12 AM Eastern to 1 AM Eastern on ESPN Classic
1 AM Eastern to 4 AM Eastern on ESPN2-HD

http://www.afana.com/drupal5/news/2010/09/29/2010_grand_final_replay_live_espn_classic_espn3_espn2_and_tsn2_north_america-2751



> (Revised 9/30/10) ESPN Classic and ESPN3 in the USA and TSN2 in Canada will carry the Grand Final Replay between St. Kilda and Collingwood LIVE on Friday night / Saturday morning, September 24th / 25th. Coverage on ESPN3.com will begin at 10:00 PM EDT including the Grand Final preview and pre-game entertainment. Coverage on ESPN Classic and TSN2 in Canada will begin at 12:00 MN EDT Saturday with pre-match activities but not all of the entertainment. Coverage will continue until 4:00 AM EDT Saturday concluding after the awards ceremony on all channels. ESPN2 will join the live coverage in progress, around 1:00 AM EDT.


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## Chandu

Chandu said:


> Oops, looks like I goofed up when I said there is no MLS clash this week. ESPN2-HD is showing MLS again tonight LA Galaxy vs. Chivas USA.


Whoa, looks like did a minor double-goof. It's not MLS, instead yet another different code of football on ESPN2 - some random high school American Football stuff.

Watching the Grand Final LIVE on espn3.com right now for next 20 mins, till switching to ESPN2-HD. The good news is that they're actually showing it in widescreen on espn3.com. Of course, it can't be HD but widescreen SD quality is still good.

It's in the 1st quarter and only score so far has been 1 Collingwood goal.


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## Chandu

Poor Saints!!! The curse of the football Gods is alive and well on them. When, if ever will they win another championship?!?!?!?!

What happened this year was probably the most cruel thing to them. Last week, they came so-so close, mounting a very brave comeback in the 2nd half almost winning it, but ending up with a tied game. If there were an overtime last week (as there is with most other major sports), the momentum was clearly with the Saints. They would've most likely won it. Instead because of the stupid replay rule, the entire match had to be replayed. But of course, both Magpies and Saints knew going into last week what the rules were in case of a tie. It's not as if Saints were being treated unfairly.

What happened today wasn't even a contest. It was clear right from the 1st quarter that Saints had not recovered from the hangover of last week. I mean a 108-52 thrashing, it was never even close. To launch 2 strong comebacks 2 weeks in a row against a strong and great football team like Collingwood; that was next to impossible.

Giving credit where credit is due, Magpies are definitely the most deserved champions. Being the team with best regular-season record means in some ways football justice has been served. (The plight of Saints aside.)


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## Chandu

Yes, coming up to that time of year again. Alert for program reminder.

2011 AFL Grand Final will be shown LIVE Friday night of next week on ESPN2-HD at following times:

*Sept. 30*

9 PM Pacific =
10 PM Mountain =
11 PM Central =
Stroke of Midnight Eastern

[Technically works out to Oct. 1st morning for Eastern time zone, but just go by midnight of Friday night. Don't want to confuse too much.]

The semi-finals are this weekend being shown on espn3.com:

Collingwood Magpies vs. Hawthorn Hawks
Geelong Cats vs. West Coast Eagles


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## Chandu

Collingwood beat Hawthorn in a come-from behind 3 point thriller yesterday, which means Collingwood makes another return to Grand Final in umpteen years. Other semi-final Cats vs. Eagles getting underway in hours, but apparently I don't find coverage for it on espn3.com this year.

EDIT: And the other semi-final is now in the books too; Cats demolishing Eagles and making yet another trip to Grand Final in umpteen years themselves! Nowhere as thrilling contest as yesterday's semi-final. In any event, the Grand Final matchup of heavy weights is all set in 1 week time:

Collingwood MAGPIES vs. Geelong CATS


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## Chandu

Pregame coverage is being shown LIVE on espn3 right now, the main event to start on ESPN2-HD in half an hour.

Hopefully we don't have a repeat of last year this year - a tied score at the end of the match needing replay in 1 more week!


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## Chandu

Cats thumping Magpies by 38 points, winning their 3rd Championship in 5 years!!! Geelong looks to have really built a dynasty, after having been written off as "too old and too slow" by pretty much everyone!! Especially for a captain like Cameron Ling, who might now even retire on a high note. How about that Geelong dude with dislocated shoulder injury (name escapes me now), sitting on bench with his shoulder all strapped up? Couldn't take part in action, but being so happy for his teammates winning the trophy. He couldn't lift trophy with 2 hands, but could wear the championship medal around his neck.

But most of all, I feel very sad for Magpie coach Mick Malthouse. I'm absolutely certain that was his last match as a football coach...an incredible coaching career of 28 years!!! A true football genius who built amazingly talented football teams over the years. To be going out on a down note is a bit sad. I put him in the same category with football genius legends like Kevin Sheedy or Leigh Matthews. The legendary team he built around Nathan Buckley and Anthony Rocca in mid 2000s, as well as this year's Collingwood team was genuinely champion caliber too. Not to mention last year's champion team, playing that crazy tied Grand Final vs. Saints and following it up with a Saints demolition job just 1 week later. These were all real solid football teams. Here's a crazy statistic for Collingwood for this year. They had the best season record in the league, even better than Geelong. They had only 3 total losses all year, but get this... All of those 3 losses were against Geelong, last one of course being today in Championship! It was almost like Geelong were their bogey team.

Anyway, tip my hat to legendary football career of Mick Malthouse on his retirement. So long!

Now, I had better set recording time for that Liverpool derby (Everton vs Liverpool) starting in only few more hours and catch up on some sleep. Go Everton!!!


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