World Cup Fever

Ramblings Post #114
Sometimes, we look for excuses to do things. Like if I take the long way home to enjoy the car ride and de-stress, I can stop by the ice cream place because its on the way home and get that caramel shake with the chocolate bits that should be illegal for consumption it tastes so good. Or if we go ahead and do a test cook on the pie, just to make sure I still know the ingredients, well, then of course I'll have to taste it just to make sure. You know...excuses. So guess what I'm trying to make an excuse for now.


I was pulling for Paraguay.

I watched a little of the World Cup this summer. I'm not a big soccer fan (football fan for my international readers) and so it was kind of a passing fancy, something on TV. Like many American kid born after 1965, I played soccer as youth - in the city leagues where my team dominated (to the point we used to let the goalie score when we got bored) and in high school - where we got thrashed regularly. Side note - in high school I lettered in football and soccer.

So I'm familiar with the game.

And playing is different than watching, and I'm aware that watching soccer is...well, boring. For long stretches, nothing happens. But then so is baseball, hockey (soccer on ice), most tennis, etc, well, at least to me. The idea that it is bigger than "American" football to me is on some levels mystifing and on other levels completely understandable.

I mean, to play soccer, you need an open field, a ball, some guys and some space you consider the goals. Thus you can pretty much get it going anywhere, for very little start up cost, and the game you're playing is identical to that of professionals. It is no wonder that most of the world plays this and that it catches on very quickly.

For everything else you need some very specialized equipment - baseball: gloves, bat, baseball diamond - basketball: ball, hoops, special court - football: pads, helmets, ball, field, etc.

So I watched America get tossed, and the noted the fallacy of blind umpires was not confined to just this country, but what I was really hoping for was for Paraguay to win.

Why?

In case you hadn't heard, Larissa Riquelme, a big fan of her home country Paraguay and something of a model, said that if Paraguay won the World Cup, she'd run naked through the streets.

Here is a picture of Larissa. Or two.

So, when Spain knocked out Paraguay, let's just say, when does the NFL pre-season start?

Oh, wait. Law school. Yeah right.

Wait, what's that? She's getting naked anyway to salute the hard work of the Paraguayan Team? Don't you just love patriots?

Barkeep. Something strong. And from Paraguay.