Ang Magiting - The Official Web Site of Rotary Club Makati North

Learn how the ball bounces

Sec. Bob Hecks
April 13, 2010

Anyone who has seen Australian Rules football is impressed by the skillful way in which players bounce that elongated ball on the run. Those who have not seen this spectacular game would have been encouraged to do so after our guest speaker’s talk last April 13.

This was our second regular meeting at Brasserie 21 at the top of the Security Bank Building on Ayala Avenue. Some increase of the space allocated to us was necessary, but in general the obliging staff coped well, particularly with the a-la-carte individual ordering of food from the extensive menu.

PP Dieter Brueckner acted as both moderator and invocator. His prayer acknowledged and thanked God for the five foreign guests, including the guest speaker. They’re shown in the photos on the next page. Pres. Mac reminded us of next week’s (May 4) annual celebration of RCMN’s charter 38 years ago. We will hold it at Brasserie 21 and expect many spouses (not `Anns’), former members and frequently absent members to attend. Another update: PP Vic Austria will be out of the country for the next five weeks.

Pres. Mac introduced our guest speaker. Doug Green, a friend of Mac’s, a distinguished former player of that fast-moving game we occasionally see on television, was also a successful performer at the Club’s CLIPP golf tournament on April 1.

“Australia is a sporting country”, said Doug, enumerating that country’s many Olympic gold medals and other sporting distinctions in our lifetimes. And “Footie” as it’s been called, is now the number one sport with more than a billion US dollars in TV rights. TV affected development of the rules of the game – the game must flow. It does; players are reckoned to run as much as 30 kilometers in the course of a game – which is noticeably faster moving and with less stoppages than other forms of football.
Thanks to Pres. Mac for introducing us to yet another entertaining guest speaker.