I posted this in my over-35 thread... but thought I'd share this here with everyone at large. As I like to say, life is what happens between World Cups.
"On an entirely different note, my third bottle of SN arrived today. If I do check out this time as planned, my one regret will be missing the FIFA WC. As I like to say, life is what happens between two World Cups. Strangely enough for an American, I'm likelier to be a soccer pub than a sports bar. May be due to my "globe-trotting" years? WC, I'd move into a favorite soccer pub for a month. I have always been skeptical of club football, because what's happening with Man City and PSG -"buy everyone up"- was always a chance. But, "national" soccer - there was an element of chance and passion: think how Hungary in the 50s, Dutch Total Football and of course ol' Brazil pleased everyone. But now with FIFA marketing everything more than Coke and Pepsi - even that's going downhill.
Holding it over in the desert, even the year-end heat is madness. It's like "may be least dehydrated man win!" than "May be best team win!" If it were to start in its usual time in June-July, I'd delay my exit long enough.
Here is my history in World Cups:
1986: Was too young to watch. But caught the Hand of God and highlights on tape.
1990: What is a Cameroon? Everyone went. Roger Mila. Sub-par Brazil. The Dutch dream team wilted against "always efficient" Germany. Andreas Breheme.
1994: Probably the most unspectacular cup I've seen. Romario, Bebeto, Baggio... was like one of those package tours.
1998: That Michael Owen goal. What's name getting kicked off for kicking while down right under ref's nose. The Dutch. Bergkamp not much, but the de Boers. Somehow didn't make it. I'd just been hired by a Dutch company... Thuram. Brazil out to have won... but France did play well... and Ronaldo - that mystery illness before the final. Like the bookies spiked his food or something. A good cup in most ways.
2002: Now, that was something. Unfancied Germans somehow in the finals. Turkey and Korea have a dream. And Rivaldo. Rivaldo. Rivaldo. Brazil were streets ahead. Deserving winners in my book.
2006: Messy finish. Another Zidane flare up. Brazil dream team wasn't gelling, you could see that even before the QF. Didn't like how the Italians won it. Less football more gamesmanship.
2010: Strange experience for everyone I suppose. Unpredictable Jabulani ball. Tiki-taka play. Spain won as expected. Watchable WC but, largely went by script excepting may be the Suarez incident and few others.
2014: I thought not going to Brazil for the "Brazil WC" would be the greatest regret of my life. But... looks like Brazil the nation, was a mess by then... hardly the happy place 10 years earlier.... Lula-Dilma ouster... the favelas controversy and all that... over-packaged event... undercooked Brazil team... shambolic largely. And of course, the German youth machine had matured, and won. Who'd deny them their win? In my reading, 2006 was when it started getting away from being about the game to about politics and marketing. By 2014, too glaring.
2018: Some games were fun. Even some unfancied teams holding their own was nice to watch. And the two GOATs again not getting their respective teams a cup. Also showed how far ahead the European teams are, and how Euro-centric the game has become. German implosion. Spanish fading. French suddenly seemed a colossus. Brazil getting more unwatchable with you-know-who's antics. Even WCs, thanks to Fifa overselling and Eurocentric play due to club football, have kind of brought a monotony to the WCs.
2022: Haven't caught a single qualifier game... life's issues have caught up. The WC finals.... I really don't plan to be around :)
"
"On an entirely different note, my third bottle of SN arrived today. If I do check out this time as planned, my one regret will be missing the FIFA WC. As I like to say, life is what happens between two World Cups. Strangely enough for an American, I'm likelier to be a soccer pub than a sports bar. May be due to my "globe-trotting" years? WC, I'd move into a favorite soccer pub for a month. I have always been skeptical of club football, because what's happening with Man City and PSG -"buy everyone up"- was always a chance. But, "national" soccer - there was an element of chance and passion: think how Hungary in the 50s, Dutch Total Football and of course ol' Brazil pleased everyone. But now with FIFA marketing everything more than Coke and Pepsi - even that's going downhill.
Holding it over in the desert, even the year-end heat is madness. It's like "may be least dehydrated man win!" than "May be best team win!" If it were to start in its usual time in June-July, I'd delay my exit long enough.
Here is my history in World Cups:
1986: Was too young to watch. But caught the Hand of God and highlights on tape.
1990: What is a Cameroon? Everyone went. Roger Mila. Sub-par Brazil. The Dutch dream team wilted against "always efficient" Germany. Andreas Breheme.
1994: Probably the most unspectacular cup I've seen. Romario, Bebeto, Baggio... was like one of those package tours.
1998: That Michael Owen goal. What's name getting kicked off for kicking while down right under ref's nose. The Dutch. Bergkamp not much, but the de Boers. Somehow didn't make it. I'd just been hired by a Dutch company... Thuram. Brazil out to have won... but France did play well... and Ronaldo - that mystery illness before the final. Like the bookies spiked his food or something. A good cup in most ways.
2002: Now, that was something. Unfancied Germans somehow in the finals. Turkey and Korea have a dream. And Rivaldo. Rivaldo. Rivaldo. Brazil were streets ahead. Deserving winners in my book.
2006: Messy finish. Another Zidane flare up. Brazil dream team wasn't gelling, you could see that even before the QF. Didn't like how the Italians won it. Less football more gamesmanship.
2010: Strange experience for everyone I suppose. Unpredictable Jabulani ball. Tiki-taka play. Spain won as expected. Watchable WC but, largely went by script excepting may be the Suarez incident and few others.
2014: I thought not going to Brazil for the "Brazil WC" would be the greatest regret of my life. But... looks like Brazil the nation, was a mess by then... hardly the happy place 10 years earlier.... Lula-Dilma ouster... the favelas controversy and all that... over-packaged event... undercooked Brazil team... shambolic largely. And of course, the German youth machine had matured, and won. Who'd deny them their win? In my reading, 2006 was when it started getting away from being about the game to about politics and marketing. By 2014, too glaring.
2018: Some games were fun. Even some unfancied teams holding their own was nice to watch. And the two GOATs again not getting their respective teams a cup. Also showed how far ahead the European teams are, and how Euro-centric the game has become. German implosion. Spanish fading. French suddenly seemed a colossus. Brazil getting more unwatchable with you-know-who's antics. Even WCs, thanks to Fifa overselling and Eurocentric play due to club football, have kind of brought a monotony to the WCs.
2022: Haven't caught a single qualifier game... life's issues have caught up. The WC finals.... I really don't plan to be around :)
"
