{"id":1414,"date":"2014-06-10T19:12:47","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T19:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theswitch.us\/blog\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2014-06-11T22:12:18","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T22:12:18","slug":"world-cup-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/switch.us\/blog\/world-cup-post\/","title":{"rendered":"The World Cup Soccer Craze: One Pitch You Can Bet On"},"content":{"rendered":"
On June 12, 32 international soccer teams will begin to vie for the ultimate title … World Cup Champions. Here at Switch, participants will compete for 64 days to win our own World Cup … pool that is.\u00a0<\/address>\n
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Finally, the anticipation for June 12 comes to a close this week! Speaking on behalf of many co-workers and friends, Thursday cannot arrive soon enough. However, according to Reuters, only one-third of my fellow Americans care about the subject to which I\u2019m alluding (and many of you are likely scratching your heads wondering what I\u2019m talking about).\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not referring to Game 4 of the NBA Finals; nor is it the anniversary of President Regan\u2019s challenge to Mr. Gorbachev to \u201c\u2026 open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!\u201d And, it\u2019s not even the anniversary of the first ever MLB interleague game (if you are wondering the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 in 1997).<\/span><\/p>\n

For the 33% on the same page as I am, or for those of you who generally care about sports in the slightest, you realize I am talking about the commencement of the World Cup in Brazil. (For the rest of you, you\u2019re welcome for the useless June 12\u00a0trivia \u2026 that will likely never come in handy). The first match will feature the host country Brazil against Croatia. The 32-day tournament will conclude with the finals on July 13\u00a0after 64 matches and only seven off days during that span.<\/p>\n

Because Brazil\u2019s local time corresponds closely to U.S.A. time zones, a lot of the matches will be aired live and not during off hours, as was the unfortunate, inevitable experience of spoilers and late nights\/early mornings watching the World Cup four years ago. Here at Switch, our eyes will be fixed eagerly on a few select TVs, and like most of the other major sporting events, we intend to \u201ckeep things interesting\u201d with a World Cup pool (think Super Bowl squares and NCAA Tourney brackets). The best part, for those 66% of Switchers who aren\u2019t soccer junkies, no prior knowledge is required. All you need is $20!<\/p>\n

For those of you who don\u2019t follow soccer, much less international soccer, but want to embrace the World Cup craze, here are a few things I found to help you over the next 32 days. We\u2019ll start with the basics<\/a>, because the last thing you want to do is yell at the TV for an offside call when it clearly was not!<\/p>\n