Monday, May 24, 2010

Chapter XII: A Month of Fun

Growing up, despite having played basketball and trying my hand at tennis, the two sports I enjoyed playing the most were baseball and football. No, not that football where you put on 40 pounds of padding. THAT football, where you actually use your feet, and unless you're the goalkeeper, you cannot use your hands.

June 11, 2010 will be a great day for me because the FIFA World Cup of Football begins in South Africa. I can only imagine when the opening match between South Africa and Mexico begins, the crowd will be ELECTRIC!

I only played two seasons of the game in Jr. High, and really, it was the last sport I played full-time before going full-boar into music. I always had great memories playing, and will always cherish the first place medal my team won in my second year after finishing in last place the first year I played.

But let's get to the big, month-long event. 32 countries, one month, a shitload of games. CBC will be airing all the games in Canada, while in the US, games will be split between ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, likely depending on the schedule as there are some games that are due to run at the same time, but in different venues. I'd imagine there's going to be an online feed, which will be great for me. I'll have one TV on one game, and a computer on another game.

Now, with every global event, there's a wave of controversey. You know that a lot of cities want to make themselves look better than they are, so they try to get rid of the problems. One of those problems is the eviction situation. To "clean up the city," a lot of people living in the "slums" have been relocated to other areas outside those cities so that the "slum" areas can be reworked into rentable units for visitors. This has brought on a lot of protests, and really, I can't blame them. Rather than trying to create jobs for these people so they can afford a better way of life, they kick these people out of their small homes, and try to cater to outsiders. It's a problem that exists everywhere, but doesn't seem to get solved.

Thoughts on Human Rights aside, I'm excited. There are a few countries I'm hoping fall flat on their faces, and there are a few countries I hope make it far. Of course, with my Underdog Complex, I'll be cheering for the little guys out there...with the exception of Brazil and Italy. Those are the only two "favorites" I'll be cheering for.

As we get closer to June 11th, I'm going to talk a bit more about the FIFA World Cup, and I'll probably give some reflections on the tournament as it progresses.

Until then, chant with me!

Olé! Olé-Olé-Olé! Olé! Olé!

BMW

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