the games are coming sportsfans!
13/07/24 01:35
I’ve never been a great sports fan. I kept up with sports enough to participate in intelligent conversations about various games and matches when I was serving as a pastor. I attended plenty of games, especially high school games, that involved members of the congregations that I served. I have cheered on Chicago teams, especially the Cubs baseball organization, since I lived in Chicago in the 1970’s. It is fairly easy to be a Chicago Cubs fan. The Cubs have only appeared in one World Series in my lifetime and they won that series in 2016. To be a Cubs fan is to remain loyal to a team that frequently loses. I’m a bit of a fan of underdogs in general, so being a Cubs fan seems to fit naturally.
When it comes to sports other than baseball, I try to know the rules enough to enjoy watching a game, but I seldom have much of an opinion about which team I would prefer to win. In general, I don’t enjoy watching games on television, and I’m not a big watcher of television in the first place.
However, sports are big with a lot of people and it is nearly impossible to ignore how much sports are part of the news of the world.
Although soccer isn’t the biggest sport in the United States, it is growing in popularity in our country and the enthusiasm around soccer matches seems to be increasing. The FIFA World Cup, held every four years, draws hundreds of thousands to live matches in stadiums and millions watch on television. FIFA requires cities that vie to host World Cup matches to have stadiums that seat a minimum of 40,000 fans. A game with 40,000 fans all in one stadium is bound to be a lively event.
The next FIFA World Cup will be held in 2026 and will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Sixteen cities will host matches during the event. We live between two of those cities. Lumen Field, in Seattle has a capacity of 69,000 fans, expandable to 72,000. It is about 100 miles from our home. BC Place in Vancouver holds 54,500 fans and is only 40 miles from our home.
The games are two years away and neither of the cities in our area will be hosting championship games. The tournament consists of 104 matches starting with 48 teams. As is the case with other sports brackets, teams are eliminated from the tournament with loses. The teams will be organized into 12 groups of 4 teams with the top 2 of each group plus the 8 best third-placed teams progressing to a round of 32 teams, followed by a rounds of 16, 8, 4, and finally 2 teams that will vie for the cup. The host cities in our area will only have games in the initial rounds when there are still plenty of teams in the bracket. After the round of 16, Seattle and Vancouver will no longer be host cities.
All of that is fairly complex. What is clear is that there will be a lot of soccer fans in our area during the summer of 2026 and some of those fans will be attending matches both in Seattle and Vancouver. That means that there will be an impact on all of the cities and towns between those two places. The impact is significant enough that cities in the corridor between Seattle and Vancouver have already been holding meetings of planners to assess the impact and plan for the events.
I’ve been told that many of the local hotels, motels, and vacation rentals are already booked by fans in preparation for the world cup. Those fans, however, are not the majority of those who will want to watch the matches because it is impossible to know which teams will be playing in specific cities beyond the very first round of matches. The big matches, in the round of 16, will be played by teams that are yet to be determined. And the number of fans will vary depending on the population of the countries where the teams originate.
It is possible that our little town will be overrun with soccer fans in early July with a round of 16 match in Seattle on July 6 and another in Vancouver on July 7.
Like the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD, there are already a few folks in our neighborhood who are planning to be gone when the crowds arrive. Like the years we lived in Rapid City, we are likely to stick around just to see the folks who come to visit. I’m inclined toward people watching and although I generally avoid crowds, they are good places to watch people.
It is surprising to me, however, that there is already talk about the impact of sports matches that will not take place for two more years. I really don’t know what I will be doing during the summer of 2026. I do know that my grandson’s birthday is July 12 and that I really enjoy celebrating birthdays with family members. I don’t know for sure where our daughter’s family will be living in two years. Air Force families have to be prepared to move as their service member’s assignments change. Although they live in South Carolina now, it doesn’t mean that we will be heading there to celebrate a birthday in two years.
It is safe to say that I’m a bigger fan of birthdays than I am of sports events. 2024 counts as a banner year for me. I have been able to be with all five of our grandchildren on their birthdays. I have plans to be with both of our children on their birthdays as well. The only birthday in our immediate circle that I will miss this year is our son-in-law, whose deployment meant that he was not able to be home for his birthday this year. As a result I’m holding out the possibility that I might have a year in the near future when I make it to all of the birthdays. I doubt that the World Cup will have any impact on my travel plans for 2026.
When it comes to sports other than baseball, I try to know the rules enough to enjoy watching a game, but I seldom have much of an opinion about which team I would prefer to win. In general, I don’t enjoy watching games on television, and I’m not a big watcher of television in the first place.
However, sports are big with a lot of people and it is nearly impossible to ignore how much sports are part of the news of the world.
Although soccer isn’t the biggest sport in the United States, it is growing in popularity in our country and the enthusiasm around soccer matches seems to be increasing. The FIFA World Cup, held every four years, draws hundreds of thousands to live matches in stadiums and millions watch on television. FIFA requires cities that vie to host World Cup matches to have stadiums that seat a minimum of 40,000 fans. A game with 40,000 fans all in one stadium is bound to be a lively event.
The next FIFA World Cup will be held in 2026 and will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Sixteen cities will host matches during the event. We live between two of those cities. Lumen Field, in Seattle has a capacity of 69,000 fans, expandable to 72,000. It is about 100 miles from our home. BC Place in Vancouver holds 54,500 fans and is only 40 miles from our home.
The games are two years away and neither of the cities in our area will be hosting championship games. The tournament consists of 104 matches starting with 48 teams. As is the case with other sports brackets, teams are eliminated from the tournament with loses. The teams will be organized into 12 groups of 4 teams with the top 2 of each group plus the 8 best third-placed teams progressing to a round of 32 teams, followed by a rounds of 16, 8, 4, and finally 2 teams that will vie for the cup. The host cities in our area will only have games in the initial rounds when there are still plenty of teams in the bracket. After the round of 16, Seattle and Vancouver will no longer be host cities.
All of that is fairly complex. What is clear is that there will be a lot of soccer fans in our area during the summer of 2026 and some of those fans will be attending matches both in Seattle and Vancouver. That means that there will be an impact on all of the cities and towns between those two places. The impact is significant enough that cities in the corridor between Seattle and Vancouver have already been holding meetings of planners to assess the impact and plan for the events.
I’ve been told that many of the local hotels, motels, and vacation rentals are already booked by fans in preparation for the world cup. Those fans, however, are not the majority of those who will want to watch the matches because it is impossible to know which teams will be playing in specific cities beyond the very first round of matches. The big matches, in the round of 16, will be played by teams that are yet to be determined. And the number of fans will vary depending on the population of the countries where the teams originate.
It is possible that our little town will be overrun with soccer fans in early July with a round of 16 match in Seattle on July 6 and another in Vancouver on July 7.
Like the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD, there are already a few folks in our neighborhood who are planning to be gone when the crowds arrive. Like the years we lived in Rapid City, we are likely to stick around just to see the folks who come to visit. I’m inclined toward people watching and although I generally avoid crowds, they are good places to watch people.
It is surprising to me, however, that there is already talk about the impact of sports matches that will not take place for two more years. I really don’t know what I will be doing during the summer of 2026. I do know that my grandson’s birthday is July 12 and that I really enjoy celebrating birthdays with family members. I don’t know for sure where our daughter’s family will be living in two years. Air Force families have to be prepared to move as their service member’s assignments change. Although they live in South Carolina now, it doesn’t mean that we will be heading there to celebrate a birthday in two years.
It is safe to say that I’m a bigger fan of birthdays than I am of sports events. 2024 counts as a banner year for me. I have been able to be with all five of our grandchildren on their birthdays. I have plans to be with both of our children on their birthdays as well. The only birthday in our immediate circle that I will miss this year is our son-in-law, whose deployment meant that he was not able to be home for his birthday this year. As a result I’m holding out the possibility that I might have a year in the near future when I make it to all of the birthdays. I doubt that the World Cup will have any impact on my travel plans for 2026.
