Is anyone getting excited for this world cup?

I think i was probably about 8 or 9 one summer, when my next-door neighbor and I were hanging out in a wooded area near our houses. We had recently built a horrible treehouse in the woods and had also recently decided that this was going to be our new, top secret place to do secret stuff, like heroin and crack. Okay, we were probably doing less heroin and crack and more hiding from my brother, who was supposed to be watching me. While my parents were at work, my brother was my supervision during the summer days. If I spent the entire day at the house with him, it was about a guarantee that he would at some point beat me up. Normally, I probably deserved it, but I hated it because when my parents returned home, if I told them Andy had beaten me up, I would get sent to my bedroom for tattling. To avoid this seemingly daily episode, I typically tried to hide somewhere within the neighborhood.

So, as "rooster" and I were chillin' in the woods, probably admiring our sweet treehouse that we were afraid to actually go in because it was too unstable, and doing whatever else 8 year olds do, we noticed that there were 3 traffic cones sprinkled about. I immediately thought that it would be awesome to steal these cones, but I couldn't construct an idea for what we might actually use them for. After mulling it over, rooster decided that we could use them to mark off soccer goals. It was a pretty strange idea because the two of us had only ever seen soccer on television, never played it in any kind of organization. I decided we would go with that plan though, because ultimately, I just wanted to carry the cones around. We carried the 3 cones to my backyard and probably used a baseball glove as the fourth marker we needed to create 2 goals. I had a soccer ball in my toy box, which I think I received as some sort of pizza hut giveaway, so we gave soccer a whirl. We played one-on-one soccer in my very large backyard, and after about seven minutes, we realized that one-on-one soccer in my very large backyard was incredibly boring. I couldn't understand why any sport would deliberately take away my ability to use my two, perfectly good, opposable thumbs. That day was basically the start and end of my soccer career, which was an entire day longer than my hockey and lacrosse careers.

Although I've never really played soccer or hockey, I've grown up to find them very exciting to watch. I love hockey on television and it's my favorite sport to attend in person. But soccer is different. The passion involved in soccer, by attending soccer fans, seems to be unparalleled in sports. Every national soccer game I see on television, the crowd always seems to be a bunch rabies-stricken people ready to eat anything that gives them a dirty look. And that is what I love about soccer.

I honestly get so excited for the World Cup; it's kind of embarrassing. It's embarrassing because most of my friends are still people I grew up with in my hometown. These people also have never played soccer and so most of them don't care about it. I have no one to talk to about the World Cup, so I guess it's a great topic to blog about.

I have to try to temper my excitement about this world cup, however. Last summer I watched as the US national team advanced to the Championship match of some major tournament after defeating Spain, the world's #1 ranked team. Clearly, I'm not a soccer expert, and wouldn't claim to be, but from what I saw last summer, it seemed that the US soccer team was a bit of a fluke. I remember watching games where we were seemingly outplayed, but managed a 2 minute burst where we would score a deciding goal. I felt like I saw this same story play out about 3 times during that tournament. Every analyst talked about how great America was playing because after all, America was winning, but they didn't want to point out that we were routinely being outplayed. We see these kind of things in hockey or soccer, where if a team can steal a goal, they can win while being outplayed. Sure, a basketball team can be outplayed and still win, but if you make 1 lucky three-pointer it usually doesn't end up being the deciding factor in the game. I think the US will have to win some games in which they've been outplayed to have success in this tournament. Maybe I'm just a doubter.

There are a few other, more recent events which make me worried about the US chances in the upcoming World Cup. First off, I heard an interview with Landon Donovan a few weeks ago, and Colin Cowherd asked if the US really is the 15th best soccer team in the world (that's about where we're currently ranked). Landon paused and said, "uh, yeah, I think so." It seems to me, that if Landon really believed that, he wouldn't have needed to take the extended pause. It sounded similar to when I tell the officer that I thought I was only going 65. "Do you know how fast you were going?"

"Uh, yeah, 65 I think, you know, the exact speed limit."

In worldwide events, I think America tends to get more publicity than other nations and ends up being a little more highly ranked than what they've actually merited. Landon probably knows that they're not in the top 15, but he also doesn't want to say otherwise. I've also seen on ESPN that the team is currently suffering from many injuries. Most of them are injuries that linger and need extended periods of time to fully heal, things like ankle sprains. Not to mention, one of our most dynamic players, Charlie Davies, was left off the team.

All in all, the US is the second ranked team in their four-team division entering round robin play of the World Cup. The top two of the four teams in each group will then advance to the round of 16. I lean towards being a pessimist, but I have a feeling that the US will not make it out of pool play.

That being said, I invite you all to cheer on America with me June 12, against England. USA USA USA!!!