Has Anyone Got A Light? Maybe Some Fireworks?

Yesterday Australia beat Sri Lanka to win the World Cup of Cricket, and despite living in a southern state of America I was lucky enough to see it happen... Well sort of! You see, there was this pesky rain delay causing the game to conclude later than anticipated. This, along with the rain clouds that caused the initial delay, meant that it was rather too dark to play cricket by the waning moments of the game. The umpires, in their infinite wisdom, offered the light to the batsmen (giving them the chance to stop playing because they couldn't see the ball!), effectively ending the game... or so we thought! Australia celebrated, Sri Lanka congratulated, and officials started to set up a presentation podium on the field... It was at this point (quite some time after the initial "taking of the light") that the umpires informed all and sundry (wides, no-balls... ah, no one will get that little gem of wit!) that the game was not over! Indeed, taking the light was only prolonging the finish of the game until the light improved (i.e. dawn!). So podiums were removed, players returned, and the game was played out in darkness (commentators had to watch their monitors to see what was happening, because they couldn't see the center of the ground!). It was a sad, but strangely fitting end to the tournament.

So, how did I get to watch this spectacle? The cricket club I'm a member of bought a subscription to a website providing a feed for all World Cup games, so I watched the final with a bunch of random Aussies, several Sri Lanka families, and other club members. It was a lot of fun, with friendly banter and much cheering! At the end of the game, each and every Sri Lankan supporter shook my hand and congratulated me... Truly good sports!

As for the fireworks, I went to my first baseball game this weekend! I watched Well-Manicured University (that's where I work), thump the visiting team and they provided quite a fireworks display after the game. It was a lot of fun as I went with my sweetie and her colleagues (she works with some interesting people!). However, the most interesting thing I got from the experience was the music... For those of you who haven't been to a baseball game (or haven't seem the film Major League), each batter or pitcher from the home team has their own piece of music played when they go out to bat or pitch. The mixture was quite eclectic, ranging from Irish folk music to rap, but the most painful was for our star pitcher named Price, who's every move was greeted with the theme from "The Price Is Right"!!!

This brings me to my musical question of the blog... What song would you want when walking out to bat? Personally, I would go with "Down Under" by Men at Work...