Anyone else into it? It starts next month. When it comes to sports I prefer to be out playing them than watching. I can take or leave televised sports, but when it's World Cup time, that's the only time I become an obsessive sports fan.
I just think it's interesting that World Cup is the only time you can go to an American sports bar and hear nobody rooting for America. Everyone is a fan of a foreign country's football team (usu. Brazil.)
I just hope that this year the refs are actually competent and/or they start using instant replays because last time there were just too many BS calls. I still remember the last cup tourney being a "WTF refs!?!?!?!?!?!" cup. Japan was totally robbed due to BS cards called on them. http://www.rpgfan.com/boards/index.php?topic=7655.0
Speaking of, Japan is a team I'm keeping my eye on. Looking at their performance the past two cups, they're shaping up to be a dark horse team. I don't see them getting any podiums, but they'll probably have some teams on the ropes. Sure, now you have power players like Brazil, Argentina, Spain, etc. but I can see balance of power eventually shifting.