The Dragon makes very few requests. Of this site, at least. But he’s been on my ass about turning the CD into a World Cup site for at least one day to screw with you fools. Seeing as I don’t want to be cut out of the will- I abide.
Today- Cards Diaspora is going to bring you (in this post) all the good shit we can find about the World Cup that has already started as you read this. The ‘Friday Links’ will return in their normal fashion next Friday… but for now, it’s all futbol.
1) If you’re like me- then you want to know where you can go in St. Louis to go get drunk with the people that actually watch this crap more than every four years. Luckily, our friends at the RFT did The CD a solid and came up with the definitive list: LINK HERE
2) The US and England open play for both nations this Saturday at around 1:30p CST. You think they’re taking it seriously across the pond? Simon Barnes from the London Times on England’s state of mind: “Traditionally, in medicine the phase of shock, accompanied by a drop in blood pressure and kidney failure, requires fluid resuscitation. Self-administered fluid intake becomes characteristic of most sufferers of World Cup fever” LINK HERE
State side, the analysis is a bit less breathless. LINK HERE
Although the US is also already bracing for a loss, according to the USA Today fluff piece on the Yanks… reminding people that a loss against England doesn’t mean the end of the tournament: LINK HERE
3) NY Magazine has a breakdown of group C (the one the US is in) and makes some predictions on the outcome of the group. LINK HERE
4) Maybe your the type of man or woman that is a shit disturber. And maybe you don’t really have a rooting interest in this whole deal. Well, then this list of the 11 dirtiest players in this World Cup may be of interest to you: LINK HERE
5) VIDEOS! K’naan Wavin’ Flag: LINK HERE Tony Danza Soccer produces the World Cup 2010 trailer: LINK HERE Some are calling this Nike spot the best commercial of all time. LINK HERE And the Black Eyed Peas, of course, kicked off the tournament last night with a concert. Seriously. LINK HERE
6) Of course we’ll need some up to date odds, right? For entertainment purposes only. LINK HERE Looks like Spain is the favorite @ 5 to 1 while the US is 95 to 1 currently. If you’re into prop bets or MVP voting- David Villa is 9 to 1, while Leo Messi is 11 to 1.
7) Since this might be your first time really getting into the World Cup and you’ll need some ammunition to make you look less like the bandwagon jumping dickhead you are and more like a real soccer buff, let’s read up on some tournament traditions: LINK HERE
8) The comprehensive ABC/ESPN World Cup TV Schedule: LINK HERE And while we’re talking TV, here’s a linkable database of all the announcers you’ll be hearing and seeing during the tournament. LINK HERE
9) Oh, and in case you were wondering if you were going to be able to avoid the World Cup on ESPN, just like the Stanley Cup playoffs? Not a chance. According to the Wall Street Journal: John Skipper, ESPN President of Programming… “The World Cup will be a mass event this year in the U.S.” LINK HERE
10) Sports Illustrated is covering this World Cup from every angle. Check out their comprehensive look at every single angle imaginable: LINK HERE
11) Some love for my Twitter friends out there… follow Bob Ley from ESPN. Follow SI’s Grant Wahl for the latest updates on all the news. And follow Landon Donovan from Team USA for some inside info. Maybe. I also know that Peter King and some other media types are in S. Africa for the World Cup. Feel free to post Twitter follow suggestions in the comments below. I know I’ve missed some good ones.
12) I didn’t know much about South Africa beyond what the Waterboy told me about his adventures there, so it was surprising to me how many ‘major-ish’ cities their are in S. Africa. If you’re interested in the venues they will use to play all the games, check out this interactive map of the venues: LINK HERE
13) 17 places to watch the World Cup for free online: LINK HERE
14) A very cool interactive calendar of everything involving the World Cup: LINK HERE
So there you go. More than 14 things to get your World Cup started courtesy of the worst baseball blog in the history of the world. Please, please do feel free to e-mail us or post other interesting links around the World Cup to us or in the comment section below. This is just a start…
Oh, and lastly… GO USA!
And if you want to check out my work on InsideSTL today, I won’t discourage that. You know, if you came here for Cardinals talk or something. Plus, check out the little BertFlex reunion/fight below. It’s good.
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