Sorry to rain on the welcome home parade, but what price success? Is it really worth the squillions we pump into sport just so we can rank in the top 6 in the world at the Olympics?

So we beat South Korea and Japan and so many others, so what. Surely we could spend that money better? Surely there are Australians more deserving than a bunch of athletes performing on the world stage once every four years? Aren't there roads and services that could be built or improved? Arts, R & D, and science that could and should be invested in?

And isn't it just plain facile of Prime Minister Rudd to say, as he has, that he'll increase the millions in funding that already goes to sport in this country because winning medals makes Australians "feel good"?

Feel good! How many new schools does that build?

Bloody sport - it's just bread and circuses really for a euthanised population.

That's one view.

Not mine.

I love what sport on the big stage brings us.

I remember living in London in the early 90's. Australia had just won the Rugby World Cup. We were unbeatable in Rugby League. We'd done pretty bloody well at the Barcelona Olympics. Shane Warne and his "ball of the century" had set the scene for a crushing Ashes victory, and so on and so on. Meanwhile England were being smacked, towelled, beaten and humiliated on the cricket pitch, at soccer (in World and European cups), at rugby, in athletics and swimming, tiddlywinks and skittles. The only thing they could win at was how to lose.

Bragging rights in the pub were mine and any other Aussie who happened to be in the vicinity of any Pom.

We felt proud, proud as punch.

And so long as the gloating is on a reasonable rein and the chauvinism remains in check, that's all well and good. And to be fair, the Poms were pretty good at giving it back. When it came to taking the mickey out of our accents or our TV - remember we gave them Neighbours - or our so-called lack of culture they were world champions at condescension.

But what I did notice, and what I often thought about, was that beyond the good natured to and fro, there was, from our Brit friends, a tangible sadness surrounding their lack of success. They had nothing to celebrate, nothing to inspire them. God knows it was hard enough living in a damp land with stinky trains and beaches with pebbles for sand and pissy brown ripples masquerading as waves, without bearing the tag of world champion losers as well.

Their lack of success seemed to seep into their sense of self. There was no confidence and no pride.

The point here is that the daily drudge of life can be tough enough. Occasionally it's a relief as much as a delight to leave the grind and ‘soar', even if it is just vicariously. Occasionally it's just plain good fun to watch a determined underdog like Sally McLellan beat her own and everyone else's expectations as she screams across the line screaming "oh my god" for a fabulous silver and a happiness that's just golden. Occasionally it's just beaut to feel that tingle of pride that comes from watching your flag being raised or listening to your anthem being played.

And that's not to say that sport is the answer or the cure all. Schools and roads and infrastructure and R & D and science and arts make a nation robust and strong. But it is to say that sport has a value.

Which brings us back to the Brits. At the close of Beijing you could see their exuberance and joy as they took on the mantle of 2012 hosts. They had a golden Games, better than us in fact. Damn it they even had the cheek to drive a mobile billboard round the streets of Sydney boasting how they beat us. They're bursting with pride. You can see they feel good - good about themselves, good about their country.

And that's something I didn't see when I lived there last century.