Well, that was fun. Enjoy the glow while it lasts – I think that will be the last good World Cup. Why? First, Qatar can’t ever live up to that. It will be too hot, at the wrong time of year. Ethically, this might be the last time we turn a blind eye to authoritarian corruption (Putin was fairly absent from coverage). Plus, at some stage (2026?) it’s going to be the clusterfk of 48 teams, which makes no sense at all. Russia was peak World Cup. It’s downhill from here.
WC ROUND UP
The prediction game: Goldman were pretty useless; some South African data scientists were pretty good; and the animals were, well, animals.
Anyone buying a player on the strength of the World Cup is pretty stupid.
If you thought added time seemed a bit off, you’d be right.
Neymar and the art of the dive. Tip – don’t oversell it.
TROPHIES
The World Cup is awful. Wimbledon is perfect. An aesthetic look at the actual cup (orb?)
CYCLING
Why is there no women’s equivalent Tour de France?
BASEBALL
Don’t sugar-coat it: The New York Yankees are a moral abomination.
BASKETBALL
What’s happened to the salary cap?
TENNIS
I’m not going to bother you with the pros and cons of 5th set tie breaks as I think it’s so blindingly obvious (at 12-all perhaps). Instead…
Careers are getting longer. The wait for a male grand slam champion born in the 1990s goes on.
10 years ago the greatest match was played. Here’s a graphical version.
John McEnroe is always worth listening to.
