Why you should watch the USA v. Ghana game

Or why the U.S. needs soccer.

But before I dive in to tonight’s blog post, here’s dinner!

I was feeling a little confused in the matter of cookery and life earlier, I couldn’t decide what to make. I had a few things in mind, that I really want to try but they just weren’t flowing out, organically like good food should.

I hopped onto Food Network’s site and looked for Barefoot Contessa’s Crumble recipe which I’d been meaning to try for close to a year. While I was looking for that I stumbled upon these two gems: Orzo with Roasted Vegetables and Chicken with Herbed Goat Cheese.

Colorful Orzo

Doesn't it look like a heart?

Peach & Blueberry crumble.

It was a small celebration of my half birthday, so technically I’m 24 and a half. I have a feeling 25 is going to be an interesting year.

Moving on, here’s why everyone should watch tomorrow’s game against Ghana (2 p.m. Eastern ABC)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!

1. When they score, it feels like we all scored. There’s no Saints/Colts, Celtics/Lakers, Mavs/Spurs bullhocky. It’s America. If you’re going to root for Cross-country skiing/Equestrian or any other boring-ass competition, why not root for football? (That’s right, this is football. American football is based off Rugby.)

2. It’s payback time. Ghana kept us from advancing to the knockout round in 2006. With Dempsey’s drive, Donovan’s tenacity and Howard’s leadership, you better bet that this will be LEGENDARY!

3. I’ll just pose this for a second: Americans don’t like football because we haven’t been all that good in previous years. We have a shot, guys! Let’s take it. Let’s fill those bars, fill those living rooms and root for the team! Let’s bring the game to the States and embrace it as EVERY other country, regardless of GNP, color or religion, has. Maybe if we didn’t think so highly of ourselves and our silly little Super Bowl (really, 106.5 million people watched the Super Bowl last year, 715.1 million watch the World Cup), we wouldn’t get so much crap

4. It’s the Beautiful Game. One minute you’re hopes of advancing to the knockout stage are over, the next you’re winning the group in additional time. Football is high-contact (yes, there’s flopping but there’s also this):

It’s 90+ minutes of sprinting, attacking, blocking with measly shin guards as the only protection for incoming cleats. Football is eye-foot coordination, endurance, yellow cards and more. Have any football fan explain the whole 17 rules to you, or the point system of the Cup and you’ll be set. Football is not that hard to understand. Everyone can do it. But not everyone can do it right.

5. The best part of the cup so far? Seeing institutions like France, Italy and England struggle. The former champs and runner-ups are gone. And as my buddy Spidey put it “It’s time for Cup Americas.” Maybe having MLS and Latin American players in European clubs is finally paying off…

6. If all else fails, watch tomorrow’s game because the jersey’s are cute and they make the guys look like princes. Watch the rest of the World Cup because Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing, Messi is still barreling past defenders, Wayne Rooney has a lot left to prove, Kaka is coming back from ejection and crazy fans are blowing on make up-caked vuvuzelas and they’re all doing it for this:

Shiny

p.s. We have the best chant.  Hands down. USA! USA! USA! USA!