As I'm sure all of you are aware, last Monday (well Sunday for all you back in the U.S.) was the Superbowl. Half of me was sort of hoping it wouldn't be shown over here, I mean after all they don't even have the name right ... pah ... Gridiron - what's that? No matter that 'football' makes absolutely no sense for any player on the team except the kicker ... but let's not get into the football vs. soccer debate now. Football is an even more confusing term here in Australia because of "Footy" - Australian Rules Football, which as far as I can tell is a sport that has almost no rules and even less padding.
Bowl # 1: Superbowl
Anyhow, back to the story. Turns out they do air the Superbowl here (lucky me), on at least two of the 10 - 15 channels that come in with acceptable levels of ants/snowiness. Rob soon discovered that we were receiving the game about two minutes ahead of his family with whom we were Skyping back in the U.S. ... so then of course he got a kick out of announcing all the big plays that were happening two minutes before they saw them. Something I'm sure they appreciated.
Bowl # 2: Cricket
So that was one type of bowl. Superbowl. Meh. You know how that goes. Running, TDs, timeouts, commercials, glitz, and corvettes for QBs that probably have one too many already. The usual. The other type of bowling we saw last weekend was much more interesting to me, mostly because I've never seen it before: Cricket. It did take me about five hours of deciphering Aussie accents to realize that they were saying "bowling" not "balling," but I eventually figured it out. "Wait, ok, what's that pitcher guy doing? He's balling?" "No - balling." "Wait bowling?" "No - bawling." Ahh. Bowling. Got it. I did double check on wikipedia when I got home just to be sure. I love Aussie accents.
This is what I learned about Cricket in 7 hours:
1. It is very superficially like baseball.
2. It is really nothing like baseball.
3. The main goal of the bowler (pitcher) is to kill or otherwise maim the batsman enough to get at the wickets behind him.
4. The main goal of the batsman is to avoid death while hitting the ball where no one can get it.
5. When you play cricket in a teeny tiny pocket park, it is probably going to end in you breaking something. Like the window of that nice little office across the way.
It really wasn't our fault. It really wasn't! In fact neither Rob nor I was the batsman at the time the window broke. If anyone was to blame, it was the weather that caused a 3 hour rain delay of the India-Australia game and drove us to our own game of cricket in the first place. But the parents of the dozen or so toddlers that had mysteriously descended on the park didn't seem to see it that way. So after picking up the glass we all decided it was best to head back to the apartment and experience the rest of our cricket safely through the television set with a pint of what is, hands down, the best ice cream in the world - Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig, Honeycomb and Caramel.
Bowl # 1: Superbowl
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| Spoiler Alert |
Bowl # 2: Cricket
So that was one type of bowl. Superbowl. Meh. You know how that goes. Running, TDs, timeouts, commercials, glitz, and corvettes for QBs that probably have one too many already. The usual. The other type of bowling we saw last weekend was much more interesting to me, mostly because I've never seen it before: Cricket. It did take me about five hours of deciphering Aussie accents to realize that they were saying "bowling" not "balling," but I eventually figured it out. "Wait, ok, what's that pitcher guy doing? He's balling?" "No - balling." "Wait bowling?" "No - bawling." Ahh. Bowling. Got it. I did double check on wikipedia when I got home just to be sure. I love Aussie accents.
This is what I learned about Cricket in 7 hours:
 |
How a proper cricket player wears
their sunscreen.
|
1. It is very superficially like baseball.
2. It is really nothing like baseball.
3. The main goal of the bowler (pitcher) is to kill or otherwise maim the batsman enough to get at the wickets behind him.
4. The main goal of the batsman is to avoid death while hitting the ball where no one can get it.
5. When you play cricket in a teeny tiny pocket park, it is probably going to end in you breaking something. Like the window of that nice little office across the way.
It really wasn't our fault. It really wasn't! In fact neither Rob nor I was the batsman at the time the window broke. If anyone was to blame, it was the weather that caused a 3 hour rain delay of the India-Australia game and drove us to our own game of cricket in the first place. But the parents of the dozen or so toddlers that had mysteriously descended on the park didn't seem to see it that way. So after picking up the glass we all decided it was best to head back to the apartment and experience the rest of our cricket safely through the television set with a pint of what is, hands down, the best ice cream in the world - Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig, Honeycomb and Caramel. |
| How we probably looked returning from the park -- just less cute |
Thanks for filling us in on cricket, what getting knocked up is and the book and music lists. I am looking forward to reading more of life in the "Down Under" and learning more about you. See you later, mate. Aunt Becky
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