Hug a Spaniard Today

I don't know what it is like in Spain, but my guess is that national pride is riding pretty high these days.

Consider:

• Spain won the prestigious Euro 08 soccer match. Some of my French colleagues feel this is even larger than the World Cup, because the standard is very high across the board.

• Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the French Open, as expected, but then played an all-time classic at Wimbledon, serving notice to the world that he is ready to be #1. This may well happen at the US Open.

• Fellow countryman Carlos Sastre won the definitive Tour de France bicycle race. No word yet if he will enter next year's Tour de Donut.

Quite a year! Enhorabuena!