World Cup Fever

I was just at RAM Restaurant & Brewery last night, watching replays of World Cup games, and happy to see that to some extent, World Cup fever has caught on this year. RAM even features a World Cup lager right now. I know some Americans still aren’t sold about the World Cup, but if you imagine Super Bowl Sunday magnified to a one-month-long event and celebrated in every country in the world, there’s something profound in that, isn’t there? Then you can get a sense of how the rest of the globe sees the World Cup. It’s truly an amazing thing, and there’s a reason soccer is called the beautiful game.

Here in Chicago the celebration goes on at official, and unofficial, bars and restaurants across the city. You might be surprised at how much excitement there is even among us Yanks. Official bars and eateries participating in the event include Fado, Small Bar, Red Canary, Old Town Social and Cy’s Crab House. Unofficial ones–well, there’s no way I can know them all or even a fraction of them, but I’m always happy when I stop in to a favorite hangout and discover it’s celebrating the event as well.

You’ll probably have to check individual places to find out if they’re planning on opening up for the early morning games, which begin around 6:30-7 a.m. our time, but definitely consider going for the next U.S. appearances if you’re not working–this Friday at 9 a.m. and next Wednesday, June 23 at 9 a.m. Assuming the U.S moves out of its group (B), then there will be additional games as well.

Check out http://www.africachicago.com/watch.html for additional information on where you can enjoy the World Cup with great food and drink as you experience some excellent soccer. Go U.S.A.!