The time has finally come!  If you’ve developed a strategy to shorten your work days over the next few weeks, today is the day to begin implementing it.  Brazil vs. Croatia kicks off at 4:00 (New York time) this afternoon.  I’m sure your boss (and, hopefully, my boss) will understand. Since today’s preview seems likely to get a bit wordy,…

Only one day left!  On to Groups E and F! GROUP E Pretend, for a moment, that you don’t know anything about the 2010 World Cup.  Then, say I were to tell you a story that went something like this:  In one of the group-stage games, a coach  addresses his team at half-time, with the score 0-0. …

Only two days left until kickoff!  No time to waste – we’re on to Groups C and D today. GROUP C I like Arsene Wenger, and I respect everything that he’s accomplished with Arsenal over the years, but I’m going to pick on him a bit here.  Every time that Arsenal fails to beat the…

Until now, I’ve kept this blog pretty well focused on my writing, but there are three facts that compel me to move in a different direction today (and I will list them for you, Rafa Benitez-style): Fact #1:  The World Cup kicks off in Brazil this Thursday. Fact #2:  I really, really like soccer. Fact…