Yesterday at the Australian Tennis Open we were witness to a Mexican Wave out on one of the smaller courts. An audience wave can come around pretty quickly in a small tennis stadium. They also had a double wave going, the wave going in alternate directions and seemingly passing through each other – I had not seen that before. I have also heard of crowds coming up with combinations, changing speed, and bouncing back in the direction it came. A few stadiums are discussing the option of stopping audiences from making the wave, as it is considered dangerous. Although this wave at the tennis was just a ripple as far as waves go, I would have to agree that they can be dangerous when people start throwing objects and drinks as the wave passes, and it can be distracting if you are trying to watch a game being played. If they can control it so that waves are only done during breaks in the games, and stop people from dangerous trowing of objects. It may be easier said than done, as a log day at the cricket or tennis, after a few beers, people will think they can get away with whatever they want.
Related Pages: Australian Open, Grand Slam Tennis, About Tennis
Tags: australian open·crowds·grand slam·Tennis
I planned a nice day today at the Australian Open, avoiding the forecasted very hot weather mid week. However, today the weather has gone too far the other way, and drizzling rain set in for the day. After some days where the heat policy was put into play, it was now the turn of the wet weather policy to have an effect. Luckily our day ground pass tickets allowed entry to the Vodafone Arena, with its roof closed to the rain. We could see on the scoreboard that no play was taking place on the outside courts, so we settled in to watch a few games under shelter. There was a strong French theme providing the netertainment: Amelie Maurezmo, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet. At the end of the day, the clouds cleared for a short time for us to explore the outer courts and set down to watch Australian crowd favourite Wayne Arthurs. The crowd was very excited about the prospect of watching one of the few Aussies left in the draw, however, a misdirected pain killing injection prior to the match turned his leg numb, and he had to hobble off the court and withdraw only after a couple of games. It was not the day we expected, but nevertheless very entertaining.
Related Pages: Australian Open, Grand Slam Tennis, Tennis
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At the first day at the Australian Open there was lots of action and excitement, but unfortunately a lot of that took place off the court. Melbourne is a very multicultural city, with many Australians having European ancestry, including Croats and Serbs. There has been a long history of animosity between Serbs and Croats back home in Croatia, but not here. I don’t know all the details, but some youths from these groups had an altercation in the crowd resulting in them being ejected. These guys have mostly grown up in Australia, so they must have learnt this hatred from their parents. It is embarrassing that these images were broadcast around the world – they are painting a bad image of Australia for the world audience, one that is essentially untrue. They have obviously not embraced the spirit of Australia. The Australian Open has a history of the Swedes being very vocal and colourful, and they have added a unique flavour to this ‘friendly’ tournament. There has never been a serious complaint about their behaviour. The authorities are going to increase security at the tennis from now on, but the tennis supporters don’t want to see a stop to people dressing up, chanting and showing support for their country or parent’s country.
Related Pages: Australian Open, Grand Slam Tennis, Tennis
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Last night the Victorian Bushrangers took on the Tasmanian Tigers in the domestic cricket twenty20 final. We took the tram to the ground to take advantage of the free entry into the MCG with a MetCard. I don’t know why, but we made our way to the same spot we were in for the Australian game last night. This was my first live experience of a Twenty20 match. The first thing I noticed was that the boundary rope was set an extra 20 metres or so further inside the normal position. Why do they need to make it easier to score boundaries? It was a slog fest, as these games are expected to be, and although Tasmania did not make a huge score, it was a close and exciting finish. I like twenty20, but I wouldn’t go to watch skilful play. I would prefer to watch a Test or one day game, which takes the time for a player to show his skill and develop a game plan.
Related Pages: Cricket, Twenty20, MCG
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My wife and I went to watch Australian versus England in the first one day match of the current series, played at the MCG. We thought we were lucky to find some of the last remaining seats amongst the crowd on the bottom level, hoping to enjoy a few rays of sunshine. Mistakenly, we had sat in the old Bay 13 section, where all rowdy supporters are seated. The first thing we noticed as a large security and police presence. On the scoreboard they listed unacceptable behaviour, but I did not read it as it was such a long list! I soon found out some of what was on the list, as people around us, one by one, were kicked out the ground for breaking the rules. One of the biggest problems was throwing beach balls. At first I thought that they were being a bit heavy handed – what damage can a beach ball do? After my wife was covered with spilt beer and such five times from guys jumping up to hit the balls, I joined the anti-beach ball club. We also saw around us people who had brought in alcohol, were smoking, and even one guy threw a tennis ball at a player fielding on the boundary, hitting him in the back. All these people were promptly sent home. To finish it off, in the last overs someone ran onto the field, not quite with all his gear off, and would have found himself given a $6000 fine. An expensive day at the cricket. All in all we heard that over 100 people were ejected from the stadium. What about the cricket? Well, after the break we moved to the quieter upper level, and were actually able to watch some of the game. Australia won as expected.
Related Pages: Cricket, MCG
Tags: Cricket·mcg·test
