All right, here's a question for those of you with more experience and expertise in following international-level football. I only saw the second half of the Germany-Korea match (my alarm went off at 1:30AM but I went back to sleep and woke up an hour later!). If I had to choose one word to describe that half, it would probably be "uninspiring". Is that a fair assessment, or were there some subtleties there that I was missing? I'm not being facetious here. Having learned the laws and mechanics by being a referee for youth games, I'm trying to learn more about the style and structure of the game at the top level of play.

To that end, I really wish the ESPN director would show more long shots of the field instead of focusing on each individual player who touches the ball. It's the same complaint I have with the commentator, whose commentary often consists of naming each player who contacts the ball. Sure, the individual interactions are fascinating, but I know enough to know that that is only one level of the game. It's like going to hear an excellent guitarist play, and sitting through the whole concert with a telescope trained on his or her left hand. (There--I knew I could finally make this a musical thread!)

Aloha,
Mark