TRUMP HAS LEFT AMERICA IN SURVIVAL MODE AT THE WORLD CUP — AND TONIGHT
Anxiety grips the country as the planet’s largest sports event arrives, while havoc also is possible at Madison Square Garden, where the President’s presence could lead to trouble at the NBA Finals
We understand why gargantuan ticket prices are forcing suckers into poverty. More importantly, we must survive the World Cup as human beings. Every time Rudy Giuliani’s son speaks as executive director of Donald Trump’s event, the temptation is to hide in Iceland until late July. Does he really have red hair? Will he turn into Bozo?
First, there will be a Trump convention at Madison Square Garden. Watch parties and home-packed bags have been shut down for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, yet survival also remains a twisted watchword Monday night. He is a native New Yorker — the King is from Queens — and he believes in the Knicks, though not all the Knicks believe in him. Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about the President. He ignored the question.
“I talked about the word hope. Hope has been brought back to the city, but the word success hasn’t been seen,” he said. “We have to fight to bring that word back to fruition.”
The global view comes from Victor Wembanyama, who was asked if Trump will be a distraction. “Not really. I think it could be,” he said. “Isolating myself is something I’ve practiced over the years and I think I’m good at it so it’s not a problem. This is something similar media-wise, like the Olympics.”
Trump at the Garden — watching in front of a massive town that wants to disown him — might be a bigger story than the game. Said Jalen Brunson, who apparently approves: “I’ll be on the court playing as hard as I can for my president. He represents every Knicks’ fans’ beliefs. He embodies what it means to be a New Yorker.” How many times will Trump show up at the World Cup? Welcome to days and weeks when he’ll be front and center when he should just disembowel. America is at war with Iran, which may or may not play its first two games in Los Angeles or a third in Seattle. Our stadiums are disturbed by artificial intelligence as much as traditional terrorists — and watch out for hunter drones when you’re buying a hot dog. Thanks to Trump, who is merging soccer/football with a certain 250th anniversary, our nation joins Mexico and Canada in welcoming 48 teams to play 104 matches.
Six million fans are arriving from around the world to see supreme athletes win a golden trophy. Our fans are following USMNT and have no faith beyond the Round of 16. The idea is to watch, smell, taste and absorb the planet’s biggest gathering — “78 Super Bowls over 39 days,” said Andrew Giuliani — and get the hell out of 16 cities.
“There’s never been a summer like this in American history from a security angle,” Giuliani said. And if that doesn’t fully prepare us, he told ESPN: “This entire country’s police force is leaning in. It is an unbelievable problem set when I think about what local law enforcement is going to have to go over this 40-day stretch. It is unprecedented. We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure that nothing goes wrong.”
So, why did America decide to host the World Cup? Are we beyond psycho? Why not hand it to Morocco during the 2018 voting? Did anyone foresee two Trump terms, COVID, racial pain and a nation unprepared for the vicious knockout? It was Gianni Infantino, replacing a corruption-ruined Sepp Blatter as FIFA president, who eventually created a friendship with Trump and awarded the President with the first “Peace Prize.” Critics are blaming Trump and are prepared to execute him — not too harsh — if the country must be protected from ruin. Nothing is funny about drones. The authorities aren’t ready.
“If there is one threat that keeps me up at night, it is from drones,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who must deal with eight games at MetLife Stadium across the Hudson River, including the final.
“On the counter-drone measures, everybody’s a little behind,” confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. “Drones are my biggest concern. Every single day, we improve. But that is a huge concern that we have.”
Allow us to be immersed in uneasy headlines. The tournament begins Thursday at Estadio Azteca, where Mexico will host South Africa. But all eyes are on Iran’s national team, which arrived in Tijuana after the U.S. didn’t issue visas to 15 members of the support stuff. When will Iran feel safe about crossing the border, with the first game a week from today at SoFi Stadium? The coach, Amir Ghalenoei, already is firing shots at Americans. At Trump.
“Normally, in tournaments like this, humanitarian and ethical considerations should come before technical matters, and I believe those considerations were not extended to us and were not respected,” he said at Tijuana airport.
A city that isn’t ready for serious World Cup weight, Los Angeles, must deal with Iran fears and a vague U.S. opener Friday against Paraguay. Plenty of tickets are available, which is frightening when soccer will continue to stall nationally if the next few weeks are farcical. Fans are arriving to watch Mbappe, Messi, Yamal, Kane and Dembele, but in southern California, why would locals care? The Rams are turning loose Myles Garrett and Aaron Donald, while the Dodgers are enjoying the 0.74 earned run average of a four-time MVP, Shohei Ohtani.
Who needs more civic headaches? The problem with soccer involves large swaths who aren’t buying into the scene. This has been a major issue for decades. Analyst Alexi Lalas thinks it’s time for Americans to plunge into the team, saying, “I do think that there is a magic to a home World Cup. I believe within that magic is the capability of everything coming together. That’s how I truly feel and it’s more fun that way.” But beyond intense fan clubs, where is the culture? If USMNT begins to win big games, Americans will watch. Until then, we will yawn.
For now, we just yelp. All week. day after day after day, we monitor Trump. “We prepare for the worst day,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Amit Kachhia-Patel told The Associated Press. “And that’s how we go into any single event.”
The worst could be tonight. The worst could be this week or next week or next month. Our country is supposed to be woven into the finest sporting moments. Instead, we pray the games are not interrupted by extremists.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host.