Soccer World Cup Group G

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France 0 - 0 Switzerland

I came out of the meeting and I heard a huge roar followed by a choir of voices echoing a sea of "aaaaaahhhh!". I grinned. I did not need to be in front of the TV to know what happened...

I had to promply be back in the boardroom for the second meeting of the day. I sat through that meeting and wondered what was happening in the game. My mind wondered. At Golden Riviera Casino Group our second largest market is the French. 90% of the French working for us are ex-pats from France, but a few came from French speaking African countries. Our German Marketing Manager was born and raised in Switzerland and was the sole supporter of the choclatieurs and clock makers. And the French can be vocal. So much so, that I could here their cheers through the glass panneled wall of the boardroom I was sitting in.

I got out of the meeting just in time to catch the final 10 minutes of the game. Roland, the Swiss born manager was sitting in the corner of my office with a huge grin on his face. The unexpected happened: France did not win! Roland did not say a word when the game was over, he just smiled and walked out of the office. The French just DID NOT appreciate his smugness! You gotta love the French!

The Final week before...

...64 matches, 1.4 billion fans, 32 teams, 32 coach teams, managers, 12 stadia and who knows how much brackwurst!

I like to think of the soccer world cup as the true world sporting tournament. In 2002, 1.3 billion people tuned in to see the Soccer World Cup opening ceremony. That is way mammoth compared to the 124 million who watched the 2004 opening ceremony. For one month, Americans will have a reason to forget about Coby trumping former Laker, Shaq and forget about inter-state NFL and consentrate on how we compete against the world. We are quick to call the Major League Baseball championship the 'World Series'. Who are we kidding? Apart from Mexico and a few other Latin-American countries and maybe Japan, who else really plays Baseball? The Soccer World Cup celebrates the world beyond the US (and US occupied countries!)

I can't wait. At the casino we are going to enjoy every major game in front of the TV. Who cares about a time difference? Beer tastes good any time of the day! We are going to celebrate Germany 2006. Das Beer!

It is a French affair!

Mon ami, I predict that this will be France's year. The cockerils will not be very friendly at their neghbour's house. They will not be detered by Switzerland and Togo and Korea will have their work cut out for them. Well, for now, that is my two minutes worth!