‘American and English fans react as they watch World Cup match at Ireland’s Four Courts Pub’
courtesy of ‘TDLphoto’

Dave Eggers once famously described American sentiment towards soccer through the following story:

When I was 13—this was 1983, long before glasnost, let alone the fall of the wall—I had a gym teacher, who for now we’ll call Moron McCheeby, who made a very compelling link between soccer and the architects of the Iron Curtain. I remember once asking him why there were no days of soccer in his gym units. His face darkened. He took me aside. He explained with quivering, barely mastered rage, that he preferred decent, honest American sports where you used your hands. Sports where one’s hands were not used, he said, were commie sports played by Russians, Poles, Germans, and other commies.

I post this for two reasons.

1) There are a lot of people from the Drudge Report on our site right now and I’m feeling vindictive.

2) Within the next 24 hours, an announcement will be made regarding the World Cup host for 2022. The US is up against Qatar (which has a lot of infrastructure to build among other concerns), Australia (aka, the world’s playground), Japan (recent host in 2002) and Korea (worries surrounding that threat from, y’know, real communism) for a chance to be the country to welcome the world’s game that June. DC will, as it was in 1994, would be among the host cities.

Hopefully tomorrow morning, we’ll be boasting about the good news (and it is good news). Until then, keep all of your extremities crossed.

Dave Levy

Dave Levy is a PR guy by day, a media researcher on the side and a self-proclaimed geek. He blogs often about how traditional media adapts – or tries to adapt – to the growing digital media world at State of the Fourth Estate. You can follow Dave on Twitter for various updates about everything from sports from his previous home in Boston to eccentric and obscure pop culture references. Read why Dave loves D.C.