PUNCH’s Month-long Obsession…

If I listen closely, I’m 95 percent certain I can still hear the monotone drone from stadiums all over South Africa chock full o’ vuvuzelas buzzing for 90+ minutes per game.  Hey, “Vuvuzela”...it’s fun to say AND fun to play! With that said, allow me to introduce what most of the living planet already knew of as the 2010 World Cup. Alas for me, it was my very first foray into an intense month-long obsession that I didn’t even know I cared about.

Prior to June/July 2010, my soccer knowledge was limited. There’s a field, some guys, and a ball. Oh, and it’s bad when you use your hands…unless you’re the goalkeeper, then it’s all good! What more do you need to know?

Actually though, I’ll admit, with the exception of being a boxing fan, my sports knowledge in general is limited. I love a good Olympics every couple years. And, of course, it’s obligatory to the family bloodline that I always cheer for the Cleveland Indians (except when they suck…then you’re supposed to spit, curse them, and be angry for a really long time.) And from what I’ve come to understand, the Indians have actually only been good about three times in my life, so I haven’t had to exert much effort on the cheering front.

But I digress, with the emergence of the 2010 World Cup, I latched onto something that, at first, seemed like an easy summer distraction from work. I concocted the idea to have a World Cup office pool. We could keep ESPN going on the TV at all times at work and the winner would get a day off. I figured the ladies in the office (myself included, I must shamelessly confess) would walk by the TV on the way to the kitchen and scope out the soccer hotties…which we most certainly did (hello, Ronaldo)! I figured a couple folks at PUNCH might have some small bets going, and all-in-all, it would just be some fun in the background.

What I was not expecting was to get involved in something that completely grabbed my attention for a whole month. Looking back, I watched just about every single game of the world cup (while working hard in the office at the same time, of course). I found myself waking up early on the weekends just to watch the 7:30 a.m. games. I would tense up and my palms would get sweaty when I was watching anything even remotely close to being intense! I was into it, to say the least. I became unhealthily wrapped-up in two specific teams—Japan, (Samurai Blue!), and, of course, U.S.A—the former because it was my assigned office pool team, and the latter for obvious home-team pride.

I recall going to Penny Lane Pub with my husband to watch Japan’s 7:30 a.m. match against Netherlands. I drank my early morning Guinness breakfast (the true breakfast of champions, that is) and was clearly the only Japan fan sitting next to tables of nothing but Orange. I also recall watching the U.S. vs. Ghana game with a throng of U.S. fans at Stool Pigeons. I nearly brought myself to tears after their overtime loss. With that defeat, I immediately swore, got up, left the bar, and promised myself that I’d never vacation in Ghana should the opportunity ever arise. My dad later told me that much like him, I’m not cut out to watch team sports (eh, thanks dad, go Cleveland!). A similar outcome came to be for Samurai Blue after going to penalty kicks with Paraguay, which knocked them out of the competition. After which I had to quietly excuse myself from the office to go on an early lunch break.

What was it that made me so crazy about the World Cup? I was so caught up in all the excitement. I could only imagine what it would’ve been like had I actually been in South Africa, sitting in one of the stadiums, for any one of the games. It would’ve been too much! Too exciting! My head would have surely exploded. I certainly, wasn’t the only one in the office feeling all this excitement though. One of our other designers plunked down $80 just to get a Netherlands jersey to support his office-pool team (he also won the award for saddest post-loss face after the final game). Another co-worker hand-drew the Portuguese flag on a piece of paper, cut it out, and pinned it to her shirt to show her support. Our accounts manager kept a small South Korean flag taped to her computer all month long. And I even rocked a samurai headband during the World Cup finale party we threw for ourselves.

And now…it’s done. Congrats Spain, you’ve won! The 2010 World Cup is over. Our month-long-distraction-turned-crazed-obsession is over. Let’s toss the jerseys back in the drawer, rip down our flags, and put away our scoring brackets until the next World Cup.  Aww, four years is a long time. I may go through withdrawl. But what will fill the void? I suppose in the meantime, until the next distraction comes along, I can reflect on the good stuff. The fun we had together at PUNCH while shouting, cheering, teasing, cursing, laughing, jeering, and betting.—all in good fun! But if anytime soon you stop by PUNCH and see me darting across the office in my Samurai headband, or happen to spot an employee carrying a vuvuzela into meetings, you’ll know we haven’t totally let go of the fun…at least not until something else comes along. So until 2014, I say, “Thanks 2010 World Cup. You were good while you lasted.”