A Day For Boxes

Today in Australia and other countries that still bow to the great Queen Elizabeth, boxes get the spotlight. It's called Boxing Day and there appear to be numerous meanings behind it.

One is that it is a time for people to get boxed. Seems a particularly lame one. I thought it had something to do with picking up all the trash after Christmas. Close. Well, not really close at all. Boxing Day is when the poor people get a little something out of the mouths and hands of the rich. That's an oversimplification of a meaning that dates back a lot of years. A much more involved explanation of the public holiday is here.

Two major sporting events being on Boxing Day here: the annual Test Cricket match, which this year is between India and Australia; and the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

I know nothing about yachts. But all I've been hearing in the last few days especially has been 'Sydney to Hobart,' 'Sydney to Hobart.' The race itself is run or done or boated or whatever between a bunch of people on their particular yachts. They leave Sydney Harbor then head south down through the Tasman Sea, by the Bass Strait, and into Hobart, Tasmania. Good stuff. I watched for ten minutes. Then there's cricket. I'm trying to learn about it. I vowed to watch the entire test match. It takes place over

five days. To me, 'test' means preseason. Practice. But it seems to be the total opposite. Marathon-like play. This country loves  cricket like it loves beer, which is a lot.  I watched about three hours today. Maybe more. I'll watch more tomorrow and Friday. It's a strange thing to watch new-to-me sports and, one be able to pick a favorite-ish player and, two, become somewhat engrossed.

I grew up watching and loving basketball -- college and professional -- and baseball. There was even a Steffi Graf-inspired stint of tennis obsession, and I even used to get behind football. A bit. There are a lot of things to see here, but I can't get to them yet. But I can watch sports -- excuse me, 'sport' -- so I'm trying to take up the part of Australia that I can. Cricket and yachts on Boxing Day are a good start.

As are the Brisbane Bullets, thank you very much. In about a week, we'll be a train ride away from basketball!