World Cup
The World Cup my not be such a big deal here in America, but it is certainly a world event. I’ve been catching as many games as I can but for an international perspective, I’ll go to my man in Guatemala: Ross. He’s there on summer vacation and here's what he had to report via email 6/28/06 from Lake Attitlan in Southwest Guatemala:

“As you can imagine, everyone in [Central America] is nutso about ¨Futball.¨ I was in Mexico for their first win. Quite a hoot. Saw the U.S. hopes shot down while in Belize, alongside the Mexican snorkelers parked at the bar who saw their own parish as Angola, Portugal, Italy, and Argentina’s players rocked various bar room screens with their footwork. Not even the market place hustlers could peel there faces from their tiny TV’s to sell ya a rug. If walking down the sidewalk here you suddenly hear an enveloping roar, somewhere in Germany someone just scored a goal. Everyone in Guatemala was rooting for Argentina to kick Mexico’s butt. Since virtually every European we’ve met this trip is Dutch, we picked up Holland as our new favorite, but then today the Portuguese took them down with numerous spats more reminiscent of hockey than soccer. We need a new team to root for, and a sign to guide us there. A South American team will probably win the most friends...”

Alas, it’s now down to France and Italy. It should be a good game and I'm sure that Elmwood Park will be cheering Italy on. This world cup seems to have gone so fast, it’s a shame that we’ll have to wait another four years for the next one.