The World Cup is in apparent full swing over in Qatar, and honestly I sometimes forget it’s even going on. The unusual November start time for a usually summer event surely has something to do with it. Who in the heck thought it was a good idea to play football in the middle of the dessert - in open air stadiums? I’ve read those stadiums are air-conditioned, which is crazy because it’s not that efficient is it, if the cool air has a way to escape through a giant gaping hole?
I guess that doesn’t matter when energy - read: oil - is dirt cheap in the country.
Also hampering the World Cup spirit is the fact we all have jobs now. The problem with the tournament being played on the other side of the world is that there aren’t any “prime time” games for us to watch in the evening. The day’s games are essentially over by the time lunch hour is done. Even kids can’t watch the games because there’s school. Not so if the games were held during the traditional summer months. I fondly remember watching every single World Cup match back in my school days. That was my summer break life for a month. I’d never get out of bed.
As an American it’s good to see team USA making it back into the tournament for the first time since 2014. As of this writing they have advanced into the round-of-16 stage, with a match this Saturday against the Netherlands. Not sure I’ll be watching that one as that match starts bright and early at 7:00 AM my time. The weather’s been cold lately and it’s so easy to slumber on deep into the morning.
The World Cup is coming to North America the next time round, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States cohosting. San Francisco is one of the selected cities to have a match, so hopefully I will get to tick that box on the bucket list. It’ll be nice to bring my dad as well, a life-long football fan.
Duck, duck, goose.