The following column was written by a San Francisco sports writer, John Crumpacker, in Oz for the games. I remember an earlier thread and possible other references to the substance, but at last I know--sort of--what it is.

'VEGEMITE OR SNAKE BITE: NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE"

SYDNEY--There are a lot of things that can kill you here in Australia.

It's an impressive list of creatures great and small. The feared saltwater crocodile ("salties" as they call them here) pulls you under the water and executes a "death roll" while you're being ripped asunder. Then he eats you.

The deadly taipan snake is so venomous that if you're unfortunate enough to be bitten, you wouldn't be able to utter "Drat the luck" before dying.

A strike from the box jellyfish is said to be the most excruciating pain imaginable, even worse than the dreaded paper cut.

A nip from the funnel web spider is death most insidious because it's so small and innocuous looking.

Sea snakes are highly venomous but generally passive toward humans. However, if you should come across a sea snake that happened to get up on the worng side of the coral bed one day, your carcass would be fish food in minutes.

To that list of things that can getcha Down Under add Vegamite, a staple in any Aussie larder. Recall the Aussie rock group Men at Work referenced Vegamite in its hit song "Land Down Under" when a man from Brussels with lots of muscles proffered a Vegemite sandwich. Never trust a Belgian is the lesson to be learned here.

Vegemite is a foul substance made from yeast extract and unknown vegetable matter. It has the consistency of melted brown crayons and congealed motor oil and the taste of something that died long ago in some foul billabong.

Given that, Aussies still spread it on their toast.

It is beyond me why anyone would eat this stuff. In the spirit of adventure, I tried a small amount on the edge of my toast and had a go.

Yucky-poo! On "Survivor," I'm sure they'd rather get tossed off the island than eat this stuff. School paste tasted better, as I recall.

But to each his own. In the buffet line of Planet Earth, people eat the darndest things. One man's nacho supreme is another's downfall. The Aussies are welcome to keep exporting Foster's Lager but please, mates, keep the Vegemite confined to y