Of sports and geography
17/10/25 02:42
I’m not much of a sports fan. I often don’t pay attention to baseball until the championship series are being played. I’ve got a few favorite teams, but I’ve only attended a couple of Major League Baseball games in person. I can’t quote the statistics or even name many of the players. I’m even more ignorant about World Cup Soccer. I’ve watched a few games on television and I’ve seen the loyalty of Costa Rican fans.
I do know a bit about geography. As a result, I want to point out a bit of trivia that amuses me, even if it has little to do with the games and the players.
Trivia point number one: Toronto is south of Seattle. The American League Championship Series is currently tied two games to two. The first two games were played in Toronto, and Seattle won both of them. The next two were played in Seattle, and Toronto won them. The next game will be this afternoon in Seattle. The sixth game will be back in Toronto on Sunday, and if needed, the seventh game will be on Monday in Toronto. While the 49th parallel is the boundary between Canada and the US in the west, the border dips south through the Great Lakes, reaching its southernmost point at Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. Then it wanders northeast to Toronto, which is on the border next to New York State. Toronto is south of Rapid City, South Dakota, where we lived for 25 years. Travel between the two game sites is mostly east-west. If you were driving, it would be a 2,600-mile trip.
There are quite a few Toronto Blue Jays fans who have traveled south to watch the games in Seattle, and more will be there today. There is a bit of national pride involved, and some folks from Vancouver, BC, are ardent Blue Jays fans. Seattle still has the home-field advantage for today’s game, but that hasn’t been a factor in the series so far. There will, however, be a good section of Blue Jays fans in the stands.
Trivia point number two: There are no games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup scheduled for Boston. Gillette Stadium, host of some of the games, is in Foxborough, which is a half-hour drive south of the city. The location is of interest because earlier this week, the U.S. president threatened to force World Cup soccer games scheduled for Boston to move to another location, citing Mayor Wu as responsible for unspecified issues. “Your mayor is not good,” he told reporters. So, for the record, the stadium chosen by FIFA, the organization that selects the cities for World Cup games, is in a town that does not have a mayor and is run by a town manager and a five-person board. Politicians, however, frequently play loose with geography. The current president seems to have a bit less understanding of geography than some other politicians.
The president, however, is not restrained by facts. His reason for sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests appears to be based on five-year-old footage of Black Lives Matter protests that were replayed by Fox television. The people who live in Portland don’t think their city is a “hellhole.” My sister is a city bus driver in Portland. She goes to and from work and gets through her days without any problems, other than a few traffic snarls and an occasional ice storm. Portland is not a dangerous city, despite the presence of federal troops who have been met by people in Halloween costumes.
It is unclear whether or not the President has the political clout to change the venue of a World Cup game. Technically, no national leader has that power. On the other hand, Gianni Infantino, president of the governing body of FIFA, has a friendship with the President and was in the wings at the recent Gaza peace summit in Egypt. It is too late to change the venue of the games. It takes years of preparation to host those games. We live between two other cities slated to host the 2026 games, Vancouver, BC, and Seattle, WA. Hotel rooms and vacation rentals are already booked for the time around the World Cup matches. Soccer fans are dedicated to their teams and willing to travel and spend significant money to be present for the games.
Although it is not a point of geography, it might be of interest to note that the President doesn’t have a perfect track record in sports administration. Forty years ago, he was the owner of the New Jersey Generals of the old USFL. He convinced fellow team owners to shift their schedule from springtime, where they had an audience, to the fall, where they would compete with the NFL. The gambit failed, and the USFL imploded. He did, however, forge a friendship with one of the players on his team, Herschel Walker, whom he has now appointed to be the US ambassador to the Bahamas. I’m pretty sure that the President knows where the Bahamas are. I don’t know if the ambassador knows that the Bahamas is a sovereign country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, having gained its independence in the early 1970s. The Bahamas, by the way, have never before qualified to play in the World Cup. Their men’s team has already been eliminated from the qualification process for the 2026 cup.
Soccer is confusing to a person who isn’t a sports fan. It’s easier for me to keep track of baseball. My next-door neighbor is an ardent Seattle Mariners fan. I’ve been cheering for the Blue Jays. A team from outside the US winning the World Series would make it seem like it was a World Series and not just a national championship. My neighbor and I get along just fine. We don’t argue and share plenty of laughs. However the series ends, we’ll still be neighbors. Who knows, we may even be cheering for the same team in the World Series.
I do know a bit about geography. As a result, I want to point out a bit of trivia that amuses me, even if it has little to do with the games and the players.
Trivia point number one: Toronto is south of Seattle. The American League Championship Series is currently tied two games to two. The first two games were played in Toronto, and Seattle won both of them. The next two were played in Seattle, and Toronto won them. The next game will be this afternoon in Seattle. The sixth game will be back in Toronto on Sunday, and if needed, the seventh game will be on Monday in Toronto. While the 49th parallel is the boundary between Canada and the US in the west, the border dips south through the Great Lakes, reaching its southernmost point at Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario. Then it wanders northeast to Toronto, which is on the border next to New York State. Toronto is south of Rapid City, South Dakota, where we lived for 25 years. Travel between the two game sites is mostly east-west. If you were driving, it would be a 2,600-mile trip.
There are quite a few Toronto Blue Jays fans who have traveled south to watch the games in Seattle, and more will be there today. There is a bit of national pride involved, and some folks from Vancouver, BC, are ardent Blue Jays fans. Seattle still has the home-field advantage for today’s game, but that hasn’t been a factor in the series so far. There will, however, be a good section of Blue Jays fans in the stands.
Trivia point number two: There are no games of the 2026 FIFA World Cup scheduled for Boston. Gillette Stadium, host of some of the games, is in Foxborough, which is a half-hour drive south of the city. The location is of interest because earlier this week, the U.S. president threatened to force World Cup soccer games scheduled for Boston to move to another location, citing Mayor Wu as responsible for unspecified issues. “Your mayor is not good,” he told reporters. So, for the record, the stadium chosen by FIFA, the organization that selects the cities for World Cup games, is in a town that does not have a mayor and is run by a town manager and a five-person board. Politicians, however, frequently play loose with geography. The current president seems to have a bit less understanding of geography than some other politicians.
The president, however, is not restrained by facts. His reason for sending federal troops to Portland, Oregon, to quell protests appears to be based on five-year-old footage of Black Lives Matter protests that were replayed by Fox television. The people who live in Portland don’t think their city is a “hellhole.” My sister is a city bus driver in Portland. She goes to and from work and gets through her days without any problems, other than a few traffic snarls and an occasional ice storm. Portland is not a dangerous city, despite the presence of federal troops who have been met by people in Halloween costumes.
It is unclear whether or not the President has the political clout to change the venue of a World Cup game. Technically, no national leader has that power. On the other hand, Gianni Infantino, president of the governing body of FIFA, has a friendship with the President and was in the wings at the recent Gaza peace summit in Egypt. It is too late to change the venue of the games. It takes years of preparation to host those games. We live between two other cities slated to host the 2026 games, Vancouver, BC, and Seattle, WA. Hotel rooms and vacation rentals are already booked for the time around the World Cup matches. Soccer fans are dedicated to their teams and willing to travel and spend significant money to be present for the games.
Although it is not a point of geography, it might be of interest to note that the President doesn’t have a perfect track record in sports administration. Forty years ago, he was the owner of the New Jersey Generals of the old USFL. He convinced fellow team owners to shift their schedule from springtime, where they had an audience, to the fall, where they would compete with the NFL. The gambit failed, and the USFL imploded. He did, however, forge a friendship with one of the players on his team, Herschel Walker, whom he has now appointed to be the US ambassador to the Bahamas. I’m pretty sure that the President knows where the Bahamas are. I don’t know if the ambassador knows that the Bahamas is a sovereign country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, having gained its independence in the early 1970s. The Bahamas, by the way, have never before qualified to play in the World Cup. Their men’s team has already been eliminated from the qualification process for the 2026 cup.
Soccer is confusing to a person who isn’t a sports fan. It’s easier for me to keep track of baseball. My next-door neighbor is an ardent Seattle Mariners fan. I’ve been cheering for the Blue Jays. A team from outside the US winning the World Series would make it seem like it was a World Series and not just a national championship. My neighbor and I get along just fine. We don’t argue and share plenty of laughs. However the series ends, we’ll still be neighbors. Who knows, we may even be cheering for the same team in the World Series.
