Some thoughts related to soccer

Thought #1: What has this picture (a jot of caution advised) got to do with the World Cup?

Thought #2: What do Ashley Cole and Tiger Woods have in common? Answer: they both cheated on women that qualify in the top 0.00001% (or even higher) of human feminine pulchritude.

Thought #3: How good a player is Ashley Cole, anyway, irregardless of his step-out on Cheryl, where he got drunk, got lucky with a hairdresser, all the while puking before, during, and after? How romantic is that? (Search with "Aimee Walton" for all the details, if you want them.) But anyway, wanting the answer to this question, I happened to find the game between Chelsea (Ashley Cole's team) and Arsenal (a team he was previously on) a couple of nights ago, live, and decided to watch a few minutes. Cole proceeded to set up a perfect cross with some nifty footwork that was an easy kick-by, and then a few minutes later an even better cross turned into an own-goal by an Arsenal back.

He's good. I want to know if he's going to be on the England World Cup team (the answer is very likely yes, he was on the team in 2002 and 2006, and named an all-star in 2006) because that's who the USA is going to play in the first round (which is the answer to Thought #1, by the way). A fellow footballer and teammate, Frank Lampard, considers Cole to be the best left back in the game.

Cheryl and Ashley are apparently still trying.

And if the USA even ties England in the first game, that will be a major, major upset.