June 19, 2018. Madison, Mississippi. The World Cup.

Even some of the games have been exciting. Six goals were scored during the Spain Portugal game. And the teams seem to be more geared to offense which makes more interesting, at least to me. Several years ago the games were boring because all the teams were playing not to lose. But not this year. The World Series of baseball is really North American teams. The rest of the world just watches. But the World Cup, held every four years involves countries all around the world, some countries small and some large. For two years, the national teams in a region play each other, with the winners to be one of the 32 teams who compete in the World Cup. In other words, you must qualify to play at the big tournament. This year, neither Canada nor the US qualified so their national team watches from home. But little Iceland did. I cheer for the underdogs. I was delighted to see Germany fail to win their game. The same with Spain. Colombia was expected to win their game against Japan today but Japan won. I have been a happy camper. But the most fun at any game is to watch and listen to the national anthems. The players sing out loud and strong but not particularly well. But watch the fervor of the singing. It is worth the price of admission. Definitely, the World Cup is world class and I do not even enjoy watching soccer. But I am enjoying every minute this year.