Davis Cup 99 Parade
- by Peta and Belinda
Tuesday, 21-Dec-1999
.... Back from the best side of stage seats that Bee could con for us!! ....
by Peta
I met up with the girls in the city at around 9.30am... I had been in the city since about
9am, grabbed some Maccas for brekky and had been watching the few die hard fans that were
trying to stake out a position (this is rather difficult when the actual front of stage
crowd viewing area is a tram track in full usage until 10.30am but they sat in the gutter
on the other side of the street and looked determined and hopeful - gotta give em points
for trying!)
We moved to a public bench off to the right hand side of the stage and Robyn went and
asked someone who looked like they knew what they were doing where the closest place we
could get to with a wheelchair was... the guy said they had everything all organised this
time (a seating guy had some tales to tell about previous experiences!) and we were
welcomed into a cordoned off area and even provided with seats as well... later on one
other guy in a wheelchair joined us and during the ceremony some surplus invited guests
also got to sit with us, other than that we had this huge area all to ourselves!!
These were the best front row side of stage seats that a smile, nice manners and friend in
a wheelchair could get you! If not for Bee - Robyn (and maybe us as well) wouldn't have
been a star of the small screen :-) can't wait to review the video.
Of course we didn't get to see the parade itself - but that's what VCRs are for! We had
some pre-ceremony entertainment from James Reyne (singer from 80s band Australian Crawl),
he was quite fun and definitely knew that he wasn't what the crowd had come to see - the
organisers kept making him stretch his songs out and he threw in some funny lines to do
that. We knew when the players were on their way because they started letting loose with
the ticker tape (actually this was multi-coloured tissue paper that was being dispensed
from the top of strategic buildings along Swanston Street and it was magical with it
falling all around us - the guys must have felt so special, cos even we did!)
The team and legends were all assembled on the other side of the stage ready for their
introductions and already Robyn was up and snapping away shots of Pat (and the others of
course!) - his hair was out and he was not clean shaven - that rough and ready look that
lots of us love (-:... a few of the people behind us were a bit upset at our being able to
get so close for pics, but what the heck you take the opportunities that life presents to
you!
The Lord Mayor of Melbourne, State Premier and Tennis Australia President Geoff Pollard
were introduced... then the legends were all introduced (they all got lots of applause)...
then the 1999 team were all announced to massive applause and cheering. Now I think this
is the order they came out: Rochey, Sandon, Wayne, Pat (huge cheers of course), Todd (big
cheers for the Woodies), Mark W, Lleyton (big cheers for him), Mark P (well, being a
Melbourne boy of course the cheers were huge!!) and finally the Captain for the ship Newk.
Robyn and I were snapping away lots of shots on our cameras, so there are bound to be some
good ones out of them!! As Deb said, each of the finals players were brought up to talk,
but they first talked to Wayne (he's a Melbourne boy too and his fantastic wins in
Brisbane got special mention). Mark P asked everyone what they thought of his pants and
the presenter said something like - cargo pants are very hip!!
I'm not sure when it was, but at some stage Robyn was up and away from us snapping some
shots and Pat looks over to Bee and I and gave us a lovely look of recognition and wave
:-)... I hope that pic was worth it Rob!! (there was a snide comment from behind that if
Robyn had been in her seat like she was supposed to be then she would have had a wave from
Pat too... ooohh sour grapes there I think!)... he did look over again later and saw Robyn
and smiled for her too - click - that one will be a great shot!!
A presentation was made to Newk and then the guys all gathered around the cup and unveiled
it. Lots of photos by the press (oh - they are such vultures - yuck).
James Reyne was brought back on to sing the National Anthem (the hecklers from behind us
didn't mind that we stood up for that!) and it was pretty much all over. The crowd shouted
out for Pat to speak, but an announcement was made that the ceremony had concluded and
there would now be an official reception for the players and VIPs and off they went.
Robyn and I clicked off the final pics on our rolls with pics of each other with Bee
(altogether Robyn took a couple of rolls and I took about 14 shots). A couple of the
organisers came to ask us how we had enjoyed it and we thanked them very much for
accommodating us so close to the action. I'm sure Rob's huge lens would have been able to
capture beads of sweat on the guys, so fingers crossed for some great shots... and Robyn
may be so good to you as to have these up online tonight - she's just the best chick
around :-)
I left the girls in the city - with big kisses and hugs for Christmas/New Year, they were
having lunch before heading home, and I caught a train back to work - the timing was
perfect and I was back here by 1pm!
What a lovely way to spend the morning, great company, no hassles, perfect weather,
terrific vantage point and great pervs & photo opportunities. I couldn't recommend
this type of activity enough!
Petal aka Peta
My take on the event... - by Belinda
Peta and Deb have basically told you everything that happened, but I'll tell yuo a few
things I noticed! Deb, did you like how Newk told the story about drawing the line in the
sand and saying "if you want us, you'll have to kill us!"? It was the same story
he told me in Brisbane, and the one I posted on this board!!! Peta and I had a little grin
at each other!!! Isn't it great when we all know something before everyone else does!!!
Also when the Woodies were going on about how they owe the win to Pat, I looked at him at
that stage, and I must admit he didn't look all that comfortable. I don't think Pat really
likes the attention put on him like that, in fact I'm sure he doesn't. But he soon got
over it!!!
I was also watching Pat (I tend to do a lot of this!!!) when he noticed Robyn, and the big
smile he gave her was unbelievable!!! I think he was really pleased she was there! I think
when he saw Peta and I that he was a little surprised not to see Robyn, but it wasn't long
before he did see her!
That's basically about all I can tell yout hat hasn't been said. That and the fact that
I'm still picking ticker-tape off myself! We actually positioned ourselves under a
ticker-tape machine so we were buried under a mountain of paper, although like Peta said,
we felt rather special!!!
Belinda