Yeah I still had to go to school, grade 9 I think. I remember I had 2 hrs of PE first up, and the PE teacher was totally off his nut!
To this day I think it is our proudest achievement as a nation - it happened in the era when sport was totally dominated by USA, USSR and eastern Bloc nations, as far as I remember. But as a 15YO it was inconcievable that Aussies could win a competition dominated exclusively by the USA for so long - I was into sailing and I knew the history of the cup- and the USA was some allmighty force saving the western world from communist domination, and to beat them with a small team of Aussie sailors in an Aussie designed boat said to me that hey- just because we're Aussies can't mean we can't beat the best in the world. I think our sportspeople learnt from that, Pat Cash, Greg Norman, some car driver, some squash player, gold medals at olympics, suddenly Aussies were proving they could beat the world at anything. It was only a matter of time before the cricket team evolved into a dominant force, capable of justifying their salaries. Sure they slang the opposition a bit, but our nation was built on good natured slanging. If the opposition can't take it, they lose that little battle in what is a 5 day war (test cricket, the only type). They of course are welcome to return the banter. (Yes, Symonds shouldn't have complained). So anyway, the America's Cup win was a pivotal moment in our development as a nation, and our cricketer's success.
