Really Important Things

There are many things your correspondent is working on, and will hopefully have in the next 24 hours, but for tonight, this incredibly important topic needs to be addressed immediately.

The new Adidas World Cup ball is "unpredictable." Turns out, according to the ball's designer (how interesting is the human race in that we are constantly working on improving that most basic of toys, the ball? I mean, we're never satisfied, are we? We need ball designers!) the problem chiefly lies in the fact that players are training at altitude, and the thin air thus has effects that are unusual at sea level. For what it's worth, some of the cities are a bit high -- Johannesburg is at 5751 feet, and Rustenburg is at about 5000 feet, (among others) so maybe there will be some effect. Furthermore, my sources tell me that the ball -- the "roundest ball ever designed" for soccer -- will most likely affect both teams on the field equally.

Run at it and kick.