Bring on the Soccer!

Okay, so I lied about posting every day this week.  I'm sorry!  Sheesh!  It's the end of the school year which is always a busy time and for reasons I can't really go into publicly, the end of this particular school year has been a little more challenging and wearing than many others.  I will have some kind of thoughts about the Stanley Cup Finals, free agency, and all that good stuff later, but for now, I'm off to babysit and then off to Allentown.

For now, let me just say that like a lot of the blogosphere, I'm going to attempt to get into the World Cup.  And I'll admit here this morning that at least at first, I'm cheering for England.  Why?  For one simple, very scientific reason.  I thought Wayne Rooney was awesome in that Nike spot that's been all over the internet for the last few weeks.  (I'm not going to embed it since YouTube eats my blog, but if you haven't seen it - or haven't seen it lately - you should follow the link and check it out.)  Rooney has my favorite part of the game sequence with the awesome, full-out backcheck and my favorite part of the fantasy sequence with the hugging of the queen, the nursery full of Waynes, and the calm, debonair defeat of a panicky, sweating Roger Federer.  And how awesome would it be if we could make say, Derek Roy paint the lines on the ice every time he turned over the puck?  As silly as it is (because hey, why get serious about this now?), I also adore the fact that "Wayne Rooney" is one of the lamest pro athlete names I've ever heard.  It makes me think if Mickey Rooney which makes me picture Andy Hardy at the World Cup.  I love it.

I've been told by Pookie and Schnookie, my World Cup fan friends, that cheering for England is akin to cheering for the San Jose Sharks.  They always come in with one of the most talented rosters and always come up short.  I'm not attached to England or Rooney though.  I'm just starting out there.  I'm ready to happily hop to whatever player or team strikes my fancy in the moment.  I figure I'm not watching soccer again for another four years, you know?  So hey, bring it on!