AFL Comparison #4: Collingwood Magpies

Collingwood is another one of the original VFL clubs, from a suburb of Melbourne itself. The Magpies have won seventeen premierships, the most of any AFL/VFL franchise...they are the most popular team by almost any measure: the largest membership base (AFL teams all sell memberships in a manner similar to our Green Bay Packers 'community-owned' franchise), highest attendances, highest television ratings, highest merchandise sales...and they have fallen on (comparatively) hard times, crashing and burning this year and falling all the way to twelfth on the eighteen-team ladder. (To be fair, injuries played a major part in that this year, but there's also a young/old transition in process that doesn't help.) As a crowning grace, their distinctive black and white stripes make a comparison with an American club extremely obvious...

Their American counterpart: The New York Yankees

The Yankees are winners of 27 'world championships' over the course of the last century. (We always find it amusing to hear references to "world championships" when only American teams are involved.  Ever notice that Earth has a ninety-year winning streak in the "Miss Universe" pageant?) Their distinctive pinstripe uniform and NY symbol are recognized by people around the world even if they don't follow sports. The Yankees have always been the bellcow of baseball, as the "Pies" are for the AFL - the sport is simply more popular when they're doing well as a franchise. And right now, neither team is faring particularly well on the green, even if they're bringing the green into the bank. Both teams reside in the center of their respective sporting universes (New York, the largest American city, correlates with Melbourne, the habitual home of footy in Australia). An effect of the immense popularity of both clubs is shown in the number of haters of the clubs - Collingwood is both the most popular AND the least popular footy club, according to a recent Australian poll; the Yankees have long held a similar position in the American landscape.

Here's hoping both teams can push back into the playoffs next year and continue to hold a place of relevance in the sport's consciousness again, for the very vitality of their respective sports!