Cheer, Cheer the Red and the White

Attempting to quickly bury that last post. Friday night I went to the Sydney Swans AFL First Preliminary Final against Freemantle. In America you would call it the semifinals. Sydney won the game 19. 13. (127) to 14. 8. (92). That means the Swans had 19 goals (6 points) and 13 behinds (1 point) for a total of 127 points. The Grand Final will be next weekend against the West Coast Eagles. This will be a repeat of last year's Grand Final, won by Sydney.
It will also be a rematch of the first round of the playoffs this year. The AFL uses an interesting format. Eight teams qualify for the finals series, but instead of the typical 1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5 matchups, you have two tiers in the first round: 1 to 4 and 5 to 8. If you are in the top half and you win, you get a pass into the semis. If you lose you move on to round 2. If you are in the bottom half and you win, you move on to round 2, but if you lose, you're done. Winners of round 2 advance to the semis. If you are confused, click the diagram to the right.
It's impossible to watch a Swans game and not think of Notre Dame. That's because the Swannies 'borrowed' their fight song. Instead of Cheer, cheer for Old Notre Dame you sing

Cheer, cheer the Red and the White
Honour the name by day and by night,
Lift that noble banner high,
Shake down the thunder from the sky
Whether the odds be great or small,
Swans will go in and win over all
While her loyal sons are marching
Onwards to victory.