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Reports from Belo Interactive contributors at the Olympics in Sydney, AustraliaMatt Zaffino: An authentic Aussie tribute 09/24/2000 By Matt Zaffino / KGW.com, Portland, Oregon They all sing. Every single one of them. On key, or off, it doesn't really
matter, nobody cares.
Maybe it's because they've had a few, or a few too many, but mostly it's
simple sheer fun and patriotism.
I had a chance to venture to downtown Sydney on a Saturday night. The Harbor
Bridge never looked better, sporting it's new O' Rings, that shine brightly
over a city that becomes more vibrant with every Olympic event.
I found myself bellied up to the bar and tightly packed in among 500 raving
Aussies at the Observer Hotel, as the Aussie women's water polo team staged
a gutty comeback to beat the Americans on live TV.
As the only American in the place, I felt the courageous thing to do was to
join in with the rousing call of Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!, which is ALWAYS
followed by a hearty OY! OY! OY!
So maybe it wasn't exactly courageous, but there were 500 raving, spirited,
spirit-full and patriotic Aussie's surrounding me, and it just seemed like a
good time to try and fit in.
When in Sydney, act like a Sydney-sider. Which was easy, as long as I had a
beer in my hand and kept my mouth shut. After the national call and response
cheer was over, the whole bar, I mean everyone...started singing Waltzing
Matilda. Not the official Australian national anthem, but the de facto and
popular one. But when Matilda stopped Waltzing, the bar kept singing.
Even as the golden euphoria waned a bit, a euphoria that was especially
sweet for them because they beat the Americans, the whole bar, and I mean
everybody, sang along with EVERY song the guitar player on stage came up
with. It was beautiful, as long as you didn't listen too closely. And very
fun.
The Aussie's are really good at having fun, and they didn't pass up on the
opportunity to get a few jabs in at the Yank, whose team had just suffered a
devastating defeat at the hands of the Aussie's women's water polo team. But
that's O.K., the Aussie are EXTREMELY competitive, and the entire nation
loves sports.
And even as they host the biggest sporting event on the planet, I've yet to
see an Aussie be rude or one that has let sporting victory turn into a
license for bragging. It's quite admirable.
A big part of their national identity is tied into individuality and an
attitude of not really caring what the rest of the world thinks. But they do
care, at least during the Olympics.
Nearly without exception, the first question an Aussie asks you when they
hear your John Wayne accent (they think all Americans sound that way) is
what you think of Sydney and Australia. And the answers they've been getting
from nearly all of international Olympic visitors definitely give the
Aussie's good reason to sing.
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Track star 
1996
swimming gold medalist Ryan Berube 
