I think I was like that at first and have no idea why.

Bovverrred?

Buzzy

Back on the sport discussion...

How about NYC?
2 pro (American) football teams
2 pro baseball teams
2 pro basketball teams
3 pro Hockey teams
1 football team (MLS)
U.S. Open Golf Championship (well in 09, 06 (Australian won it ), 04, 02)
The NYC marathon
A bunch of random sporting events, like UFC or WWE/TNA, boxing, etc!

NYC is defenetly a good competitor, but Melbourne probably wins the affordability race by a mile though!!!

Melbourne looks like it has a much better lifestyle as well!

Hi UK-2-Oz sorry but I had to laugh..I've been in Darwin (well just outside) for the last 3 years and yes it's a bit warm and sticky in the wet (Nov-Apr) but you do get used to it and when I was in Vic i July..bloody chilly that's all I can say!! LOL

on the sporting capitol topic i also agree about it being over stated about Melbourne, sporting capitol of Australia maybe but the world no chance, and if the state didnt pump millions into the tennis and Formula1 they wouldnt have them. London is a far bigger sporting city, i wonder how many Melburnians would turn up for a game of AFL if they had to pay $150 for the privelage, there is no real sporting passion to talk about between the fans.
EPL games are shown all over the world and Arsenal,Chelsea and Spurs have fans all over, own there own stadia steeped in history, the AFL sold all that and forced there clubs into two stadia, oh and if you have a few dodgy seasons they threaten to move you to another city. Most Melburnians dont seem to care to much for the Grand Prix, probably because its paid for by the state.
London has

Wimbeldon- most prestigeous tennis tournament in the world, try rocking up on the day and walking straight in, no chance. Queens club and from this year a new season ending tournament at O2 arena with all the top players.

Twickenham- EngvWales-Scotland-Ireland and France are all special matches
with tons of passion and atmosphere; Harlequins, Wasps, London Irish,London Welsh, Heineken Cup finals

EPL- Chelsea-Fulham-West Ham-Arsenal-Spurs,again try rocking up on the day and getting in no chance-Wembley probably the finest purpose built football stadium in the world, Champions league, FA cup Finals Carling cup final and a host of lower division clubs.

Cricket-Lords the home of cricket, The MCG has been ruined as a test cricket ground as is now only good for a bit of hit and giggle, Lords is a fantastic venue to watch cricketand mooch around when the going gets slow.
Lord also holds all the domestic finals and is home to Middelsex CC and the MCC, try going to the MCG to watch state cricket, dead. plus London has the Oval.

Horse racing-Ascot has to be one of the great racing weeks in the world, with a fantastic new grandstand, Ladies day is just a bloody good day out.
then you have Derby Day at Epsom, Sandown and Kempton.

Last year the American AFL and the NBL held sell out games in London and will probably make it a regular feature of there seasons. Tour de France was also in town the other year to massive crowds.

The Boat race- Oxford v Cambridge on the Thames, another world renowned event.

PGA event at Wentworth with all the top players in attendance. Wentworth is a very special golf course and a top event.

The Olympics in 2012- will mean London will have held the games 3 times, it will also leave a massive sporting legacy, i predict nearly all events will be heavily backed by fans. The one thing lacking in London is a great athletics venue and i hope this would have been resolved with building of an olympic stadium.

There are litterally hundreds of minor sports played in London every week, even a vibrant AFL league played by the many expat aussies and locals.


I love the AFL, its so cheap to go and you can just turn up,same goes for the F1 and the first week of the tennis. i just dont think Melbourne is what they in sporting terms try and crack it up to be. London offers much more in truly top class international sporting events.

You forgot the London marathon, but agree with all (apart from the AFL thing) it amazes me how people can even suggest that there is more sport here than London.

That's how the world of sport works these days - it's all based on money and that's the same for everywhere in the world.

Secondly, I hate AFL, but I have to admit they seem to have the most passionate, anal supporters I've seen anywhere.

And while Wimbledon has a long history and is prestigious, the Australian open is not some amateur event and is one of only four Tennis Grand Slams.

There is one huge difference between London and Melbourne - and that is the level of interest in the sporting events. It is far more concentrated.

Agree/disagree a bit on this one gents.

I actually think (first time ever) that Buzzie is a bit unwarranted - that Melbourne doesn't cop it overly - apart from the people who don't live there and even then it comes down to riduculous comments about it's supposed weather.

But I have no issue with people putting the case for why they like living somewhere - which Buzzie has often done - (and could have done here), when all around them there are people who don't like living in the same place - and say so - I know which position I would rather be in..

Personally, I see people making the same mistakes, that's annoying, as I know many who haven't - the situation might have been different for all.

I guess everyone has their own view. Surely you have to admit that Melbourne stacks up pretty well against London though, with all the major sporting events listed so far, when you taking into account Melbourne (3.8m) is almost half the population of London's (7.5m) and is about 1800 years younger. Not bad at all in my book

I still personally think that community sport is bigger here and that major sport is far cheaper and more accessible here

Al

Melbourne is a fantastic as a sporting city, I'm not denying that just that calling it the sporting capital of the world is well wide of the mark.

Major sport is far cheaper and it would be as far less demand for it, they can practically charge what they want in London and still be guaranteed to fill venues.

How are you feeling now mate, still delicate?

I'm not going to support one city over another (as it is silly for any city to claim the World Capital of Sport), however I'm intrigued if is there any large attendance sport hosted in London that is not also hosted in Melbourne? (I understand that there are specific events like the London Marathon but at the same time Melbourne hosts the Melbourne Marathon, so nothing special there. Let's not go down the pointless route of arguing the London Marathon is bigger than the Melbourne one - the Melbourne one is still a big event.)

Also if Philip Island is excluded from Melbourne then London can't claim F1 (or any other motorsport) at Silverstone.

Sensible post as ever

It's not only that, it's the 30+ million people that live in the SE of England that also attend these events and the tourists as well.

It would be wide, I reckon. Having said that, the only thing you can do is rank cities based on sport. Melbourne probably is very high up there compared to Delhi, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, Los Angeles, and many place in SE Asia. I think people look at the reputation a place gets and take it literally.

What makes me laugh about any city, any place is the 'reputation' it gets which is only referenced in the tourist literature.

You go to a place and the locals completely look blank when you tell them something you've read in the guide book. Guide books can be completely wide of the mark.

I was reading this Sydney tourist book the other day - a few years old but the photos of a NRL game were well over 10 years old. There were a couple of comments that had me scratching my head!

Who writes these things? The UK ones are the worst. Take away the Guardsmen at Buck house, the Beefeaters, doubledecker buses, the thatched cottages and all of a sudden, the UK looks very different. Not everyone drinks tea, it doesn't always rain.....not everyone is endlessly polite and reserved..

..tourist literature has a lot to answer for!!

tourist literature has a lot to answer for!!





Especially as some people on this site seem to have based their migration on it