The Gabba is the stadium where the Brisbane Lions hold their home matches. It's the home of the Queensland Cricket Club, and located in a neighborhood known as Wooloongabba. Aussies have a habit of shortening most names, so Wooloongabba became The Gabba. It's a beautiful ground, located very close to the heart of the city. Here's a photo of one of the four light poles surrounding the oval, taken from very near the base.
Today, the Lions hosted the Melbourne Demons. It was a shellacking for the Demons. While I'm all for the home team winning games, I do like to watch a good contest. The match was quite uneven, and the final score does not reflect how uneven it was.
It was also ANZAC weekend, and I finally got to see some pomp and ceremony before a game. One of the things that's interesting to me is that this is the first professional sports game I've been to where the Australian national anthem was sung. More importantly, there was a brief memorial for the Diggers at the start of the match. ANZAC Day, which was formally last Friday, is a memorial for and celebration of the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in the First World War who landed on the beach at Gallipoli in what is now Turkey. It's a huge national holiday, roughly equivalent to Memorial Day and Veterans Day in the States, rolled into one. It commemorates the death of 60,000 ANZACS in WWI, as well as all the members of the Armed Services who have served their countries. Each ANZAC day sees dawn services at most of the memorials, followed by parades, and gatherings at the nearest Returned Services League hall.
And, in the same way that many professional teams have games on national holidays, so too do the Aussies have ANZAC day and weekend games. The big game is Carlton vs. Essendon, which is the only Aussie rules game played on ANZAC day itself. The game today at the Gabba continued Aussie Rules ANZAC day celebrations.
The opening ceremony asked all members of the audience to rise and remove their hats. A traditional memorial was spoken, followed by a lone bugler, and then the singing of the national anthem, Australia Fair. The teams lined up for the ceremony. To my experience, this is much closer to how Americans start most professional sports matches in the States. We typically rise and sing the Stars Spangled Banner, doffing our caps. The true patriots place their hand over their hearts.
It was a beautiful, warm day here, perfect for being outside. I went to the match with some friends, and we had a great time. It's really pleasant to spend time with other people who appreciate the finer points of Aussie Rules, and I'm certainly learning a lot more about the game as I watch the professionals play. There's a lot to learn from watching the games on TV, but there's so much more to see from the stands at a real game. It's very similar to the difference between watching baseball on TV and watching baseball in a stadium. You can never see all the action on TV. And in Aussie Rules, the difference is magnified, since there are so many more people on the field, and the ground is so huge. There are over 40 players on the field, plus five umpires and two goal judges. At any given moment, there may be 2-6 trainers wandering about, delivering water or drinks or towels to players, perhaps a trainer or two, and who knows who else, so long as they don't interfere with play. Players are coming onto and off the field regularly, so there's quite a lot to see.
The Gabba is a great stadium and the city has a lot to be proud of for building such a place. Even the light poles have their own kind of geometric and architectural beauty.
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