World Cup Madness

World Cup fever has hit Maryport!

Apparently, England is playing the US in some sort of big match on Saturday. People are flying the flag of England anywhere they can possibly fit a flag: draped out of apartment windows, hanging out of car windows, on top of buildings, on their clothes. One of the boys in Frankie’s class has been wearing a curly red & white flag of England wig to school all week. It’s madness.


Because we’re from the US & living in England, everyone I run into at Frankie’s school has been asking me the same question: Who will you root for? I've been asked at least ten times in the last two days, by kids and adults alike.The general sense I get is that they expect that we’re all torn up on the inside, struggling with who to support. Will we cheer for our home country, or our new adopted country? Where do our loyalties lie??

Everyone’s so worked up about it, I can’t quite bring myself to tell them the truth: Matt, Frankie, and I don’t support anyone, because we don’t actually care about sports. Not even a bit. Not football. Soccer. Baseball. Ice dancing. Tennis. Golf. Nada. There’ no sport whatsoever that catches our interest. We’re nerds that don’t really do sports. For those that like sports, more power to you. I've just never really understood the thrill of watching someone else exercise.

I have a feeling that, on some level, that answer would be more shocking than telling everone that we were supporting the US in the World Cup.

To spare the sideways looks from our neighbors and to avoid having to confess my complete lack of interest, I’ve started telling everyone that I’m rooting for England. But it’s a lie. The truth is, I’m rooting for no one. On Saturday, we won’t be watching the match. It won’t even occur to us to turn on the tv to catch a split second of the game.

Frankie is a little caught up in the World Cup fever, though. They’ve been enacting mock matches at school, and the kids at school always cast Frankie to play the part of the US team. She loves it. She’ll tell anyone that asks that she’s rooting for the US in the Cup. Whenever I say “Go England” to a curious neighbor, she’s right there to correct me. “Mom! We’re from America! We root for the US!”

Is it possible that Frankie might be… a future sports fan?

Yikes.