Melbourne Cricket Grounds

Melbourne Cricket Grounds
Originally uploaded by cheryl_lynn425.

Day Two in Melbourne, about 30 of us went on a tour of the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG). Apparently cricket is a really big deal. They have a club and the members get special seating at the games which keeps improving even from that point depending on how long you have been a member. The woman leading our tour was a member and her husband was a fifty year member meaning he was THE MAN when it came to the MCG.

The stadium itself was huge, seating just over 100,000 people when you count standing room as "seating." But despite its size and the affection the locals feel for it, it wasn't very modern in many regards. The changing rooms were about like our locker rooms at CLHS, and in some cases probably not as nice. (Hey its Texas, you know the football locker room, though I've never seen it, must be state of the art.) The changing room at the MCG was just a big room with lockers and a long wooden bench. Nothing like what I've seen at Yankee Stadium or Fenway. I can't imagine telling the David Ortiz of Melbourne Cricket that he doesn't even get a padded chair in his locker room. However it did have these cool shades around the perimeter of the building that moved as the sun moved to continually keep out the light. I have to admit, pretty cool. Sounded like something sports fields in the South could use come July each year...

Six of us climbed to the very top of the stands during the tour. Thats where Jake and I are in this picture. More about Melbourne coming!
Cheers