World Cup

It really is quaint how ABC is all hype about the World Cup. Currently, Paraguay (does Paraguay even have enough people to form a soccer team?) and England are on the TV (keep in mind it is 7:00 am, so we know tons of people are watching). I tried to watch some of the game, but found it to be a bit boring ( I feel the same way about our own version of Football, but Americans seem to know how to hype a game to its merchandising breaking point). All the local news stations here in San Francisco have run stories on what's been going on in this, apparent, phenomenal game. Which is odd because I don't think there was a news report about "football" all this year until the World Cup came around (which is every four years, I hear).
It seems to me the World Cup is a perfect example in the bandwagon mentality. Honestly, did anyone in the U.S. even pay attention to soccer until the World Cup? I can't think of a time the news had anything about soccer unless David Beckham (a C-list ceebrity if there ever was one) accindently made it into the honorable pages of the Enquirer, and that because his wife is evidently an ex-Spice Girl. I understand Beckham is quite big celebrity-wise in England. But England? C'mon, England is abuot the size of...nothing, really. Okay, I take that back, we do hear about "football" every now and then, but that is only when there is a riot because some team lost which caused the collapse of the stands (the irony never really escaping anyone).
I understand how the rest of the world goes ape-shit over this little game, but if it's not big in the U.S., then it really doesn't matter. Am I right?

;-)