What on earth was going on at the boarding house of St Ignatius, on Tuesday morning last? Normally at 8am, the dining room would be filled with the human version of a horde of locusts, ravenously wolfing down cereal, toast, eggs and bacon, whatever they could get their hungry teenage hands on. But, no, the dining room is deserted. And so are the playing fields. And the basketball court. Not a soul in the cricket nets. None of them in the library and ... And there!
Some cries in the distance. Getting louder now.
![Time to shine: The Pearls' sevens win was a fabulous moment for Australian sport.](/web/20160813171844im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/o/c/8/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gqqwoj.png/1471012701990.jpg)
Oh, goodness, it's an actual roar now, of blood-curdling cries, shouts and roars. Boarding masters rush from all directions.
There they are!
In their dorms, scattered around their studies, all of the boarders are huddled around TVs, tablets, phones and computers cheering and yelling themselves hoarse, as the Australian women's sevens team, the Pearls, give it to the Kiwis, but good! When the final whistle blows, the roars explode even more as these young males cheer themselves hoarse for the wonderful victory of the rugga buggarettes.
Who could have imagined such a thing, even five years ago? A fabulous day for rugby, for sport, for Australia. And much the same scene was going on all over the country. Love it!
What a crazy concept
And so was that win in the sevens some "Olympic magic", as TFF said these games would lack, last week? Absolutely, and for us Australians the first week of these Games has delivered plenty of it. Ultimately, however, we are not the test of the success, or otherwise, of these Olympics. One test is how well they go as a whole, and AOC president John Coates' comments that they have been "the most difficult we have ever encountered", seems fair. The true test will be five and 10 years from now, long after the carnival is over, when the bills must still be paid. At the moment, from the point of view of benefits for the Brazilian population – with 62 per cent of them against it, and many still protesting – it still seems crazy for Rio to have been given them. Not Qatar crazy, mind, just normal crazy.
Wee know how to niggle
![Master sledge: Neil Brooks was adept at the art of mental disintegration in the pool.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160813171844im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/r/e/b/1/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1470984160729.png)
Master sledge: Neil Brooks was adept at the art of mental disintegration in the pool. Photo: Getty Images
![Illustration: John Shakespeare](/web/20160813171844im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/r/d/z/0/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gqqwoj.png/1471012701990.jpg)
You will note in the quotes section those utterances concerning our bloke, Mack Horton, rightly calling Sun Yang a drug cheat, of a French swimmer agreeing, saying he "pisses purple", of the Chinese media saying the Chinese people should not be surprised in anything coming from such an uncivilised nation as Australia. Look, I am sorry I tend to remember such things, but I can't resist noting that all these elements have a rough precedent in Australian swimming. The one-time Mean Machine member, Neil Brooks, once recounted how, back in the day, he was up against a brash, in-your-face and trash-talking American who, before the race, was expending considerable energy trying to psych him out, including the usual stuff about his sexual orientation and parentage. Brooks refused to respond in any way but, when on the blocks, jumped the start – to the sniggers of that same American. But instead of simply turning around and going back to his starting block, Brooks ducked under the rope into the American's lane and ever so slowly swam back to the edge of the pool.
He then lifted himself out of the water and walked past the American and whispered to him, "I've just pissed in your lane", before going on to win the race against the still thunderstruck Yank.
This one's for you, Evan
![Proud moment: Ellia Green, the daughter of the late Evan Green, scores against the Kiwis in the gold medal match.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160813171844im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/r/e/u/y/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1470984753113.png)
Proud moment: Ellia Green, the daughter of the late Evan Green, scores against the Kiwis in the gold medal match. Photo: Getty Images
Now stepping way back to when the leading motoring journo in the land was one Evan Green, a wonderful bloke who had his own motoring program on ABC TV. In the early 1990s Evan and his wife adopted siblings, a boy and a girl, born in Fiji. The girl was only two days old, and they named her Ellia. Sadly Evan died only a couple of years later, leaving his wife to raise the children substantially on her own. For all the tragedy of his early death, how proud Evan would have been – though a very quiet and humble man – to know that his little girl would one day go on to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. Ellia was one of the stars of the show, of course, of the Australian Sevens team.
Cometti has the X factor
Even as the Olympics goes on, the great Denis Cometti continues his victory lap around the country, in his final year before retirement, being as brilliant as ever. Last weekend, as the Swans played Freo at Subiaco, the Swans defender Xavier Richards – known as "X" – takes a great mark 30 metres in front of the Dockers' goal, and prepares to take his kick. Now, although players doing that often scrape their boot on the ground on the exact spot they took the mark so as to keep their bearings, on this occasion Xavier doesn't do that.
What to do, Denis? You've got the killer line, but you've only got two months to go before it's all over. The moment might never come again!
And so he says it.
"I wish Xavier had scraped the ground," Cometti rumbles in that wonderfully deep intonation, "so I could have said, 'X marks the spot'."
Cometti, in space! He swivels! He shimmies! He shakes! He kicks! GOOOOOOAL!
What they said
Australia's Olympic gold medallist in the 400m freestyle, Mack Horton, on part of his motivation to beat his Chinese competitor: "Sun [Yang] is just 'the drug cheat' that's how I went about it."
The Chinese newspaper Global Times explains to its readers how Mack Horton could say such a thing: "Australia is ... a country at the fringes of civilisation, [with an] early history as Britain's offshore prison. This suggests that no one should be surprised at uncivilised acts emanating from the country."
French swimmer Camille Lacourt: "Sun Yang, he pisses purple ... I am very sad when I see my sport getting like this. I have the impression I am looking at athletics, with two or three doped in each final."
Cameron McEvoy, all class, as he swallows his own disappointment at finishing seventh in a race he was expected to win, and deflects attention to his room-mate, Kyle Chalmers, who did win: "But enough about me. Kyle's come in and done another PB on top of the PB he did at the [Olympic] trials. He's just turned 18 and he's an Olympic champion – that's bloody wonderful isn't it." And McEvoy meant it, an exemplar of good sportsmanship!
American golfer Rickie Fowler on playing in the Olympics: "I grew up watching the Olympics every four years ... it was never a dream that I was able to have. To hear a few years back that golf was going to be back in the Olympics ... I mean, it was kind of a dream come true that I wasn't able to dream about before." I get it. Sort of the opposite of your worst nightmare, that didn't actually happen?
Canadian judoka Antoine Valois-Fortier was not happy with his placing in the Olympics: "I can't believe I made all those sacrifices just to finish seventh. I put everything aside – my family, my girlfriend, my studies."
Charlotte Caslick trying to defend the hardness of rugby sevens, could have maybe chosen her words better: "I used to do track running when I was younger and rugby sevens is like running a 400m but on steroids." CUT! Charlotte, can we just do that take again, please? We know what you mean, but still.
Sonny Bill Williams, I think telling Allah it's okay, that Sonny understands, and is not whingeing for doing his Achilles in the first match of the Olympic sevens, as he tweets a photo of himself with crutches and heavy strapping: "Down but never out, always praise to the most high for blessing me with so much!" Allah, too, moves in mysterious ways.
More on dreams from Cate Campbell, who won gold with her sister: "It was one of those unspoken dreams. One that is really deep down in your heart because it kind of feels like a dream that is almost too good to be true and it almost couldn't be a reality."
Sydney University's Tom Carter gallant in defeat, to Norths: "It's a shit way to go out in your career, isn't it? It sucks but congratulations to Norths, too good ... I've given it my all. I didn't play for Australia and I didn't win a grand final in my last game."
Michelle Payne hints that the end might be near, in what appeared to be a blue with a trainer who declined to let her ride the horse of her choice: "Why work your arse off for people who don't appreciate what you do and write you off anyway #moretolife."
Canberra Raider Jarrod Croker has better faith in rugby league fans after the Raiders were told they couldn't play a preliminary final in Canberra: "I reckon if we played it on the Moon they'd get there too."
Jules Boykoff, the author of a book on Olympics history that's critical about the legacy of major sporting events: "When you look back at the bid documents from 2009, the Olympics were definitely designed and pitched as a way of showcasing Brazil as this thriving democracy and burgeoning economy. How big a difference seven years make."
Team of the Week
The Australian Pearls. Our women's Sevens rugby team covered themselves and their sport in glory, with a stunning victory over New Zealand to win gold in Rio.
Mack Horton. The 20-year-old became one of the break-out stars of the Olympic Games, winning the 400m freestyle in stunning fashion.
Mary Hanna. At 61 years and 253 days, the dressage competitor became our oldest Olympian.
Kyle Chalmers. At the other end of the spectrum, a star was born. Free of the yoke of expectations that so many of our swimmers crack under every four years, he soared, and joins Jon Henricks, John Devitt and Mike Wenden as the only Australians to win the Olympics 100m freestyle.
Catherine Skinner. The 26-year-old, who hails from Mansfield in Victoria, the heart of Kelly Country, won Australia's third gold medal at the Rio Olympics, in the clay target shooting competition. Bravo.
The International Paralympics Committee. Emerges as the strongest partner of the Olympics movement, by doing what the IOC should have done, in banning the Russian delegation from their games.
Tim Cahill. The prodigal son returns home.
Ted Richards. The worthy Swans stalwart to beat 'em all announces he is hanging up the boots at the end of the year. Not only did he make his mark, he made hundreds of them, in a career spanning 15 seasons.
Jon Holland. Has been selected as Australia's 444th Test cricketer.
Hurricanes. Finally got to the top of the Super Rugby mountain, beating the Lions in the final last Saturday night.
Northern Suburbs. First Shute Shield since 1975.
Christian Lealiifano. Mate, the entire sports community wishes you all strength as you battle leukaemia.
St Andrews Cathedral School. Is hosting its annual Bledisloe Cup Lunch next Friday at Doltone House. Andrew Blades and Tim Lane are guest speakers. Book online: trybooking.com/mhsv
Nick Kyrgios. Won the ATP tournament in Atlanta, moving his ranking up to 16th in the world.
Jim Furyk. Became the first player in PGA Tour history to shoot a round of 58.
RIP William "Jack" Liversedge, the Parramatta Rugby Club life member, a beloved figure in that fine club, was farewelled at Leppington on Tuesday.
RIP Col Murray. Vale to the NSW Schools life member and president for the past 16 years, who died aged 70. He was involved at CHS, NSW and Australian Schools levels for over 40 years as committee man, coach, manager and selector. The Herald sends its deepest condolences to his widow Kaye and the family.
Twitter: @Peter_Fitz
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