yeah schuler - we did it! I can't believe it. I finally got to see Haki, Frei, Degen, Zubi et al in action. Who ever said this is a sport for sissies....it looked like the battle of Morgarten.
Have a great weekend!

The Battle of Morgarten! You said it! By the way, I live about 10 min. from there.
Hopp Schwiiz!
Mega geil!

That's funny that you should live near Morgarten :-)
Did Philippe Senderos really break his arm? Good grieve, he looked so pale and pitiful on the sidelines afterwards.
I'm relieved to read in the BAZ that the second goal was indeed legitimate....whew - that was a cliffhanger :-)
Have your kids come back to earth yet? Hope Monday will be as exciting and productive ;-)

There is one thing VERY positive (apart from Germany winning :-) ) in all this. No more news on TV. There's never been anything interesting on TV news, but now it's football and only football. The news are worldcup news and the weather report, and still we don't miss any important info. Seems we never needed those dull and boring TV news in the first place. And no more politics as well! What a relief.

I know you all are happy about the World Cup...but we are REALLY happy about our Miami Heat...a quarter of a million South Floridians cheered our team down Biscayne Boulevard in a Miami parade today...the players are just darn nice guys, talking to their fans, dancing, singing, just having fun and appreciating their win! I know some think basketball is boring, lame, insert your own adjective...but we are enjoying winning the Championship immensely!

Logos999,

AMEN!

Sure, logos !! Now, most of our news here in Spain look like a travel channel report of Germany, it's great !!! Politics reduced to the minimum..I just don't want it to finish !!!!

I guess your level of enjoyment is based on what you are brought up with. I love watching soccer and rugby, but have never been able to understand the draw of American/Canadian football, baseball or ice-hockey (although you certainly can't call THAT a boring game).

One thing that has always confused me - why do the call the baseball the "WORLD series" when as far as I can tell only the US and Canada (most of who's players predominantly come from the US or Central/South America) particiate?

>>>>
why do the call the baseball the "WORLD series" when as far as I can tell only the US and Canada (most of who's players predominantly come from the US or Central/South America) particiate?
>>>>

thank you for reminding me...i forgot to add this to my list of cliches.

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logos...please stop saying that the world cup eclipses other news in europe. the europhiles have worked so hard to create the fantasy that we here in europe are so well informed about world events and that the news here is so comprehensive and international in nature. or can we continue to perpetuate this fantasy but just add the caveat that we are well informed as long as there is no major sporting event taking place. i'm confused.

As long as we get our news from the TV, I believe we are fed with the same .... as people in the staates. Broadcasts that claim to be informative have become "infotainment". Stupid subjects plus people talking to eachother about their totally uninteresting everyday life. This wouldn't be a problem, if I wouldn't be looking for the news that the TV listings claimed were on air at that time. What's even worse is that the nature and science broadcasts have become the same stupid infotainment too, no more info whatsoever, just "nice" and bright colours and a camera moving fast. There are still a few good programmes, but not on the major networks "BR" have a astronomy programme where the presenter does nothing bat talk, but this the best I've ever seen on TV. And yes the "Joy Of Painting" with Bob Ross is my fav. entertainment programme. :-)

Infotainment? HOW TRUE!

Logos, you forget to mention that TV "News" has become more propoganda than actual reporting of the "facts".

Maybe it's become a tool for disinformation of the public? I used to be "mainstream" and actually found many good programmes on TV. Today it seems "mainstram" has shifted to something very strage.

BTW. the german TV-tax is 204.36€ per year and household. Time to stop watching and safe some money, but then they DO show football on TV...

204+ Euro? That's nearly what the USA Pro FOOTBALL package alone costs. Think I'll pass on that cost. Logos, what do you get for that cost? Cable? Satellite?

MvK

You get the right to own a TV, that's all.

The money is passed to the public TV and radio stations. (about 20 channels), about half of them are showing commercials.
Private TV stations don't get anything and have frequent interruptions.
Cable, Satellite all cost extra. 10-40€ per month for additional packages.

You get permission to have a TV set in your house.

This is common in Europe where we have public broadcasting bodies. A TV licence in Britain costs £131.50 which is the bargain of the century as we get four BBC TV channels, five national radio stations, local radio, digital radio stations and all the interactive stuff on the web.

Commercial telly companies would bnever make or broadcast half of what the BBC does, so we're very happy with it. Radio 4 alone justifies the cost (frankly I'd pay it just for Sorry I Havent A Clue alone)

To get the football package from sky is around £40 a month. Which includes other sports too.

The worldcup package was 90€, I couldn't resist. ;-) On public TV, they only show every 2nd game.

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A TV licence in Britain costs £131.50 which is the bargain of the century
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i agree. with my £50 "freeview box", i get many digital channels including several all news, music etc. no monthly fee...just the cost of the tv licence. for me, there is no need to pay for satalite or cable.

Maybe BBC would be a better alternative!, but here you'd need at least a 1.2 meter dish to receive national BBC TV. German public TV can be recieved all over western and central Europe for free. The major channels down to Iran, Saudi Arabia and western Russia. Only in Germany you have to pay for them.

I think you enjoy what you grew up with and are familiar with. When American football was introduced to the UK, it had even less success than professional soccer in the US. After the novelty wears off, you go back to what you know. My English friends have asked me "How on earth can it take a 60 minute game three hours to finish?" They get bored with all the stoppages in American football and aren't aware of the strategy involved in the game.

Americans are often bored with soccer, a game that goes on almost non-stop but can end in a 0-0 draw. We want to see scores! I defy anyone to say that Brazil 4 - Japan 1 was boring, though.

Now for real excitement, the Rugby World Cup is coming up next year. I was in Australia during the group stage of the last event, and fell in love with the sport - non-stop action and plenty of scoring. USA had a team there too.