FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information contact:
Stuart Rackham
Media and Public Relations Director
Dallas Magpies Australian Rules Football
Club, Inc.
Phone: (214) 477-3277
E-mail: stuart.rackham@brinker.com
The Dallas Magpies Australian Football Club is
sending four players to the United States Australian
Football League’s (USAFL) East West game in Atlanta on June 12th and 13th. The Dallas Magpies Australian
Rules Football Club seeks to avenge its only league loss from last year when it
begins the 2004 Mid-American Australian Football League season May 15 against
the defending champion St. Louis Blues.The USAFL 2004 East West game will be held in
Atlanta, Georgia, and will be hosted by the Atlanta Kookaburra’s over the
weekend of June 12th and 13th. The Dallas Magpies Australian Football Club has had
four players selected to play in the USAFL East West game.
The East West game is the USAFL’s version of the
All-Star game, and this year it holds more relevance than in previous years, as
player performance will determine who qualifies for final 35 spots into the on the Revolution, the USAFL National team, to play
in the Atlantic Alliance Cup in
Toronto in late July.
Dallas Magpies’ Brandon Blankenship, Charlie Richardson, Scott
Cobb and Jeffery Tapp, all D/FW residents, have been selected to represent Dallas
in the 2004 East West game. Brandon Blankenship has been representing Dallas a
member of the US Revolution squad since 2003. He has played in numerous US
Revolution games in the past year, including an international game against Canada
in August 2003 in the 49th Parallel Cup in Pittsburgh. While playing with the Revolution against a strong Australian Balmain
Tigers in New York in September 2003, the umpires voted Brandon the “Best on
Ground” for the
Revolution. He
also played in an exhibition game with the
Revolution in 2004 at the Californian Australian Festival held at UCLA.
Miles Simms and Jeff Neighbors
of the Austin Crows, fellow members of the Texas
Australian Football League (TXAFL), also had two players selected to attend the East West game.
In addition to selection to the Revolution for the Atlantic Alliance Cup, holding a spot in the 2004 Revolution team will increase the chances
of making the 2005
squad, which will
travel to Melbourne, Australia, in 2005 for the International Cup.
The International Cup, is currently considered as the World Cup of Australian
Football, was previously held in
Australia in 2002.
www.afl.com.au, tThe official AFL website, www.afl.com.au released a press release this
week stating: “Eleven nations (Canada, Great Britain, Denmark,
Ireland, New Zealand, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Samoa, South Africa and USA) competed in the
inaugural Australian Football International Cup in 2002. Ireland defeated Papua
New Guinea in the Grand Final on the MCG.
Following the
outstanding success of the tournament, there is a high possibility of other
countries joining them next year.”
Dallas
Magpie’s Brandon Blankenship, Charlie Richardson,
Scott Cobb and Jeffery
Tapp, all D/FW residents, have been selected to represent Dallas in the
2004 East West game. Notably, Brandon
Blankenship has been representing
Dallas a member of the US Revolution
squad since 2003, and currently is solidified in the squad. He has played in numerous US Revolution games in
the past year, including an
international game against Canada in August
2003 in Pittsburgh in the 49th Parallel Cup. While also
playing the Revolution, against a
strong Australian Balmain Tigers in New York in September 2003, the umpires voted Brandon the “Best on Ground”. He has also played in exhibition games with the
Revolution in 2004 at the Californian Australian Festival held at UCLA.
Fellow Texas club the Austin Crows had have two players selected to attend the East West game,
Miles Simms and Jeff Neighbors.
The game between the league
rivals will begin at 2 p.m. at Crowley Park in Richardson.
Last year, the Magpies, in its first year in the
MAAFL, and Blues were locked in a tight
struggle all season for the
league crown. Both teams finished with matching 4-1
records, but the Blues took the crown on percentage
points, thanks mainly to a thorough drubbing of an undermanned and wounded
Magpies squad.
On April 26, 2003, the visiting Magpies were
trampled by a St. Louis stampede. The Blues, showing no
mercy, running up the score for a 68-point home
win, propelling themselves to the championship and an
automatic berth in Division I of the United States
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Australian Football League National Championship.
The bitter league defeat marked only one chapter in
a growing rivalry between the two teams.
The Dallas-St. Louis rivalry was further stoked on
May 17 when the teams met again in a non-league match on a neutral field during
the Kansas City Classic tournament. St. Louis, which before the game took
pleasure in exercising the bragging rights won earlier in the season, fell to
the Magpies, which snuck away with an 8-point come-from-behind victory.
A 65-yard drop punt, kicked through the goal posts
by captain Stuart Rackham with less than 30 seconds to go, stole the match and
propelled Dallas to an at-large berth in the Division 1 USAFL Nationals. The
win also earned Dallas the No. 5 seed in the country, while St. Louis dropped
to No. 8. The USAFL rankings committee had spoken, and St. Louis wasn’t pleased
with the perception that it was not the top team in Mid America. With St. Louis
and Dallas being the only two members of the MAAFL to make the Division 1
tournament, it was not a surprise when the teams were split at the national
tournament, with Dallas in Group A and St. Louis landing in Group B. Neither
Dallas nor St. Louis won their respective group to move on to the National
Championship game, which meant the season’s rubber match was not meant to
be.
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The MAAFL kickoff will be a
crucial game for both squads as they try to get a leg up in the 2004 league
race and the coveted automatic Division I bid. This time the Magpies have the home
field advantage, and that coupled with the
disappointment of being runners-up for the 2003 MAAFL championship should give
the Magpies an edge in this heated rivalry.The 2004 Magpies MAAFL
Schedule:
Date
|
Opponent
|
Results
|
|
May 15 |
vs. St. Louis |
W 69-60
|
|
June 5 |
@ Chicago |
|
|
June 26 |
vs. Cincinnati |
|
|
July 24 |
@ Nashville |
|
|
Aug. 28 |
@ Atlanta |
|
|
Sept. 11 |
vs. Milwaukee |
|
About the Dallas Magpies:
The Dallas Magpies are a 501(c)3
non-profit organization, dedicated to fostering national and international
amateur sports competition as well as promoting a cultural exchange between
Americans and Australians. The Magpies participate in the Mid American Australian
Football League, a division of the United States Australian Football League and
also
have acurrently
have a player, Brandon Blankenship,
competing on the U.S. National team
in
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internationalInternational competition.
The team is active in promoting the Australian national sport and Australian
culture through children’s clinics at area
schools and by sponsoring events such as the annual Australia Day and ANZAC Day
celebrations in the Metroplex.
For more details on organizing a school clinic,
playing footy with the team or supporting the Dallas Magpies Australian
Football Club, visit www.dallasfooty.com or e-mail
the recruiting department (recruiting@dallasfooty.com).
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