Stalinist crack down on freedom/re-thinking the importance of cricket/Scorpions at the Berlin Wall reference

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/oct/06/australian-fans-24-cans-beer

Chemistry came out of alchemy. Similarly, I have discovered a life-affirming tale of human endurance (and victory over near-insurmountable challenges) embedded in this dark tale of Aussie-repression (if you are unaware of this crackdown against basic human liberty, please read the Guardian article posted above).

The sustained and righteous outrage over the Australian government's war on freedom has produced, in defense of individual goals and triumphs, an incredible account of an Australian tradition. This account can only be described as an epic "Lord-of-the-Rings style" narrative of cricketeer David Boon's epic quest to drink 52 cans of beer on a flight from Sydney to London. Please read it.

http://www.thefanatics.com/content.php?id=330

Here are a few select quotes:

He went upstairs and fell asleep, waking later to “tumultuous” applause. Simpson thought somebody had won a card game until the plane’s captain [my italicizing] announced Boon had consumed 52 beers. “Simpson went purple with anger and I mentioned to (selector Laurie) Sawle that maybe Boonie should be sent home and I would bat in his spot,” Jones recalls.

And from the pre-history:

As the plane arrived in London, Walters raised his 44th can to his lips and drained it as thought it were his fourth. From all accounts, he wasn’t in bad shape – not if you consider he’d had 44 beers at high altitude and a couple of unofficial palate cleansers during the stopovers. “He was all right – just” says O’Keeffe. “He was lighting cigarettes filter-first. I guess that’s all right. You can do that sober."

And a bit of historical perspective, from my friend, the noted historian John Munroe:

And as they stood by the Brandenburg, whistling along with the Scorps, somehow deluded into thinking they were taking part in something of world history, could anyone have known (or even been capable of imagining) that 35,000 feet above their heads a legacy of much greater significance was coming into being as David Boon opened his 49th can, with a quick three more to follow before touchdown at Heathrow?