World Cup is on its way

Last weekend (Memorial Day), I proudly wore patriotic colors of red, white and blue, but from June 11 onward, for a whole month, I’ll be changing to the red and white colors of St. George of England as I cheer on the land of my birth to victory (hopefully) in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final in South Africa on July 11!

As I keep telling everyone, this is the biggest sporting event in the world; my very favorite spectator sport. I’ve been a supporter of Manchester United (raving about my heroes first Bobby Charlton then later David Beckham) since my college days back in the late 50s.

I’m delighted that the U.S.A qualified to be one of the 32 teams competing in South Africa. That’s no mean feat - 204 national teams played for that honor. What’s so exciting this year is that England and America are in the same preliminary group, and play each other on the second day of competition, Saturday, June 12. Because the U.S.A. is a contender, all 64 matches will be broadcast live on either ESPN or ABC. Note time difference between California and South Africa - the latter is nine hours ahead of us. We’ll have to get up at either 7 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. for most of the broadcasts.

My calendar is marked for every single day in June (except June 30) and July 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11! Join me at the Hukilau bar at Fallbrook Golf Club for the action!

Sue Thorne