World Cup 2006 -- How Waltham, Newton Reacted

Borderline couldn't watch the copa today, but it was easy enough to figure out who the victor was in the late afternoon: the cacophony of car horns drifting over from High St. and Waltham St. could only mean one thing: Italy had won.

There sure as heck aren't many French expats hanging around these parts, and the people around here with French surnames mostly descend from French-Canadians who came down in the past centuries to work in the mills. A hockey victory from Quebec might set them off, but they wouldn't be honking for the French. On the other hand, the thousands of local Italians and Italian-Americans in the Lake, other parts of North Newton, and South Waltham would let it rip for Italia. So that's how I knew.

A neighbor told me it was a penalty shoot-out that brought about the Italian victory, which isn't the best way to win, but a World Cup victory under any circumstances deserves respect. Congratulations, Italy!