World Cup Fever Is Back

Yesterday my wife frowned upon knowing I had found out that the extra channels for World Cup are fully on air - in HD! I told her I was elated because the World Cup starts today and I have games to look forward to when I'm at home instead of having to wait weekly for Glee (yes, somehow I like it very much though I hate singing shows, and no, it's not that because it features sexy & hot girls in its casts) and Trauma. She frowned because knowing that somehow I would become unresponsive towards her but hey, research shows that a guy's hormones increase if a team he supports wins a game. I don't have to translate what it ends up to.

However, she's understanding enough to let me enjoy this one month of football fiesta by allowing me to flick through the channels that are currently previewing the previous World Cup matches. But then, what about the rest who refused to accept that World Cup isn't just another tournament.

"What is it with guys and football?", a woman may asks. "It's just a ball being chased by 22 guys", she may further adds.

Indeed, it is.

Later, I tuned in to Discovery Channel watching a documentary on the physical preparations of the host nation, South Africa. Major construction works being done through out the host city with new airport being built, new highway to link it, new or probably an extension to the existing subway lines, and most importantly are the new stadiums built just to accommodate the needs to host this major tournament.

I remember we used to have this development boost when we hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1998. Back then, the only two biggest developments that I saw as an ignorant teenager were the sports complex at Bukit Jalil and the LRT line that connects it. It made me proud back then to have a grand stadium in a quite fairly state-of-the-art sports complex with a brand new transit system to link it with the city. Today, as a fairly educated adult trying to make sense living in Malaysia, I am still wondering why is it so hard for the government to at least extend that transit line by one station each year ever since? We could be having 12 new stations now if that happens.

Yet, our Bendahara was quoted as saying in a prime news, "Malaysians are refusing to use public transportation because it is always associated with people of low status. We must change this mindset." So it be. I am a low status citizen as dictated by Bendahara because I commute using public transportation everyday to the office. I use it because it is within my distance (my office is at the doorstep of the LRT when it stops at Chan Sow Lin station) and it avoids the traffic jam. If only he realizes that people don't commute by public transportation because ours is not efficient and out of reach. I've read about a citizen in Selayang needs to change 3 public buses just to get to her workplace in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Please take into account that there's no designated bus lane from Selayang to the city center, so the buses have to share the congestion of Jalan Kuching with private cars.

Sir, if I may ask, the city is expanding. Why aren't the system that supports it?

Back to World Cup fever, businesses are doing good. The Star reports today that sales of World Cup teams jersey has been doing very well. Astro surely had a boost in subscription as they chose the right period and theme to launch its HD channels. So does the HD TV market. And the mamak outlets who bought it. And the glasses of teh tarik consumed. And the manufacturer who produced the evaporated milk. And Philip Morris.

Referring to the earlier research finding on male's testosterone level, two days ago I read about a Brazil player who promoted good sex during the 1994 tournament (with your legal spouse that is, not like Ashley Cole & John Terry, or even Tiger Woods) that kept him fit and focus on the pitch. He even admitted of conceiving his son during the tournament. For the record, Brazil won the World Cup that year.

Though it may be a period of mating and having new lives born to this world (let's check the birth rate in nine months time from today), it also sees an ugly side when there was a case of a Columbian player who was gunned down because he scored an own goal during a World Cup tournament.

As for the team that gets my cheer, I was an Italian fan before but now that they has won the cup, I'm trying to avoid being part of the popular culture as for this tournament (but I am always a Kop no matter they win or not). Spain or Argentina to lift the cup perhaps?

To conclude, World Cup is not just about a ball with 22 pairs of leg trying to kick it. It is about a ball, 22 guys with balls trying to kick it, million other guys with balls whose life changed because of it.

Ok, also for the women who owned those balls.

It's the cup of life.