For nigh on twenty years Australian sporting teams beat and often thrashed their British counterparts in just about every sport where the two countries clashed.
Whether you kicked it, threw it, hit it, pushed it, swam in it or ran in it the boxing kangaroo perenially slay the British bulldog, wherever they met.
There was the occasional break in the weather for the poms but it was usually just a ray of sun peeking through a hole in the clouds which would quickly close over again and the agony of British sport would continue.
This may have bred some arrogance into Australian sporting followers and I daresay the chip on the British shoulder grew in direct comparison. The age old sporting enmity took on a lopsided appearance and a sense of superiority permeated the Australian mindset when the idea of taking on a British sporting team was mooted.
Of course this peculiar antipodean dominance could never last and it is a wonder it went on for as long as it did. Now the worm has inevitably turned and are the Brits enjoying it? Oh yeah!
Decades of defeat at the hands of men and women from downunder have turned British sporting followers into rabid anti-Australian mobs and now, on the back of investment in sport to the tune of several hundred millions of pounds supplied by British lottery revenue, the British lion is roaring on the sporting fields of the world and at the Olympics their supporters are letting Australia, with our relatively light Olympic campaign causing some discomfort, know about it.
It is a bit of a credit to Australians, although we don’t like it, that most people have shrugged their shoulders and gotten on with life without gnashing their teeth and demanding funds be drawn away from infrastructure, roads and education and re-routed into sport to sure up our Olympic fortunes in the future. I think Aussies have matured and national self-belief no longer hinges on whether or not we beat the Brits. I think most people are more embarrased about New Zealand winning more gold medals than us. And they are letting us know about that too! But we are only half way through the games and I think the usual balance with our trans-Tasman rivals will be restored before the closing ceremony.
The British are enjoying their moment and good luck to them because it probably won’t last forever. It never does.
Britain has some major problems economically and socially and with the Olympics out of the way it can only be a matter of time before questions are asked about lottery money being funnelled into sport to the detriment of the well being of the rest of British society.
And of course there is one thing that they can always count on. The worm will turn again and the day will come when the green and gold will assert itself on the field of sport once more and vanquish the British bulldog and put him in his place. One can only hope Aussies can display as much humility when it happens as they have over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I doubt it.
Hope you are enjoying the Olympic Games and have a good day.
Whether you kicked it, threw it, hit it, pushed it, swam in it or ran in it the boxing kangaroo perenially slay the British bulldog, wherever they met.
There was the occasional break in the weather for the poms but it was usually just a ray of sun peeking through a hole in the clouds which would quickly close over again and the agony of British sport would continue.
This may have bred some arrogance into Australian sporting followers and I daresay the chip on the British shoulder grew in direct comparison. The age old sporting enmity took on a lopsided appearance and a sense of superiority permeated the Australian mindset when the idea of taking on a British sporting team was mooted.
Of course this peculiar antipodean dominance could never last and it is a wonder it went on for as long as it did. Now the worm has inevitably turned and are the Brits enjoying it? Oh yeah!
Decades of defeat at the hands of men and women from downunder have turned British sporting followers into rabid anti-Australian mobs and now, on the back of investment in sport to the tune of several hundred millions of pounds supplied by British lottery revenue, the British lion is roaring on the sporting fields of the world and at the Olympics their supporters are letting Australia, with our relatively light Olympic campaign causing some discomfort, know about it.
It is a bit of a credit to Australians, although we don’t like it, that most people have shrugged their shoulders and gotten on with life without gnashing their teeth and demanding funds be drawn away from infrastructure, roads and education and re-routed into sport to sure up our Olympic fortunes in the future. I think Aussies have matured and national self-belief no longer hinges on whether or not we beat the Brits. I think most people are more embarrased about New Zealand winning more gold medals than us. And they are letting us know about that too! But we are only half way through the games and I think the usual balance with our trans-Tasman rivals will be restored before the closing ceremony.
The British are enjoying their moment and good luck to them because it probably won’t last forever. It never does.
Britain has some major problems economically and socially and with the Olympics out of the way it can only be a matter of time before questions are asked about lottery money being funnelled into sport to the detriment of the well being of the rest of British society.
And of course there is one thing that they can always count on. The worm will turn again and the day will come when the green and gold will assert itself on the field of sport once more and vanquish the British bulldog and put him in his place. One can only hope Aussies can display as much humility when it happens as they have over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I doubt it.
Hope you are enjoying the Olympic Games and have a good day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 