A few days ago I was talking to my parents, and they told me that somebody in Indianapolis had called a talk radio station to say that they didn't understand what the fuss was about "this World Cup thing that's going on." The caller went on to say that surely the World Series was much bigger than the World Cup. With a large dose of good will and frivolity, let me enlighten those of you who don't understand all the fuss about the World Cup.

The World Cup is a football (soccer) tournament that is global. It occurs once every four years, like the Olympics. Virtually every country in the world, even tiny places like the Faroe Islands, enter a team in the hope that they will somehow make the finals of the World Cup. Qualifying matches start two years ahead of the actual finals, and only 32 teams make it to the final tournament, which takes close to five weeks.

Are people outside of the United States interested in the World Cup? Let me put it this way. Here in England, real estate agents were advising people who are trying to sell their house not to expect any visitors while the World Cup was going on. The final match of the World Cup, which Italy won for the fourth time, attracted a TV viewing audience of between 1-2 billion people (or approximately 5-6 times the entire population of the USA).

What is amazing about the World Cup is that all other matters in the geopolitical world seem to come to a halt when it is going on. For instance, this year, while the UN Security Council was trying to figure out what to do about Iran's threat of nuclear weapons, the same Iran had a team in the final 32. And they played right along with everybody else. In the past, nations at war have actually declared a one-day cease fire so that all the soldiers and population could watch their two countries play in the World Cup. It's that serious.

Another thing is that the World Cup is the great leveller. On the football pitch (soccer field) all countries suddenly become equal. It's all about what 11 men can do with their feet; economics, military might, size and population all mean pretty much nothing. For instance, this year the USA lost their last match to Ghana from West Africa. One American writer stated that the World Cup is the most intense sporting event in the world, because small countries can beat up big countries. And so it continues to happen.

I realise that with a primarily female blogging readership, my comments will be greeted with a sigh of "who really cares." :-) But I thought it worth the time to let people know that there are still some pretty major things happening out here in the rest of the world, and whoever that dear caller in Indy was, she should know that in actual fact the World Cup is much bigger than the World Series.