The World Cup starts tonight our time, in South Africa.

I'm not exactly a sports fan, but I love the World Cup. It ranks above the Olympics, certain tennis finals and State of Origin rugby league as sport that I get into watching.

One major reason is that I played football when I was young, from about 8 until 22, and I was quite good at it. I was a fan of "English soccer" on TV long before most people I know. My team mates were mostly Poms and Scots, and we played against Italians, Yugoslavs and Greeks. In retrospect, it's probably one of the reasons why I've always been receptive to multiculturalism.

Another is that it is "the" event, above all others, upon which the entire world becomes focused. And it's incredibly egalitarian - it's the competition that pits economically poorer nations against their much wealthier opponents on more even footing than is usually the case in other sports. Kids can hone their football skills on the streets in Rio as well as they can on the playing fields of Eton - if, indeed, they play real football there...

What do others think of the World Cup? Do you get into it, or is it just 'wog ball'? Does SBS really mean 'Soccer Before Sex'?

"We are all children of Africa. We have all returned home".

No wonder I love it. Not to mention the music and dance :)

C.J, I am just enjoying the opening ceremony on SBS.
The South Africans sure know how to move and dance don't they?

I don't know much about the rules of soccer, but my Irish born husband loves it, so I do watch some of the main matches with him.

I became a bit more interested in the game 4 years ago though, when John Allouisi took off his shirt after they won that excitingly famous match in Germany :)

I am a bit worried about the games being held in South Africa though.
I hope all goes smoothly and there is no violence involving any of the players or visitors.

I cant understand the popularity of a game where the most common score is nil all. Not to mention the regular occurrence and appalling theatrics of the players "diving". Buncha pussies. LOL

Waste of Flaming Time!

love
the Grench

I'm not really into sport, apart from cricket, which has been ruined by commercialisation. But my two boys are playing soccer this season and I played it as a lad, so I do have a soft spot for the World Cup.
I like your point, CJ, about it's egalitarian nature. I despise the modern Olympics because it's no longer the 'amateur' gathering of sports men and women it used to be, and because almost every event is decided by how much money was poured into the elite athlete (usually from an elite family and an elite school as well as an elite country), rather than ability.
I encourage my kids to carry the wooden spoon--there's enough competition in life already.