User blog:JERealize/Progress Bar: Issue 046

(May 8, 2014)

Welcome, everyone. This is Part 3 of my recent Progress Bar set.

World Cup USA 2026?
Okay, so some of you know about the upcoming Brazilian World Cup, right? (What am I saying? Of course you do! Heck, one of our users practically lives next door to the Maracanã.) Anyways, I was thinking over the past few months as to who would host the 2026 World Cup and thought that... maybe... the United States has a better chance at 2026 than at 2022.

Let's get the obvious stuff out of the way first. The US has a mass-load of stadiums, due to our love of football. (You know, the less popular one, globally. The one with the quarterbacks.) We had proposed 21 stadiums in 18 cities to be used for a 2022 bid, which would be the most stadiums used in a World Cup. (Wait, the previous record was Korea-Japan 2002 with 20? And Spain 1982 had 17? The record-breaking suddenly seems less impressive.) Plus, not much money needs to be spent improving US infrastructure, so there you go.

However, there are a few wild cards that some people over the Internet overlooked. 2026 will also be America's 250th year since the signing and ratifying of the Declaration of Independence. Listen, FIFA, this is for you. Your call on Qatar? That $200,000,000,000+ bill you got to pay? You could use that money to pay off damages for California's next major earthquake. Just because you want to develop a sport in other countries, that doesn't mean you have to prepare one small country to pump in so many stadiums per square mile. What will you do with Qatar after 2022, anyway? Qatar's going to become a white elephant after 2022.

The US, though... This is not to say we want 2022. I prefer we get 2026 in the USA while you share 2022 with the Emirates. (That, however, is a story for another day.) If we hold the ultimate soccer tournament with all the big players, combining the patriotism of 250 years since independence, it'd make soccer America's next apple pie. (Apple pie wasn't originally American.) We'd be talking much more of a boost to American interest in the sport than in 1994. And let me point out another idea.

If you really... really want to pull out a lot of money from this event... Because, think about it, the USA has so many stadiums that meet the criteria, that a lot of them had to be cut from the bid. You could throw in a dozen more stadiums and create a 40, 48, or even a 64-team tournament, adding opportinities for many more national teams to show their stuff and amp up the sport. I mean, Russia wanted a 40-team tournament for 2018, but they're building stadiums from scratch, so it's not a reliable option. Maybe this would be a one-time thing, but the US could do it. They could. And you could even make it a joint bid with Canada and/or Mexico. Then again, I'm a dreamer with the joint bid part.

And besides, who else could try to host the game outside the US? Like I said, Canada and Mexico may have interests, but the biggest economic downturn ever is coming next decade, and, as I said before, building new stadiums from scratch for one-time use is not a reliable option. Neither Europe nor Asia can host, as per the rules. South America should be saving up for 2030, the Centennial Tournament in Uruguay-Argentina. Africa is not qualified to start yet another bid with what little stability they soon will have, and Oceania... They're just a bunch of islands. Even with Australia, what chance do they have?

Sorry about the rant, people who read this, but as I was saying, USA 2026 would turn the game into a legend, as well as cause soccer to rival tackle football in popularity in America. Besides, one of my little sisters is set to graduate high school in that year, and I'd love to take her to Levi's Stadium to watch a game as a graduation present. So, consider the facts.

ASPC Elections: Results
Oh, and I'd like to point out that I lost the ASPC Vice-President Election. I only got 27% of the vote.

Top 10: Most Likely TD Campers To Be My Friends
So, as far as I know, this is my first Top 10, as well as the first Top 10 of its kind here on this wiki. Recently, I was thinking as to how these characters would fit into my life if they existed in real life. As such, I've decided to create this sort of project. How do they stand as potential classmates?

(Note: No TDPI characters will be used, as their personalities have not been properly assessed as of yet.)
 * 10:
 * 9:
 * 8:
 * 7:
 * 6:
 * 5:
 * 4:
 * 3:
 * 2:
 * ...And the #1 most likely contestant to be my friend is...

Wait a minute...
The above is blank? Give me a minute... I'll try to fix this by next issue. Thank you for your time.

I believe in Clarke's Third Law. (Talk | Blogs | Contributions) 04:28, May 9, 2014 (UTC)