Football vs. the Weather

FIFA World Cup, Germany 2006 has taken over the world. The atmosphere at the moment in the country is INSANE.

I think after the Unification of Germany, this is the event that most is pulling the Germans together and instilling a sense of national pride.

Football is everywhere – on TV, in the radio, the fans are thronging the streets. There is merchandise, there are huge live outdoor screenings across the city… and I mean huge 80,000 people in one place huge. You hear about nothing else. Every pub, club or restaurant you go to, it invariably is either the ice breaker or the filler.

In my own house it has become a religion. My grandmom has watched every game and kept a record of all the scores right from the 1st match. I kid you not; she has a diary in which she notes down the score of every game along with any remarks that made a particular game stand out. Like for the Netherland vs Poland game, she wrote down “rowdy spiel” (unruly game) next to the score.

Not only does she watch every game she also watches the post game analysis and then of course the replays. Football starts with breakfast, continues through the day and ends (hopefully!!) well past midnight.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not whining about it, like most women. I have nothing against it being the primary topic of conversation for over 8 weeks either I like football. But I don’t HAVE to watch every game and hear about every lost goal opportunity a million times.

Football is becoming a bit like the weather; over analyzed, over discussed and definitely never right the way it is. Somebody is going to be unhappy, not matter who wins.