The WC Lifestyle

Two days ago I went grocery shopping and I realized that the World Cup was not just an enormous event, it was a lifestyle. Since the opening game about a month ago my world has revolved around the world cup.

Most nights of the week, and especially at the end, and every weekend so far I've been going downtown to watch games on the big screens set up all over the city. It's what we do. Suddenly I have all this extra time on my hands, there is no more soccer...I'm lost.

At Schlossplatz where the biggest screens and the biggest crowds gather the area is fenced in and security is pretty high. There are a lot of things you can't bring inside, including water bottles. Apparently we're capable of killing each other with water bottles.

So the only liquid allowed inside has to be in a box or a tetrapak. Doesn't matter what that liquid is, it can be juice, water, 79 cent wine...it must be in a box. This is why the grocery store brought about my realization. I was planning ahead...what do I need for the next world cup game? Is it a nighttime game, should I get wine? It's hot standing around inside for hours, I should get a box of juice to keep me hydrated.

Seriously, I'm lost. What did we do before the world cup madness started over here? Oh ya, Fruehlingsfest (Spring equivalent to Oktoberfest). What did we do before that? I travelled. Hmm...

I can't say I'm happy that Italy won, their team is a bunch of whining, dive taking, acting sissys who recently got caught for fixing a lot of matches in the Italian league. Cheating in sports is stuuupid. Monopoly I can understand, that's business and we all know that the words 'cheat' and 'lie' are in the definition of business.

All that garbage drives me crazy. Playing sports in general and soccer specifically has always been my outlet, my stress reliever - I like it to be pure and fun. If I were married to a soccer player who carried on like they do in the world cup, falling all over the ground and grabbing the wrong ankle I'd kick his ass when he came home after the game. You want something to cry about? I just hit you in the face, why are you grabbing your knee?

But, Stuttgart has a really large population of Italians so the party in the street afterwards was pretty amazing. Italians everywhere, flags, air horns, fireworks, people spraying champagne (I got sprayed), a coffin with the french flag on it being paraded around.

They were throwing pasta in the air. Broken spagetti. Way to dodge the stereotype there Italy fans. I loved it!

Lots of cheers swearing at Zidane too... What a way to go, what a way to be remembered after a brilliant career and in his last international game ever.... He could have helped France win, they needed him out there, they really needed him in penalty kicks. Smack talk is part of sports, I still can't believe he headbutted that guy in the chest... even if he did call his mother a terrorist whore. He flipped over a 'your mama' comment? Puh-LEASE!

And now the Italian guy who provoked him is trying to claim he doesn't know what the word 'terrorist' means, gimme a break.

Now that the WC is over I'm going to have to find something else to rant about.

I seriously feel so incredibly lucky to have been in Germany while it was hosting the world cup. I was never really that interested in it before, but it was impossible not to follow and get all caught up in the excitement, and now I've seen, heard, felt, experienced so much craziness. I'm a pretty lucky lady, and I know it.