Miercoles Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 1 hour ago, Vinny Green Balls said: But I have to start somewhere. And this situation has gotten beyond the pale with the U.S. Thousands of slaves being killed to build the stadiums in Qatar didn't quite get you there huh? Well, we all have our limits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Green Balls Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Miercoles said: Thousands of slaves being killed to build the stadiums in Qatar didn't quite get you there huh? Well, we all have our limits. This is total bullshit. I've been wrestling with this for a long while. Losing two people very close to me in the span of last week has crystallized my thoughts, and my past lack of action on things that I believe in. I'm not judging anyone who chooses not to boycott, so why judge me for starting here in 2026 with this dogdhit whataboutism? You're more than welcome to, but I think you're an asshole for doing it. Edited January 3 by Vinny Green Balls Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDog Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I admire the effort, I really do Vinny. I was a life long republican, life long as in from 1980 to 2016. The party was high jacked by a bunch of Nazis and a moron who thinks it's 1650 and he is king. Anyway, I usually watch the world cup and will probably do so again. I would absolutely go if a game was hosted at Minnesota United's stadium. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miercoles Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 27 minutes ago, Teslact said: Either side of 10 minutes on the light rail, I live only a 5 minute walk from "Seattle Stadium". Prices were and are crazy, though I would have for a once in a lifetime experience, but the peace prize award was the final straw for me. Fuck if it was walking distance I might have had a rethink. But still, it was like $2,000 to watch Bolivia vs Iraq so you know, what the fuck. Levi stadium is the closest to me and that area is a bitch to get to in the best of times so it was a pretty easy pass. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Green Balls Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I'm totally ok with flak because of my own sheer hypocrisy in the past. But seriously, I have to start somewhere. And I find whataboutism one of the most bad faith forms of argumentation, especially when the other side is clearly expressing doubt about how they thought about past issues. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDog Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Just now, Vinny Green Balls said: I'm totally ok with flak because of my own sheer hypocrisy in the past. But seriously, I have to start somewhere. And I find whataboutism one of the most bad faith forms of argumentation, especially when the other side is clearly expressing doubt about how they thought about past issues. Go for it. Like I said, I do admire what you are doing and I do agree with your cause. I also doubt it does anything but it's more than doing absolutely nothing like me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miercoles Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 minutes ago, Vinny Green Balls said: This is total bullshit. I've been wrestling with this for a long while. Losing two people very close to me in the span of last week has crystallized my thoughts, and my past lack of action on things that I believe in. I'm not judging anyone who chooses not to boycott, so why judge me for starting here in 2026 with this dogdhit whataboutism? You're more than welcome to, but I think you're an asshole for doing it. Fair enough. I'm more in a trying to keep wanting to be alive frame of mind these days, so if I allow myself to confront the horrors of the world it can get pretty spirally. Particularly those horrors which reside in the parts of life that I do enjoy. So I'll hide from this one, but I'll stop talking shit. There are, of course, innumerable horrors to choose from in every facet of life, so don't worry I'll still be overwhelmed by existential dread, rage and helplessness. Just not at the football, as they say. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Green Balls Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Overall stance of BDS is falling short of a full boycott. I just talked ot my friend in Jewish Voice for Peace. She is brinigng it up with her colleagues. She really dug the idea of a second tier of piracy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Green Balls Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Miercoles said: Fair enough. I'm more in a trying to keep wanting to be alive frame of mind these days, so if I allow myself to confront the horrors of the world it can get pretty spirally. Particularly those horrors which reside in the parts of life that I do enjoy. So I'll hide from this one, but I'll stop talking shit. There are, of course, innumerable horrors to choose from in every facet of life, so don't worry I'll still be overwhelmed by existential dread, rage and helplessness. Just not at the football, as they say. that's cool, man. And you're right to point out the hypocrisy. I just didn't appreciate it because I've been honest about it, and am trying to wrestle with this shit myself. I love football. It's been a part of me since I was 4. I'm not thrilled with taking this out of my life, as it's been a coping mechanism for a number of things. Edited January 3 by Vinny Green Balls Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wallsendmag Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I'll not be going. If that counts as boycotting then yes, I supoose I am. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geordiesteve710 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I probably won't bother withnit for the most part but that's to do with being halfway down a slope of falling out of love with modern football in general and having a horrifically hectic life rather than a principled moral stand and it would be disingenuous for me to claim otherwise. Not that I don't think Trump is a cunt and that, just it's not the main reason I won't be watching most of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weezertron Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 The prices to see the games played here in Toronto were obscene, and they're all bad ties anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 That FIFA “peace prize” to Trump is one of the most laughable, loathsome things I’ve ever seen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledGeordie Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 minutes ago, Weezertron said: The prices to see the games played here in Toronto were obscene, and they're all bad ties anyway. Football is so much about money thesedays it puts me off a bit. I’m going to the match tomorrow and happy to pay £51 which isn’t bad but fans are constantly being ripped off. The latest World Cup prices are just obscene. I did see a list of prices somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
1892er Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 (edited) I tend to watch football from the first whistle until the last then switch it off with the exception of hearing Eddies post match interviews. I'll be doing the same for the world cup. Got absolutely no interest in these so called pundits drivel being spouted and especially the thought of watching the opening ceremony The problem nowadays is that it's pushed in your face whether you want to see it or not, with shit algorithms on social media that you can't disable. Edited January 3 by 1892er Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Trumps USA and FIFA are the perfect match. It will be a much more successful form of sportswashing than PIF have ever been able to conjure up. FIFA giving their inaugural peace award for “uniting the world” to a tyrant taking over a country by force (Greenland next?) and is complicit in allowing genocide in Israel is all the sportswashing evidence you need. Blinded by state sponsored propaganda, the rest of the world will fall at the USA’s feet and enjoy “soccer” at its most corporate. This is the world we live in. I’ll watch some of it, but my eyes are open to the obscenity of it all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInfiniteOdyssey Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 Definitely not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gottlob Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I detest Trump and Infantino and would love to boycott the World Cup and feel as though my decision was going to be somehow validated. But the corruption of the Trump administration is so encompassing - even as it is based upon past models and depends upon other people's deference or support - that the World Cup itself much less my own response to it feels somewhere between a sideshow and totally irrelevant. It's also true that most of us will have watched past World Cups which were more corrupt at the bidding stage, whose construction entailed human rights abuses or which even proved corrupt out on the pitch. In comparison next year's World Cup might even be relatively clean or tame beyond the inevitable sycophancy. I doubt that a single player will boycott next year's World Cup, and the sport in general feels quite rotten at the moment with a low baseline of integrity. We as Newcastle fans are implicated because beyond the ongoing human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, our owners are also some of the biggest backers of the Trumps. They gave Trump and Kushner billions after leaving office, and while we quarrel about player purchases or plans for the stadium and training ground they squander their money on halfwitted projects or else throw in with Trump and his supporters to buy EA or bid for Warner Bros. In sum it is not impossible but it feels quite difficult and conflicted to be a Newcastle fan while proselytising about the World Cup. Therefore I'll probably do what I do right now when it comes to most football: have it on in the background because it's a lifelong habit and offers some kind of solace while being bitter and bileful about the whole thing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Green Balls Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 2 minutes ago, Gottlob said: I detest Trump and Infantino and would love to boycott the World Cup and feel as though my decision was going to be somehow validated. But the corruption of the Trump administration is so encompassing - even as it is based upon past models and depends upon other people's deference or support - that the World Cup itself much less my own response to it feels somewhere between a sideshow and totally irrelevant. It's also true that most of us will have watched past World Cups which were more corrupt at the bidding stage, whose construction entailed human rights abuses or which even proved corrupt out on the pitch. In comparison next year's World Cup might even be relatively clean or tame beyond the inevitable sycophancy. I doubt that a single player will boycott next year's World Cup, and the sport in general feels quite rotten at the moment with a low baseline of integrity. We as Newcastle fans are implicated because beyond the ongoing human rights issues in Saudi Arabia, our owners are also some of the biggest backers of the Trumps. They gave Trump and Kushner billions after leaving office, and while we quarrel about player purchases or plans for the stadium and training ground they squander their money on halfwitted projects or else throw in with Trump and his supporters to buy EA or bid for Warner Bros. In sum it is not impossible but it feels quite difficult and conflicted to be a Newcastle fan while proselytising about the World Cup. Therefore I'll probably do what I do right now when it comes to most football: have it on in the background because it's a lifelong habit and offers some kind of solace while being bitter and bileful about the whole thing. You're teling me, man. And it may just be that I've been haunted by the voice of my ex. I've been hearing her voice in my dreams. She was one of those who could throw something away if it interfered with her moral compass in any way. And so, I've been feeling myself slowly disassociating from Newcastle since news of her passing. It's a hell of a cognitive dissonance to juggle, and one that I have been largely ignoring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDog Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 (edited) 1 hour ago, Vinny Green Balls said: You're teling me, man. And it may just be that I've been haunted by the voice of my ex. I've been hearing her voice in my dreams. She was one of those who could throw something away if it interfered with her moral compass in any way. And so, I've been feeling myself slowly disassociating from Newcastle since news of her passing. It's a hell of a cognitive dissonance to juggle, and one that I have been largely ignoring. I'm real sorry about your loss by the way. May be an ex but it seems like it's been a blow anyway. My wife, at least before the Dementia would say never buy from this company because this, never buy this other company because they support that. Being honest, I've only done that once when I forbade any Hormel products in my home because of how they fucked over the workers in Austin Minnesota. As for football? It does seem to be kind of fucked up. Edited January 4 by McDog Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimbo Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I’m expecting the most politicised World Cup ever, which I think will drain my interest. On top of the fact that I’ll be asleep for half of it, I might not watch much. Not exactly a boycott. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I'm impressed that my cynical heart still has area to wound, because I'm incredibly disappointed in the international community at large and their disinterest in ostracizing us in general. I'm increasingly disinterested in football and sports as a whole and society as well? Saw that some anonymous better made 400k insider betting the Venezuela events and it's like...we live in a world where you can bet on when atrocities occur and I just want to be alive to watch the entire fucking thing burn to the ground. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtype Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I suppose I’m “boycotting” in the sense that despite living in a host city, I find it incredibly difficult to care about international football anymore and I’m certainly not going to pay $800 or whatever to watch a group stage game between Azerbaijan and Mongolia as a neutral. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbee909 Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 Didn't watch 2018, 2022, won't be watching this one either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Prontonise Posted January 4 Share Posted January 4 I'll watch some of it but I certainly won't be watching it as much as other world cups. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.7addd7a37763254a2b4e4947d1189fc4.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now