How Sweet it is
I just wanted to take this opportunity to stick it to all the naysayers and bandwagon-hoppers: Italy is in the final, and it looks to me as if they will win it. For over a year now I've held to the belief that the winner would be Brazil or Italy; in fact, I thought they would face each other in the final, but it wasn't to be, owing to Brazil's abominable performance against a surprising France that has pullulated out of nowhere. Few Italians believed the Azzuri could do it, but, for reasons I cannot explain, I was rooting for them all the way. Bravo.
In case you haven't figured it out, I hate bandwagoners with every organ in my body. I myself never talk about baseball or basketball because I neither watch nor give a whit about them. I only expect the favour to be returned. I once had an encounter with a bandwagonning blockhead a few years ago who kept saying that England would win (in 2002, which of course they didn't). I tested the miscreant by asking him to name three players on the English team, to which he replied: "Owen, Beckham, and Bergkamp." I almost exploded with rage at how stupid he was, and even when I asseverated that Bergkamp was Dutch, he somehow had recourse to some subterfuge.
There's an excellent chance that my friend (who is Italian, unlike me) and I will go to Little Italy in Toronto for Sunday's match. I was on the Danforth (Greektown) in 2004 on the day Greece won, and it was pandemonium. One literally had trouble breathing in the streets.
Congratulations to Portugal for making it this far, but, despite all their possession, they simply couldn't do anything with the ball. The match also convinced me even more so that Figo is one of the most overrated players on earth, even more so than Ronaldo. The latter's Portugese namesake, Cristiano Ronaldo, played very well, and didn't dive too too much (Needless to say his career in the English Premier League is finished. Sadly, it's their loss.) Portugal also demonstrated, along with some other teams in this world cup, that ball possession means nothing.
In case you haven't figured it out, I hate bandwagoners with every organ in my body. I myself never talk about baseball or basketball because I neither watch nor give a whit about them. I only expect the favour to be returned. I once had an encounter with a bandwagonning blockhead a few years ago who kept saying that England would win (in 2002, which of course they didn't). I tested the miscreant by asking him to name three players on the English team, to which he replied: "Owen, Beckham, and Bergkamp." I almost exploded with rage at how stupid he was, and even when I asseverated that Bergkamp was Dutch, he somehow had recourse to some subterfuge.
There's an excellent chance that my friend (who is Italian, unlike me) and I will go to Little Italy in Toronto for Sunday's match. I was on the Danforth (Greektown) in 2004 on the day Greece won, and it was pandemonium. One literally had trouble breathing in the streets.
Congratulations to Portugal for making it this far, but, despite all their possession, they simply couldn't do anything with the ball. The match also convinced me even more so that Figo is one of the most overrated players on earth, even more so than Ronaldo. The latter's Portugese namesake, Cristiano Ronaldo, played very well, and didn't dive too too much (Needless to say his career in the English Premier League is finished. Sadly, it's their loss.) Portugal also demonstrated, along with some other teams in this world cup, that ball possession means nothing.
posted by Pious Labours | 4:59 p.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home