Weekend in Oz

Friday I spent most of Boxing Day fixing my phone issues after losing it in the cab like an idiot (and I swear I was mostly sober). By the time I got back and set it up it was almost 5pm and I decided to head back to Bondi just for the sake of it. I had made plans to go out with Jacob that night but when I got out there I really just felt tired so I headed back for the cross ended up taking one late night lap there and after making plans to meet Anna the following day I went to bed fairly early (in Kings Cross terms). The next morning I went for a run to try and regain the feeling of being a human being, I thought Anna and I would have the day to hang out but when I called her she said she was on her way to work and wouldn’t be off again til 1am…so we again postponed plans to meet up. Still tired and with no real idea of what to do, I headed towards the city center on foot (a one mile walk) and after cruising the mall for a minute headed for the Rocks (the area most commonly compared to SF). On the way, I saw a pub called St. Patricks and figured why not stop in. The huge cricket test match between Aus (world #1) and South Africa (#2) was on the tv and a few people were sitting sucking down beers glued to the action. I started asking questions and after an hour and a half and 4 pints of Golden Ale (first place I had seen this Sydney local brew) I actually started developing an appreciation for the silly game. I was speaking/drinking with Simon a middle-aged Aussie sports fan from Perth. He told me the intricacies of rubbing up the ball, the different types of bowls (pitches) and the strategies for field and batting. As he taught me about cricket, I compared the strategies and nuances to baseball signals and tactics.

I had been on a search for the “best” fish and chips in Sydney so after four pints I decided to return to my quest. Next I stopped at a pub in the Rocks which had a live guitar player who played nothing but cliché American covers, I had a good conversation with the bartender and she told me to try “fish on the rocks” for the best fish and chips in Sydney. I headed in the direction she pointed me (one thing I’ve begun to notice is the colloquial directions you get from Australians rather than street names it is landmarks which can get confusing) I stumbled upon Lord Nelson’s (the second pub I had seen calling itself the oldest in Sydney…how could I resist). It turned out to be a nice microbrewery and as I was making conversation with a fresh batch of female bartenders and telling them where I’m from (I’ve settled into telling people Im from San Francisco (sorry SJ) and that I live in LA (suck it LE) for the sake of ease and obviously it sounds a lot cooler). A yankee girl settled along side of me as she overheard I was from SF and started talking to me about her backpacking travels along the northeast side of the country. She was a 21 year old recent grad from UCSB (I gave her my condolences for graduating early from a UC). We sampled a few of the microbrews and then noticed that it had begun to pour. In true CA fashion we looked at each other not sure what to do, we ended up splitting a cab back to Circular Quey where we bought train tickets and went our separate ways (I didn’t really have an interest in hitting on a spoiled gaucho anyway).

At about 11pm I got a call from Anna that she had gotten off work early and headed to the Rocks to meet her at a nearby pub. We met at the bus stop across from her work where I had first approached her a few weeks earlier and headed for the Argyle Store (a club that plays house music…this place really is like SF). I had brought a couple of drinks in the cab with me so we stood outside of the pub talking and drinking. In the 10 minutes we stood outside, we saw a guy getting jumped in an ally by three other guys and another guy sprinting past us being followed by another drunkard who ended up shoving him into moving traffic (and Americans are the ones that don’t know how to drink?). We ended up drinking and dancing for an hour or so before we were met by her friend Zuzanna at which point we hung out at another pub for a while and split a cab home…oh yeah at some point it happened to come up that Anna has a boyfriend in Poland…(but if Ludacris' song about area codes is crass, surely there must be a statute governing hemispheres)

Sunday morning I slept in late and then re-determined to find the best fish and chips in Sydney I headed back to the Rocks only to find that Fish on the Rocks didn’t open until 6pm. I decided to head to Manly Beach, which is said to rival Bondi. The ferry to Manly was packed, and I had to wait for the second one 30 mins later. When I got to the famed beach there were tons of tourists (present company included, the week between Christmas and New Years is peak tourist season) and just my luck clouds started rolling in and it began to drizzle. I found a beachside café and finally found some fish and chips (mundane at best) and asked the waitress what I should check out…she pointed me towards Shelly Beach a short walk away that faced back towards Manly. With the weather, my head hurting and the massive amounts of tourists I was fairly unimpressed. On my walk back to the ferry I passed a man who gives/takes free language lessons at Manly 7 days a week. He knows a ridiculous amount of languages and will sit there and teach you anyone you want to learn and if you know one he doesn’t, he wants to learn from you. I was wearing my UCLA shirt as I passed by and he asked me if I went there. When I said yes, he told me he was class of ’52 and after we talked for a bit he invited me to stay at a spare room in his house if ever I was in Manly again.

I got back to my apartment tired after a week of drinking non-stop and tried to take a nap. I ended up getting back up, packing just in case and started working on the bottle of absolut that had only had 2 drinks taken out of it. Again, Anna got off early and invited me to her apartment where Zuzanna had invited a couple of co-workers. I cleaned out the fridge of my apartment threw everything into a bag and caught a cab to the suburb of Broadway. We ended up drinking out on their balcony, with their other Polish roommate Kara, four Polish guys (one had studied in Delaware and was ecstatic to hang out with an American), Zuzanna’s coworkers were a couple of cool Australians and Anna’s final roommate J. The latter was a Korean girl who must have been absolutely smashed because she kept interrupting me to tell me to talk slower so she could hear my accent, and also she kept telling me I look like George Clooney…surprisingly I do get that a lot…from drunken Korean girls in broken English. Finally, I realized it was 5am and I had to hustle back to my apartment to get to the airport in time for my 7:10am flight. I arrived in Adelaide at 9am on no sleep and headed for Chris’s apartment where I crashed for most of the day.

Christmas in Sydney

I flew in early Christmas Eve and navigated the train system to the one bedroom apartment the ABF had rented for me for the week. It’s located one block from Kings Cross (perhaps Australia’s most famous street of pubs/debauchery). With a full kitchen I headed straight for Woolworth’s to stock up on food, then to the bottleshop for some beer (a 24 pack costs a robust $43 aussie), and then to Westpac bank to make sure I had enough money for the week because I wasn’t sure how many places would be open for Christmas and Boxing Day. I went out that night to the pubs at King’s Cross and I was a little disappointed at first that a lot of places were closed and others didn’t look too busy. I asked a girl on the street if I was in the right area or if there was a certain spot I should be headed for, she ended up inviting me to drink with her four friends who were all British backpackers, and we headed for a pub that was starting to fill up as it was about 10pm. I drank/danced with them as they were happy to meet a non-backpacker, some one “real” as they said (there is a pretty strong anti-backpacker sentiment amongst locals who view them as trite and disrespectful, but this was the first I heard of backpackers being fed up with backpackers). We counted down to Christmas at midnight and then all the pubs closed for the holiday. The girls invited me to spend Christmas with them drinking at Bondi Beach and I got their number and said I might meet them out there (I knew that drinking on the beach was banned, but they allegedly had a plan).

The next morning I woke up slowly and started heading for Coogee Beach by bus which someone had told me was a must see. It was an overcast morning/early afternoon and when I got to Coogee I was mildly impressed and figured I’d call up the Brits, they were just getting to Bondi so I hopped on the bus and headed over to meet them. There was a good amount of people there when I arrived but not as packed as I expected (apparently in 2004 a ban on alcohol has quelled the crowds that used to top 50,000 on Christmas day). There was a line headed into the Bondi Hotel that spanned a couple hundred meters and had to have 500 people at least. I made my way to the front to see what it was for and saw it was the “world’s largest orphan party” and it looked like it. With my head still throbbing and the weather less than perfect I tried to call the brits and made one lap to find them but I figured they were inside that party which I didn’t really have an interest in (I later heard it was $70 to get in) so I headed back to my apartment for a nap (of course, as I was getting back my head was feeling better and the weather had cleared to a perfect afternoon). I had plans to meet up with Anna (the polish girl of Sydney Part I fame) and had turned down an invite to Jacob’s (the Swede also from Sydney Part I) place in Bondi for a Christmas BBQ. At about 5pm I got a call from Anna saying she had been asked to do a double shift, meaning the café made her work 12 hours Christmas eve and then 13 more on Christmas day (or she just really didn’t want to hang out with me for Christmas) but we made plans to hang out Saturday and I called Jacob to tell him I was on my way. An hour later I was back in Bondi and the beach was jumping by this point (6pm). We hung out on the roof of Jacob’s apartment building with his Australian wife Georgina and 8 swedes ranging in age from 19-21 (7 of which share a 2br apartment in Bondi). We hung out and drank wine, ate chicken, steak and salad as they asked me about America (the question on most foreigners minds has to do with Obama and specifically whether I think he will be assassinated...sad state of affairs) and I asked them about Sweden and how right now they’d be getting three hours of light rather than 14 down here in Oz. After the other Swedes left I was cordially invited to hang out with Jacob and Georgina a little longer (I think whatever Swedish blood is on my mother's side must intersect with his because we are long-lost brothers). A little later, I felt like it was time to head back to Kings Cross and see some Christmas belligerence.

Turned out I didn’t have to get all the way to Kings Cross to see it. The party on the beach, slated to go til midnight, had been broken up early and the streets were littered with drunks trying to find their way home. I was looking for a cab for a good while as I walked back towards the beach-side bus stations. It was impossible to get out of Bondi...the bus stations were packed (Christmas night buses were running once an hour) and cabs were a two hour wait. I grabbed a map from a backpackers hostel and started making the 7km walk back to kings cross to try and find a cab outside of Bondi. After about a mile walk I found one and made it home safe for just under $20…however 30 seconds after I got out of the cab I realized I had left my phone in it and I had no way of tracking down the cab. There was no answer when I tried to call my phone on Skype...so I joined the masses this morning in Boxing Day shopping buying a new prepaid phone from Vodafone for a cool $200 (more than I had spen on my entire Sydney trip so far). All in all, a good Christmas Day in Sydney.

Glenelg, South Australia

I drove to Glenelg Monday afternoon stopping in Robe to have a look around the touristy beach town, but it was cold, cloudy and windy and thus unimpressive. I got in about 5:30pm and met my next host who is a 26 year-old player from the South Australian team named Chris Lawson. Like most of the players he has a full-time job working in marketing at the city center in Adelaide. His place is an awesome 2br flat situated two blocks from the beach and two blocks from the strip of pubs on Jetty Road. As soon as I got there we were off to the pub to have a look around, there were a ton of people for a Monday night but a lot of people are on Christmas holiday. We ended up getting a ride to a house party in Adelaide which was a lot of fun, so much fun I ended up hanging out with a couple dudes, Richie and KB, until 5am when we took a cab to a café for meat pies on our way back to Glenelg. I had made plans to meet them the next day for beach cricket (still have no idea what that means) but I didn’t run into them. Instead I took the tram into city center to have a look around and stopped at a pub for lunch to watch Monday Night Football which starts at noon on Tuesday. This is where I discovered TAB (not sure what it stands for but I’m sure Australian and Betting is involved) where you can bet on absolutely anything world-wide and they are in most pubs across Australia. I placed a $10 bet that the first score would be a GB field goal and almost won $45 if Aaron Rodgers didn’t throw a TD pass on 3rd and 7 from the 15 yard line. But with that I was headed back to the beach as things had cleared up and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I hung out on the beach for a few hours and then got the call that my flight would be leaving for Sydney at 8:30am the next morning…

All Stitched Up

First off, pronunciation is “Gambia” sounding more like a country in Africa then Pistons bad boy Bill Lambier. After getting settled Tuesday it was right off to the grounds to set up some more fencing. We had to fence off about 500 meters to be able to charge admission at a gate. This time it was a lot smoother, no rain and an easier portable setup (although we did more than 2/3 of it wrong and had to readjust them) we were done in less than four hours. It was also again a good way to ingratiate myself to the locals right off. I was invited to the home of Ian Ewart for wine and lunch Saturday afternoon and to meet the coaching staff of the South Australian team…that story to come. That night I went to the league meeting and got to know everyone involved, we finished with a Christmas drink which ended up being 4 and I felt very welcomed in my newest Australian hometown. Wednesday I woke up to 2 messages one to schedule a tv interview for the local news and the other for the local paper (great headline, I wasn’t really sure if that was backhanded but I was assured it wasn’t). So word got out quick that there was a yank in town. That afternoon, I was able to sneak off and play 18 holes at Attamurra Golf Club which ended up costing $15 and the course was in pretty good condition although rather difficult with narrow fairways and pine trees lining each hole…and no carts is no fun, a bit hilly at Attamurra and us Yanks aren’t used to walking, probably contributed to my double-double finish on 17 and 18. I played well though finishing with an 88, much better than the last 5 times I played at home. The real story comes from the 15th tee where I almost had a heart attack when I saw the kangaroo pictured above was about 10 meters away and then realized there were 2 adults and a joey. I overcame my flight instinct and grabbed my camera and snapped that pic of him staring me down…so that was my first Roo experience.

The next day we took care of some more supplies at the grounds, I ended up leaving to setup my bank account and get a haircut, when I came back Amanda (my Mount Gambier host mom) was excited because she had earned the promotion she was seeking within the local Catholic school. We went to the local pub to celebrate with dinner and drinks, at about 10pm Greg and Amanda were ready to leave but live music had just started and people were starting to show up Their house was like 5 blocks away so I stayed behind. I first had a shout with a couple of traveling businessmen from Adelaide who told me how much I will love Glenelg. I ended up meeting jess and jess (conveniently enough) bought them a drink (down here you don’t tip for anything bartenders/waiters make good wages and I think it’s kind of an insult, so a beer actually costs what it costs…novel). I was telling them about my Roo story, and they tried to play a classic aussie trick that they use on Americans telling me to watch out for drop bears falling out of trees while you’re driving, they could have had me going for a while but I didn’t really get why they thought it was so funny, why wouldn’t I believe you if you told me about some random dangerous/nuscent animal? that’s all I’ve heard about so far. Anyway, I recruited them to come to one of the games and they showed up Sunday (it’s tough to ask someone to spend $10 to watch a sports they could care less about.

There was a big cricket test match this week (goes 5 days, ended Sunday), and I’ve pretty much got the idea…and it is without a doubt the stupidest game ever. It is basically the same idea of baseball except there are 2 innings’s (they insist on pluralizing innings as in the top of the 5th innings), everyone bats each innings, you bat until you get out, you have 360 degrees to work with, and here’s the kicker if you hit a grounder you don’t have to run if you don’t think you can make it. So it’s basically sitting around all day watching some blokes drop drag bunts down and then decide if he wants to run or not and if it drags on too long ( I watched about an hour and a half the other night and saw 2 outs) and they don’t get the required 20 outs to finish the two innings it’s a draw…5 days and then kiss your sister…mind boggling that anyone would watch. There are some shorter versions with more action because you have incentive to swing the bat rather than foul them off because you only get a limited number of pitches, but the cricket purists hate it.

So, Friday night the game went well we had two funny 20 something guys in the mascot costumes whose only question to me was do we get to tackle each other (and if you saw a game in Elsinore the last two years, it’s about as creative as we’ve come up with yet) so they did a great rendition of the mascot race with Ronnie the Rhino spearing Redman the Lion. Once the game was started I did what any good AGM would do…started drinking by the time the game was finished I was ready to head to the Mount Gambier Hotel to see what Friday night was like. I had maybe 2 beers talked to a handful of people and then after I had been there about an hour they threw everybody out because too many fights were going on at or around the pub…so that was interesting. Now, there was one place that all the locals told me not to go to under any circumstances, it was ominously named Shadows and known for fights and bikers…how could I not go. At last call I ended up talking to this big guy who implored me to check Shadows out and that he’d have my back. Shadows is a big night club that stays open til 4 or 5 in the morning. I walked in asked the first two girls I saw if they wanted a drink , one of them gave me attitude so I bought her friend a drink instead…this wasn’t the best idea as the now infuriated biker chick started to threaten that she’d smash my face in, her boyfriend was more or less amused by the situation and I was pretty much ready to go home so I had one beer there (on the other side of the club) and ended up spending about 10 minutes and 20 bucks at Shadows in Mount Gambier…more importantly I got out alive.

The next morning I was picked up promptly at 11am by Ian Ewart and taken to his ranch outside of town. Mind you, from the time I was invited by him I had 10 people warn me about him and red wine, but I went in naively thinking I could keep up. We started at 11:30am with a couple beers and bbq-ed octopus and seared tuna cooked up by KD who doubles as the PA announcer. We switched to wine about 12:15 and didn’t switch off wine until about 5:30pm when it was time to head down to the grounds for the game. We head steaks right off the Barbie for lunch and I met the entire coaching staff of the SA team which included a Yank from Oregon. So I stumbled down to the grounds to the amusement of all the Aussies Ian Ewart had “stitched me up good”, he reckons we went through over $600 of wine. One of the things they thought was hilarious was listening to me say this girl Bianca’s name (I guess I do have a funny little habit about pronouncing vowels), I couldn’t even describe how they pronounce it because I don’t think my mouth/throat can even make those sounds. Coming back for the Sunday day game was a little tough but everyone just thought it was the funniest thing to see the hungover Yank come back for game 3. It seemed everyone in town had heard of my escapades, a few blokes told me “it’s hard to reach legendary status when you’re only here a week. “ I got a ride home from Karen, one of the mums that runs the canteen (concession stand) and she said she had to double back around the block after she dropped me off to make sure I didn’t sneak back out. One of the guys “Hutchy” takes a team to California every year last summer he went to Anaheim, Fresno and Petco so I told him he’d have to see The Diamond next June…so about those all-star game tickets. “Hoody” was another cool guy who set the record in their league with a .614 batting average a couple years ago. In talking to the baseball guys out here they are all so shocked that a 24 year old American doesn’t play organized baseball. I’ve been telling them their setup for adult sport is unbelievable. Sports are just such an important part of life that they make the commitment and play hardball well into their 50’s whereas adults in America might play beer league softball at most. Another one of the youth coaches shawn wanted to see my fastball (I guess I got to chirping after I was on the Piss Saturday night) so I warmed up and actually threw the ball pretty well for 15 or 20 throws and then I shut it down for fear of my arm falling off. Everyone in Mount Gambier has been too nice and accommodating. I’m looking forward to getting settled into Glenelg the next couple of days and then it’s being arranged that I’ll spend Christmas in Sydney which is going to be sick.

Driving Down Under

I awoke Monday morning thinking I was flying to Adelaide only to find at 10am I’d be flying to Melbourne then to Adelaide as there were no direct flights. Then I was told I’d be driving directly from Mildura to Mount Gambier (pronounced: Gambia) where I’d be helping them get ready for their weekend series between South Australia and Victoria. I was nervous to say the least that I was being thrown into my first Australian driving experience going 550km (300 miles I think) by myself through the outback. When I went to pick up the rental car I was made even more nervous when the guy told me the ABF had sprung for extra kangaroo insurance for the windshield and headlights because of the areas I’d be driving through. So with that and a vague idea of the 6 different highways I’d need to take, I was off. Right hand turns were the first main obstacle, and the roundabouts I navigated pretty easily (they are actually really efficient at expediting traffic). I continue to have a tendency to drift to the left but I guess that’s safer than into oncoming traffic.

It took about 3km out of Mildura before I had to pass a slow moving truck which proved to be the worst “overtaking” (as they call it) of my life where I almost caused a head on collision and seemed to piss off the truck I had passed, but after that I was fine. My next shock was the kangaroo warning signs as pictured above, I thought they were both hilarious and frightening. I’ve been warned by literally 30 people to watch out while driving (I kept telling people I wanted to see one, and they kept assuring me I didn’t). I still thought they were messing with the naïve American, but I don’t think they’d be that elaborate to put up signs (and I ended up seeing at least 30 in my 6 hour drive). I can see why it’s so dangerous because the roads are all framed by trees and shrubs which make it impossible to see a kangaroo until he’s hopping right on your hood, and the locals are more than happy to tell you how stupid Roo's are.

I stopped at the Queen Bee in Ouyen, a little roadside diner, for lunch and continued on to Pinnarroo where I stopped for gas and directions to the next town Bordertown where I again stopped for drinks and directions. I had to slow down from 110km/hr to 80 and then 60 going through "towns" that consisted of no more than 10 buildings which I found both amusing and annoying. It was not uncommon to go 5-10 minutes without seeing another car, which was cool to be in the honest to goodness outback. At about 5 o’clock I came up to the Narracoorte Golf Course about an hour outside of Mt. Gambier. I pulled over enquired about club rentals and green fees and 20 minutes later I was playing 9 holes in Australia at 5:30pm (doesn’t get dark until 8:30pm). The course was pretty crappy so I ended up playing 7 and moving on.
I arrived in Mount Gambier at dusk (the worst time as far as kangaroos jumping out at you, but I made it the whole way without seeing any except for two road kill…pretty nasty).

My destination was the Blue Lakes sports complex which includes facilities for footie (Aussie Rules Football), hockey (field variety and played by men which I find odd), netball, cycling, softball, baseball and I’m sure others. I was greeted by the sound of a gun, so I figured there was a track meet (they call it athletics), but when I pulled up to the baseball field, I looked over and saw a guy carrying a shotgun. Again I figured he was skeet shooting or doing something sanctioned/safe. It turns out they were shooting corellas which are a protected bird (unless you have a license) which tear up grass...again unnerving. I asked the rational question of what happens to the bullets when they come down, and moments later found out as the underhang we were standing beneath was showered by shotgun pellets...

I met my host family the Parslows who have a really nice house a couple blocks from town center. Greg and Amanda are the parents of 16 year-old Chloe who is usually out with her boyfriend and 13 year-old Matt (who is already taller than me) and plays for the South Australian State baseball and basketball teams (which means mum chauffeurs him to and from Adelaide each weekend, about a 4 hour drive). Just like the Proberts they’ve been more than welcoming, and once again I’m sleeping in the bed of a 13 year old baseball player. It wasn’t until the following morning that anyone notified me of the time change I had driven through, now instead of being 19 hours ahead of Pacific time I am 18.5, I don’t get it and neither does my phone cause it still shows Sydney time.

Sunny Mildura

Got in Wednesday afternoon and was met at the airport by Tony Probert, president of the local baseball club, and was quickly ushered to his suburban Mildura home where he, his wife, and four children would be putting me up for the weekend. I was something of a celebrity to the kids who boasted that they couldn’t believe a “pure American” was staying at their house. I told them I was American and that the other part was up for debate. After meeting the family it was off to their weekly baseball practice, where I took my first swings down under. I saw the “grounds” where the games are this week, and I was a little bewildered that a national tournament was going to be played at a park that is nothing more than a city recreational field. I think Del Mar HS has more seating and definitely more parking, but we made it work.

I had Thursday off so I headed to the city center which actually was a pretty nice area with shops, bars and restaurants as Mildura is a growing tourist attraction for those looking to get away from the main cities. I checked out an internet café to get my bearings and then headed for the Mildura Arts Center, where I found out that Mildura was actually founded in the late 19th century by a couple of yanks from where else but Riverside, CA (these guys could really pick ‘em). So you can travel around the world and still not get out of the IE!! One of the docents named John, a retired anesthesiologist from Melbourne, ended up taking me on the nickel tour of the Murray River (the longest in Australia) where I learned about the inevitable plans for expansion and commercialization in the growing town.

He dropped me back by the city center where I headed for the Sandbar for a lunch of Shark Bites and chips and a few pots of Pure Blonde. It was pretty good, and the bartender Ryan who recognized my 49ers shirt told me to come back for happy hour from 5-7pm.
When I went back to the Sandbar I met Ryan’s friend Scottie who lives in Perth. He is a part of the booming mining community in Western Australia that I had heard about. They live in the capital Perth and are flown out two hours to the mines where he works 12 hours a day for 7 days (he’s an electrician though and he says he really works about 2 hours and then just messes around on the computer) and then he gets seven days off. The economy is hitting them too, as the mines are shutting down for a two week “holiday” which is the first time the mines have stopped production in 25 years.

I woke up the next morning to a heavy rain. Mildura is largely a farming town that has been ravaged by drought, so the rain is welcomed but all too ironic that the forecast called for rain all weekend when they are hosting a national baseball tournament. Also, troubling is that we had to setup the outfield and bullpen fencing and lay down new dirt on the infield and it was absolutely pouring. I felt bad for Tony, he had worked so hard to organize this whole thing and it might have literally been washed out. So my character building experience was spending 6 hours in the rain putting up temporary fencing…my black reeboks are basically toast which means I’m down to one pair of sneakers.

The Friday night game was rained out in Melbourne so we had a doubleheader Saturday which saw 11 homeruns because the wind was blowing straight out at 25 mph. That night Tony took me out to O’malleys, the main pub in town and it was actually a really nice place. It was a huge pub and from what I remember there were tons of people there. They sell pre-mixed jack and cokes in cans and bottles and those snuck up on me…and made the 11am Sunday first pitch all that more daunting (travel is a main concern for scheduling, since most of the players have 9-5 jobs they have to get back to). The Sunday game came and went with a somewhat disappointing turnout which was mainly attributed to the weather. The city council had bought the gate so attendance was free…we had about 300 people each day.

The Probert family who took me in for the week were such a nice little family with Charlie 13, Taylor 12, Dalton 10, and Billie 10 they were rambunctious and inquisitive. They wanted to know everything about America so I told them about the good parts and left out the truth. I gave them Storm hats and when they asked to see American money I gave them each a Dollar bill and they thought that was the coolest thing ever. They want me to come back soon so they can play the “American Game” which consisted of asking me to say random words so they could laugh at my accent…that got old after about 5 minutes, but I played along anyway. Angela was so nice in cooking big meals, doing my laundry, and always making sure I had enough to eat at the ballpark, don’t know if I’ll ever make it back to Mildura but I think I’ll see Tony and Charlie along the way at some Claxton Shield games.

Scorsese Jr.

What a Day

Monday morning I woke up intent on making it from my hotel in Paramatta to downtown Sydney to do the bridge climb and explore what I've heard is a city combining the best qualities of SF, SD and SEA. I was under the impression that I’d be free to roam until Thurs. afternoon. On my way out the door at 8:30am I was informed that we were being moved to the Swissottel on Market Street…right downtown, and that we were invited to the MLB International Christmas Party starting that afternoon at 1pm. By the time we were checked in and cleaned up, I had about 2 hours to wander before the party so I headed straight for Circular Quey and took a 30 minute ferry ride to Manly Beach. I didn’t even have time to get off the boat, so it ended up being an hour long $12 cruise that showed me the whole Sydney Harbor. The Christmas party consisted of 10 people sitting in the back corner of a Chinese Restaurant ordering round after round of food and booze for literally seven hours. It was fun but I couldn’t help but think about how I was basically losing another day of exploration in Sydney.

Tuesday I again woke up determined to do that damn bridge climb, but instead headed to Darling Harbor a mere 4 blocks from my hotel (or otel as it were). I encountered the Sydney Aquarium and ended up getting upsold into buying a double ticket for the Aquarium and the Sydney Tower. The aquarium was interesting but a little disappointing overall. The Shark tank was really cool, but I expected a little more from the great barrier reef exhibit. I then went to cash in on my Sydney Tower ticket and found that the Sydney Tower was actually right next door to my otel, it is basically the Australian answer to the space needle. The view from the top was phenomenal it gave me a much better idea of the geography/natural beauty of Sydney and the harbor. It was perfect weather and I had it in my head that I’d head out to Bondi Beach and I more or less assumed I could just take a ferry. In the tower I met Graciella and Adrianna, Brazilian and Columbian respectively, they are studying English in Sydney. We talked about how difficult it is when they’ve always learned American English to get along with the Australian vernacular. They told me the bus was the way to go to Bondi and directed me on my way. So I caught the bus near Hyde Park and 25 minutes later got off in North Bondi with no real clue which way the beach was. I stopped in a liquor store for some sunscreen and asked the stupid question of which way to the beach only to find I was about 3 blocks away. When you walk out of suburban north bondi and first see the beach it is hard to believe it’s a natural setting. It looks far too ideal with its crescent shaped bay of light blue tropical water framed by steep cliffs and amazing houses. I hung out on the beach for an hour or so, took my Storm around the world photo and started a mini pub crawl. I started on the south end and started making my way back on the main drag stopping each place for a local beer, toohey’s has been my favorite so far, but then again I’ve never been too discerning. The 5th place I went into was a burger joint called Bite Me that had the Steelers/Cowboys game on. The waitress was from NYC and the barkeep a swede. I was there for no more than 15 minutes before the bartender, Jacob, was off work and he invited me back to his flat a 5 minute walk away for some more drinks. After we pinned it up, his friend Pontus came over and we watched the season finale of Entourage as any proper American tv junkies would. Even though they are two swedes they met while bartending as teenagers in the French Riviera and randomly reunited after both marrying Australian women and moving to Bondi. Within an hour they had to go as Pontus was moving with his wife and newborn, Phoenix, to a new flat in Bondi and Jacob was helping. I halfheartedly offered to help but there wasn't room in the car anyway and I wanted to make it back to city center for dinner at the Rocks (the area most commonly compared to SF). We exchanged contact info and I told them I might be heading back to Sydney for my weeklong Christmas break.

I messed up on the bus and prematurely jumped out when I mistook a random suburban park for Hyde Park downtown where I had initially caught the bus. I was still a couple miles out but it didn’t matter, I had the tallest building in Sydney to guide me back, and it was an easy walk on a “chamber of commerce” afternoon. I got back to a note under my door at the otel informing me that rather than thurs. I’d be leaving Wed. for Mildura. Now I had to make it count (It was a little disheartening that in nine days in New South Whales I really only had one day to venture out, but Ruli and I got pretty good at speed-travelling in NY/BOS). I headed for the Rocks went into a small pub ordered a Tooheys and started asking questions on what might be going down on a Tuesday night. The two girls bartending seemed to think Chinatown was the place to go so I headed across the street to take the bus as I was a little over walking and Chinatown was on the other side of my otel. At the bus stop I started talking to a Polish girl who had come to Sydney two months ago to study sports psychology, which she informed me is a concept invented in Australia. She ended up going out of her way to transfer buses and show me the way to Chinatown (even though I had a good idea where it was, but I wasn’t complaining). Eventually, I was there and even though she couldn't join me for a drink, we exchanged contact info and now I’ve got even more incentive to spend Christmas in Sydney…I was also invited to a new year’s party at the Harbor side apartment of a guy I met at the baseball tournament who works in some capacity at the US embassy. Chinatown ended up being more of the same, there was a good amount of people out but not quite my style, I stopped in a few places and made my way back... All in all, as the great Sean McCall would say “What a Day”

Long Week

We’re wrapping up the MLB Showcase round today in Sydney with the 10th game of the week finishing up tonight. It’s been a long week, but I’ve met a lot of the key Australian Baseball people and through running the promotions I’ve been able to interact with the fans which has mainly consisted of families who are involved with the local club baseball system. It has been very interesting to see what a tight-knit group the baseball community is here, they all know each other and they’re very proud of the guys that have gone over and had success in America. Tampa Bay Rays merchandise probably sells better here than in St. Pete.

On Friday night there was a banquet for the New South Whales baseball club and I met a father and son who live in suburban Sydney and have been involved in baseball ever since the son Dyllan chose to play teeball with his friends. Dyllan was a 20-something electrician who coaches at his local club and Graham the father seemed to be the typical good natured Aussie who had taken to Baseball after learning the game through his son’s involvement. Our conversation was long and varied, but I learned the differences between rugby league, rugby union and aussie rules football and the regional alliances that belie the nuances. They invited me to go camping with them just after Christmas but I’m not sure where I’ll be by that point. The next night a little girl tracked me down and handed me a blue hat that had Giants written in yellow and red. She told me that Graham had asked her to give it to me because the team Dylan coached was the Giants and I had told them that I’m a big Giants fan (not quite the Orange and Black I’m used to rooting for but a nice gesture).

I also had the honor of meeting some local celebrities by the name of Ken and Joy Balfour, the proud grandparents of New South Whales own Grant Balfour who came so close to joining Graham Lloyd who remains the only Aussie with a World Series Ring (and he’s got two). They told me all about how he came up through the Claxton Shield competition, overcame injury about five years ago and that they were in attendance last summer in Detroit when Grant became the first Australian to throw a 100mph pitch in the Major Leagues.

I also got to speak with the afore mentioned Graham Lloyd about my travels as he poked fun at my small town itinerary telling me to stick to the wineries because getting drunk will be the most entertaining thing to do.

On Saturday they had a “training with the Pros” clinic ran by 13 year major leaguer Rene Gonzales. 140 kids utilized one of the practice fields and were taught by current and past professional Australian baseball players including Graham Lloyd and former Storm/Padre pitcher Chris Oxspring. Rene is a part of the American contingent brought over by MLB international, and I got to talk to him for a good while about my career goals and he was very encouraging to keep at it.

Before the game, I had the dubious task of MC-ing a homerun derby which was up against about a 20mph wind blowing straight in. It was a player/celebrity derby benefitting MS Australia where current players had to knock it out of the yard and the celebrities had to hit it past some cones we setup about 225 ft out (I still haven’t got the metric system down yet). It was funny that the competition ended up being won by the one female baseball player who admittedly isn’t even a power hitter, she was just the one that was available. In the finals, she beat out Brad Harman who made his major league debut last season with the Phillies when Jimmy Rollins went down with an injury.

I’m getting a better idea of where I’ll be going and I’ll be quite nomadic it seems. Some time early this week I’ll be heading to Adelaide but more specifically Glenelg which is supposed to be a nice little beach town and I’ll be staying with a 25 year old player from the team. The guy that runs the South Australia team is named Nathan Davidson (known as Davo by the ever-witty Aussies), and he’s apparently known for having a good time in the Glenelg area so I’m told that I’m in good hands. Over the next two months I’m going to be able to make it to Perth in West Australia and Melbourne in Victoria in addition to a few different small towns including the artsy newly trendy river town of Mildura.

I’ve got the next two days to wander Sydney so I’m going to try to see if I can take the ferry around the harbor and do the bridge climb. This week was a good notice that I am here to work and that those off-days must be utilized to the fullest. I’m going to get almost a full week for Christmas so I’m hoping to head either back to Sydney or maybe to the Gold Coast where most of the guys who work for the ABF live.

MLB Showcase Round

Arriving Monday after an easy 14.5 hour flight where I lucked out with a four seat aisle to myself, we headed straight to Homebush the Olympic village from 2000. The baseball stadium was very impressive, it would be a solid triple-A park but it has been converted into an Aussie Rules Football oval and politics that I’m not privy to make it unlikely to be a baseball venue anytime soon. After checking into the hotel we headed for the stadium about 40 miles from the city center in Blacktown. The biggest obstacle is that the baseball stadiums (and I use the term stadium loosely) are obviously not built in the major metropolitan areas so it’s hard to market to and draw the city folk out especially for a sport they could care less about. So the task: Help promote baseball games in a market located 45-60 minutes from one of the world’s main economic hubs to a group of people who are not really interested in baseball…sounds eerily familiar

I really had no idea what I’d be doing this first week where there are ten games in 6 days. I definitely didn’t expect them to be handing me the mic and asking me to be the onfield MC no more than 30 hours after hitting the ground. I was less than thrilled about this but ended up having a lot of fun with it. They had an outline of promos that I was able to change around as I saw fit. One of the contests I changed up was a trivia game that I thought would take too long (they only allot 60 seconds for inning breaks). By taking Mac’s idea for a true/false game we brainstormed an Aussie version, and we ended up creating Australia’s fastest growing quiz sensation: “Dinkum or Dodgie”.

They also had on their lineup a Krispy Kreme Karaoke, which was something I had tried in Elsinore but found it impossible to find participants. The Aussie kids have absolutely stolen the show with this one, the first night 10 year old Ben got a standing ovation for his rendition of Pink’s "So What" from the 149 person announced attendance (I think literally 139 of those tickets were comped). Last night seven year old Tiarra won a unanimous decision with twinkle twinkle little star.

One thing that had me puzzled on their promo lineup was “the mexican wave”. It was clear that they were referring to what we less racistly call “the wave” and there was about a snowball’s chance in Perth that I was going to promote the wave at a baseball game so it was banged.

They are so immersed in American pop culture, and I’m still trying to decide whether that’s a good thing or not. Last night when I got back to the hotel around midnight and flipped on the TV, the sponge-worthy episode of Seinfeld was on so I changed the channel to watch something more Australian and what was on the next channel? Letterman… so at least they have good taste.

THe Mascot Race Hits Australia

This is the Queensland Ram eating it around third. I wish the clip was a little longer because the kid went into a victory hook slide taking a nice divot out of the the Claxton Shield logo behind home plate.

I also wish I had filmed the one from the next night where we did it LE style with another mascot coming out of the dugout to tackle the main mascot. The Perth Heat mascot is a Mr. Met type baseball head and when he went down to spear the South Australia Rhino his head went flying off and a good time was had by all.