Spain's going to the final!!!!

El pulpo Paul was right!

And I have to miss the final match because I am going to be in an airplane right at that exact time.

rooting for Espain

My daughter's father is Spanish, but he does not follow football or enjoy football culture in Spain, probably for the same reason that I don't follow major league sports in this country very closely although I love athletic competitions: corrupted by money, hyper-masculinity of an unpleasant variety, homophobia, etc. But in this World Cup, I have been rooting for Spain to advance to the semi-finals because I actually know something about the players and the team from having spent time in Spain every year for the last fifteen years. If you read the papers or watch TV, even just the comedy shows, you can't help but learn about the club rivalries, the names and personalities of the players (and their nicknames), their girlfriends, the coaches, how the national side have never advanced past the quarter-finals before, bla bla bla.
So even though for professional reasons I root for all the Latin American teams, and for admiration of their play I enjoy watching the Dutch and the Germans (two of the best matches I have seen have been theirs, and their handsome coach Joachim Loew has not been allowed to clean his "lucky blue sweater"!), I have to root for La furia roja to go to the final round.

and also because of this:

"El pulpo Paul"

Germany's gorgeous game shut out Argentina in their quarterfinals match. Paul the octopus has predicted correctly again!

Lionel Messi

Why people think Argentina's Lionel Messi is currently "The Best Player in the World, described beautifully by sportswriter and blogger Joe Posnanski (via kottke).

updated to add: Messi plays for Barcelona, so he's buddies with most of Spain's national team. From the shallow end of the pool, here's an Argentina victory thread with lots of Messi pics/captions, and a Spain post-victory thread both from the from LJ ONTD_football where real fans also indulge in pics of shirtless players, jokes and all-around silliness.

World Cup highlights of yore

Tomorrow Portugal plays Brazil. Will the match be as epic as Germany Vs. Greece in Philosophy Football?

World Cup Fever at Bette's Ocean View Diner, Berkeley

A trip to the Bay Area almost always includes a stop at Bette's Ocean View Diner in Berkeley. This year the place was decked out for the World Cup!



Our table was right next to the board where they are tracking the play-offs.