And the winner is... Spain!

Well, the World Cup has come to a close once more, and the winner this time around is Spain! I must say, it was one of the most boring matches I have ever watched. I think that watching the third place match between Germany and Uruguay was a much more interesting and fun match. But, it is what it is... At least Holland didn't win. After they beat Brasil, I knew I didn't want them to win, so at least that came through for me!

Now I guess life is going to get back to normal at work, with me actually spending more time working and not as much time watching the matches at work. And now, I will also have time to get back to the wedding planning!

The US is no more...

At least when it comes to the World Cup. The match on Saturday was a heartbreaking match to watch, not only did Tim Howard let in (another) goal in the first five minutes of the game, but we were only able to score due to a penalty kick... Now, if you recently fell in love with the US team, you might want to skip this post. I feel the need to vent a bit about a couple of key players that have gained popularity. Not only were these players unknown to probably 95% of the American population, but after watching four games every American feels that they have the knowledge to comment on these players' skills. If you think this is pretentious, I apologize in advance, but due to the fact that I've been a fan (not of the US team) for many, many years I actually know what I'm talking about.

First off, let me start off with Howard. After hearing all of this talk from various people about how amazing Howard is, I think he pretty much sucks, sorry to the rest of America. No, its not because he has tourettes (which I don't see how that is relevant at all!) but due to the fact that in every game the US played in the World Cup, he let in an extremely soft goal within the first five minutes of every match except the match against Algeria. Next is Demspey. In the first minute of the match against Slovenia, he elbows a player in the face. This is an act worthy of a red card. I know, Slovenia did deserve it, especially when you look in hindsight at the way the match went down, but the US fans refuse to look at any sort of flaw that Dempsey has. Instead fans see a rogue, a pretty boy. I call bullshit! He wasn't really that influential in any match. He tried to play in several matches as if he was a striker when he pretty much sucked as much as a striker as he did as a midfielder. And speaking of the strikers, where were they in this tournament?! They were nonexistent and were barely able to get a touch on the ball. Donovan played well, also a midfielder, but he wasn't a star. He was able to score one amazing goal in the Algeria match, but if he really is so amazing, why didn't he do that earlier?!

Well, I'm glad I finally got some of that out of my system. And to all those recent football fans (or soccer, whatever), the more you are interested in what happens, the better our players will be. I don't know why this World Cup has created such an impact this time around but I'm very glad it has. I know that it doesn't stop a war, fix the economic crisis, or clean up the gulf, but this has given us something very big to stand behind. Instead of focusing on the negative lately, and there is a lot to be negative about, America has been watching this Cup and cheering on our team. It gives us something to hope for and it gives everyone a chance to dream of something big. If that isn't reason enough to love the World Cup and football, I don't know what is.

World Cup Fever is Here!

Well, the World Cup is upon us! The wonderful time every four years that the US even shows the faintest interest in one of the greatest sports ever created! This is a time for real football, a real sport... At least to me!

I spent a lot of time in Brasil growing up, being the fact that my grandparents lived there for forty years, and it quickly came to be the only sport I could watch on a regular basis. I even was lucky enough to meet Kaka, a midfielder for the Brasil team, one time when I was walking down the street! He was actually a wonderful guy that was sweet enough to have a short conversation in broken Portuguese with an American girl. So, as I'm sure you all can guess, I'm rooting for Brasil and hoping they can regain their title as the champions! I've been able to catch every game thus far due to the fact that the first match comes on when I'm getting ready for work, then two matches while I'm at work. I don't think I've ever been happier that my boss has a tv in his office, and he doesn't mind me turning it on once in a while to catch the matches! I was very upset in the ending of the match against Cote d'Ivoire where Kaka got a red card which he didn't deserve... We will still be able to come back!

Austin is a fan of soccer, but he also likes American football, baseball, golf, hockey, basketball, etc... He, being the good patriotic one of us, is rooting for the United States team. I hope the US team does well only for the fact that soccer would finally start to get some of the respect it deserves in this country. The US team has been a little shaky this tournament, but we're all hoping they can bring it together for the last group match against Algeria. We were both really upset when the ref disallowed the US goal in the game against Slovenia, it really put a damper on our moods at work.

The beginning!

Well, this is our blog. I"m sure I'll be the one doing most of the updating, but I might be able to convince Austin to step in for a post or two... This is where you can keep updated on all of the pre-wedding mayhem, the planning, the vacations, the DIY activities, and the post wedding drama! Well, if I manage to not bore you to death and drive you off with what will probably be plenty of pointless rambling. With the World Cup underway, I'm sure we (or I) will be sure to give you all of our views as the tournament continues. We plan on keeping this up for quite while to keep all of our friends and family up to date with the happenings of our exciting lives... Or the mundane activities and occasional interesting snippet. We're in the process of planning a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, because Austin knows I'm dying to go, and possibly a trip to the next World Cup in Brasil. So those are a couple of big events we're planning aside from the wedding, so you may want to stick around for those updates and pictures!