To the woodshed

Awakened by Hollyn's crying at 4:30 this morning, I lay in bed unable to get back to sleep. World Cup is underway, and I am a fanatic. The global spectacle that brings together countries and the world around the bounce of a round ball. It truly is a beautiful game. National Geographic has some great essays in the latest issue on why the world loves soccer.

So I couldn't go back to sleep as the adrenaline was building in anticipation of the USA v Czech Republic game. OUCH! What a deflating game for the US side. Nothing to match the magical opening game performance against Portugal in 2002.

I will be also pulling for the Spanish side throughout this Word Cup. It is always fun to be in Spain during the World Cup and taste a little bit of the madness that soccer is in the rest of the breathing world outside the United States. Every daily paper is chalk full of World Cup coverage every day. When Spain wins a game, the celebration pours out into the streets with flags waving by the reveling throngs in the fountains, plazas and intersections filled with singing and honking horns.