Can’t escape from Rumsfeld in World Cup country too

Much play was also given, of course, to the attack outside the the US Consulate in Pakistan yesterday. The issue has even been getting good play on TV.

You can even get the weather; most papers mention the three metros in their weather wrap and it is comforting to know that Delhi is still sweltering under 44 degree heat while we often have to wear jackets.

There was even a profile of George Fernandes in the daily Yomiuri, the English version of the Yomiuri Shimbun. The reporter had met him in Singapore last month. And mentioned the little nugget that Fernandes will be in Japan at the end of the month for his son’s wedding in Hiroshima.

The empty seats at today’s match in Seogwipo lend credence to the cover of the latest issue of Newsweek, which is about a tournament gone wrong, the ticketing fiasco. Out here, at ground level, though, no one is talking about that any more. Journalists are more concerned about who will get seats for which match, now that quota systems are in operation.

It’s an added shame to see empty seats at stadiums as they are such fine buildings. Built in traditional styles, the Big Swan in Niigata is based on the image of a swan alighting on the nearby lagoon.

The Miyagi Stadium’s crescent-shaped wings are after Kabuto battle dress helmets worn by a local warlord. Kobe’s Wing Stadium has two covered sides looking like wings. The stadium also has a Grass On aqua line system, a computerised way of making the grass grow by providing a balance between water, fertiliser, sunlight, etc.

Oita’s Big Eye has a retractable roof of teflon membrane, which allows sunlight through for the grass to grow and, even when covered, doesn’t need floodlights during the day.

Question is: Once the World Cup is over, who’s going to keep all this going?