Hi, Paul!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:   
      
    AH>  AFAIK folks Down Under specify Australian Rules when   
    AH>  they don't mean soccer.... :-)   
      
    PQ>  It's worse than you think.  Football hereabouts also   
    PQ>  includes Rugby League & Rugby Union, both of which have   
    PQ>  large followings in various states of the Commonwealth.   
      
      
             I had my suspicions when one of my dictionaries said something like   
   "cf. rugby" WRT the origin of the word "soccer", but I decided not to go into   
   that because I didn't want to confuse the troops & because I know very little   
   about rugby... AKA "Rugby football" or (informally) "rugger".   
      
             Rugby is played in Canada too.  However, it is much less popular in   
   this neck of the woods than ice hockey or USAian/Canadian football or soccer.   
      
      
      
    PQ>  They are a sports-crazed lot.   
      
      
             ... as Dallas & I heard from a Canadian friend who was studying for   
   her master's degree in Australia!  Her daughter, who is good at sports, loved   
   every minute of the time they spent there.  OTOH I found PE class a nightmare   
   when I was in school.  More recently, I've learned to appreciate ice hockey &   
   soccer because some of my nearest & dearest enjoy these sports.  I imagine it   
   helps, though, that girls weren't allowed to participate 'way back when.  ;-)   
      
      
      
    PQ>  I'm kind of partial to (watching) Gaelic Football but   
    PQ>  I haven't caught a game for quite a spell.   
      
      
             Hmm.  Okay, I'll keep an eye out for it when we go to the pub.  :-)   
      
      
      
      
   --- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)