Snippets and Side Quests

The World Cup has come to a close. It was good while it lasted. We, well maybe mostly Erika, set out to try as many different fan experiences as possible during the World Cup. The idea was to make the most of getting together with other people who love the game. Celebrate the once in a lifetime energy of the most popular event in the world coming to our town. So we tried a lot of different ways to capture the magic.  It was an exercise in patience.    A lot of the options looked great but suffered from bad or incomplete information or difficult logistics. There were experiences we never tried because we couldn’t show up several hours ahead of the match, or figure out what we needed to bring with us, or didn’t want to pay a lot of money for an uncertainty. Some of the bigger watch parties and VIP experiences fell into this category.  Businesses wanted to cash in, and who can blame them, but some didn’t seem to understand that they needed to do more than put up a big s...

We were lucky enough to get a set of tickets to a World Cup match that didn’t require missing a mortgage payment. After waiting online for over seven hours on the first day of general sales, only one match was left: Egypt v Iran.   Erika was excited to see Egypt. Their captain, Mohammad Salah, is a notable star and it would be fun to see him play. However, the US president had just started a war with Iran. What would it mean to be at the first World Cup where a team played in a country that was at war with it? This wasn’t the only tension. Seattle has one of the largest pride celebrations in the US, with a full month of community events and programs that culminate in a celebratory pride weekend. Designated the pride match by the local host committee before the teams were chosen, the match would celebrate Seattle’s pride heritage and build awareness and inclusivity. However, Egypt and Iran’s governments both criminalize queer people and asked FIFA to ban pride symbols as culturally ...

The United States received the most wonderful gift for our 250th birthday. Based on the fact that we haven’t been playing well with others recently, we probably didn’t deserve such a gift, but it was pre-ordered and non-returnable, so the world gave it to us anyway. Nicknamed the Great American Sleepover, the 2026 World Cup is both our birthday gift and the party that we really needed right now. The internet has been awash with stories of visitors discovering joy in their experiences in the United States. Of foreign teams forming unlikely bonds with the residents of their American host cities. Of large groups of exuberant fans invading and captivating major cities. It’s so wonderful to be reminded of the best that our country can be, and that is such an amazing gift.  The World Cup even generated enough energy to thaw the Seattle freeze. If you are not from around here, this is the reputation amongst some for being polite but not that friendly. It’s kind of like in  The Hobbit...