Tired of Sport on TV?

It is tough living in a sport loving nation during major international sporting events which more often than not are played at times that are more commonly consumed with sleeping.

Australian fans have endured weeks of staying up until the wee hours of the morning to watch Wimbledon only to wake up a couple of hours later to watch the FIFA World Cup.  Wimbledon has now been replaced by the Tour de France.

It is to be noted that Australian athletes were not burdened with a expectation of success in any of these events. Australian’s were just happy the Socceroos qualified for the World Cup. The fact that the team actually scored four goals during the group phase was beyond expectations.

Despite being eliminated from the tournament after the group stage Australia can always hold its head high that the embarrassing 4-0 loss at the feet of Germany in the 2010 World Cup was nothing compared to the 7-1 humiliation Germany inflicted on host nation. Brazil.

For ever more Australia can say they are three goals better than Brazil.

In Wimbledon Australian sports fans were not expecting to be barracking for any player with a surname pronounceable to an English speaking public. To be fair many of the players representing Australia have surnames that are difficult at best.

Sam Stosur continued her form by being knocked out in the first round. She did go on to win the mixed doubles with Serbian playing partner Nenad Zimonjic. To prove how little regard is given to mixed doubles, an Australian won a sporting competition, but who knew?

Lleyton Hewitt marched towards retirement with a round two defeat.

Of the 10 Australian’s playing at Wimbledon all but 1 of them were defeated in either the first or second round.  Only Nick Kyrgios made it through to the Quarter Finals with a spectacular defeat of world number 1, Rafael Nadal in four sets.

And didn’t the Australian media and sporting public love it. Not just because of the victory or that between the legs winner but because it meant we could start to forget both Lleyton Hewitt and Bernard Tomic - two players that have failed to warm themselves to the Australian public.

Sure we may have gone a bit over the top to declare him the country’s next grand slam champion, with the expectation that this title would be achieved at Wimbledon. To be fair many “experts” around the world were predicting a Kyrgios championship victory. Sure he lost the next match in four sets. The point is he won something and he has a tribal tattoo thing on his forearm. So desperate for something to barrack for Australian’s don’t even care that it is not a tattoo at all but merely patterned sports tape. Kyrgios is not even the first sportsperson to wear the tape, far from it.

I am waiting for sponsors to emblazon sports tape with their name a logo.

There are Australian’s riding in this year’s Tour de Franc, one of them Richie Porte is even the acting leader of Team Sky. But with the chance of an Australia stage win let alone an overall victory as slim as the likelihood of a player in the World Cup Final being tackled and immediately standing up and indicating that he is fine, the interest of a weary Australian sporting community is going surely tested.

Perhaps some chemical enhancement to increase their chances…oh wait…don't worry.

Anyway bring on the Commonwealth Games, Australia might win something.