STARTING FIVE

What more needs to be said?

1. Alright, Varmint: Draw!

I’ll allow the “Men in Blazers” to recap the match here, as ESPN’s Brit-wits do a far more entertaining job than I am capable of. I’ll simply note that perhaps Edvard Munch was a football fan who foresaw the future.

2. Why Wasn’t This the Ad?

I like that the QB is wearing non-contact red. You have to love that attention to detail.

So, Adriana Lima may have a Peruvian capitol as her surname, but she’s Brazilian. And so it was a no-brainer for KIA to cast her in an ad that will run during the World Cup.* And here is that ad.
What I don’t understand is how they did not find a way to use this footage in that ad.

*It is a no-brainer for Adriana Lima to appear in anything.

3. John Oliver Twist and Shout Shout Let It All Out

Not available in any universe

The “Last Week Tonight” host meets Stephen Hawking and asks him if, there are an infinite number of parallel universes, there might be one in which he would be able to date Charlize Theron. “No,” the good doctor replies. “In any of those universes would it be because I turned her down?”

“You realize how much effort it takes to type, don’t you?” Hawking answers.

Oliver’s go-to weapon is self-deprecating humor, and here Hawking plays along beautifully.

4. Messi Win

God it’s so painful when something that’s so close is still so far out of reach…

If you took Argentina to defeat Iran on Saturday, you were giving worse than -800 odds. La Albiceleste were a sure thing heading into the match.

Until they weren’t.

The Argentines appeared sluggish while the Irans (that’s what I call them, the Irans) were content to saturate the box defensively and let Argentina play keep away. And so it went for more than 90 minutes.

Then, in the 92nd minute, Lionel Messi demonstrated again why he is the world’s greatest footballer. I’ve never seen a soccer goal that more closely approximated Michael Jordan beating Craig Ehlo. Simply tremendous.

I’d feel badly for the Irans, but their government bans its women from watching the games on TV back home.

5. The Basin Was Bangin’

This was the scene late in the first half of the USA-Portugal match at the Boat Basin Sunday evening. Scenes like this were taking place at pubs and parks all across America, and none of those group watches accounted for the robust 9.6 Nielsen rating (18 million viewers).

Just by ratings alone, and not by all the anecdotal evidence of at least a million or so more viewers, this was the highest-rated World Cup match ever for ESPN.

I have a sneaky suspicion it’s more than just Yankee jingoism. I’ve been watching soccer in NYC bars for nearly 20 years now. The level of interest is exponentially greater and the big difference is the proportion of first-generation immigrants watching as opposed to well-heeled Yanks who look like the types of folks you’d see at a college football game is decreasing.

I’m not trying to convert if you don’t want to be converted. But, as a football fan, it’s refreshing to see so many people coming to appreciate the world’s greatest sports tournament.