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FIFA 2014: GAME ON!

How do you even begin to
summarize the excitement of
the top prize for the greatest
game on earth? Unfortunately
for many Canadians, this is
not of course a reference to
Hockey and the Stanley Cup,
but is instead the description
of the 2014 FIFA World Cup
and the beautiful game, but
perhaps | am getting ahead of
myself.

Now, before you start
throwing pucks through my
window, | am not saying
Hockey isn'tbeautiful, because
it is in fact a remarkable sport.
There is something visually
appealing and gratifying when
one witness’s two-hundred-
something pound meatheads
crashing into one another
while gliding on a pair of knives,
but all the blood and national
claims pale in comparison
to that of organized and well
played football.

The 2014 FIFA World
Cup kicked off in Brazil amidst
some very high _ bidding
compared to previous years.
This is only the second time |
have partook in watching FIFA,
the previous being FIFA 2010
in South Africa. | wish | could
have been watching FIFA
World Cups and organized
football matches more in my
youth, but life had different
expectations for me.

| began my failed
sporting life playing soccer at
the age of eight for six years,

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but never got very far as a player. As | began to grow up, | began to
grow out. My body resembled something of a refrigerator with hair rather
than that of a nimble, quick and an efficient striker or forward. To add
insult to injury, | soon learned on the field that even a defensive position
requires someone with speed, great ball control and impressive body
coordination.

| had none of those qualities so competitive soccer was then out
of the question for me, but at least hockey and rugby would always have
a place for a slower kid with a lot of mass. There | go again knocking on
two great sports. Why would | do such a thing? Maybe it’s just because |
am a dick, of maybe it's because football gets me more excited than any
other sport and the FIFA World Cup gets me more excited than any other
sporting event, but again, why?

Perhaps it is the history of football, the World Cup and the FIFA
organization.