Speaking of consumption, the contemporary HDTV razzle dazzle package brings back memories of having to listen to the Germany-Holland final on SHORT WAVE RADIO in German. My Dad and I sat on the back deck and the reception would fade in and out.

Contrary to what Jeff says (I bow to you on all things watches, but not soccer :)), there was a pretty active soccer scene in a lot of towns on both coasts in the 70s, but absolutely no commercial recognition until Steve Warner turned the Cosmos into a marketing showcase.

While I like seeing the games in hi-def, the World Cup was a whole lot more fun when the only outlet was Spanish Television and you had to endure about a billion Tecate commercials before the game.

In my opinion this has been about the most tedious start to a tournament in my memory (spanning to 78, when the games were on pay TV)