perfidy

ABC HD is carrying two games today. Alas, we don't have it. ESPN2 has a game later.

I've been sorely tempted to subscribe to the entirety of the World Cup coverage, but find that the only teams I give two shits about are England, US, Brazil and Portugal.

Which, admittedly, is a lot, now that I type them all out. I just don't spend enough time in front of the tee-vee to have yet been able to figure out who's on when. Perhaps sometime before the end of the tournament I will.

Oh, and ESPN2 is teh 5ux0r. My hope is that FSC will eventually show replays of the really interesting matches.

Bass fishing over soccer...

Bass fishing over soccer...

Hmmm...

...

Yeah, that sounds about right, as I have the same level of interest in both endeavors.

That is to say, none. None interest.

Provincialist!

Why do you hate our freedoms?

When the World Cup was here in the states, I actually got interested. The Brazilian team was amazing - I remember reading a sports columnist outlining the advantages and strengths of the Swedish team prior to their match, and then concluded, "And that would be of great use if the Swedes were playing a team of mortal humans."

The final against Italy was fantastic - my roommate and good friend was rooting for Brazil just because his good friend was Italian. We called him at the end of the game to taunt him. Great fun.

If the US makes it past the early rounds, I might consider watching. But despite the fact that I once played soccer, the sad fact is that soccer is often painfully boring to watch on tv.

And before anyone can accuse me, yes, I hate our freedom.

Well, my affinity for soccer is largely due to it having been the sport I played in school, as I was too big a wuss to have been interested in playing American football.

I can watch a match on Fox Soccer Channel, as I tend to do a lot during the EPL season, and not get bored until halftime, when the first commercial is shown. After the commercials, I don't again get bored until the end of the game.

The stuff a good team like Manchester Utd. can pull off, even without scoring every 5 minutes, is well worth the time spent watching it. Rooney, van Nistelrooy, Neville, and Ronaldo are all capable of sudden surprises. Chelsea is loaded with talent, too, and their ladies team could beat half the teams playing in the World Cup, if you ask me.

I realize it's not everyone's cuppa tea, but when I compare it to any of the team sports available in the US (while they're good and all), soccer would always be my choice to watch. But then, nobody ever questions my love for our freedoms.

Except Johno.

Correction: I just checked, and the Chelsea Ladies blow this year.

They were really good last time I saw them, though. And soccer's still a good sport.

I think the primary issue, for me at least, is that watching the Univision broadcast far exceeds any American broadcast. This is due to the incredible enthusiasm of the announcers. I can't understand much of what they're saying, but I know exactly what's going on even if I'm not watching the screen. I mean, who can't understand the "Gooooooaaaaalll" or the also popular "Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Gol, Golllll" It's great stuff, and no stuffy American announcer will get that excited...

WTF happened to the US today? Excuse me? Like where the heck was the defense?

The Italy v Ghana game was FAR FAR more exciting all 90 minutes.

CODEWORD: WITHOUT. Like WITHOUT any defense, the US took to the pitch today and remained scoreless in a loss to the Czechs.