July 11th is approaching very quickly and beyond that day i don't know what i'm going to do to get my soccer fix (aside from paying attention to MLS and the transfer window) the world cup has been great aside from attention that the refereeing has been getting for not making the right calls when needed (which deserves its own sounding off post if i ever decide to chime in) there has been great displays of talent individually and teams putting on good performances to possibly make more people interested in watching the sport (which i hope is the case because soccer/futbol is a great sport to watch with its dramatics and a great unifier with people) i love everything that the world cup has had to offer and i know i will be sad when its over because of the wait to see another world cup in Brazil in 2014 is too long (although i bet time will beg to differ and age me quicker. HA) but there is nothing like the qualifying process and the build up that it brings to the world cup so i guess i wouldn't have it any other way.
as much as i love baseball, american football and basketball it doesn't come close in comparison to how much i love international football. virtually every team in the world that has a football federation set up can get into the qualifying process for their region and often do and then it becomes a process of elimination over the course of 4 years as teams compete for world cup spots, their regional tournament which could qualify them for a spot in the confederations cup as well international friendlies in which you can have great match ups with countries from any region at any time as long as teams can set up a date.
I don't feel the same way about international baseball because we under achieve and don't field the best line ups out there to win it all although the fact that baseball season starts around the time the world baseball classic happens so i understand why clubs don't release their players for this event but if we were to ever take this one seriously we should dominate and this shouldn't be a money making endevour.
Basketball on the other hand the US has been trying to reclaim its rightful place atop of the world (i say this loosely since we are expected to win all the time, some would say we should win all the time) BUT with a plethora of great players to our disposal you got to field the right team that will mesh together or players who are willing to make the commitment to playing for the national team. there are other countries who are now fundamentally sound and can compete with us at the international level (although you can count those teams with your fingers) they will make it a point to field their best players at all times, and that doesn't seem like that's the case with USA basketball as if there is no importance to it although i could be wrong and hope that's not the case.
American Football who are we kidding? there is not an international stage for the NFL and the only thing that comes close is Canadian football in which in most circles people look at as a second rate league to the NFL. there is Rugby which is played more around the world but for some reason we cannot get the world to emulate the NFL and i don't blame them for that because its tough enough for a team to pick a squad of 53 in a cut throat football league let alone to have a coach pick a squad for an entire country.
where am i to turn to after July 11th?
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