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2009 Grand Final Party Celebration at Varsity Grille Nashville

submitted by: Roving Roo Reporter (Nashville, TN)

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September is here and for the Footy Faithful, that means the AFL GRAND FINAL is just around the corner. In the early days, before the Kangaroos were even a club, those who would found the club used to hang out in at any establishment that carried the footy channel, forcing us to be like migratory lorikeets. But this year, footy is coming home - to ESPN! Some of us are old enough to have seen the early days of ESPN when they actually carried footy (back in the 80's, if you need to ask!). Well, recently ESPN has signed on to carry the AFL and the Grand Final will be on ESPN Classic!

We are proud to announce that we are going to celebrate this year at Varsity Grille Nashville. We have determined that they have ESPN Classic, that they have a great restaurant room to go along with their bar and their patio, AND that they have a giant screen for us to watch the game on, AND that they are excited to have us there!

How the Finals work

In the AFL, the top four seeds play each other in Qualifying Finals, with the winners "qualifying" for a week off and the losers dropping in to the 'losers' bracket to play the winners of the Elimination Finals, which pits the fifth through 8th seeds against each other. Those four teams play in Semifinals (the second round of finals) with those two winners advancing to the Preliminary Finals (the third week), where the two winners of the Qualifying finals (and well rested after a week off) await them. Those two winners play for the Premiership in the Grand Final, which for over 150 years has been held on the hallowed ground of footy, the Melbourne Cricket Ground, affectionately referred to as the MCG, or simply 'The G'. Simple, right?

The Path to the Grand Final

In the qualifying finals, Top seeded Geelong Cats and St. Kilda Saints both advanced with Geelong bullying their way past the Western Bulldogs and St. Kilda marching over the Collingwood Magpies, both winners earning the cherished week off. In the Elimination Finals, the Adelaide Crows made Marty proud and bombed the Essenden Bombers while the Brisbane Lions gave the Carlton Blues a reason to be blue. In the Semi-Finals, the Collingwood Magpies did in the Adelaide Crows (sorry Marty!), earning a shot at Geelong, and Western Bulldogs showed who is king of the AFL jungle, taking out the Brisbane Lions and earning them a crack at St. Kilda. Unfortunately for both of these teams, neither was up to the task, as the top seeds both advanced to the Big Dance.