The homesickness finally kicked in and I have resigned myself to it. After nearly two years playing football and studying at the University of Central Oklahoma, the call of Australia is too alluring to resist.
Thankfully, I’ll be home in two weeks but until then I’ve been exhausting AFL, NRL, Super Rugby and highlights of anything remotely to do with Australian sport.
During this time I’ve received many sideways looks from the Yanks – Oklahomans insist that’s just the Northerners but we Aussies don’t discriminate – and as such it spawned an idea.
America is a fish bowl and this is none so true than in the Bible Belt and in my time here I’ve answered the following questions.
“So Ned bro, how long have you been speaking English?” and “Australia has as many people as America right?”
So in what way could I cure my homesickness while learning from American and Australian cultural differences? Show my American friends some of the most iconic Australian sporting moments of course!
Stephen Bradbury’s 2002 Winter Games gold medal
This was the clear-cut first choice, purely for the comedy value. No country in the world idolizes athletes than the US.
The best in the business become infallible as people and close-seconds might as well be playing third grade in Narre Warren.
Michael Jordan can be an awful human being it doesn’t stop people worshipping the ‘Church of Jumpman’.
Peyton Manning can set every record in existence but isn’t Tom Brady so is he even a Hall of Famer? America doesn’t just celebrate athletic achievement; it celebrates achievement at the expense of other greats.
It celebrates the best ever, not the best right now.
Then we have Stephen Bradbury. Does any sporting achievement encapsulate the larrikinism of Australia than the frosted-tipped, eyebrow-pieced king of the ice? It’s a hard one to beat.
A true tortoise and the hare tale on the biggest stage of all and it finished with an Australian sporting icon looking as surprised as all those in attendance.
The American response? “He wasn’t even the best in the race! It was all luck!”
My response? Bradbury is like Tim Duncan. He excels at the fundamentals…in this case, the fundamentals of staying upright on the ice while crossing the line.
The result? As Paul ‘Chief’ Harragon would say, “that’s gold”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAADWfJO2qM
Australian beating Uruguay for first World Cup in 32 years
Living in the US during the 2014 World Cup taught me one thing. This country is capable of being soccer obsessed.
This does present a double-edged sword. On one hand the support was overwhelming but this also led to unrealistic expectations of what the team could achieve.
Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore carried Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba-like expectations. I attribute this to the US being so formidable on the international sporting stage and the fact that they hadn’t missed a World Cup since 1986.
When John Aloisi’s strike hit the back of the net in front of 60,000 people in 2005, I like to think it taught my friends a valuable lesson. Be thankful for what you have.
America, you aren’t great at soccer and that’s OK! You have Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods. You don’t need a Zlatan, Lionel Messi, or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Just enjoy the fact that you’ve had a team to root for in the World Cup.
Side note: Some of my friends now think Australia is great at soccer because we beat Uruguay in 2005 – probably because all they think of Uruguay now is Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani. Win-win I suppose.
Stephen Larkham’s drop goal against South Africa in 1999
The feed, the whip of the leg across the body, and Larkham slotting an unexpected drop goal from 50 metres out against the Springboks, sealing the fate of South Africa’s hopes and ensuring Australia’s spot in the Rugby World Cup 1999 final.
The idea of a Rugby World Cup seems somewhat strange in America because firstly, they don’t really play the sport and secondly, the countries participating appear to be concentrated purely in two regions of the world.
These two regions also happen to not be America. Just thought I’d point that out.
Apart from the initial questions about the absence of pads, why NFL players don’t use the drop goal and whether Larkham’s helmet actually protected anything, those I showed it to received the moment with high praise.
Shortly after the admiration wore off there were a number of Invictus references…I tried to mention that it was a different World Cup but they were having too much fun at my expense.
Apparently Matt Damon would make a great Stephen Larkham, who knew?
Jason McCartney returns to football
Let me first say that I believe in the purity of sports as a form of escapism. On occasion however, we witness a moment that transcends sport and not only acts as a social commentary but a provider of true perspective.
Jason McCartney returning to AFL on June 6, 2003 was the exact moment that as a 12-year-old, sport was truly put into perspective for me.
This night showed me that no, sport isn’t everything. But it sure is something.
Sport has the ability to mend bridges, provide a reason to live and inspire hope for so many.
McCartney returning to the footy field to me represented a stand against acts so unthinkable and unequivocally un-Australian.
Now was this the intended message? I’m not sure, after all it was just a game of footy wasn’t it? The same Darren Gaspar lined up.
So did the same Shannon Grant and Leigh Harding. But it was different, it was poignant and was a learning experience for so many people watching.
This moment was the most relatable for my American friends given the prevalence of military families involved in the ‘war on terror’, many of whom are currently coping with deployment of loved ones.
This moment crossed the Pacific and resonated with many people to whom it was shown.
Mark Ricciuto’s hip n’ shoulder on Dean Kemp
I know that in of itself, Roo’s hit on Kemp isn’t an iconic sporting moment that comes to the forefront of your memory. However, it was the first AFL hit I showed my American counterparts within days of stepping off the plane in this faraway land of Oklahoma.
Much like the hit itself, it set the tone of things to come.
Classic ‘biffs, bumps and brawlers’ footage resulted in me taking great pleasure in looking around as jaws remained perpetually dropped on every one of my friends faces.
What followed were questions of “so y’all don’t wear pads, just a mouthpiece?” and statements of “nope, nope, y’all are crazy”.
I took great pride and joy in these reactions and while the majority of the footage was from yesteryear, did I tell them that? Of course not. It’s par for the course in Aussie rules right? Just another day at the office?
At least that’s what I led them to believe. After all, it made them give me less grief for just being a punter.
What iconic Australian sporting moments would you have shown and what which one did I egregiously leave absent?
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