2000 Sydney Summer Olympics

The city of Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics. The Australian government invested over 10 billion dollars in redeveloping an old unused industrial park. The main stadium used for the games was the ANZ stadium. ANZ is a major bank. The stadium is still being used for professional rugby and soccer matches. Most recently the stadium was used for the final soccer match of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Cricket World Cup

This year the host nations for the 2015 Cricket World Cup are Australia and New Zealand. While I was in Sydney, the pool play for the tournament was just finishing up. I had the opportunity to watch a match at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The match was between England and Afghanistan. Both teams were already knocked out of the tournament, so this match was simply for pride. It was by no means a very big game, so I was able to secure tickets for a very reasonable price. I would estimate that only a fourth of the entire stadium was full. It was very rainy that day, so the match was postponed multiple times and I never even got to see England bat. However I was able to see a large contingency of Afghan supporters who's numbers outweighed those of England's.

Football in England

One of the most popular sports in England is soccer, in some ways it is like a religion. Basically everyone here calls it football, but I have actually heard some locals call it soccer. The best league in the country and one of the best in the world is the English Premier League. Liverpool is home to two EPL teams, Liverpool Football Club (LFC), and Everton Football Club (EFC). Their two home fields are only about a mile apart. One of the first questions people will ask you is which of these two teams you support. While in Liverpool, I had the chance to tour around Anfield, the home of Liverpool Football Club. LFC finished second in the premier league last season.