Get ready, sports fans
12/06/14 05:05
Well Cubs fans, it looks like we’re in for another long season. At 26 wins to 37 losses, our team is now officially 11 and a half games behind the Central division leaders, Milwaukee. Last night’s 4 - 2 loss to the Pirates continued the slump that feels pretty familiar to dedicated Cubs fans. With the amateur draft completed, there is still a little time to make adjustments to the roster through trades before the July 31 deadline, but looks to be another long season. As has been the case in so many years past, Cubs fans have to look for a few dramatic plays. It was pretty cool the way Joh Baker caught a foul popup, threw to Darwin Barney, who fired off to third base, catching Starling Marte straying off the bag. Actually that wasn’t as dramatic as Chris Coghlan’s great leap for Andrew McCutchen’s long drive. Too bad it ticked off his glove for a home run.
As all good Cubs fans know, anybody can cheer for the winners. It takes perseverance and dedication to stay with your team when the streak of loosing seasons stretches longer than your lifetime. Cubs fans have a special bond born of the resilience that comes from never being on top of the game.
Let me tell you, however, friends and neighbors, while baseball may make the headlines in Chicago, home fo two professional teams, it isn’t the big game in the rest of the world. Checking headlines from England, Australia, South Africa and Costa Rica this morning, the rest of the world is hyped about football and I don’t mean American football, but the game we call soccer.
After a lot of preparation and hype, and even a little bit of controversy, Brazil is set to host the World Cup. The opener is this evening with Brazil hosting Croatia. The tournament will last a month as 32 nations compete for a place in the final to be held in Rio on July 13. Tonight’s match up will be preceded by a ceremony in Sao Paulo that pays tribute to the game and the people of the countries that compete. It is a big deal.
When you read the headlines from outside of the Untied States you understand that in much of the world the USA is often on the wrong side of the joke when it comes to sport. The Superbowl isn’t seen as that super when you consider there is only one country in the world that has professional American rules football teams. The World Series hardly seems like a “world” series when the competing teams all come from the same country.
The World Cup, on the other hand, is preceded by a lengthy process during which the field is pared to just 32 countries. The game is played all around the world.
Many believe that the host country, Brazil is favorite to win the World Cup for a sixth time. Spain, however, will be a strong competitor, coming off four major tournament wins in a row including the European Championships two years ago. Other seeded teams are Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Argentina, Germany and Belgium.
I probably pick all of my sports favorites with the same set of criteria, but my favorite team for the World Cup, Costa Rica, doesn’t look like they are starting from a very strong position. The team has recently plagued by injuries and has suffered a few high-profile losses leading up to the Cup. Key forward Alvaro Saborio broke his foot during training for the Cup. Bryan Oviedo also will miss the tournament through injury. But at least they qualified and will get to play. Costa Rica’s opener will be Saturday when the go up against Uruguay. Then almost a week later, on Friday June 20, they are playing Italy. England is the fourth team in their group.
The hot topic in Brazil in the days leading up to the opening ceremony is which coaches will ban the players from having sex. Mexico, Chile, Spain and Bosnia prohibit players from having sex during the tournament, according to one guide to the event. Brazil, on the other hand, has no such rule. It comes as no surprise that France also sets no similar rule for its players. Costa Rica’s coach, Jorge Luis Pinto plans to keep his players isolated and focused during th first round of the tournament. He did say, however, “I can assure, with no doubts, they will be able to ‘enjoy themselves’ just as soon as they qualify for the next round.
The tournament begins with eight groups of four teams each. The USA team is in group G with Germany, Portugal and Ghana. The first game for team USA is Monday when they are matched with Ghana. They then play Portugal on Sunday, June 22.
I’m not much for television and we will be camping during the first two weeks of the tournament, so I’ll get my news from the Internet and mostly after the games have been completed. And I’ll be getting my news from web sites outside of the USA. Soccer doesn’t make the front page of the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune or the Rapid City Journal very often.
I still have my vuvuzela from when South Africa hosted the World Cup. It hasn’t become a popular sound in my home and I doubt if it would be welcome in our camper as we vacation. I’ll leave it at home. And at nearly $90 for an official Costa Rica soccer jersey, I don’t think I’ll be ordering one of those to support Los Ticos. The design of the balls has been a bit controversial with its unusual black, red, green and blue swooshes in the place of the traditional ball design. There is a specific design for each match and at $179.99 each, I won’t be displaying a commemorative ball in my home, either. I guess I’ll just wave my Costa Rica flag and count on the team to make the noise in Brazil.
I’ll probably continue to pay attention to the Cups throughout the tournament as well. After all there are some things that simply demand loyalty in this world.
As all good Cubs fans know, anybody can cheer for the winners. It takes perseverance and dedication to stay with your team when the streak of loosing seasons stretches longer than your lifetime. Cubs fans have a special bond born of the resilience that comes from never being on top of the game.
Let me tell you, however, friends and neighbors, while baseball may make the headlines in Chicago, home fo two professional teams, it isn’t the big game in the rest of the world. Checking headlines from England, Australia, South Africa and Costa Rica this morning, the rest of the world is hyped about football and I don’t mean American football, but the game we call soccer.
After a lot of preparation and hype, and even a little bit of controversy, Brazil is set to host the World Cup. The opener is this evening with Brazil hosting Croatia. The tournament will last a month as 32 nations compete for a place in the final to be held in Rio on July 13. Tonight’s match up will be preceded by a ceremony in Sao Paulo that pays tribute to the game and the people of the countries that compete. It is a big deal.
When you read the headlines from outside of the Untied States you understand that in much of the world the USA is often on the wrong side of the joke when it comes to sport. The Superbowl isn’t seen as that super when you consider there is only one country in the world that has professional American rules football teams. The World Series hardly seems like a “world” series when the competing teams all come from the same country.
The World Cup, on the other hand, is preceded by a lengthy process during which the field is pared to just 32 countries. The game is played all around the world.
Many believe that the host country, Brazil is favorite to win the World Cup for a sixth time. Spain, however, will be a strong competitor, coming off four major tournament wins in a row including the European Championships two years ago. Other seeded teams are Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Argentina, Germany and Belgium.
I probably pick all of my sports favorites with the same set of criteria, but my favorite team for the World Cup, Costa Rica, doesn’t look like they are starting from a very strong position. The team has recently plagued by injuries and has suffered a few high-profile losses leading up to the Cup. Key forward Alvaro Saborio broke his foot during training for the Cup. Bryan Oviedo also will miss the tournament through injury. But at least they qualified and will get to play. Costa Rica’s opener will be Saturday when the go up against Uruguay. Then almost a week later, on Friday June 20, they are playing Italy. England is the fourth team in their group.
The hot topic in Brazil in the days leading up to the opening ceremony is which coaches will ban the players from having sex. Mexico, Chile, Spain and Bosnia prohibit players from having sex during the tournament, according to one guide to the event. Brazil, on the other hand, has no such rule. It comes as no surprise that France also sets no similar rule for its players. Costa Rica’s coach, Jorge Luis Pinto plans to keep his players isolated and focused during th first round of the tournament. He did say, however, “I can assure, with no doubts, they will be able to ‘enjoy themselves’ just as soon as they qualify for the next round.
The tournament begins with eight groups of four teams each. The USA team is in group G with Germany, Portugal and Ghana. The first game for team USA is Monday when they are matched with Ghana. They then play Portugal on Sunday, June 22.
I’m not much for television and we will be camping during the first two weeks of the tournament, so I’ll get my news from the Internet and mostly after the games have been completed. And I’ll be getting my news from web sites outside of the USA. Soccer doesn’t make the front page of the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune or the Rapid City Journal very often.
I still have my vuvuzela from when South Africa hosted the World Cup. It hasn’t become a popular sound in my home and I doubt if it would be welcome in our camper as we vacation. I’ll leave it at home. And at nearly $90 for an official Costa Rica soccer jersey, I don’t think I’ll be ordering one of those to support Los Ticos. The design of the balls has been a bit controversial with its unusual black, red, green and blue swooshes in the place of the traditional ball design. There is a specific design for each match and at $179.99 each, I won’t be displaying a commemorative ball in my home, either. I guess I’ll just wave my Costa Rica flag and count on the team to make the noise in Brazil.
I’ll probably continue to pay attention to the Cups throughout the tournament as well. After all there are some things that simply demand loyalty in this world.