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FIFA: What is Your Malfunction?
As my old club soccer coach famously yelled to me across the indoor pitch after I made my very first mistake with my new team, “Boy, what is your malfunction?”
Read the quote below and you’ll understand why I opened with that priceless soccer memory.
“An initial stage of 16 groups of three teams will precede a knockout stage for the remaining 32 when the change is made for the 2026 tournament.
The sport’s world governing body voted unanimously in favour of the change at a meeting in Zurich on Tuesday.”
–BBC Football Online
Shocking? No. Sad? Yes.
Most importantly: Will the World Cup evolve into a better tournament through this expansion effort in 2026? No.
As has been recently discussed in more depth on Jimmy’s Daily Planet back on December 28th (Participation Trophies…for Adults?), the competitiveness of the World Cup will suffer with this expansion. Additionally, FIFA, which is governed by the new president Gianni Infantino, has voluntarily prolonged the embarrassing era with its overarching reputation of bribery and corruption.
To Mr. Infantino and the soccer federations, however, perhaps the influx of money will (again) be enough to quell legitimate concerns of dedicated fans around the world of lessening the competitiveness and difficulty of simply qualifying for the golden opportunity of competing on soccer’s grandest stage.
The future of 48 teams in a World Cup is set to become reality. It’s happening (insert groans here). And those who will argue that this addition of a dozen teams will be superior to the current model with 32 teams were also likely arguing for the Microsoft Zune over the Apple iPod way back when…
On that note: Do you own a Zune? Just because something is new doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. There can be unforeseen (and very easily seen) malfunctions that occur with its users.
Lucky for me, my aforementioned malfunction was a solitary bad pass. FIFA’s malfunctions will have much more serious, enduring consequences.
Happy Monday
Mondays begin with the most frustrating alarm ring. That blasting sound from our alarm clock, whether from a smartphone or an actual clock, feels like a cold splash in the face.
In other words, a cold open.
If only there was a so-called “cold open” that could inspire us instead of dreading Monday mornings…
That cold open to the Golden Globes was, as Justin Timberlake might say (as Jimmy Fallon), “so great, so great!”
And he would be correct. Now that’s a great way to start the workweek on a positive, uplifting note.
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
A Time-Traveling Car is a Good Stopping Point (or Starting Point?)
“On this day in 1925, John DeLorean, a maverick auto industry executive and founder of the DeLorean Motor Company, is born in Detroit, Michigan. The DeLorean Motor Company produced just one model, the DMC-12, a sports car with gull-wing doors that opened upward, in the early 1980s before going bankrupt…In total, approximately 9,000 DMC-12s were produced.”
–History.com
Imagine inventing and building only one car model, yet that singular act of ingenuity, by pure happenstance, is immortalized because of a science-fiction trilogy? Great Scott, indeed.
The beloved Back to the Future films are pop-culture gold that continue to flex its muscles iconic car, power-lacing shoes and World Series predicting prowess more than 30 years after the first movie’s release back in 1985. The fact that the futuristic-looking DeLorean was chosen for a ground-breaking movie about the past (and eventually the future) may seem conceivable now, but John DeLorean’s professional legacy will mostly be glorified as an American success story. Sure, the car isn’t the best performing automobile on the market then or now, but everyone knows his last name and it’s forever associated with blissful memories of imagination and childhood wonder.
We all remember that scene when we first saw that time-traveling DeLorean…
The power of film strikes again.
And the power of love is pretty great too.
Kansas, Revisited
Laughter is the best medicine…
especially when you have to deal with all that dust in the wind.
The Late Late Show host James Corden skipped “Carpool Karaoke” and instead teamed up with Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons for a musical homage in classic Kansas style (and then some hilarious ridiculousness). Mr. Corden, like Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon, continues to prove his prowess for singing-related skits. While there are plenty of musical groups today that deserve parody, it can be quite entertaining to flashback to an era some may have forgotten for a brief moment.
And Thursday seems like an appropriate day for such a flashback.
Notice any similarities with the real Kansas music video for their hit “Dust in the Wind”?
Well played, James and Jim…well played.
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