The Editor was sitting in the staff room at school yesterday when another of the never-ending line of kids knocked at the door. A child was hurt on the sports field, apparently. A teacher was dispatched to attend and after she returned she observed to a colleague: “They fall over and you’d swear it’s a life-threatening injury. It’s all screams and tears until they receive a little bit of attention and the ball is returned to them for the game to start again. They pop up like nothing’s happened, the tears dry up, and they’re off.”

I was going to wait until the promised analysis of the game itself appears on this esteemed page, but I’m just bursting. Bursting, I tell you. CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT ZIDANE?

Like other ladies in Internetland, I must confess to having had (not to put too fine a point on it) the raging hots for Zidane. You guys all know that I am helpless before an air of quiet authority (mmm, air of quiet authority), and Mr Z seemed to have it in spades.

Mesmerised, I was, whenever he appeared on screen. I kept it mostly to myself (too sheepish to admit that the best reason I had for wanting France to win the World Cup was a crush on the captain), which meant that those around me were surprised at the force of my emotional reaction to his morphing into a vicious thug before my very eyes.

Now, violence is totally unsexy, of course, but the saddest thing about the whole incident for me was that it just seemed so stupid – why would the captain of a team, moments away from a penalty shootout in which he would inevitably play a key role, do something so incredibly daft? As always, discovering that the object of my yearnings is, in fact, an idiot, killed the crush stone dead.

(Almost. I still find myself getting a little giddy during TV news footage, in case I catch a glimpse of his now calm and besuited self. But I digress).

Gentlemen of my acquaintance have posited that I ‘just don’t understand’ the deep and all-consuming passion of sport, and that Zidane’s actions, while regrettable, are understandable in the context of the heady, desperate emotional maelstrom of a Cup final. Failing to understand that blood-boiling, adrenaline-fuelled fixation on victory that characterises sportspeople at all levels probably explains why I am unlikely to be lifting any major trophies aloft during my lifetime.

What I find particularly interesting, however, is the idea that it may have been an insult to his mother that resonates most strongly with those defending his actions. This article in today’s Guardian discusses the matter at length and outlines the significance of mama-bashing as the ultimate insult in certain cultures.

Now, while I love my mum and am prepared to concede that there might be a cultural aspect to the gravity of the insult, it just doesn’t seem enough. Same goes for being called a ‘terrorist’, if that is indeed what happened – surely an elite sportsperson with years of experience knows better than to react with anything but laughter?

All of this is a roundabout way of asking about the strength of insults. Is there something someone could say to you that would make you snap like that? Can you imagine a situation whereby you felt you had no other option but to retaliate physically?

I cannot – which may be a failure of imagination, or may mean that I have not been properly insulted yet.

(This is not an invitation.)

The Editor’s on his final teaching placement at the moment (explaining the recent lack of posts) which prevented him from getting up to watch the World Cup final this morning. There’s no way he could’ve faced a class full of snotty disease carriers without a good night’s sleep, that’s for sure. So Ed resolved to try and avoid the match result for the whole day and watch the replay on SBS tonight at 7pm. There’s no real sports fans at the school and with a bit of luck other human and media contact could be kept to a minimum. There was a real chance of success.

So Ed leaves BrunswickHQ at 7:30am this morning and walks a couple of minutes up to Sydney Road to catch the tram. 2 minutes and 17 seconds after leaving the house a hooning car flies past with horn blaring and Italian flag flying out the window. Mission: failed. Ed resolves to avoid hearing the score all day so there will be some degree of suspense during tonight’s replay.

Sitting in the staff room at lunch time drinking a cup of tea, two teachers walk in half-way through a conversation. “…and the penalty shoot-out was all Italy.”

Stay tuned for a special review of SBS’s World Cup coverage by The Editor, DrJimbo and Billybob just as soon as the Doc gets off his arse and delivers promised screenshots and Billybob forwards his promised notes.

FIFA are close to conceding to German officials that they may have an epidemic on their hands

Scientist have confirmed that symptoms consist of:
* Feeling faint (especially near grass)
* Losing temporary feeling in the legs when physical contact is made
* Disturbing use of the arms, usually in the upward motion
* Many sufferers have been witnessed to even pray as they are struck by the illness
* Crying out, as if a limb has been amputated, is still to be confirmed

Many readers may have read my bitter attack on Ronaldo (not the fat one) and been shocked at my Craig Foster style analysis of the England vs. Portugal game, but after this announcement I may be forced to publicly apologise to the Moaning Mini. It now appears that he has contracted this disease. Ronaldo has been getting progressively worse over the last four weeks and evidence from the France game indicates that he should obviously be confined to bed as he spent most of the 90 minutes on the turf.

With this new information it appears that the Portuguese FA are going to lodge a formal appeal to ask for all their games to be replayed. It seems the entire team has been affected, with Postiga being the most serious case.

A source close to Scolari has said that he believes that other nations have been affected. Italy, Holland, Mexico and Japan are investigating. The latest causality appears to be Thierry Henry who, as he was falling in the penalty area early today, was seen smiling at the French bench mouthing the words I’ve got it.

Unofficial word suggests that Australia, while not showing the symptoms, may be a carrier of this temporary, but contagious, disease. This could go some way to explaining why Ned Zelic is unable to sit upright in a chair and has been absent from the SBS coverage team lately.

Billybob’s fans may have noticed that he hasn’t posted a report about his beloved England’s loss to Portugal on penalties last weekend. No amount of dirty threats from the GrodsLegalTeam have prompted a response so here instead is the text message that Billybob sent The Editor at 4am on Sunday morning:

Gutted. Hope Ronaldo dies of a painful illness.

He’s an angry little man right now.

1) Phil Maguire in the papers
GrodsRegular Phil Maguire receives a fairly even run in his least favourite media outlet, The Age.

2) Sepp loves suspenders

Back in the 1970s, Sepp Blatter was elected president of the World Society of Friends of Suspenders, an organisation formed to protest at “woman replacing suspender belts with pantyhose”. That, probably, is where he should have stayed. Instead, he gave hope to middle-aged fetishists everywhere by slithering up the greasy pole to become Fifa president.

3) No Jones bio
The ABC has decided not to publish its unauthorised biography of Alan Jones due to the threat of legal action. Meanwhile from The Australia Institute:

There is a widespread belief that Alan Jones can decide elections.

Drawing on demographic and attitudinal data from an extensive survey by Roy Morgan Research, Clive Hamilton shows that perceptions of Jones’ influence and political sway are out of proportion with the size and nature of his audience. His audience is about the same as a low-rating television program and highly concentrated among older listeners with well-established political allegiances.

4) So is she?
Somebody hit GrodsCorp last night with the search string “is jLo saucy?” So, jLo, are you?

Another dull England match took place in the early hours of Monday morning. I am a big supporter of England and the England squad and am 100% behind Sven’s tactics and team selection. Although I have been critical of them in the past and recognise that they are turning neutral fans of the beautiful game away from watching them, I refuse to get on the bagging bandwagon. Listening to the interviews with Gerrard, Beckham and Lampard after the game, they are well aware that they are playing below par, but are swift to point out that they are in the last eight of the World Cup. They are also getting considerable pressure from the British media, while most Australians are not happy with staying up to watch another pathetic game involving them.

My decision to get behind them vocally comes as I hear another woeful analysis from Craig “talc my hair, eyebrows and lips” Foster, the SBS Senior Big Tie Wearing Analyst. His display on the 7pm World Cup Show last night (26/6/06) was appalling and not what I suspect he gets paid for. He shook his head as if he couldn’t be bothered to discuss the match and then proceeded to randomly criticise England without providing any examples of their poor play. To be honest, he did no more analysis than a drunk would have done at closing time. If England’s performance was poor, Fozzie’s performance matched it completely. Bring back the two old geezers that can’t speak a lick of English or even the relaxed Ned Zelic, if he can be propped up long enough.

For all you Australians who have got on the Socceroos’ tails (apologies for the true Socceroo fans among you) football can be a dull, tactical and a slow game. Only Pele and the PR people call it the beautiful game. Yes, we would all like to see 22 Ronaldinhos on the pitch, but if you can say you’ve seen Millwall vs. Palace on a waterlogged pitch in the middle of February then you know that the game is not beautiful 99% of the time.

Results matter, not style. So bring on Portugal and get behind England the entertainers.

Sport’s sport, and the score’s the score. The winning penalty, awarded against Australia’s Lucas Neill, was suspect; so was Marco Materazzi’s red card — maybe they balance each other out? But the Socceroos’ stunning performance at Germany 2006 surely meant they deserved a more dignified exit from the tournament than this.

Adam 1.0 sums the whole thing up passionately.

UPDATE: John Howard…

“I’m brokenhearted,” Mr Howard said.

“It’s a very cruel way to lose, right on the knocker like that, but the team just played so bravely the whole match.”

Right on the knocker?

Last week The Sunday Age published a horribly tabloid front page story employing the worst parochial and xenophobic techniques possible. 10 reasons why Brazil must fall to the Socceroos had a wild stab at inane populism with crap such as this (edited for brevity):

1. They are better than us. It’s time they shared the glory around.

2. They are bigger than us. Everything about Brazil is big, its foreign debt, its wealth divide, its crime rate and its size.

3. They harboured Nazis and Ronald Biggs. Financially comfortable but morally bankrupt families harboured Auschwitz’s Angel of Death, Dr Josef Mengele, for years until he drowned in 1979 without ever facing justice.

Then Ronnie Biggs turned up. Biggs was doing time for his part in the 2.6 million pound Great Train Robbery of 1963 when he escaped in 1965.

4. They are destroying the planet. The Amazon rainforest is known as the lungs of the world, but between May 2000 and August 2005 it is estimated that Brazil lost more than 132,000 square kilometres of it.

5. They don’t like each other. So why should we like them? Neo-Nazis regularly roam the streets of Sao Paulo looking for street children, punks, homosexuals and Nordestinos (impoverished natives from Brazil’s north-east) to rough up and kill. Brazil reportedly has the highest rate of homosexual murders in the world: 1830 homosexuals and transvestites were killed between 1980 and 1999.

6. They’ve got rhythm. At least we’ve got Moomba.

7. They don’t need us. Brazil is one of the few countries in the world that could get by without the rest of us. It could be an economic powerhouse, if it were ever able to overcome its internal problems. It has enough mineral, energy resources and food to produce all it needs and enough people (184 million) to consume the final product.

Unfortunately, corruption, uncontrolled criminal violence, hyper-inflation and frequent economic upheavals mean they must rely a little longer on the benevolence of the IMF and World Bank.

8. They’re a bad investment. But that hasn’t stopped foreign investors who thought they were getting a bargain by snapping up beachfront apartments in Rio for between $US25,000 to $50,000, only to see their property values fall even lower.

9. Nuts and bikini wax. The country is named after the nut. The bikini wax was created by four Brazilian sisters who opened a beauty salon in New York.

10. They are the Collingwood of South America.

And boy did Sunday Age readers hit back today. The first eight letters in this morning’s edition were highly critical of the article with no supportive letters published. Some highlights:

The article, 10 Reasons Why Brazil Must Fall To The Socceroos (18/6), could not have been in poorer taste.

It raised indignation in the Brazilian community in Australia, and was followed up by one of Brazil’s daily newspapers, fortunately in a more ethical manner.

Surely, there are more constructive and interesting stories for the front page of such an important communication vehicle in Melbourne.

It would be easy for me to come up with many negative examples of life in Australia. Best left unsaid.

Claudio Monken, Roxby Downs, South Australia

It was a vitriolic caricature that pretended to be funny, but was unfair, simplistic and jingoistic.

It refers to Nazis who came and lived in disguise among us as if it were the fault of the Brazilian Government or people. Brazilian borders were also open to thousands fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust.

Ronald Biggs found a haven in Brazil simply because Brazil and Britain only signed an Extradition Treaty in the early 1990s.

The Brazilian Government, having banned the export of endangered mahogany, has been striving to prevent illegal trade within the Indian Reserves between smugglers and Indian chiefs.

A most unfortunate episode of killing poor street children occurred not in Sao Paulo, but in Candelária, Rio de Janeiro, in 1993. Authorities brought the perpetrators to justice.

As for the country’s name: the word “brazil” derives from the red-dyeing wood produced from a tree valued in the European market during the Renaissance. It was only by 1530 that the name Brazil started to be used, not in 1494, since the Portuguese landed on the Brazilian coast only in 1500.

Frederico Cezar de Araujo, Brazilian Ambassador

It was with a great sense of shame that I read your front page article about Brazil. Is sport so important to us that we would need to denigrate our opponents? And in such a malicious manner? What image of us, as Australians, does this give the international community? And what does it tell us about ourselves?

Michelle Hamburg, Maryknoll

The spirit of friendly rivalry appears to have been lost in 10 Reasons Why Brazil Must Fall To The Socceroos. (18/6) In a nation that prides itself on good sportsmanship the humourless cultural attack on Brazil was below the belt and did little to foster the sentiments of friendship and goodwill promoted by an international tournament such as the World Cup. The Socceroos merit recognition with their undeniable talent, not with personal attacks on the nations of other teams.

Vivian Green, Northcote

I know the article on Brazil (18/6) was supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t.

Ricardo Bernal, Werribee

It is indeed a shame that the front-page article on Brazil (18/6) was published. The defence proffered is that it was “tongue in cheek” and a bit of black humour. But it was done in very poor taste. I am a proud and loud supporter of the Socceroos and have been for some time. Consequently, no-one could ever accuse me of not understanding black humour. There is a time and place for everything and this time, you got it horribly wrong.

Christopher Paul, Elwood

The Brazil article (18/6) failed abysmally in its attempt at wit. Instead, it presented as fact misguided and biased information about a country and culture the author obviously knows very little about. Unfortunately, such misrepresentation of another’s culture by a leading Australian newspaper only helps to advance Australia’s image overseas as a xenophobic and insular society.

Elizabeth Cabral Collerson, Chapel Hill, Queensland

Perhaps Jim Schembri, who wrote a biting piece on the quality of blogging a few weeks back, should take a long and hard look at the quality of “journalism” being spewed out of his own paper before again taking aim at other information outlets.

1) John Howard is a dick

In typical John Howard fashion a camera was conveniently on hand during Australia’s win over Croatia to capture the spontaneous delight of our dinky-di sports-mad PM wearing his best green tracksuit. You know he’s the PM because he’s got the comfy chair and his mates have the dining table seats.

Looking at this photo, Ed was reminded of a great John Clarke and Bryan Dawe sketch the other night. An excerpt:

JOHN CLARKE: It was a great match. (Mobile phone rings and John Clarke answers) Just excuse me a minute, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: We’ve only got to draw this game to go through, don’t we?

JOHN CLARKE: Yes. (Talking on the mobile phone) Just a minute, Mr Howard, I’m just doing a live cross. Can I call you – just a minute. (Talking to Bryan) Sorry, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: Who is it?

JOHN CLARKE: It’s the Prime Minister – oh, yes, we’ve only got to draw this one. Actually, maybe I should take this, Bryan.

BRYAN DAWE: You should take the call.

JOHN CLARKE: Yes, certainly. Have you got a pencil? It’s soccer. Yes S-O-C-C-E-R. Yes, Croatia -

BRYAN DAWE: It’s in the former Yugoslavia!

JOHN CLARKE: You see, the idea is you’ve got to put that ball -

BRYAN DAWE: Into the net! Into the net!

JOHN CLARKE: Between the goal posts. In the net. You get one point. That’s a goal. That’s one. No, that’s good – one. No, one’s really good. You don’t convert it; you don’t get a conversion.

2) Channel Ten martyrs itself for the cause

Network Ten has blamed critics of the program for its decision to cut short its season of Big Brother – Adults Only.

Announcing the end of its season run, Ten today said it was confident Big Brother – Adults Only had complied with the Television Industry Code or Practice, and that the station had met undertakings on how it would produce the program.

“However, questions continue to be raised as to whether the show should be on air,” Ten said in a statement.

“We did not see that situation changing, regardless of how we treated the program, and that uncertainty was putting unfair pressure on our team.

“We have therefore decided the responsible and practical thing to do was conclude the show a few weeks early.”

Bullshit. As if the network would seriously bow to a dull chorus of Parliamentary disapproval that easily. The real reason is probably closer to a lack of saucy content and disappointing ratings. Nothing more than a convenient excuse.

3) jLo hurts for Oz
Over at her blog jLo describes the system she has used to ensure Australian success in every major sporting event of the last decade, and how the system worked for her in the Australia vs. Croatia match.

Most of you are familiar with the jLo Rules of Sport Spectatorship:

1. You have to barrack for where you come from; and
2. If things are going well, keep doing whatever you’re doing and vice versa.

These rules have generally served me well, and I make a point of observing them strictly. The second rule has led to some discomfort in the past – that Australian Open match where I had to watch through the window because every time I entered the room Rafter’s serve was broken, any number of Test matches where I wasn’t allowed to vacate the couch to visit the bathroom in case a wicket fell.

4) Yossarian’s identity stolen
Chasing up the recent identity theft incident, The Editor called St George Bank.
Ed: “I’d like you to tell me as much as you can about how a credit card was opened in my name.”
Customer Service Agent: “What’s your account password?”
Ed: “I don’t have one. I’m not, and have never been, a customer of St George Bank.”
CSA: “I’m afraid I can’t tell you any information about your account until you prove who you are.”
Ed: “You have no problem loaning $8000 to somebody who pretended to be me, but you won’t tell the real me any information about the account in my name.”
CSA: “What’s your account password?”
Ed: “Have you ever read any Joseph Heller?”
CSA: “Who?”

5) Aroused soldiers

Scientists have found a performance-enhancing drug that could be exploited by endurance athletes at high altitudes and soldiers in the mountains of Afghanistan: Viagra.

Last year the company won approval for Viagra, under the new name Revatio, to treat pulmonary hypertension, or high fluid pressure in the lungs.

Altitude researchers saw the potential of the drug because pulmonary hypertension is also an effect of exercise in oxygen-poor environments. As blood vessels constrict in the lungs, the heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body.

The latest study, conducted in a laboratory, measured the performance of 10 trained cyclists. It found that four of the cyclists had significant improvements in their times with a 50-milligram dose of Viagra but that a larger dose did not increase the benefit.

No answers provided in the article for the question we all want to ask.

6) “One-man blitzkrieg”
Is Prodos “out to wreck the [Liberal] Party at the polls out of, presumably pique, and to exact revenge for the savage, malicious treatment” he received during his preselection campaign?

5am starts don’t come much more satisfying than this. If you’re going to haul your arse out of bed before dawn a strong coffee is usually required — but not this morning. Hopeless goalkeepers, blind referees and desperate opponents triggered enough adreneline to last all day. How about up there in the top five sporting moments in Australian history?

Bring on Italy.

Sorry about the lack of posts in the last week, readers, but it’s been a busy few days for The Editor. After Monday morning’s red-eye Brazil loss (despite the fading world champs being out-played by the Footballroos) Ed had to start a really truly proper nine-to-five job in an office for the uni break. How do all the normal people in the world do it? Then on Tuesday it was a 4am start to a working daytrip to Sydney during which Ed had to put up with Virgin Blue’s WZVBGCAs doing their inane and homicide-inducing comedy routines twice in 12 hours (”Please ensure your seatbelt is fastened tightly around your neck… I mean waist” and “Please don’t leave behind any mobile phones, husbands or children”). And the ongoing fatigue this week has allowed no time for blog maintenance.

Arriving home this evening The Editor found a letter from a debt collection company politely informing him that he should pay $8091.62 immediately or his kneecaps will be politely broken. A quick phone call established that Ed’s identity was stolen some time in 2004 and used to rack up a massive St George Bank credit card debt.
“So you’ve not been to Canada in the last few years, Sir?”
“No.”

Tomorrow morning it’s up at the crack of sparrow’s for the Croatia clash and then back to the office before DrJimbo’s birthday drinks in the evening. The excitement never stops.

“They’re crossing the ball to their big, strong strikers… what do we do?” — John Terry to Sven at halftime during the England vs. Sweden game.

Well, what can I say about England topping the group? All they needed against the Swedes was a draw and boy did they get one… just.

Another poor performance, but this time not by the strikers. An excellent goal from J. Cole capped an impressive display by the Chelsea bench warmer. No, this result can rest firmly on the shoulders of the English defence. Rio and John were out-muscled by a very ordinary Swedish attack. They seemed to lack height or speed to control players that had not previously challenged Paraguay and T&T.

Yes, one could argue that the Swedes had urgency about them as they had to get something out of the game, but they showed exactly what was expected and played the very typical English style game, one that Rio and John should have dealt with comfortably. With most of the Swedish team plying their trade in the Premiership there should not have been any surprises. In fact, with Allback leading the line — a player that failed to make an impact in the Aston Villa first team — the defensive duo should have looked impenetrable, with clearing up set pieces being their bread and butter.

The decision to remove Ferdinand from the game (due to either injury or because of his below-par performance) was a good one, but one that saw Sol Campbell come on. Sol is a player that is much more dominant in the air than Rio but unfortunately his first task was to defend a corner and one that saw him lose his player in the box, costing England a goal.

Well, England have topped their group and in doing so avoid Germany in the next round. Hopefully someone can tell Sven that Ecuador play a quick-passing South American style game. This way there should be no surprises again. Lets hope that they don’t do anything crazy like attack, otherwise England could be home in time to see the quarter finals from the comfort of their local pub.

In other news, Holland U21 played very well against Argentina’s second 11 in their meaningless encounter. Holland proper will now face an on-fire Portugal side. This whets the appetite further for the world game. Argentina should have little trouble against an ordinary Mexico side.

All the ridiculous newspaper and television hype about tonight’s Australia vs. Brazil match has so far focused on “Aussie spirit” and the big question: is Ronaldo fat or not? But the biggest factor in tonight’s match hasn’t been raised at all by the media. How the hell does one organise one’s sleep patterns to take in the game and go to work feeling remotely human in the morning?

Increasing the difficulty of this dilemma is the scheduling of the Japan vs. Croatia match at 11pm, with the outcome of that match directly related to Australia’s chances of getting through to the next round. So, do you stay up for Japan vs. Croatia and the Australia clash and then go to bed at 4am? Do you get some early sleep from around 9pm to 2am and then go back to bed at 4am? Do you get up at 2am and stay up? Do you drink hot coffee or cold beer? How do you keep the noise of the telly and the shouting to a level that won’t awaken the sleeping wife next door? Why is Australia’s away strip navy blue instead of dark green? Why is the Australian cricket team’s Hit ‘n’ Giggle Twenty20 uniform grey?

The Editor will most likely try to catch some sleep from about 9pm to 1:30am and then go back to bed for another few hours at 4am. However, if Australia win the adrenaline might make it difficult to sleep, along with the awoken wife’s tongue lashing and physical beating.

England against two countries — how is that fair?

Finally, a performance that English fans can’t blame on the weather. A basically unchanged side faced the men from the Caribbean, most of whom ply their trade in England. Pre-kick off hype, of which there was very little, highlighted Dwight Yorke as a major threat and a draw against the Swedes meant that they weren’t the whipping boys of the group everyone thought they might be.

From the first whistle it was apparent how T&T had got their one point from the Sweden game. They defended narrow and deep, playing 11 men behind the ball. Paul Robinson (England’s number 1) had one scare, cleared off the line by Terry, but apart from that the game was completely played in T&T’s own half.

Gerrard was again the holding player in midfield, which allowed Lampard to get into the box more freely. He made intelligent runs and had some good chances. Owen and Crouch linked up a bit better than in the previous game. Lennon came on and actually looked capable of dripping past players and creating something. But it was the introduction of Rooney that will be the main talking point.

Wayne looked fresh and he didn’t shy away from any challenges, which would seem to indicate that he isn’t being rushed back, but that he is in fact fit. With him on the pitch for the out-of-form Owen and some tactical tinkering from Sven, England pushed, with some urgency, for a goal.

It came, I believe, because T&T were so concerned about Rooney and Lennon that they forgot that Beckham is the best crosser of the ball in the game. On the other end of it was perhaps the tallest man to have ever played for England. The Giraffe boy actually got off the ground and headed England ahead. This capped a good game for Crouch, who had early missed a few half chances. With seven minutes left T&T’s hearts were broken. Not because they were 1-0 down, but because Peter Crouch didn’t do the Robot – very disappointing.

Gerrard popped up for the second with a great strike from a central position just outside the box. The goal, only made possible by the new ball developments, should give the other players encouragement to have a crack next time.

Other thoughts from the last few sleepless nights:
* Brazil vs. Croatia was dull
* Spain looked the best for decades, but against a vodka’d-up Ukrainian side. What could they achieve?
* Sweden isn’t playing very well, but a draw against England should put them through to the next round
* Ecuador have impressed me so far with their two wins. It’ll be interesting to see if their speed and good football can cause an upset against the hosts