World Cup. It's Here. Finally.

A lunch time stroll through City Centre coincidentally brought me to the front door of Paddy Power, Ireland's favorite book maker. I peeked inside and immediately found the World Cup bet sheets.World Cup Top Goal Scorers: L. Suarez... L. Messi... C. Ronaldo...— Excuse me, I asked the guy behind the counter. Am I allowed to bet on a player who's not listed on this sheet?— Sure. What bet would you like to place?— Jozy Altidore, I said with my best American accent. A wry smile crossed his face.— Erm.... sure... as top goal scorer of the group...? Or...— Of the tournament. His smile grew a bit more. Is there a minimum I asked?— Nope— Great! Then €2.50 on that and €7.50 for the US to make it out of the group stage.With that, I just about completed my World Cup preparations. Brackets are filled out. Clothes are washed. Tickets are booked. Tickets...?! Yes, tickets!!! To London for England vs Italy! To Berlin for Germany vs Ghana! To Houston and Sheboygan for USA in the knock-out rounds (because there will be knock-out rounds)!Football's coming home! '54, '74, '90, 2014! We bring the noise, we bring the ruckus...!