Sports aren't really my thing. I don't have strong opinions one way or another about which teams to support and which ones to hate. But I don't mind talking about sports, and I do, on occasion, even enjoy watching them. I've never really been into football (or what most Americans call soccer), but I have watched it before. As we all know, this summer, it is once again time for the FIFA World Cup. Why is this important? Well, my coworker is apparently an avid fan of FIFA and is very enthusiastic about it. So, on the first day, she flies into the office to get her second cup of morning coffee, only to begin bubbling over with excitement over the games being played that day and how she's going to the pub to watch the match between Spain and Portugal. The rest of us were excited for her and we expected updates throughout the day, which she happily delivered to us. After she left, the office was quiet and I went about my work as usual.
The weekend came around and I happened to be at a restaurant on Sunday morning that was showing one of the games, so I began to casually peek at it and became rather intrigued. My family and I began talking about the game; this wasn't your typical conversation about how this player is excellent and that goal was fantastic; it was about the camaraderie between players and the good sportsmanship shown between the opposing teams. I became curious.
Monday morning arrives. My coworker comes in and I begin asking some questions about the games and the teams. She's very happy to go into more depth and suggests I try to pull it up online. Luckily for me, I found a site where I was able to watch a game. One game turned into all the games for the rest of the week and now I check in with her to see who she's cheering for and who she thinks will win.
And now? Now, I am keeping up to date on the games as I figure out who I want to cheer for at the beginning of each game. My coworker likes to check in and see who I'm rooting for, and turns out there are others in the office who are also avid fans. So far, my favorite conversation about the World Cup has been about Argentina. My coworker despises them and was rather excited when they lost to Croatia; yet, there was also another coworker who is a fan of Argentina and was disappointed by the loss. As he is new to our office, we kindly suggested that she play nice and not rub the loss in his face. All in all, the World Cup has been a healthy conversation starter for our office and makes for many great jokes--both between those who are watching it and those who couldn't be less interested. Not to mention, it makes the day go faster when there's not enough work to do.
