• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

People are weird.

Compromise? There is no middle ground between a firefighter and an arsonist.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.

Let me file that under fuck it.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

People are complicated. Love is not.

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

Not loving this new fraud based economy.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Open Threads / World Cup Open Thread, Day Three: Afternoon Games

World Cup Open Thread, Day Three: Afternoon Games

by Anne Laurie|  June 16, 201811:51 am| 19 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Sports

FacebookTweetEmail

Peru v Denmark at noon, and Croatia v Nigeria at 3pm EDT. FIFA liveblog at the Google link.

***********
Mostly because I hate to put up a naked post, Ishaan Tharoor at the Washington Post, “How the World Cup reflects the world”:

“Time is that irritating inconvenience between soccer matches.” That’s an almost-certainly apocryphal line, usually attributed to the French Algerian philosopher — and handy schoolboy goalkeeper — Albert Camus. But whatever its provenance, it rings true as the World Cup gets underway in Russia.

No event commands as large and as rapt an audience as this tournament of 32 national soccer (yes, friends abroad, The Washington Post mandates that I must write “soccer”) teams. And there’s no single event that so dramatically captures the global imagination. For the next month, across the planet, interest in non-World Cup happenings will dry up, officegoers will skip work, politicians will don and hide behind the national shirt, and time will stand still — at least for 90 minutes at a go…

For much of the viewing public, national teams now play second fiddle to the popular professional leagues that have carved out lucrative audiences around the world. Kenyans or Indians often feel as much loyalty to a team in Manchester as any Mancunian — and probably more than they feel for any of the far poorer clubs at home.

And the character of the national teams themselves often reflects a reality that transcends the nation-state. France, one of the tournament favorites, has drawn the bulk of its strength from its minority and immigrant communities, linked to the wide sweep of the French post-colonial world. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of the Moroccan team was born in Europe.

“The tournament is not so much an exhibition of different national identities as it is a reminder of how casually ideas and tactical fashions in football cross borders,” wrote my twin brother, Kanishk Tharoor, for the New York Times.

At a time when populists champion a nationalist future, the World Cup can deliver a snapshot of a world at ease in its pluralism. “The success of this festival of nations relies a great deal on energies that cross borders and remove people from their national roots,” Kanishk wrote. “It suggests that there is actually a false dichotomy between ‘globalism’ and ‘nativism.’ In both soccer and life, it is perfectly possible to be a proud representative of your nation while being helplessly, incurably global.”…

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « World Cup Open Thread, Day 3, Morning Games
Next Post: Russiagate Open Thread: “But — But — He’s A Wealthy White Man!” »

Reader Interactions

19Comments

  1. 1.

    efgoldman

    June 16, 2018 at 12:12 pm

    Fewer than 50 comments since before six this this morning. Yup, sure is a lot of demand.

  2. 2.

    raven

    June 16, 2018 at 12:18 pm

    @efgoldman: @efgoldman: Go away .

  3. 3.

    efgoldman

    June 16, 2018 at 12:23 pm

    @raven:

    Go away .

    Everybody already did

  4. 4.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 16, 2018 at 12:25 pm

    Day 3 is going to have to do something very special if it wants to come close to matching the fun of Day 2.

    Christian Eriksen is a good player but he aint Ronaldo.

    Then again, he is from Middelfart, Denmark.

  5. 5.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    June 16, 2018 at 12:33 pm

    This is a comment from the morning matches, I think Argentina 2018, is Brazil 2014, they are skating on their reputation, Messi or no, I would be very concerned if I was a Boca Junior or River Plate or even a Newel’s Old Boys fan right now.

  6. 6.

    Mnemosyne

    June 16, 2018 at 12:38 pm

    Reporting in from the Happiest Place On Earth — G is in line for the Guardians of the Galaxy ride while I rest my bum knee. We have FastPasses later for Radiator Springs Racers, and then I’ll get some for Soarin’ Around the World.

    The World Cup coverage was on the TV where we had breakfast. I don’t know who the bald guy with a ukulele singing songs about the World Cup on Telemundo’s morning show was, but he was very cute.

  7. 7.

    Gin & Tonic

    June 16, 2018 at 12:43 pm

    @efgoldman: Quality, not quantity.

  8. 8.

    smintheus

    June 16, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    The World Cup is in Russia only because Putin’s nationalism causes him to bribe his way into holding international sporting competitions. FIFA is infinitely bribeable.

    It’s fitting that this Cup’s line up of countries is one of the weakest since the last time the World Cup was held in a brutal dictatorship (1978). We’ll see whether Putin follows Argentina’s example and bribes other countries along with referees to throw matches to Russia. The 1978 WC final match was one of the most obviously dishonest WC games ever.

  9. 9.

    lahke

    June 16, 2018 at 12:50 pm

    Not going to waste a day like today on staying in to watch TV.

  10. 10.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    June 16, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    @smintheus: Imagine Donald Trump and Sepp Blatter(if he was still there) discussing the bid for 2026 World Cup The sleeze would be so nasty you need so high level protective suits to clean up.

  11. 11.

    Mike J

    June 16, 2018 at 1:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne: They have a Guardians of the Galaxy ride in Tijuana?

    Was going to go sail today since good wind is forecast, then I discovered the pilot light on my water heater won’t stay lit and there’s a puddle of water under it. So a day of plumbing. Happily, one of my neighbors for whom I often do neighbor IT support is a retired union plumber.

  12. 12.

    eclare

    June 16, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    Just tuned in…

    ETA> Morning games on the DVR

  13. 13.

    Chyron HR

    June 16, 2018 at 1:37 pm

    @efgoldman:

    NO MAKE POST ABOUT SPORT GAME REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

    Ha ha, well said, friend! I can see that we are in the presence of a latter-day Wilde.

  14. 14.

    HeleninEire

    June 16, 2018 at 1:58 pm

    @efgoldman: Everyone knows you’re back ;)

  15. 15.

    Anne Laurie

    June 16, 2018 at 2:02 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Fewer than 50 comments since before six this this morning.

    Everyone seems to have lingered in the Early Morning Open Thread. Shocking! A Balloon Juice post staying on-topic!

    And welcome back, irregardless, old jackal-friend!

  16. 16.

    terraformer

    June 16, 2018 at 2:41 pm

    I absolutely adore this game. Ever since I first saw competition in 1994 – the last time the US was World Cup host – I have been an avid follower. The beautiful game. It is another example of something the rest of the world does that we’d do well to emulate here in the States. Can’t wait until 2026.

  17. 17.

    HumboldtBlue

    June 16, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    @terraformer:

    1986 got me hooked. I had just moved to California and watched World Cup games on Univision. I missed most of 1990 because of military service but was right back in the thick of it for 1994. I have been an avid follower of Liverpool and the PL for the past decade as well.

  18. 18.

    eclare

    June 16, 2018 at 3:02 pm

    Nigeria has a nice national anthem.

  19. 19.

    SRW1

    June 16, 2018 at 5:27 pm

    Besides the 1-2 defeat to France in Russia, Australia today also lost 21-26 at home in rugby to Ireland. I suspect the latter is the one that hurts more.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Winter Wren - Point Lobos State Natural Reserve 3
Image by Winter Wren (7/31/25)

World Central Kitchen

Donate

Recent Comments

  • sab on On The Road – dmkingto – Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden (possibly NSFW) (Jul 11, 2025 @ 5:15am)
  • Martin on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 3:52am)
  • bjacques on War for Ukraine Day 1,232: The Cost (Jul 11, 2025 @ 3:01am)
  • pieceofpeace on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:48am)
  • Jay on Thursday Night Open Thread (Jul 11, 2025 @ 2:47am)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
No Kings Protests June 14 2025

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Feeling Defeated?  If We Give Up, It's Game Over

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!