Oz Sport

An objective view of the national pastime, in it's various shapes, styles and seasons.

Australia is sports mad. Absolutely obsessed. If it bears any resemblance to a sport, it will have a bunch of Aussies standing at the sidelines yelling at their favourite player or team. Some of the more popular sports among Aussies are:

Cricket

The day long or longer matches that this sport provides are excellent opportunities to have a relaxing day sitting in the stands with a pie in one hand, a beer in the other and multi coloured zinc cream all over your face. Streakers are popular, umpires are not and the cricketers themselves are living legends.

Football

In Oz, this comes in three codes, Australian Rules (AFL), Rugby Union and Rugby League. Each has an avid following which varies from state to state, ie Victorians are AFL mad, New South Welshmen are Rugby League mad, etc. Note that football does not mean soccer, all versions of football are played with an oval ball.

Tennis

We Aussies have a proud tradition in the game which goes back to the days of Rosewall and his mates. Pat Rafter and Mark Phillipousis are keeping the tradition going, not to mention the Woodies, who have won 5 straight Wimbledon titles. Our Lleyton recently became the world's youngest number 1 as well.

Swimming

This has become particularly popular of late, due to the likes of various Superfish such as Kieran Perkins, Daniel Kowalski, and recently Michael Klim and Ian Thorpe (the Thorpedo).

Motorsport

Races like the Bathurst 1000 are great proving grounds for the endless Ford v's Holden battle. Modified sedan racing is more popular than something like formula 1, but not by much.

Others

Australia is also good at Netball and Hockey, and has class leading representatives in such sports as cycling and athletics.

Not so Good Sports

While it sometimes seems hard to believe, Australia is also bad at some sports. While there is a healthy basketball code here, our talents wain behind the world's best. Australia also features numerous top grade soccer players, but can't seem to get itself into the World Cup. Also, if it involves snow or ice, we're hopeless (mostly).