Day 1 thoughts

South Africa/Mexico was a joy to watch. I usually cheer for Mexico against other teams, but because of what South Africa's been through, my heart was going for them. Fun game to watch. Watching Archbishop Tutu dancing after the fabulous goal by Tshabalala was the embodiment of that joy.

I see what they mean about the ball. That thing's lively. Lots of players were skying free kicks and crosses.

Watching Lalas and Ruud together during the breaks of the Uruguay/France game was entertaining in its discomfort. I don't think Lalas looked at Ruud until the post game wrap up (I bet a director pointed it out to Alexi). Read The Beckham Experiment to find out why. :)

Martin Tyler, just call the game, please. The moment you start waxing poetic about stuff other than soccer, it's kind of embarrassing. Your broadcast partner today was just as bad. There was some "African rhythms" comment that was just cringe-worthy.

Uruguay/France was the kind of game that soccer haters point to. I can't blame them here. What a slog of a game.

Gosh, I wonder what's on tomorrow?

;)