World Cup 2018 and 2022 Bids

Today FIFA awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar, respectively.

Obviously, I'm a bit disappointed that the USA wasn't awarded the 2022 World Cup. Earlier this year we had bids in for both years, but as the selection drew nearer we pulled out of the 2018 race. I was hoping, albeit with tempered expectations, that we would win and Denver would be a host city. In the end, I just think it came down to the fact that we didn't fit into FIFA's current philosophy of taking the tournament to every corner of the Earth. And, we offered nothing more then a big and successful tournament just like when we hosted it in 1994. Vanilla.

Qatar won in my opinion because it offered things that the USA bid couldn't, namely ridiculously lavish venues (sheik dinero). Technology will be pushed to the limits in building Qatar 2022. For example, they are going to build an island and place a stadium on it. They are going to build a stadium with exterior walls completely constructed (to the eye) of television screens that will dwarf what we have at Cowboy stadium. They are going to reportedly build stadiums that can be taken apart after the tournament and donated/shipped to developing countries for reuse/reconstruction. If you know anything about this region of the world, they can and will build anything - no matter how extravagant it is. If they have to, they'll air condition the entire country. Really, our bid was boring in comparison.

Perhaps our bid was doomed from the very start just because of our location. Qatar 2022 will be the first time a World Cup has been played in the Middle East. Following the FIFA trend/philosophy, Qatar may have been the front runner from the start as long as they were able to convince FIFA they could successfully host the tournament. Here are the recent tournaments/awards: Japan/Korea (Asia - 1st time) in 2002, South Africa (Africa - 1st time) in 2010, Brazil (South America - 1st time since 1978) in 2014, Russia (Eastern Europe/Russia - 1st time) in 2018, and Qatar (Middle East - 1st time) in 2022. I know that they have a policy of rotating the venues, but the trend under Sepp Blatter has been to take the tournament to every region on Earth, even if it isn't the most logical or best choice. Why else did they decide for the first time to award 2 World Cups at the same time? It was about pushing through a vision, philosophy, or agenda (call it whatever you want) before the changing of the guard. It happens all the time in politics.

Speaking of politics, that's what this process is all about. Anyone who thinks this is a fair and objective process is naive. Just as all of our own politicians are crooked, so too are the head honchos at FIFA. I'm not saying that I like it or agree with it. I am saying that it always has been and always will be, political. Trading votes and trying to sell them, among other things in the news, is not surprising in the least. What governing body or government doesn't engage in practices like this? That's just what politics are about and why I don't like them. Perhaps the main point I want to make about it all is that as a fan I really don't care how the hosts are selected. To be clear, it bothers me on a moral level but not on an entertainment level. As long as the tournament is successful and there is integrity with what happens on the field (i.e. results are legitimate), I really wouldn't care if the World Cup is played on a floating iceberg or on the surface of the moon. Naturally, that means how a site is selected isn't much of a talking point for me.

Using this summer's successful tournament in problem-ridden South Africa, I'm sure FIFA and others involved have enough horsepower and resources to stage a good tournament almost anywhere in the world.

We Made It Home

1,160 miles in exactly 16.5 hours. Including stops, that's an average of 70.3 miles per hour. With two little kids, that's got to be some kind of record.

We got up very early Tuesday morning (Stacey 2 a.m., Aaron 3 a.m.) and left the house at 4:45 a.m. Spokane time. The roads were clear the entire way across Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, which is why we decided to drive home when we did. There had been a lot of snow at the end of the Thanksgiving weekend and another storm was rolling in. In short, a break in the weather. While we drove home on Tuesday Spokane got another 9 inches of snow. Money.

The roads had been cleared by the holiday travelers, both of snow and of cars. There were hardly any cars on the road. In fact, from Spokane to the Denver metro area I wasn't passed by another car. I set the cruise control to "5 over" and away we went. I did all the passing. Technically, 1 car did pass me but shortly afterward I passed him while he was pulled over at a rest stop. Does that count since I saw it? The jury is out on that one.

Julia and Jonathan did pretty well, all things considered. Oddly enough, I passed a pickup truck on the interstate in Wyoming that had a cat sitting on the seat. I did the exact same thing with Kitty on that stretch of road when I moved from Spokane to California (via Colorado and Texas). The cat seemed pretty content to be free and able to watch the world pass by.

Holiday Light Show On Lake Coeur D'Alene

The night before we left Stacey's parents and the family headed over to the resort for their holiday light show. The hotel had decorated the hotel lake front with Christmas lights and constructed a North Pole on the other side of the lake. For about 45 minutes we chugged along the lake in our holiday boat looking at Christmas lights and the waterfront.

After some hot chocolate and light viewing, everyone gathered at the front of the boat to see Santa. He read Julia and Jonathan's (and every child's) name from the "nice list" and then we saw them light the large Christmas tree. The Christmas lights on the waterfront were very pretty.

Uncle P.A.T.

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool

That was quite the entertaining match. Both teams really went for the win and attacked. We missed a penalty and had the ball cleared off of the line, but somehow found a way to score two goals. The winning goal was in the 93rd minute - essentially one of the last plays of the game.

It's good to see Lennon score after being out for awhile. It's ironic that Lennon "did" Liverpool (insert Beatles and Titanic jokes here). VDV may be out a month with a hamstring tear. That's a big blow but at least it happened at the same time Defoe returned from injury. Perhaps the best thing about this last-second victory is that it places us 1 point out of 4th place and only 4 points behind 2nd and 3rd. We've been able to keep it close in the league despite playing in the UCL. This is good news since there will be a UCL break for a few months over the holidays allowing us to completely focus on the league.

Snowy Spokane

It's pretty much snowed the entire time we've been here. When we arrived last Saturday, there wasn't any snow on the ground at the house. I don't know how much snow has fallen in the last week, but there is about a foot of it still on the ground. We're going to have a little break early next week, but then another storm is coming mid to late week.

I've decided that I like snow as long as it melts. It's nice to have it falling and sticking for the holidays, but it also prevents you from doing anything outside. Add snow and the lack of sun, and all we've felt like doing is sleeping, eating, and watching (TV). We are getting a better idea of what a true winter is like after living in CA, HI, and now CO. Colorado Springs doesn't get enough snow for my taste but at least it melts quickly and it stays sunny. We used to get a lot more snow in the mid-1980s then we do now. Other places get more. Weather patterns change.

I'm glad we've got the 4 Runner up here. This past week a 4WD vehicle has been a necessity.

Roughin' It In Spokompton

Happy Thanksgiving

Julia is thankful for duct tape.

Tottenham 3 - 0 Bremen

Glory, glory Tottenham Hotspur! Tonight's solid win advanced us out of the group stage and into the knockout round of 16 for the first time in history.

Happy Sweet 16 Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. A few days ago you beat Arsenal away for the first time in almost as many years and as of today, are one of the elite clubs in Europe and the world. Success is fleeting, but tonight, you're up there with the best.

We have one more group game left. This last match day will determine whether or not we win the group or finish runners up. All we have to do is match or better Inter Milan. A win and we're first. The ideal finish would be Tottenham winning their group and facing one of the weaker second place finishers. At this point, trying to be as objective as possible, there are only a few teams that really scare me. I think that if we win our group and the draws go our way, the semi-finals might be attainable. Even if we crash and burn in the first knockout round though, this tournament has already been a success.

Goals: Kaboul (8), Modric (45 +1), Crouch (79)

Spokane Movie Night