FIFA president Sepp Blatter says the World Cup is too long and he hopes to shorten the length of the tournament for 2002. Before the tournament, he would have gotten no argument from my household. The tournament shaped up to be a source of major conflicts: 33 days of soccer, almost non-stop from early morning into the afternoon. Soon, there was a rhythm to the World Cup: A game on Univision at 8:30. A dash to preschool to drop my son Paulie off at 9:00. A trip to the local newsstand for LÆEquipe and a cup of coffee and back to the office for the second half of the morning game. The second game kicked off at noon. If I was lucky, I could pick Paulie up at 1:00 and make it home, 10 blocks away, before the start of the second half. Like most Mexicans, my wife Shirley has little faith — no faith actually — in the national team, but this Mexico team was different. By the third game, she had to call in to work to say she was running a few minutes late. Mexico had rallied, once again, to tie the Dutch. Paulie and I were stuck in traffic for the France-Croatia semifinal, a noon game, and we listened on Radio Unica as Jorge Ramos described two goals in a matter of seconds. I couldnÆt wait to make it home. As I passed our office, I veered off and made a mad dash for the TV room. The morning of the France-Brazil final, I was running late at an appointment and at five to noon Shirley rang: ôPaul, youÆll miss the game.ö The roles were reversed. I made it home and we celebrated as France won. If only every week was the World Cup!