Watching the Rose Bowl in Australia
 

When I lived in Brisbane from 1982 till '85, you had very little chance watching American football on Australian TV although in the later years they did have a "game of the week" late at night and show some of the NFL play-offs and the Super Bowl, if I remember correctly.

So here it is: My college football team will be playing in the Rose Bowl this January 1 and I will be holidaying in either Brisbane or Melbourne. The game will be on at 8:00 a.m. on January 2, Queensland time.

Do you think there's any chance I'll be able to watch it on Australian TV or satellite? Where's my best chance -- an American hotel chain or a specialty sportspub? Will I be able to get it on Armed Forces radio or somesuch?

Failing that, I know I'll probably be able to get an audiostream in an Internet cafe.

Any suggestions ahead of time would be appreciated.

Rose Bowl????? Never heard of it.

I think the chance of watching American football on Australian TV is about the same as 20 years ago! Sports bars are a possibility, but I don't fancy your chances at 8am. Perhaps check with the hotel you're staying at - maybe the concierge can help! There's not much of a following for American football here.

The fifth and final cricket test against India starts in Sydney on 2 January - that'll be on TV! Retiring Australian captain, Steve Waugh's last test match!

I could very well be aired on cable TV Scurry but you would have to contact them to find that out at this stage. Try searching Austar or Foxtell
Good Luck!

The Super Bowl itself is usually shown on free to air TV, but I am not sure about the Rose Bowl - there have been big advances in pay TV - Foxtel or Austar in the past few years so it might well be. I would check with your hotel.

Hi Scurry:

I'm sure if you dig into the 'sports bar' options you'll find something.

This past October I was in New Zealand & being a big time Red Sox fan I'd grown accustomed to having my Octobers free so for the last few years I've taken advantage some off-season fares with a good October vacation.

So this year I was in Wellington NZ for Yankees-Red Sox game 7 & found the 'Chicago Sports Bar' (www.chicago.co.nz) in Wellington harbour - and they had a DirectTV satellite feed so there I sat with my camera ready to get a picture of the Red Sox finally knocking off the Yankees from Wellington - no better way to finish off a great trip to NZ, then came the bottom of the 8th, I put my camera away, finished my beer & waited for the inevitable.

So you should be able to find something similar in Brisbane or Melbourne.

Later,

Z

Scurry

Now pay tv (cable) has come to oz there is reasonable coverage of nfl and college football here.

There are three spoorts channels fox sport 1 & 2 and ESPN. Fox sports 1 & 2 are in every pub and every decnet motel and hotel.

They cover a couple of nfl and college games each week.

They cover all nfl playoff games.I would be very surprised if they did not have the top bowl games at new years..including the rose bowl.

go to www.foxtel.com.au and see if you can get their on line progemme guide to work.

I hope you are not a fan of one of theose elitist,private west coast colleges (usc).

John,

I am indeed an alumni of USC, class of '89 & proud of it. I went there after graduating high school in Brisbane.

I agree that many in the USC community should have taken a course in hubris, but I urge you not to condemn the whole institution because of a few snobby eggs.

Thanks for the tips on pay TV -- it turns out that I may be on a plane during the game anyway. I <i>was</i> hoping that we'd be in the Sugar Bowl! (long story).

Fight on &amp; Beat the Wolverines!

The Foxtel site does indeed say that their ESPN channel will be showing the Rose Bowl live at 9:00 a.m.

Now I just need to find out what time zone this is &amp; where I can finf Foxtel ESPN. I'll be in Brisbane.

Scurry,

The time would be quoted as eastern daylight savings time.The game will be on at 8.00 am brisbane time.Remember queensland is one hour (and twenty years) behind new south wales.

The bad news is that the game is on the espn channel.Every pub/motel/hotel has the two fox sports channels (they are marketed harder...rupert murdoch is at the back of it)

I doubt if any sports bar in brissy will be open at that time so I think you have to find an hotel that has the ESPN sports channel as well as fox sports.If you are phoning prospective hotels be VERY specific...do they have the ESPN channel not just the fox sports channels.

Good luck!

btw..how did Byron go? and
whatever happened to Rodney Peete?

Byron was great. A bit windy but not as crowded as we feared. Spent a great Sunday afternoon at the Rails Pub, a nice walk to the Cafe at the Cape Byron headlands and the requisite drive to Nimbin. Can't believe how quick the drive from Brisbane airport was with the new roads.

Now we're up the Coast at Sunshine Beach for the holidays. Man is it hot!

As for Rodney Peete, he played in the NFL forever for a million teams. He may even still be on a roster somewhere but I think he's retired. He ended up marrying TV starlet Holly Robinson of &quot;21 Jump Street Fame&quot;. He was the trojans' QB when I was in school &amp; had some grerat games against the hated bruins.

Happy Christmas!