My friend Brendan Bernhard is writing a weekly column for the LA Times on the World Cup. He's a witty writer, and it's a perfect solution if anyone would like to keep up with the developing World Cup narrative at the most general level with a minimum of effort. (This is naturally only necessary for Americans; in all other countries, it happens by osmosis.) It will appear every Thursday night at www.laweekly.com (in the TV section, since the LA Weekly doens't seem to have a sports section). Or you can search his name at the top.
Michael