Mick Hartley asks, “Why is the World Cup so much better than its global rival, the Olympics?” and gives 12 reasons …. our favorites …

• You can’t harness football to political ends as you can with athletics.
• The Olympics is not only about racing against other competitors, it’s also a race against the drug-testing rules. The whole event is fatally compromised by drugs. With football it’s not even clear what drugs would be appropriate: given the history of the sport, probably booze and fags.
• Football’s always got an element of chance.
• Footballers are normal guys who just happen to be very good at football. Olympic events are full of tree-trunk-thighed weirdos.

“The Footie,” Mick Hartley, June 11, 2006