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It wasn't meant to be. Croatia fought hard in this game, had lead twice, was twelve minutes away from advancing to the second round, but in the end was not strong enough to prevail over plucky Aussies.
I was more equanimous about this game than I was about the previous one. Decided that there is no use getting my nerves strained too much over soccer.
This was Australia's first advancement to the field of 16 teams in the World Cup finals. Godspeed, mates.
After being mentioned on Nature's website, Naboj got some publicity on UIUC Physics Homepage. I am enjoying this latest burst of publicity, but I am not holding my breath that it will be sustained. I am glad to see that the traffic to the site has been increasing even in the absence of these latest good news. That's something to be hopeful about.
My dynamical peer review site Naboj has been mentioned in an article on Nature's website. I am really excited about it, especially since the article has been written by Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired magazine. Hopefully, this will get some more badly needed traffic to that website.
Today's game reminded me of all the things I didn't like about soccer: missed chances, lethargic and uninspired play, missed penalty kick, and the final result of 0:0. I was really frustrated throughout the game, as were surely many fans of both teams. Luckily, it didn't take me too long to forget the whole thing. Now everything depends on the game with Australia. Croatia absolutely must win that game in order to get to the next round. I just hope I don't get disappointed again.
So the game finally arrived. Croatia played really well, but in the end Brazil was too much for us. I watched the game at the Student Union at UIUC, which in the end was a bit of a letdown. Despite all the students who watched the game there, many of whom were Brazilians, the atmosphere was decidedly subdued. Not something you would expect from soccer fans watching a World Cup game. I wanted to get rowdy and wild, but it was not meant to be. Now I just hope that Croatia plays well in the next two games and ensures the next round of competition.
The Brazilians on Orkut were predictably during and after the game. A lot of unknown individuals took it upon themselves to write in my scrapbook and make sure that Croatia is ... well, I won't mention it here, but you get the idea. Hopefully once Brazil gets into the next round of the competition, they'll leave me and Croatia alone.
All the Brazilians that I do know were very gracious and friendly. They make great friends and it's always good to hang out with them.
I had my first experience with Mormon missionaries today! I was working at Sharmin's house, when a two of them showed up at her door. Young kids, probably college age. Polite and well drilled with their marketing pitch. I kept them at the door, politely yet succinctly answering their questions. Their final trick, asking me for a glass of water so I would maybe let them in, didn't work either. I brought the water to them.
Oftentimes I had imagined conversing with Mormon proselytizers, engaging them in serious theological and religious debate, pulling all the stops and bringing forth some heavy artillery. The sight of these two kids, just doing their job, softened me up though. I had no heart to pull something like that with them.
A couple of years ago I had a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses come to my apartment door in Urbana. With these two Mormon missionaries, I feel like my proselytizing experience in America is now complete.
Some dude, going by the pseudonym John Rambo, was making some outlandish statements in Orkut Christian Community. Among those was the one that we just need to follow the Gospel of John. All this while liberally quoting from the rest of the New Testament to support his claims. That got me thinking: if there were a Gospel according to John Rambo, what would it look like? You can find my attempt at answering that question here
As the World Cup approaches, the excitement around the world is getting more and more pronounced. That is, the excitement in all other countries except the US. I was already starting to worry that I will not have anyone around me to engage in inconsequential arguments about which is a better team, who is going to win the whole thing, and other favorite pastimes of the rest of the World. Luckily, thanks to Orkut, there is enough Brazilians that I am in touch with, so they came to the rescue. Croatia and Brazil are playing their World Cup opener against each other, and I've been able to make all these wild-eyed predictions about how Croatia will crush Brazil, yada yada, and similar nonsense. It's all good fun.