Don't Even Know How

My mother passed away two weeks ago.
I've been a bit out of sorts since then and unable to get going, or to focus.  When I get myself collected and can focus on restarting this blog, I will.

I love you mom.

The Return

I feel a need to write.

My blog will be reborn for the third time as I prattle on about, something.  I've tried Twitter.  I've tried Tumblr.  I've tried Instagram.  I've tried Facebook.  These were all grossly unsatisfying and so I made the decision to return to long form blogging. 

It's now been more than a year since my last post so I should, theoretically, have a lot to say.

Perhaps I'll just be nostalgic about old blogs, movies and video games.  I spent a year writing in a personal anxiety journal as I attempted to fix what was wrong with my mind and personality.  That experiment met with great success.  Then last November I got about 2/3 of the way through NaNoWriMo which is better than I thought I'd do.

Time to live up to my potential.

End of the Road pt 3

I no longer have time or the desire to update this blog, so I've come to the decision to shut it down.
At least for the time being.
Until interesting things happen in my life or I have a single topic to focus on, farewell.

Summer Blues

I'm not going to lie, I've been awful about blogging lately. 

My life has been far too busy and I'm always tired.  My current schedule usually has me up before 5 a.m. to get to work on time.  After that, thanks to us only having one car, is a three hour ordeal to get home.  This involves an average of two bus rides, the wait time for said buses, and a two mile walk uphill.  In summer.  This schedule ensures that by the time I make my way home I am both exhausted and sweaty.  After a short nap I get maybe two, three hours before having to go back to sleep in order to be back up to do it all again.  Currently I'm averaging 5-6 days a week, so I'm just not finding the time to blog.  I'm not finding the time to do anything at all, really. 

So that's my excuse for not updating in a while.  My life seems so hectic and tiring that I haven't bothered trying to be productive creatively, I'm just trying to make ends meet.  Sometimes in life there are long stretches where that is all you can do.  My free time is limited, and even that is often full of bullshitty drama that I'm getting sick and tired of, but that's not anything I'm going into detail about.

On the plus side I've got a lot of stories about the unsavory characters I'm meeting on the bus.  The route I take goes directly through some of the poorer and trashier areas of West Springfield so I get to view an element of society from which I'm usually shielded.  I expect so start a new column called "Bus Adventures" very shortly.  Look forward to reading it regularly. 

I have managed to follow all manner of sports even though I've been unable to actually watch any.  ESPN3 doesn't work so well on our connection usually.  It's hit or miss with so many people accessing it at once.  Between streaming Netflix, Hulu, Youtube and Ashes downloading music it's hard to get a consistent stream.  Not to mention the somewhat odd and limited selection ESPN3 provides.
I would LOVE to watch the Tour de France since I'm a huge fan and it has been a regular part of my Summer for the last eight years.  The only channel that covers it in America is Versus, aside from the French channel in Maine, and I only get the basic channels.  It saddens me to miss out on this sporting event and miss Versus' excellent coverage.  I watched the first few days when I was in Maine over the holiday weekend.  Caught Tyler Farrar take home the July 4th stage for America, and since the US doesn't have a top contender all we can hope for this year is some stage wins.  Farrar beat Cavendish and Hushovd that day, but I expect the Manx Missile will win plenty of stages this year.
I can moan on and on about the Tour but I won't.  Watching it live isn't an option so I turn to Yahoo Sport's  live coverage online which is pretty good.  Like Cricinfo's match reports it has a very detailed live update system with a surprisingly cool graphical interface.  If that's how I have to follow it this year, so be it.  I'll get Versus in time for 2012 hopefully.  I've also been following Sri Lanka's tour of England in cricket, which has seen some good results for both teams.  The Tests seemed to go in England's favor but the ODI and T20.  It's been fun to follow.  I understand England have a series against India later this summer as well which should be even more exciting to follow.  Indians are passionate about their cricket!  I'm not sure if Australia's in action.  If they are I'll make sure to catch as much as I can, that's my team after all.

Now that I'm out of my recent funk expect a lot more posts.  I'm attempting to find my motivation and if there's none to be found I'm going do damn well force myself to write anyway.  I've been idle for too much of this year and that has to change.  Trust me, this is a good thing.  I won't waste the few hours I have each day.

Well I'll be briefly on hiatus after this coming Tuesday since the fifth book in George R. R. Martin's fantastic A Song of Ice and Fire series is released after the longest six years of my life.  I'll hammer that out real quick and get back to writing in short order.

Summer 2011 - Seasons of Scraping By

It's June yet again which means summer is well and truly upon us.  If you were to ask me I'd say it's already here, but the official calendar definition says it won't be here for a few weeks.  Either way I'm not expecting a lot of excitement this year.  I'm not saying that there was a lot of excitement last year but there was... y'know... the World Cup.  Also unemployment, poverty and brutal heat and boredom.  None of that this year!  Well maybe the heat.

In lieu of the World Cup there are two soccer tournaments on offer, the CONCACAF Gold Cup featuring perennial final Mexico vs USA, and the South American Copa America.  While these are both interesting tournaments in their own right I'd say I'm more excited for the quadrennial Copa America.  I was hoping to see AFC champions Japan test their skill against South American opposition but the Blue Samurai pulled out in wake of the tsunami.  Costa Rica took their place which is a far less exciting scenario.  It will still be a thrill to watch Argentina and Messi play, as well as Brazil and World Cup overachievers Uruguay.  I'll probably be cheering for our southern neighbors Mexico to take the cup to North America for the first time and to pick up their second proper trophy (after the Confederations Cup). 

However in a complete reversal I will be hoping Mexico completely fail in the Gold Cup.  They won't, of course, and will probably be our rival in the final.  Unlike two years ago I hope that the United States national team fields a full strength side.  Far too much time is spent by the US national team focusing on "experience" for younger players.  Commentators and US team "big wigs" will throw away chances at success in exchange for getting untested players some experience.  Play the strongest side and let the domestic leagues weather the players, damnit.  Outside of Mexico the competition in the Gold Cup is weak.  Canada, Panama and Guadalupe are hardly going to challenge the team.  Plus we always have home field advantage.  Every single time!  Can't squander that... though they might.  We'll see what happens next week.

I can't follow the J-League any longer since Fox Soccer Channel isn't one of the six stations I get.  It's too depressing to follow it as Japan, the idea and in reality, seems so far away now.  While once I was obsessed with the land of the rising sun it has become hard to even read blogs or watch J-vlogs.  Never has it seemed like such an impossible goal as right now.  All I ever wanted was to live and work in Japan, eventually that downgraded to a visit, and now... I don't know.  I was willing to work in Korea and vacation in Japan, but that too didn't pan out.  This has all lead to not being able to focus on anything Japanese, soccer or puroresu, without being depressed.  And summer isn't about depression!  At least not this year.  So I'm ignoring J-League soccer, especially since Shimizu sold Okazaki to some Bundesliga team.

Our budge may be incredibly tight but that won't stop us from going on our day excursions!  Ashes and I are daytrippers, period.  Whatever our financial situation is we will still take our trips.  In the 2011 "warm" season we've already been all over Western Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut.  With dozens of ideas lined up we plan on having a busy summer.  Luck has been on our side since I haven't had to work many weekends which has allowed us to have two days to ourselves.  Over night trips are a bit out of our price range at the moment so we are limited to a few hours in any direction.  We're willing to sacrifice a bit of money on gas and food for a good time.

I'll post about our trips... proper posts and none of this half committed crap that I'm doing now.  That's something to look forward to, as I'm sure most of my readers are more concerned with what @theashes is doing with her time.  Plus I'll get a chance to do some more refined writing as opposed to scattershot brain dumps. 

A bit of soccer, a bit of travel and a pinch of whining.  Yep, sounds like an average post here at YGGOY.

Tornado in Springfield, Massachusetts

Two days ago the quiet New England town I live in was bombarded with tornadoes from every direction.

It was a highly unusual event for the area and made national, and international, headlines everywhere.  In a year that is already plagued by tornado problems throughout the country what happened here Thursday only further identifies this as the year of the tornado.  At least in America.  In an ailing Japan it will most likely be the year of the tsunami, or the year of the meltdown-that-wasn't-a-meltdown-that-was.

We're lucky that the storm wasn't as violent as others in the Midwest have been in 2011.  That isn't to say there weren't deaths.  There were, four people have been confirmed killed so far.  One of them was a man driving down the street when the tornado uprooted a tree onto his car, killing him instantly.  It's a scary thought that one.

It's not like there was any warning that this was going to happen.  I had heard that thunderstorms were likely but nothing more.  Earlier that day I had worked and was able to take the bus into downtown Westfield.  I walked home from the bus dropoff taking my normal route, past the Big Y and up the hill.  At the time it was beautiful out and quite hot.  Sweat was pouring off me by the time I got home since most of my walk was in direct sunlight.  It wasn't until several hours later that the skies started going black and the rain slowly came.  Even when the storm started there was barely any indication it would be a bad one.

The first sounds of thunder were heard in the distance and the skies got dark.  The rain changed from a light sprinkling to hardcore downpour in a matter of minutes.  To me it seemed like any other thunderstorm yet news quickly spread that it was so much more.  The power went out while I was in the basement, which left me in pitch black.  So I went upstairs, where the nervous dog greeted me enthusiastically, and watched the storm unfold in the streets.  I got a text from Ashes about this time telling me that she had heard there was a tornado.  She was taking her students into the basement as a tornado warning had been issued.  Little did either of us know that by the time the warning was issued the largest of the tornadoes had already blown through Westfield and West Springfield.  As worrying as it all was I felt safe in the house.

Yet I shouldn't have felt so safe, as the largest of the tornadoes had started only a few miles from my house.  There were half a dozen tornadoes in a 1-2 hour period as the storm raged on.  With power out I got all of my information from texting with Ashes.  I could hear sirens screaming down College Highway, I later learned they were heading to Shaker Heights to deal with damage there.  When the power came back on at around 6 o'clock I immediately sought out any news stories.  I found videos of the twister, several dozen posted in an hour period, and numerous news reports.  Downtown Springfield had been hit by the most powerful of the tornadoes.  Yesterday we found out it was F3 strength which is incredibly bizarre for this area.  Springfield had been hit bad and areas were demolished.

Luckily Ashes drove home after the worst of the storm had passed but that didn't stop me from worrying.  In fact there was plenty of storm left.  She saw black clouds on the way home and had to drive through intense rain.  Not ten minutes after she got home another, smaller tornado ripped through Westfield.  She was lucky in her timing, very lucky and I'm glad for that.

We had to pick up our roommates (landlords, Ashes' aunt) from the bus station yesterday, after they arrived home from Africa.  This gave me a chance to see the destruction in downtown first hand.  The park next to city hall that I had sat in and read not even a week ago was completely destroyed.  Giant trees were torn up from their roots and littered the whole area.  A section of Main Street was closed off and further down you could see ruined buildings and rubble in the streets.  On the on ramp to I-91 was debris and tree limbs.  Even in the Midwest I think it's rare for a tornado to get a direct hit on a major city so it's no wonder this is such a compelling disaster story.  Fortunately most of the damage was structural and the loss of life was minimal.

At the moment all I know is I and Ashes are very lucky not to have been in the path of any of these tornadoes.

Summer Cricket Fever Dream

Summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere.  Well, it's close enough anyway.  After spending it's winter down in Australia it has finally returned to the top and has brought with it so many interesting things.  For one, cricket!

The weather up here is warming which means the cricket is back.  Sure the Cricket World Cup (#cwc11) was only a few months ago, and the IPL has been on for the last month.  It's back to the international stuff, though, and Test cricket!  Today I caught small bits of Sri Lanka vs England in Cardiff.  It was the second day of the test and Sri Lanka went all out for 400.  That's a pretty good score for an innings... I think.  Still learning y'see.  I love watching those white uniformed bastards battle for superiority, I really do. 

Also going on in the world of cricket is the IPL final.  This is harder for me to really sink my teeth into.  It's a more familiar form of sports for my American brain, city teams in a league.  So many years of soccer has, however, conditioned my brain for national teams so I don't mind that.  The IPL has been notoriously hard to find online.  Sure I can find match summaries and live updates, but unless I'm watching the game I have trouble following the league.  I managed to watch only two games, Kings XI vs Deccan and Mumbai vs Kerala.  I'm also not as informed about India as I am about, say, England or Japan.  That is another barrier to following the IPL.  All of the big name players compete in the league so there is a lot of excitement, certainly, but it didn't capture my interest this year.  I was too busy and the schedule is extremely tight, understandably, so I mostly passed on it this year.  Maybe next year I'll give it a chance, though that depends on so many different factors in my life. 

I'll try to catch the IPL final Madras... oops Chennai vs Bangalore.  There are some players that I'm familiar with on those teams.  MS Dhoni, Michael Hussey, Chris Gayle, Doug Bollinger, AB de Villiers, and Daniel Vettori. 

Ashes recieved a package from Cricket Australia in the mail the other day containing childrens cricket sets.  We had been expecting the delivery for a while but I guess the whole thing got stuck overseas for quite a while, to our frustration.  Luckily I arrived home from work last week to find a huge package sitting on the porch addressed to Ashes.  I had to resist the urge to open it until she finished work and then we busted it open.

Inside was a large duffel bag with the Milo in2cricket logo on the outside and stuffed full of cricket gear inside.  Six cricket bats, a dozen cricket balls, six sets of stumps and field markers were the contents.  We immediately took a bat a piece and went out into the yard for a quick hit around.  We didn't play long as the yard at the place we rent isn't meant for activity, but it was a lot of fun to finally have our own stuff.  Yes, it's meant for kids.  That won't stop me from enjoying the hell out of this stuff as much as any of the kids that will use it.  On a day that isn't raining (of which there have been few lately) she's going to bring the set into her preschool and play the game with the kids.  I'm sure there will be videos or photos to accompany the experience, so look forward to that as well.  For the moment I've rarely been without a cricket bat by my side over the last week.  It just feels good to have one around, like I'm not so out of touch with the cricketing world.

We haven't got any major travel plans this summer, unless some kind cricket organization wants to invite us to a game... which of course is highly unlikely.  So we'll just resort to the standard day trips this year.  We have got a cartload of new trip possibilities in our immediate area.  Since we moved down to Massachusetts last fall we haven't had a chance to explore much since winter was so extreme this year.  This means we have dozens of destinations in western Mass to visit.  There are also hundreds of places in a 2-3 hour radius to occupy us all summer.  Adventures await, and hopefully the accompanying articles!

I have a few more half completed posts about Sydney to finish, and after that I can move on to other stuff.  So look forward to even more gushing about Australia's finest city, as if you aren't already sick of hearing it.

Zombie Apocalypse Not Forthcoming

So 2011 is turning out to be the year that I've all but abandoned blogging it would seem.  I've had long stretches without posts before but not so many this close together.  Through the mists I put up a post every month or so.  That simply will not do.  I'm supposed to be a writer, damnit!  So write I shall.  Whatever the subject may be I'll just let it flow.

At the moment I should comment on the non-event that happened on Saturday.  The no-pocalypse.  I was ready for that to happen.  Knowing that I wouldn't fit the bill for what an evangelical, American Christian organization would consider "salvation-worthy" I had to be prepared for what would happen down here.  Zombies.  Even if there wasn't some manner of rapture (which there wasn't) I was at least expecting some playful mad scientist to shatter a vial or two of zombie plague in the major urban areas.  That's a reasonable expectation right?  That didn't happen either.  The day before all this hubbub the CDC released a plan for a possible Z-Day.  An official government organization has a plan for zombies!  The timing seemed right.  Certainly anyone 30 or younger already has a detailed plan for surviving a Z-Day scenario, probably a few plans.  It was kind of the CDC to give the older folks a quick how-to guide as well. 

Despite so much foreshadowing and buildup nothing happened.  The clock rolled over to a new day and I sat in my basement, cricket bat in hand, for nothing.  Zombies did not devour the earth.  While I couldn't have cared about the lack of a nutball cultists version of the rapture not transpiring the lack of a zombie invasion was more distressing.  It's odd to think of being disappointed by a lack of zombies since I would almost surely die, as would anyone who already thinks they're an expert, but that's how it goes.  No, I think life continuing in a normal manner is just fine in the end.

Seeking the apocalypse is something that some people do as a form of escapism.  Can't handle the pressures of their life so they join some sort of death cult.  Then these creeps claim to be the voice of God, or to understand secret messages in the Bible and lead the weak willed down a bad road.  False Prophets.  That's the most artistic term I've heard used.  Cult leader is the most "modern" I would say.  I'll go with false prophet since it paints a picture of these manipulative crazies as being another in a long, long line of deceptive liars.  I feel sorry for those that contributed their life savings to this effort and now see their lives in ruin.  They get to keep on living and really is that such a bad thing?

I never believed, though just before the "appointed hour" I did listen curiously.  Of course there was nothing.  And for that I'm grateful.  American evangelists are so exclusive and ready to damn the whole world for not being them that they feel the apocalypse is always just around the corner.  They can have that life of constant fear and judgment.  Me, I'll take the life with a cricket bat in one hand and the Zombie Survival Guide in the other.  I'm ready you undead bastards.

Trouble in Time

Okay okay okay so I know I've been neglecting this little blog of mine for several months, several critical months.  I haven't got a good reason why.  Laziness would be the largest reason, maybe apathy.  However, those aren't good reasons.  Now I'm going to get back into the grooooooove of blogging. I might have to gimmick it up at first in order to find my rhythm again.  A blog a day like last year during the World Cup?  Perhaps.  That's how I do things

This ghost town is going to be alive again.  No more gold prospector spirits roaming around scaring tourists!

Here's some things to expect from this blog in recent future.
- Stuff
- Things
- Whatzits
- Serialized stories?

I've had a LOT going on right now and tons of ideas floating around my head.  So trust to see some proper content here real soon.

P... probably.

#CWC11 Aftermath

In a post that is now long past due I have to talk about the recently ended Cricket World Cup, which was one by India for the first time since 1983. 

I don't really have much more to say than I've already said except congratulations to the Indian team for winning the trophy for the first time in my lifetime.  I'm still very young in my cricket fandom so I honestly can't comment on individual performances or players because I only know the basics.  Some of the names of other countries are familiar to me now.  I know five times as many players now as I did when I attended The Ashes.  I can't wait for the summer series' in order to catch some of these players in other forms of the game.

I'm particularly impressed by New Zealand.  They managed to progress further than any other "Anglo" nation and faced off against Sri Lanka in the semis.  Though the Black Caps didn't make the final they still made a good showing by beating South Africa in the knockout round.  This team were definitely the underdogs of the semi round but managed to make it longer than either England or Australia, which came as a surprise to me and likely the residents of those countries.  Still a good showing for New Zealand.

India are almost certainly jubilant all around the country even now as a billion people celebrate a great win for a very good team.  Sachin Tendulkar manages to pick up one last(?) trophy to top off what seems like a phenomenal career.  Good for him as I'm sure he deserved it. 

Certainly India performed well throughout their matches and really made their claim for greatness.  Matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the knockout round proved this team  is the power in Asian cricket.  While I didn't support them at the beginning I absolutely applaud this wonderful victory for a deserving team and a impassioned group of fans.  I'd love to go to India someday.

The tournament seems to have been a success based on what I've read around various sport blogs.  The horrible hiccups and failures of the previous two World Cups are well documented and this one seems to be empty of any similar issues.  In fact there only seems to be praise for this tournament and that is probably very god for the sport, and especially so for the ODI format.  I'll never understand the war between the various forms of cricket, but at least I understand this tournament gave the ODI format a much needed boost.  England in particular made this an exciting tournament.  Each of their games came down to the wire and could have gone any way at any point.  I would like to hear some thoughts from long time fans if you'd like.  Feel free to comment and tell me how you felt the tournament went.

Now that this tournament is over I have the IPL and the summer series' to look forward to watching.  As a complete IPL neophyte I don't know who is on what team or which team to "support".  I'll be a neutral and just try and watch for fun.  I will try my damnedest to find a place to watch the games but I'm not holding my breath.  Rest assured I will be watching both England and Australia's games this summer. 

World Cup of Cricket 2011

Just when my blog has the most potential for viewers I disappear completely.  I haven't been posting much lately and I'm about to turn that around.  February was a hard month.  I never managed to get my head around writing as I was too busy looking for a job.  Sadly writing should be my job but I can't seem to make much money at it.  Today I'm going to write one more cricket post and then follow it up with some proper travel articles.

If I'm talking about cricket there is only one event in the world drawing the attention of every fan and that is the Cricket World Cup.  Already under way for over a week the tournament is my first full event as a fan of the sport.  The tournament is taking place in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which is making it very hard to follow. Huge time zone difference means matches happen during sleeping hours.  It's not a big problem since most of the matches aren't over by the time I wake up so the second innings is usually still happening.  I get to watch the chase each morning which tends to be the exciting part of the matches anyway. 

I was spurred to write this article by a huge upset that happened just today, Ireland beat England.  Ireland is not a test playing nation and should not be on the same level as England.  Yet today they managed to come from 5/120ish at 25 overs to end up 7/329 and complete a huge upset.  Kevin O'Brien hit a century that set this win in motion.  I was following on Test Match Sofa and Cricinfo and decided to call it quits halfway through the Irish batting.  I'm a fool.  From what I saw it didn't seem like Ireland was going to overcome the huge score set up by England.  Then I guess O'Brien stepped up and went crazy with the runs and England completely bombed in the fielding.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one surprised by this result. 

Events like this are apparently not going to occur in the near future because the Cricket World Cup is shrinking.  After the next cup it will only be test playing nations allowed in the tournament.  It's a shame because when these sorts of upsets happen it is exciting and creates an atmosphere that anything can happen.  To me this is exciting but I can understand how the organizers wouldn't care.  The minnows don't bring the money like the big teams.  In 2007 it seems that India and Pakistan, two of the larger audiences, were ousted from the tournament early by lesser teams.  Two former championship nations providing a potential viewing audience in the billions disappearing in the opening stages mean a drop in ad revenue and viewership.  I'm certain that Ireland doesn't have quite the passion for cricket that India holds.  So it makes sense to protect these stronger teams for monetary and viewership purposes, especially when cricket is at war with itself over the various forms.  That's an entirely different issue though, and one I don't quite understand yet.

Despite the future all I can comment on is the present, and I must say I'm enjoying the Cricket World Cup.  I think I had more fun following The Ashes thanks to it being in a more convenient time zone.  I am getting behind the events of the World Cup though.  There are so many teams and so many match-ups that I'm getting a crash course in the world of cricket.  I get a small taste of each of the major teams, from West Indies to India.  The schedule is a busy one with at least one match ever day from the likes of Canada vs Kenya to England vs India.  I can't say that every match is a thriller but there are quite a few exciting games.  All of the strongest teams are there and it's my first time seeing many of them, only being a fan for a few months now.  I have first hand experience with the Australian and English teams.  As for the rest I hadn't seen anything out of them and this tournament is great exposure to the sport.

Imagine yourself, a cricket fan, if you got to see everything for the first time with no prior knowledge.  What if your first time seeing Sachin Tendulkar play was him batting a century against England?  If the first game you saw Ireland play was a huge victory over England would you feel like they were minnows?  Just imagine viewing cricket through the eyes of a complete neophyte.

I'm watching a stream most mornings and listening to the crazy TestMatchSofa commentary and learning a lot.  I still have a long way to go.  I've had dozens of people tell me it would take a decade to truly appreciate cricket.  I owe it to the world to become a fan and learn the game.  How many people can be taught the nuances of the game by Steve Waugh while watching The Ashes at the SCG?  Not many.  I'm reading articles on Cricinfo and match reports on BBC Cricket.  I'm doing everything I can to understand everything I'm seeing.  Extras, fours, sixes, wickets, powerplays, ODIs, and centuries are a few of the terms that I've picked up.  The World Cup is providing a great learning experience since there are such a variety of different teams playing at a wide range of grounds.  It's primarily a learning experience, but I will admit the sport has me hooked.

I've witnessed test cricket with The Ashes, watched T20 with the Caribbean and Big Bash and now covered ODIs with the World Cup.  What form is my favorite?  I'm not sure, though I'm partial to test because that was my first experience.  Not the answer you'd expect from an American I would think.  After the Cricket World Cup I'll summarize my thoughts and write an analysis.  All that can be said right now is that I really, really like cricket.

Cricket Observations

It's the day after the Superbowl and what a more appropriate topic to talk about than... cricket!

My latest sporting obsession more than merits my attention and has it more so than some silly gridiron (a way cooler name for our own sport) game.  I have a few things to talk about with cricket today, mostly just my casual observations made in the last several months.  I'm still very much a cricket newbie and I've been told that it takes years to truly appreciate the game.  After paying attention and following closely all of the action out of Australia I can say I completely agree.  There are nuances to the game I still don't get but at least I know what is going on and what the teams are trying to accomplish.

The basic theme of cricket is very simple.  The variation on that theme is great which is why cricket seems so hard to understand when standing outside looking in.  Three forms of the game based on the amount of overs drastically change the way the teams play the game.  I'm not quite to the point of my fandom that I can try to figure out what the fielders are doing.  I know that based on the situation the teams position themselves either to prevent runs or to take wickets.  Test cricket is five days and unlimited overs, which means the strategy has to be a long one.  The focus is on taking wickets and the play is very defensive, unless I've read the game wrong which is possible.  In the limited over format the aim appears to be preventing runs.  Again I could be wrong.  There are multiple layers to the strategy that I'm simply not aware of yet.  I'll get there.

The amount of ball control at the highest levels is simply amazing.  The batsmen I watched at The Ashes could do some very skilled things.  The ability to simply drop a ball straight to the ground that is coming at you at 60-70 mph is impressive.  Credit must be due to anybody that is able to get a good swipe at a ball that, thanks to bounce, could be coming at you from any direction.  In baseball we have a small box and players know that's where the ball is going to be pitched.  Cricketers have to be ready for anything, hell I saw a ball go behind a player and bounce back in to knock the stumps (that can't be the right way to say that).  The only chance I've had at bat was in backyard cricket at Hart's Pub and I was batting against my girlfriend.  She bowled me out. 

Cricket is exciting, despite what even some of the supporters claim.  If the play on the field isn't producing anything worth watching then you can be sure that something is going on in the crowd worth watching.  I might be bias as I had only a decisive Ashes test to be at live, but it seems that the fans are a colorful bunch wherever the game is played.  The Barmy Army were lively and always loud in a good way.  There was something entertaining coming from the larger pockets of Barmy Army people at any time.  Perhaps these sorts of crowds are only present at the big matches but to know that fans like that are out there shows the power of the game.  One day perhaps I'll be able to understand the play on the field well enough that I can be so wild about the game as the Barmy Army.  Maybe.

There's a lot to the game and I'm only getting started.  Fortunately I have all the time in the world and a very supportive group of fans following my girlfriend.  I've rarely seen groups of fans so passionate about a game as I did for international cricket.  There has to be something behind that passion and I am determined to figure it out.I'm going to learn the depths of this game out if it takes me the rest of my life!

Cricket in America? Maybe in a Generation...

"There are three forms of cricket.  Five day tests, fifty overs and twenty overs," Steve Waugh once said to me, "Twenty20 is about to be big in America soon."  I really don't want to disagree with him here but I don't see that happening.  However I think there is definitely room for cricket to slowly muscle its way into the American sports conciousness.  Though it may seem like America has determined what to follow there is always room for more.

 Certainly our country will always find fascination in new forms of sport every few decades.  NASCAR and MMA have experienced huge booms in the last ten years.  It was thanks to some very clever marketing and strategic connections to popular brands that pushed these sports into the national spotlight.  MMA has eclipsed boxing in terms of coverage and popularity, partially as a result of branding itself as  modern.  NASCAR has been around for a long time but was, I believe, considered a fringe sport for many years.  In the early 00s there was a jump in popularity which led to a lot more national coverage.  These are just two recent examples, but it is a positive sign for cricket fans.  There is room.

The problem with cricket is that we view it as too foreign yet vaguely familiar.  Since too many similarities exist between baseball and cricket it would be hard for most of us to accept both on a significant level.  While some sports are seemingly fading fast, like hockey, it isn't likely that baseball will face a drop in popularity. I've been told it's like "weird baseball" but honestly I don't like that description.  Cricket is cricket.  Trying to learn cricket by comparing it to baseball confused me to no end.  When I stopped trying to learn the rules in relation to baseball I finally started getting a handle of what I was seeing.  While some of the terminology may be the same, the differences are great. 

I will agree with Steve Waugh in one respect, if there is a form of cricket that could ever be popular in America it would be T20.  The idea of Test cricket is too much for our American minds.  At least at first.  T20 is the perfect length and format for audiences over here to get their heads around.  It's a bite-size chunk of cricket.  Considering the growth of this form of cricket in recent years it would also let America in on the thing of the moment.  T20 is something this nation could understand given time.  Perhaps after America gets a handle on the limited overs stuff the idea of Test cricket would make sense.

The best way to accomplish this would be the same way that soccer has found success, and that is a slow youth oriented process.  Soccer had always been present in America with a small amount of awareness and care.  In the 70s the North American Soccer League tried to bring the sport to the national stage by bringing in the biggest names in the world.  Ultimately that league was a failure thanks to trying to do too much from the start.  So the focus shifted to the youth.  At all levels of school soccer was available right alongside traditional sports, and so children grew up playing the game.  This generation of children had no place to continue following soccer when they got older, especially since foreign sports were impossible to find at the time.  This, coupled with the 1994 World Cup, led to the formation of Major League Soccer in the early 90s.  MLS started off slow with each team focusing on its own market in an effort to build awareness.  Once the MLS had been operating for a few years they started to receive coverage on ESPN, with the championship game being broadcast on NBC.  Games in certain markets routinely pull very large crowds, particularly areas with no other major teams.  It was a slow process that took dozens of years, but the success of MLS shows that "foreign" sports can succeed.

So how could cricket follow this model?  The first step is for enthusiasts to form youth leagues, which will teach children the rules and create an attachment for the sport.  This would be best done in areas that don't have many major league teams in other sports.  With the awareness created through youth teams a generation of children would grow up following cricket.  If the demand became great enough a proper league could form over here.  Those that had grown up with the game would have a lifetime of practice, and a league would allow further development of their skills.  With success would come acceptance.  There is always resistance to that which is new or that which is foreign, but if enough people cared then it wouldn't matter what the bullheaded folk say. 

Not everyone is as open-minded as myself when it comes to sports.  I'm willing to give it a shot.  If there's a passionate following somewhere in the world for it, there must be a pretty damn good reason why.  I found that out about cricket at The Ashes.  If only the rest of America could have a similar experience.

Aussie Aussie Aussie! 3/3: More Cricket, Sailing and Gillard

With the excitement of the first day of the Sydney Test behind us, on January 4 we both were in need of a rest.  Thought the first day of cricket was actually fairly relaxing it still took a toll on our bodies.  Fortunately we were provided with a great opportunity that was exactly what we needed.

The team had received a message from the PR guy for the sailboat known as the Holy Cow offering to take Ashes, myself and up to a dozen others on a trip around the harbor.  I suppose this was just another benefit of popularity and media coverage, people wanted to jump on board.  This meant that we got the chance to jump on board the Holy Cow (lame joke!) and spend the day in relaxation.  There was no day we could turn this down so LJ picked us up in the morning and off we went to the docks.  We boarded the boat and met the couple that ran it, who were very nice.  Besides us there was also Brad and some of his family, the boats PR guy and his GF, and a few office people from our team.  After departing we sailed under the Harbor Bridge and towards the seafood market.  Along the way I had a chance to talk to the guy who ran the ship who gave me a pretty detailed description of what we were seeing along the harbor.  He also talked about the charity work and musical gigs in which he and his wife were involved.  He was a really cool, easy going guy. 

The boat docked at the seafood market and after disembarking everyone split up in order to pick up lunch.  Ashes and I went with one of the office girls, Alison I think, to pick up some sushi.  This was my first time at the seafood market and the place overwhelmed me at first.  It was absolutely bustling not only with people purchasing various denizens of the waters to eat, but also sitting down and indulging themselves right there inside the building.  I'd never been to any open air market aside from small farmers markets, so this was a new experience.  Fish out in the open, other creatures swimming in tanks, guys rolling fresh sushi right at the counter and a thick salty smell in the air.  It was pretty crazy.  After picking up our first bit of sushi and sashimi Ashes got a call for another interview, so we went outside.  We sat on the fake grass outside while she did her interview.  Seagulls and incredibly ugly Ibis birds crowded the area, hassling all the folks eating outside.  Finishing the interview and snapping a few shots of these foul scavengers (and a creepy pelican) we headed to the boat.  Lunch was very laid back and so delicious.  In particular I gobbled about 20 pieces of sashimi.  Ashes took another interview during lunch while everyone watched on, which didn't seem to stumble her for a second.  She even managed to plug the boat we were on much to everybody's amusement. We finished lunch and headed back towards the dock.  At this point the guy steering the ship handed the wheel, and control of the ship (and our lives!) over to Ashes.  It was a lot of fun and she actually did pretty well (barely missing Fort Denison).  The trip was a really special experience and so relaxing.

 Ashes piloting the boat.

 Ashes and LJ at the front of the boat as we head towards the bridge.

The cow theme even extended to the sail.

Our next priority after the trip around the harbor was a television show.  Ashes had been booked (by LJ presumably, she's really good at stuff like that) onto a new game show called The Trophy Room.

It's a sports trivia show featuring two teams that change week to week, except the captains.  Since it was primarily questions about Australian sports Ashes would certainly be out of her depth, but it was really more about having fun and getting more exposure.  She was to be the "mystery sub" which meant a regular contestant would be swapped out for her at some point.  She was even one of the questions!  She got a chance to wear a cricket helmet in order to hide her identity.  When the sub was used she came out and replaced Lewis Hobba, a local comedian, and they actually had a pretty funny little back and forth.  After filming was done she had her picture taken with a couple of the other contestants who were genuinely excited to meet her.  Jacqui Cooper, an aerial skiier, was extremely nice and seemed stoked to have a chance to talk with Ashes.  After some brief conversations and some pictures we left the studio. 

That night I believe we had a stroll around Chinatown, as we always do in large cities, and had some really great ramen bowls from Ajisan.  We also found a printclub/purikura sticker machine in an arcade on the third floor of Market City, which we had to do.  There were also some amazing shops that had various video game and nerd figurines.  I wanted to buy so damn many of them, but alas I'm a pauper.  One place even had a lifesize Solid Snake statue.

The next day was another big day for us.  We were going to be returning to the Sydney Cricket Ground for more action, and more television coverage.  The biggest story developing for us was of course Ashes getting a chance to meet and interview the Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard.  I'm not even sure how this came about or what was involved in it coming up.  All I know is we had to get up early because Ashes was going to meet the head of state of the country we were visiting.  This was a very big deal!  LJ, Ashes and I headed to the SCG early enough that we should have had the time to be prepared.  In the end the producer we were working with ended up leaving LJ and myself in the dust, but at least Ashes got out there to do her thing.  The whole country got to see her ask the PM questions about cricket.  It was very, very cool.  She'd probably have a better account of the story, as at the time I was standing out in the heat watching the players arrive since our press credentials never arrived.  Lame.

After she finished with the PM we went out for some brekky with LJ.  After breakfast we made our way back to the SCG to start our day of shooting.  We had a camera crew from Channel 9 following (or rather leading) us around all day.  I'm not going to go into the specifics of the shooting since I didn't really enjoy it.  I'm not cut out for entertainment it turned out.  We had to do certain shots a few times to get it right.  The heat was baking me since I was extremely over dressed, for High Tea later in the day, and most of our shots were in direct sunlight and in crowded areas.  I kept myself in the background in most shots since the highlight was on Ashes.  The crowd was really wondering why the hell a camera crew was following us around.  A lot of the fans were actually really funny and I had trouble not laughing through the filming.  Ashes signed a few more autographs while were around the SCG that day (I remember one guy in a Hull City shirt).  We also met a cool guy from New Zealand who was sitting in front of us, who had heard about her story on the way over. She did some stuff with the Barmy Army, which really riled them up.

We met up with Steve Waugh again just after the stadium unveiled a statue of him.  He seemed to be in a great mood as he took us to the museum and gave us a personal tour of everything on display.  The highlight was when he brought us over to the display that had his floppy green captain's hat.  When he talked about it you could really tell that he had strong feelings about the memories attached.  Just seeing the hat made him perk up a bit.  The film crew's producer seemed to be irking Steve a bit, but Ashes managed to keep everything very chill.  It was a lot a fun and a great privilege that many Australians would die to get. 

At noon we headed to the High Tea since it was Jane McGrath Day.  The McGrath Foundation is Australia's answer to Susan Koman, it's a high profile group dedicated to breast cancer research and treatment.  Everything was pink that day, from the players to the fans to the stumps.  The High Tea was an invitation only event hosted by Glenn McGrath whose late wife the day was named after.  Arriving early Ashes had a couple of interviews to do, with the wife of cricketer Shane Watson and Glenn himself.  During the tea we got a couple of much needed snacks and water, plus some pink swag in the form of a yearly planner.  We stayed for a little while before leaving.

 Us at High Tea

The last thing we had to do that day was meet with the man that is the voice of English cricket, BBC's Jonathan Agnew or Aggers as he is publicly known.  This was actually an interview that a lot of the English tweeters were waiting to hear.  Aggers is a big name in cricket particularly in England.  This interview was going to be part of Radio BBC official coverage.  We went up into the commentary boxes which was probably my favorite part of the day.  The view from up there was brilliant.  The whole field was spread beneath us, the action on the field was easily visible.  I had never been in a commentary box before in my life so this was very special.  While Ashes was busy having admittedly a great interview with Aggers, whom she seemed to have great on air chemistry with, I was fixated on the view.  The game was on a drinks break but I still enjoyed myself.  At one point I had to step out of Shane Warne's way as he blew past me on his way to the Australian commentary booth.  It was such a great time.

Ashes and Aggers

That was it for the day.  We caught a bit more of the cricket, but were completely exhausted.  The heat and constant running around had taken a huge toll on us.  We weren't able to stay for the rest of the play that day and met Graham out front in order to be taken back to our hotel. 

The next day was another relaxed day.  Ashes, Graham and I started off with a guided tour of the University of Sydney by Brad's wife, an archeologist at the school.  It was a great behind the scenes tour of the ground which was beautiful.  The architecture was, as she said the Japanese pointed out, reminiscent of Harry Potter.  We saw a tree that was unchanged since dinosaurs ruled the earth.  Little interesting bits of the university's history were our treats.  We checked out a museum of bugs and then a museum of archeology.  The ancient artifacts on display in the archeology museum were interesting, particularly the mummies.  She told us an interesting story about how it was probably purchased in a shop with mummies in one room and coffins in another, sort of a mix and match. 

That was our morning and after we finished up there we went to North Sydney to pick up Brad and headed to the Australian Lawyers Cricket Association game.  We had met the Australian team captain in Hart's Pub a few days earlier and he had invited us to the game.  The oval they were playing on was absolutely breathtaking.  It was set down in the ground and was surrounded by a cement wall that was covered in green ivy.  We arrived just in time for lunch, after an over or two, and got some refreshments.  Ashes took a call from the US ambassador in Australia.  We had some kangaroo kebabs and sausages for lunch.  I had a short conversation with an English judge with an outrageously hilarious accent and manner of speech.  Both teams lined up with Ashes down on the field and had their pictures taken in front of the memorial stand.  Before they took the field again we were off. 

We headed back towards Sydney and dropped off Brad at his office.  It was time for something we'd been waiting for all week, the Taronga Zoo.  We picked up Chris, who had done the streaming stuff, and his GF before heading over.  Ashes did her interview with TestMatchSofa during our wait to get into the zoo.  We got in for free as a trade for some coverage.  Chris and his GF were actually really cool and were nice to hang out with.  We were short of time in the zoo since the closed at 5 and we had arrived at 3:30.  That didn't mean we couldn't have a good time, and we did.  Missing out on holding a koala was a major disappointment for Ashes, but we did catch them at feeding time which meant we saw them during their active time of the day.  One koala really laid into another one, smacking him in the face and grabbing all the food for herself. 
We checked out the gorillas, mountain goats, kangaroos, tigers, tasmanian devils, elephants and meerkats while we were wandered.  We had to skip a lot of the cages since we were pressed for time. Also we weren't able to ride the gondolas.  Once we got to the bottom we parted ways with the others and hopped on a ferry to Circular Quay.  And that was it for the day.

Our last full day in Australia was going to be a road trip.  We felt it necessary to get outside of the city while we were in Australia and so Brad, Graham, Ashes and myself crowded into the Fiesta and set out.  Our destination was the Cricket Hall of Fame in Bowral, south of the city in the Southern Highlands.  The drive was pleasant, though we didn't manage to see any wild kangaroos.  The Bradman Museum and Cricket Hall of Fame was full of interesting bits of information about the history of cricket.  The highlight was the outside where a statue of Bradman overlooked a fountain in the shape of a cricket field with squirters in the places of the stumps. 

She did an interview with a local paper, took a few pictures with the curator and off we went.  It was sprinkling ever so lightly which I thought was nice.  We picked up some Aussie Mickey D's and road tripped back to the hotel.  We had been listening to cricket on the radio the whole way and this was the day when England finished their drubbing of the Australians.  Not a proud day for the dwellers down under.  It was the last day of The Ashes and the last day of our trip.

The next day we left early in order to get through customs and catch our flight.  Brad, LJ and Graham all showed up to see us off.  I also got my first chance to try Vegemite and was blown away by how good it tasted!  Toast will never be the same.  After brekky we said our goodbyes, went through customs, boarded our flight and flew home.

This trip to Australia was the best I've ever had in my life and an experience I will never forget.  Being behind the scenes for one of the biggest stories of the tournament was so much fun that I can barely describe it properly.  2011 couldn't have started any better and I know that this is going to be a year to remember.  I was more sad leaving Australia than I ever was leaving home or Maine.  In just over a week I fell in love with a city and a country.  The land down under enchanted me in ways I couldn't have suspected. 

Aussie Aussie Aussie! 2/3: Waugh, Ashes and The Harbor

So far I've covered the first few days in Oz.  Now it's time to get to the meat of the trip, the cricket.

While our first few days in Sydney were filled with touristy stuff and the whole New Year experience, our immersion in cricket started on the first day of 2011.  Having only been able to catch cricket on horribly poor quality streams online we were going to be treated to our first taste of the game.


We didn't wake up particularly early on the first since we were still recovering from the night before.  We didn't have it as bad as some other people, fortunately.  Outside the hotel Graham and Brad met us in the Ford Fiesta.  Coogee Oval was our destination and what a fantastic place it is.  It is a rather small oval but it has a great view overlooking Coogee Beach.  On the drive in Ashes had another interview, at this point I had already lost count with how many she'd done.  We arrived at the oval for the charity Barmy Army vs The Fanatics game, third in a series of three.  Glenn McGrath was there to do the coin toss for the game and you could see the crowd were excited by that, even though I didn't know who he was.  The Fanatics gave Ashes a free visor, so I was given a Barmy Army hat for balance.  We are impartial after all!  Check us out in our hats.

We didn't stick around too long since we didn't want to steal the thunder from the players.  It was their day to shine (though I hear the Barmy Army shined a bit brighter that day).  This was also the site of Ashes' first run in with a fan.  We were standing around watching our first bit of live action cricket, followed quickly by our first wicket, and an English fan approached her and asked if she was The Ashes.  She was of course tweeting her location during the whole trip and it was probably inevitable, but I thought it was exciting for her to be recognized.  He was a really nice guy and we had a short chat with him before he asked her for an autograph!  After this we decided that it was time for us to move on and get some lunch.  By the time we left the Fanatics had lost three wickets by my count.


For lunch we headed to a great little place called The Oaks.  In the center of the outdoor dining area was a massive oak tree which was covered with Christmas lights at the time.  This tree shaded the entire seating area.  The tree had quite a story behind it and was insured for $3 million.  The place also kept a gardener on staff specifically for the tree.  The food was probably some of the best I had on the trip.  Ashes and I were treated to some steak and chicken which was cooked on an outdoor grill.  Usually it's DIY, but the team took care of it for us.


After lunch we were advised that a ferry ride across the harbor would be a damn fine way to spend the day.  It was a beautiful warm, clear day and honestly we couldn't have agreed more.  So we were dropped off at Circular Quay and set about to find a ferry.  We got tickets to Manly and after a short wait we were on our way.  The ferry ride was so nice and refreshing, and after being out in the sun all day it was just what we needed.  Sitting on the outside we had a great view of the scenery and there were plenty of opportunities for Ashes to snap pictures.  It was about a half hour ride.  We disembarked at Manly and had to look at the GPS to find the actual beach proper, though it turned out we could have just walked from the dock.  Either way we emerged at the far end of Manly Beach.  Down a ramp and onto the beach we walked until we finally stepped into the water.  This was the first time I had ever seen the Pacific Ocean (Tasman Sea, whatever) let alone waded into it.  We were both both far more giddy than our ages should allow.  Check it out (still wearing my Barmy Army hat of course.)

 After a short wade and a bit of a wander up the beach we headed across the street and Ashes did the bulk of her souvenir shopping.  At dinner time we found a burger place facing the beach called BurgerMe (I think).  The menu featured probably the most surprising burger that any American would expect to find, Kangaroo Burger (the JumpMe).  Naturally I had to order it.  My first bite of kangaroo went very well.  Kangaroo is tasty, very tasty.  In fact it was much better than the beef burger we ordered at the same place.  If you get a chance to go to Australia, try the kangaroo.  It's gamey and very good.  Just don't tell your animal loving friends about it.  After dinner we caught the ferry home.  This was at sunset and was a lovely evening ride.  The perfect way to cap off a fun day.

The next day was quite eventful.  Ashes had another early morning television show to do.  This time I was up early enough to join her and LJ in the studio.  It was Sunrise on Channel 7.  We arrived at the studio and went downstairs to the makeup room.  At this point she was clearly getting used to the star treatment and was dealing with the flattery quite well.  I was still a little out of my depth.  Sitting around watching the hair people do their stuff was quite boring so the stagehand led us upstairs to the green room (more of a hallway) where we were able to watch the show in progress.  When it was time for Ashes to go in they let me sit on the stage and watch it all happen.  The first thing I noticed when I got in there was that voice overs were loud in the studios but the live stuff wasn't.  I know it would create a feedback loop, but it was weird to hear TV presenters talking in just their normal voices.  Gimme a break, I'd never been in a studio before then.  Her interview was much, much better than the one on Channel 9.  They gave a good amount of time to her and had a video package prepared.  It looked like she was having a lot of fun doing it too.  This interview was clearly going to make an impact.  Boy how right I would be about that.

After the interview came an event that Ashes and the team had been building up to for a while, the backyard cricket game at Hart's Pub in The Rocks.  This was a lot of fun.  When we arrived there was a blackboard advertising the event and inside there was a giant TV with a livestream of all the mentions of @theashes.  It was flowing fast and furious and the buzz was big.  This is where we met Mike Stuchbery, the guy who started the campaign to get my GF over there.  He was a really cool, really interesting guy.  We sat around chatting for a while as they were setting up the cricket outside.  They also set up a camera and livestreamed the event.  We got outside and started to play some cricket.  Ashes took her turn at batting and got bowled out a few times, by a small child no less.  That little kid schooled her!  I do have to add it was a plastic children's cricket set and a tennis ball, not the full sized stuff.  We weren't going to knock anybody out with this stuff. It was a lot of fun, and I guess the viewers on the stream got into the high double digits, maybe triple.  When it was my turn to bat I hit some big runs, triples, fours and even a six (by our reckoning).  I was bowled out by Ashes in the end.  I fielded a bit, but it was extremely hot out and I needed to hydrate so I took a break.  Brad brought Ashes and me the traditional Australian summer drink, Lemon-Lime and Bitters.  It was the perfect drink for the moment.  I have a new favorite summer drink now. 

After the play was dying down we found out some pretty exciting news.  Brad had received a call that seemed to excite him.  It turns out that was with good reason.  Earlier that day a man named Steve Waugh, who is apparently quite a big deal, and his wife Lynette had seen Ashes on Sunrise.  They decided that it would be fun to invite both of us as guests of honor to the Legends of Cricket lunch at the first day of the Sydney test.  We were excited by everybody elses excitement.  To us it was another name, but to everybody else he was the captain.  Captain of the Australian cricket team and a national icon.  We were impressed.  That night Ashes had another interview with BBC, which we had to go to the ABC studios for since BBC was renting space there.  After this interview we went and wandered around Chinatown before heading home.  We went to bed early in anticipation of the following day.

Monday was the first day of the 5th test of The Ashes series.  England had already retained but there was still a lot of anticipation going into it.  For us we had to wake up early and get dressed up for the test.  Since we were attending a very fancy event it meant that there was a dress code.  I had to wear a suit and tie, and in some pretty severe heat.  It didn't matter though.  We were taken to the game by Brad who dropped us off outside the stadium.  It took us a while to find our tickets and get inside, but once we were through the crowds and the gates it was easy going.  Through doors into an exclusive members area we went, past people that would normally stop rabble like myself.  When we arrived at the room where the lunch was held we were greeted by service like I had never seen in my life.  Free food was aplenty and a lot of important looking people filled the room.  We found seats outside and watched the game for a while.  My first taste of live cricket was awesome.  Even as far up as we were it was still possible to hear the crack of the bat.  I would've thought following the ball would be hard but it was easy.  I was loving it.  We sat there, snacking and watching the game until lunch time.  At lunch we went inside and took our seats, which had goodies in them.  Ashes got a nice shawl and I got a pair of cufflinks (actually 3 sets, don't ask) in the shape of a cricket bat and ball.

At lunch I noticed Eric Bana walk by and knew we were someplace pretty important.  Just after the food came so did Steve Waugh.  He sat right next to Ashes.  I can barely remember the conversations we had as I was just overloaded with everything going on.  I know we talked about Ashes' story, which was the reason we were there, and how Lynette had come up with the idea after seeing her on Sunrise.  They mentioned how it was a hard room to get into, with Lynette herself not being able to get in until 10 years after Steve.  And he we were in a place much the envy of many Australians.  We talked about American sports, cricket, and other stuff.  Ashes would probably remember better than me.  Together with Steve we watched Usman Kawaja's debut, he was confident that he would do well.  So many of the bigwigs there were trying so, so hard.  It was weird.  I might go more into that at some point.  For us it was natural, it was fun, and I think Steve and Lynette really liked that.

Lunch ended and the Waughs invited us to sit with them when the cricket started back up.  We sat right next to them when we got back outside and Lynette and Ashes seemed to strike up a great rapport.  They talked and talked and talked, I on the other hand had fun watching the game.  Steve kept keying in on the strategies on the field and telling us what was going on.  We were being schooled in the game of cricket by one of Australia's most successful captains ever!  The best part is that wherever he was, the other important people seemed to flock.  At one point we were surrounded by famous cricketers, former prime ministers and movie stars.  Glenn McGrath, John Howard, and Eric Bana were all right in the area.  In fact there was even a shot on the Channel 9 coverage that showed us up there during one of the rain delays.  It was amazing.  Steve kept introducing us to these people.  When Eric Bana turned around and looked me dead in the eye to start up a conversation it was probably the most surreal moment of my life.  We talked about American sports.  I think I made an ass of myself.  He recognized my GF from the television as well.  Very cool stuff, I think we were the envy of all the corporate types milling about.  Steve also introduced us to John Howard, who also recognized Ashes.  It was quite a day.  Sitting right next to Steve Waugh and talking cricket was a huge highlight of the trip for me, and probably a big factor in my new fandom for the sport.  They had to leave in order to deal with their bored teenage daughter and gave Ashes their contact information.  We stayed for the rest of the match, what little their was thanks to rain delay, and headed home.

So yeah, our first day of cricket was pretty amazing.

Tomorrow it's the last few days of our trip, including a sailboat ride and another day of cricket.

Photo Interlude

Didn't get to writing my second post today.
I'm so sorry.
So in the meantime here are some more pictures from our trip.

 Manly Beach

                                           View from our hotel room , looking towards the city

 Ashes next to one of Sydney's many epic trees

 Taronga Zoo as viewed from a ferry

I loved this tunnel for some reason

 

 Ashes being interviewed overlooking Darling Harbor

 Governor or PM's house.  Very green.

Another view overlooking the city with Ashes being interviewed

Aussie Aussie Aussie! 1/3

Australia.  I never thought I'd get a chance to go to this country so soon.  This is the long tale of that trip.

It's going to be very informal so just enjoy the ride, 'kay?

If you don't know the story about my girlfriend at this point, well you probably don't follow cricket.  Or live in America or another non-cricketing nation.  Anyway there is far too much to this story for me to go into, so I'll let the The Sydney Morning Herald, The New York Times, BBC and The Alternative Cricket Almanack do the work for me.  You really need to read those articles.

The rest of the story starts just after Christmas.  I won't go into detail about our travel difficulties in getting to JFK and our flight, Ashes has covered that well in many of her television interviews.  No I'll start from the very moment we got off the plane in what would turn out to be one of the greatest cities I've ever been to.

Just stepping out of the plane and into the muddled mess known as Customs brought a wave of heat over my northern hemisphere body.  After getting through there and out into the lobby a small group of people rushed in our direction and started snapping pictures.  Mostly of Ashes but I got caught up in it as well.  I was given a Qantas hat to wear and we were whisked over to a table area that had a live webstream of my celeb GF's arrival.  For somebody like myself that had never been in any sort of a limelight this was all a bit dizzying, particularly after such a draining flight as LA to Sydney.  But it was fun.  That was the key.  Already there was buzz and we hadn't even been in the country for an hour.  While she was being interviewed by a reporter I had a chance to sit down and meet the people that would be helping us. 

I really do need to talk about the small group that took a great deal of their Christmas-New Year holiday to help us around.  In particular there were three people who were directly involved with us; Brad, LJ and Graham, were extremely friendly and helpful throughout our trip.  Their guidance and patience helped us have one of the most amazing trips of our life.  Ashes and I are going to write up a thank you letter to them that I might post here as well. 

Anyway, the first step out of the airport was fantastic.  A rush of warm, humid air flew over me and the memories of winter horrors of days before melted away.  This was truly a world away from home.  It was pleasant to be in summer when it was winter at home.  I've never had a chance to experience that first hand.  I know it's always in the back of your mind but until you go from a blizzard to 90 degree summer bliss it really doesn't mean anything. 

The ride from the airport was a pleasant one.  We were taken by Graham in a car that a Ford dealership in Castle Hill had lent to us, for free, to the hotel we would be staying in for the week.  Along the way we were given a bit of a guided tour that I fully appreciated.  Ashes had to fiddle with the phone that Vodafone had let her borrow for the trip, but I took the opportunity to watch the wonders of this new continent.  The plants alone put a broad smile on my face.  Everything was so different than anything I was used to.  The northeastern United States is a very, very different place than New South Wales.  It was like a tropical paradise!  I know that it's technically a "temperate" zone, but to a Mainer it may as well have been a rain forest. 

On the ride into the city I couldn't help but notice that Sydney is an outrageously beautiful city.  The green space blends into the urban space.  It just seems so natural.  I had been told by a few people in my stay that Sydney has had a lot of recovery and renewal in the past 10-15 years.  Clearly the hard work has paid off.  Before I even laid my eyes on the iconic sites of the city and I already liked this city.  Coming from the ugly squalor of New York and the rather unremarkable Springfield my appraisal of Sydney was overwhelmingly positive.  It was only the car ride from the airport but I already knew it was going to be a great trip.

We arrived at our hotel, Mantra on Kent, and were dropped off and given time to spruce up.  We needed showers desperately and were happy to get them.  A little later we were picked up and taken to Hart's Pub after a little tour of the city.  We spent some time there where we managed to try out Ashes very own beer.  That's right, they brewed up an @theashes pale ale especially for her.  Or renamed one of their other drinks.  Either way it was very cool of them.  Even though I'm straight edge (I don't drink, in case you don't know the fancy name) I tried out Ashes' beer.  I had to!  It was free and made for her.  It was good I guess but I'm not really a connoisseur of pale ales.  While there we also ordered up some pub food which really hit the spot.  Hart's Pub was a great bit of relaxation that we needed and we met a few cool people too. 

After we were done at the pub we had a chance to walk back to the hotel.  Since the pub was in The Rocks it meant we had an opportunity to explore this historic part of Sydney.  It was a bit overwhelming but also a lot of fun.  Our wander led us past the Harbour Bridge, the Australian Hotel, and down to the water where we got some snaps of the Opera House (not the Oprah House!).  We slowly found our way back to the hotel.  It was a very weird walk since it seemed like everything was closed, and it wasn't even that late!  That day being December 30 turned out to be part of the Australian "holiday" season.  For the next few days that was going to be a problem.  Despite the empty streets and closed shops it was still a nice stroll.  It allowed us to acclimate to Sydney without a lot of distractions.  We got back to the hotel and went to sleep, capping off our first day.

Ashes woke up early the next day and was brought by LJ to Channel 9 and do an interview on their morning show.  This, apparently, is a big deal.  I found that there are really only three or four major channels in Australia and this was one of them.  More importantly they were the channel that played the cricket.  I was far too tired to wake up and join her that day so I stayed home and caught it on the television. 

Yeah they got her name wrong.  It's an @ and not a #.  That's how all this started!  The interview was short since news about the Queensland floods was just getting in.  Still it was cool.  After Ashes got back from that interview we met a camera crew from ESPN in the lobby and went down to Darling Harbor, which was just behind our hotel, to film some stuff for them.  I actually took part in this interview.  I bumbled my way through a few questions.  Luckily they used my good takes.  I'm not cut out for television I can tell you that much.  Ashes, though, is a natural on camera.  There are thousands of people that would die for her calm demeanor on camera. 

We finished up with ESPN and were taken on another tour of the city in our Ford Fiesta.  It was New Year's Eve so there was a lot going on and a lot was closed.  We drove up to Manly and had our picture taken in front of the beach.  The drive to Manly was absolutely gorgeous.  Suburban Sydney is truly unlike any other city.  In North Sydney we managed to get a really nice shot of us and the Harbour Bridge.

It was another sightseeing day and I was enjoying it.  On the drive back into the city I started feeling under the weather, hell I felt sick.  Jetlag was finally kicking my ass and I needed rest.  When we were dropped off near The Opera House for Ashes next interview, LJ graciously sprang for a cab to get me to the hotel. 

I got some much needed rest and was feeling much better.  My body wasn't ready for the massive time difference, and the heaps of sun, and the lack of food that day.  Fortunately Ashes and LJ went to the sea food market and brought back some prawns and scallops.  It was a great meal. After dinner it was time for Ashes to get hit by the jet lag.  She slept for a few hours right until the 9 o'clock fireworks.  We decided to stay in for that show and head out for the midnight bonanza.  From our room I could see the Darling Harbor fireworks and I listened to the coordinated music on the television.  Ashes didn't like the gratuitous use of Katy Perry's firework song.  I agreed that it was a bit lame. 

We headed out at about 10:30 to get a good view of the bridge.  On the way we passed by a fountain that was full of bubbles.  If you ever want to regress to the age of five, find yourself a fountain overflowing with bubbles.  I got a heapful right in my face. We walked all the way into The Rocks where we stood in a massively crowded street full of drunk people and waited an hour.  At one point an ambulance drove through the crowd and it took probably 15 minutes to get 100 feet down the road.  The place was packed like crazy.  Sadly there was no countdown that we could hear from where we were, but we were in a prime spot to catch the whole show.  The bridge was in full view in front of us and the fireworks were going off in all directions around us and off the buildings behind us.  The Harbour Bridge exploding in colorful fireworks is probably the best way I've ever inaugurated a new year.  When it was over we walked with the drunken crowds and made our way home.  Ashes noticed dozens of "prostitute parades" as she liked to say.  Girls dressed ultra-skanky linked arm to arm or holding hands, often drunk caused her to coin her phrase.  We got some sleep.

I'll end this post right there at the New Year celebration.  The next post will cover more interviews and the cricket, and the last post will cover the wind down and final thoughts.  Those will come tomorrow and the next day, I promise.  I've got lots more to talk about.  The next post will definitely be the most interesting and the most star-studded!  Tomorrow.