Well, do you? I mean don’t get me wrong, Soccer is fantastic and I’m sure there are TONS of people that love it. But historically I don’t remember so much discussion, chatter and news media in your face coverage about soccer or the World Cup. My analysis below is going to prove to you something is seriously abnormal about the US news coverage of the World Cup.

I did do some research and have to admit, I’m a bit shocked to see the search term “soccer” is about as popular as “baseball”, <GASP>, what has come over you America? Must still be ticked off about the baseball strike, right? Still a Google search for “America’s Past Time” and guess what you get…Uh huh, Baseball!

So really nothing looks out of the ordinary looking at the previous graph from Google Insights. However, when you dig in to the World Cup Google Trends data you will notice two things that seem to pop out at you. One, already the term “World Cup” is trending higher in searches more than it ever has except in 2006 when the Germany World Cup was REALLY interesting for some reason or another.

The big one here though is the absolutely MASSIVE media coverage being given to the World Cup. Yes, yes, I know my Photoshop skills are worse than a 1st grader but I did my best, okay? See my pretty yellow arrow? That arrow is pointing to the secondary Google Trend that shows News / Media outlets pushing out drivel on the World Cup.

Now don’t worry, we aren’t done here yet. Let’s look at another media microscope tool to see the news volume, where it is, where it’s going and what is really going on here. Now we’re going to look at the News / Media outlets actual publication in Google’s News database that include the word “World Cup” from 1930 – 2010. This one is a little more telling as it does show a progressive climb of the media distribution. Instead of the World Cup Google Trends data above which shot up in a crazy way this year, this shows an even stair step build into the progressive trend.

A friend of mine on Twitter had this insightful theory as to why everyone is talking about the World Cup which I have to admit, I agree with.

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/searchguru/status/15966477314"]

Okay, I promise this is the last geeky trend graph we are digging into, thanks for sticking with me. What you are looking at below is the two search trends of “World Cup” and “Oil Spill.” Notice that they both spike at the same time. Coincidence? Maybe! This one possibly shows some type of correlation with the media wanting to talk about something else than the oil spill. I know, correlation not causation but you can comment about it and rip me apart, fair enough?

So there you have it. The truth is, I’m still clueless why everyone seems to care about the World Cup this year and the media is talking about it so much that it doesn’t even compare to the Superbowl or World Series. Something is up and it just may be that they need a new cash cow. Talk about the World Cup enough and maybe the ratings will increase?

On a typical day on Twitter I can usually ask a question and get anywhere from 10 – 30 responses. Tonight? The crickets were chirping. But I did have some great buddies and smart people respond. Here are the responses to my original tweet which will be posted first!

Please leave me a comment here and tell me if your fascination with the World Cup has increased and why you think the media is pushing it so hard!

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/webaddict/status/15966015904"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/ejw70/status/15966579662"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/d_Arc/status/15966667877"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/MichelleBatDell/status/15968800175"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/maximonos/status/15972679391"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/ssblackman/status/15972699284"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/Naughty_Jonny/status/15972755013"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/cindyoyo/status/15972821387"]

[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/TrinaMb/status/15973357006"]

UPDATE: I wanted to add a quick note to let you know that all data and graphs above were obtained under United States data and analysis. Other country data was excluded except on the comparing Google Trend analysis of World Cup & Oil Spill!

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Beer Pong is a game that is fairly easy to understand. A simple explanation directly from the World Series of Beer Pong rulebook can be found below:

RULES and DIRECTIONS:

Beer pong itself is simple. Two teams stand at opposite ends of an 8-foot long table, where ten 16-ounce cups, filled with roughly 2 ounces of beer or another liquid, are placed in a bowling-pin formation. Each team takes turns tossing ping-pong balls at their opponent’s cup formation. If a ball goes into a cup, the cup is removed from the game. The first team to eliminate all of its opponent’s cups wins. At the WSOBP four of the ten cups in the formation are filled with water.

The WSOBP is the largest organized beer pong tournament in the nation, created by BPONG.COM. The WSOBP III is hosted by BPONG.COM in association with Tight Rack, and sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. BPONG.COM is the premier source of beer pong and Beirut information on the Internet, providing a center for collaboration and discussion about the game of beer pong. Tight Rack is a Las Vegas beer pong-themed bar.

While the $50,000 grand prize today may sound like this event has been kicking along for a long while, Beer Pong is in it’s infancy. This year is the 3rd year of the tournament which had humble beginnings in Mesquite, Nevada with $10,000 grand prize 2 years ago.

It is estimated there are over 600 national and international competitors, mainly college students, competing this year in Las Vegas in the World Series of Beer Pong III. If you’re hanging out in Las Vegas and want to catch a glimpse of this tournament you can hop on down to the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa.

If you have been thinking an event like this couldn’t possibly grow, attendance is expected bring in even more international interest from Canada and cover almost all states in the US. Participation is projected to be 100 more than last year!

Big time mentions of this new sport and the event have been mentioned in publications such as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Wall Street Journal, Stuff Magazine, and Playboy.com. If you’re interested in participating next year or catching video, pictures and the excitement from this years tournament head on over to www.bpong.com.

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