Amazing world cup so far. Herschel Gibbs of South Africa hit six 6’s in one over — a feat akin to four home runs in one game, only waaaay more rare — Ireland upset Pakistan on St. Patrick’s Day, the home West Indies side scored its first upset win, and perennial underdog Bangladesh rose up to defeat powerful India. And we’re still in the preliminary stages.

Here are some Australians and West Indians from St. Vincent celebrating a wicket against the English side, whose fans remain, um, somewhat more sedate:

I wish I could tell you how much joy bounces around these games. The only thing I can compare it to is the Olympics. I’m sitting here in a bar with India/Bermuda on one TV and the West Indies/Zimbabwe on the other, and the cheering when the Windies took a wicket just now was something I wish you could feel while reading this.

But there’s loving cricket, and then there’s taking it a little too seriously:

Btw, I was in a restaurant last night with a bunch of Pakistan fans. Nice folks, completely mortified at the violence on the subcontinent. So no stereotyping. Still. Eek. As a Bajan sitting next to me just said, Lovie Smith lost the Super Bowl, but he can still go home.

Amazing that this whole tournament is happening right next door to the U.S. and almost nobody back home ever hears about it. Everyone’s loss, I think.

PS if you’re curious what this is all about, here’s the Cricket World Cup official site. I’m on a working holiday for a while. If you’re here looking for a steadier diet of politics or humor, there are plenty of folks in the links section worth reading.

Archaeologists believe the Carib Indians first sold T-shirts on this spot as early as the fifteenth century. Spanish and English explorers invaded the island in the 1600s, but neither group was able to maintain control of the T-shirt concession, due to difficulties in mastering the local dyes. The British assigned ownership of the island to the British West Indian T-Shirt Company, who never enforced their claim, since they had a better profit margin on key fobs, beer cozies, and tiny souvenir spoons made of scrimshaw.

The French arrived in the 1700s, developing a working relationship with the indigenous people — the Caribs made the actual T-shirts, and the French provided a garrison of troops to repel British attacks. The French defensive battlements became known as Fort Tricot, named for St. Tricot, the Patron Saint of foundation garments.

However, in 1783, in conceding defeat to France and the new United States after the American Revolution, the British ultimately reclaimed Fort Tricot for good, thanks to a small tag attached to the Treaty of Paris with a safety pin.

All that remain of this rich history are the crumbling original T-shirts manufactured by the French. And the guns.

If invaders ever try to seize Fort Tricot, they will be fired upon. And then they will be given a mildly dirty look if they leave and walk back down the hill without buying anything.