A Recent Conversation:

Shayne: Whatcha doing?
Skajlab: Watchin’ the game.
Shayne: The Crying Game?

Apparently I am not someone known for watching sports. That’s because I hate most sports. Remember, I grew up as a “sensitive” boy in Texas: high school gym class did it to me. But every four years I do sit down in front of my television and watch the World Cup. It’s something I started when I lived in Japan in 1998. I even have favorite teams and players. Tomorrow I’ll be rooting for Italy.

Since I don’t subscribe to ESPN, it’s been a hoot watching the matches on Channel 23 Univision in Spanish. Finding a live local broadcast in English has proven unpossible. But that’s okay with me: I watched half of the 1998 games in Japanese and the other half in Spanish (when I was home for summer break), and the few matches I caught in 2002 were in Polish because I was living in Warsaw at the time. Besides, the Spanish announcer is better than the latest American Idol winner when it comes to holding the note for his 5-minute “¡G – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – o – l!” Hell, I don’t even have to watch the entire game: I can just turn it on with the sound barely audible and wait until I hear his perfect-pitch E-flat announcing that one of the teams scored. They always replay the play anyway.

My own personal ¡Gol! is to be living in a completely new country watching the 2010 World Cup in some other language I barely understand.