World Cup Yawn

Ok, so maybe the world will not light candles and hold a vigil to protest my retirement.

Perhaps I shall best be remembered as "the well-fed white haired guy who used to sit in that cubicle over by the window (what the *bleep* did he do anyway?)"

Let's face it: For most of us, a working career is like a walk on the beach. Despite our furious dedication and excellence in our chosen field, our footprints in the sand will remain just until the next high tide. The morning after we are gone, little trace of us exists on the shores of commerce.

If you were a decent chap who treated your coworkers well and earned their trust, the memory of you will fade quickly. But if you were a backbiting, brown-nosing mean bastard who regularly screwed peers and subordinates, you might be remembered a bit longer. But, alas, all of these memories fade over time.

We end up with the realization that the results of all of our striving, persuading, earnestness and worry were at best temporary.

I was reading a book I got from the public library titled “Goal-Free Living” The author, Stephen M. Shapiro, believes that most of us are blindly pursuing goals, and driven by our goal-orientation to the point that we never experience exhuberance in our lives. He asserts that modern Americans are so wrapped-up in the accomplishment of plans and outcomes, that we tend to forego the feelings of joy and happiness that comes with a sense of adventure, of living for the moment.

About seven pages into the book, I fell asleep. I tell you, it was the best nap I have experienced since watching two minutes of the world cup soccer match between Italy and France.

I am not alone in my puzzlement at the popularity of soccer around the world. It seems to me that it is one of those sports (like Golf, Fishing, Curling that is exciting to be a participant as opposed to a spectator. Perhaps the fans in countries like Italy and France -where baseball and football are not national sports - are re-living their own youthful experiences as players.

Certainly, Soccer is not a good sport for tv coverage. The field is too big. People are all over the place, mostly kicking the ball to and fro somewhere in the middle or along the sidelines. The matches usually end in a 1-0 or 2-1 after hours of running back and forth. Where's the excitement in that?

The French guy, Zidane, says he headbutted the Italian guy for calling his mother a terrorist . After 18 years of playing soccer, this is how this guy will be remembered by most of us. Fodder for the late night comics: "The annual G8 summit of the wealthiest nations gets underway tomorrow. Officials say this year the hardest part will be keeping the leader of France from head butting the leader of Italy." --Conan O'Brien

Most of my fans and detractors alike are probably snickering at the thought that I would be reading a book on goal-free living. I have often been accused of having a low sense of urgency and no apparent plans to accomplish anything important. I deny this of course. I am planning to read another chapter of the book this afternoon. Within a few minutes I shall be blissfully asleep, perhaps dreaming about tomorrow's blog entry, where Bush calls the French soccer star to ask his mother to "get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit."