Get back to work.

That's all anyone in the U.S. Soccer family can do today, having slept on the news that Qatar, not the U.S., will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And by "U.S. Soccer family" I'm not just talking about the folks who work in the national federation offices in Chicago, or even the people who earn a living in soccer. I'm talking about everyone who enjoys and supports the game.

Get back to work.

One of the things that upsets me as a person who enjoys and supports the game in the U.S. is the way the negative voices drown out the positive ones. Having spent the afternoon in the ESPN The Magazine offices yesterday, the gloom-and-doomers were out in full force, talking about what a blow the U.S.'s failed bid would be to the game.

Sure, it would've been great, especially for MLS, to mark 2022 on the calendar as the summer when the World Cup would return to the United States. More sponsors would've gotten on board. More casual fans would've jumped on the bandwagon. Even though it's more than a decade away, you can bet we'd have already seen soccer products emblazoned with some snazzy "U.S.A. 2022" logo. And, yeah, I was upset, too.

But when will American soccer folks stop believing in the Big Bang theory? That is, when will we stop subscribing to the notion that one single event is going to make the difference? First, it was hosting the 1994 World Cup. Sold out across the board, lots of fun, got us a pro league. But when the U.S. men went three-and-out at France '98, there were those who screamed "embarrassment!" and "shame!" It was going to be the death of the sport in this country. Yeah, some went as far as to say that.

Then came the Women's World Cup in 1999. The craziness around the final. Brandi Chastain's moment, and a book about how the U.S. team "changed the world." OK. In 1999, I also watched a kid named Landon Donovan win the Golden Ball at the FIFA U-17 World Championships, and another American kid named DaMarcus Beasley win the Silver Ball. The U.S. men made it to the semifinals of the 2000 Olympics and the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup.

Upon reflection, that's a pretty good list of accomplishments. But once we settle back into reality, we see that these events are just steps in the road. Other steps include the construction of soccer-specific stadiums for MLS teams and the overall steady growth of that league through 15 seasons. I consider it a huge victory that no one asks me anymore, "When is the MSL going to fold?" Seriously, for me, 47-year-old soccer fan, that's a huge deal.

But it's time to understand that the road has no end. Much as we want to take a kid the way we took the 12-year-old Freddy Adu and say, "This is the kid who's going to put American soccer on the map," and much as we wanted to pound our fists into a wall after watching the U.S. lose its round of 16 game in extra time to Ghana, in the end there needs to be an understanding that living through success and failure over a long period of time is going to be what truly makes this a soccer country.

The World Cup in 2022 in the U.S. would have been awesome. I'd have loved for my sons (who will be 24 and 26 by then) to cart my 59-year-old butt out to games. I'd have loved to tailgate at venerable "new" Meadowlands stadium and wax poetic about the 1994 World Cup at a place once known as Giants Stadium. But it wasn't meant to be. Hope Qatar has fun.

But the American soccer family needs to once again come to the realization that this sport is as much about heartbreak as it is about victory celebrations. There are a million clichés that have been written about soccer. The ball is round. Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don't. You take the good calls, but you live with the bad.

The game's not going anywhere but forward in the U.S.

Now get back to work. Everyone.