By Rob Ficiur

As the NHL and NBA crowned their new champions, sports fans around the world were looking south, far south into South Africa.  For the first time ever the FIFA Football World Cup is being held in Africa.  Of course North Americans have to translate the word football into soccer, but to the rest of the world this tournament is on par with the Olympics in national pride and fan support.
The World Cup tournament has been played every four years since 1930 (with the exception of 1942 and 1946 because of World War 2).  Brazil, with five World Cup titles, has won more than any other country.  Italy (the reigning champ) has won four and Germany has three championships, Uruguay and Argentina have two; and Britain and France have one each.
Canada is not one of the 32 countries competing in the 2010 championship.  Currently Canada is ranked 63rd in the soccer world.  Canada’s only appearance in the World Cup of soccer was in the 1986.  At these Mexico City games Canada lost all three games and were outscored 5-0.
Security is a major consideration in a world wide event like this.  Police had to be called in to provide security before the North Korea / Brazil match because dozens of security workers went on strike just before the game.  Organizers of the tournament promise everyone that safety is under control.  However, I found an interesting website www.worldcup2010safety.com where attending  fans can hire their own security to make sure they are safe.
The biggest noise in the first week of the month long tournament has been the Vuvuzela.  These long horns blare music (noise) throughout the soccer games and into the night.  Some players have mistaken a vuvuzela blast for a referee’s whistle; causing various on field errors.  The experts are warning that the sheer decibels of the vuvuzela -- at 127, they're louder than a chainsaw -- leave soccer watchers in danger of permanent hearing loss.  However, the South African organizers of the games have asked the world to accept the vuvuzela as part of the South African culture and respect it.
Originally the vuvuzela was used by Hunters.  They hollowed out the horns to create trumpets, which were used for communication.  Different sounds could mean an approaching enemy, an order to advance in battle, a call to an indaba (political meeting) or the funeral of an important person.  In later years the vuvuzela was used to scare elephants, baboons and other animals from crop fields.
In the month long tournament there will be other new words besides vuvuzela.  As the July 11 final approaches, fans who normally don’t care about soccer, will be drawn to the tournament by the media attention.  No matter what the sport, fans want to know which country  is the best in the world.  This nationalism could make the 2010 World Cup the most watched sporting event in history.