Current mood:	envious
Current music:	Brahms, String Sextet No. 2

And yet, I can't help but envy...
For the USA-Poland game, unlike just about every other TV channel I've seen, FSC didn't cut away to commercials while the players were introduced at the stadium. And so I got to witness something amazing that I've never seen at any sporting event in the United States.

The crowd in Krakow didn't need to be pumped up. The game had sold out in three hours after tickets became available, and the stands were already packed - and loud - during pre-game warmups. Even though I don't speak Polish, I could tell that when each of the home team's players was introduced, the stadium announcer gave only a number and a first name... and stopped short there as upward of twenty thousand voices shouted the player's last name in a fairly creditable unison.

It just doesn't happen here. Any team, any sport. I don't think I've ever even seen a crowd in the States that could pull it off. And yet, to a capacity crowd in Poland, it was virtually second nature...