... sound Africa's trumpet ...

... the plastic replica souvenir cost eight Canadian dollars and I had no change in pocket so my friend Stevie picked it up for me until I could pay him back ... come to think of it, I'm not sure if I ever did ... so, I may have acquired my vuvuzela for free at Vancouver's home match against St.Louis back in April ... I've been blowing the plastic horn lustily from then on and particularly since the start of the World Cup in South Africa ...

... every four years I'm one of those who tries to watch all the matches, a fantastic way to see the world without the expense of travel ... there are no Caribbean teams among the thirty-two finalists this year, but we get six African outfits and the curious representation from North Korea - in the same tourney as South Korea, at a time of heightened geo-political tensions no less, threatening the mouthwatering possibility of a battle-by-ball, if the teams actually meet during the competition ...

... as always, there are the world's beautiful women in full regalia on show, and points-of-interest at each match-up, other than the game itself, are multiple and stimulating ...

... I can (and do) wax lyrical about African soil hosting sport's greatest extravaganza for the first time ... there are the South African Reconciliation and Mandela factors, patriotisms and post-colonial retributions, the wall-of-noise vuvuzela soundtrack in the stadia, the Jabulani-Ball aerodynamics too, but in the end it's the on-field exploits that are the real story ...

... watching the Argentinians strut their embarrassment of riches has been fulfilling so far and I for one appreciate the delicious spectacle of Messi-dona and supporting cast ... despite the absence of playmaker Riquelme, the Argentine bench could be the backbone of another complete team ... with Diego Maradona's son-in-law Sergio Aguero the prince-in-waiting ...

... it's too early at this stage (less than halfway through the roundrobin stage) to make definitive pronouncements, but certain storylines are clearly taking shape, like the familiar one of English great expectations ... ahh, those heirs to that '66 curse, you know, when Bobby Moore and his merry men won on home turf, forever causing England to rate itself among the world's best despite all indicators ... I write this after watching a 0-0 draw with Algeria, the least impressive display by the Brits in a long line of disappointing major competitions ...

... English hand-wringing has amped up several degrees ... only two matches into this tournament finds the blogosphere alive with the kind of acerbic witticisms no one does better than the British ... "at the risk of hyperbole, this is possibly the worst result since 1066," quoth one ...

... the pundits are blunt, spiking commentary with adjectives like "tossers," "wankers," and "shite"... so much so that one is inclined to believe any lay-expert could make team improvements without difficulty given the patchy results of the high-profile managerial appointments that are now the norm ...

... there's probably a restructuring formula that could work in the long run but I'd like to suggest English football take a leaf from the Scrabble playbook ... sometimes it's better to cut your losses ... return your cards to the jumble and draw a new hand ... hey, if it's good enough for the Brazilians ... ...

... while African sides cling to hopes of advancing further than ever before and usual suspects try to adapt to a leveling out of standards which can result in closer contests and more frequent upsets ... the public should try to stay in touch with the evolving nuances of the world game and the fine "art" of gamesmanship ... each successive Mondiale pulls the drawstrings of global community tighter, and somehow we emerge better for it ...

... the winds sweeping across Africa this summer, out over the oceans in every direction, carry the challenging sound of the vuvuzela ... like it or not we will all surely know it ... and knowledge is power...

... after the football finale, when all is said and done, there will be one World Champion, and whole world of winners ...

... and, likely, one or two whiners.