A blown call cost USA a shot at a comeback win in Friday's World Cup match vs. Slovenia...

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I am a mild soccer fan at best, but you can count me as the casual guy that dips and cares every four years for the World Cup. This year, there is no different.

While watching the first couple of days though I am starting to get really annoyed with the buzzing sound.

No South Africa doesn’t have a bee problem, instead the sound is from the vuvuzela, South Africa's answer to the Thunderstick.

The small plastic trumpet costs nearly nothing to make and can play a musical note yet when thousands of people blow into them at the same time it’s like you just stepped into a bee hive. The toy is a staple at any South African soccer match and the World is no different.

Despite hating the sound immensely, I am in favor of them doing it. When you host a world event in your country whatever the culture is should be implemented. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to American anytime soon.

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NIKE out did themselves with this World Cup campaign (full length):

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In the World Cup, 32 teams are divided into eight groups of four. Each group plays a round robin format of three games where a win gets a team two points, a tie gets a team one point, and a loss gets a team no points. Following the round robin, the top two teams from each group advance to a 16-team single elimination tournament until a champion is crowned.

For this year’s tournament, Spain is favored to win it all. Spain has been given 4/1 odds win according to the online sports book SPORTSBETTING.com. Other short odds to win are Brazil (9/2), England (6/1), and Argentina (13/2).

Spain has never won the World Cup, and their best finish in the tournament was fourth place back in 1950. In 2006, they reached the round of 16 before losing to runner-up, France, 3-1. Spain has won 15 of its last 16 games in preparation for the World Cup, with the lone loss a 2-0 decision to the United States on June 24, 2009.

--Spain 4/1
--Brazil 9/2
--England 6/1
--Argentina 13/2
--Holland 10/1
--Germany 14/1
--Italy 14/1    
--France 20/1    
--Portugal 25/1    
--Serbia 50/1    
--Ivory Coast 50/1    
--Chile 66/1    
--USA 80/1

COMPLETE ODDS

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