World Cup!!

I love this time of year. Or, this time of the decade? World Cup! Soccer on tv! I caught the second half of both of today's games. Thankfully I have a soccer-friendly work place. This is how you know you're working with the right people. I think I'm even joining one of these betting pool things, which I have never done before, but there is no money prize -- just a barbecue for everyone at the end (paid for by the buy in) and the satisfaction of knowing you scored the best -- which vastly improves the fun to stress quotient.

I was all ready to shout allez les bleus! this afternoon, but whoever said France lost pretty much all their good players wasn't kidding. Great show by South Africa, though. The bafana bafana even had a fantastic synchronized dance for their goal. I highly approve!

I am feeling bummed that I have to miss England v. USA tomorrow, but there will be lots of good soccer to take in over the next month. And the times aren't tooooo bad given that the matches are all in the RSA. Bless ESPN 3 for broadcasting over the interwebs, though! And bless Henry's for showing all the games, even the ones at 4:30am PST!

ps. Word on the street is that the USA doesn't completely suck anymore. The Colombian in our lab predicted they could even take the World Cup in a few years. Shocking, I know. I may be obligated to root for them at some point in the future. For the time being, I think I have a soft spot for Spain and South Korea. And Brazil. And maybe Germany and Denmark or the Netherlands. Too bad Germany's best guy can't play.