i was looking at some nfl sites on the web the other day and noticed that the average age of an NFL player in 2008 is 26.68. Now i know that probably won't seem like much but i'm from australia and i follow Aussie Rules Football. we only have 16 teams but our average age is 23.1 years. and just to make a comparison of the two sports, our oldest team (Fremantle Dockers) has an average age of 25.01 years while your youngest club ( Green Bay Packers) has an average age of 25.57 years. Now i know the type of sport would have a major influence on these results and australian football is a much more physically demanding sport...(im not talking toughness, im talking- time spent playing, pace of the game, amount of running done and distance of playing feild). Our average player would have to run more than an NFL RB. here are some comparisons i made: - NFL Players Av. - - AFL Players Av. - Age- NFL- 26.68 AFL-23.10

Youngest List- NFL- Green Bay- 25.57 AFL- Carlton- 22.8

Oldest List- NFL- New Orleans- 27.83 AFL- Fremantle- 25.01

Age of Retirment- NFL- ~ 35 AFL- ~ 28

Game Time- NFL- 4x 15.00 min + time on AFL- 4x 20.00 min + time on

Size of Field- NFL- 360 by 160 feet AFL- 525 by 427 feet (oval) Players on Field- NFL-22 AFL-36

Distance travelled - - AFL-12.45 km

Running speed - - AFL-6.76 km/h

Top Speed- - AFL- 30.25km/h

*i got all my information on NFL teams on the internet and apologise if any of it is incorrect or outdated!

for gods sake!!! how the hell can this man stuff up AGAIN? i mean honestly if i had been cleared of the most obvious murder this century, i would count my lucky stars and put myself in hiding so i could never do anything stupid again. clearly OJ doesn't think this way but maybe a long jail sentence will knock some sense into him.

OJ Simpson is just your typical single braincelled sports star. he's only good for one thing and thats running fast and dodging defenders! and unless he's running and dodging the police those skills are of no use to him now!!!

I mean seriously the guy got away with murder, has made MILLIONS of dollars and is clearly the luckiest man on the planet... why not just keep to yourself and your money and not rob a sporting memorabilia shop with a fire-arm!!!

OJ Simpson- Luckiest and Dumbest Man On Earth!!!

After only throwing a few short passes in a last trainging session yesterday ahead of the game against Atlanta, Green Bay primary QB Aaron Rodgers spent the rest of the session in rehab and is continuing to test the strength and durability of his shoulder. If Rodgers' shoulder is not up to scratch than his place will be taken by rookie Matt Flynn, who has 5 NFL trhows to his name. Head Coach Mike McCarthy has until an hour and a half before kick of to name the 45 man squad. Rumour has it that Flynn took part in almost all the offence plays in practise this week. but is he up for the task as a head QB in a big game like this. But if Rodgers is to play and further injures his shoulder he could be out for months. Should Green Bay risk losing another primary QB?

In my opinion Trent Edwards will push Buffalo past the Cardinals with ease. Their offence team has had an amazing start to the season, one of their best that i can remember and i'm lacking confidence in Arizona's defence so far . As for Kerry Collins and the Titans i do see them scraping ahead of the Ravens today but i just have a gut feeling it's going to take a bit out of them. But as for the reiging champions the Giants with Eli Manning calling the shots i just can't see where they can go wrong, with the Patriots pretty much out of the picture this season i believe it's smooth sailing in New York. They'll embarrass Seattle and I'm not saying they'll go through the season undefeated, i'm sure we won't have another unbeaten season for a while to come but they will do very well and will be the benchmark of the NFL this season.

,thanks

Barry Hall of the Sydney Swans is known for his big bumps, tough guy attitude and small temper... but this year he just stepped over the line and took this one too far. After getting frustrated over not recieving a free kick he thought he deserved and with Brent Staker of the West Coast Eagles not giving him an inch of space he just erupted, and swung a huge left arm hook straight in the mouth of Staker. The AFL tribunaral suspended Hall for 9 weeks but had 2 weeks taken off for pleading guilty... which is absolute crap because how the hell could he possibly plead innocent after what he did. he also would have missed 6 weeks anyway as he broke his wrist later in that game... no he didn't hit another guy, we hit it on the fence.

But i do have to admit as dog as it was, it was still an awesome hit on Staker.... and hilarious to see Hunter slip over when we went to defend Staker.

i'll say it now, im an aussie, and i need your opinions on your own or your opposing clubs. i don't know everyone and everything to do with the nfl. But i do love to sit and watch the great game being played by the best on a monday afternoon (over here). I love the game, i love the tackles, i love the plays i love just about everything to do with it (maybe except the constant stop and starts). I just feel i'm missing out on something... a passion for one of the teams. I am happy just to sit back and watch the sport whoever is playing but i'd love to have a club that i can say i love and cheer for and get behind to support them, but i need YOUR suggestions! so please leave a comment about your favourite club or maybe your most hated club, whatever you want... i don't care how biased you are.

,thanks yardbarkers.

I'll admit to you right now I'm the furthest thing from an expert when it comes to NFL, but i'll tell you one thing, my confidence in Aaron Rodgers to take Green Bay to where we want to go is sky high at the moment. all you've got to do is look at his stats especially in his two games of last year to see what kind of an influence he can have on the game. he came to the club with so much potential back in 2005 and to play behind the legendary Brett Favre and to see how he does what he does best first hand would only add to his chances of being added to the list of great QB's brought up through the club. Also although he's start to the season hasn't been perfect, we can look forward to the fact that he's only going to get better and better as the games go on with Aaron as our primary QB. i urge everybody to watch this space, because i have the belief this kid is definetly going places and he's taking Green Bay with him.

i don't know how many Aussie Rules fans their will be veiwing this site-

The talk of the town, the month all Australians look forward to the most. September. the month were it all happens in Aussie Rules Footy, the month where your whole season is put on the line, and wheather you've been the best team all year or just scraped into the final eight means absolutly nothing. but what a year it has been. A season that without a doubt was Geelongs all the way through, only having one little hiccup along the road against Collingwood, which if anything only strengthened them. That left Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs to battle for 2nd spot. But the biggest suprise of them all was the closeness for 4th spot. which with only 4 games to go 8 teams had the oppurtunity to take the second chance come finals time. But from 16 we can only have one winner, and although still suspencful we couldn't really call the finals series a close one, with the closest match being a 29 point win by Geelong over the Western Bulldogs in the Prelim for a spot to take home the "holy grail." the one thing we play for, to be holding the Premiership Cup on the podium on the last Saturday in September. the other spot of coarse going to Hawthorn, with their defeat over the Saints in the third week of finals by a staggering 54 points. As close as the season was no one could deny that the best two teams of the seaon had made it to the final stage.

We had Geelong, the powerhouse club of 2008, having won 42 of their past 44 matches upto Grand Final day. easily being the best team going around, with superstars like Gary Ablett Jnr, Brownlow Medalist- Jimmy Bartel and disposal king Joel Corey they were the obvious favourite to win the flag and go back-to-back premiers.

Then there were the underdog hawks, still only a growing side, one of the youngest in the league, yet also one of the most exciting to watch with a star forward line consisting of arguably the most exciting young player ever to play the game Lance "buddy" Franklin, his big bodied sidekick Jarryd Roughead and star first year player small aboriginal forwards Cyril Rioli. Some say the hawks prematurly in a grand final, havinf minimal finals experience and only one grand finalist in the 40+ man squad, Stuart Dew who played in Port Adelaide's 2004 Premiership side. But no one denied the boys would have the motivation to go all the way with veteran Shane Crawford with 304 games, Brownlow Medal and multilpe All Australian selections to his name only missing one piece to finish off his football puzzle. A Premiership Cup. having been playing 17 years of football with the hawks and not being a part of the last game of the season, but after 304 games he was there ( the second longest any player has ever waited for a Grand Final in VFL/AFL history).

The hype in Melbourne was huge, being the first time two Victorian clubs we're playing in a grand final since Melbourne played Essendon in 2000. all were hoping for a '89 replay, being the last time these clubs played in a grand final and arguably the greatest grand final of all time, being a fierce, brutal but also high scoring match. with the hawks getting over Geelong by just 6 points (144-138).

Well the game was all it cracked up to be, it was fierce and brutal, maybe not as much as the '89 but in todays game, it was tough. with big bumps and hard tackles taking place all over the ground. but the first half was a nail biter. with the underdog hawks with a 3 point half time lead (51-48)

the second half wasn't as close as antisipated. with many hawk star rising to the occasion and trambaling over the unsuspecting cats. Stuart Dew the 28 year who hawk coach Alistar Clarkson persuaded back from retirement at the end of last year played the best 6 minutes of his career late in the 3rd quater kicking 2 goals and assisting in 2 others, helping to give the hawks a 5 goal leade just before the 3 quarter time siren. and with a fairly even final quarter unfortunatly the shocked cats fans who were expecting a second consecutive premiership went home empty handed on the other the hand the underdog hawks rose to the challange of the cats to give them just their 2nd loss of the season, on the biggest day of the year. the Cats were by far the best team all year but the hawks showed them up on the day where it all counts. and since there is no prize for finishing on top of the ladder the cats have nothin to show for their year and will go down as the favourite that fell to the young, unsuspected winners in the hawks.

that gives the hawks their 10th premiership in the 83 years they have been a part of the VFL/AFL, this premiership also made them the most successfull club over the last 50 years, havinf won all 10 premierships between1961-2008 averaging one every 4.7 years since then.

even though all the talk is about the hawks there is one thing i can guarentee the cats are the team to watch in '09. and im sure their revenge will be sweet.