With the Word Cup in full swing, it’s a great time to be in Poland: three matches a day during the qualifying round.

It was in Poland that I fell in love with football. Notice: I used the worldwide term (regardless of language), and I am not referring to that ridiculously named American version that employs foot-to-ball contact only in punts, kick-offs, and field goals/extra points.

What do I love about football? It’s very much like life:

1. You can go for long, “boring” periods where players simply bat the ball around, then suddenly — out of seemingly nowhere — a goal. Yet the boring periods aren’t if you watch what’s really going on. Just like life.
2. Referees can, and often do, make mistakes, and players have to suck it up and live with it. From Maradonna’s “Hand of God” to Chilean player’s unintentional tripping of a Spainsh player in the game above (which resulted in a red card), there are bad calls every game. As in life, those inflicted with injustice simply have to suck it up and move on.
3. There are occasionally instances of injustice (like the US’s lost goals) that go unexplained. Players and fans have to suck it up and move on.
4. There’s a lot of trickery and faking injuries. Players try to get something for nothing — just like life.

Not only is it life like, but football is also athletic in the extreme. Unlike American “foot” ball, real football involves few if any breaks. The action is continuous. American FB games look like this: play for three to seven seconds; mill about for two minutes; repeat. Real football involves running. Continuously.

This is, incidentally, why sponsorship in the States is so hard to find, and thus why it’s not televised often: where does one put the commercials?