Hmmmm

Freakonomics argues Russian and Qatar are the losers in winning the World Cup bid. Huh?

There are limits to contrarian thought. It is called common sense. Someone has to host the World Cup. And by Freakonomics analysis, because of the structure of the "prize," the winner is always going to be the loser. Huh? Makes no sense. Maybe Qatar overpaid or whatever. But they don't really define how or why Qatar overpaid.

I see the World Cup as a country equivalent to an individual buying a new car. Invariably, it will partially be about good old fashioned status. And fun. This is why not everyone drives a Honda or sensible cars. People like big ass SUVs and cool as shit Audis. And if you work yourself into a position where you can afford to splurge, there are things worth splurging on. I'd say a nice splurge for a country is to host the World Cup.

And it is embarrassing for the US to go after a bid and lose to Qatar. A freaking country with 1.4 million people. Are you kidding me? Until one of my roommates moved there a couple years ago, I didn't even know a city in Qatar (Doha). They might as well as had Santa Monica host the World Cup.