Spanning (part of) the globe to bring you off-field color from the largest sporting event on the planet.
I confess that the vibes for the World Cup felt off before the event started. FIFA's venality, Trump's gross sheen, visa issues for players and staff - all of those things combined to make me fear the worst. One week in and it seems I had it all wrong. We've witnessed if not a triumph then at least an upwelling of the human spirit. The world has come to North America, and North America has embraced it with arms wide open.
You can find any number of excellent game reports, so we'll take a different approach. In this first weekly recap, we'll share a few of the off-field things that caught our attention, the diversity of humanity that makes this event (and, not so subtly our nation) great.
"Rock, Chalk, Algeria" is a twist we didn't see coming. The African nation set up shop in Lawrence, KS, training at the University of Kansas in advance of their group stage matches, two of which are in Kansas City. And the small midwestern college town has gone all in to adopt the Fennecs.
Meanwhile, large cities are rolling out the red carpet, as well. But not before the guests pregame appropriately. Scotland fans drank a plane dry of beer, finished off the wine, as well, and then took over Boston.
A semi-on-field moment worth noting, now. Mexican striker Raul Jimenez has been on a bit of a rollercoaster over the past several years. He suffered a severe concussion with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 that kept him off the pitch for nine months. He still wears a padded headband as a result. He spent the last four years with Fulham, tallying 28 goals in 98 games as he rebuilt his confidence.
Jimenez is Mexico's second all-time leading scorer, with 46 goals for El Tri. None may have mattered more than his goal against South Africa in the tournament's first match. Jimenez had a poor World Cup in 2022, just two years removed from his injury. In March, he lost his father. So it's no wonder that this is how he reacted to scoring the 2026 World Cup's second goal:
The World Cup is being played in Canada and Mexico, in addition to the U.S. Which has led to some amazing fan interactions. Koreans and Mexicans in Guadalajara have become fast hermanos. Flip through all of the videos on this Instagram post:
And last, but most definitely not least, the traveling party that is the Dutch rolled into Texas, and the results have not disappointed.
All this and we're not even a full week into the festivities. Give me all the silliness and joy.
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This is a case for multiculturalism!
ReplyDeletejust wait until i get to the africans and the south americans!
ReplyDeletethe rest of the africans, i guess
ReplyDeleteI know interest in la copa is strong when my wife expectantly asks "Is there a game on?"
ReplyDeleteThis is a nice alternate-universe salve to the trailer trash that is happening on the White House lawn of late.
ReplyDeletei see the man is trying to keep raul jimenez's tears from you. here's an explanation: https://youtube.com/shorts/aF3rxagCzDE?si=p_i72fnCT-Ciap3J
ReplyDeletein important news of the day, the governor of virginia has interrupted her reign of vetos to announce the commencement of a “safe, legal & well-regulated cannabis market” on july 1, 2027. so we got that going for us. which is nice.
ReplyDeleteToo late, guv'nah. I've already got a guy. If the new market mirrors the taxes on booze, prices are going to be higher than Zman and I were after we smoked a j with Lance the hotel night watchman.
ReplyDeleteLance sounds like a good hang
ReplyDeleteOh, he was! We kept a trip journal that had it's first entry after Lance left four hellastoned whitefratboyz in our room. He offered up lots of wisdom, but our condition and his thick accent meant we only received a sliver.
ReplyDeleteLance was a mensch and he provided another case for the value of multiculturalism. Without his contributions our trip would have been wildly less entertaining. And he upped my joint-rolling game by 10X.
ReplyDeleteHe ripped the glue off the paper and warned us while wagging a finger, and somehow still rolling a spliff, that the glue is "bad for dee belly".
ReplyDeleteBetween Lance and Robbie the cab driver, we really got some cultural exchange going.
As those of us in my region's workforce development battalions are trying to get more and more young adults to go build and repair ships to ensure the Navy's fleet is ready to take on what's needed as a woefully insecure and fitfully brain-rotted commander-in-chief leads us into one gazillion-dollar foreign quagmire after another... open market weed works against us.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who needs such things to calm myself when the worst elements of trailer trash trumpster fire society have taken over the campground... Alrighty then. Smoke up, Johnny!
works against you because it makes it harder for prospective employees to pass drug tests?
ReplyDeleteRobbie significantly augmented my appreciation for Jimmy Cliff. I assume you don’t want welders operating torches whilst zooted.
ReplyDeleteThat is correct, Robbie. The big shipbuilder in our region has gone backwards on their testing recently thanks to new leadership aligned with the US “President.” Follicle tests have replaced urine tests and the ability to permit one strike for ganja has been eradicated from the process. It really does seem as if we don’t want to build those ships after all.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve been saying it for a long time now, it’s a $1 billion invention if you can come up with a device that detects whether you are high right now or whether you smoked a doob three weeks ago.
ReplyDeletelet's get to work!
ReplyDeletecompound ain't gonna buy itself
ReplyDeleteHoly crap, I almost just wrecked my car listening to Dave’s most recent Hamlet podcast episode. 2/3 of the way in, when he sings the Rockwell song insanely, I started laughing about as hard as I can, and it was all I could do not to crash.
ReplyDeleteIf one of the more science minded Gheorghies creates the billion dollar invention, I'll let them test it on me.
ReplyDelete