2010 FIFA World Cup: Giving Americans an Excuse To Drink at 9:30 A.M.

Over the past two weeks I've read several articles about the World Cup. Surprisingly, a lot of the articles have had settings in bars and watching fan reactions to the games.

Since this year's World Cup is in Johannesburg, South Africa, all of Team USA's matches have been in the morning hours. This hasn't stopped bars from opening up at 9:00 AM or so to cash in on folks skipping work to catch a game.

Of course, since you're at a bar and watching sports, why not have a beer, or two, or several?

I'm not passing judgment, but to me that seems a bit early to be knocking a few cold ones back.

Now, I love me some beer, but the thought of drinking one before lunch almost makes my stomach turn. It also speaks to our country's need to drink while watching sports.

Think about it for a second. A lot of us go to bars to watch sporting events we could easily watch at home. We go out to be in an atmosphere and to have a couple of drinks with friends.

When we go to the stadium to see a game live, many of us buy a ton of beer, even though they cost eight to 10 dollars a pop.

Just a few weeks ago several of my friends and I gathered at a Washington Nationals game to celebrate the going away of one of our coworkers.

Between my wife and I, we spent over 80 bucks; I don't think we drank 12 beers, but the price didn't discourage us at all.

Why is it we, as a fanbase, feel the need to incorporate alcohol with our sports?

I honestly don't have an answer for it. It doesn't enhance the game in any way, shape, or form, at least not for me.

This is something over the past year I've taken notice about myself and my friends. 

When one of us orders a fight on pay-per-view, we buy a ton of beer, but every single guest brings over a 12-pack. In fact, I just finished off the last beer last night from the Rashad Evans vs. Rampage Jackson fight that was over a month ago.

In between last night and that fight, I have had several guests over for various things, yet it still took me (and my guests) a month to finish off all the beer that was bought for one three-hour fight card.

Another example of overindulging at a sporting event is the deterioration of the stadium experience.

For the longest time a season didn't go by where I didn't attend several Washington Redskins games at RFK and then Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (now FedEx Field).

However, the last several times I went, including one game where I took my wife (then fiancé) to her first Redskins game, the day was somewhat spoiled by loudmouth drunks.

These types of people are in the minority of fans at the game, but they are so loud and obnoxious that they seem to outnumber the sane fans there to enjoy the game.

Needless to say, I became fed up with this. I was paying good money to go to the game only to have it spoiled for me. In fact, I haven't been back to FedEx Field for two seasons now, and even with the new hope of a new coach and quarterback, I'm still not sure if I'll want to go next year.

Like I said, I've taken notice of this in myself, and I've begun taking action for my own sake. I've found that a glass of milk or can of Vanilla Coke goes just as well with wings and chips as a beer does.

And while I was streaming the Team USA match from my computer at work (don't tell my boss), I found a cup of coffee was more than enough of a beverage for my early morning sports watching.