As I write this, the 2010 World Cup is underway. Host nation
South Africa and Mexico are deadlocked at nil, with the crowd in
a constant state of delirious buzz. (They just dialed it up to
11 as South Africa scored the first goal of the tournament for a
1-0 at the 55 minute mark) This is truly the biggest sporting
event in the world for the most popular sport in the world.  
I don’t follow professional soccer, be it the American
incarnation, the English Premier League, or any other European
or South American team. I won’t offer a prediction since I would
be essentially be spinning a globe and sticking a pin in
somewhere. The teams I keep hearing are Brazil (of course),
Argentina, Spain, Germany, and England. Since this is the first
World Cup on the African continent, it is hard to tell how
hemispheric traditions will hold. Can a Northern Hemisphere team
from Europe win down South? Can a South American team win across
the ocean (Like Brazil did in Asia in 2002)? One of the five
aforementioned teams will pro