Australians love their sports and the sooner you come to terms with that the easier your life here will be.  Rugby Union (NOT to be confused with Rugby League) is the New South Wales sport of choice, while Aussie Rules is king in Victoria.  Summer is the time for the boys in white - it’s cricket season, mate!  Don’t you love a sport that has a tea break?  We all wore green and gold scarves until Australia got cheated out of the World Cup semi finals.  And come the Olympics we cheer for all Australian athletes, but we revere our swimmers.  With all this ocean we better be good, right? 

But it permeates culture even deeper.  Network news is still the dominant force (a bit like the glory days for Dan Rather or Walter Cronkite in the USA).  After 10 minutes of local news, then a minute of international updates, it’s time for the sports.  There are so many games and updates that the Sunday news barely has time for world developments.

And it goes deeper.  Want a product to succeed? Add a sports star to the mix.  Today LG Electronics launched an Australian first - an integrated HDV Recorder in their plasma and LCD televisions.  And at the event was a V8 SuperCar driver, fresh from his victory at Bathurst.  Cars and televisions - there is a link, believe me!

And one deeper.  If you want to do business here follow a sport.  Pick a team.  I use the excuse that I’m truly an ice hockey fan  The school I went to was top of the league in the sport and there’s nothing like the speed and action of a college hockey game (Go Saints!). 

But it’s best if you pick a sport - any sport.  And track their progress.  It’ll make the idle time before a business meeting easier.  Go Swans!