Are You Ready For
Some “Football”

Back in 1994 I was visiting some friends of mine who had secured post college jobs at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. In addition to envying their jobs at the world’s largest attic full of cool old stuff, I envied the fact that they lived in the nation’s capital, with its endless supply of fine museums, monuments and outdoor parks.

So I visited them as often as I could, despite the fact that guest rooms were basically non-existent in their small apartments. Eventually I spent enough nights on their sofas to earn the nickname “Couchman.”

Anyway, during this particular visit in ’94 we drove down to Georgetown to eat some ethnic food (another great thing about living in or visiting D.C.). We picked a Mexican restaurant, sat in a booth and began to peruse the menu for viable vittles while discussing the merits and differences of chalupas, chimichangas, chorizo and chiles rellenos.

As five minutes turned into ten without any sign of a waiter, we began to notice that everyone else in the restaurant seemed to be congregating around the bar. I walked up to the bar to see if they had forgotten about the gringos in the dining room when I discovered the reason for their neglect. Mexico was playing in a World Cup soccer game on television. All the cooks, busboys and waiters were standing around watching the game on the bar’s big screen TV and there was no way we were going to get any service until halftime.

I walked back to my friends and told them what the situation was and with the noblest of “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” attitudes we relocated to the bar.

Over the course of the next hour or so we had the time of our lives rooting for Mexico, drinking cervezas and eating all manner of appetizers that seemed to come from nowhere to be devoured at the bar. Fortunately Mexico defeated Ireland 2-1 in the game and no ugliness ensued at the bar after the game. I shudder to think what might have happened if we had decided to go to a restaurant named O’Malley’s that same day.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup begins this weekend in Europe and many Americans will gape in wonder at what is undoubtedly the most popular sporting event for the rest of the world. “How can you get excited about a sport that often ends with a score of 1-0,” many U.S. sports fans ask. I’m not the most qualified person to answer that question but I believe it has to do with a history of poverty in many corners of the world. There are places where baseball and American-style football have not made inroads into the community because of the amount of equipment needed to play those sports. To play soccer, you basically need a soccer ball. A field, while nice, can be replaced with a parking lot or stretch of beach. The goals, a luxury in some neighborhoods, can also be improvised. Next to skinny-dipping, it’s the least equipment-dependent sport there is.

Then there is the matter of the World Cup teams being made up of national teams instead of multi-national professional teams. The only qualification for being a fan is location of birth. If you’re Brazilian, odds are you’re going to pull for the green and gold-clad Brazilian team. In America, that qualification can even go back generations. If you’re maternal great-grandmother emigrated from Sicily in 1912, that’s a good enough reason to pull for Italy in the World Cup.

Of the 32 teams in the 2006 World Cup, over a half dozen of them are the first time qualifiers from their respective countries. Among them are Trinidad/Tobago, Angola, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and The Ukraine. These countries might as well shut their doors while their teams are on television because nothing else will matter for a few hours.

If you are wondering about the United States Team, it is ranked by FIFA as the 5th strongest of the 32 teams and is in Group E along with Ghana (ranked 30th), Italy (13th) and the Czech Republic (2nd) in the preliminary round. It might be a tough row to hoe for the boys in red, white and blue as the Czechs are ranked only slightly lower than defending champion Brazil and everybody expects traditional powerhouse Italy to play tougher than its 13th seed would indicate.

Mexico (the fourth seed) is in Group D and will play its first match this Sunday against Iran. If you go to Los Arcoiris or Dos Amigos this Sunday and can’t find your waiter, you’ll know that the red, white and green-clad Mexican team is busy trying to kick some Iranian butt on television.

Rocking Like a Hurricane. The Carolina Hurricanes’ quest for their first Stanley Cup is helping spread hockey fever through the Tar Heel State. Photo by Jeff Eason

Go Hurricanes

It has yet to be determined if there is more local interest in World Cup Soccer or in the Stanley Cup Finals of the National Hockey League. It is worth noting that if the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Edmonton Oilers over the next ten days, the state of North Carolina will have its first championship in one of the four major professional sports leagues.

Here in western North Carolina, the enthusiasm for the Hurricanes seems muted. But as you get closer to Raleigh you’ll find ample evidence of the “Cane-iacs” who have routinely sold out the RBC Center since the Hurricanes moved into the building several years back. Red, black and white decorations festoon Research Triangle area bars and restaurants while hockey sticks and Hurricane jerseys are framed on the wall like high priced paintings.

Those eateries must have been going crazy last night as the Hurricanes took the opener in the best-of-seven series when team captain Rod Brind’Amour scored a nifty wrap-around goal with 31 seconds left to secure a 5-4 win against the Oilers. The Canes had been down 3-0 but fought their way back into the game—something they’ve been doing all post season.

If you’ve never been to see the Hurricanes, it is one of the most exciting sports spectacles in North Carolina. As you enter the RBC Center, you are immediately knocked out by the sea of red and white jerseys...and also by the sound system blaring the Scorpions’ “Rocking Like a Hurricane.”

Hockey is a sport that doesn’t translate well on television (where the heck’s the puck?) so seeing it live is essential to understanding its appeal.

Plus, the Stanley Cup is without question the coolest trophy in sports. Go Hurricanes!