WORLD CUP: OLE! OLE! OLE! - Beers at the Nifty

The best of sporting events, the worst of sporting events.

Hope you’re enjoying the World Cup, a global spectacle rabidly enjoyed every four years.

An event so large not even Covid dared screw with it.

You might argue about the ‘greatest sporting event’ – many nominating March Madness, the Super Bowl, or Golden Corral’s all you can eat buffet – but nothing consumes the globe like the World Cup.

But like so much of our history, and our favorite people and events, it’s complicated.

The “Beautiful Game” has so much to love.

As parents, we preferred our children playing soccer vs. sports like baseball, because games started and ended on time.

And most parents didn’t know the rules – offside being slightly less complicated than the alternative minimum tax – so they were ‘easier’ on the coach and their own children.

And unlike baseball, where players fail publicly and alone, soccer failures are team based and parents can blame the goalie on the ride home.

I became a convert when My Captor and I experienced the ’94 World Cup in Dallas, appreciating how physical and skillful a game it truly is.

My appreciation deepened when on a business trip in Rio, I watched a group play volleyball on the beach.

With their feet.

And the rules make sense; even better, there are very few.

The Yellow Card is an effective way to say “Knock it off, or next time you’re outta’ here”.

It became our most effective parenting tool after ‘time out’ no longer worked.

And soccer is easier on the referees, who are screamed at in languages they don’t understand.

That was until “Blind Jackalope” was translated into 100+ languages, making things more personal.

And while not much happens, and no one ever scores – a brief synopsis of my dating history – it is easy to understand why “The Beautiful Game” is loved around the world.

One even has to love the way the time clock is handled: In American football, the clock counts down to :00, a dire reminder of our own mortality; in European football, the clock counts up, and stoppage time is added to the original :45, life is full of possibilities!

But after watching a game, you have to admire the rest of the world’s pain tolerance, watching soccer year-round – we only have to deal with it every four years.

On the other foot, The “Beautiful Game” has so much NOT to love.

The flopping can be a bit distracting, when the closing of a spectator’s program can take a row of players down, screaming in pain.

Spending more time on their back, than my cousin working her way through college.

And the bribery! The bags of cash! You’d think FIFA was running for the Senate.

I was lucky enough to have dinner at the restaurant at FIFA HQ in Zurich – the chance to see the World Cup trophy was cool – but they even had a night depository for bribes.

And people are complaining about the heat in Qatar, but it’s not that bad when one considers the runner up site was the surface of the sun.

Soccer riots are an occasional occurrence, but not nearly as dangerous as cutting in line the Golden Corral all you can eat buffet.

And people are unhappy about the ‘no beer’ policy, which I understand. At least with a root canal you are given something to kill the pain.

So, as you watch the US v. Iran, you can join the debate: Is the real football European or American?

Who cares? They’re both perfect to watch while you nap…

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TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS:

World in Motion New Order and the England National Football team

Well, some of the crowd are on the pitch
Well, some of the crowd are on the pitch
They think it’s all over
Well, it is now

Express yourself
Create the space
You know you can win
Don’t give up the chase
Beat the man
Take him on
You never give up
It’s one on one

Express yourself
It’s one on one
Express yourself
It’s one on one
Express yourself
You can’t be wrong
When something’s good
It’s never gone

Love’s got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love’s got the world in motion
And I can’t believe it’s true

Now is the time
Let everyone see
You never give up
That’s how it should be
Don’t get caught
Make your own play
Express yourself
Don’t give it away

Love’s got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love’s got the world in motion
And I can’t believe it’s true
Love’s got the world in motion
And I know what we can do
Love’s got the world in motion
And I can’t believe it’s true

You’ve got to hold and give
But do it at the right time
You can be slow or fast
But you must get to the line
They’ll always hit you and hurt you
Defend and attack
There’s only one way to beat them
Get ’round the back
Catch me if you can
‘Cause I’m the England man
And what you’re looking at
Is the master plan
We ain’t no hooligans
This ain’t a football song
Three lions on my chest
I know we can’t go wrong

We’re playing for England (England)
We’re playing the song
We’re singing for England (England)
Arrivederci, it’s one one one

Three Lions The Lightning Seeds and David Baddiel

It’s coming home
It’s coming home
It’s coming
Football’s coming home (we’ll go getting bad results)

It’s coming home
It’s coming home
It’s coming
Football’s coming home

Everyone seems to know the score
They’ve seen it all before
They just know
They’re so sure

That England’s gonna throw it away
Gonna blow it away
But I know they can play
‘Cause I remember

Three Lions on a shirt
Jules Rimet still gleaming
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming

So many jokes, so many sneers
But all those oh-so-nears
Wear you down
Through the years

But I still see that tackle by Moore
And when Linekar scored
Bobby belting the ball
And Nobby Dancing

Three Lions on a shirt
Jules Rimet still gleaming
Thirty years of hurt
Never stopped me dreaming

(What a save, Gordon Banks!
(Good old England, England that couldn’t play football)
(England have got it in the bag)
I know that was then but it could be again

It’s coming home
It’s coming
Football’s coming home

It’s coming home
It’s coming home
It’s coming
Football’s coming home (England has done it)

Three Lions on a shirt (it’s coming home, it’s coming)
Jules Rimet still gleaming (football’s coming home, it’s coming home)
Thirty years of hurt (it’s coming home, it’s coming)
Never stopped me dreaming (football’s coming home)

Three Lions on a shirt

Gloryland Daryl Hall with the Sound of Blackness

The official song of the 1994 World Cup staged in the U.S.

GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND
YOU’RE HERE IN GLORYLAND
IT STARTED WITH A FEELING
AND A DREAM WAS BORN IN YOU
YOU HOPE AND PRAY THAT COME THE DAY
YOU’LL SEE THAT DREAM COME TRUE
WITH EVERY PASSING MOMENT
YOU BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND
THAT YOU’RE BOUND FOR GLORYLAND
WITH A HUNGER IN YOUR HEART
AND WITH FIRE IN YOUR SOUL
WITH PASSION RISING HIGHER
YOU KNOW THAT YOU CAN REACH YOUR GOAL
REACH YOUR GOAL
BELIEVE IN WHAT YOU DO
AND YOU’LL GO STRAIGHT TO SEE IT THROUGH
SO SEE IT THROUGH
ON THE ROAD TO GLORYLAND
GLORYLAND GLORYLAND
AND I SAY (LOVING IT)
GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND (GLORY)
IT’S IN YOUR HEART
IT’S IN YOUR HAND
IN GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND
YOU’RE HERE IN GLORYLAND
THIS IS GLORYLAND (GO
COME)
AS THE DAY GETS EVER CLOSER
YOU ARE REACHING FOR THE SKY
THE FLAME(S) THAT BURN INSIDE
ARE THE FLAMES THAT NEVER DIE
WHEN YOU START TO BELIEVE
IT’S IN YOUR HEART IT’S IN YOUR HAND
YOU KNOW THIS IS GLORYLAND (GLORYLAND)
AND I SAY
GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND
IT’S IN YOUR HEART IT’S IN YOUR HAND
GLORYLAND HEY GLORYLAND
YOU’RE HERE IN GLORYLAND
GLORYLAND
GLORYLAND IN GLORYLAND
IT’S IN YOUR HEART IT’S IN YOUR HAND
IN GLORYLAND HEY GLORYLAND
YOU’RE HERE IN GLORYLAND
THIS IS GLORYLAND.

Hayya, hayya, hayya The official 2022 World Cup Song
Hayya, hayya, ha— (You know what it is)
Hayya, hayya, hayya
Hayya, hayya, ha— (RedOne)
Hayya, hayya, hayya (AISHA)
Hayya, hayya, ha— (Davido)
Hayya, hayya, hayya (Trinidad)
Hayya, hayya, ha—
[Verse 1: Trinidad Cardona]
I wanna walk the walk on every street
I wanna ball out with the world at my feet
Hit every discotheque and not skip a beat, yeah-yeah
[Pre-Chorus: Davido]
I promise, I promise, I promise you now
Everything, everything gonna work out
Every tomorrow, no matter what goes down
I promise, I promise, I promise you now
Gonna be, gonna be sticking around
Every tomorrow, no matter what goes down

[Chorus: Trinidad Cardona & Davido, Both]
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) Don’t wanna wait forever
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together

(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) The time is now or never
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) Don’t wanna wait forever
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) The time is now or never

[Post-Chorus: Trinidad Cardona]
Hayya, hayya, hayya
Hayya, hayya, ha—
[Verse 2: Davido]
Life can be up and down but what can you do, eh?
We navigate through all the rough and the smooth, yeah
We got that rock and roll, that rhythm and blues, yeah-yeahI’m never blue if I am rockin’ with you, oh-ooh
[Pre-Chorus: Trinidad Cardona & Davido]
I promise, I promise, I promise you now
Everything, everything gonna work out
Every tomorrow, no matter what goes down
I promise, I promise, I promise you now
Gonna be, gonna be sticking around
Every tomorrow, no matter what goes down

[Chorus: Trinidad Cardona, Davido, AISHA, All]
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) Don’t wanna wait forever
(Oh-yo-yo-yo, ho) You know we better together

Feel So Good Mase

FIFA has ‘decreed’ each country have a song to be played when they score.

Unfortunately, this is the USA’s. Rated 20^th of the 32 selections.

Fortunately, we don’t score often so you won’t hear it much.

The top rated song is “One Kiss” by Dua Lipa. Thankfully the US-England was nil-nil.

You ready Mase?
Party people
In the place to be (uh huh)
It’s about that time
For us to (yeah, uh huh)

Yo, what you know about goin’ out
Head west, red Lex, TV’s all up in the headrest
Try and live it up
Ride true, a bigger truck
Peeps all glittered up
Stick up can, they go what?
Jig with it, cuz, ship crisp, split it all
– Ride, get your nut ’til I can’t get it up
I’m a big man, give this man room
I’d a hit everything, from Cancun to Grant’s tomb
Why you standin’ on the wall?

Hand on your –
Lighting up drugs, always fightin’ in the club
I’m the reason they made the dress code
They figure I wouldn’t wild when I’m in my French clothes
Dress as I suppose, from my neck to my toes
Neck full of gold, b- in my Rolls
Wreck shows, collect those, extra O’s
Buy the E, get a key, to the Lex to hold
East, West, every state, come on, bury the hate
Millions, the only thing we in a hurry to make
Are the friend that act’s friend in a Lex or a Benz
Let’s begin, bring this BS to an end
Come on

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
You make me feel so good (bad boy)
You know, you make me feel so good (yeah)
You know, you make me feel so good (that’s all we do)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (c’mon)
I wouldn’t change you if I could
I wouldn’t change you if I could (yeah)
I wouldn’t change you if I could (eh, eh, c’mon)

You can’t understand we be, Waikiki
Sippin’ DP to the TV, look greedy
Little kids see me, way out in DC
With a Z3, chrome VB’s, they wanna be me
– Talkin’ – they ought to quit
I’m fortunate they don’t see a fourth what I get
And those be the same ones walkin’ while I whip
Just stylishing cars ’cause they all true Nig’

So while you daydream, my Mercedes gleam
And I deal with – that pose in Maybelline
One time you had it all, I ain’t mad at y’all
Now give me the catalog, I’ll show you how daddy bought (that’s right)
Six cars and power to fire big stars
Sit up, CEO style, smokin’ on cigars
It’s like y’all be talkin’ funny
I don’t understand language of people with short money (c’mon now)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
You make me feel so good (c’mon now)
You know, you make me feel so good (yeah)
You know, you make me feel so good (that’s all we do)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (c’mon)
I wouldn’t change you if I could
I wouldn’t change you if I could (c’mon)
I wouldn’t change you if I could (eh, eh)
Do Mase got the ladies? (Yeah, yeah)
Do Puff drive Mercedes? (Yeah, yeah)
Take hits from the 80’s? (Yeah, yeah)
But do it sound so crazy? (Yeah, yeah)

Well me personally, it’s nothin’ personal
I do what work for me, you do what work for you
And I dress with what I was blessed with
Never been arrested for nothin’ domestic
And I chill the way you met me
With a jet ski attached to a SE
Smoke my Nestle, no mad rap-ass cat
Where my check be?

Problem with y’all I say it directly (that’s right)
Went from hard to sweet, starved to eat
From no hoes at shows to ménage in suites
Now I be the cat that be hard to meet
Gettin’ – from girls that used to hardly speak (c’mon)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
You make me feel so good (uh, uh)
You know, you make me feel so good (bad boy)
You know, you make me feel so good (that’s all we do)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
I wouldn’t change you if I could
I wouldn’t change you if I could (c’mon)
I wouldn’t change you if I could (let’s go)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy
You make me feel so good (uh huh)
You know, you make me feel so good
You know, you make me feel so good (c’mon)

Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (don’t stop)
I wouldn’t change you if I could
I wouldn’t change you if I could (yeah)
I wouldn’t change you if I could
Bad, bad, bad, bad boy (Mase, Harlem World)

Bear Down, Chicago Bears Mayor Richard J. Daley – choose your favorite Daley

Now this is a fight song!

Bear down, Chicago Bears
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear down, Chicago Bears
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly
We’ll never forget the way you thrilled the nation
With your ‘T’ formation
Bear down, Chicago Bears
And let ’em know why you’re wearing the crown
You’re the pride and joy of Illinois
Chicago Bears, bear down!

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