The World Cup is annoying

I will admit to you, I watched the World Cup after the Ivory Coast was eliminated, but not until the semi finals. I enjoyed the games. I have come to appreciate the strategic nature of soccer and have always known that these guys are amazing athletes. Their conditioning is really unmatched. The NBA athlete is the only thing that comes close and even then basketball games are half as long.

I am not a fan of France under any circumstances, but I even found myself rooting for them against the Italian team. I found the Ribery/Zidan relationship touching, Ribery having idolized Zidan as a youth and then being able to play with him in his final World Cup.

Also, I am a fan of Thierry Henry, actually knowing who he was before the World Cup. He and many of the ethnic minority players that play in Europe are forced to deal with indescribable prejudice and horrifying treatment from the Neo-Nazi fan groups that permeate the circuit.

So all those little human interest stories actually had me rooting for France. What happens? Not only do they not convert in overtime after totally outplaying a tired Italian squad, Zidan turns out to be a jackass and Ribery and Henry are subbed out right before the penalty kick phase.

Zidan's headbutt has to be one of the worst things I have ever witnessed in sport. Blunt trauma to the sternum can result in a loss of heart function. What that means? Hitting an already exhausted guy in the chest like that is basically attempted murder.

The French lose on penalty kicks. Not because the Italian goalie made some spectacular save or anything, but because one of the French guys hit the crossbar. What an anti-climactic finish.

I said finishing the World Cup on penalty kicks was like the NBA finals being decided on a free throw shooting contest.

Annoyed said it was like deciding the Super Bowl on a football tire throwing contest.

Jon Stewart said it was like deciding the NBA finals on a game of horse. (Editor's Note: Sorry, it was Stephen Colbert who made the horse comment)

Include your own "deciding the world cup on penalty kicks is like," analogy in the comments. I will publish any and all of them later in the week and include a link to your website if you like.

No 1 of Consequence

The Ivory Coast, disappointing me.

If you have been watching the FIFA World Cup with any interest at all you would know that the Ivory Coast fell to the Dutch today 2-1 despite outshooting them significantly.

Why do I care?

I don't really, but I did pick them in my World Cup pool. I decided that they would be highly motivated to succeed and keep playing past the first round because if they didn't they would have to go back to ethnically cleansing each other off the streets of Yamoussoukro. Not a bad strategy, just didn't work out and now I am a casual observer instead of having a vested interest.

Some observations about the world cup:

First, soccer is not nearly as boring to watch on TV as you might think. It is actually a very strategic game, probing areas of the defense and fighting for position without violating the rules. As long as the camera shots are wide enough you can really see things develop.

Second, and this is the strangest thing about it this time around. The World Cup pool in my office actually got more interest than the NCAA which is very strange seeing as we are in SEC country and my office is filled with young SEC alumni. Does this mean we will se a resurgence of the MLS in the US? I doubt, more likely a sociological anomaly, but those can be fun too.

Third, I don't really have anything else. The first two were the important points.

It has been a tiring week. I am looking forward to resting this weekend.

No 1 of Consequence