25 RTITBGITW

(or.....25 Reasons This Is The Best Game In The World)

So.....

A while back there were a lot of these "25 Random Things About Me" lists that were flying around the information superhighway where people very cleverly and ingeniously listed 25 facts or interesting anecdotes about them that they wanted shared with their friends and friends of friends, and so on.... And it occurred to me that instead of wasting my time coming up with 25 interesting or witty things to say about myself (which i ended up doing anyways), I'd rather spend it on 25 things that make this the greatest game on the planet (like we really need to list them) but what the heck, here they are anyways...

And of course, they are in no particular order (I think);

25) Rivalries. Madrid-Barca, Inter-Milan, Boca-River, Brasil-Argentina, England-Argentina, Liverpool-ManU, America-Chivas, Fla-Flu, Peñarol-Nacional...the list goes on and on. Often called "Derbys" or "Clasicos", these matches in many cases are about much more than football (i.e., "The Old Firm") ...either way, these are the matches that we all live for.

24) Goal Celebrations. Seriously....no other sport can match these celebrations. The NFL penalizes players for celebrating. In baseball you get beaned in the head if you show someone up or if you celebrate in the smallest way. In football, you score, you get happy...you celebrate. Seriously.

23) The Golden Goal. Yeah, ok, so FIFA no longer allows it, but whatever, I thought it was cool. Basically this is a fancy and not so maccabre expression for sudden-death overtime. Tied at the end of the game? Lets keep playing. First one to score wins. You may hate it, but who can forget France beating Italy in 2000 on David Trezeguet's winner in the 103rd minute?

22) Stoppage Time. Injury Time. Added Time. El descuento. Whatever you want to call it. No game is the same length. How long are they gonna play? When is the referee gonna blow the whistle? The clock on the scoreboard has stopped ticking, but they are still playing, only the referee decides when the game is over. So many big games have been decided in stoppage time, it is simply insane. None crazier than the 1999 Champions League Final. (listen to the play by play guy almost predict it right before the first goal).

21) Goalkeepers that frantically join the fray while trying to score a desperation goal in said stoppage time (see #22 above). Hey, it works out sometimes.

20) World Cup Qualifying. Imagine if March Madness was once every four years and each school had to spend 2 years playing their region to qualify just to get in. That's pressure. Oh yeah, and it is happening all around the globe at the same time. Cool.

19) National Anthems. Nothing is better than singing your national anthem before your country is about to go to battle with another country. If that doesn't give you goose bumps, nothing will. Especially when you are with 40 to 50,000 of your fellow countrymen singing along and watching them play in another country.

18) Which leads me to...Fan Chants. Go to a game, sing along with 50,000 people. It will make you feel alive.

17) I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love penalty kick shoot outs. Don't ask me why. Pure drama.

16) Zizou. If all you remember him for is the head butt, you have no idea.

15) Bloopers. Every sport has them. These just happen to be funnier (in my humble opinion).

14) No Timeouts. Play 45 minutes, hard. Twice. Show me another sport with a field this big where you never really get to stand around.

13) No Stats. Baseball has more stats than you can shake as stick at. So does pretty Basketball, American Football and Hockey. There is one stat that matters here: GOALS. Period. You score, you win. Get it? Ok, maybe points matter too, and goal differential. But they pale in comparison. And they all come from the same place...GOALS.

12) Relegation. End up in last place? Well next year you will play in a lower level in tiny stadiums in front of tiny crowds and with barely anyone watching on TV. Try selling that to NBA teams that are tanking it on purpose to get the next LeBron in the lottery. Yeah, right. Makes you want to avoid the cellar now, doesn't it?

11) Promotion. End up in first place in that lower 2nd division? Get promoted to the big time and play the big boys next year, everyone watches on TV, etc, etc... For some reason this always works incredibly in Germany. TSG Hoffenheim, who have a former Bosnian refugee on their roster (he was the 5th top scorer in the Bundesliga in 08/09) last season was rewarded with a bump up to the aforementioned Bundesliga and was at the top of the table at one point this season and ended up in 7th place and just missed out on play in the UEFA Cup (which has been sleekly renamed the Europa League for next year). Did I mention that the previous year Hoffenheim played in a stadium that had only 1,620 seats!?!? FC Kaiserslautern did the same thing in 1998 (but they had been relegated only a couple years before).

10) Football Spots. Every single footy fan on the planet likes them. How can you not? (Click on the pic to the right to see my all-time personal favorite)

9) Free Kicks. They are a thing of beauty, an art form. A skill that mere mortals do not posses.

8) And what's better than free kicks? How about...Trick free kicks? They may not all be textbook definitions of sportsmanlike behavior, but they sure are fun to watch.

7) Tricks. Ticas, Tricks, Freestyle, whatever you call it. Thought you had skills? Think again my friend. THESE cats have skills. The World Championships were recently held in, where else but Sao Paulo. It was sponsored by Red bull. I wonder if each contestant has to guzzle about 10 Red bulls before going on stage. That wouldn't be nearly enough for me....right. Red Bull gives me wiiiiiings!

6) Shirt Swapping. It is the best demonstration of sportsmanship around. And it has been going on forever. Game ends, players swap shirts and keep them. Hang them on their wall, throw them in one of their 40 closets, who cares. The fact that they seek each other out and trade shirts and then collect and keep them reminds me that it is a game. Every sport should do this. Remember that MasterCard World Cup spot that featured it? Brilliant.....(This one is pretty good too), from everyone's favorite city, Amsterdam. So is this one....ok, I'll stop now.

5) La Copa Libertadores. The South American version of the Champions League. Just as fun, just as important, just as historic as its European counterpart.

4) Goal Celebrations. Yes, I know. I already used this one, but I just can't get enough.

3)The Eternal Debate. Maradona or Pelé? The best sports argument ever. Other sports had one supreme athlete. Hoops had Jordan. Hockey, Gretzky. The beautiful game had Diego Armando Maradona and Edson Arantes do Nascimento. The argument is eternal.

2) Anyone can play. You don't have to be tall, fast, athletic or smart. You just have to be able to play.

1) The World Cup. The biggest and best sporting event on the globe. Absolutely unparalleled. If you have ever been to one, then you know what I am talking about. Need i say more?