Today the USA plays against England in their first game of the FIFA 2010 World Cup.  Whenever the USA plays England, it becomes an uncomfortable situation for 8bitrocket.com.  We have many friends who live all over the world, and usually we get along famously.  However, when we play each other in soccer matches, and especially when we play England, things can turn…well…ugly.

The last time the USA met England, a definite chill fell over relations with our English friends.  Things that we found funny suddenly were…not.  Things that we found interesting were suddenly…boring. 

This game might be the best chance ever to make our English friends upset, and it really doesn’t matter how the game goes.

If the USA wins (highly unlikely), there is a good chance we will be blamed for it, and the cold-shoulder will return.   At the same time, if the USA loses, it will be tough to face the same people as they say things like “well, it’s not your sport” or “no one in the USA cares anyway”.  It is my sport, and I care very very deeply.

So, to our friends from England we wish you good luck and Godspeed…just not quite as much we wish our guys.  We will accept the cold-shoulder/soccer jibes for a while, but we expect things to return to normal come mid-July.  And come on, we all know that Maradona will find a way to get on the field and knock the tournament winning-ball in with his ego anyway , so what does this game really matter?