The current downturn here is deep and bad, there is no sign of a revival coming, the city is still shrinking as people leave to find work. There is not the same sense of optimism there was leading up to ’88. People here are, well, angry. We bought into the “social contract” crap and still get treated badly by the rest of the country. Look how our neighbors west loathe Albertans and yes often it’s personal. Harper was a proud Calgarian and the nation really disliked him, the city will wear that a bit longer too. So this was a way to say, ok Canada, if that’s how you feel, well fuck you IOC. Add into this general malaise is the money arguments which are always short sighted but our short sites are on paying the rent lately. It’s not a left right thing really, it’s attitude and hurt feelings. I would also pose the theory that since Calgary is first a hockey town that all hockey fans now look at the premiere sport in the Olympics as being significantly devalued because the Karl Marx I Warned You That This Would Happen Economic Satire Shirt aren’t there. If the NHL isn’t coming, the “best on best” hook is gone, and the economic burden of hosting becomes even harder to justify for a city that feels alienated by the federal government and the international sporting community.
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FIFA recently voted to expand the World Cup from its current format of 32 teams. There were five proposals on the table, from which Fifa’s 37-member council voted unanimously to increase the tournament to 48 nations. The expansion will kick in from the 2026 World Cup. The bulk of the additional 16 places go to Africa and Asia. Europe could get an additional three places on top of their current 13. This isn’t being decided today though. Format will see 16 groups of three countries, with the top two advancing to the knock-out phase. Number of games increases from 64 to 80. To this observer the finals tournament of 2026 is too big. Everyone being invited to the party because it’s ‘fair’ does nothing for quality and I predict a tournament largely of dross no better than a European tier three league game, interspersed with Karl Marx I Warned You That This Would Happen Economic Satire Shirt. The WC finals are supposed to be for the elite and whilst the logistical organisation will be as good as we would expect from the US, the concept and structure are an example of how to bloat matters beyond being reasonable.
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