USA

It took me awhile, but I have caught World Cup fever. I'll be at Wolff's Biergarten with the wife enjoying the game with three or four thousand of my fellow Americans. Yes, the bar really is expecting that kind of crowd, indeed the first two thousand get a free stein to fill - and Broadway in Albany, NY is already closed down 4 hours before the match starts. It feels like Halloween actually, I forgot to bring my American flag cape and red, white, and blue striped socks.

I find it very odd that it is Soccer that brings out American Patriotism in ways the Olympics never does, and I observe a kind of passion for ones self-identity for being an American I personally have not seen among average Americans since September of 2001.

I'll be uploading photos of the scene here to my Facebook page all day, for those who follow me there. Go USA.