Just like Damian in a previous edition of Crows around the world, I too am living in Houston, Texas.
I only arrived here in Houston at the start of September and was already missing the Crows and the start of the finals campaign (bad news for us in the first round though!). I am a rabid Crows supporter and was hugely disappointed to be leaving Australia just when the finals began. As it is, it was hard enough trying to find any channels or pubs that world show any AFL games, mainly because the games are on late at night here.
A week in and I had met a lot of new people and was trying to explain Aussie Rules to them and promised I would take them out to a pub to watch the GF at any place that would show it. And then of course, Hurricane Ike struck. No power for weeks in some places and I was frantically trying to find a pub that had the Sentanta Sports channel to show the GF, but to no avail.
And then, when all seemed lost, I went to a pub one Friday night called Pub Fiction, a week before the GF, wearing my Crows Adidas polo shirt. Two guys came up to me and said they were Crows fans and from Adelaide too! Couldn’t believe my luck. These guys are in the oil and gas business just like me and it was just awesome to have a proper conversation without having to slow down your speech or refrain from using slang. And of course, we spoke at length about the season that was for the Crows and who we were backing for the GF. It was from these guys that I found out the GF was being shown at Firkin and Phoenix pub and also the Richmond Arms Hotel.
I ended up going to the Richmond Arms hotel where there were a whole bunch of Aussies, mainly Hawks supporters, but there were a few Cats supporters there, who seemed to have lost their voices during the third quarter. A fantastic night, especially for the American friends I bought along who had no idea what the game was about or what was happening but loved it all the same.
I am already looking forward to the pre-season cup and hope that a few places will show it. As do some of my new American friends who I’ve converted to Aussie Rules and into instant Crows fans. Recounting all the exploits and achievements of the Roo was enough to get them hooked!
Cheers,
Zac Lee
