Maybe This Just Isn't a Great Time for Us?

You know, sometimes things just aren't a good fit. Sometimes things don't really line up like you'd hope. Maybe this just wasn't the right time for this?

It's the beginning of the Copa del Mundo, the Coupe de Monde, the men's soccer World Cup! America, along with our friends allies neighbors inadvertently but adjacently-placed geopolitical entities Mexico and Canada, are hosting the festivities this time around. Mexico becomes the first ever three-time host (1970, 1986), the USA gets its second run at it (1994), and Canada is just delighted to be here. Overlapping with America's 250th July 4th celebration and just two years out from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, it should be a joyous occasion.

It should have been a joyous occasion. It really could have been. But it's shaping up to be a farce, a cash grab, a display of the worst of present-day America and the worst of every-day-in-recent-memory FIFA. Shall we count the ways?

Let's lead off with the concept of a massive tourist event involving people hailing from countries from every continent on the globe. This should have be a freebie.

It's not.

Trying to operate a gigantic and global event in the midst of a massive, sweeping, vindictive, and blatantly racist crackdown on migrants, legal and otherwise? Kind of problematic. We have barred Iranian team staff from entering the country purely on the basis of their nationality (and during a war in which we began, we have prosecuted, and we continue to propagate even today). We have prevented a Somali referee, dreaming of nothing more than doing his job here, from setting foot on our land, purely based on his ethnicity (though we should all "chill and relax," says FIFA head Gianni Infantino aka Johnny Baby). There will be hundreds of stories just like this in the coming days. Reasonably alarmed by the prospect of traveling to the United States amidst this atmosphere, our hotels are massively underbooked, especially compared to our co-hosts in Canada and Mexico.

It should be wonderful. And yet: This is not shaping up to be a good time.

Lest you think that FIFA might be bothered by these events, I offer one word: nah. They're pretty chill with authoritarian rule of various shapes and sizes. See: 2018 Russia, 2022 Qatar. Is this recency bias? Again, nah. 1934 Italy. Mussolini! 1978 Argentina. Military Junta! For fuck's sake, they gave decrepit fascist Spain the 1982 World Cup, although Franco had the good sense to keel over before the event began. They might not want authoritarian leadership in their hosts, but they're not that opposed to the project.

I find it somewhat troubling to say this, but hey: at least Qatar and Russia had the decency to try and use this as a sportswashing event. They attempted to get some goodwill from it all, as concocted and ridiculous and poorly operated as it may have been. The USA? We're showing the entirety of the world entirety of our very large ass with this one. Metaphorically and literally speaking, we're talking a big game and we're going to get our shit kicked in before the knockout stage.

And we deserve it.

We're in a sports calendar dead-zone and I will not look any kind of gift sports horse in the mouth. I'm not a 24/7 soccer fan, but in this economy? Hell yes, I'm getting into the beautiful game for a month.

But it's worth noting this before we dive in to the festivities: we, America, are an infinitely flawed host. We're a marbled, glorious mansion with busted plumbing, terrible appetizers, and a loud and callous ignorance of the servants around us. We're a rough bar with a zealous bouncer and a purposefully unaware clientele rocking blindfolds and earplugs. We're a boisterous, raucous block party with illegal fireworks, stolen speakers, and patrons constantly shouting racial slurs. Things are not good.

This post is not to castigate anyone that might be excited for the games. I am too! And this isn't an ass-covering exercise (as a reminder, we are very much a non-corporate enterprise here at OTR and we don't have an ass to cover). But it's important to note this at the beginning of this continent-wide production:

The next few weeks should be fun. God, I hope that they are. We'll be here watching the games as they go, no matter what. But there will be appalling stories of racial profiling and blatant grift and unmitigated and ugly jingoism too. And dammit, we're going to talk about all of that as well.