Trail Cam Update

I'm sorry to say, no more bear sightings over the last few weeks.  But there is definitely a coyote in the neighborhood.

USA 2-0 Australia

Congrats to the US for making the knockout stages.  But as I've been telling friends and colleagues, I still don't think you're anywhere near good enough to win the World Cup.  But try telling that to the fickle, fair weather American fan.  Especially after another win.  Another win against a very mediocre opponent.  But I'm glad Seattle did good.  The crowd was hot, the city was rocking, the weather cooperated, and all the scenic shots made Seattle look amazing.  This was probably the biggest sporting event to ever take place in the city.  That might be eclipsed later in the tournament, when we have 2 knockout games being held here.  Those are the ones I really tried to get tickets for, but I just couldn't justify it at the price they were offering.  I doubt that price will come down much at all nearer the games.  Tickets for today's game were going for at least $2000.  And that's for the cheapest seats.  Nope.  But I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere today - apparently driving anywhere near the city was horrendous (and I've already had to deal with driving loads over the last couple of days just to attend a couple of team lunches).  I think they close a lot of downtown to traffic during the World Cup matches.  It looked absolutely packed.  And it looked like a great atmosphere, but I can't deal with those kinds of crowds.  I'm happy to watch the game at home in "RealTime4K" on TV. 

Awkward

From this:

To this:

Billy no-mates.

England 4-2 Croatia

Well, I don't think I'm going to make any more World Cup predictions.  This game did not go how I expected it to go.  At all.  I missed watching it live as I was at a Chinese restaurant for a team lunch (among the culinary delights that I did not partake in - sea snails and jellyfish).  But it was impossible to avoid the score - we had a banquet room upstairs, but there was a big screen downstairs showing the game.  A good result for sure, showing some encouraging resilience and some surprising attacking flair (predictably, we are always going to be a threat at set pieces) - but there is an awful long way to go in the tournament, so I am not going to read too much into the performance.  In past World Cups, you didn't mind if you started the tournament slowly as you really wanted to peak in the later rounds.  But with this stretched out tournament, including an extra knockout round, I don't know if you can really build up that momentum in the same way.  But a win is a win, and it does somewhat take the pressure off for the next couple of games - which cannot be a bad thing.

Goal Music

There may be many things I dislike about this World Cup, but one of the things I do approve of is the playing of some music in the stadium when a team scores.  It seems like each country has their own choice - so for example when Mexico scored, we got some mariachi music.  I believe the US plays the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird.  I'm wondering what will be England's goal music?  I pray to God it isn't Three Lions.  I hope we get to find out tomorrow.  Just for reference, this was apparently our choice in the last World Cup (though I don't remember them playing it after every goal):

Roasting

We are currently enduring a mini heatwave.  This is the third consecutive day where we are under a heat advisory.  I've had to drag my portable AC units out of hibernation for their first use of the year.  But they are not helping me sleep well.  But I think that is as much to do with my mattress as it is with the hot temperatures.  I've just ordered a mattress topper to see if that helps - otherwise I fear I will need a new mattress.  The heatwave was also unfortunate timing for the first World Cup match being held in Seattle (Belgium vs Egypt) today.  Perhaps one of the few games where the hydration breaks were actually necessary.  Apparently the match was well attended but there were still some empty seats.  And the ticket prices were still outrageous.  They are going to be even worse for the next game in Seattle, featuring the US.   

Irrational

I'm still getting my head around how I feel about this World Cup.  It's not hatred I think, more just distaste.  The actual games haven't been too bad so far.  However, it feels more like a "soccer" world cup than a "football" world cup.  If that makes sense.  Perhaps it's all the little tweaks and rule changes being implemented in this tournament (the worst of which is the hydration/advert break dividing the game into quarters).  Ian Wright said that the US has no idea about the spirit of the game.  I am in total agreement.  I would go further.  FIFA also has no idea about the spirit of the game - they are driven solely by corporate greed and corruption.  Yet I still end up watching way too many games.  And the more I watch the more I find to get on my nerves.  From the really annoying shadow of a drone flying about above a game, to the clearly artificially enhanced crowd noises on the broadcasts, to the absolutely unwatchable studio segments, to the fake attendance figures (I bet if I show up at Seattle stadium tomorrow for the Belgium vs Egypt game, I could probably get a free ticket just so that there is one less empty seat), to the ridiculousness that Scottish fans had to stay up past 4 am to see their team win (with so many games, how they couldn't find a more accommodating time slot is outrageous).  Did you know that Fox are doing a daily post-game talk show with James Corden.  James Corden!  I thought he was canceled - everybody found out that he was a total prick, and so nobody likes him.  I can't imagine this show gets any viewers whatsoever.  But the broadcaster is Fox, so this shouldn't really come as a surprise (hence why also one of the game analysts is MAGA-loving Alexi Lalas - an excruciatingly horrible presence in the studio even without the politics).  As I write this, we still haven't had a 0-0 game.  I am utterly convinced that England's first game will be the first 0-0 of the tournament and the most dour game of the tournament so far.