The Beautiful Pool

Ready for ARG-SUI on Canada Day at our house

Holy moly!  NED pulls one out of the bag.  BRA and CRC both stumble through on penalty kicks.  URU flounders without their biting star.

And in the pool results, half-way through the “Round of 16”, we have a tie.   Blair C pulls even with Sherman H.  This could be (almost) as exciting as the big match-ups on Tuesday (ARG-SUI and USA-BEL).

[Ranking have been corrected.  Email sent out was incorrect]

If you are wondering whether your compatriots are holding up their end, here are the “team” (and I use that word loosely) results:

The CIBC team has a bit of an edge over the Normal People, with the Slaves from Other Financial Institutions in last place.

What a difference a game makes

Here are the leaders after all group games have been completed.  Sherman H is on top!  Clearly Sherman has done his homework because in the 2012 Euro Cup Pool he shared last place, and got his entry fee back.  Seannie G, who shared last place with Sherman, is also on the “most improved” list in 2014, now tied for 5 spot. Read the rest of this entry »

There are 75 entries in this pool, and 73 of you picked ESP to make it to the elimination rounds. Nearly 2/3rds of you have them getting at least to the quarter-finals. I mean, why wouldn’t they?  ESP won the last three international tournaments and brought many of their brilliant players from those competitions to Brazil. They might not win, but surely they would put up a good fight. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s something.

I have received 69 entries to the pool, with two more promised to come very soon.  So 1st prize will be at least $345 and that’s not too shabby.

Most of the payments have come in, so thanks for that.  I will be harassing reminding the rest of you shortly.

A listing of all entries  will be posted soon (probably on the weekend) just to make sure that I recorded all the picks accurately.

PS:  If you haven’t seen John Oliver’s diatribe on FIFA yet, its worth a trip to YouTube.  Or click below

Here something to digest in the time remaining before the first game. A meditation on fútbol that references the myth of Prometheus as the reason we are so drawn to the game (some of us only every couple of years, others more regularly).

Working-Class Ballet

When an ex-Bank of England governor (Mervyn King) quotes John Maynard Keynes on the topic of English soccer, you know the prospects are bleak.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-06-08/england-s-world-cup-decline-is-good-for-economy

Here’s a helpful overview of strategy and tactics that we are likely to see at the WC, all in refreshingly plain english.

How to Watch the World Cup Like a True Soccer Nerd