Shirts and Skins World Cup Soccer

I've never been much for soccer. I know it's like the world's most popular sport and all, but I never had the opportunity to get into it. The fact is, the only sport I like is baseball so I don't take much of an interest in any sport, American or otherwise. The BF, on the other hand, is quite a soccer fan. So in order to make an effort to enjoy something he enjoys, I've been watching some of the games. I went to his house on the morning of the Germany/Costa Rica match (is that the right term?), and, as this was the first time I've watched a professional soccer game (again...), I was struck by several things, such as the chanting audience and the clock ticking up instead of down, but only one of the revelations has inspired me to continue watching this World Cup:

Soccer players are sexy.

Had I known this, I may have taken an interest in soccer at an earlier age. Hell, I may even have played soccer on the off-chance that I might meet a soccer player someday so I'd have something to talk about with him. And while I enjoyed watching these handsome fit men running around in circles for 90+ minutes (amazing, by the way), I kept wishing it was shirts and skins. In fact, I think the World Cup would be even more popular if this were the case. Maybe Verizon could sponsor it, and viewers could text their vote to determine which team is shirts and which is skins. I love this idea, and I hope someone from the World Cup is reading my blog and taking notes.

In other news, I was out far too late last night. An interesting fact. I was out with several graduates of the high school where I currently teach. The older sister of one of my students showed up to the bar I was at, where I was consuming countless shots of god knows what and drinking white wine like it was my job. I begged her not to tell her brother she saw Ms. Mischke at a bar getting hammered, but I'd wager she'll tell him. He's one of my favorite students ever, and he's a good kid. Still, that doesn't mean my lush-like behavior won't show up on his My Space page or something.

Finally, on a completely unrelated note, the Cubs are facing Cincinnati right now,. The Reds named their relatively new stadium "The Great American Ballpark." Really? In Cincinnati? That's funny, I know quite a lot of people who would argue that the Great American Ballpark is in, oh, I don't know, Chicago or Boston. I can't get over the people that came up with this name. It would be like naming your department store "Everybody's favorite department store" or your restaurant "Best New Restaurant in Chicago." Talk about tooting your own horn.