The status quo out west was maintained this weekend as San Diego continued their winning ways. The day started with a convincing win to the Lions over the Orange County Bombers. And the Bombers also went down to the home team in Denver. So all was going as most would have expected in this years Western Regional challenge.

The big test was always going to be for the Lions to win in the mile high city, and win they did. A tight tussle saw the Lions get up by nine points over the Bulldogs in a famous away victory. The Lions now sure to maintain their number one ranking going into the 2007 Nationals in Louisville, Kentucky in October. The Bulldogs have some fine tuning to do with planned matches against Las Vegas and Kansas City coming up – but this encounter will leave them with a clear picture on what they need to do between now and October to challenge the current champions. Full scores and match write ups to follow as they come to hand.

The votes are in from across the United States as we reveal the latest WFN USFooty Top 10 rankings. The reigning US Nationals champs, San Diego, have retained top spot, but there have been some movements lower down.

It appears the Geelong Football Club will have to train on a baseball diamond this week before its big match against Collingwood, due to Skilled Stadium's poor condition (see Geelong turn to baseball diamond). It is not unusual for footy teams in North America to also train and even play on fields designed for baseball.

Last month an article appeared on the Inside Toronto Website bemoaning the fact that Aussie Rules had ‘given the boot’ to a neighbourhood 50-and-over mixed slo-pitch baseball league after 28 years of play in Colonel Samuel Smith Park. The article can be read here: Australian football trumps softball in Sam Smith Park.

The baseballers in Geelong shouldn’t have too much to worry about though, as the Cats will surely be keen to get back to the Kardinia Park ground as soon as possible. In the mean time let’s hope no one trips over the pitchers mound!

The US Western Regionals will be held this weekend in Denver, Colorado. The hosts the Denver Bulldogs will take on the San Diego Lions and the Orange County Bombers. The matches will all take place in one day due to the appearance of only the hosts and two visiting teams. Arizona and Golden Gate are the most notable non attendees and it's also disappointing to not see teams from Las Vegas (the Gamblers are scheduled to visit Denver later in the year) and northern clubs Seattle or Portland. This aside the matches are sure to be top quality and true testers for each team. As always the travel issue will come into play and gives the hosts a huge advantage (on top of playing at altitude), and an excellent chance to exact revenge on the Lions for taking away their National Champions status in Las Vegas last year. The matches will be held at Cherry Knolls Park, Denver. Games will be at 10AM (SD v OC) 1PM (Den v OC) and 3PM (Den v SD). There will also be a co-ed demo of 'Aussie Ball' touch football competition and other attractions followed by a social function at the British Bulldog Saturday evening. No doubt players will take advantage of not having to front up again on Sunday as they have at past Western Regionals. The event flyer can be viewed here.

After prolonged negotiations and over half the 2007 AFL season slipping by, it seems fans in Canada are finally getting the much improved footy coverage they'd been hoping for. AFANA have reported that Rogers Sportsnet have reached agreement with the AFL and Setanta (sports network) and has slotted AFL into its schedule. See Canadian Coverage Begins on Rogers Sportsnet.

Reporting on the footy news in western Canada, MyK Aussie brings us the following.

In the 2nd game of the year between the two Calgary-based teams the Bears won convincingly by approximately 30 points. After Marlborough Park, a full size Aussie Rules Footy playing field, was flooded a week ago and could not be mowed the Calgary footy crews had to again revert to the Rugby fields on Sheppard Rd in the South East of Calgary.

In game 3 of the 07 season the Vancouver Cougars 18.26.134 hammered the Burnaby Eagles 4.2.26 despite some inaccurate kicking. The scoreline is even more remarkable considering the Eagles had won the first two games played this year.

On an absolutely beautiful day for footy, the Baltimore Washington Eagles (8) racked up their third win of the year defeating Eastern Australian Football League powerhouse the Boston Demons (6). It was a big day out for footy in Washington DC. The game was played at Carter Barron Park in bright sunshine and low humidity and a light breeze. Things kicked off with a free USFooty Kids clinic which was followed by a little league game and an Ausball game allowing both parents and kids to get a kick at the same time. After the preliminaries, the Eagles and the Bombers headed out for the ball up, while kids, parents, and supporters headed back to their fold up chairs and hamburgers from the grill.

Saturday is a make or break day for six of USFooty's Top 10 teams.  Probably the biggest game of the weekend occurs in Washington DC's Carter Barron Park, where the 8th ranked Baltimore Washington Eagles take on the 6th ranked Boston Demons.  The BW Eagles are coming off a triumphant home and home series against the 10th ranked North Carolina Tigers, taking them to the top of the USFooty's unofficial league ladder.  A win on Saturday against one of the power house sides of USFooty would probably cement the Eagles position in the top 5 and put them on the road to a Division 1 birth at the USFooty National Championship Tourney.  This will be Boston's first game of the year and it will be on the road, but the Demons will need to get the win if they are going to hold on the Eastern Australian Football League Championship.  The NC Tigers have had a rough start with three losses including the most recent to the Philly Hawks for EAFL points.  Big Jason Heathcote's young chargers have to be at their best when they host the third ranked New York Magpies.  Like the Demons, the Maggies are on the road for the first game of the year.

Over in the Mid-American Australian Football League, the 5th ranked Milwaukee Bombers are hosting the Cincinnati Dockers.  The Bombers will be looking to get their season back on track after going down to the Etobicoke Kangaroos of the Ontario Australian Football League and falling to the Atlanta Kookaburras in a small-sided game in Atlanta.  9th Ranked Chicago United are heading to St Louis to take on the Blues.  After taking care of Louisville at home, Chicago can put themselves in the running for a Division 1 birth with a good win over the Blues.