Dallas Magpies are the US Division 1 Champs with final scores being  Dallas Magpies 3.4.22, New York Magpies 3.2.20.

Earlier in the day Nashville defeated Orange County leaving the door open for the winner of New York vs Denver to sneak through on percentage.  Dallas made it through to the final defeating Calgary by just four points.  New York did win by just two points to make it to the final but lost in a nail biter to the Dallas team in the final as New York stormed home with the aid of a stiff breeze with 3.2  in the second half to just one point for Dallas.

In Division II Minnesota Freeze 1.6.12 defeated the Los Angeles Dragons 0.3.3.

The Orange County Bombers emerged as National Championship contenders today in Mason Ohio as they defeated former champions New York and Denver.  Should they defeat the winless Nashville tomorrow morning they will play off for their first  Division I title at the end of the day.  In the other pool in Division I Dallas and cross border raiders Calgary will meet at midday to battle for their place in the final.  Calgary had the biggest Division I win for the day keeping the Golden Gate Roos scoreless and winning by 74 points.

Minnesota, LA Dragons and Boston all fared well in Divison II, with Boston escaping with a one point win over the San Diego Lions.  In Division III Chicago, Columbus and Atlanta were all undefeated with the winner looking to come from those three.  In Division IV Houston, Des Moines and Milwaukee are all undefeated going into Day 2.

In the Women's Division Denver were the stand out team and are favourites to take out the title again this year.

Scores from Day 1 matches below.

The rise and success of Canadian Mike Pyke for the Sydney Swans has now been well documented.  An article that got solid coverage in Canada had a headline that he lead the Swans to victory in the AFL grand final and that attracted some criticism in one particular online news site.  However that's a fairly narrow semantic arguement.  Although he didn't dominate the match, there's no doubt that ruck is a key position and to play well when left with no backup in the final quarter of a suffocatingly tight grand final means by my personal definition he certainly was one of the players who lead the Bloods home.

So his brief career has reached a high point.  But there may now be a nasty epilogue to season 2012.  When all players in Sydney's squad are fit and firing, the 28 year old Pyke is clearly the Swans' number two ruckman.  Many clubs now only play one ruckman, but coach John Longmire chose to play his 200cm Rugby convert as a big target in the forward line and then relieving in the ruck.  He kicked 8 goals in 18 games this year and indeed provided a solid target to bring the ball to ground, occasionally also pulling in a strong mark, as well as leading the ruck on occasions.

However, the Swans have made a big play for enigmatic Adelaide forward/ruckman Kurt Tippett and are now in pole position to obtain the 25 year old.  That could put Pyke in a very tough spot.

As you read this footballers, coaches, umpires, supporters and support staff from all over the United States and Canada are headed to Mason, Ohio to take part in the 2012 US National Championships. As in past years teams will play three pool matches before the top teams in each pool play off in the final on Sunday afternoon.

This year 38 teams will be play in the four mens divisions (some clubs will field a second team in the fourth division) and one women's division. Not all clubs make the US Nationals due to a variety of reasons but needless to say it is a very large financial committment for teams to travel large distances for this tournament.

Last year's champions the Denver Bulldogs will again go in favourite for the tournament despite only five games with a 3-2 win/loss record playing during the 2012 season on which to assess their form. This is not unusual as Denver is one of the most isolated teams in the country and lack of intercity footy has not hurt them in the past as they have won 8 of the National Championships over the years.

This Saturday's AFL Grand Final will feature a team that has "flown under the radar" for almost all of the season with a player that also befits that description despite having a remarkable story to tell, the story of Mike Pyke and the Sydney Swans.

28 years ago Michael Pyke was born in Victoria, B.C. Canada.  He played basketball, soccer and ice hockey before moving onto rugby where he played for the Canadian national side and a top French side.  Pyke achieved international fame in 2007 for running the length of the field and scoring an intercept try against the New Zealand All Blacks in a RUWC game.

However, injuries prompted Pyke to look for a career change. "In Canada, everyone knows what Aussie rules is but they don't know much about it," Pyke later would say. Together with a friend, Matt Woodland, Pyke put together a DVD showcasing his rugby highlights which Woodland then sent onto AFL player agent Michael Quinlan.  Quinlan, convinced of the possibilities, began dialogue with the Sydney Swan's Stewart Maxfield, as the Swans were known for their success with international premiership player Tadhg Kennelly and their use of “sabermetrics” (Moneyball).
 

Aussie Rules in Canada has enjoyed a purple patch of late. Mike Pyke’s rise to fame and imminent AFL Grand Final appearance with the Sydney Swans has coincided with solid growth on his home soil. Most of the Canadian leagues - spread across four of the thirteen provinces and territories - have expanded their number of teams in recent years, some even adding women’s divisions and second tier competitions.

That purple patch is set to continue with the exciting new formation of the Halifax Dockers; a team looking to break new ground and promote Aussie Rules on a completely new frontier: the province of Nova Scotia.

Stateside Footy - Episode 12-07: Quebec Saints vs Boston River Rats Stateside Footy presents a "Metro-style" modified Australian Rules Football match played in June 2012. This match is between the visiting Quebec Saints and the Boston River Rats, a representative group from the Boston Demons Australian Rules Football club.

This episode was recorded on location at Briggs Field on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Stateside Footy is a cable access TV show produced with the assistance of WCTV - Wilmington Community Television in Wilmington, MA. It features Aussie Rules Football as it is played in the U.S.A.

Since its launch in 2010, Stateside Footy has been aired on 69 Local Access cable TV channels in 19 states of America and viewed online almost 14,000 times in a true grass roots effort to raise awareness of the game.

Today we have two episodes below from the 2012 Boston's Metro Footy season.

The Atlanta Sounds program recently featured Jim Batten from the Atlanta Kookaburras accompanied by the sounds of a game and photos of match action.  The video can be seen below.

[youtube:_lUBNSiAKN0]