Finally tonight, a few words about World Cup soccer.
Please spare me the stifled yawns and typical American gripes about how boring the sport can be.
For God's sake, we're a nation that venerates 1 - 0 baseball games, watches cars make endless left turns, and televise people playing poker and dominoes.
Now I confess that I don't know a corner kick from a free kick, I don't get the logic of why they call offsides, and I think the whole yellow card/red card thing is a little melodramatic.
But these Cup games are athletic, intense, passionate and driven by a blend of patriotism and nationalism that is real and not commercial.
In short, these games offer everything the Olympics claim and try to sell every four years.
You think the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is intense or Michigan and Ohio State?
How about the emotional and historic implications of a match-up between Germany and Poland, or the stakes involved for players from Iran or Croatia, or how spirits are lifted when a nation like Ghana wins or tiny Togo even tries.
Yes I know that in soccer they score about as much as Ann Coulter makes sense and yes I know that they act like drama queens whenever they are fouled, but if you haven't watched any of the World Cup matches from Germany, you should try it. You won't be disappointed.
And after years of repeating the standard American denials, you might have to admit that the rest of the world is on to something.
And that's our show for this evening.....
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