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Gotta vent here - I'm really starting to hate the Bombers. Nothing against the club, the players, the coaches, or the fans.

It's just that week after week, they're in the featured match on one of the Foster's Aussie Rules shows on FSW. Through round 12, they've been featured on one of the two shows at least eight times. (Rounds 1,2,3,5,7,9,11, and 12. I missed round 4 and the highlights show of round 8, so it could be even more than that.)

Quick math - two featured matches (one per show) per round times twelve rounds, times two teams per match, divided by sixteen teams makes an average of three featured matches per team so far. The Bombers were featured three times in the first three rounds!

Sure, they're a storied franchise, won sixteen flags, stomped the league flat in 2000, etc, etc. But EIGHT featured matches?? That's more than Brisbane, Port Adelaide and West Coast (all in the top 4 pretty much all season) COMBINED. The production staff seems to think the entire AFL revolves around the 5-7 Bombers.

It wouldn't be so bad if the staff picked the best matches each week and Essendon happened to be involved. Unfortunately, at least four of them were pretty much over before the end of the third turn. Every week six other matches, most of them much closer, better played, and more entertaining, get passed over in favor of "the all-important clash between Essendon and..."

So I'm hoping their tailspin continues and the 'Dons end up closer to the wooden spoon than the top eight. Maybe that way my TV will show colors other than red and black a little more often next season.

> It's just that week after week, they're in the featured match on one of the Foster's
> Aussie Rules shows on FSW. Through round 12, they've been featured on one of the two
> shows at least eight times. (Rounds 1,2,3,5,7,9,11, and 12. I missed round 4 and the
> highlights show of round 8, so it could be even more than that.)

Yep, we know. Thru Round 14, Collingwood and Essendon will have accounted for 16 appearances. It's become an annual complaint of AFANA to the AFL and AFL Films and they just don't seem to get it.

Did you read our column on this very subject in the June 12 issue of our TV newsletter? If not, fire an e-mail to one of following addresses:
tvupdatev8n16h@afana.com (html version)
tvupdatev8n16@afana.com (text version)

> Quick math - two featured matches (one per show) per round times twelve rounds,
> times two teams per match, divided by sixteen teams makes an average of three
> featured matches per team so far. The Bombers were featured three times in the first
> three rounds!

That's one of the points we made in the newsletter. In the US, every AFL club has some fans. Sure, I suspect that some clubs have more than others but it simply is unfair to fans of the rest of the AFL clubs that half of the broadcast slots go to just 3 or 4 clubs. It was same last year and the year before that and the... you get the idea.

> 2000, etc, etc. But EIGHT featured matches?? That's more than Brisbane, Port
> Adelaide and West Coast (all in the top 4 pretty much all season) COMBINED.

The AFL asserts there is no "Melbourne bias" or "Essendon bias" or "Collingwood bias". While I take them at face value, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Put another way, even if no bias is intended, it is occuring de-facto.

> It wouldn't be so bad if the staff picked the best matches each week and Essendon
> happened to be involved. Unfortunately, at least four of them were pretty much over
> before the end of the third turn. Every week six other matches, most of them much
> closer, better played, and more entertaining, get passed over in favor of "the
> all-important clash between Essendon and..."

There is a reason for this situation. The matches are picked in advance. It's simply not possible to wait until the weekend is over and still get the right video, get the shows edited, duplicated, and distributed around the world in time for a Thursday air date. This issue has been discussed on the BBS before. You might check these threads:

http://www.afana.com/cgi-bin/footybbs/webbbs_config.pl/frames=n/read/856

http://www.afana.com/cgi-bin/footybbs/webbbs_config.pl/frames=n/read/817

> spoon than the top eight. Maybe that way my TV will show colors other than red and
> black a little more often next season.

AFANA shares your frustration. I'm going to be complaining again to the AFL and I am going to use this post as a perfect example of how frustrated we all are. Thanks for posting on this. You saved me the trouble.

Regards,

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

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> The AFL asserts there is no "Melbourne bias" or "Essendon bias"
> or "Collingwood bias". While I take them at face value, if it walks
> like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck. Put another way,
> even if no bias is intended, it is occuring de-facto.

Hi my name is Marie

I live in Adelaide, South Australia. I have just found this website and think that it is great. I am a mad 'Port Adelaide' supporter and my husband follows 'The Crows'. Living in a state of Australia apart from Victoria, we get the same Melbourne bias'. Everything is based on Victorian teams. With the six non Victorian teams dominating the top eight at present, you would think that it would be different, but unfortunately it is not.
Hoping for a flag this year, as I think the team has earned it.

> Hi my name is Marie

> I live in Adelaide, South Australia. I have just found this website and think that
> it is great. ... Living in a state of Australia apart from Victoria, we get the same
> Melbourne bias'. Everything is based on Victorian teams. With the six non Victorian
> teams dominating the top eight at present, you would think that it would be
> different, but unfortunately it is not.

Glad you stopped by and found the site to your liking. We hope you'll come back often!

The frustration for footy fans outside Australia is that all sixteen AFL clubs have some fans overseas but they don't get equal treatment. I genuinely believe that the folks at AFL Films are not intentionally biased. The sad fact is that over the past several seasons if you aren't a Collingwood or Essendon fan your club probably hasn't appeared on the international Highlights or Match of the Week programs as often as they should have. The selection process for the matches we see has to be improved.

AFANA and it's member fans depend on the support of Aussies like yourself in our quest for more footy! Thanks again.

Regards,

-Rob de Santos
AFANA Chairman

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