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As I’ve grown older, I’ve found that I don’t get nearly as angry as I used to, and at the same time never as excited either. Fortunately with age has come the wisdom that knocking someone out is more often counterproductive, but unfortunately all of the drugs I’ve done have raised my excitement threshold to the point that precious few things measure up. When it was revealed that Disney had purchased the rights to show the 2006 World Cup in the U.S. and would broadcast every minute of every match on ABC / ESPN / ESPN2, I got positively giddy, a state that reached epic proportions as kickoff neared. After France ‘98 and Korea/Japan ‘02 where pay-per-view matches and 3am start times were the norm, regular cable and daytime broadcasts were a gift from the futbol gods. Instead of crowding into some smelly Irish pub with a few hundred other sleep-deprived nutters in the middle of the night, I was able to watch the games in a truly diverse set of locations at times that didn’t conflict with a healthy sleep schedule.

San Francisco has probably more ex-pats than anywhere outside of New York City, and there was an abundance of ethnic restaurants, bars and cultural centers happy to open their doors and tune their televisions to attract fans of all 32 teams. From the German embassy to tiny out-of-the-way taquerias, French bistros to dive bars, groups of fans could root their sides on and get back to the office before the boss even noticed. Watching the quarterfinals in Las Vegas amplified the already surreal experience (being in Vegas anytime + the U.S.’s quadrennial fascination with the world’s game) into high comedy. In the same day, the betting lines conspired to have me awkwardly rooting for Portugal in a sports bar full of England fans in a game that went to a shootout, and naturally supporting France against Brazil with a ton of real Frenchies (and a few Brazilians) at the sports book at Paris Las Vegas.

Though it will probably lead to more accusations of America hatred, obviously it was much more fun to watch with foreigners than with my fellow countrymen. With each successive Cup, American viewers do get a bit more knowledgeable on (and therefore more appreciative of) the beautiful game, but then again, had I a nickel for every time I heard someone call a 1-0 match “boring” solely based on the score, I could have flown to Germany for the final. Luckily, unlike previous World Cups, ESPN’s airing of the majority of the games meant that Americans at least weren’t encouraged to denigrate the game by SportsCenter anchors eager to make the same hackneyed, sarcastic comments about soccer in between badly chosen pop culture and hip hop references, impatient to show the same home run replays for the third time in 60 minutes. Barred from biting the hand that feeds and forced to actually run highlights, it’s entirely possible that part of the television ratings improvement was due to more favorable coverage.

The flipside to Disney’s welcome decision to open the checkbook to buy the Cup’s broadcast rights was their puzzling lineup of the announcers they named to do the actual broadcasts. Rather than use experienced British commentators, the majority of their pairs teamed fish-out-of-water talkers (like baseball play-by-play man Dave O’Brien) with master-of-the obvious ex-jocks (like O’Brien’s partner and former U.S. national team player Marcello Balboa.) Who did they think needed to be spoon-fed stupid factoids like “X player is a teammate of DaMarcus Beasley at PSV?” Who did they think were ditching work to catch games in bars at noon on weekdays? Futbol fans don’t like watching a game called as if it were baseball, but that’s exactly what they were given.

All of the above points are marginal, confined to the experience of one fan in America. What can not be marginalized is the condition of international futbol, and how FIFA’s rules and referee mandates have affected the game. Futbol used to be a lot rougher before the really big money entered the game, with scenes like this not uncommon (nullus). But like the NHL, futbol broadcasters and sponsors took steps to reign in the foul play, with an expanded list of caution-able and eject-able offenses. Coupled with suspensions following a second caution in the opening round and knockout round, the referees became an even larger presence than at previous Cups. Cards, both red and yellow, were 27% higher than previous records, leading to a long list of top players missing important games, some for offenses as minor as taking a shot after a whistle.

It’s time to modify that rule, either by raising the number of cards that trigger a suspension (an option actually under consideration), or a committee of FIFA experts empowered to review questionable cards, or both. With the Cup played just once every four years, and the average international career shortened by injuries and failed qualification, it is difficult to tolerate suspensions for often innocuous transgressions. A prime example is Ghana’s Michael Essien, one of the best players in the world, who received two relatively minor yellows in Group Play and was suspended for his team’s Round of 16 match-up with defending champions Brazil. Despite the score, Ghana played Brazil close, and Essien undoubtedly would have narrowed that margin. Ghana, who made their first ever World Cup appearance in Germany, face an always-tough African qualification battle (that always seems to send a different set of teams) for South Africa 2010. Will Essien have the honor of leading the Black Stars on the world stage again before he passes his prime? The odds are against him, a fact that should be considered by FIFA in time for 2010.

The flipside of all the fouls and cards was, as usual, the theatrics designed to draw them. Limited in 2002 by FIFA’s promise to card divers, the practice roared back in Germany. The effect in the rest of the world, conditioned by years of this behavior, may be minimal, but in futbol’s final frontier, the U.S., diving is corrosive to the game’s future. Despite the little girls who play Major League Baseball and the raft of NFLers who play only on third down, American sports fans fancy themselves tough guys who cheer on tough guys. Flailing around as if shot by an elephant gun provides a convenient excuse for Joe Sixpack to write off soccer. Watching the quarterfinal match between Italy and Ukraine in Vegas drove home this lesson in a manner FIFA should recognize. A Ukrainian player caught the losing end of a rough tackle and had to be carried off the field. Watching at the same bar where my friends and I were eating was a guy miffed that the bartender wouldn’t put golf on the set. As they removed the Ukraine player, he had some choice words for the manliness of said player despite the fact that the injury was real (not to mention that it was golf that he wanted to watch.) This attitude isn’t good for the game’s future, and FIFA should take steps to reverse it immediately. It has been suggested that matches could be reviewed and punishments handed down for dives, as well as appeals to the officials for calls. Something needs to be done, and quickly.

While suspensions and dives affect the results of the game and the perception of its players, settling ties with penalty kick shootouts does both and worse, it reduces a richly strategic game to target practice from 12 yards. Like the 1994 final (that Italy lost on penalties), 2006 was decided the same way. Far too many games turn into futbol’s version of the old four corners offense that plagued basketball in the pre-shot-clock era. For reasons that pass understanding, too many coaches would rather play for the tie and roll the dice in a shootout than go for the gold during play. The argument in favor of deciding ties with penalties is the fatigue factor that turns even the best athletes into oafs after 120 minutes of action. The solution is simple, and much-needed: extend overtime, bring back the sudden-death/golden goal, and give each team additional substitutions for extra time.

But of course, this World Cup will be remembered not for exciting games, colorful fans, or counterproductive rules. 2006 will be forever tied to the meltdown of one of the game’s all-time greats and the specter of racism surrounding European futbol. FIFA dedicated this Cup to fighting racism, an unfortunate necessity in light of the growing trend in European life that has inevitably spilled over into the World’s game. The French team has been disproportionately affected by this, from within France and abroad. Star striker Thierry Henry was the subject of racial epithets from Spain’s national team coach, who in turn received a slap on the wrist:

“Give him the ball, and then show that black little shit that you are better than him.”

Right wing extremists in France have long criticized the use of players of African descent on the French national team, and this year was no different:

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen complained that minorities are over-represented in France’s national soccer team, a newspaper reported Wednesday. “Perhaps the coach went overboard on the proportion of players of color,” Le Pen was quoted as saying in French sports daily L’Equipe. Le Pen said he believed “that the French don’t feel totally represented (by the team), which no doubt explains why there isn’t the warmth that there was eight years ago,” when France cheered its team to World Cup victory on its home turf in 1998, L’Equipe reported.

In this unfortunate atmosphere, it becomes easier to understand, if still impossible to forgive, Zinedine Zidane’s meltdown against Marco Materazzi in the waning minutes of the final’s overtime. Materazzi’s less than plausible protests aside, it has been widely reported that he called Zidane a “dirty terrorist” on the very field where Adolph Hitler presided over the 1936 Olympic Games. Racist comments or not, all players are taught from a young age not to risk an ejection over words. It was incredibly painful to watch Zidane do just that, and in the process put his team at an insurmountable disadvantage while letting down his country and the game. It’s not easy to write that about one player, much less my favorite player of ten years, and that this will be the memory most take away from this Germany ‘06 is the reason that the giddiness that preceded the Cup is matched only by the frustration and sadness that follows it.

FIFA has a lot of work to do in advance of South Africa 2010. They have little control over racism, but if they can harshly punish offenders and adjust the other rules, they, and the game, will be much better off.