Lately, not unlike the rest of the world, I've been getting into soccer. Everyone seems to be keeping up with the World Cup, even if it's just an occasional glance at the score, or checking out the really hot players. I don't really know what it is about sports that brings people together, but it really does. I think the effect is stronger the bigger the event. For instance, most people wouldn't go crazy over a school game unless your friends or family are playing. Sometimes that starts off with college games if that's the culture of your school. Most times, the attachment starts with the professional sports that are popular in the culture. For example, here in SF, most people are more attached to baseball and football because of our teams the Giants and the 49ers, respectively. The bigger/more important the game, the more people tend to gravitate toward the sport. I won't go into the whole thing with those two teams, but because the World Cup is such a big thing right now, I'll focus on that.
The World Cup is basically the Olympics for soccer. It happens every 4 years, and numerous countries compete to bring their nation glory. And just like the Olympics I always root for team USA and whichever country I feel I identify with more or like. Sports is usually a symphony of unscripted athletic drama, and for me personally it's really easy for me to get emotionally invested in things like this. The cool thing is soccer really is the world's sport. Most of the countries play it and it actually can get really exciting. Even though most of the players just run around and pass, sometimes tens of minutes pass without any goal scored; but when it gets close to the net, that's when it gets real. There's so much that can happen with that wide of a field! The possibilities! This time around I'm going for USA and Germany. Also cheering for Japan and Korea, until they get eliminated or play the US. Oh sports, you have the whole world watching for the next few weeks.
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