Futbol ...

... the other white meat. Okay, not really, but I thought it sounded funny. Anyway, today's the day -- the first day of World Cup 2006. (Right about now, about 85% of people reading this just closed their browser, but I don't care ... we're talking about the biggest sporting event in the world, and it happens once ever four years. Just indulge me. Or don't ... it's up to you.)

Anyway, my plan is to watch as many matches as possible, even though most of them air during business hours for those of us on the east coast. Thanks to Mr. TiVo, I know how I'll be spending my evenings for the next month. The U.S. doesn't play until Monday, which means that I'll have to figure out how to avoid glimpsing the score on the internets, radio or TV between the time match ends and the when I finally get home to see the replay.

As I re-read this, I'm guessing absolutely nobody cares about such stuff, but hey, you asked for more content, and that's what you're getting. Remember the HSS motto: It's quantity, not quality.

Alrighty, before moving on to equally unimportant stuff, I guess I should make some predictions. I've got England. I say this only because I found this nifty simulator, and after 5,000 trials, England had the highest predicted chance of winning it all. And yes, I know that Brazil has the best odds, and given an infinite number of trials, they would be the favorite, but where's the fun in that? By the way, if you're gambling, Blue Horseshoe loves Paraguay. You heard it here first.

One more thing. I don't follow international soccer all that much except during the World Cup, but thanks to the nerdy geniuses at Youtube, you can watch endless international soccer-related stuff. This might be my favorite, although you can't go wrong with anything involving Ronaldinho. And if you're looking to expand your horizons beyond the Brazilians, DaveSez has the rundown, so knock yourself out.

*******So, the Red Sox finally managed to beat the Yankees after getting absolutely blown out of the water on Monday (thanks Josh Beckett) and losing in typical Red Sox-in-Yankee-Stadium-fashion on Tuesday, following an unbelievable pitching performance by rookie David Pauley. I have nothing to add, I just thought I should mention the Sox since, well, I haven't in about a month.

*******And now, for Randy Steele's reading pleasure, some Steelers news:

... Here's Wexell's latest -- Cowher talks about what the team needs to do now that OTAs are officially over and the next time they'll get together will be at training camp.

... Mike Bires has a piece in the Beaver County Times about Roethlisberger's media boycott. Apparently, Ben's the nicest guy in the world and always makes time for media guys ... except for Channel 11, that is:

There's speculation that Roethlisberger is upset that WPXI dispatched a TV crew to his home in the Washington's Landing area of Pittsburgh several weeks ago. At the time, police reportedly towed several vehicles for parking illegally, including one owned by Roethlisberger.

Nothing like getting harrassed in your own home and then getting your car towed. Yeah, I have no idea why Roethlisberger would even care about such things.

... And finally, my Random Steelers Question of the Day (RSQoD):

So we all are now well aware of the fact that Steve McNair is now in Baltimore and will lead that team to an undefeated season and the Super Bowl. But this is the same dude who was the sworn enemy of the Ravens when both teams were in the AFC Central, and when they were beating up on each other earlier this decade. It seems kinda weird to think that now McNair will be wearing purple and black. (I guess it's similar to seeing Damon in pinstripes after he vowed -- VOWED! -- never to play for the Yankees. And no, I'm not a bitter. Not even a little.) Anyway, would you be okay with a fierce division rival, like say, Ray Lewis, joining the Steelers if it made them better? (I know that Lewis doesn't make the Steelers better in 2006, but he would have in 2000-2002.

Or how about Jamal Lewis? Ed Reed? For me, this is very easy. No, nah, and nope. It's called a rivalry for a reason. I really, really dislike Ray Lewis and Jam-Jam and Ed. And yes, it's only because they have, during various points in their career, terrorized the Steelers. I'm also the guy that has a zero-tolerance approach to the draft (unlike Marvin Lewis, for example), so it's no real surprise that I'm against acquiring quality players simply because they might make the hometown team better. But that's just me. I'm guessing most people would disagree with me.