This Ain’t the ‘Radical Left,’ It’s Boston — Hands Off the World Cup, Pal.

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The president says he might yank World Cup matches from Boston because of “unrest.” Unrest? You mean, like, if a Bruins/Flyers game, a Dropkick Murphys concert, and a Pride parade all landed on the same day?

Around here, we call that Tuesday.

Boston’s built from immigrants, fighters, and folks who climb back on deck every time something knocks ’em off. We don’t do tantrums. We do tenacity and teamwork.

From the Atlantic to the American Dream
Our story starts with a guy who fell off a boat. Correction: THE boat. John Howland — one of the Pilgrims — got tossed off the Mayflower in the middle of the Atlantic. He didn’t drown. He clawed his way back aboard, freezing, soaked, unshaken — and then helped build Plymouth Colony, one of the first self-governing communities in the New World.

That’s Boston in a nutshell: you fall, you fight, you climb back up, and you get down to business. We’ve been doing that for four hundred years.

Born Fighters
That same DNA runs through our champions. Rocky Marciano — the Brockton-born Heavyweight champ — 49 wins, zero losses, never let his ego get the better of him. Middleweight champ, Marvelous Marvin Hagler — another Brockton guy — trained like a machine, fought like a poet in a chess match, and made opponent’s earn each second in the ring.

They didn’t pose for the cameras. They didn’t play to the crowd. They fought for respect. That’s Boston’s fight style — all work, no gimmicks, eye on the prize.

The Cheap Theater Act
So, when a "president" slumps over a microphone and threatens to pull our World Cup matches because of “radical left unrest,” that’s not leadership — that’s cheap theater. And Boston doesn’t bow to this kind of spectacle. You can’t intimidate a city built from dreamers, legends, and descendants of the guy who clawed his way back on the Mayflower and formed the foundation of our nation.

You think you can yank matches, stir headlines, and get attention on your agenda by using Boston as a pawn? Bring it — and bring your secretary, too.

We’ll be right here, hosting the world like pros while you dimwits are still rehearsing your next group tug.

The World Part of World Cup
Most importantly, here’s what can’t get lost in the bluster: the World Cup belongs to the WORLD. It’s not a campaign prop — it’s a handshake between nations, a celebration of stories that don’t always get a spotlight.

Take Cape Verde — a nation of about 550,000 people that just qualified for its first-ever men’s World Cup. Half a million citizens, one massive dream. And guess where one of the biggest Cape Verdean communities outside the islands lives? Right here. Dorchester. Roxbury. Brockton.

That’s the Cape Verdean diaspora* — families who left the islands but kept their soul alive in Boston through music, food, and Sunday soccer. They’re doctors and bus drivers, teachers and cops who have as much as pride saying they’re from Boston as they do their homeland.

And when Cape Verde steps onto the pitch, Boston will roar collectively like it’s our own. Because it IS our own. You try to relocate that moment? You’re not protecting America — you’re insulting the idea of it.
 
Hands Off Our Game
You want to politicize the World Cup? Good luck. You’re picking a fight with a city built on grit, brains, pride, and comeback stories.

We’ve hosted the Marathon after tragedy, championship parades on land and water, and global conferences that run on precision. We don’t need safety lectures from people who’ve never crossed Mass. Ave at rush hour.

Boston doesn’t cower. Never has. From Howland’s rope grip to Marciano’s fists, Hagler’s chin, and Cape Verde’s dream — this city stands tall. Keep threatening our World Cup and we’ll remind you — loudly, proudly, and in perfect unison — why the world today, will always trust the Hub over the White House.

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* Diaspora means people who leave their homeland but keep their pride alive wherever they go. It’s proof that America’s greatness isn’t who got here first — it’s who keeps showing up. That’s Boston, in one word.

Let’s also put the Word Cup match details in perspective so nobody confuses bravado for authority:
The games in question are scheduled for the Boston/Greater Boston area (Gillette Stadium), the venue and logistics worked out years ago as part of the U.S./Mexico/Canada co-host plan. Any change would be a massive legal and logistical nightmare and ultimately rests with FIFA, not a single politician. Local officials and venue planners have been preparing for this for years. Contracts, ticketing, stadium readiness, and international coordination don’t get flipped on a rhetorical dime.

If another president were actually worried about safety, they'd offer support—funding for coordination and transit, cybersecurity, help with logistics—not politically-motivated juvenile threats.
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#BostonStrong  #WorldCup2026  #CapeVerde  #HandsOffOurGame