Having to trudge through all five days of the Ashes.

Actually, sitting through 6 hours of it on Sunday was I think my lifetime quota. If it hadn't been for the 6 beers, 2 glasses of wine, some decent roast beast, and the good company of a handful of Aussies trying to explain the game to me, I'd have called it a day about an hour after the english started their inning.

For those who don't know, the Ashes is a 5 day Cricket competition, this year between England and Australia, played here at "The Gabba" stadium in Brisbane. The only thing more boring to watch is perhaps curling, or lawn bowling, or for us Yanks it would be Golf. You don't go to a Cricket match to watch the game, but for the social value. I did get a good idea of the rules of the game, for the most part, but I don't think even the people that play know all of the rules.

Heck, they don't even let you boo the refs (and anyone who does gets tossed out of the stadium fairly quickly, no refunds).

Nope, I much prefer watching a good game of "Beanball", with the mad Hungarian marching out to the mound with bat in hand.

One bit of good trivia, a famous Cricketeer from the 80s nicknamed Boony is reported to have drank 58 cans of beer on a flight from Australia to London. Now that is legendary.

"Heck, they don't even let you boo the refs... "

You must be thinking of GB's Parliment, not cricket. The booing, the hisses, the hostage sent to the Palace when the Queen addresses Parliment.... (sigh) ..... that's what America needs, instead of the PC dopes we've got that like to pretend they're all good friends.

C-SPAN could be interesting at times. I wish we could have TV with just the channels we want --- I might be willing to reconnect.

Sue

"...the 6 beers..."

Was the beer warm, or cold, like it should be???

They only serve cold beer here mate. You must be thinking about them German beers. The only time they'll drink it warm is when the icebox is on the fritz.

It's good, but some of it is a little strong. When the alchohol content is over 5% I get into trouble too easy. It's fun to watch them go after a Duvel's like they do their regular pub fodder. At 12% content, they get pissed (english for drunk) pretty quick.

As for the Ashes, I found out later that the five day event they had here in Brisbane is only one of 5 such matches they'll have over the next month or so. Right now they are just finishing the second 5 day Ashes match in Adelaide, looking to be a draw. Next they will play in Sydney, then Melbourne, then ending in Perth sometime in January. If you can imagine, there are folks who will attend all five days of all five matches.

Some people really have nothing in life to live for, y'know?

Well, the Aussies beat the English in the 2nd match with a tremendous come from behind finish. I guess after 5 days of play, the only part of the game worth paying attention to was the last 3 hours. This proves to me that Abner Doubleday had it right, a good ball game should be no longer than that.

Anyways, the prospect that England can rally is dismal. The matches in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney are going to be more difficult than the first two for them, and I expect the Aussies will send them home broken hearted and forlorn.

These Aussies haven't seen any of the Blue Collar Comedy routine yet. I am going home to grab up all my cds and bring them back. They ought to get a hoot out of redneck humor I reckon, he he he...