World Cup 2010

[godsshoeshine]

i dont care about the hand of god either

i care about

dude in the background is awesome

[Mobius]

I like Argentina.  In general they seem to combine elements of the beautiful game with italian-esque toughness.  Maradona' performance pre suspension in 94 was one of the most electrifying I've ever seen period.   He seems like a trainwreck as coach which leads me to hope its so crazy it just might work.  Certainly the world is a better place if Messi work his magic deep into the tournament.  

I didn't see the hand of god game but I've seen highlights.  The handball is so subtle that it warrants some respect in its execution.

[vansmack]

In general they seem to combine elements of the beautiful game with italian-esque toughness.  

That's because Spain founded a permanent colony there, then they hid all the Nazi's and Facists after WWII in exchange for the best Argentine footballers to play in Italian professional leagues.

Can you tell I LOVE the World Cup?

[Mobius]

Of course, Argentina is also highly Italian . . .contributing to its sense of Europeanness and extremely good-looking women.

The ol' Nazi sympathizin' is a bit of a black eye.  As is the history of disappointment, military dictatorships and economic fiascos.  But at the same time that serves to make the soccer team compelling.  In Messi especially we see all the great potential of Argentina (genius, truth, beauty) which we know exists because it lives in his game . . .yet they could easily disappoint in the World Cup as they have over the entire course of their existence.  (Come to think of it, didn't Maradona personify all of the above - genius, truth, beauty, disappointment, fiasco, sympathizing with the enemy (castro as nazi) . . .is cocaine addiction an analogy for military dictatorship of the mind??)

I also love the World Cup.

[vansmack]

Let's not bring the beautiful ladies into this to distract me.

This is strictly about football.  And Politics.

[lagas]

the really weird thing is how brazil arguably rules the world stage but no one cares about torneo paulista...if you think about it, Argentina's tournament is very compelling, and to watch boca vs river is always rewarding (almost), yet have you ever worried about a corinthians vs flamengo? we could talk about brazilian women if that's more interesting though...

[vansmack]

 I did a GREAT job naming my dog.  I'm positive this kid is going to succeed at United:

Chicharito's Dad Quits his Job to Watch his son at the World Cup

[eros]

I want to go to this watch party.

Party at the cantina

[sweetcell]

I want to go to this watch party.

Party at the cantina

that may be the most awesome commercial i've ever seen. 

[hutch]

Robben injured in friendly...

big bummer for the soccer lover..

Also Mikel out in Nigeria..'

They're dropping left and right!

[vansmack]

I want to go to this watch party.

Party at the cantina

that may be the most awesome commercial i've ever seen. 
 

I offered $100 for a lifesize cutout of a stormtrooper at our local Adidas store about 3 weeks ago and was told that I wasn't even close to being in the ballpark of the highest bid they've recieved.  Smackette was relieved...

[vansmack]

Barca, any insight on the link below (or any other apartments on that site) would be much appreciated by our group:

http://www.airbnb.com/rooms/31558

IE, good part of town, is there a better place to be, etc.

[godsshoeshine]

when do you leave

[vansmack]

man argentina cant do anything right. i mean, i kind of secondarily root for them because they have jonas but even thats hard

The story sounds apocryphal, but it has been reported that the defender who helped Colón finish 14th in the Argentinian league was included because Maradona had a dream that his team won the World Cup and the only face he could remember being there was Garcé's.

You can't beat that logic. I guess Zanneti and Cambiaso were not in the dream.

[vansmack]

when do you leave

Thursday:  SFO-LAX-London
Sunday: London-Lisbon
Tuesday: Lisbon-Barcelona
Thursday: Barcelona-Nice
Saturday: Nice-Majorca
Wednesday: Majorca-London
Thursday: London-LAX
Friday: LAX-SFO