The World Cup in the World Capitol

Other than being in the country where the World Cup is being held, I think New York City is the place in the world to catch World Cup fever. Every nationality represented in the World Cup is represented in this city so you can hardly walk more than a few blocks without seeing people gathered around a TV set somewhere. I went into an ice cream parlor yesterday. Said parlor is owned by an Argentinian so at the back of the shop a handful of guys were gathered around the Univision watching Argentina play The Netherlands. I then walked a couple more blocks and the pizza place on the corner had its patio doors open so people were stopping on the sidewalk to lean in and watch the game. It's been like this since the World Cup started. Regardless of who is playing, Irish pubs, Italian gelaterias, Mexican restaurants, even a natural market in the East Village with no obvious country of origin, the TVs are on and people are stopping, watching, discussing, chatting, smiling, commisserating - it's great. There are also the jerseys and the flags - Brazil, England, Sweden, Uruguay - I even saw a woman the other day carrying around a Serbia-Montenegro flag.

The next important match for me is Sunday's England v. Ecuador. Basically, I route for the countries I have a real connection to (i.e., USA and England) and then if they get eliminated, I start going by general affection for the country and/or underdog status. Therefore, you won't find me routing for Brazil because they win too much.