USFooty Scholarship Player

All things said, I had a great experience and hope that this program
continues for more young men to share in these types of things. You will see
and do more than most people ever dream of doing. It's truly an amazing
thing to undergo. I strongly recommend getting to Australia to anyone
seeking a little adventure. I've only seen a tiny piece and I'm already in
love. This place has so much to offer a visitor. The people are friendly,
the city is exciting, and the sights are incredible! I can't thank everyone
enough for putting this program together.

Before I get to my THANKS I'd like to get that link out to everyone that I
promised yesterday. These are websites recommended by Lisa Sutherland, the
dietitian for the Bombers. Here they are

www.lisasutherland.com

www.sportsdietitians.com

She's more than happy to take any questions you may have for her at her
e-mail account lisa@lisasutherland.com

As for thanking everyone involved enough, I doubt it's possible. I have
worked with so many wonderful people on this project and it's been handled
so well. Everyone involved has been terrific to deal with and I'm sorry in
advance for anyone I may accidentally leave out. Here's my best shot...

Special Thanks to all of the following...

Andrew Irwin - He put up with me or put me up in his home for three weeks.
That's no easy task, but we got along great and became pretty good friends
I'd say. Good on ya, mate! And thanks to Fay for spoiling me with incredible
cuisine. I ate like a champion thanks to her!

Rich Mann - He helped develop this program from it's start. He also does a
lot of planning and contacting to see that everything goes well. You've done
a great job, Rich. Thank you for everything!

Coach Kevin Sheedy - He is also responsible for developing this program. He
taught me so much about footy and I don't think I even scratched the surface
of what he knows. He is a great person to talk to and truly a legend. It was
an honor, Sheeds!

Denis Ryan - He helped me get everything in order before I took off. He gave
me a lot of encouragement and made sure that everything was in order.

Paul "Plugger" O'Keefe - He set up a lot of the things that I needed to do
on my trip and saw to things running smoothly.

Gary Hill - He gave me great advice and helped me to prepare for what I was
going to be doing.

The Essendon FOotball Club - I worked with so many of the staff members that
it may be impossible to list them all, but I would like to thank them all
for all of their hard work and patience. You were all great and made me feel
welcome in a place so far from home! Thanks to the players, coaching staff,
medical staff, "property boys", front office personnel, and the video guys.
I've got heaps of great memories working with you all. You know who you all
are. And oh yeah, Ady, you're the man!!

Assistant Coach Terry Daniher - I spent the majority of practices working
with Tezz and he was awesome to learn from. He's a legend and a great coach.
Good Luck this year, Tezz and thanks a ton!

The Selection Panel - Without your confidence, I would have never seen or
done so many unforgettable things. I can't thank you all enough and I
sincerely appreciate the opportunity you gave me.

The USAFL Board responsible for funding the trip. I can't imagine putting a
price on what this experience was worth to me personally. You made it
possible and I am forever thankful!

The Cincinnati Dockers - You guys brought me along from a skinny kid without
a clue to a slightly heavier kid with a little more know-how. You guys were
great in everything you did for me over the past year. You are all the best
friends I could have asked for! I'll drink to that when I get back!

Coach Dan Ryan - Your teachings made me what I am today and got me where I
am. I can't say enough how thankful I really am. You're the best. (Suzie -
you were great,too!)

My Family and Friends - You all looked at me like I was a mad man when I
told you what aussie rules was, but you stood by me just the same. Thanks
for being there to help me get ready for this incredible trip. I couldn't
have done it without you. Thanks for being so patient, Erin, I'll see you
soon. I love you all!

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU to all of the USAFL members for your
support and for helping make our league better. I look forward to meeting
more and more of you over the course of my career in footy. Many of you have
given me words of wisdom and encouragement already and I am very glad you
did so. I hope you have all enjoyed what I've laid out for you the past
three weeks. There will be more stuff floating around the league as the
season gets going I'm sure. Thanks again to everyone! I am sorry if I left
anyone out. No hard feelings!

Cheers one last time from Down Under,

Jeremy

After speaking with Ms. Sutherland, I met with the physio for some more
clinical observations. I woke up and felt a little better about the pain. I
also gained some good range of motion back. Only problem was this one way of
moving my arm. The physio has been great as far as making sure I'm
comfortable and trying to help me out. I feel pretty weak only making it
through a little over a quarter of my game, but I saw the hit again today on
TV and it isn't any prettier! I had to get some x-rays done and they came
back with refreshing results. Nothing broken in there! The bad news is that
he's still a little concerned, so he's sending me along to a doctor who's
going to look into the possibility of some tendon or ligament damage. My
right arm just isn't quite working right yet! It's a bummer that I'm not
going to be playing any footy this weekend, but I'm still hopeful for a game
soon!

My little TV documentary was on this morning and I recorded it to bring
home. It's pretty neat what all they pieced together to make it. They were
really nice about it and cut out all of my mistakes!! I was pretty happy
about the whole thing and I got some positive feedback from the people that
caught it. I'll have to see about maybe getting it up on the web somehow, so
everyone can see me get the smackdown at Eltham!

I also met with Warren Mills of Burley - Sekem today. He wanted to sit down
and talk about US Footy for a bit while I was in town. We had some great
conversation and he gave me an American Revolution guernsey that they had
recently come up. It's pretty sharp! I think I like the idea of wearing the
stars and stripes! He was really impressed with how well things were going
for the USAFL. He just wanted to meet with some of the guys he provides for
from 20000km away. I liked talking to him and he was pumped about the US
team coming over in August.

That wraps it up for today. I'll be putting together one last e-mail
tomorrow that will include the dietician links, my final thoughts, and my
thank you's. I've got some homework to do tonight! Unfortunately, Coach
Sheedy isn't available for lunch until later next month. He's been very
busy, but still incredibly accomodating. He promises that we'll do lunch
once I'm back around after my back-packing and he's not celebrating any big
milestones that week. This week's game is Essendon v. Brisbane. Also the 500
mark for Sheedy as a coach. Should be a lot of emotion there and a lot of
great footy as well!!

Cheers,

Jeremy

I decided to attend the practice session at Windy Hill as a spectator. It
was their first training here this season and Rioli made his comeback as
well. There were lots of fans gathered to watch the Bombers. I sat at the
practice and took detailed notes on what was going on and what the purpose
of each exercise was. I think I see the game quite a bit differently now. I
look at things happening on the field that I never noticed before. There are
of lot of areas that I can improve upon personally. I am looking forward to
getting better. I also hope to make the Dockers a little better by sharing
some of my newfound knowledge! (Sorry everybody else!)

I met with the physio about my bloddy shoulder and he put me in a sling for
a few days to rest it and let the swelling go down. It's doing better each
day, but I'm still missing a lot of my motion range. I am going in for
precautionary x-rays tomorrow. Thank goodness I bought that sports rider
insurance! I think I'll be just fine. I have footy to be playing afterall;
no time for injuries!!

Cheers,

Jeremy

My host Andrew's computer got a virus and is down, so David Thurmond from OC
is helping me get emails out. Friday was game day so we didn't have any
practices. I went to the club to pick up my ticket, and while there, got the
phone number for the dietician. I have an appointment with her on Tuesday to
discuss a footballers diet. I went to the Essendon game Friday night againt
Richmond, and sat in the Stats Box, next to the Coaches Box. I had an
awesome view. The first half was impressive, with Essendon putting through
85 points to Richmond's 25. After halftime, the game slowed down quite a
bit, but Essendon still finished on top 112-60. Before the game, the guys
were really concerned with hitting their targets, and they obvisouly did a
fine job. It was also Sheed's 750th game as a player/coach. Teddy Richardson
made his AFL debut...that was cool to see. The team was very supportive and
"honored" him after the game. After the game I went home and straight to
bed. I have a big day tomorrrow!

Saturday

Had a radio interview at 930am with Francis Leach on the ABC network. It
went well. I had to hurry out to Eltham afterwards for warm-ups at 11am. The
Eltham Panthers have the same uniform as the Bombers. Found out that I would
be starting in the Ruck for the Reserves. I was amped! Warm-ups went
well...we did a lot of short kicking and handballing. The idea was to just
keep moving and work up a sweat. The Reserves guys are about the same age as
the typical American Club...ranging anywhere from 19 on up to 35. There were
approxiamately 150 people out watching the game....and not all were
relatives....some were just footy fanatics!

I played a very aggressive 1st quarter, winning most of the rucking
contests. The umpires were great at bouncing the ball! The game was faster
than I was used to playing in CInci, but no where near as fast as the VFL
game. The level of skill would be greater than the States in most cases.
Onfield communication was unbelievable....there was constant chatter from
your teammates, and everyone knew where to be in relation to the
ball....always being front and center. Eltham played a zone defense on the
kickouts. I like the zone because it makes the opposition pop the ball up
and gives us the chance to stay on the offensive.

Unfortunately, at the end of the 1st quarter while taking an overhead mark I
was taken down hard by the opposition. It was a high tackle and my head and
shoulders were driven into the ground with all of my weight and his weight
bearing down. My shoulder quit working....couldn't lift it above my head. We
tried running it out using cold spray stuff and ice but it was immobilized
by the swelling much to my dismay. I came off early in the 2nd quarter for
the remainder of the day. I was pretty upset because I was having a good
game and really wanted to make an impact. I went out of the game when the
Reserves had the lead, and they fortunately held on for the win. Since then
I have been doing a lot of icing and I'll be seeing the physio at Essendon
on Monday morning. (Damn my luck!)

The social club functions similarly to the ones I've seen in the States.
Both teams get together for a drink after the game. But there seems to be a
much greater rivalry between clubs, so some of the friendlyness is lost.
These guys REALLY go at eachother on the field.

Sunday

Woke up after three hours of sleep and the shoulder is still killing me. I'm
glad my time with the Bombers is up because I would have hated to miss a
training run with them. I'll be going to practice on Monday to take pictures
and get the last bit of autographs. Can't believe it's gone so quickly.
Realizing that my time with the Bombers has almost expired and dealing with
this injury made it a pretty woeful weekend. At least I'll be seeing another
AFL game at the MCG today.

Dave Thurmond and I went to the Port Adelaide Power vs. Melbourne Demons
game at the MCG. Dave's buddy Sean Watson, from the Phoenix team, hooked us
up with tickets to sit in the Member's section of the "G." Our seats were
great, pretty close to the action. And even though we didn't barrack for
either side, it's still good experience to watch these guys play the game.
Handball support was unbelievable as the Demons moved up the ground at will.
They used numerous short kicks and lots and lots of handballs. The Power
would flood the forward line...bringing the forwards up to play defense. It
was an interesting tactic but I don't see it working well in the States. It
requires SUPERIOR fitness!

Dave has been extremely helpful, since my untimely accident, helping to type
this email. He also taught me about cricket as we watched a match on TV.
That was my bit of Aussie culture for the day. It's pretty good stuff once
you figure out what's going on.

Cheers,

Jeremy (And Dave)

I had a really exciting day today! It all started with a good day before a
game practice in the morning with the Essendon senior players. They are just
amazing out there! I gave it my best and had a pretty good run. It is always
good to see the best work their magic!

I finished up the TV interview that I had started yesterday in the
afternoon. During this finishing, the camera man in charge of the shots,
asked if I'd like to go the Footy Show Live! That was a no -brainer! Hell
yes, I wanted to go!! I invited Dave from O.C. to go with me since we've
been hanging out a bit more with us both playing for Eltham. He was almost
as excited as I was at the opportunity.

I had a nice long training run with the Eltham Panthers starting at 6 and
ending around 7:30. The entire practice was under the lights, which was very
new to me. It really makes you focus on the ball even more as it comes to
you! Their coach, "Freeze", was stressing the importance of following up
your disposals. Whether it be a handball or a kick, follow it up and back up
the bloke you're giving it to. You can shepard for him, become an optional
target, or help recover a fumbled disposal. ALways practicing the back ups
will ensure you do it in the games, making your side that much stronger.
Practice went well and they did a good bit of running the length of the
field, so fitness was up.

After training, we had to hurry to the Footy Show. We got seats at the
special guests tables and were treated to meat pies, sausage rolls, sodas,
and candy bars. Not the healthiest stuff on Earth, but it was still very
nice. The show was awesome. The studio audience really gets into the show
and the broadcasters were great. We had a great time and got to ask
questions at the end. I asked what Eddie McGuire thought of international
footy being played. He recognized the American accent and recognized me as
being the Scholarship player. I put in a shameless plug for the Cincinnati
Dockers and spoke to him about how things were different in the states. He
mentioned the lack of facilities with AFL clubs compared to sports clubs in
the states. He also commented on the lack of grounds appropriate for footy
in the US. He really knows his footy and he cited South Africa as a place
where footy could become a very real recruitment center. That should be good
oncentive for us Americans to work even harder at improving ourselves
personally and our league in general. He was aware that Americans were
loving the game and thought it was great. We're coming along in a big way
and it's been great sharing that with the people here. All sorts of people
stopped me after the show and wished me luck in my future football days. It
was truly an honor being there amongst the finest of football fans. I'll
never forget tonight!

Cheers,

Jeremy

Phillip Island is famous for its Penguin Parade. That's not all that there
is to do however. I went to a petting zoo with kangaroos, wombats, and emus.
There were other animals there, but those were the only ones that I hadn't
seen before. I fed the 'roos right out of my hand! It was cool and I'm
hoping that I have a good picture of it. After the petting zoo, we went on
to the Koala Reserve where there are 21 koala bears running loose. We found
a few of them and got pretty close up for some more great pictures. After
the reserve we headed for the seals and penguins area. I didn't see any
seals, but I saw more penguins than I ever really wanted to. They come in
from the water at night in groups on this one particular beach. It was
pretty interesting to watch for a little while, but it got pretty ordinary
after a while.

I saw some great scenery as well and it was breath-taking. I mean it was
absolutely amazing how beautiful the landscape was at nightfall. I am hoping
my pictures came out well, but they still won't show it all. I am sold on
Australia!! I definitely recommend this land to anyone wanting to see some
unique and wonderful parts of the world! (And I've only been in Melbourne!)
The footy games are amazing and there's plenty of great scenery to see as
well. What more could you ask for??

Cheers,

Jeremy

Before the afternoon session, the players all met in a video room to go over
the good and the bad points of their Saturday night game versus Geelong.
Coach Harvey ran the show with Coach Sheedy adding his points in addition to
what Harvey had to say. Overall, the coaches were pretty content with the 50
point win, but they weren't totally satisified either. They won't be until
the BOmbers can really play the perfect game. Coach Kevin Sheedy really
pushes for perfection out of his players!

I had lunch at the club with a few of the guys and then went to practice at
the Essendon Grammar school. Windy Hill has been under construction for the
entireity of the preseason, so we haven't done much there. It was a fairly
simple training run to get the legs going again and working on our kicks. We
went hard for an hour and a half or so before doing our cool-down exercises.
It's nice going all out for a short amount of time rather than dragging out
slow sessions at a mediocre pace. I really like the way the Bombers operate
their training sessions. You always feel good afterwards and you know you
got a heap of things done in the day.

Cheers,

Jeremy

What I did go through was a bit of walking out the sore spots, then going
through a good stretch routine. This was followed up by a nice brisk jog.
After the jogging was done, we went for a walk in the water (darn cold
water). Jogging in the water is said to be one of the best ways to recover
after a hard day's work. The sand is good on the joints and the cold
saltwater helps with aches and pains. I felt great afterwards!

During our jog, I had a chance to chat with Matthew Lloyd. I wanted to pick
his brain about what exactly he went through as he was preparing to put the
footy between the big sticks. He was really good about explaining step by
step his kicking practices. Most important point I believe was his emphasis
on focusing on a central point in the goal and concentrating on it. As you
prepare to drop the ball on to your foot, switch your focus to the ball's
drop and then your foot connecting with the ball. This is the area I most
commonly make mistakes, so I'm sure glad to take his advice and really work
on watching the ball from a good drop on to my boot. After seeing Lloyd kick
for 6 goals against the Cats, I'm sure his advice is good as gold!

I then went down to St. Kilda again to get some sun and have a bit of a kick
in the nice parks down there. My roommate, Andrew, kicked with me for about
an hour or so. We then went in and watched some of the footy on TV. It was a
pretty mild day, but we made the best of it. The weather hasn't been great
over the past few days, but it shaped up nicely for my first Easter Down
Under.

Cheers,

Jeremy

After the game, I had a bit of dinner and then went to the MCG for the
Bombers versus the Cats. I met up with all of the guys in their locker room
and got to walk out with them as they took the field. The MCG is by far the
best ground I have ever laid eyes upon. A footballer's dream come true.
(Very green, short grass without any pot-holes or hills.) It was huge, too.
Coach Mark Harvey later told me it was around 160 meters long. The game was
incredible as I sat in the coaches' box with all of the Bomber coaches. I
listened in on all of their commentary back and forth to the bench. It's a
very intense place to be during the game. These guys really know their footy
though! They pointed out things that I had never even thought of throughout
the game. They pointed out the good and the bad. Listening in was
incredible. The Bomber came out victorious, winning handily over Geelong.
Their fight song came on after the game and the whole lot of Bombers fans in
the crowd were singing along as the team headed in after the game. That
locker room was buzzing big time after the game. There were media people
everywhere and the Bombers themselves made a big circle and sang their song.
It made my hair stand up and I got that chill down my back! They had just
one their first game of the season and they were pumped up. It was much
nicer being in that locker room than the one I sat in earlier.

As I sat through both games and listened to a number of different coaches
speak, I would say that the single most important topic covered in every
address was HUSTLE. Just flat out getting after the ball and getting more
and more possessions. Possession was the most observed statistic in both
games as well. The desire to get the ball would lead to victory in the
coaches eyes and that proved to be quite true. Coahc Daniher said he wasn't
so sure he'd seen 100% effort from everyone in the morning game and we lost.
The seniors put forth their best effort and totally dominated the
possessions in their game and they won. This would be my big learning point
of the day. Get the ball, keep the ball, and the opposition can't possibly
beat you.

It is getting late and I have to go to recovery tomorrow morning at 9. Have
a Safe and Happy Easter everyone!

Cheers,

Jeremy

After my interview I had to get to Windy Hill for what was supposed to be a
light training run. The poor weather conditions forced us to stay indoors
for meetings instead. I sat in on the reserves meeting with Coach Terry
Daniher reviewing some tape of previous games. He pointed out the positives
and the negatives of their performance. It was good to see the errors and
then hear the correct way of handling various situations. He spoke about all
different areas of the game from the ruck to the forward line to the full
back. Terry has seen it all firsthand and is great at leveling with the
players. I've learned a greta deal from him personally. It was at this
meeting, that I learned that I would be on the roster and eligible to play
tomorrow morning versus Geelong's reserves! I was really excited about
getting the chance to go at it again with the world's best footballers!

After the meeting, I was given my pass to get into the seniors AFL game
tomorrow night versus Geelong at the MCG. I also got a locker room pass that
I will use to get down on to the field before the match. I will be sitting
in the coaching box with all of Essendon's coaches!! Words can't express how
awesome that is going to be! I'll have a birdseye view on the entire game
and I'll get to listen in on what strategies the Bombers will employ against
the Cats. It's predicted to be a really good game. After seeing last night's
action and all this on Saturday, I am going to need to just sit down and
come back down to Earth. This weekend will be unbelieveable! That's all that
I have for now, but I'll have a whole lot of tales to tell tomorrow night
after the game!

Wish me luck!

Cheers,

Jeremy

I did fairly well with the new kicks and picked up a few good pointers on
how to hold the ball properly and where to kick the ball in relation to your
foot. It was a very informative session. After we came in, I got my tape
from the reserves game I played in. I had a look and went over some of my
plays with the video guys. I may have gotten away with a bit of a shove, but
the rest of my spoils were legit! I was happy with the way I played. I
seemed under control and more capable of defending than I remember being
last year. The training here is definitely paying off!!

I spoke with Coach Sheedy about how I was doing. He is very accomodating and
I think he really enjoys seeing us try as hard as we can to pick up "their"
game. I am really looking forward to our lunch together next week. I'll have
a million things to ask about and I hope he does too. That is going to be a
day I will never forget! I've never really spoken to a true legend before,
so this will be a first. (Not that some of Essendon's players and staff
aren't legends also.)

I then got to go to my first ever AFL Matchup between the Richmond Tigers
(Sheeds' old squad) and the Collingwood Magpies. It was at the MCG and there
were over 65,000 people in attendance! It was so alive in the stands and
very loud! The footy fans are absolutely nuts about their games. I have
never experienced a game like that before! The fans are very mixed up - lots
of Tiger fans seated right amongst all the Pies fans. They really get on
each other and have a blast. There weren't any kind of fights, but they sure
get rowdy when they feel the umpires are mistaken! I had to cover my ears at
some points, because the fans can be down right BRUTAL. It was awesome being
there in person. The fans on tape seem pretty intense, but tape doesn't do
them justice. They are insane live. Richmond came out on top in a high
scoring game and I headed back home to get some rest. I had a long day and I
am pretty worn out. I'll find out tomorrow if I'm going to get a run with
the reserves in their last practice match. I've got my fingers crossed! I'll
let you know what's up tomorrow!

Cheers,

Jeremy