The 2022 World Cup is back in the news. FIFA still hasn't taken it away from Qatar, and some people are now questioning whether or not they even will, so the timing of the event is once again a source of debate. FIFA President Sepp Blatter (who was taking advantage of the opportunity to announce he'll run for a fifth term) has previously said that he'd rather have the World Cup later in the year (October/November) as opposed to earlier (February) so that it wouldn't conflict with the Winter Olympics.
Well, the various winter sports federations aren't happy with the October/November plan, either. Their reasoning: because it's the start of their season. Seriously? This is the reason they're opposed to that timeframe? Would they actually prefer February? During the Olympics? The marquee event in the sports in question? Talk about stupid. While I still think the whole idea of holding the World Cup in Qatar is ridiculous, if the only choices are holding it in February and holding it in October/November, I think most people would agree that October/November isn't just the better option, it's the only option.
But that wasn't the end of the bellyaching about schedules for the day. Major League Baseball released its 2015 schedule, and everyone's getting their panties in a bunch about the fact that the season's going to extend into November this year. It's guaranteed. Game 4 of the World Series is scheduled for November 1. This is a problem why? The season's ended in November before, and it will again. I honestly don't see how this is a big deal.
And did people seriously not see this coming? Baseball season starts on the same day every year. The season starts on the first Monday in April, unless March 31 also falls on a Monday (like it did this year), in which case the season starts on March 31, and lasts 26 weeks. Since this year was the earliest possible start, the playoffs will actually start in September, and the World Series will start and end on the earliest possible date (same with the Super Bowl, by the way, earliest possible date this season, latest possible next season). Next year's the latest possible start to the baseball season, which means the last weekend of the season is the first weekend in October. That also means the playoffs will start later. Again, I don't really see why playing a World Series game or two in November is a big deal.
My disappointment with the release of the baseball schedule was the lack of that big surprise Bud Selig promised us. The Commissioner implied we might see the regular season start somewhere untraditional, which got people speculating as to where. The common consensus was Europe, specifically the Netherlands. Except there were no games on Dutch soil in the schedule announced today. In fact, there are no games scheduled anywhere outside of the 30 Major League cities. Of course, there's still plenty of time to work things out and make that happen, but I'm not getting my hopes up. They normally announce that sort of stuff before the entire schedule comes out, not after.
Another big question I had about the Major League schedule involved interleague play. Next season is the first one under the new interleague format where it's East vs. East, Central vs. Central, West vs. West. That means you're playing the division that includes your natural rival, so you're only going against five teams from the opposite league instead of six. The way I thought they would handle it is exactly what they ended up doing.
Instead of the four game home-and-home it's been for the past two seasons, we go back to six games between natural rivals next season. That also means they can play each other on weekends again, which is a good thing. The natural rival was simply replaced by another team for that second four-game home-and-home (which is needed for the three-series week). The best part is that you only play one team just at home and one team only on the road. So, when you play the corresponding division in the other league, you're hosting four of the five teams. I'm sure a number of teams will appreciate the reduced travel, as well, especially after the NL East played the AL West this year.
Year-round interleague play is something we've all gotten used to, but it still has its quirks. The best of which is the season-opening series between the Red Sox and Phillies in Philadelphia, presenting a little problem about David Ortiz right off the bat. (Boston home opener is also interleague, vs. Washington.) And you have the Pirates playing their home opener against the Tigers (who are actually considered their natural rival).
As for the Subway Series, which is one of the reasons interleague play was created in the first place, I've never seen it scheduled so uniquely before. Next year it'll be both the earliest and latest it's ever been. The Yankees and Mets play at Yankee Stadium in late April, but don't play at Citi Field until mid-September (Subway Series vs. Sunday Night Football). Dodgers-Angels only gets one weekend(July 31-August 2), though. We're back to six on all the ones you'd expect (Cubs-White Sox, Giants-A's, Reds-Indians, Marlins-Rays, etc.), as well as the less-natural rivals that are needed to balance out the pairs (Rockies-Rangers, Diamondbacks-Astros, Phillies-Red Sox, Braves-Blue Jays).
In other notable series, the Cubs celebrate the 100th anniversary of Wrigley against the Cardinals (who else?), the Blue Jays host the Rays right after the All-Star Break but are otherwise away for the duration of the Pan Am Games, the Mets are only home during the first three days of the US Open as opposed to the entire first week, and the Astros will complete their first cycle of interleague play as an American League club by playing the whole NL West for the first time since switching leagues.
Cincinnati once again hosts its traditional Opening Day afternoon game, this time against the Pirates. But the biggest game of the year in Cincinnati will be the All-Star Game on July 14.
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