En SAP, it's "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

I have to say that I was very impressed with the FIFA's World Cup tournament that just ended. I love the Olympics, but as far as international competition is concerned, the World Cup makes the Olympics look like a pick up game.

What's pretty amazing to me is how insular our country really is. We live in a country where American Style Football, you know, the kinds with pads, pigskins, and pudgy fans, reigns supreme. But not only is it supreme in our country, we assume that the world loves the NFL as well. Yet if I were making a depth chart of the world's most popular sports, soccer is obviously first, rugby is probably second, baseball comes in third, basketball fourth, and NFL style football comes dead last.

But living in this country, you'd never know that soccer is the world's most popular sport. Heck, I had to watch most of the World Cup on Telemundo, because ESPN only carried the "important games" of the Tournament. But hey, I'm not complaining, watching the games on Telemundo helped me out with my Spanglish. As long as you know the following words; cabeza, izquierda, derecho, pie, and patada, you can watch the World Cup completely in Spanish and not be completely lost.

What I don't get are people who say that soccer is confusing. Confusing? Really?!? Soccer may be the world's easiest sport to follow. It's basically push the ball forward with your feet, head or chest, don't use your hands, play fair (no head butts) or else you get a yellow/red card, and follow the rules of offsides. If I hear one more person say that the offsides rule is confusing, I'm going to steal their television and not give it back until the upcoming NFL season is over, since gridiron football rules are 10 times more difficult to explain than anything taking place on a soccer field.

Although soccer is rife with players flopping onto the ground after barely getting touched, and although the stadiums are often filled with the most vile and racist sports fans this side of the 1936 Olympics held in Nazi led Berlin, its matches are a true site to behold. Here in the United States, we think it's pretty nifty that a rivalry like the Chicago Bears and the Greenbay Packers goes back to the 1940's and 1950's, but in the World Cup, you have rivalries that go back to the 1040's and 1050's. I love that a match between France and England has a faint echo of Napolean Bonaparte. I love that Germany is still hated by everyone who plays them. It makes for shitty international relations, but damn, it's some fine television. Nothing beats the sound of 50,000 piss drunk fans singing their national anthem throughout the entirety of a soccer match.

And while we're on the subject of national anthems, I love that Germany's national anthem was written by Joseph Haydn. When you hear these countries play their grandiose national anthems, it really hits home that our National Anthem is basically a pop song, and is thusly as American as Apple Pie and soccer hatred.

Well, that's about it. I really enjoyed the World Cup and can't wait for the next one! :-)

peace and love