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As far as four year sporting events go there is one undisputed king. Most people would assume it’s the summer Olympics but they’d be wrong. Delusional ice dancing fans might think it’s the winter Olympics but they’d be double wrong. Others might be checking their Sports Almanacs to see if the Ryder Cup or World Hockey Championships are every four years. I’m hear to tell you to put down the books and walk into the light because the answer is simple….it’s World Cup time babies!

Now I've never been a soccer enthusiast. I firmly believe it will never truly catch on with the American public no matter how many Mia Hamms and Freddy Adus come along. You’ll never catch me watching the MLS or the Fox Futbol Channel on my digital cable. In fact, even in my glory days as the highest scoring defenseman in the history of 5th grade YMCA youth soccer, I was much happier to talk about other sports.

It was with this mindset that I stumbled across the Cup about 8 years ago. I had just come into Madison visiting some friends and was immediately whisked to a bar. Now normally that’s not out of the place for me, even at 10am on a Thursday, but the fact that my buddies were so gung ho was a bit of a shock. We walked into a sports bar and it was packed to the ceiling with people wearing jerseys and face paint that you’d expect at an NFL game. Apparently I’d come to town on the day of a key game for Brazil, a country and team some of my friends had a close connection to. By the end of the day, much beer was drunk and many chants chanted. How could anyone see the passion by the teams and their fans and not be a convert to the church of the Cup? By the end of that tourney I had favorite teams, favorite players and an unquenchable thirst for the next World Cup. Unfortunately four years can kill a thirst. Try as I did everyday soccer still didn’t do it for me and again soccer was off my brain.

By the time the 2002 Cup rolled around I was not in prime viewing mode. I had just lost my father to a brain tumor and was well on my way to the end of a doomed marriage, when I came across a match at 3 in the morning (the games were live from Asia). I can honestly say that besides my friends, the only other thing that kept me sane in June 2002 was late night World Cup soccer. Perhaps it was my irrational state of being at the time, but for me the Cup transcended soccer that summer. I still didn’t understand formations or strategy but in a way the game opened up in a new way where I at least saw how things developed. I wouldn't go as far as to say I discoved a tao of World Cup but there was something calming and exciting all at once watching that Cup. So after 2002, I resolved to try to give non Cup soccer another chance.

Well, four years later and I’m still pretty much a non soccer fan. I did start watching the qualifiers for the World Cup that were on but other then that not much else changed. But you know what, once June 9th rolls around that won’t matter. I’ll be glued to my TV, although hopefully at more reasonable hours, cheering on the US and the Brazilians. The Cup is truly something special and while I think soccer well never catch on in the US, perhaps the Cup can as we do seem to have an affinity for 4 year events.