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Kangaroos Head to the Windy City to Launch 2009 MAAFL Campaign
Footy fans! The game of the season is upon us this weekend. The Nashville Kangaroos head to Chicago to take on perennial powerhouse Chicago United. The United are the current MAAFL Premiers and the only team to have taken the MAAFL title three times (the Roos are two time Premiers from 2000 and 2002). The Roos have had their chances to prepare for this battle with a win against Baton Rouge at home and a loss to Florida on the road, plus sending two metro teams to the John Harrell Cup in Louisville and the Blue-White Classic two weeks ago.
In looking at the franchise records between these two teams (which you can do for yourself HERE), we see an overall record of 7 wins and 7 losses. This is not wholly unexpected as five of the nine years of the MAAFL the title was held by either of these clubs!
Breaking it down a little further, Chicago has the edge 5-4 in MAAFL Championship matches by virtue of "holding serve" at home (4-0) and sneaking in a win on Nashville's home turf in 2006. Last year you may recall the Roos handled the United fairly easily, riding a stellar seven-goal first quarter to victory as Dave "Wacky" McNamara had his best game ever for the Roos.
But that was 2008 and this is 2009. The Roos have never won in Chicago, and the United team's only blemish in 2008 was at the hands of the Roos. They will surely be looking to exact their revenge on Saturday and run their unbeaten streak at home against the Roos to five straight.
In addition, with Minnesota and St. Louis dropping from the MAAFL Championship ladder, there are only five teams eligible for the MAAFL title, making each of the four Championship games even more critical. Any loss means the Roos would need help from another team to even hope to have a shot. They better have their A-Game ready come Saturday.
The game (the 151st for the Kangaroos) is scheduled for 4 pm at Rogers Park. We will try to get the details of the match posted as soon as possible during the weekend.
(Photo by Holly Baker: Todd "Tonka" Haralson barrels ahead against Florida as Jeff "Peeps" Persson provides the shepherd)
