I also resumed my training now that my long-lost bag finally finished it sojourn to Melbourne, having arrived around 10 pm last night. I can now return the borrowed clothes and wear mine. I am slated for the opening game on Wednesday, and so I want to make sure to represent the US well.

After training, we head back to the hotel and the boys disperse for an afternoon of exploring the city. Some head down to the beach. Others head off to the city. Others hit the riverfront and at least one or two will find their way to the Crown Casino. And no doubt Pellegrini's will get another visit. I decide to explore the Art Museum which has a current exhibit "Dutch Masters, from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam". Although I am not exactly an art history expert, I still enjoy the exhibit which includes mostly paintings and some glasswork, some faience china, and a few sculptures. It is intriguing to see the various styles and use of colors and to learn why different background and foreground objects have been included in a picture (above and beyond the primary focus of the piece). I try to observe first and then read the write up to see if what I notice is what the "expert" says is what I should notice. Some artists have exquisitely reproduced shirts, fruits, and other inanimate objects while the faces seem to be of a much lower quality. Some of them are so realistic, they could pass for film pictures. It is amazing to think of the time spent on creating these marvels.

Afterwards, I head back to the hotel and finally, my body relaxes: I get 10 hours of sleep which is double what I usually get. Hopefully the players don't take this long to acclimate. Maybe it is just my age!

Tuesday August 2^nd, 2005 Melbourne, Australia

Today is the same: team meeting and training. The team will play late morning or mid-day most of the tournament, so this helps them be prepared, physically and mentally, to be ready to go when game time arrives. Each game day each country will be allowed to dress 24 players for its match. With 35 players on the squad, that means that 11 players will not be dressed each game. Not an enviable position for coaches Alan Nugent and Robbie Oliver having to make that decision every game. The USAFL coaches are announcing the squad for each game at the team meeting the day prior, which means that today is the first of six days such announcements will take place. The training is lighter today than yesterday and the boys look sharp and ready to go.

My training consists of a 5K lake run and some sprints, both forward and backwards, plus a bit of bouncing. In Aussie Rules, play is commenced by bouncing the ball off the ground and the two teams contest the ball for possession. Given that the ball is football shaped, bouncing it off the ground straight up takes a fair amount of skill. If you have never done it, give it a try.

The afternoon is another "Fun in the Sun" day, with perfect weather again. I head off to the Australian International Film Festival and catch a classic Japanese movie "Chikamatsu's ‘Love in Osaka'" from 1959. It has elements of feudal Japan and, being a bit of a movie buff, I enjoy watching the different camera angles and following the character arcs. It is also interesting to learn a little bit about Japanese culture through the movie. I can now add this to the list of International Film Festivals I have attended.

At 5:45, the team gathers for an evening trip to two local clubs: Haileybury and Hampton. These two clubs have been hosting US players for several years and were quite keen to have the US Revolution stop by. Jay Mueller, Dave Thurman, and Chris Carroll all play or played for Haileybury. John and Josh Loring as well as Dustin Jones have all played for Hampton. Both clubs have their presidents speaking to us about playing footy in general and about developing our clubs back home. We get to watch the Haileybury seniors team practicing: their skills drills are rather intense and of course their skills are better than ours (due to having played the game for substantially more years!) It does give us something to contemplate as we try to grow our own clubs as well as the skills in the USA in general. At Hampton, we learn they are the largest club in Australia with 500 registered players (including juniors), and they have 20 teams competing every weekend – no those are not typos. In the US, there are 32 active clubs, in the entire country, with somewhere between 1000 and 1500 registered players. Kind of puts things in perspective. The South African Buffaloes are also at Hampton this evening and so we have a chance to mingle with them while we are fed a meal of sausages and patties. To close the evening, the Buffaloes sing one of their innumerable songs as a thank you. Singing is one of their cultural trademarks and this is far from the last time we will hear them.

Tomorrow is the big day and so the boys head back to the hotel to get a good night's rest. First up on the agenda: the South African Buffaloes, of course.

Wednesday August 3^rd, 2005 Port Melbourne, Australia

Today the International Cup officially starts with matches at Murphy Reserve in Port Melbourne on two ovals: A.T. Aanenson Oval and T.M. Woodruff Oval. I have the opening match at 10:00 am, Spain vs. Japan. Peter Martin is my partner for today's game. Not only is he part of the Port Melbourne local umpires, he is the principal of the primary school across the road from the ground, so we have a couple of hundred primary school kids in attendance as well as several hundred, maybe as much as 1000 spectators. Neil Hargreaves of New Zealand is the only other international umpire this year (in 2002 I was the only one). This means that umpiring is picking up a little bit outside of Australia and this is good for the growth of the sport overall.

In the Spain vs. Japan match, it becomes quite apparent how new the boys from Spain are to the sport and it is equally apparent just how much progress Japan has made since 2002. The Spanish Bulls make a number of basic mistakes early, but to their credit, they adapt as the game progresses and in the second half make a good show of it. The Japanese Samurai scored early and often, mostly using their positioning and running skills to get to the ball and make that first hand pass to get the play moving. They also used the short pass quite effectively. But they don't quite have the kicking skills just yet. Japan is the winner by 11 goals. It will be interesting to see how they fare against some of the taller teams. Anyway, it is great to be umpiring in Australia again and Peter and I had a lot of fun working the opening game. He also wants me to come to his school to talk about the USA, so I will give him a call to try to schedule that.

The opening ceremonies are at Noon. Each team parades out onto the ground to the cheers of the primary school kids, and the applause of the appreciative crowd. There are at least a dozen cameras operating capturing it all. This is way more publicity compared to the inaugural Cup in 2002. After the obligatory speeches by the mayor and several other officials, it is time to watch more footy. During the afternoon I find Brian Green, current USAFL Umpires Coordinator, living in New York. He is on his honeymoon (good on ya, mate!) and stopped by to watch the games before heading back to the US tomorrow. I also see Hugh Green, the head of the Dandenong Umpires Association. Hughie supported my last visit by having me come to training and doing games at Dandenong. His daughter Kate, a terrific field umpire, has been appointed to a match in the third round. It is so cool to be able to catch up with everyone.

The US quest for the Cup officially starts at 2:45 as the US takes on South Africa. Dave Walker "Texas Ranger" and Dee "Weeman" Vsetecka are among the 24 selected to represent the US in this opening match. The speed of South Africa is readily apparent as they are very quick to the ball and they show no fear when matching up to the much larger boys in the Stars and Stripes. As the game progresses, the Buffaloes actually manage about the same number of scoring chances, but their accuracy costs them. Another aspect I noticed was that the US did not look quite as sharp as in practice the several days prior and gave up too may free kicks and did not man up like I know they can, although I was not sure if it was first game jitters or lack of focus. More likely, though, it is the much improved South African squad that deserves the credit. In 2002 the Buffalo squad was essentially all black kids between 16 and 19 (I was taller than all but one and I am only 5'11"). This time around they are playing with both black and white players and they look much more mature. Their program is obviously growing nicely. Still, the US manages to open a four goal lead at half time that they extend to seven goals at three quarter time. In the final quarter, the US loses, scoring only one goal to three. At the final siren, the final score is 9.8.62 to 4.9.33 and the first step to winning the Cup in 2005 if safely in the books. Next up is the big match for the tournament (for the USA): IRELAND. But first things first; the boys head back to the hotel to shower and clean up for dinner and a final open evening.

Neil (from New Zealand) and I have been invited to the Western Regional umpires training and meeting tonight and will be given game assignments on Saturday. Pindi and Benji from the South African team will accompany us. Pindi, 19 years young, is the South African umpire and went through training at the 2002 Umpires Clinic as part of that tourney. She is building several umpire associations in the various provinces in South Africa. She has already recruited 40 women/girls for this effort, which by the way is larger than the US can claim. Benji is the South African Vice Captain, but is not playing in the tourney because he has a broken collar bone. He has been in Melbourne for several months, playing at one of the local southern clubs, a situation similar to what many of the US boys have been through. We all tell our "stories" about how footy is growing in each of our countries and chat with the umpires group. This particular umpire group has about 180 umpires (no type here) which is about five times bigger than a typical footy club in the US. The scale of the differences is quite staggering. At the end of the evening, Brett Ritchie shows up: he and I did a match together back in 2002 and he was appointed to the Grand Final. He is currently working at the VFL (Victorian Football League) which akin to AAA baseball in the US. The only higher level is AFL so making that grade is quite an honor. Way to go Brett.

Well, back to the hotel to unpack, reshuffle, and reorganize my gear. And of course get this report completed so you, the intrepid reader, can keep track of the US quest for the Cup (and maybe get a taste of what sort of craziness is such a big part of my life).