Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that of late I've been obsessed with the World Cup (speaking of which, for live updates and a look at the standings so far, check out http://nytimes.stats.com/worldcup/standings.asp). Now, even though I really like soccer, I'm not exactly what you would call a die-hard fan. I don't have a favorite team, I don't know who the best players are, and I don't even watch many, if any, games during the rest of the year. Nevertheless, when the FIFA World Cup comes around, I'm glued to the computer to get all the latest updates, watching as the cream rises to the top as we get closer and closer to that final game.
The thing I love most about the World Cup, though, has nothing to do with the sport itself. It's the community the sport creates. It's the fact that countries who are at any other time heated enemies can manage to come together and organize a non-violent competition (I mean, North Korea even has a team--that's pretty cool) and that the citizens of those participating countries can rise above their petty internal conflicts to support their nation's team. I know it's a little cliched, but events like the World Cup and the Olympics always give me a tiny speck of hope that maybe world peace isn't such a silly, far-off dream after all.
Just some food for thought--hope you all have a fantastic Monday and that your weeks are getting off to a good start.
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