Not even supposed to be here today but had to come up to share some extremely distressing news.
Can I assume that at least our European friends have heard about the unspeakable outrage that has been inflicted upon the upcoming 2006 World Cup Finals in Munich? Or, come to think of it, maybe not so let me put this in the form of a question:
It has been decided that a certain something will not be allowed to be sold in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Munich. For five points, what is it?
As an American with almost no interest in the subject(s) at hand, even I am totally appalled. Answer Monday if no one gets it before then but somehow I find that highly unlikely.
R.E., I swear that when you hear the news you will not be yawning. You are going to be very, very excited about the World Cup but not necessarily in a positive way.
Chris J. Strolin: It has been decided that a certain something will not be allowed to be sold in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Munich. For five points, what is it?
OK, I cheated and googled as well. I see what you mean.
I assume you were less shocked by the final sentences of the article I found:
quote:Nuremberg has an additional problem - it won't be able to sell its traditional Nuremberg sausages at World Cup games.
"McDonald's has the exclusive on sausage supplies," Maget said.
And if that were not enough, German carmakers will also be left on the sidelines, with players, VIPS and officials being shuttled to and from games by South Korean sponsor Hyundai.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
That's not all that's wrong: they'll be eating frankfurters in Munich, and hamburgers as well. I don't relish the thought and I'm trying to catsup to the concept. I hope they'll have nice buns, however. Lettuce leave this topic now.
CJ: a certain something will not be allowed to be sold in the 2006 World Cup Finals in Munich. For five points, what is it? Kalleh: I am going to take a wild guess: Condoms?
Condoms prohibited? Surely not with David Beckham??!!
For those who haven't yet heard the appalling news, Anhauser-Busch paid $47 million for the exclusive rights to sell their beer at the 2006 World Cup match in Munich, the HOME of great, great beer. Plus, McDonald's did likewise for the rights to peddle burgers there. Germany is known for their excellence in beer and food so for this to have happened is, to me, something that should be an extreme embarrassment to all U.S. citizens. I'm all for capitalism and all that but this is nothing short of a national disgrace!
Imagine the reaction if the World Cup were held in Paris and the only wines allowed in were Ripple and Boone's Farm? Or, better yet and more to the point, what if any product we felt was sub-standard was forced on us in, say, the World Series? We wouldn't stand for it and I, for one, hope the Germans throw our asses completely out. I still believe the U. S. of A. is the greatest country on the globe overall but, damn, we do go too far sometimes!!
An odd post-script: Jim Cantalupo, the Chairman and CEO of McDonald's Corp. and the guy responsible for launching their first unified global marketing campaign (which means, you would have to imagine, that he was involved with this World Cup insanity) has just died. Of a heart attack, yet!
It would be too easy to add some sort of snotty serves-him-right comment except for the fact that he also was well known for huge accomplishments in the field of philanthropy.
As you can see, I didn't!
