World Cup Final Won’t Help Make Americans Care about the Sport
Outside of the Hilton on each corner of the street, yell0w-jacket cops were stationed last night, as if anticipating a surge in riots because of the World Cup. But the meek, penalty-filled game provided few thrills, it was a shoving match with just one goal. Sigh. Now I am convinced that football will never conquer our shores, when the marquee game you wait four years for is such a snore.
But I was glad to be here in Manchester to join people who do care about the Beautiful Game enough to sit through the game with me. We went to a pub called Deansgate where there were five separate rooms for viewing. The beer here is the star–not so cold, not so fizzy, drawn by using a strong hand to tug down on that big old navy blue cask ale handle and waiting til it’s all settled to hand it over.
Manchester is an exciting city. It’s full of people all dressed up with somewhere to go. Many of them head for the 23rd floor bar here at this hotel. We finished watching the game and met up again, the writers and our host Emma for a late -night recap of the week. Good trip. Definitely going to be a good story. But once again, as I stuff my suitcase and try to fit this bottle of wine into the folds of dirty laundry, I’m glad to be flying home once again.
July 12, 2010 @ 7:15 am
Congratulations,Spain!
http://www.voguesale.com
July 12, 2010 @ 12:49 pm
Not true my friend! Northampton and the rest of the country has been wrapped in world cup fever. The best TV numbers ever in the USA for watching soccer. All over the country there have been huge gatherings to watch the games. in Northampton, local clubs and restaurants like Veracruzana have been packed for every game I have never seen anything like it!
July 12, 2010 @ 8:23 pm
Welcome back home Max. We are looking forward to your Manchester story…been following your blogs and facebook updates as always! By the way, I am surprised to learn that you appreciate the lack of fizz and chill in your beer…and I love the way you have described it here…I can almost see the froth settling down!!!
July 12, 2010 @ 9:30 pm
some superbowls are boring, too, but i think you’re right.
August 4, 2010 @ 11:18 am
Thanks for publishing about this. There’s a bunch of great tech information on the internet. You’ve got a lot of that info here on your website. I’m impressed – I try to keep a couple blogs somewhat ongoing, but it’s a struggle sometimes. You’ve done a great job with this one. How do you do it?