All hail to JB, patron saint of Melbourne's Commonwealth Games ...

Yes, it was me only a couple of weeks ago wishing that the Games were over. Finished they will be later this evening, but in the meantime I want to say how much fun I have had over the past few nights going to the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the people's ground, to watch the athletics. I'll gratefully eat a slice of humble pie.

Yesterday, I decided to make the trek by train up to Melbourne for the final night of athletic competition. I try and avoid the big smoke when I can, seeing I'm up there every day of my working life. But after, amongst other things, seeing Jana Pittman with 82,999 others win the women's 400 metre hurdles after work on Thursday, I was craving more. More I tell you.

Last night, I was again joined by 82,999 people (not sure if they were the same crew that went on Thursday, however) to witness Asafa Powell and his Jamaican mates win the 4 x 100 metre men's relay before seeing both the Australian men and women's 4 x 400 metre relay teams win. I interviewed the nation's newest golden boy, John Steffensen, on Thursday after he won the individual 400 metre event and then proceeded to dazzle and razzle the fans at the ground and on television with a celebration that is usually confined to American sporting fields and stadiums. When I asked him about the upcoming relay event, he told me: ''We'll win that." True to his word he was.

One of the highlights of last night was bumping into Eddie McGuire in the media lounge where he was having dinner with his lovely wife, Carla. Naturally, I introduced myself to him at the counter where he was returning his meal, a dish he believed was chicken curry. "Don't let them tell you that's chicken," he mused in typical Eddie-style to this esteemed reporter, before telling the employee that it was tofu. Fair enough.

I then got the beers for my colleagues seated back in the expansive media section: front row of the second level of the Melboune Cricket Club, undoubtedly the best seats in the house. It's amazing what a press pass can get you sometimes. My only gripe was the Crown Lager was served in coffee cups as we couldn't take glass into the stadium and there were no plastic cups around. It looked comical.

I then bumped into another young journo, also with same initials as me. I wonder if she also has a blog called The Life And Times Of JB? We made our way back into town to see those 72 fantastic fish floating in the Yarra River. But not before we saw Kim Howe break a Commonwealth Games record in the women's polevault, leaving the attractive Tatiana Grigorieva and her equally attractive niece, Vicky Parnov (yes, I know she's only 15) in her wake. As I walked along the banks of the Yarra, my thoughts then turned around the corner to St Kilda Road and what it would still be like to call the inner-city home. Things would certainly be more convenient, but I'm just not sure what I'm up to at the moment, other than enjoying a sleepy day in Sleepy Hollow today.