Damien keeps in touch from Houston …
Here is the latest article in afc.com.au’s “Crows Around the World’ series.
“I’m a mad Crows fan recently transferred to Houston, Texas in February 2008.
I caught up with all the games over the internet whilst here, but local TV coverage is non-existent. In the final few months of the year a new sports bar called Indigo Joe’s opened nearby. After some discussions with the manager, we ascertained he had Setanta sports (the only pay channel now offering AFL) and would be happy to show a few games could we draw a crowd. I managed to convince hardened NFL followers to come along at 11:30pm on a Friday night (and, yes, the bar was kept open), and caught our last game of the year against Collingwood. Not the best result, but I may have converted a few of these folks to Aussie Rules!
Due to Hurricane Ike many of the sports bars were closed for many weeks (there are still areas now without power), but once again I persuaded a small group of work colleagues to accompany me to the Grand Final – which was held at an English-themed pub called the Firkin and Phoenix (thanks to the Australian/American Chamber of Commerce). The pub was overrun with Aussies on the night. The most impressive thing was that besides the obligatory Hawks fans, the next largest group comprised Crows fans – even outnumbering Cats supporters on the night!
Late in the game the coverage dropped out for a few minutes, but a group of true Aussies (must’ve been Crows fans) came to the rescue with a fine rendition of Chisel’s Khe Sanh during the break! All in all, a great night out. Look forward to the mighty Crows being there in 2009!
Cheers.
Damien”
If you are living or travelling overseas and have a similar story – or even one quite different – get in touch with us.
Our website statistics show that about five per cent of traffic to afc.com.au is from outside Australia, mainly from the UK, the US, Singapore and New Zealand. And as we have nearly 100,000 unique visitors each month during the football season, that means there are a lot of Crows overseas for some reason.
So we want to read your story.
Where are you living or holidaying? What took you to another part of the world? How do you get your Crows and footy fix? What you miss most about being closer to the Crows? Do you meet with other Crows supporters to watch or listen to games?
You may be living in London and watch the games at a pub. Or perhaps you are in a Kombi van driving around Europe; teaching in Japan; working in New York; or backpacking through Asia
So write to Communications Manager David Burtenshaw at dburtenshaw@afc.com.au and tell us your story. The best articles will be published on our club’s official website.
