The World Cup

I couldn't come up with a catchy title for this post, but that's because there isn't one. There doesn't need to be a catchy title for something that captures the entire world, everybody already knows. The Olympics don't need a nickname. The Super Bowl doesn't need a catch phrase. The World Cup is simply what it is.

The. World. Cup.

Some would argue that it's bigger than the Olympics. I would probably agree. As much as I love watching women's curling in February with hot Swedish girls throwing rocks down ice with brooms and screaming so loud in can sometimes be mistaken for sexual noises if you're in the other room... The World Cup is different.

One sport. The same teams throughout. The same players throughout. Opening round, then single elimination. No second place. No ties (after the opening round). This is a tournament at its most basic level. Win and move on, lose and go home.

The only other sporting tournament that could compare is March Madness, college basketball's catchy name for the NCAA Division 1 Basketball Championship.

But The World Cup is not "June Madness Every Four Years", nor does it need opening and closing ceremonies. Every player knows why they're there. They know what's at stake. They know when it starts. This year they'll arrive and be ready to go from the moment they breathe the South African air.

Americans don't like soccer because there isn't much glory. But there are more guts than you'd believe. In my opinion, no sport plays harder than World Cup soccer.

NFL football plays for 4 quarters of 15 minutes, but with breaks. Players will play just under half the game usually. NHL hockey, plays 3 periods of 20 minutes each, but with shifts. Each player working around 20-30 minutes a game (except the goalie). MLB plays 9 full innings, but at the pace of a golf match. Speaking of golf, they play for 18 holes which could last for 3 or more hours, but they walk, and somebody else carries their equipment. NBA plays 4 quarters of 12 minutes, not even a full hour of actual game time, and they can be subbed out at any time of the game and come back later, along with breaks at each quarter.

No sport plays harder or longer than World Cup players (ok... Rugby is a bitch of a sport. I know). Soccer games are for 90 minutes, 1.5 hours with only one halftime. Teams have limited substitutions, so most of the players will be on the field the entire time. Conditioning at its finest.

And you wanna talk about hits? Watch these: Tab Ramos, Zidane, and these random ones.

This all boils down to one thing. I love The World Cup. It's my favorite time of every four years.