.cross.wired.mind.

Every 4 years the normal lives of BILLIONS of people halts.  People skip work.  Schools let out.  Factories close.  Streets empty.  Giant cities turn into ghost towns.  The Pope has even changed the schedule for Sunday services. 
Why?

If you have to ask then you are in the global minority. 
There are approximately 7 billion people on the planet.  According to reliable reports 6 billion of them will be consumed by watching the same event at the same time.

86% of the planet will be doing the same thing at the same time. 
Do you get that?  What am I talking about?

Futbol, calcio, votebal, fusbal, footy, football, soccer. 
The World Cup is almost upon us.  It starts tomorrow and I am so excited that I am literally shaking as I type this.  Most Americans do not get that, but the ranks of soccer heads are growing.  In 1990 I watched the World Cup on TNT.  They showed a few games and blasphemously added commercials during the run of play.  Very few people took note of the event and fewer watched.  In 1994 the World Cup came here and Americans were amazed at the spectacle.  A league was launched and our numbers grew.  In 1998 we tanked in France and still our ranks grew.  In 2002 we beat Mexico on our way to the quarter finals.  If you mention this fact to a Mexican (any Mexican) you had better run because you have thrown an insult far worse than any you could possibly imagine.  In 2002 more soccer heads were born.

Now, 16 years from my first World Cup things have changed here in the US.  We are finally discovering what the world has already known: 
The World Cup is the pinnacle of sports competition.  Superbowl you say?  The NCAAs?  The World Series?  Comparing any of these to the World Cup is like comparing a crop-duster to an F15.  No, I take that back its like the difference between the Wright Flyer and the Millennium Falcon.

America has no clue.  We are so arrogant that we thing an event watched by a few hundred million is a big deal. 
6 BILLION out of 7 BILLION people will watch the final match of the World Cup.

Think about that …