7-1

I don't think that many Americans understand just how traumatizing Germany's World Cup semifinal humiliation of Brazil yesterday truly was.  The har-de-har hosts on CBS Sports Radio's morning show immediately invoked last February's Super Bowl as an equivalent.  Not hardly.  There have been many Super Blowouts in the past -- indeed, in the event's first quarter-century, lopsided results were more the rule than the exception, to the extent that people were sticking to the telecast to learn the outcome of the Bud Bowl (remember those?) more than they were the actual game -- and there will be more in the future.  But 7-1 between the two winningest World Cup teams ever, in a semifinal?  In the modern era of soccer, you expect games like that when England plays San Marino.  Not when Brazil is playing at home, where they hadn't lost in a competitive (non-friendly) match since 1975.  The famous 1940 NFL championship game in which the Bears beat the Redskins "Washington football team" 73-0 in Washington MIGHT be a more meaningful comparison, except that (1) pro football wasn't that big a deal in 1940 and (2) this particular pratfall happened on the world stage for all to see.

One of the Brazilian papers eschewed front-page commentary and invited readers to write their own reactions to the disaster.