After a four-year hiatus, the FIFA World Cup returns again to the global stage. For a lot of WashU students, the tournament matches will be more than just games.

Greatness is hard to recognize in real time. This period of dominance from Messi and Ronaldo is truly unprecedented.

I sat at a desk on the second floor of Olin Library, nominally reviewing for my midterm the next day, but really watching one of the biggest disasters in American soccer history unfold on my laptop screen.