So you think the Aussies give us a hard time.
Okay, so comedians Roy and HG have beenwielding the stick on their 11 pm Games show, and a couple of newspapers have joined in.
The Sydney Morning Herald mocked Mark Todd's bronze under the headline "Draw the line: Kiwis' first medal is not to be sniffed at" in reference to allegations of cocaine-taking made against the equestrian star by London's Sunday Mirror.
And the Sunday Telegraph, throwing in a repeat of the Todd allegations, said the bleats of joy could be heard across the Tasman when Rob Waddell won gold in the men's single sculls.
But apart from the kind of snickering Australians could expect if the positions were reversed - and which they have endured through two America's Cup challenges - we've been let off lightly.
To the Aussies, Kiwis are the sausage dogs you stir up on the way to running a stick down the rottweiler's fence.
It's the Americans they really love beating.
We heard it in the roar when Klim led the imaginary guitar-strumming after the Aussies beat the Yanks for gold in the 4x100m relay, a payback for the Americans' promise to break them like guitars.
And around every suburban TV, the prayer is, "Not the Yanks, please, not the Yanks."
Any number of Australians have quietly confided this after the obligatory sheep jokes.
The Sydney Morning Herald confirmed it in print: "The Australian fight mob know what they want - aggression, and anyone who can beat a Yank."
The Americans, lavish in their praise of the Games, are starting to take notice, sniping back about Australia's self-absorption and national obsession with the Olympics. Even the quality of its TV - likened to eating cheese pizza every night - is under fire.
"We take a morning thumping in the newspapers," wrote USA Today columnist Mike Lopresti. "The authors chortle over every objectionable Americanism seen or heard ...
"Poor Atlanta gets especially pummelled, four years after the fact.
"Shall we complain? Heck no.
"Nor will we quibble at how the self-congratulatory headlines grow more syrupy each morning: Suzie ... our golden Queen. For the record, we romped. Our greatest day.
"Aw, let them have their fun."
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Giving a bit of stick - insults fly in the abuse Olympics
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