World Cup 2010: South Africa

"GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL"

It's one of the very few words that means the same thing to everyone in the world. It invokes the same emotion and produces the same reactions -- a universal word if you will...


The next World Cup will be held in South Africa in 2010. WHO'S COMING WITH ME?!

So, here's the dillio:
There are a total of 3 million tickets available for the games (there are approximately 6.6 billion people in the world). The odds suck, huh? Well, it gets worse.

a) 1 million tickets go to South Africans and the rest of Africa
Possible Solution: Although I am not African, my uncle lives in Egypt and works for the Arab League. Hmm...
b) 1 million tickets go to sponsors
Possible Solution: I don't think Google has any eggs in that basket. It's okay. MAYBE I will become friends with someone that works/worked at Nike, and just MAYBE they will look into some connections for me. I'm just sayin...
c) The remaining 1 million go to...THE REST OF THE WORLD
Possible Solution: um, sucks.

I will worry about tickets later. Until then, I am going to pretend I'm going and will talk about how amazing it's gonna be. South Africa has got to be one of the more interesting places in the world:


-- In 1948, a White government came to power and enforced a separation of races with its policy called apartheid (I am really not going to go there right now). SA's political history was intriguing enough, but even more-so with the apartheid murderers recently convicted.
-- Not to mention, the country has 11 official languages. I really don't think most Americans can name 11 languages.
-- Sadly, SA also has the second highest number of HIV/AIDS patients in the world; 1 in 7 citizens have HIV/AIDS
-- It will be the first African country to hold the World Cup and that makes me happy :) Hopefully, the World Cup will bring millions of dollars to the country (and hopefully, for once, it will go to the right people).

Assuming I go, the main attraction of my visit will be the World Cup. The thought of watching the top football clubs play before my eyes is unreal. The matches will definitely be entertaining, but so will the most loyal fans in the world. Football fans are, for lack of a better word, crazy. Football has halted Civil Wars, revolutionized civil rights, and given countries hope.

I hope to see you there.