Usually being half-Japanese is useful for world-stage events like the Olympics and World Baseball Classic. In the event that America fails to perform, I can root for Japan as well. Given that American often does fail to perform in any world-stage event due to apathy for such types of events, it's often Japan that pulls through for me.

But take the results of today's World Cup and I may have to stop watching before things have barely begun. Japan, which seemed to have a 1-0 win sewn up, gave up three goals in the final minutes of the game, two to someone off the bench. America did even worse, providing no glimmer of hope as they gave up their three goals.

There is a small chance that they could still advance, but with Japan having to beat Brazil, and America having to beat Italy, it looks like I will have to find some other spirit than nationalism to sway my viewing.