Bye bye to the Commonwealth Games.

I’m not normally that enthused by sport, but going to see the athletics at the MCG enthused me somewhat. I also saw the big fish thingies on the Yarra on Friday night, and enjoyed wandering amongst the big crowds. I watched some of the TV coverage, and noted that there were possibly only two sports that I could not even attempt without risking immediate and serious injury to myself: gymnastics and diving.

Two thirds of the team from Sierra Leone have gone missing, presumably wanting to stay in Australia. Anyone would think they didn’t want to go back to their war-ravaged poverty-stricken country.

Anything to escape the sight of 1000 Dame Ednas, I suppose. Jeez, gimme a break.

Ah well, the Games have finished now.

For just ten days there were heaps of people roaming the streets with huge Games ID tags with undecipherable acronyms written on them.

For just ten days you could catch a train after 7pm without waiting for half an hour, and a bus home from the station in the evening. Barely a single cancellation in that time, yet this morning the old familiar beep beep of an SMS train cancellation alert was back.

For just ten days, some of the world’s best athletes were wandering around town. Some of the Canadian team on Friday were intrigued enough to explore the esoteric and exotic realm of TieRack in Collins Street. Earlier I observed one of the Botswanan team chomp down a burger. (Hopefully it was after his event.)

For just ten days, you could blame anything that went wrong on The Games.

For just ten days, no matter how crowded the streets were, or how long it took to get anywhere, everyone seemed to be in a good mood.

Now it’s all over. I think I’ll miss it.