“Please Sir I Want Some More. “
The Disease of More (tDoM) comes for everything. Our capitalistic overlords ensure it.
If as a collective (or individual) we show interest in anything our Capitalistic Overlords will force feed us another 25 versions of it. Because of tDoM we have real housewives in every city, an air fryer in every kitchen and a comic book movie in every cinema.
Given Fifa’s current President’s obsession with America (and the guy in charge) it was inevitable that its prized asset would go the same way. And so here we sit in the middle of its 50% bigger World Cup.
Well somehow and certainly not by design this new format has worked spectacularly. Sometimes what we actually need to find what we originally had is …..more.
I have enjoyed the World Cup immensely so far and will hold my hands up and admit that arguments I had against the 48 team late stage Capitalist World Cup have fallen by the wayside…
#1: “There will be too many games without ‘Jeopardy’! ”
The casual and non casual sports fans have become Jeopardy Junkies. The proliferation of 24/7 sports on TV means that we have that unless the result of what we are watching is a reckoning for the loser and a crowning for the winner then we feel nothing.
Hand up – I was a JJ, the only thing that moved the needle for me was sports with high stakes. Case in point the new Champions League Format – the group stages flatline my dopamine while the knockouts make it spike like Mt Everest.
The tDoM 48 team World Cup has somehow fixed this for me and this once numb soul can now watch a football match and enjoy it for enjoyment’s sake once again!
The World Cup Group Stages became less high stakes and more of a feel good event reminiscent of the Olympics and this has been for the better.
Like the Olympics we have the great individual stories – Pico Lopes playing for Cape Verde all starting with a Linkedin DM, Ochoa playing in a final Home World Cup – and on top of this unlike the Olympics we also have stories of achievement for entire nations – DR.Congo qualifying despite a civil war in the country, Iran qualifying despite a global war in the country, Curacao becoming the smallest nation to ever qualify. With 48 Nations at the world cup every day has a fresh new story for us to buy into.
Above all else the players also clearly care so much, again like the Olympics they are playing as if this is their life’s work and putting maximum effort regardless of if each individual game doesn’t mean much. The players’ buy-in makes it impossible for the viewers not to feel something even if the tournament stakes are low – well at least it does for those who have survived Jeopardy Rehab.
If you haven’t made it out the other side of JJ then don’t worry your next big hit is coming my friend because 32 teams qualifying for the knockouts means there is an extra round of knockout games for Junkies and former Junkies alike to enjoy.
Everybody is a winner – Especially FIFA’s accountants
#2: “It will be too bloated. 48 teams is too many!”
Try telling that to Cape Verde.
#3: “The Hydration Breaks are a joke!”
Well at least we were right on one thing.
Ró
🌹Rose Blog🌹 
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