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Brian in Boston

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I'm not so sure about that. If for no other reason than the universal concerns about weather, I suspect they'd seriously consider the opportunity for a do-over.

That extra $5M was to build one of these:

simpsons-mr-burns-blocks-out-the-sun1-64

Weather problem solved.

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Is it me or does the $5 million dollar amount actually seem...small? I mean, I understand that it was the African countries but, I mean, these are Arabic royalty with oil money regarding one of the largest sports event, if not THE largest, in the world; you'd think you could get them up to nine-digit figures or something.

Hell, if $5 million is all it takes, I'm surprised America doesn't just come rolling with the dough the next time around.

It is a little bit of "inflation" from the money the USA spent to get the 1996 and 2002 Olympics. We were paying college tuition, getting tickets to the Super Bowl and The Oscars in addition to cash.

As for the USA just outspending the other bidders, Eddie Snowden gave the rest of the world issues to worry about regarding how we monitor everyone in terms of surveillance. That's kind of an issue for those whose world revolves around seediness.

No, Snowden's relevant in the bidding for international events. We're not exactly popular in a decent chunk of the world.

If human rights were considered when choosing a home nation, Qatar would've never won the initial bid in the first place. All that matters is the money in this situation. There's no rational reason behind choosing Qatar in terms of safety. Why should we assume Snowdens leak would have any form of impact on a World Cup bid selection if a country like Qatar had been picked?

It's all about the ability to move money and use power, and the United States can do that. I can't imagine Snowdens leaks will have any sort of impact on the ineffective bid committee that comes with World Cup politics.

Guess what, a large chunk of FIFA's representatives don't give a crap about human rights violations. However, they do see a semi-rare opportunity with Snowden to get a free poke of the eye in at the United States. Something that, again, they won't pass up as they are from smaller countries that the United States typically bosses around.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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Guess what , a large chunk of FIFA's representatives don't give a crap about human rights violations.

I stated this in my original post. Not sure why you're saying "Guess what". I stated that in my first sentence.

However, they do see a semi-rare opportunity with Snowden to get a free poke of the eye in at the United States. Something that, again, they won't pass up as they are from smaller countries that the United States typically bosses around.

I see what you're saying by the poor reception that Americans believe foreigners have of us. But the other countries that are competing against the United States were not much different. Here's the list of countries that competed against the United States:

-Australia : The only country competing without much controversy. Stadiums are smaller, less money, not as big of a tourist attraction, and obviously a lack of money in circulation.

- Japan/South Korea: both countries do not have the best reception from foreigners. There is also economic problems with citizens living in both countries and not spending money. Stadiums are smaller, North Korea nearby is a problem, much smaller tourist attraction, not the safest region.

Also, World Cup 2002 made significantly less than World Cup 1994, which was in the United States.

Quote from Wikipedia on World Cup 2002 ticket sales:

"The original domestic ticket allocation had fully sold out and the organising committee completed sales of tickets returned from the international allocation by the end of April. However, it was obvious at the opening matches that there were a significant number of empty seats.[21] It was gradually revealed that the World Cup Ticketing Bureau (WCTB) still had unsold tickets in its possession. After FIFA agreed to sell this inventory, JAWOC undertook sales over telephone and WCTB handled the internet sales.[22] For the second round Japan vs. Turkey match in Miyagi in particular, although it was reported by both parties that all tickets had been sold, some 700 seats remained empty."

So obviously, perception of a bad world cup leaves Japan and South Korea far from a realistic option.

- Qatar: In the most unstable region in the world. Perception of most countries isn't probably all that great. Stadiums haven't even been built yet, but there is plenty of money. Qatar won due to the money, this has been proven. The location wasn't desirable in any way to the FIFA Executive Committee.

- United States: World cup 1994 made the most financially of any World Cup. Stadiums are in place, weather is nice, and the build-up around it would be extravagant. Biggest country in terms of marketing and ability to expose the game.

Here's a link of the people who voted for World Cup 2018 and 2022:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Executive_Committee

The only countries included in that list that would hold some sort of anti-American agenda would be China and Russia. The African nations involved are given massive funding by the United States. The rest of the European nations involved in voting are allies. The United States helped Cyprus when their economy tanked. We have significant ties to helping Taiwan as well.

-----

To say that the Americans will not get the World Cup because of international relations is silly. International relations between Russia when they obtained both World Cup 2018 and the Olympics were far worse than the United States.

Snowden does not play any role in America, and no, not everybody voting hates America. Especially internationally acclaimed educated human beings.

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Don't kid yourself, Russia invested a lot of capital in demonstrating that, as far as international affairs were concerned, they were a kinder, gentler nation and a responsible state actor back when the votes were held for both the Olympics and the World Cup were held. In 2007/2010 they weren't the ones knocking over countries, we were.

Well, that and Russia was sitting on Europe's energy supply at the time, so they had a far heftier Sword of Damocles to hang over the rest of Europe, and Putin might care just enough to ratchet up oil and gas prices if he was upset.

Conversely, our government isn't going to do crap if you vote against us because of the NSA spying fiasco (which is good and appropriate), so it gives the other nations of the world the perfect opportunity to register their protest against our policies. Realpolitik at its finest.

EDIT-

The only countries included in that list that would hold some sort of anti-American agenda would be China and Russia. The African nations involved are given massive funding by the United States. The rest of the European nations involved in voting are allies. The United States helped Cyprus when their economy tanked. We have significant ties to helping Taiwan as well.

WE'VE BEEN SPYING ON THE CITIZENS OF OUR ALLIES! We may have been aided and abetted by their own intelligence agencies, but by golly the NSA's been looking at their metadata too, and thanks in part to Snowden their citizens know it.

On 8/1/2010 at 4:01 PM, winters in buffalo said:
You manage to balance agitation with just enough salient points to keep things interesting. Kind of a low-rent DG_Now.
On 1/2/2011 at 9:07 PM, Sodboy13 said:
Today, we are all otaku.

"The city of Peoria was once the site of the largest distillery in the world and later became the site for mass production of penicillin. So it is safe to assume that present-day Peorians are descended from syphilitic boozehounds."-Stephen Colbert

POTD: February 15, 2010, June 20, 2010

The Glorious Bloom State Penguins (NCFAF) 2014: 2-9, 2015: 7-5 (L Pineapple Bowl), 2016: 1-0 (NCFAB) 2014-15: 10-8, 2015-16: 14-5 (SMC Champs, L 1st Round February Frenzy)

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I'm not so sure about that. If for no other reason than the universal concerns about weather, I suspect they'd seriously consider the opportunity for a do-over.

They'd consider it but I just wouldn't be surprised if it ended up being "We revoted and its still Qatar!"

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  • 1 month later...

Bump...

As 2026 (the 250th Birthday of the Declaration of Independence) seems to be the carrot which FIFA is teasing the USA.

FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke told Brazil newspaper Globo: "What we see in the United States is staggering. The audience is unprecedented, more than the NBA. The country has the largest level of youth soccer in the world, 20 million young people playing. There is a commitment from FIFA to work with US Soccer and I think after 2022, they have an interest in hosting the 2026 World Cup."

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has been equally impressed by the American reaction. He told Press Association Sport: "It's fantastic, the level of interest in the USA is very high. This World Cup is really getting under people's skin the quality of the football is incredible."


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The level of interest in NYC was amazing. Walk down any street in Manhattan during a match, and cheers ring out from every bar and restaurant you pass. Offices shut down during matches, as conference rooms got repurposed into viewing parties. Doubly so when the US was playing. During that last match, I was walking through Midtown and there were several impromptu sidewalk gatherings as dozens of New Yorkers gathered around to peer in windows or watch on temporary projection screens at sidewalk cafés. It was marvelous.

I hope NYCFC can tap into just a little of that spirit. Gods know that we love the sport in this city; good we'll finally have a team in MLS.

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The level of interest in NYC was amazing. Walk down any street in Manhattan during a match, and cheers ring out from every bar and restaurant you pass. Offices shut down during matches, as conference rooms got repurposed into viewing parties. Doubly so when the US was playing. During that last match, I was walking through Midtown and there were several impromptu sidewalk gatherings as dozens of New Yorkers gathered around to peer in windows or watch on temporary projection screens at sidewalk cafés. It was marvelous.

I hope NYCFC can tap into just a little of that spirit. Gods know that we love the sport in this city; good we'll finally have a team in MLS.

I watched extra time against Belgium on the sidewalk looking through the window of a bar with about 40 other people since regulation ended right at the end of the work day. Never would have expected the bar would be full, let alone have a huge crowd watching outside through the windows.
Wordmark_zpsaxgeaoqy.jpg

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The level of interest in NYC was amazing. Walk down any street in Manhattan during a match, and cheers ring out from every bar and restaurant you pass. Offices shut down during matches, as conference rooms got repurposed into viewing parties. Doubly so when the US was playing. During that last match, I was walking through Midtown and there were several impromptu sidewalk gatherings as dozens of New Yorkers gathered around to peer in windows or watch on temporary projection screens at sidewalk cafés. It was marvelous.

I hope NYCFC can tap into just a little of that spirit. Gods know that we love the sport in this city; good we'll finally have a team in MLS.

Honestly, its as if you're daring Panthers to come along and respond to this.

Welcome to DrunjFlix

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The level of interest in NYC was amazing. Walk down any street in Manhattan during a match, and cheers ring out from every bar and restaurant you pass. Offices shut down during matches, as conference rooms got repurposed into viewing parties. Doubly so when the US was playing. During that last match, I was walking through Midtown and there were several impromptu sidewalk gatherings as dozens of New Yorkers gathered around to peer in windows or watch on temporary projection screens at sidewalk cafés. It was marvelous.

I hope NYCFC can tap into just a little of that spirit. Gods know that we love the sport in this city; good we'll finally have a team in MLS.

Same thing here. The large plazas had thousands of people watching on big screens on the sides of buildings, bars were packed, sidwwalk gatherings, work was empty, etc.

That being said, as long as the NBA and NFL remain as big as they are, pay multi-millions, and can be reached by relatively easy-to-follow paths (HS to D1 college to Pro), the best of those kids playing soccer are going to migrate to other sports once they reach HS (or at least their senior year.)

My HS football and baseball teams had some athletes who were amazing soccer players but gave it up to focus on getting scholarships at those other sports. If that doesn't change, I just don't see soccer being a relatively big deal in the US outside of the "USA USA USA" crowd that the World Cup inspires.

I have no idea how old the average soccer player is (like do pros regularly start out at age 17? 22?) but maybe if USA Soccer can work with the big college conferences to get their matches on TV and make a spectacle of them like they do for football, and if MLS had a US College draft (I have no idea if they do or not) that would show that there is a direct path to the top* and $$$.

*the US top - obviously the real top is overseas... for now.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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The level of interest in NYC was amazing. Walk down any street in Manhattan during a match, and cheers ring out from every bar and restaurant you pass. Offices shut down during matches, as conference rooms got repurposed into viewing parties. Doubly so when the US was playing. During that last match, I was walking through Midtown and there were several impromptu sidewalk gatherings as dozens of New Yorkers gathered around to peer in windows or watch on temporary projection screens at sidewalk cafés. It was marvelous.

I hope NYCFC can tap into just a little of that spirit. Gods know that we love the sport in this city; good we'll finally have a team in MLS.

Same thing here. The large plazas had thousands of people watching on big screens on the sides of buildings, bars were packed, sidwwalk gatherings, work was empty, etc.

That being said, as long as the NBA and NFL remain as big as they are, pay multi-millions, and can be reached by relatively easy-to-follow paths (HS to D1 college to Pro), the best of those kids playing soccer are going to migrate to other sports once they reach HS (or at least their senior year.)

My HS football and baseball teams had some athletes who were amazing soccer players but gave it up to focus on getting scholarships at those other sports. If that doesn't change, I just don't see soccer being a relatively big deal in the US outside of the "USA USA USA" crowd that the World Cup inspires.

I have no idea how old the average soccer player is (like do pros regularly start out at age 17? 22?) but maybe if USA Soccer can work with the big college conferences to get their matches on TV and make a spectacle of them like they do for football, and if MLS had a US College draft (I have no idea if they do or not) that would show that there is a direct path to the top* and $$$.

*the US top - obviously the real top is overseas... for now.

1-MLS does have a draft for college players and always had in some form or another.

2-Turning into soccer at the HS level is essentially too late, plus on the college side, the SEC, which typically has the best athletes (football, baseball, track) only has two schools which have men's soccer as a varsity sport...South Carolina and Kentucky. They don't care, even though it has a max scholarship of 9.9 scholarships per team.

MLS and US Soccer has put $$$ into soccer academies, but did so on a large scale very late since it formally started in 2007

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I don't mean "turn to soccer at a HS level" - I mean don't turn away from soccer at the HS level.

If I'm a great soccer player and the only way I have to "make it" in soccer is to forgo college and play overseas or at acadamies or travel teams etc. then why wouldn't I go to college and try to make it in another sport that I'm also really good at?

That model works for Canadian hockey because Canada, but it's not going to work here. My uneducated opinion is that the model for success in US soccer should be smilar to the other sports, which of course requires an investment. Maybe US Soccer could lobby the NCAA to allow for more scholarships, or fund the broadacst of games, or do something to make it more of a big deal than it is.

I'll admit that I just don't "get it", and if Soriandude things it's because I'm not as smart as him, then LOL, but I can't deny how awesome the atmosphere is and how big it is elsewhere and in a country with a pool 300 million people and state of the art facilities, there's no reason that the US can't dominate (or at least compete at a very high level)... other than the good players don't want to play.

"The views expressed here are mine and do not reflect the official opinion of my employer or the organization through which the Internet was accessed."

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I don't know enough about hockey to know what that means. But MLS clubs are starting to work with affiliate clubs in lower divisions.

The junior system in Canada, the OHL, QMJHL, and WHL. Kids 16-20. Travelling teams throughout Canada (with a few American clubs) who are drafted into the NHL.

It's Wikepedia, but it's accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Hockey_League

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junior_ice_hockey

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I don't know enough about hockey to know what that means. But MLS clubs are starting to work with affiliate clubs in lower divisions.

And they are, but the problem is that US Soccer started the academy system in 2007, which was 13 years after the MLS started and 18 years FIFA awarded USA '94 to the United States.

Population is key but when we were finally starting an academy, Kevin De Bruyne (aka Prince Harry/Opie), Lukaku and Hazard were in the Belgian system.

US Soccer has a Latino issue since there were only three Latinos on the team. South Dallas native Omar Gonzalez, Alejandro Bedoya, and Nick Rimando made the team.

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