FIFA World Cup Soccer Games 12, 13, 14 and 15

I've figured out that more than one game a day during the week is too much. And I've learned that my DVR is unraveling before my eyes. It records and plays some stuff but not the soccer games that I want to watch.

I skipped the morning game of Korea v. Togo so I could catch up on sleep. Well, I watched the last 5 minutes of the first half and it looked like a pretty good game. Korea made it to the semis last time so I'm keeping an eye on them.

As soon as I got home from work I fired up Brazil v. Croatia because I love Brazil and Croatia is a good team, too. The DVR died on minute 6. Fortunately, we had caveman VCR technology backup downstairs and after a brief intermission, I was back in action.

One thing that's bad about Croatia is that horrible red and white checked uniform. It's hard to believe anyone thinks that's a good idea. But they played a great game holding Brazil to only 1 goal and keeping the pressure on.

Brazil has a great and fantastic-to-look-at player named Kaka. But it's not like KA-KA. It's like: ka-KAW. There's a great article in Salon about how Brazilian Soccer Players Get Their Names.

Players with the same first name often change their moniker to differentiate themselves. In recent decades, there have been several Ronaldos at the national level. One became known as Ronaldao, meaning "big Ronaldo." Another became Ronaldinho, meaning "little Ronaldo." When another Ronaldinho came along in the late 1990s, he was called Ronaldinho Gaucho—that is, "little Ronaldo from Rio Grande do Sul." Eventually, the first Ronaldo left the Brazilian national squad, so Ronaldinho became Ronaldo. Ronaldinho Gaucho became Ronaldinho.

When I told Bob about this, he shook his head and said: "And you accuse me of having a lot of worthless knowledge."

[Aside: the event on the tape after my Brazil game was a domino tournament. I'm not kidding you. They had some guy and were referring to him as "the big man of the sport." I'm totally and completely serious. Someone called dominoes a sport and covered it on TV. Perhaps my dreams of winning a gold medal for dishwasher loading are not so far off.]

Because of the technology delays and frustrations I didn't even try the Switzerland v. France game. I'd like to see France play but sounds like it wasn't an exciting game so I'll catch them this weekend. I also deleted Korea v. Togo after watching part of the first half. The DVR ate my highlights show, too. Must call Comcast, now.

I was up early this morning so I could catch Spain v. Ukraine. I've been looking forward to seeing both these teams and it was a good first half. Maybe Spain can be the surprise team this Cup. It goes without saying that Spain is the cutest team I've seen so far. (Remember, however, the DVR ate my Italy game). I just checked for the final score and the article says: Ukraine's hopes collapsed in the 47th minute when Vladislav Vashchyuk was sent off for tugging Fernando Torres's shorts.

Well, I would have been sent off, too.