IT'S OK TO ACT CASUAL NO NEED TO LOVE (OR HATE) THE WORLD CUP.Byline: Steve Dibeck It is time to hear from the true silent majority, from the great unsung. All across America you are out there, overlooked and ignored, and I say it is time to stand up and cry out from the top of your lungs: Yeah, the World Cup is OK. It's treasonous, I know. Goes against the two-party system A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate the voting in nearly all elections. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by the two major parties. ingrained in this country when it comes to soccer. Understand, when it comes to the World Cup there are two distinct camps that get absolutely all the attention. From camp No. 1 it's: The World Cup is the single, greatest event in the history of breath. The Super Bowl, the World Series, the Olympics, the Roman Empire all pale in comparison. If you can't appreciate sports' grandest experience, you should be locked in a room and forced to play Tiddlywinks for the rest of your natural, pathetic existence. And then there is camp No. 2, the more familiar American response: Who cares? What a wretched bore. Would rather watch concrete harden. It's for sporting primates. A bunch of jingoists running around like their national pride is at stake. It can't be a sport if you can't use your hands. Anyone who believes watching a 1-0 game with one bathroom break for almost twohours is great sport thinks watching a metronome metronome (mĕ`trənōm'), in music, originally pyramid-shaped clockwork mechanism to indicate the exact tempo in which a work is to be performed. It has a double pendulum whose pace can be altered by sliding the upper weight up or down. tick is riveting. It's all yin and yang Yin and Yang Noun two complementary principles of Chinese philosophy: Yin is negative, dark, and feminine, Yang is positive, bright, and masculine [Chinese yin dark + yang bright] . One extreme or another. Like there was no middle ground, like it wasn't allowed. It's Hatfield and McCoys. You're either with us, or aginn' us! This is that time of year when most U.S. columnists snicker at soccer, make light of the World Cup, insult everyone who knows the difference between a corner kick and the corner bar. Either that or the fanatical soccer writers are down on their knees, praying to the World Cup gods, aghast and shamed by America's ignorance. Hey, give us a nice slow exhale exhale /ex·hale/ (eks´hal) to breathe out. ex·hale v. 1. To breathe out. 2. To emit a gas, vapor, or odor. . Relax. There is a land in between. A vast gray area between extremes that actually encompasses most Americans. Most of us have gotten to the point where we're fine with soccer. We recognize its world importance. Can get reasonably interested in the world tournament that takes place only once every four years. And should the American team actually come out of the first round, we'll pay even more attention. We still love a winner. But don't try to make us feel guilty because we're not fighting hyperventilation hyperventilation /hy·per·ven·ti·la·tion/ (-ven?ti-la´shun) 1. abnormally increased pulmonary ventilation, resulting in reduction of carbon dioxide tension, which, if prolonged, may lead to alkalosis. 2. . Don't try to school us on our lack of appreciation, with how out of touch we are with the rest of the world. On the other hand, don't try to make us feel like were unpatriotic because we harbor some heightened awareness of the sport now. That we are betraying our national sporting heritage by opening ourselves up to another sport. Listen, really, we get it. The majority of the sporting public, anyway. I asked my 77-year-old mother, Louise, if she was interested in the World Cup and she said, ``What's the World Cup?'' I tried to explain, tried to remind her we hosted the thing in 1994 at the Rose Bowl, that the U.S. has twice played host to the Women's World Cup The Women's World Cup could refer to either the:
``We did?'' she said. ``Guess I missed it.'' So hosting the World Cup didn't exactly create a national soccer awakening. It did boost general awareness, however, did help create the MLS See multilevel security. , which still is going strong. So it doesn't compare in popularity to the big three -- football, basketball and baseball. So what? This is a big country. We have lots of games, lots of athletes, lots of room for a plethora of sports. One national survey said soccer is now the second-most popular sport among U.S. recreational athletes, trailing only softball. It's not going away. There clearly is a greater understanding of the sport here than there's ever been before. All those kids who played AYSO AYSO American Youth Soccer Organization AYSO All Your Saturdays Occupied AYSO Alabama Youth Soccer Organization AYSO Albuquerque Youth Soccer Organization (Albuquerque, New Mexico) , all those parents who took them to the countless games, now have at least a basic understanding of the game. If that hasn't translated into soccer euphoria, that's OK, too. Don't treat us like sporting imperialists out of touch with the world beyond our borders because we can't tell Ronaldo from Ronaldinho. Really, most of us do get it. It can be a wonderful sport. They are great athletes. They do some amazing things. We can appreciate it. But don't act like it is sports perfection. Even the MLS is confusing. The Galaxy didn't just win the MLS title, it won the U.S.Open Cup. It plays exhibition games against teams from who-knows-where in the middle of the season. Then another team, Chivas USA, came to L.A. Sounds like it was named it after a fine Scotch. The World Cup qualifying takes on its own life, where you have to survive something with a snazzy snaz·zy adj. snaz·zi·er, snaz·zi·est Slang Fashionable or flashy. [Origin unknown.] snaz name like the CONCACAF CONCACAF Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Soccer) CONCACAF Confederacion Norte, Centroamericana y del Caribe de Futbol Asociacion (Spanish) Cup. There is also the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which replaced the CCCF CCCF Canadian Child Care Federation CCCF Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation CCCF Call Continuity Control Function CCCF Children of Chernobyl Canadian Fund (Toronto, ON, Canada) Championship. Our cups runneth over. The World Cup opens today in Germany. We'll be paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard . Can't promise we'll be immersed in it all, but we're up for a single-sport international tournament that plays the patriotism card and happens only once every four years. But if Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982 in Ontario, California), is an American professional soccer player on the Los Angeles Galaxy, who is the joint all-time leading scorer for the U.S. National Team (along with Eric Wynalda). hits the crossbar, the U.S. falls 1-0 to the Czechs and is bounced out early, we will not be leaping from the top of the Disney Center. Sounds like a nice middle ground to me. stephen.dilbeck(at)dailynews.com. (818) 713-3607 WORLD CUP ... AT A GLANCE Favorite: Five-time champion Brazil, with an exquisitely talented team, is the overwhelming choice to win a sixth title. Its previous championships were won in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. If the Brazilians falter, the likeliest candidates, in order, are Argentina, France, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, England and Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. . Underdogs: Ivory Coast Ivory Coast: see Côte d'Ivoire. seems to be everybody's upset special -- the Elephants need to overcome Argentina or Netherlands to advance. The U.S. is capable of pulling a surprise. And watch out for Iran, Australia and Switzerland. Previous champions: Only seven countries have won the 17 titles. In addition to Brazil, Germany (1954-74-90) and Italy (1934-38-82) have three championships, Uruguay (1930-50) and Argentina (1978-86) have two, and England (1966) and France (1998) captured crowns on home turf. Players to watch: Brazil's masterful Ronaldinho is considered the world's best player, and he's surrounded by superstars: Ronaldo, Adriano, Kaka ka·ka n. A brownish-green New Zealand parrot (Nestor meridionalis). [Maori k  k , Roberto Carlos Roberto Carlos may refer to:
n. A player in a sport with goals, such as a guard in basketball, who initiates offensive plays. play Zinedine Zidane “Zidane” redirects here. For other uses, see Zidane (disambiguation). Zinedine Yazid Zidane (IPA: [ˌzineˈdin jaziːd ziˈdan]; born 23 June 1972), popularly nicknamed Zizou and forward Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (IPA: [tjɛ'ʀi ɑ̃'ʀi], born 17 August 1977 in Paris, France) is a French football player. . Germany's Michael Ballack is a focal point focal point n. See focus. of Cup promotion. Others include Angola's Fabrice Akwa, Argentina's Lionel Messi, Czech Republic's Pavel Nedved and Jan Koller, England's Steven Gerrard, Italy's Francesco Totti, Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, Netherlands' Ruud van Nistelrooy Rutgerus Johannes Martinius van Nistelrooy (originally spelled Van Nistelrooij) (born 1 July 1976 in Oss, North Brabant) is a Dutch footballer who plays as a centre forward for Real Madrid and the Dutch national team. , Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Togo's Emanuel Adebayor, and Ukraine's Andriy Shevchenko. Another top player is England's Wayne Rooney, who is rehabilitating a broken foot and might be available for the latter part of the tournament. United States: The Americans are competing in their eighth World Cup and their fifth in a row, dating to 1990. They are in Group E, with Italy, Czech Republic and Ghana. After reaching the quarterfinals four years ago in South Korea/Japan, the U.S. faces heady expectations, but their group is probably the second-toughest in the tournament, and qualifying for the second round would be an accomplishment. Coach in Bruce Arena and top players are goalkeeper Kasey Keller, defender Oguchi Onyewu, midfielders Claudio Reyna, Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and John O'Brien, and forward Brian McBride. Reyna, the team captain, and Keller are in their fourth World Cups. Mexico: The Tricolores are competing in their 13th World Cup and are seeking their third trip to the quarterfinals, a difficult proposition because a matchup with powerful Argentina or Netherlands likely awaits should they reach the second round. Mexico is in Group D, with Iran, Angola and Portugal. The coach is Ricardo Lavolpe, and the top players are defenders Rafael Marquez and Carlos Salcido, midfielders Pavel Pardo and Zinha, winger Jesus Arellano and forwards Jared Borgetti, Guillermo Franco and Francisco Fonseca. Pardo is the captain. Games to see: Any game involving Brazil. Netherlands also is known for playing attractive, attacking soccer, and France and England are capable of great entertainment. The U.S. games are Monday (Czechs in Gelsenkirchen), June 17 (Italy in Kaiserslautern) and June 22 (Ghana in Nuremberg). Mexico plays Sunday (Iran in Nuremberg), June 16 (Angola in Hannover) and June 21 (Portugal in Gelsenkirchen). The biggest first-round showdown is Argentina-Netherlands on June 21 in Frankfurt. Other can't miss games: Argentina-Ivory Coast (Saturday in Hamburg), Angola-Portugal (Sunday in Cologne), France-Switzerland (Tuesday in Stuttgart), Spain-Ukraine (Wednesday in Leipzig), Netherlands-Ivory Coast (June 16 in Stuttgart), England-Sweden (June 20 in Cologne), Czech Republic-Italy (June 22 in Hamburg) and Croatia-Australia (June 22 in Stuttgart). There are several wonderful matchups possible in the knockout rounds. -- Scott French CAPTION(S): 4 photos, 5 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) no caption (USA team) Getty Images (2 -- color) PASSION (YIN): Iranian fans wave their national flag during a friendly match. Soccer is by far the most popular sport outside of the United States. APATHY (YANG): The average attendance of a Major League Soccer game during the league's 10 full seasons is approximately 15,000. The team with the worst record in Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. (Kansas City) averages about 17,600 fans per game. (3 -- color) Brazil's Ronaldinho (4 -- color) Brazil's Ronaldo Box: (1) WORLD CUP...AT A GLANCE (see text) (2) GERMANY vs. COSTA RICA (3) POLAND vs. ECUADOR - Scott French (4) SCOTT FRENCH'S PICKS (5) BILLY WITZ'S PICKS (6) 2006 WORLD CUP |
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