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Umm, not so much. No real big preview show on ESPN2, unless you count Woody Paige and that Eric whatever-his-name-is talking about it on Cold Pizza. Eric went with the chalk, picking Brazil. Woody went with Trinidad and Tobago, opting for the ridiculous rather than actually putting his neck on the line with a predicition. Gee guys, thanks for the insight.

Earlier in the show though, and on ESPN this morning as well, former U.S. women's national team member Julie Foudy was much better. I hated the fact that ESPN made her compare six World Cup players to NBA counterparts. Geez, can't these people stop promoting the NBA for one moment? Plus, I think it's the worst sort of copout in sports commentary when you have to rely on another sport to explain the sport you're broadcasting. Like when Dick Enberg inevitably refers to a big tennis match as "two heavyweight fighters slugging it out." Ugggh..

Anyway, back to Foudy. She did her best to play the silly little NBA-World Cup game. Then she went with a bold, gutsy pick to win it all ...

The Netherlands.

Yes, Clockwork Orange, the guys that brought you Total Football and the Cruyf turn. The Dutch have always had tons of talent and yet nothing to show for it in the World Cup. Zero titles. They've also always had chemistry issues stemming from racial tension between the team's white and black players.

But, as I said, they're loaded with talent. It's a bold, yet informed, pick.

My only question is whether the Dutch can get out of Group C - the one that Foudy correctly noted is the REAL Group of Death, not the U.S. Group E. Group C features the Dutch, Argentina, Ivory Coast and Serbia and Montenegro. Yikes.

Okay, only about five or six minutes to the start. Meanwhile on Cold Pizza, two sumo wrestlers are pushing around the host.

Sigggh...