Great article by “The Sports Guy.” Really sums up a lot of what I’ve felt while watching the Cup so far. I even got a hint of chills at the end of the story, as he was recalling the reaction by fans across the country after that Donovan goal against Algeria in injury time. That doesn’t happen very often to me (if ever at all) while I’m a reading a piece of sports journalism.

Designing high performance sports equipment has to be the most difficult gig in industrial design. It’s a sort of alchemy of engineering, physics, and craftsmanship that, to fulfill it’s intended purpose, must perform equally well for an extremely diverse range of end users. Just designing a jersey probably involves a few parts rocket science, so imagine designing the central element of play for a game, the results of which can make or break the hopes of entire countries. I don’t envy these designers.

(Via ISO50)