It's been mentioned that the World Cup tournament should not go unremarked, and it's true that we have expected a thread from Hamish Alcorn on this, of all events. Hamish actually is in South Africa, but his Facebook page offers an incomplete narrative, due to problems arising with a telecommunications system there that has him as baffled as the fallen French just coming off after an unexpected defeat at the hands of old rivals, Mexico.

For some like myself, the World Cup is something you look forward to, every four years. You wait expectantly, because you know its a mega-business as well as a sport. You hope that, as with other football codes and Big Sport in general that the gnomes responsible for the running will not finally succeed in ruining the spectacle with new rules nobody understands, or gimmicks devised for TV that detract from the action.

There is a Homeric, epic quality about this tournament.  Mighty teams like the Spanish and the French choke at psychological moments and unheralded teams like the Koreans and Swiss take the opportunity for a moment in the sunshine perhaps anticipated for a generation, or even a lifetime, by long-suffering fans often in small and neglected poverty stricken parts of the world.

I'm curious.   Do other Web Diarists find this an interesting event, or are the arcane subtleties a bit much for folk brought up on the esoterica of Aussie Rules or rugby codes?  Any thoughts on the psychology or anthropology of big sport, including money involved or media and commercial involvement; even the role of race gender and class in sport? Or on the actual football itself?  This, to me (as ever for the World Cup), has at times soared to undreamed-of heights in between visits to deep troughs of sterile footy and poor attitudes from the more primadonna-ish of the players, match officials and managers.