Sunday, July 09, 2006

Random post-WC thoughts

And so the month of quadrennial football frenzy has drawn to a close. Perhaps now I can get back to sleeping nights. There were moments of brilliance, of tedium, of glory, of infamy, of skill, of ineptitude, of victory, of defeat. And that was just the Brazilian team. Multiply that by 32 and you get an inkling of why this is the most watched event on the planet.

My dear friend and prolific Chiffonesque blogger, Mugsy has heaped praise on my unworthy head. I think she meant to shame me into getting back to my blog. In which case, she has succeeded, at least for now. She has bemoaned her own inability to stick to the point while writing, but that's exactly what I love about her style: an ability to let her stream of consciousness take over while still remaining coherent and in complete command of the language. And her self-deprecatory, laconic humour, strangely reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, though minus the bourbon and blondes. (There's a reason why she continues at the top of my Other Blogger Friends list.)

The New York Times informs me that there is a gender divide in many US colleges today and that therefore, "Colleges eager to attract men to increasingly female campuses have found that football teams can be a lure." I always knew American males were blockheads but it's nice to have it confirmed. You have a campus which is "increasingly female" and you need football as a lure? C'mon guys, no wonder you have a falling birth rate. Get with the program and focus on using those other round objects.

Which reminds me of that classic Yes, Minister crack. Nigel, who considers a proposal that lands up on his table to be absolute bollocks, returns it with the notation, "Round objects!" To which Humphrey responds starchily, "Who is Round and to what does he object?"

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