Good morning from a bright and sunny Asti.

I hope you had a wonderful and restful weekend. You deserved it.

Let me clear up a couple of things.

First, I didn’t come up with “No-Vax.” Unfortunately, I forgot where I read it first. So, apologies to the originator of that fine nickname.

Second, I’m not a tennis expert. And really, this piece isn’t about tennis anyway.

It’s about government coercion and its consequences.

Last January, I penned this piece about Djokovic and Australia’s decision to send him home.

Do read it if you haven’t already.

Before I get into the weeds about the Aussie Open, let me tell you about my run-in with a legendary Australian cricketer.

Flying From KL to London.

Back in October 2008, I had to fly from London to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia’s capital city) to teach a graduate course for Standard Chartered Bank.

I was going to use the trip to spec out Singapore, as well, as I was moving there that coming January.

Overall, it was a successful trip, and I enjoyed Southeast Asia. I thought it’d be a great place to work for the next two years. (Little did I know I’d get stuck there for 13 years!)

I was scheduled to fly back from KL to London via Dubai. The seat next to me was empty, so I had even more room than usually afforded in business class.

I didn’t mind the Middle East stopover. Without it, it’s a solid 13 hours in the airplane. And though I was flying in the front of the plane, a few minutes on the ground would suit me just fine.

My Stop in Dubai.

After a 7.5-hour flight, we landed safely in Dubai.

I enjoyed myself immensely, drinking champagne and reading Peter Bernstein’s A Primer on Money, Banking, and Gold.

New flyers were boarding the plane, and I knew my solitude was short-lived.

Then, this smiley man with platinum-blonde tips in his hair was standing before me.

It couldn’t be…

I asked, “Are you Shane Warne?”

He said, “Yes!”

I said, “I’m Sean. Nice to meet you.” And we shook hands.

To describe the legend that is - or now I must say, was - Shane Warne is simply impossible to any justice.

But I’ll say this: if you take Babe Ruth’s larger-than-life presence, Michael Jordan’s gift for the spectacular, and Yogi Berra’s ten championship rings and smack them together, you’re merely getting warm.

Warne is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in cricket history. He played for the Australian national team from 1992 to 2007, taking over 1,000 wickets in international cricket. Warne was known for his mastery of spin bowling, especially his leg spin, and was famous for his “Ball of the Century” delivery to dismiss Mike Gatting in the 1993 Ashes series.

Let me poorly translate that last paragraph to US English.

Cricket is like baseball, but with a flat bat, only two bases (the wickets), and the pitch (bowl) bounces on the way to the batsman (not the batter).

A bowler is like a pitcher, except his arm must be straight when he delivers. That’s right; a bowler is forbidden to bend his arm at the elbow.

The batsman is out if the cricket ball hits the stumps, even if it’s the first bowl in the “over.” There are six bowls to an over.

Spin bowling is the equivalent of exclusively throwing knuckleballs. Think of an unhittable Phil Niekro, who had girls hanging all over him and winning every important series.

That’s who Shane Warne was.

I couldn’t believe my luck. But I also hate bothering people. The amazing thing was he never sat in his seat.

The entire flight, he took pictures with everyone on the plane. He signed autographs. He chitchatted. I’ve never seen a more humble or accessible celebrity in my life.

Our Indian flight attendant - cricket is India’s national sport - looked like he was staring at a god. It was hilariously funny.

Landing in London.

I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t say more.

So when we landed at Heathrow, I said, “Shane, you can tell by my accent that I didn’t grow up watching you. But every one of my friends here did. And I’d really like to piss them off. Will you sign my book for me?”

“Ha! Of course!”

He signed my book. Then we shook hands and parted ways.

From then on, I loved watching him play for a few more years before becoming a commentator.

The fact that his girlfriend was Liz Hurley only added to his legend.

To say I was awestruck is an understatement.

Warne Dies in Thailand of “Natural Causes.”

So it was with an uneven balance of healthy skepticism and outright rage I heard of Warne’s death in Thailand.

Only 52, the Thai police declared that Warne’s death was from “natural causes.”

Really?

Sure, Warne wasn’t the fittest athlete I’d ever seen, and his penchant for partying was well known, but this just didn’t ring true. And after incidents like Demar Hamlin, it smells like complete bullshit.

From The Daily Mail (bolds mine):

Warne had also suffered a bad dose of Covid in London during August last year.

So bad was his experience with the virus that he used a ventilator to help him recover.

He later told the Herald Sun he caught Covid again a few months later, but said the second time was like a 'little flu'.

'The second time was just a bit of a sniffle, and the first time I was quite bad. Now I'm double vaxxed, had it twice, and think I'll be ok for a while,' he said earlier.

Unfortunately, we’ll never really know. It’s not like the Aussie government would want to find out.

Back to Djokovic.

When I wrote the aforementioned piece last year on Djokovic being sent home from Australia, Warne hadn’t died yet.

I had already thought the Aussie government had lost it, but it’s their country. They can do what they want.

I wanted Djokovic to retire and say for the rest of us, “Enough is enough.”

Well, he said that, but in a completely different way.

He didn’t retire. And at age 35, he flew all the way down to Melbourne and took the trophy.

Still unvaxxed, in front of Bill Gates and the world.

I couldn’t be happier for him. Or for us. And I’m glad he didn’t take my advice (though I did say he could always “unretire.”)

His 22 Grand Slam titles now tie him with Rafael Nadal for the all-time lead. I hope he wins the next three to get his calendar-year Grand Slam. Djokovic already has a non-calendar year Grand Slam, winning Wimbledon and the US Open in 2015 and the Australian and French Opens in 2016.

Djokovic raged against the machine, masterfully… and quietly.

Wrap Up.

And yet, I type this thinking of Shane Warne.

Would he be around if he weren’t jabbed? My gut says, “almost certainly.”

And I can only hope that someone Down Under grows enough of a pair in the coming years to ask the question sincerely. Did the jabs lead to Warne’s death?

In the meantime, my copy of A Primer on Money, Banking, and Gold sits on my bookshelf like Poe’s Purloined Letter - hiding in plain sight.

There rests a reminder of the time I met a legend.