TH: It’s been a bit mixed. The fans seem into it, but you could hold a World Cup in a crater on Mars and the Scots would find a way to get sloshed and sing the Proclaimers. In terms of infrastructure? Ehhhh. It’s REALLY not good that the Iranian national team is only allowed in the States for less than 36 hours with every game. Transportation is still a real problem in some cities (looking at you, New York/New Jersey). But others have done really rather well (congrats, Seattle). Let’s be positive and say it’s juuuuust about been a good thing.
AL: To be honest, this has been a logistical nightmare in many cities in the United States, ranging from poorly thought-out traffic routes, like in KC, to poorly laid out pitches as seen in Craplife – also known as New York/New Jersey Stadium.
Yet, in totality, this has still exceeded the best of expectations. Give credit to fans for basically saying screw it and enjoying themselves. From the Scots drinking out the whole city of Boston, to the Norwegians sailing on escalators. This is fun. It’s heartwarming to see fans from around the world enjoying things like Waffle House and Chick-fil-A. Finally, despite all of the logistical problems in the U.S., apparently there’s a lot less of that in Mexico and Canada – so kudos to them as well!
RT: Fantastic. For all the doom and gloom pre-tournament, everything has been even better than most expected. It hasn’t been perfect, for sure, and you can look at Iran as an example of that, but, by and large, the World Cup has felt like a world event. Scotland in Boston, Algeria in Lawrence, Kansas, American fans taking over Seattle – it’s been wonderful to watch as this tournament has already given us plenty of memories in these early weeks.
