Sure golf is my passion, but for the next couple of weeks I'll also be following a somewhat louder, substantially faster game.
The world's biggest sporting event is about to begin and I'm decidedly psyched. ~ I love the World Cup. I love the symbolism and universality. ~ At the international company where I worked for many years, our productivity was markedly lower for a couple of weeks in June '02, and again in June '06 as we obsessed over the fates of our respective teams.
It would be great to see the US do well this year... and they did win a friendly match against Turkey on Saturday... but I'm not getting my hopes up too high. The prospect is exciting however.
Then there's Brazil, the team I usually wind up pulling for as the "group stage" gives way to the "knockout stage".
They're always a good bet, having won more than any other nationality, and I happen to live in a town... Danbury, CT... where over 5% of the population was born in Brazil. The Brazilians do victory parties like no one else, and I'll take one whenever I can get one. So here's the funny thing: it turns out that while the Brazilian team is in South Africa for the competition, they're staying at a brand new, ultra-luxe golf resort, Fairway Hotel & Spa... and though they were originally scheduled to train at a local school, after seeing the awesome golf course they all decided they're prefer to train there... on the course. And that's what they're doing. Club members are apparently being guided around them.
A massive number of Brazilian journalists and TV crews have moved into the resort as well, following the players where ever they go. It's been reported that after their training sessions several of the footballers have taken to playing golf. Actual golf I mean. Not... um some kind of... um... football/golf hybrid as you might suspect from watching the video below.
