Argentina Rolls

It was nice to see Argentina look so good today. I've always had an affinity for the country dating back to when I lived there, and it's kind of sad to see them go on an economic roller coaster (not to mention political) when they have all the assets to be a stable, powerful western democracy. I don't know how many people who read this are from outside North America, but man is soccer a totally different deal here versus in many places elsewhere. You don't have an appreciation for the World Cup (assuming you're not a big soccer fan already) until you've watched a World Cup take place overseas.

In Buenos Aires in 1998, the country would just shut down when Argentina had its soccer games. Everyone left work. I was driving home from the American Embassy prior to one of the games, and we left relatively late. Even at that point the streets were practically empty (which is quite the sight give a large stretch of that trip is Nueve de Julio which is one of the widest streets in the world) as everyone was already home and ready to go for the games. When something big happened, you could hear cheering from around the neighborhood because there were few if any cars on the road and everyone was watching the games. Quite the spectacle. Those games really mattered.