Now I finally get why men get so caught up in their sports – it is because, just like the best soap operas and TV series – the unexpected can happen.

Overnight, winners can become losers, those you have written off can come up tops and even past winners can suddenly find themselves on their knees, stripped of fame and bathed in shame.

Yes, Desperate Housewives can become Desperate Losers and even Ugly Betty can land her man.

Such is the stuff of sports.

Take the World Cup Rugby which I have been quietly watching from the sidelines while the men in our Café have been waxing lyrical about the game and one of them even took a month off to follow the ball.

Just a week ago, I was talking to an English man and a French man – not on the same night of course – and both had basically written off their country’s chances of making it into the Rugby World Cup semi-finals.

“I am not even going to bother watching,” said my French friend, when I asked him if he would be watching France play against the All Blacks.

My English friend said he was going to watch but “we don’t have a hope in hell of beating the Wallabies”.

And what happens? The biggest upsets happened. The English (hail Johnny Wilkinson who by the way went to the same school as the daughter of a friend of mine, so there) sent the Wallabies home, tail between their legs, and the French, oh my God, trounced the invincible, indomitable All Blacks.

Down Under is awash with tears, as I write this. “The land of the long white cloud is now the land of the long black cloud. New Zealand is in mourning,” says rugby writer Greg Cowden.

The website Rugby Heaven has been rebranded Rugby Hell and led with the headline, “Our darkest hour – ever.”

In Australia, the blame is flying fast and thick. Former coach Eddie Jones has blamed his successor John Connolly. “The Wallabies lacked leadership in the game against England. They never got together to work out what to do …”

This is the only time you see strong, grown men reduced to tears in public. God knows what they do in private.

My French friend said, “Mon dieu. Can you believe it? It must be Sarkozy.”

Yes, the new French president is out there kicking butt and his fellow men are following suit.

So this weekend, England will play France and South Africa will play Argentina. My expert friends tell me for sure it’s a Springboks victory – but hey, you never know. After what has happened, anything can still happen.

Meanwhile, fallen angel Marion Jones will have to live with her demons. After admitting she took steroids, she’s given back the five medals she won during the Sydney Olympics.

I still remember watching her and thinking she looked like a beautiful springbok as she sprinted her way to victory during the 100m, 200m and 1,600m relay.

On television, she apologized for betraying our trust and that she had let us down.

I think she let herself down the most.