Futbol

It has been very interesting to be in England and France during this year's World Cup.  It is the talk of everyone and is on the TV no matter where you turn (will my ears ever stop hurting from the droning buzz of an angry hive of vuvuzelas?).

At the church in Whalley, it was the topic of the children's sermon.  The minister asked the congregation to call out the names of the participating countries.  All but two of the sixteen were named (and if you can tell me why the U.S. and North Korea were not remembered and what might be the relation between the two, I'd be glad to know.)

We sat looking out on the sidewalk at a cafe in Paris this evening as France lost to South Africa and was sent home devastatingly early.  The crowd gathered at the bar watching the match were stoically unimpressed by their team's early exit.

Funniest to watch though has been the coverage of the World Cup on BBC.  Remember that in Britain, there are only five over the air channels and one of those has been dedicated to showing every single match with an hour before and after of unrecognizable (to me) talking heads.  The pre-game and post game analysis is quite entertaining.

I missed the memo, but England is God's special gift to soccer.  They are in the unique position in the tournament, if you believe the expectations of the commentators, of losing not only when they lose, but also when they tie.  Currently, pending tomorrow's matches, they have the same record as everyone else in their group, but this is not in any way an accomplishment it is an abject failure.  In fact, the manager who signed a contract extension before the Cup began because of his past success is expected to resign in disgrace if England doesn't show more.  He and the former captain are in an open war of words in the press.  Every newspaper leads with it in the headlines.

At the same time, the new government in London has announced a budget with draconian cuts in an attempt to balance spending with receipts.  But, you'd hardly know it with all of the drama on and off the pitch.

I laugh to myself, don't they know, the only thing to care so unreasonably about is U.K. basketball?