In a great day for footy, the Baltimore Washington Eagles (8th in our poll) defeated the North Carolina Tigers (9th in our poll) by just 2 points at Thompson Park in Raleigh North Carolina. While the weather reports were threatening rain for game time, the rain held off and the temperatures stayed in the upper 60s. According to the preseason WFN Poll there was little between these two teams going in to the match and the score line suggest there was little between them at the end.

The Baltimore Washington Eagles (8) and the North Carolina Tigers (9) kick off their seasons on Saturday (5/5) in Raleigh, NC - our first top-10 clash of the season. The game is officially a "pre-season" game as it doesn't count for Eastern Australian Football League (EAFL) points, although it is not clear that the teams are taking it that way. According to first year Tiger's Coach, Jason Heathcote "At the end of the day, if we are going to bleed on the field, it might as well be for something!"

James (pictured left) and Jared Brunmeier (pictured at end of story) hail from Wisconsin, but since December they have been in Perth trying to make the grade in the Western Australian Football League (the WAFL is a AAA league for footy). The Brunmeier boys are completing the second stage of the first year exchange program between the West Perth Falcons and the Milwaukee Bombers. The first stage saw Brett Cousins spending six months in Milwaukee helping the Bombers to their first ever Mid American Australian Football League (MAAFL) title. This is the second time in Australia for both boys. In 2005 Jared spent a few weeks with Kevin Sheedy as part of the Essendon/USFooty exchange program and played reserves for the Hampton Rovers in suburban Melbourne, while James played in Sydney's amateur league. Both boys represented the USA at the 2005 International Cup with James being named to the All-International team.

Update: both the brothers played for West Perth reserves this weekend (Saturday 21st April) with Jared named best on ground in the Falcons' loss to East Fremantle.

On Easter Monday, participants in the Washington DC USFooty Kids /Auskick program and their families spent the morning on the South Lawn at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. The theme of this year's Easter Egg Roll was childhood obesity, physical activity and fitness (which my wife thought was very funny given the amount of chocolate on hand for the kids).

(Alexandria, VA) In the shadow of the George Washington Masonic Temple here in Alexandria, Virginia, and with the snow melting on the George Washington Middle School Football field, 20 to 30 young men and women are out trying their hand at Ausball. It is a cold Easter Saturday morning but those brave souls willing to get out of bed are excited to put the footy boots on, kick some goals and have some fun. Ausball, is a version of "Rec Footy", developed for the US. It is a 9-a-side game played on a smaller oval (100 yards in length) with no tackling and various rules to encourage coed participation. According to the Eagles website, "No previous experience is necessary. Just some running clothes, maybe a pair of cleats or sneakers and plenty of enthusiasm."

US Footy’s Australian Advisory Board Executive Director, Tony Fairhead, recently managed to have students from Saint John’s University, Minnesota, who are studying at the University of Notre Dame, Fremantle taught a little bit about Aussie Rules, including playing games.

World Footy News proudly announces the inaugural USFooty Top 10 Poll. WFN has recruited ten of the brightest minds in USFooty to vote on their Top 10 USFooty teams and then has aggregated the votes. We plan to have six more polls during the season concluding after USFooty Nationals on October 13-14. WFN will announce the winner of the USFooty Poll Premiership on October 1. The honor will go to the team voted Number 1 based on its 2007 regular season games.

USFooty has announced that Hawthorn Premiership player and former Head Coach, Peter Schwab, will join their Australian Advisory Board. Schwab is currently the Chief Executive of Football Victoria and the Chairman of the AFL Match Review Committee. Schwab brings USFooty a lot of football knowledge, as well as respect and clout within AFL circles. USFooty recently formed the Australian Advisory Board with the objective of eventually having seven members with high profiles in footy and business in Australia.

Melbourne daily newspaper the Herald Sun reported on Sunday, 25 March that Ms. Abbe Land, mayor of California's 'busiest precinct' and Democratic senate candidate for California, will be at the MCG on Saturday.

Apparently the Roos have been adopted by Hollywood business leaders since they played the G'Day LA match in 2005 and they, like Dean Laidley, want the team to return in January.

Rumour has it that if they don't return the Socceroos will play a game there instead against an MLS side, possibly including David Beckham - although our sources tell us that the NRL wanted to do the same this year and were rejected as the AFL said they were still interested in future matches.

Discussion between touring Australian side "the Convicts", USFooty and the AFL Canada has come upon the possibility of the Convicts taking on the US Revolution on Sunday, October 14th this year as part of the 2007 USAFL National Club Championships to be held in Louisville, Kentucky. The match will follow one week after the Convicts take on the bulk of the Canadian Northwind in Toronto on Saturday October 6th, as a curtain-raiser to the Grand Final of the Ontario AFL, Canada's oldest league and one of the biggest and strongest outside Australia.