I Don't Think The USA Should Feel Too At Home This High In The FIFA Rankings Either

Wow! Just wow! As a lot of people know, I'm an outspoken defender of the FIFA rankings (though some tweeks in the points system are definitely needed). This month, however, I can't say a single good thing about them. They have completely gone off the deep end. They're living in a fantasy world of Lord of the Rings level complexity and imagination.

The United States is up to #6!

There goes what little credibility the current ranking system had left.

Though some portions are relatively accurate. France has finally fallen out of the Top 5 after doing next to nothing for the past five years. Argentina finally gets their second place deserves. And those proponents of Sominex Footcer, Greece lose their Euro bounce and fall to #19.

Thank goodness the United States isn't any higher (though according to some, the Gold Cup bounce for winning it combined with the dropping off of results from seven years ago may put us as high as #3) or there could be an army of Dutch planning an attack.

Sure that would be a turnaround from history, but anything's possible. ;)

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The mantra of the rest of the message board punditry seems to be this: wait until the next World Cup and then you'll get embarassed. Fine enough. We probably will.

The silly thing is, the next World Cup actually starts today. But this one doesn't count in the FIFA rankings. The Homeless World Cup runs through the 24th in Scotland.

This yearly tournament isn't actually as much of a joke as it might seem. Certainly there's a shock value involved but it's not like bum fights. These street athletes actually train and have some skills (at least as much as your average rec leaguer). And the money the event raises goes to homeless charities around the world, to wipe out homelessness.

There has been just as much controversy with this World Cup as there probably will be with the real thing, however, as the United Kingdom has banned members of five African teams from entering the country. In retaliation, the five African teams pulled out of the tournament.

The reason that the British authorities are stating for denying the participants entry Visas is they're afraid they don't have money to support themselves. That's kind of ironic, since, well, none of the participants from any countries have money to support themselves. :)

Seriously though, it's for a great cause and I just hope the British government can put politics aside and let the African countries play with their full contingents. Politics should be reserved for the FIFA rankings. ;)