5 Great Australian Sporting Moments

I'm back from holidays!  Yes, I'm actually typing this post in 'real time'.

One thing we did on our holidays was chill out and watch some of the Commonwealth Games.  In celebration of Australia's dominance in the medal count, I thought I'd share five sporting moments by individuals or teams representing Australia that gave me goosebumps.

1.  Cricket: Michael Bevan hits a four off the final ball to secure a dramatic victory for Australia in a one-day international against the West Indies at the SCG, New Year's Day 1996.



2.  Swimming: Kieren Perkins wins the 1500m freestyle at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics after just scraping into the final and starting as the underdog in lane 8.



3.  Swimming:  The Australian men win the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2000 Sydney Olympics breaking years of US dominance in this race and after American, Gary Hall Jr said the American team would smash the Australians like guitars.  Who's laughing now, huh?



4.  Pole Vault:  Tatiana Grigorieva comes from nowhere to grab silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and gives the American favourite, Stacy Dragila, one heck of a fright.



5.  Tennis: Mark Philippoussis and Jelena Dokic win Australia's first Hopman Cup in 1999.

What are your favourite Australian sporting moments?

Images are from http://wallcrow.com/images/tatiana-grigorieva.php?page=2 and http://wtabackspin.blogspot.com/2010/01/backspin-time-capsule-dokic-down-under.html

Readathon

Ronnica from the Ignorant Historian is participating in the 2010 Readathon for Hunger, organised by her sister-in-law.  Basically the way it works is that you donate $1 or purchase one non-perishable food item for each hour you read and donate them to a local food bank.  You can read her post here.

I live half a world away from Ronnica who lives in the US, but I can still participate from here in rural Western Australia.  I'm an avid reader and I care very much for those who struggle with poverty so this is an ideal opportunity to put faith into action.  Dalwallinu has a community pantry for those in need.

I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty here, but if you're desperately wanting to show love to others and aren't sure where to start, consider particpating in the 2010 Readathon for Hunger...from wherever you are.

A Comforting Post (In More Ways Than One)

In my post, Friday Focus: Mourning With The Mourning, I expressed my strong feelings towards those who fail to comfort those suffering in their midst.

This post from Radical Womanhood says it better than I ever could.

Have a read and let me know what you think.

Friday Funny

It's a hoot!

ACTS 2:38

A woman had just returned to her home from an evening of church services, when she was startled by an intruder. She caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables and yelled, "Stop! Acts 2:38!" (Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven).

The burglar stopped in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar: "Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell Scripture to you."
"Scripture?" replied the burglar. "She said she had an axe and two 38s!"

Knowing Scripture can save your life - in more ways than one!

Finally Brides

My netball team won the local grand final a few weeks ago.  It should have been a joyous occasion since my team lost the grand final last year, had never won before, and had a long history of finishing runners-up.  I could tell this had been really eating away at my captain (who has been playing for 11 years) by all the emails she kept sending us, telling us we had to win.  We ended up winning by five goals 35-30.

But by the end of the night, I had a medal around my neck and felt like I did nothing to deserve it.  In the semi-final, I sat the first half on the bench since it was a rare occasion where we actually had a sub.  As I was just getting over a chest infection, this was fine by me.  In the grand final, the same thing happened except we got to three-quarter time and I still hadn't had a run.  Eventually they felt sorry for me and brought me on the for the fourth quarter, but in WD.  I'd played WA all year and get stuck in the worst stinkin' position ever for the grand final.

It was exciting to win, but I still feel like the weakest link that had to be kept off the court so my team would have a better chance.  Disappointing, even though I know it's a team sport.

Oh well!

Kiss the Cheek, Stab the Back

I am a woman (surprise, surprise).

I am a woman...but I really don't understand women.

Sometimes I think there is a lot of merit in how men deal with disagreements.  Get in the boxing ring, have a punch-up, and then go and have a beer together afterwards.  Ok, so it's not a great way to resolve things, but at least it's straight-up and honest.

I can't stand the bitching, the gossiping, the backstabbing, the exclusion and the falsehood when it comes to women.  If you don't like me, say it to my face, then I can move on, but don't kiss my cheek and twist a knife into my back at the same time.  It reminds me of Judas Iscariot.

I've been introduced to some women and straight away I've got the vibe that they don't like me.  I felt like yelling at them, "How can you hate me when you've only just met me?!?"  Other times, I feel like I'm trapped into a competition with other women that I never wanted to get involved in.  A competition to see who will get a boyfriend first, get married first, have kids first, who has the best behaved kids, get the best marks, have the best job, buy a house first, have the best grasp of theology.  Ok, so I'm not in some of those stages of life yet, but I feel like I'm already losing in a lot of areas.

I think this post is stemming from how I felt at my school reunion.  No matter how successful, smart or beautiful I become, I will never be good enough for some people.  Some people have tried to tell me in the past that it's because some women are jealous and feel threatened.  I honestly can't tell with some women.

What I really don't get is how I despise those attributes in other women, yet I am just as guilty when it comes to having a competitive streak.  I feel ashamed with how I've treated other girls in the past, particularly when I was a kid.  I have to keep asking myself, "WHY am I feeling like I'm trying to compete with women who are my FRIENDS?"  We are in completely different stages of life and have completely different circumstances.  It's not a race.  You simply can't compare some people, yet I always feel like I have to be the best.  Why?  I guess everyone's going to say the answer is 'sin'.

Ladies, why can't we all (myself included) look at another woman and instead of seeing a potential rival, see a potential friend?

I don't get it.  Please explain.

The Days of the Old Schoolyard

A few weeks ago I had my 10 year high school reunion down in Albany.  It's a long drive, but totally worth it since I got to see my Nan when she was in Albany Hospital (she's home now...yay!)  It was very strange without Ellie though.

Two girls from my year started organising the reunion in January and posted it on Facebook.  At first, I was really excited about going, but as the time drew nearer, I started to get a bit nervous.  I was hoping that it wouldn't be awkward.  I consider my high school years some of the best of my life, but that was because I had such fantastic friends.  We weren't popular by any stretch of the imagination and I was wondering whether the popular crowd (the 'plastics' as my friend, Rhianon, calls them) would speak to us or still look at us like we were bugs needing to be squashed.

Duncan and I drove all the way to Albany on Friday the 10th September, picking up Rhianon in Perth on the way (her husband, Linton, decided not to come).  I was very glad she was coming because I'm not sure I would have gone otherwise.  The reunion was on the Saturday night.  When we walked into the pub, I felt instantly at ease when I saw an old schoolfriend, Natasha, who I hadn't seen for years.  It was great to speak to others I'd long lost touch with - it was as if no time had passed.  Unfortunately the 'plastics' completely ignored us except for a couple of girls who are lovely people and will talk to anyone.  I smiled and tried to make eye contact with a few of them, but they looked away and pretended they didn't see me (OBVIOUSLY pretending).  How rude!  I told Rhianon later that they probably felt intimidated by us because we're so ridiculously good looking. ;)

There were about 100-120 people in my graduating class, but the reunion invitation was for all people who were in my year from Year 8 in 1996 to Year 12 in 2000.  Only about 60 people showed up, and that included partners, so the turn-out was a bit disappointing.  Some people are living interstate or overseas now, but I think many just couldn't be bothered.  Sadly four guys from my year have since passed away (three from road accidents, one died in his sleep from meningitis, I think).  I was quite surprised to find out how many of my old classmates still live in Albany.  When we were in high school, we thought Albany was a hole and couldn't wait to move away.

After about three hours, Duncan started to get a glazed, bored look on his face so Rhianon and I decided it was time to leave.  He said he felt uncomfortable because some of the girls were staring at him curiously and he thought they were probably wondering if he'd been in their year, but they couldn't remember him.  They were probably wondering how on earth I managed to snag such a hot man hahaha.

When we picked Rhianon up the next morning to begin the long journey home, she said she was glad she went, but didn't think she would miss much if she hadn't.  I felt the same.  It was really sad when Rhianon's mum mentioned that she didn't even get invited to her reunion even though most people from her year knew she was in Albany and how to contact her.  She also said she occasionally bumps into some of her female classmates and they'll talk to her when they're on their own, but not when their other friends are around.

The main reason I wanted to go was to see if anything had changed after 10 years.  I know from Facebook who is married, who has kids, and that five girls from my year are now professional photographers.  What I was interested in was people's attitudes.  Were they nicer people than 10 years ago?  Sadly the answer for many is no, although I never want to take anything away from those who are unpretentious and friendly.  I thought people grew up a lot between ages 17 and 27.  I was mistaken.

I am grateful to the two girls who bothered to organise the reunion though.

Have you ever been to a reunion of any kind?  How did you find it?  Had people changed much over the years, for better or worse?

Rhianon, me, Duncan, Natasha and her husband, Billy.