our World Cup finale

The last game for the U.S. Team comes today...unless they win big and a few other unlikely things happen, in which case the newspapers will insist that we care for a little bit longer. Otherwise the rest of the world will continue their tournament and we'll get back to what matters...NFL training camp.

I think we kind-of approach the World Cup like we do Groundhog Day. Nobody hears or talks about it in forever and all of a sudden, it's here. We hear on the drive to work that Puxatawney Phil saw or didn't see his shadow, not remembering which way means what, but some "expert" is always there to help us through. World Cup soccer is a lot like that. All of a sudden it's here. Somebody informs us that we actually have a team playing in it and tries to educate us a little bit. It lasts a little longer than Groundhog Day, but it only comes every four years, so it's pretty much the same on a larger time scale. Then it ends and we don't hear about soccer competition again...for another 4 years. It carries just about the same weight as Groundhog Day as well. We kinda like to know what happened, but only if we're reminded that it even happened in the first place.

So I kinda hope we win, and the right forces in the universe align to get those guys in the next round. After all, they've worked hard to get there. Then next week, somone on the radio can remind me that we have (or had) a game and tell me the results. If I happen to be listening to CDs that day though, I won't be any worse off. If the U.S. team doesn't win and we go back into the soccer vacuum, well, that's OK too.