And All the World is Football-Shaped

It only just recently struck me that this line from XTC's "Senses Working Overtime" was referring to a football-football, not an American football. I don't know why I never connected that before, but uttering this realization aloud prompted a stunned and sputtering Nigel to proclaim, "I don't even know you!"

Alas, all the world is football-shaped and that's not an American football. It's a real football.

Football, or soccer as it's called in the United States, is the most popular sport in the world. Period. In 2004, 95 million viewers watched the Super Bowl. In 2004, 218 million watched the World Cup final. The whole rest of the world is mad about football yet it's been slow to catch on here.

Maybe that will change. (Well, probably not but that's a topic for another entry....) It's time for World Cup, kids!

Just what is that, you ask? FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) is the governing body of international football and every four years they hold championship playoffs and finals. The event is a month long with 32 teams competing for bragging rights.

There are some great sources of information, chief among them, Wikipedia where you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about FIFA, the World Cup, and football in general. There is also a new book of essays from Harper Collins called The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup. There is a nice excerpt from this book in the current issue of National Geographic.

And, Discovery Channel is even getting into the fun with a new series kicking off this week called Drew Carey's Sporting Adventures. Turns out Drew (yes, that Drew Carey) is a bit of a footie fan, too, as well as an amateur photographer and this series combines the two, bringing the world of football and the World Cup to American fans (all twelve of us) and soon-to-be fans.

The FIFA site is invaluable and for those of you following England (ahem, who isn't following England?), the BBC site is your best source of information. It looks like ESPN will be showing some of the matches at least but really the best way to watch is to find a pub.

We follow England (natch) so we find the bars and pubs where the ex-Pats go. There is one English pub in particular we love and last World Cup we found ourselves and the rest of the ex-Pat community gathering at ungodly hours (5am or so) for a cup of tea, a Full English Breakfast, and some football. It's a great way to watch if you can't be there in person (and most of us can't...) and you'll learn a lot about the game.

It's a beautiful game to watch and often appears to be orchestrated chaos. The clock doesn't stop in football, so the average player runs 6 to 8 miles a match. These athletes are among the finest and strongest in the world and they make it look so simple. If you've never watched a match, go. You'll have a great time--watching the rabid fans, if nothing else.

So, get ready for Germany v. Costa Rica on Friday and let me just say Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land! Eng-a-land!

Are you ready for some football?