Monday, July 12, 2010

I have a feeling there are quite a few people in Holland who want to eat some grilled octopus

Dang. Paul the octopus was 7 for 7. Congrats to Spain.

I can't believe the World Cup is over. I will miss this past month of meeting up with friends to watch the games, cheering for my teams (all of them lost) and, I'm not going to lie, appreciating the beautiful men who play the beautiful game. The after game shirt swap was a highlight.

Will Pedro Pinto cover other sports for CNN International? He knows his stuff.

Kudo to South Africa. There was a lot of negative press about the WC before it started. Now many journalists admit those fears were over the top. The Cup went well.

As far as the short term impact, the better infrastructure and tourism dollars will help the local economy. I was watching CNN Int'l and one of local journalists was saying you can't put a price tag on what this cup meant emotionally for South Africans and the continent in general.

Living in Europe I see a much broader coverage of Africa then I did in the States. I wonder why that is. Is it because it's closer? There isn't a great deal of international news coverage in America in general so that could be the reason right there.

The next WC will be in Brazil. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Brazil to win at home.

10 comments:

erin said...

I feel kind of sad too...the game was fun yesterday and everyone when nuts when spain finally scored (since we are in the oldest spanish settlement city! :))

Anonymous said...

I did not follow the Cup AT ALL, but I secretly wanted some unknown to sweep it, like Madagascar, if they even have a team.

Rose in Cali said...

I'm very sad that the WC is over. I might even miss those annoying vuvuzelas. And you are not alone in admiring the beautiful men who play the game.

I wish that the U.S. would provide better world news coverage. There is some on PBS stations, but in general the U.S. is too ethnocentric.

Odessa said...

i'm with you on soccer and its beautiful men. i think i pick a team in terms of beauty > skill. haha.

seriously, this world cup was great, with paul the octopus spicing things up. i was initially rooting for italy and south korea but when they were gone, it was spain all the way. (it might have helped that my boyfriend fernando torres is there, hee).

also, i agree with lack of international media coverage in the U.S. i get more international news when i was in the Philippines than here. its a shame really. but what can you do?

now, to brazil in 4 years. can't wait.

Professor Tharps said...

Um, I'm sure it goes without saying that in our Kinky Gazpacho household we are still all aglow. And we are planning our trip to Brazil in 2014. Seriously. We have to keep the fever alive.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

erin - I can imagine! There were a lot of Spanish fans walking around Rome.

Vanessa - I assume they do but you have to win qualifying games to make it to the World Cup. There are no unknown teams but there are upsets like tiny Trinidad-Tobago's run during the 2006 WC.

rose in cali - I agree. I really notice now that I live abroad.

odessa - I wonder if Paul received an extra treat or something?

LT - Congrats. Good luck with the trip planning. I can't wait to see which teams qualify.

Kim B. said...

I love Pedro Pinto. Heck even though I don't care about World Cup I watched his coverage and got into some of the stories. I missed him on other sports these past few months as CNN had him all World Cup all the time. Will be good to see him back covering other sports!!

Linda said...

What's funny to me as a South African in U.S. is that the sound of the vuvuzela's made me sooooo homesick that at times I couldn't make myself watch the games. It's the sound I've always associated with Sunday afternoon soccer games at home. It's the township soundtrack really. Unfortunately I normally go home for the Christmas holidays to soak up the sun and escape the dreary winter. I wish I had been there but sadly cannot afford 2 trips home a year.

I'm glad Spain won though. The Dutch gifted us our terrible history in 1652 which included Robben Island;) But seriously, it was fun to see the world unite in this beautiful game again - Uganda notwithstanding.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

kim b - Good to know Mr. Pinto covers other sports. He's an excellent sportscaster.

linda - I wondered how the locals felt about the Dutch team.

What happened in Uganda is terrible. I hope things do not escalate. The country has enough problems without foreign terrorists crossing the border.

Jamdown said...

Yes, congrats to South Africa. Many racists were hoping that something crazy would happen to discredit Black South Africans. But thank goodness, the World Cup went off without a hitch.

Have to admit I wasn't too pleased with Spain winning though. Would have preferred the Netherlands. But, oh well.