>Soccer is very important in England according to the local news. A soccer game was played on Sunday and the Church of England gave permission to all its churches to reschedule mass to not interfere with the game. Everything has its priorities.
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>The news said that soccer had also overshadowed the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Queen Elizabeth. And I thought baseball was important! :)

Baseball's importance is way overstated. It is only played reasonably well in what? 4 countries?
World Cup OTOH is an event where 'world' means what it is supposed to mean (unlike baseball).

Soccer is a way of life for most of the world and your comment on those news just shows it.

See: http://www.feldstein.net/soccer.asp <g>