Every game consists of 4 quarters, being 20 minutes and overtime (stoppage time, time-keepers acting upon central umpire signals to determine how long). After every quarter the teams swap direction. The quarter is started when the umpire blows his whistle and bounces the ball in the middle of the field (similar to a basketball "tip")and opposing players try to tap or punch the ball to their team-mates.
The idea of the game is to kick more goals than the other team. At each end of the field are 4 poles. Players score points by kicking the ball between the poles. A goal is a kick between the centermost posts. It is worth 6 points. A "Behind" (worth 1 point) is a kick that goes between the outer posts. Players can bounce the ball and hit it with their hand (handball it) to other players . If a player catches a ball after the ball has been kicked in the air by another player, then this is a "mark" and the player cannot be tackled until he plays on.
It is the only "football" code where the major score can ONLY be scored with the foot.
Present teams
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League (AFL) is the Australian national league in the sport of Australian Rules Football. The league is the most popular sports competition in Australia. In 2017, more than 7.2 million people watched a game in a stadium.
The league started in the city of Melbourne, and was known as the Victorian Football League from 1897 to 1989. In the 1980s, the league expanded outside the state of Victoria into New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, and entered South Australia in 1991. With the league becoming more national, the VFL changed its name to the Australian Football League in 1990.
Since 2012 the league has 18 teams, who play against each other in 22 games over 23 rounds between late March and early September. These matches are followed by a series of finals matches which end up in the two best teams playing off for the premiership in the AFL Grand Final, one of the largest domestic club championship events in the world.
The chief executive, titled "Commissioner", is Gillon McLachlan.
Since the 2012 season, there are nine clubs from Melbourne, one from Victoria's second largest city, Geelong, two teams from South Australia's capital of Adelaide, two from the Perth area in Western Australia, two from Queensland and two from Sydney, New South Wales.
AFL is the dominant league in television, print and radio news in Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania. Also Australian rules football has more people playing than any other football code in these states and territories.
The AFL is becoming more popular in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. This happened after the finals wins by the Brisbane Lions (2001, 2002 and 2003) and Sydney Swans (2005). With the success of these sides, interest in Australian rules football has grown rapidly in these states in recent years. This directly led to new clubs being added in both states in the 2010s—Gold Coast in 2011 and Greater Western Sydney in 2012.
! Club
! Nickname
! City
! Home Ground
! Entered Competition
! No. of Premierships
! Notes
In 1996, twelve Hall of Fame members were declared "Legends of the Game". Another member of the Hall of Fame is declared a legend every few years. The following is a list of "Legends of the Game".
Urbain Grandier
Urbain Grandier (born 1590 in Bouère, Mayenne, France ; died April 18,1634 in Loudun, France) was a free-thinking cleric. A satirical publication against Richelieu was attributed to him. After this, Pierre-Martin de Laubardement, a statesman was charged to lead the process against Grandier in 1633. He was charged of having bewitched the ursuline nuns of Loudun. They became obsessed by him. His friend, Claude Quillet agreed to defend him in court, but without success.
He was condemned to burn at the stake as a witch in 1634.
Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as Cardinal Richelieu (9 September 1585–4 December 1642) was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman. His full name was "Armand Jean du Plessis". He was later created the Duke of Richelieu and duke of Fronsac.
In order to keep the diocese of Luçon, Armand Jean needed to become a monk. He joined the Grande Chartreuse, the main monastery of the Carthusian order. This monastery is in the Isère département, near Grenoble. As a comparison, Luçon is near La Roche-sur-Yon.
He was consecrated as a bishop in 1607. For this he obtained a dispensation of the pope; at age 21, he was too young to become a bishop. He later entered politics and became a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Church and the state. He became a cardinal in 1622. He became King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; then Jules Cardinal Mazarin became chief minister.
The Cardinal de Richelieu was often known by the title of the King's "Chief Minister". As a result, he is sometimes said to be the world's first Prime Minister. He sought to consolidate royal power and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strongly centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty; although a Roman Catholic cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers. With these alliances, he tried to achieve this goal. His tenure was marked by the Thirty Years' War that engulfed Europe.
As an advocate for Samuel de Champlain and of the keeping of Quebec, he founded the Compagnie des Cent-Associés and saw the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye return Quebec to French rule under de Champlain, after the settlement had been captured by the Kirkes in 1629. This in part allowed the colony to eventually develop into the heartland of French-speaking culture in North America.
Richelieu was also famous for his patronage of the arts; most notably, he founded the Académie française, the learned society responsible for matters of the French language. Richelieu is also known by the sobriquet "l'Éminence rouge" ("the Red Eminence"), from the red shade of a cardinal's vestments and the style "eminence" as a cardinal.
Belaying
Belaying is a way to hold and control a rope for a person who is rock climbing. A climber has to be attached to a rope so they do not fall very far. A person on the ground who is belaying is called a "belayer".
The belayer usually puts the rope through a "belay device", which lets the rope move through the device in one direction (as the climber being belayed goes up). If the climber falls, the device lets the belayer also hold the rope still, so the climber hangs in the air but does not hit the ground.
A belayer can hold the weight of the climber with the rope and help prevent an injury caused by a fall.
AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills
Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills is a list of the top 100 thrilling movies in American cinema. The American Film Institute presented it on June 12, 2001.
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam was a country that existed from 1955 to 1975. It occupied in the southern of what is now Southern Vietnam. The country was south of the local Demilitarized Zone.
South Vietnam establised on 26 October, 1955 after the 1955 Referendum. It was first ruled by Ngo Dinh Diem until 1963. After the 1963 coup, South Vietnam was run by a military government. It lasted until 1967. From 1967, On 1 April, 1967, the Second Republic was established. This Second Republic lasted until the Fall of Saigon when the president Duong Van Minh surrendered to Viet Cong. South Vietnam ceased to exist on 30 April, 1975. This day is also known as Black April to Vietnamese anti-communists.
Notes
Robert Ludlum