Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Balloon Juice, where there is always someone who will say you’re doing it wrong.

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

The unpunished coup was a training exercise.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

This must be what justice looks like, not vengeful, just peaceful exuberance.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

You cannot shame the shameless.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Cancel the cowardly Times and Post and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sportsball Open Thread: Did You Know the World Cup Is In Two Months?

Sportsball Open Thread: Did You Know the World Cup Is In Two Months?

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… Do you realize that the World Cup — the biggest sporting event in the world — is only two months away? Do you know where it’s taking place? Do you know who’s broadcasting it? Do you know who the United States plays? Are you sure the United States even made it? (They did.)

For the first time, the Men’s World Cup this year won’t take place in June, when it has been held every four years throughout its history. Instead, in highly disorienting fashion, it will get going the week before Thanksgiving and wrap up on December 18 — the shortest window ever for the tournament. This isn’t just one of the busiest periods on the sports calendar, but the busiest, or at least most hectic, period in Americans’ lives every year. The World Cup selected dates that make it most likely to be ignored by the American public — the very country it’s been trying to fully win over for decades.

The reason for the time shift is kind of about weather, but really about FIFA corruption. FIFA — which experiences massive corruption scandals about as often as it holds World Cups — awarded the 2022 edition to Qatar way back in 2010. The tiny country won the sweepstakes not because it put together a compelling bid or had facilities ready to accommodate massive crowds. According to the Department of Justice (and many others), Qatar triumphed because it bribed FIFA officials. The place certainly didn’t make sense on the merits. It had no stadiums ready for play, and it used exploited migrant labor to construct the ones it had to build. Qatar isn’t exactly a soccer hotbed, either; the country’s teams had never qualified for the World Cup. And it’s also very, very conservative: homosexuality is currently against the law, and has already been controversy about how little soccer fans will be able to drink.

Beyond the moral hazards, there’s the heat. Qatar averages 105 degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year, and despite an initial claim from organizers that “heat is not and will not be an issue,” it turned out that not all stadiums could be air-conditioned. So in 2014, FIFA moved things to November. That switch caused all sorts of headaches with professional soccer leagues, since the tournament now falls in the middle of their seasons. Hence why this World Cup is so compressed, taking place over three weeks rather than the usual four or five. The world’s premier sporting event is essentially now being squeezed in…

In its first World Cup game this year, the U.S. men’s team squares off against Wales on the Monday before Thanksgiving; the next one after that, against England, will fall on Black Friday. You tell me how much attention you’re going to have for soccer during that time…

I’m no more a beer drinker than a sports fan, but from what I’ve read, complicated timing restrictions and a Budweiser-only menu are unlikely to sit well with non-Muslim WC attendees…

Reader Interactions

118Comments

  3. 3.

    cope

    I will watch select (to me) games when convenient but don’t want to blow up my brain re-remembering all the chicanery behind this WC.

  6. 6.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    I did because I love soccer, but it is very true that FIFA has really fucked the whole tournament over by agreeing to this farkakte idea. Yeah, super great plan, let’s hold a sports tournament where people are literally running around for 90+ minutes in one of the hottest places on Earth. Brilliant! And since no one is used to it being at this time of year, and it’s happening during holiday travel time, I’d bet a lot of people are checked out. It will be interesting to compare TV ratings to previous Cups.

    I only hope the footie gods will compensate US fans by at least getting our guys out of the group stage. Quarterfinals would be nice to see again, but I ain’t holding out hope for that.

  7. 7.

    eclare

    Yes, I am aware, and yes, I will watch.  I hope no big matches are on Thanksgiving.

    In personal news, got my bright shiny new Omicron booster this morning!

  8. 8.

    Shalimar

    World  Cup fans are going to hang FIFA officials after 3 weeks of only being able to drink Budweiser.  No level of bribes should be worth that risk.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev: Yup, somehow this eclipses any other sports governing organization, including the one where they toss dudes into a cage, to kick the snot out of each other.

    I presume the Nation of Musk is preparing a World Cup proposal for a future Lunar Elonville. He’s working out construction labor agreements with DeSantis and Abbott.

    Watched world track and field championships a couple years ago, held in Doha. The stadium was an outdoor venue in late September and they dealt with this fact via ginormous air ducts ringing the field, shooting chilled air at the athletes–essentially cooling the Gulf atmosphere using uncountable air conditioners.

  14. 14.

    Splitting Image

    I’ll probably give the tournament about the same level of attention I give it every four years: check the scores every evening and root for the underdogs until they’re all defeated. I haven’t watched a soccer game in decades.

    Exactly how bad this decision turns out to be won’t be fully known until the end of the league seasons. Every injury is going to affect league play more than usual, and if a heat-related injury ends up deciding the English Premier League or La Liga – which could well happen – then watch out.

    FIFA needs to be nuked from orbit.

  15. 15.

    trollhattan

    File under Thing you assumed, and now know to be fact.

    September 17, 2022 at 1:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

    Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) told a former White House aide that he was seeking a preemptive pardon from President Donald Trump regarding an investigation in which he is a target, the Washington Post reports.

    “The testimony is the first indication that Gaetz was specifically seeking a pardon for his own exposure related to the Justice Department inquiry into whether he violated sex trafficking laws. His public posture in the final months of the Trump administration was much less specific, repeatedly calling for broad preemptive pardons to fend off possible Democratic investigations.”

  16. 16.

    Cmorenc

    @dmsilev:

    NO ONE in the futbol ( soccer world) wanted a WC in Quatar, nor right smack in the middle of most major soccer league eg EPL regular seasins -EXCEPT corrupr FIFA heads and the QUATARI sultans who paid them off $$$$$$ in some traceable form.  Reason for hugely disruptive move to nov-dec is because Quatar is merely Hellishly hot then, instead of really quite sincerely lethally hot .

    Even so, Quatar will be dangerously hot to play top-level soccer in nov, i wish someone would prosecute these corrupt FIFA pricks to long jail terms in a hellishly hot prison.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    @Splitting Image:

    if a heat-related injury ends up deciding the English Premier League or La Liga – which could well happen – then watch out.

     
    Then watch out what? No one is going to do anything.

  18. 18.

    Layer8Problem

    @Baud:  You, sir, will pry Charlie Brown Christmas from my cold, dead hands,  and George C. Scott’s Christmas Carol.  But please, take the all the rest.

  19. 19.

    Tony Jay

    Each and every single thing about this WC, from the venue to the politics to the temperature to the timing is about as close to “How far do you think we could go fucking this thing up? This far? Further? How about I put it on a jet and send it into Space?” as even as corrupt an organisation as FIFA could manage.

    Other corrupt events will look upon this work and despair.

    I’m pretty sure that half of the English team are simply going to flat out melt, like the Nazis in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

  20. 20.

    MattF

    They’ll have to Qatarize the old joke— holds a beer stein up to the sun.. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but your camel has diabetes”.

  22. 22.

    James E Powell

    @trollhattan:

    I’ve come to believe that the investigation of Gaetz for sex with minors is a case of nothing there. Unlike some other matters, it doesn’t take a year to find out: a) did you have sex? and b) How old were you on that day?

  24. 24.

    trollhattan

    Marco Rubio, frantic to frame himself as a “tough guy” goes full Putin. There had better be some strong and coordinated pushback.

    Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida is now playing assignment editor when it comes to abortion coverage, ordering Insider in a bizarre email to quiz Democrats about their stance on the polarizing topic or else face some sort of public shaming on September 20.

    In the combative missive, Rubio deputy chief of staff Dan Holler demands that Insider get Democratic lawmakers on record about “what restrictions they support” and ask abortion provider Planned Parenthood about pregnancy-related issues.

    Holler includes a deadline to respond (September 19), adding that the “results” will be published on September 20.

    “Non-answers will be treated as an acknowledgment that your publication has NOT asked those types of questions to any federally elected Democrat,” Holler wrote, accentuating the ultimatum by underlining and bolding the text.

  25. 25.

    MattF

    @trollhattan: What, exactly, is this supposed to demonstrate? Do Republicans have a satisfactory answer? I think anything that reminds voters about the politics of abortion is a losing proposition for Republicans.

  27. 27.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @MattF: Maybe. There are some restrictions on abortion that are popular. Idiots like Rubio like to imply that all Democrats want NO restrictions on abortion at all. He’s trying desperately to shift the debate from all the truly horrible consequences of GOP abortion policies to ground where there is some public support.

  28. 28.

    Splitting Image

    @Baud:

    Then watch out what? No one is going to do anything.

    The big teams may have another go at creating their own Super League, this time with more popular support.

  29. 29.

    Geminid

    @James E Powell: The sexual  activities were in private, and woman in question won’t talk. Joel Greenberg, the other principal witness, was himself a one man crime wave whose testimony on its own would not support a guilty verdict.

    Prosecutors seemed to think they can still develop a good case, and to that end they added a couple attorneys with experience in the area of sex trafficking. Now at least one other associate of Gaetz and Greenberg has pled guilty to two felonies, one being illegal distribution of Adderal, potential sentence 20 years. That man’s sentencing is in the hands of the same judge as Greenberg’s. Also, court watchers spotted Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend entering a federal grand jury room this spring.

    So, prosecutors may have made a good criminal case against Gaetz. If they have, we’ll find out after the election, probably by December 1st.

  30. 30.

    James E Powell

    @Geminid:

    Is it only Budweiser or only AB InBev brands?

    I’ve been to events with one or two brands of beer, but none of them were as huge as WC.

  31. 31.

    geg6

    @eclare:

    I got mine, too.  World Cup will have to get along without me.  I have too much going on and other sports to watch to pay attention to one I usually only have a marginal interest in anyway.

  33. 33.

    Peale

    If as many fans in the stands died of heatstroke during the cup as workers who died constructing stadiums in the desert, that would be just.

  35. 35.

    Chetan Murthy

    @eclare:

     I learn so much from this blog.

    Newcomers (I was one once) are deceived by the doggie and cat pics, the garden mania, into thinking that this is a community of gentle but not-terribly-erudite potterers.  Completely wrong impression, as it turns out.

    I love how on every subject, there are a few commenters who turn out to be retired area experts.

  36. 36.

    Dangerman

    This is kinda sports related.

    Question for other California Folks being inundated with Proposition 26 and 27 commercials. I’m fairly sure the backers of 27 are low life scum of the earth so that one is an easy no (it’ll probably pass) …

    … don’t know much about 26 other than it appears to be the Big Casinos trying to out scum the 27 Folks. What did we do to deserve this shit?

  37. 37.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Geminid:

    That’s a human rights violation just by itself!

    You joke (somewhat (!)) but my favorite beer, Abbaye de Leffe, got bought by them, and recently I learned that they’re brewing Leffe at 8 (7?) different breweries in Russia.  B/c nothing goes with Leffe like mass war crimes.  Needless to say, I’ll find another Belgian beer when I replenish my stores.

  38. 38.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    @Dangerman: I DO NOT KNOW AND I WISH IT WOULD STOP. I hate gambling, although I have no problem with Native American casinos because hell yes, they should get to fleece a bunch of stupid white people out of their money as like, indirect reparations. But God in heaven, the YouTube ads and deluge of flyers in the mail about both props is driving me bananers.

  39. 39.

    Urza

    The cloud servers for WC came in with bad RAM almost to the last stick.  Probably all fixed now but we’ll have to see once traffic gets heavy.

  40. 40.

    JoyceH

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:

    But God in heaven, the YouTube ads and deluge of flyers in the mail about both props is driving me bananers.

    Is anyone else getting constantly bombarded by TV commercials about ‘the water at Camp Lejeune’, or is that a regional thing?

  41. 41.

    Splitting Image

    @Baud:

    Would the Super League be independent of FIFA?

    They would blacklist all of the teams in the new league and all of the players who signed up for it, just as they threatened to last time, so yes.

  44. 44.

    Geminid

    @JoyceH: Where are you? I hear those ads about Camp Lejuene’s toxic water now on DC radio. I assume that attorneys with a class action suit are behind them.

  45. 45.

    JoyceH

    @Eunicecycle: You know, I get that it’s an important issue and those people no doubt deserve compensation – but DANG! HOW many times a day do they run those commercials?!

  46. 46.

    pajaro

    So if the games start in the evening, they will be on around noon in the East Coast and morning in the Pacific.

    I’ll watch when I can, because I like soccer.  I’m interested in the US Men’s Team, which will probably be the youngest team in the tournament.  I hope they do reasonably well and I like the thought that the players will be in their primes four years from now when the tournament is in North America.  I also enjoy rooting for the US in this sport, for what it’s worth, because it’s a niche sport here compared to the rest of the world, and, unlike our presence at the Olympics,  we’re more like David than Goliath when it comes to futbol.  Also, the players are a really interesting mix of backgrounds–they do look like America.

  48. 48.

    Bruce K in ATH-GR

    @WaterGirl: I assume you’re all talking about the pour-it-back-in-the-horse beer that can’t be legally sold as Budweiser in Europe because it’d infringe on the trademark of the original Budweiser (aka Budweiser Budvar, aka Czechvar)?

    I swear I am not making this up. American Budweiser is still sold in Europe; it’s simply labeled as “Bud”. Which has left me wondering for a decade and a half about who in Europe would buy “Bud”, probably at import prices, when there are actual local beers that give you more and better for less.

    And now I’m wondering if the Qatar World Cup will be selling “Budweiser”, or simply “Bud”.

  49. 49.

    gene108

    From what I’ve read and been told by a couple of India coworkers, who worked in different  ME countries in white collar jobs, the World Cup workers aren’t treated any differently than other blue collar migrant workers from Asia.

    It’s strange what international outrage focuses on.

  50. 50.

    Eunicecycle

    @JoyceH: I know! I watch a lot of old sit-coms on cable and they really have a lot of those commercials on that type of stations.

    ETA for clarity

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Alison Rose 💙🌻💛:

    I also dislike how gambling has infiltrated sports.  Not only advertising, but the on-air announcers talking about betting.  I have a completely speculative prediction that there will be a backlash and it’ll be gone in a couple of decades.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    @gene108: That’s my impression too.  Part of it the World Cup provides a higher profile to pique people’s interest, and it’s something Westerners want to enjoy without moral conflict.

  54. 54.

    Tony Jay

    @Chetan Murthy:

    Noooooo! I love a pint of Leffe! When we lived in France it was basically the cheapest beer you could get on draught, which was obviously awesome sauce of the highest quality.

    Damn their eyes.

  55. 55.

    gene108

    The World Cup selected dates that make it most likely to be ignored by the American public

    That’s every four years.

    Americans have a very provincial attitude towards sports fandom, where fans are more vested in a city’s team and their university’s team than they are on any U.S. national team.

    People around the world will adjust their schedules to watch World Cup matches every four years. Outside of the Olympics, Americans do not care about international sporting events or U.S. national teams, and even with the Olympics interest is limited.

  56. 56.

    LeftCoastYankee

    There’s nothing in the world rich people can’t fuck up in the pursuit of Even More Money.

  57. 57.

    Geminid

    @gene108: I am told by Wikipedia that as of 2017, Qatar had 2.6 million residents. Of them, 313,000 were Qatari citizens and 2.3 million were expatriates.

    Some of the expatriates are Americans stationed at the airbase there. It’s the largest U.S. Air Force base in the Middle East.

  58. 58.

    skerry

    Some years ago I traveled to Australia with 3 male coworkers. The hotel we stayed in had a welcome package – chocolate covered strawberries, other fruits and a six pack of beer. The 3 men got the “premium import” – Budweiser, while I got the local Victoria Bitters because female.

    I won that one.

  59. 59.

    Major Major Major Major

    @Bruce K in ATH-GR: the IP case for the Budweiser name isn’t super duper cut and dried, IP law is weird especially when you’re dealing with international stuff.

    Fun random IP fact: nobody can quite tell whether Sherlock Holmes is fully in the public domain (until the final stories’ copyright expire next year, though there’s a trademark dispute too), but you can use the identical character Herlock Sholmes, from some old Lupin stories, which are public domain.

  61. 61.

    Dangerman

    @Baud: ESPN has segments called Bad Beats (I watch on youtube; not sure its still on). On one hand, they are generally hilarious, but occasionally goes to a pretty dark place in showing how easy it is to cause a “beat” corruptly.

  62. 62.

    Geminid

    @JoyceH: Lots of retired Marines and civilian DOD workers and their family members live near you, many of them potential plaintiffs. North Carolina has even more.

  69. 69.

    Obvious Russian Troll

    @Chetan Murthy:

    I gotta admit I thought AB InBev would ruin Leffe but I didn’t think this was how they would do it.

    I haven’t had one in years, though (I can’t have real beer because of the gluten). Green’s does make a half-way decent gluten free dubbel and trippel, although I can’t get them here (although I wouldn’t recommend them over anything made with barley).

  73. 73.

    PaulB

    Seriously, is there any professional sports governing body that isn’t corrupt, incompetent, abusive, or all three? Bribery, ignoring serious and systemic injuries, unable to cope with doping, protecting abusive coaches and doctors, exploiting younger athletes, incomprehensible scoring rules that lead to ridiculous outcomes, the list just keeps going. From what I’ve seen, none of them can claim clean hands.

    I’ve gotten so fed up with all of the never-ending crap, the endless revelations of harm, that I no longer watch any sport at any level, no longer follow any athletes or teams.

  75. 75.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @Geminid: Can’t get away from those ads in the NYC area. And they flood my spam mail. I couldn’t tell what state the camp is in, but the ads keep coming

  76. 76.

    smintheus

    As with the 1978 World Cup in fascist Argentina, the only correct thing to do is boycott it. Political prisoners being tortured during the World Cup could hear the crowds roaring in the Buenos Aires stadium. That was a Cup where Argentina bribed its way to the Final, and then evidently bribed the ref at the Final to throw the match to them. Don’t be too surprised if Qatar “wins” the 2022 Cup Final.

  77. 77.

    J R in WV

    What sport is FIFA, and the World Cup or what?      ;~)

    Seriously, though, the next day I watch a sports event in Qatar will be the 12th of never.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @Dangerman:

    Lord deliver us.

    I’ll preface with my conviction that any and all expansions of gambling, each of which promises a basketfull of fantastic benefits at no cost to anybody, are bunk and ultimately, a societal burden. e.g., the California lottery was supposed to restore education funding stolen by Prop 13. We can observe how that worked out.

    Have yet to receive the election pamphlet, so went to Ballotpedia.

    Prop 26

    Proposition 26 would legalize sports betting at American Indian gaming casinos and licensed racetracks in California.

    The ballot measure would define sports betting as wagering on the results of professional, college, or amateur sport and athletic events, with the exception of high school sports and events featuring a California college team. Individuals would need to be 21 years of age to engage in legal sports betting.

    The ballot measure would enact a tax of 10 percent on profits derived from sports betting at racetracks. The state government would be required to distribute the revenue as follows: (a) 15 percent to the California Department of Health for researching, developing, and implementing programs for problem gambling prevention and mental health and providing grants to local governments to address problem gambling and mental health; (b) 15 percent to the Bureau of Gambling Control for enforcing and implementing sports wagering and other forms of gaming within the state; and (c) 70 percent to the General Fund.

    The ballot measure would also legalize roulette and dice games, such as craps, at tribal casinos; however, tribal-state compacts would need to be amended before these games can be offered.

    The Yes on 26, No on 27 – Coalition for Safe, Responsible Gaming is leading the campaign in support of the ballot initiative. The coalition is supported by several American Indian tribes, including the top donors to the campaign—the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, and the Barona Band of Mission Indians. The campaign had raised $73.08 million.

    Prop 27

    Proposition 27 proposes a constitutional amendment and statute to authorize a gaming tribe, an online sports betting platform with an operating agreement with a gaming tribe, or a qualified gaming company with a market access agreement with a gaming tribe may operate online sports betting for individuals 21 years of age or older in the state but outside of Indian lands. The amendment would prohibit online sports betting on youth sports. The proposed law would create the Division of Online Sports Betting Control within the Department of Justice. The initiative would give the division authority to regulate the online sports betting industry and investigate illegal sports betting activities. The amendment would take effect on January 1, 2023.

    The proposed law would establish the California Online Sports Betting Trust Fund. The revenue from licensing fees, renewals, and the sports wagering tax would be deposited into the fund. After deducting regulatory costs, 85% of the fund’s revenues would be allocated to California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Account for permanent and interim housing and 15% of revenues to the Tribal Economic Development Account, which would be established by the initiative to provide funds to Indian tribes for expanding tribal government, public health, education, infrastructure, and economic development.

    Currently, mobile and in-person sports betting is illegal in California.

    Californians for Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support is leading the campaign in support of Proposition 27. As of June 30, the campaign had raised over $100 million. Its top three donors include BetMGM LLC, Betfair Interactive US LLC (FanDuel Sportsbook), and Crown Gaming, Inc. (DraftKings). Nathan Click, a spokesman for the campaign, said, “Our measure is the only one that would guarantee hundreds of millions each year in solutions to homelessness and mental health support. We have found Californians are enthusiastic about it and the housing and mental health solutions it would provide the state.”

    My takeaway: Prop 27 is from the gambling megagiant corporations, Prop 26 is a counter-measure by the biggest California casino tribes.

    Am still curious about the Prop 27 trust fund, the fund management and how it’s overseen. In a red state, of course, every dollar from sports gambling would be met with a tax cut in that amount, and net zero resources for public benefit.

  81. 81.

    JMG

    My children went to the 2018 World Cup, and my son took a photo (which I can’t find right now on my laptop) of the massive Budweiser tent next to the statue of Lenin outside the stadium in Moscow.

    @skerry: VB is an awesome beer!

  82. 82.

    raven

    @JMG: I have a friend who went to South Africa for the cup and got a lip infection from blowing the vuvuzela !

     

    And GO DAWGS!

  84. 84.

    raven

    @Baud: Have you seen the UNLV football team “big play” prop? They use a big slot machine

     

    IGT, for obvious reasons, never had created a slot machine that won on every pull. Doing so required mathematicians on staff to come up with an equation that crowned a winner each time the lever was pulled. That delayed the process and is part of the reason why the slot machine didn’t make its debut until Saturday, in Week 7.

    UNLV’s graphics team, led by Ethan McCoy, created all the custom graphics and reels on the slot machine for IGT to install. There were meetings consistently as the slot machine was being designed, but it became clear early that it wouldn’t be ready for Week 1.

    “It takes a while to build a completely custom-made slot machine, as you can probably imagine,” McIntyre said.

  85. 85.

    JoyceH

    Ha! Good line – in reference to Trump’s claim that his indictment would cause “big problems”, Jim Acosta asks, “Is Trump once again saying the riot part out loud?”

  86. 86.

    Anonymous at Work

    FIFA officials make the Olympics committees jealous at the bribes.  The Mafia wishes they could attend FIFA meetings to take notes.  If Wall Street were one tenth as corrupt, Sistema herself would use an executioner axe at the beheading ceremonies.

  89. 89.

    Brachiator

    @Dangerman:

    Question for other California Folks being inundated with Proposition 26 and 27 commercials. I’m fairly sure the backers of 27 are low life scum of the earth so that one is an easy no (it’ll probably pass) …

    I have finally downloaded California voter guide material from the Secretary of State site, but have not really gone through it yet. However,  just based on the advertising, my initial impulse is to vote against both 26 and 27.

    It used to be that, in theory, ballot Propositions had to be narrowly written to address a single issue. But when the Prop 27 ads talked about how gambling revenue would be used to help indigenous people living in non gaming areas AND ALSO the general population of homeless people, I immediately figured that there was something deeply crappy about this ballot initiative.

    I also figure that something rotten is going on when two initiatives largely cover the same issue. But I may have a better idea about this stuff next week.

    I have also recently seen an ad where Governor Newsom asks people to vote against Prop 30. I wonder what is going on here.

  90. 90.

    Alison Rose 💙🌻💛

    @smintheus: I don’t know where Argentina was ranked in 1978, but Qatar is currently ranked #48. No one would that they could legitimately win the Cup, and even FIFA officials aren’t stupid enough to think they could get anyone to do so.

    (I know we’re supposed to think that any country in the tournament has an equal chance to win, but like…come on.)

  91. 91.

    El Muneco

    @Chetan Murthy: “I love how on every subject, there are a few commenters who turn out to be retired area experts.”

    I learned – back in the days of Usenet – _always_ assume that someone out there knows more than you do about the subject, even if you’re a recognized expert in the area. The number of people who confidently asserted something based on adequate chops, only to attract the attention of the person who literally wrote the seminal text on the subject, were and have been legion.

  92. 92.

    FelonyGovt

    @Dangerman: I’m voting “no” on both 26 and 27. No need to expand sports betting in California, in my opinion. The ads in support of 27 are outrageously dishonest and misleading.

  95. 95.

    Jacqueline Squid Onassis

    I haven’t missed a World Cup since I got turned onto it by my host family in Badajoz in 1982.  I knew as soon as it was awarded that I wouldn’t be watching a second of the 2022 tournament.  And that was years before I was queer in any noticeable way.

  97. 97.

    What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Chetan Murthy: They also own Spaten in Germany – inventors of the original Märzen lager, aka Oktoberfest beer. They don’t seem to have ruined that so far but it’s probably only a matter of time.

  98. 98.

    Chetan Murthy

    @What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: I don’t know if they’ve ruined Leffe: I started drinking it (like Tony Jay) when I lived in France in the early nineties.  It was just the most flavorful beer on tap at most brasseries and cafes.  And I’ve drank it ever since, so maybe my tongue has forgotten what the original tasted like.

    But …. crrrrikey, InBev is making a colossal mistake.  I won’t be buying any Leffe while the war goes on, that’s for sure.

  99. 99.

    Brachiator

    @Major Major Major Major:

    RE: What did we do to deserve this shit?

    Cripple the state legislature to encourage corruption and make it so that the only way to accomplish things is amending the constitution via plebiscite?

    Of course the initiative process was created around 1910 to deal with deeply corrupt and unresponsive state government.

  101. 101.

    James E Powell

    @Brachiator:

    It used to be that, in theory, ballot Propositions had to be narrowly written to address a single issue.

    If they want me to vote for it, they still have to be. I prefer my policy sausage-making be done at the sausage factory by experienced sausage makers.

  102. 102.

    surfk9

    @Brachiator: ​
     We had reps from the three gaming props (one pulled out before the primary) give us their pitch before the San Joaquin County Democratic Central Committee. The consensus was to vote against 26 & 27 and let them come back with a better proposal next time. BTW- prop 27 has a provision that would allow Texas SB8 type vigilantism be unleashed against card-rooms. Apparently there are a lot of jobs in that industry around CA that could be in jeopardy.

  103. 103.

    glc

    @Baud: I’m reading too much xkcd.

    that there will be a backlash and it’ll be gone in a couple of decades.

    I read that as “backslash.” And it still seemed to make sense, up till the last word.

    More likely an unmatched single quote.

  104. 104.

    Brachiator

    @trollhattan:

    A little tidbit on Proposition 26, from Politico.

    The measure would not only make tribal casinos and racetracks the home for sports betting in California, but also allow tribes to offer new games like roulette and craps. Tribes have long had exclusive rights to offer certain types of gambling, like slot machines, but state law prohibits roulette and dice games. The measure would also allow tribes to sue cardrooms, which they argue illegally offer games like blackjack.

    So, I guess this would target cardrooms in Gardena and Commerce and similar places, in order to benefit Indian casinos. And of course much of this is to get more of that sweet Vegas gambling money for California.

    I guess gambling regulation is necessary,  but it should be the responsibility of the state legislature, not left up to voters to try to figure out what is fair.

  105. 105.

    Layer8Problem

    @El Muneco:

    I learned – back in the days of Usenet – _always_ assume that someone out there knows more than you do about the subject, even if you’re a recognized expert in the area.

    This blog happily is aware of all Internet traditions.  :-)

  110. 110.

    stinger

    @phdesmond: Michael Sheen is an actor and has in fact played that H5 role with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford-upon-Avon.  His “pep talk” reeks of Shakespeare, underpinned by Welsh passion in general and love of the Wales football team in particular. The phrase he opens with, “Yma o hyd”, means “Still here” and is the title of the team’s unofficial anthem.  Just wonderful how he weaves it into the beginning and end of that impromptu speech! Likewise the concept of a song of hope, courage, and victory.

  111. 111.

    Kevin

    If you’d rather shop on Black Friday than watch USA vs England well im sorry we can’t be friends. Cmon people!

  112. 112.

    billcinsd

    @gene108: Americans have a very provincial attitude towards sports fandom, where fans are more vested in a city’s team and their university’s team than they are on any U.S. national team.

     

    That is not nearly as true in the US in soccer as opposed to in England.

    Also, the leagues in the Americas are generally off in the early winter, as are the Scandinavian leagues. It’s really only the Central and Western European leagues many of whom take a month off around Christmas but have much money and fans that are complaining.

    Finally, for the 1994 WC, games were played in Dallas and Orlando, in the afternoon.

  117. 117.

    Just One More Canuck

    @JoyceH: Don’t know where you are, but we are getting them here in Canada, but that could just be from whatever American station is on (Buffalo is the nearest US market to me)

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