World Cup 2006

I played soccer for two or three years while in elementary school. It was fun, I guess. We took a trip once to St. Louis to play in a tournament. We weren't good but for some reason we drove 3 hours to play in a tournament. I mainly remember my mother complaining to a parent who only brought water for us at half-time instead of Gatorade like everyone else had done. I really liked the Gatorade. I probably wasn't old enough to be embarassed, plus, like I said, I really liked the Gatorade.

I didn't have much interest in it again until the summer of 1995. I was attending Harding's foreign study program in Florence, Italy. On a Sunday afternoon in June many of us went to a professional soccer game. Although I still didn't understand the game, I had a blast. The passion of the crowd and the way they responded collectively to the game was amazing. I had been to a couple of MLB games but they didn't compare. A regular season soccer match seemed like the playoffs.

When I returned to Italy in 1999-2000 I became a fan of soccer and AS Roma--one of two professional teams in Rome. Watching it on TV, talking with friends, and going to a Champions League match helped me understand the game and appreciate it more. The game was between Roma and Leeds (a professional team in England). "We" lost 1-0 but the intensity in the crowd was almost scary. And we were almost assaulted by British hooligans outside the stadium. One of them purposely stepped on my shoe. We kept our heads down and kept walking. Fun stuff.

I share all this to say that I am excited about the World Cup in Germany. Of course, I am rooting for USA, but also for Italy. Unfortunately, they play each other on June 17th.

If you can't understand why anyone would like soccer, or if you would like to learn more about it, check out these two articles. They are written for the confused, disinterested American.

Here are a couple of vocab words for fun:
What we call a field, they call the "pitch".
When we would say team, they say "side", e.g. the American side.
Instead of playing an exhibition, they call it a "friendly".
And it's not a game, but a "match".

Quick World Cup primer on why it's a big deal
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5646442

World Cup vs. U.S. sporting events
http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5655244