R&R Aware: 3 Things I Learned From The World Cup

I must say that I wouldn't have watched the pieces of the World Cup that I did if my gym hadn't been playing it 24/7 on every TV in the area where the cardio machines are. Now that it's over I think I'll kind of miss it, which is surprising to me since I've never been a sports person. Ever. But this year's World Cup had enough highlights that I was able to catch during my 30 minute elliptical appointments to keep my interest. 1. I learned that an octopus can be psychic.

The most famous character in this year's World Cup wasn't Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo or USA's Landon Donovan, but it was a German born and British bred octopus named Paul. He's known for having a 100% accuracy rate for correctly predicting the winning team up to the final winner (Spain) using boxes with food and flags on them. Even though Paul had now officially retired, companies are now thinking of ways to milk his poor little tentacles with every possible spin off and endorsement. Blame it on the recession. I guess. 2. I learned that soccer is a beautiful, beautiful sport.

The World Cup is a wonderful time of year when delicious looking men of all colors compete for our viewing pleasure. Here are some standouts:

Kevin Prince Boateng-Ghana

Carlton Cole-England

Cristiano Ronaldo-Portual

Needless to say, I'll definitely be watching in 2014!

3.I learned that soccer is possibly a Great Unifier.

The world doesn't seem to come together for anything like they do for the World Cup and the Olympics. I guess that's what is so magic about sports. Nelson Mandela knew the power of the game and pressed hard for South Africa to host the World Cup this year and now, right before his 92nd birthday, his dream came true. Now if we could just take what we learn from sports and apply it to everyday interactions with everyday people...imagine what we could do.

*** I'd like to let you guys know about a small adjustment to my posting schedule. I'm combining R&R Aware(Current Events) and R&R Outspoken (Social Commentary) because I realized that these two areas are so similar. So from now on, Wednesday posts will be known as R&R Aware and you can expect social commentary with illustrations (most of the time) from what's going on currently in the news***