I wonder if Aussies ever will take baseball seriously. Though the amatuer Aussie team beating the pro Japanese team at the olympics may spur some interest.
I'd love it to happen, but it might take a bit of time yet. I think it's a bit harsh on Japan to say the Aussies were an amateur team at Athens, though. They've all played pro baseball, some with fairly decent records, like Dave Nilsson and Graeme Lloyd. There are still way more Aussies on Major League team rosters than there are Japanese, too (though most are playing in the minors).
I was a bit disappointed at the treatment the win got in the papers back home. But I certainly made sure every Japanese I know heard about both games. I still have a picture of the Nagashima shirt hung up on the dugout stuck on my desk just to rub it in