With some prompting by Massimo* (is he a glutton for punishment or what?!), I have set up a bloggers' pool. In case anyone needs reminding, the last one was more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and prior knowledge of the game was not predictive of success or enjoyment! So even if you've never watched a game in your life, sign up and join in the fun!
I'll post updates and graphs after each stage of the tournament, for the purpose of public humiliation of
To join, go to http://www.myofficepool.ca/world_cup/?o=1
After you've registered and entered your picks (the teams that you think will survive the first round), join the group VWXYNot? , using the password trashtalk2010. Email me (vwxynot at gmail) if you run into any problems.
The official FIFA world rankings are here in case you need them!
Good luck!
-----------------
*Who also kindly tested the pool for me to make sure that people can join without being sent a personal invitation by email. Thanks Massimo!
I've entered (username: oharar). The menagerie is multinational - the servants are English and USian (next Saturday is the big match), the cat is Australian (poor thing), one parrot has Amazonian ancestry, so he'll be squawking for Brazil, and the rest are from the Solomon Islands, so I guess they'll be supporting the Kiwis.
ReplyDeleteThe cat is The Beast, of course.
ReplyDeleteI knew that :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for playing! And my commiserations on your likely upcoming divorce, depending on how Saturday's game goes. I need to go for a long ride before and after the game, but I will definitely be watching - it might be the only one of our group stage games I get to see!
I've signed up... but I must admit the joy was more than half gone... no swedes... I had to pick those ugly reddish ones from the south (some kind of kinship I'm sure).
ReplyDeleteAlas, no game watching for me this weekend. There will be some wedding shabang in the South ;) then again, I'm not sure it would be good considering the US vs England thing - there will be lots of shouting and even more beer ^^
(and no, not my wedding. but maybe that was obvious? I've just heard that comment a lot today "you're getting married?!" ..but no, going to a friend's wedding)
ReplyDeleteI'll join after work. U-S-A!
ReplyDeleteThis is shaping up nicely! So far we have a British-Canadian in Canada, an Italian-Canadian in France, a Brit in Germany, a Swede in the US, and an American in the US. This is what the world cup's all about!
ReplyDeleteI've also emailed Mad Hatter to try and bring her out of blogging retirement for this special occasion.
Chall, I had the same problem at the beginning of the 2008 European cup, for which England did not qualify. But I ended up enjoying the tournament immensely - and without the stress that watching England tends to cause!
Thomas, ING-ER-LAND! ING-ER-LAND! I assume you'll be watching on Saturday? ;)
cath> there is that of course... hmm...adopted country for the world cup then, maybe that's my way to go?
ReplyDelete(but I don't even fancy football that much.... hmm... hard times...)
And tell MH I said "please come and join the trash talk!" :)
I'll join and add a Slovenian in Ireland to your mix (although I've no idea about football really, but still, this should be fun!).
ReplyDeletew00t! It will totally be fun, even if you know nothing at all about football!
ReplyDeleteChall, you should support Algeria - that way, every team in Group C (Algeria, England, Slovenia, USA) will be represented ;)
Cath.... ehh... ;) I think I need to at least been there, or know someone from there... or read one book (can't think of any, only a maroccoan writer and from there)... and I have to say I think I draw a blank on all accounts. I'm too little international. but I guess I can change, or change my bets... let me think about it :)
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I wasn't being entirely serious! Don't change your picks unless you really want to!
ReplyDeleteCath> thanks ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm flying blind this time... and boring picks. I hope that some of them are correct though :D
At least we only have to pick for one round at a time... I'm in another pool organised by my friend's son's football team, and we had to pick the 16 teams that would survive the first round, and then pick the winners of every game after that! So if you're wrong at the first stage, it all goes downhill very quickly indeed...
ReplyDeleteI have no clue how to do any of this, but I know slightly more about soccer/football than about hockey (there's a ball! and 11 players on each side!) so I'll play. I have no clue which countries are even in this or how a pool works!
ReplyDeleteMUAAA HA HA HA HA I am in.
ReplyDeleteLoading up on African teams, and those from obscure South American countries.
I will win! I will win!
[certain aspects of the above statement may not be entirely accurate]
Signed up using my non-sciency screen name (ends in "fifths"). I had no idea that BOTH Koreas had a team, so I'm learning new things!
ReplyDeleteThe last time I watched world cup football was in 2002, so my picks might be terribly outdated =D
Yay! We're up to 8 participants! This should be tons of fun.
ReplyDeleteEva, crazy things can happen in the World Cup, so I wouldn't worry too much!
Ricardipus, I've also gone for several African teams to advance (but not Algeria - sorry, Algeria!). Fingers crossed!
From Mad Hatter:
ReplyDelete"I'm in! Thanks for the invite! Looking forward to kicking Massimo's ass again...and you can tell him that. :P"
YAY! 45 minutes to first kick-off! Enjoy, everyone, and good luck in the pool!
haha, looks like I should go back and change those picks... hmm..Algeria... and then maybe Uruguay since I missed that one... and wait.. I have NO idea what I'm doing :)
ReplyDeleteEva: you "home team" (I think) is a good one though... Orangiens... however that is spelled though ;)