der Sport des Fußballs

Over the last year I’ve been spending a lot of time on IRC, which, for the uninitiated, is internet relay chat, aka multiplayer notepad. I’ve made some great friends and met some über douches from all over the world. i’ve also gotten to learn quite a bit more about canada and europe and how *vastly* different they are while being just like home.

Most persons with any style or substance knows that the final match of the World Cup is right around the bend. I’ve been dumbly watching conversations about fútbol, fotbal, le foot, fußball, podosfero, sakka, football, and good old soccer. One of my friends, whose blog I read on a regular basis, is a HUGE fan of the sport. Me? I’m a fan of outcomes. There are three reasons I’ve never watched a sports match, from start to finish. The first my attention span is total crap. If you look away, you’ll miss something (thank goddess for highlight reels and instant replay). The second, I cannot take the stress of the ups and downs of a match. They’re winning! They’re losing! Oh god THEY’RE HURT! Even if my team is obliterating the opposition, I can’t stand it because I feel bad for the other team and can’t bear to watch. Heh. Third…the rivalries. Oh god. They tear families apart and make newborn kittens cry.

Anyway. The US team was knocked out fairly early (but at least they qualified, right canada? ) so I have been without country for the better part of the games. I asked my Dutch friend who she was rooting for, (ORANJE OF COURSE.) which is kind of a dumb question, I suppose. Apparently only Americans cheer on teams outside of their own country for the cup. All my european and american friends understand since the US team kind of sucks, but they held on a little longer this year than normal so… NICE TRY GUYS!

I was complaining that I COULD NOT watch the matches (for the above reasons) but my IRC friends were having *none of that nonsense* and they found me a stream so I could watch the Spain v. Paraguay match. I’ll interject here that the only sports I’ve ever attempted to watch have been basketball and American Football. Two of THE MOST boring sports ever. but this…was exciting. This actually held my attention. If you don’t know anything about american football…they can’t move 2 feet without stopping, resetting the field, and starting the clock again. It seems like a single game takes eleventy hours. but this…when it was over i was left feeling like it hadn’t gone on long enough.

So. All this to say: SOCCER… I LIKE IT! Like it enough to watch it year round…probably not. For starters, I wouldn’t know where to being. I’m only able to watch the world cup matches because AT&T signed an agreement with ESPN so I get to watch it online for free. Anyway, I’m rooting for ORANJE for the cup. We’ll see.