Houston Lonestars at Nationals

Highway signs in Houston help paint
the picture of what flooding looks like.

Hurricane Harvey dropped historic rainfall on the Texas coast in late August in the United States. Many locations reported at least 30 inches (76 cm) of rain. Nederland, east of Houston, recorded 64.58” of rainfall. Pearland, in Houston’s southern suburbs, a reported 9.92” fell in 90 minutes.

The rain definitely affected the Houston Lonestars footy club. No players were directly affected by Hurricane Harvey, but their families definitely were. Club members worked to help many others in the aftermath. The Lonestars also pitched in financially, with several members raising $10,000.

Their August 26th Texas Cup triangular with the Austin Crows and Dallas Magpies was canceled. They did get back into action on September 9 with a sweep of Baton Rouge (seven points) and Nashville (a 26-point win). The Lonestars also fell to Dallas and to the Los Angeles Dragons on September 23, and went 0-2 while hosting the Magpies and Crows on October 7.

So it was against this backdrop that the Houston Lonestars reported to San Diego recently for USAFL Nationals. The Division 1 side beat the Chicago Swans by five points, but fell to Portland Steelheads and the Quebec Saints to finish 1-2 in pool play. 

The Division 4 Lonestars also went 1-2 in San Diego, dropping decisions to the New York Magpies and Calgary Kangaroos, but ending on a positive note with an eight-point win over Ft. Lauderdale. 

On the women’s side, the Lonestars joined forces with the Dallas Magpies to form the Texas Heat. The team went 2-2 with wins over Columbus and Baltimore-Washington. 

At the championship level, the Denver Bulldogs women’s side were the six-time reigning D-1 premiers until losing to San Francisco last year. The Iron Maidens repeated as champions by winning the rematch in San Diego 2.2.14 to 1.0.6 for Denver.

The Austin Crows were D-1 Premiers in 2013 and in 2015-16, but it was Golden Gate who took their second premiership, and first since winning the D-2 title in 2005, beating Los Angeles 6.4.40 to 2.1.13.

American Championships

Two weekends ago, the United States Australian Rules Football league held their national championships in Sarasota and Bradenton, Florida on October 15 and 16. Streamed live on YouTube, it was different watching games being played in what looked like rec fields on a university campus. Watching cars go by and everything, instead of crowds of 40,000+ at a major metropolitan oval where people are trying to sell me watches and insurance.

But it was still fun to watch. Obviously the skill level is different, since these are men and women with day jobs who are committing a lot of time to footy. 36 teams were separated by divisions and then again into pools. The side nearest me, the Atlanta Kookaburras, went 2-1 in pool play, beating teams from Denver and Tulsa, but losing to a squad from Des Moines. They ran six ovals (one for the women) for most of Saturday the 15th and part of Sunday the 16th, with the finals played in the afternoon on Sunday.

The Portland Sockeyes defeated Montreal to win the women's premiership, and congrats to the Division 4 men's champions Ohio Valley and to D3 champs Portland who beat North Carolina. The Division 2 premiers are from Calgary (also home of my favorite hockey team).

The Division 1 winners are the Austin Crows, for whom Nolan Cox plays. Nolan is the brother of Mason Cox, the Collingwood big man of whom we have spoken here. Austin is tied to the Adelaide Crows, and the big club even gave them a shout out on their web site.

What really weirded me out about that is that Mason the Magpie made it onto an opponent's web site:

Collingwood player Mason Cox, left, with his brother Nolan who plays
for the USAFL team in Austin, Texas. Picture taken from the Adelaide Crows site.

Play on!