Thursday, June 22, 2006

A spherical world

My good friend, SM (the elder), recently spoke to me about the ongoing football World Cup in Germany. He made an impassioned plea to me about the beauty of the game and the greatness of the event. It is the only global event that non-participating countries seem to follow as much as the participating ones. The Olympics involve more nations but people do not watch it with as much enthusiasm.

Everyday I hear about the games being played from people around me. I am in the US of A, and while football (soccer to Americans) is not even close to being in their mind most of the time, the extensive coverage of the game has gained considerable audience, fueled mostly by expatriate followers of the sport.

The fact that the games are played during the daytime is an added bonus. Sadly, I have not been able to watch much. During the weekdays I am at work and every Sunday I have been playing cricket in Pittsburgh. I did get to watch some matches last week and I was enthralled by the spectacle.

I wanted to catch some of it this weekend, but then the Indian cricket team is locked in a run-scoring battle with the Windies and that beckons. I shall catch the World Cup as the teams get fewer and the battles gets tighter.

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