WC2006: Hospitality, Sweet

BERLIN (6:20pm local time) -- I ended up waiting for a while for my friend after last night's match outside of the hospitality entrance to the stadium. People were streaming out of there with bags of swag, getting schmooyed on someone else's dime. Think of how big it is when somebody has a corporate box for the Super Bowl. Then multiply it by a thousand, maybe one hundred thousand. Brazil at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin? Are you kidding me?

Of course, it's not always so easy. Not only did one delegation with a major technology company - which included a deputy prime minister among its guests - have a rough experience acquiring the tickets that had been paid for so dearly, at least three in the party came down with food poisoning. Given some of the words exchanged (I heard the FIFA rep was in tears), I'm almost surprised it didn't become an international incident.