Football Fever

Well, the quadrennial madness is upon me again. I think I watched about 9 1/2 hours of the twelve hours worth of the six World Cup Games on this weekend. In my defense however, I did take time to do the usual household chores and take the kids out for an afternoon at the Discovery Center and a DQ treat Sunday afternoon to relieve the tedium of a dreary weekend.

Nothing shocking so far. England muddling through underachieving. Germany dismembering its opponent with precision. Slept in and missed the Dutch game and it looked to have been one of the best of the first round of play but they won against the plucky Serbs and Montenegrans. Best value so far was Shaka Hislop and nine other guys stonewalling Sweden for a scoreless draw. Aside from Germany, Mexico was the only other team scoring big. They won big over an Iranian team that looked in the first half to at least be their equals but then totally ran out of ideas in the second half.

Tomorrow at 11:00 is the game we've all been waiting for USA vs. The Czech Republic. I'm on pins and needles and will be helpless from 11 - 1 tomorrow but I don't have much hope. The U.S. has never beaten a European football power on European soil. I'm expecting us to loose 2-1 but to give the Czechs all they can handle. But you never know, every World Cup has its first round upset and we haven't really had one yet. Trinidad and Tobago notwithstanding. If we somehow manage to pull of a win tomorrow, make no mistake it will rock the world.

I have a very busy work week ahead. I'll be pulling long hours what with trying to sneak the USA game as well as Germany-Poland on Wendesday and perhaps Argentina-Serbia on Friday. I also have a board meeting and a couple of major deadlines looming at work. But, if I get it all done, look for a post later this week on the economics of biofuels.