The Good:
It turns out that soccer, when played by the worlds best, can actually be entertaining. It certainly was nice to go to work at and have some actual sports to watch. The timing was awesome too. Let's face it, one of the few things on earth that can rival soccer in potential lameness is summer baseball. You think a 0-0 draw between Paraguay and Lebanon is boring, then check out any random game involving the Royals or Indians between May and August. There's no football, the basketball playoffs were pretty bad, hockey is well into the playoffs and there aren't any college sports. The World Cup fits in nicely to the void, giving people more reason to grill, get loaded and gamble. Good times. The fever pitch nationalism, mixed with a healthy, healthy dose of racism is also nice. Seeing the US come back to beat Algeria and tie the Brits and Slovaks was double as satisfying because you know those countries were devastated. There's nothing better than beating somebody at something they are obsessed with and you couldn't care less about.
The Bad:
Those stupid horns. I understand it's part of the culture in Africa. Great, so is raping, stoning and racism, can we implement those too? I try and buy decent electronic equipment so that I don't have to listen to the exact sound those horns make. Maybe it's great in person but it's awful on TV, where 99 percent of the people are enjoying it. I suppose it's better that the sound was so awful, otherwise we might have focused on the truly awful officiating. It was beyond bad, it was almost intentionally bad. No rhyme, reason or explanation. Much like the stupid ball. Leading up to the event I heard about how the problems with the ball were over-exaggerated by the players, which they do all the time, apparently. Well, after watching all the games, either that ball is an atrocity of physics or the best players in the world all suck. That thing was flying all over the place besides towards the net. If it weren't for the Germans and Argentinians, the whole event would have been awful. Spain won the whole thing by scoring 8 goals. 8! That's obscene. Pick a ball, then play with it forever for crying out loud. Last problem with the World Cup is soccer apologists who like to claim that all of these problems don't exist or are the simply misunderstood charms of the beautiful game. Right. So you think bad officiating, horrible broadcast noise and an uncontrollable ball add charm to the game? Maybe your just an idiot. Thinking there should be some accountability or replay for officials doesn't make me ignorant it makes me a connoisseur of common sense. Thinking a soccer ball shouldn't be introduced for the first time at the beginning of a tourney is a bad idea especially if it reacts like flubber when you kick it. Finally, not liking the stupid vuvuzelas doesn't make me a racist. Quite frankly Soccer Guy, your determination to defend such an acoustic atrocity says more about you than my dislike for it says about me.
The Result:
Overall it was an enjoyable time and I look forward to Brazil 2014. The one hour time difference should be nice and I hope the US continues to improve. Does this tourney make me more interested in soccer in general? Nope. I couldn't care less about the MLS or EPL and I doubt anyone else does either who didn't already. People may be turned off of the EPL given the dismal performance of its "stars". The fundamental problems with soccer still remain, the first being that bad soccer is a torturous thing to watch. Worse than the worst baseball game. Too often soccer games seem to encourage ties, stalling, faking injuries and a general lack of competition. Just watch how Ghana reacts after they go up 2-1 over the US. The display was an absolute embarrassment for everyone involved with all the stretchers, flopping and general p***yishness of the players. Men who care about competing don't act that way. Ever. Until the sport can clean up that nonsense, it can't be taken seriously. My interest in the game will remain solely linked to what the national team is doing. I'll tune in when they play a no doubt super pissed Brazil team in August and might even try and catch some CONCACAF stuff but I think that'll be about enough for me. And that's fine. I know the world obsesses over it but I already spend too much time with superior sports like football, hockey, lacrosse and curling. Soccer can be that pleasant visit every so often that fill the gaps between things I really care about and that's enough of a purpose for me.
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