Apologies for taking my time in joining the conversation. I'm tivoing games, plus juggling child minding responsibilities. Bit of a slow start this time around, though, reluctantly, I have to agree that the Germans were a delight to behold. According to what they've been saying, teams winning their opening matches have a better than 80% chance of advancing, so watch out for the Slovenians. They might just win the group.

So glad that ESPN is more or less exclusively using UK broadcasters and colo(u)r men. But maybe that's just my bias. I've particularly enjoyed Ian Darke and Ally McCoist. The new footballing vernacular term of the tournament appears to be "posse". I also liked Adrian Healey's mention of a "cultured left foot", and laughed out loud when Darke cleverly remarked, after the camera fell on a couple of guys who looked like they were extras from Nacho Libre, that it wasn't entirely necessary that you attend World Cup games in disguise, and in fact, that it was perfectly fine to come as yourself.

Looking forward to tomorrow's Group G matches, especially Portugal/Ivory Coast. I think the fix was in for North Korea. Guess that's what happens when you don't play nice with other countries. My good guess is that it's Spain's to lose, which they normally would, but I'm not so sure after Euro 2008. Happy viewing. Viva Espana!