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I wonder how the world functioned prior to football. I wonder what happens during the three years where there is no football. Some individuals might elevate this sport to mystical heights, to others it is but a game, same as the superbowl, the NBA finals, etc.

Yvan.

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There are no three years without football. All 190+ national league competitions start a month or so after the Cup final on June 30. The European Nation Cup start in October, and the 2006 World Cup starts at the end of next year.

Prior to football, there used to be wars that lasted 100 years. The Football Age is a distinct period in the history of our civilization. Football is our subtle way to go into arbitration.

Comparing the World Cup finals to the NBA finals is a sacrilege. This myopic arrogant centricity has created institutions like our baseball?s World (!) Series, a competition involving only two countries, the U.S and Canada.

The NBA finals do not involve prime ministers and presidents, do not slow down to world economy, are not watched by three billion people, and are not used by political regimes to stay in power.

(It is understood that there will not be a full-scale war between Pakistan and India until the World Cup over. Why? There would be no one to fight it.)

In every large city in the world this month, from London to Port-au-Prince to Soweto to Bangkok, municipalities have erected giant television sets on public places, for the people to enjoy what has become the opium of our times, as a function of collective folly.

The World Cup is an international social phenomenon, the only one linking the entire world population in a single web, in which every human has a stake, and where the prize is unique and the rules uniform (which makes the Cup different from the Olympics).

The World Cup is the ultimate human experience, going above and beyond the barriers of languages, races, religions and ethnicity. It is our Esperanto. Only movies approach such a level, but are still far behind in popularity.

Large street rejoicing and profound collective anger and depression invariably sweep entire nations after each every World Cup game. Muscovites rioted by the Kremlin last week after the national side lost to Japan; one person died, dozens of cars and stores fronts were trampled. Unheard of in Moscow!

Parliamentary elections were relatively ignored in France last week. We are talking about France, not a Latin banana republic.

After Brazil lost the World Cup final to Uruguay in 1950, people committed suicide in droves.

A Colombian player was executed upon returning home after the 1994 Cup for having conceded a victory goal to the U.S.

Argentina has been eliminated a few minutes ago. Wait for the repercussions in Buenos Aires. Just pay attention.

Superbowls and NBA finals are devoid of such passion. These are games, entertainment. The World Cup is much more than a series of games; it is a war of peace, a religious ritual, a communion to the dimensions of our humanity.

Comparing the World Cup finals to the superbowl is like comparing

caviar to oyster,

a 500SL to a Sentra,

Rio's carnival to New Orleans',

HDTV to short wave radio,

Cannes to Cancun,

The Godfather to The Sopranos,

a quadruple coronary bypass to a lumpectomy.

Some things look alike but only the connoisseur knows best.

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(OdlerRobert Jeanlouie, Wednesday, June 12, 2002)