2014 FIFA World Cup

                      Soccer is not usually my sport.  It is not something I follow.  I know some of the players here and there but that is really only because they are mentioned in the sports section of the Chicago Tribune.  Sometimes I recognize a team name.  Other than that, I know very little about soccer.  It turns out I don’t even know when a goal is a goal.  I thought when the ball went into the net it was considered a goal and the kicking team got a point.  Apparently that’s not always the case.  There is something called offside which prevents a goal from being a goal.  All I know is it makes me very confused.  Oh, well, despite my confusion, and lack of usual interest, I am having a great time watching the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

                The first time I ever really watched professional soccer was the 2008 UEFA European Championship.  I don’t remember how I came across it, or why I even watched the games, but I did.  Then I didn’t pay attention again until the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  This one I listened to mostly.  I had a job where I could listen to the radio and I would turn on the games.  There weren’t a lot that I watched, the time difference and my schedule played a part in this, but I enjoyed listening to what was going on.  I didn’t pay any attention to the 2012 UEFA European Championship, but I did look forward to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  It was my opportunity to see what I had listened to on the radio four years before.              

                Watching these games I can see how people can find soccer so exciting.  I love watching a player kick the ball towards the goal only to have it blocked by the goalie in a daring save.  Then there are the moments when the last person expected to score gets the ball and skids it past the goalie’s fingers and into the net.  Everyone on the kicking team gets so excited when this happens and they come together to celebrate.  Nobody ever celebrates alone.  While it is clear there are stars on a team, in the end it is the team as a whole that matters most.  I think there are some other sports that should take a lesson from this. 

                Part of what makes the action on the field so exciting is the commentators.  This is surprising because usually commentators drive me up the wall, but the ones they are using for the World Cup I absolutely love.  They are really clever which can make for some funny commentating.  Also, they don’t cut any punches.  They’re not nasty, but they are honest.  If they think a player is milking an injury or doing something he shouldn’t, the commentators will call the player on it.  While personally they may be cheering for one team over another, there is very little bias in what is said.  Every player and team can do wrong and every player and team can do right.  The commentators get excited no matter who is about to score.  In the end it is not about who wins, but the joy of the game.

                Since I don’t pay attention to soccer I am for the most part impartial when it comes to who I want to win each game.  I will say I do prefer the teams that are less dramatic.  Some teams I swear spend more time on the ground than they do on their feet.  I have yet to figure out how they can be so injured that they’re screaming in pain and then five seconds later sprinting across the field.  It doesn’t make sense to me.  But anyways, no matter what is happening on the field, I don’t usually care who wins.  That is unless the two teams I am cheering for happen to be playing.  With my lack of attention to the sport, I decided to apply a very scientific method to determine which teams I will cheer for directly.  They’re from the same countries as my favorite tennis players.  What the chances of either team winning the cup are I have zero idea.  I don’t care either.  I’m having a great time watching the FIFA World Cup, and to me that is all that matters.