If life’s decisions were based on just one variable, I would be staying in Australia forever – my selling point being the fact that sports are a part of every newscast here. In fact, the sports report comes BEFORE the weather on every newscast I’ve seen thus far, due in large part to there being no horrific weather to update.
The sports segment of newscasts is slowly fading away in many markets in the United States. That puts me in a predicament as far as finding a job. I’m not particularly upset about that because I’m pretty sure news producing is in my future. But just watching the nightly news to get my semi-local sports fix has always been a part of my dinnertime routine.
Here in Oz the rugby and Aussie Rules Football updates are ongoing throughout the day. Injury updates find their way higher in a newscast rundown than “sunny with a max 16 in Sydney.”
What I don’t particularly like about Australian newscasts is the lack of creativity. Quite honestly, Athens MidDay rivals these casts in terms of visually aesthetic terms. There are no big newscast opens, no produced anchor introductions, dull lower-third graphics and text-on-solid-background full screens. Tech-wise, MidDay is right there.
Unpredictability might be the reason weather comes so late in the newscast (usually the last thing to be seen before the cast ends). To get online here at the hostel, we have to go outside – usually pulling up a seat at a table next to the sidewalk.
This situation has proven something to me about weather in Adelaide, Australia… the most ridiculous I’ve seen anywhere. It could go from rain to sun and back to rain about five times within a couple hours. Not having an umbrella handy in this town just means you’re playing Russian roulette with the storm clouds.
I’d hate to be as unpredictable as the weather, so I’ll let you in on what I’ll be posting next. It has to deal with my latest adjustment to sports here in Australia. Everyone who’s somewhat fluent in sports knows rugby – and the sport is no different here in Oz, either. Hard-nosed and backward-passing. The sport you WON’T know unless you’re a dedicated viewer is Aussie Rules Football. It’s amazing and ridiculous at the same time.
I’m spending this weekend getting a hang on the game so I can talk about it a bit more knowledgably. I look to post about “Friday Night Football,” Colonel Sanders calling the goals and behinds, a 9-game win streak and a 70 point win – all after watching just two games. But still not many graphics… oh the things I would change…
Love you all in the states, check back next for AFL knowledge.
From the other side of the globe, I’m Kevin Hunt.
If you want to see me soon, start digging.
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