World Cup Fever! (A WC2010 fun pool)

[CDNSushi]

Hey, everyone!

The World Cup is just around the corner, and the whole world will be watching! But even if you won't be, and even if you don't know (or care) much about soccer, that doesn't mean you can't get in on some of the fun!

Here's the deal: I'm setting up a friendly pool for my friends here at Xmarks. There is no betting involved. No money will exchange hands. This is strictly for FUN, bragging rights and personal glory only!

All you have to do is pick which countries you think will win against other countries in the tournament.

Here's what you do:

1) Go to http://wcpool.com/

2) a) Register with a unique username & password (it's all completely free and private) It's not necessary -- but if you use the same username as on XMarks, we will know who we all are... ith:
2) b) Enter in: XMTS where it asks you for the subleague

3) Once registered, Click on "My Prediction" in the menu

4) Start with the "Group" stage. Click on the bubbles next to which teams you think will win.

This is what it looks like:

South Africa (o) ( ) ( ) Mexico <-- means you pick S.A. to win


South Africa ( ) ( ) (o) Mexico <-- means you pick Mexico to win

South Africa ( ) (o) ( ) Mexico <-- means you think the game will result in a tie. (Ties are allowed in the first round of play)

4) b) Always remember to click on "Save Predictions" at the bottom of the page.

5) Pick who you think will win in each successive round, all the way to the Final game.

6) When you are finished, you will see green checkmarks next to each prediction category instead of red Xes.

7) You can change your mind as much as you want up until the starting day of the tournament.

8) Point system:

All the matches

You can earn 1 point for every match which you predicted correctly (home wins, tie or away wins)

1/8 finals

*** point for every correct predicted country in the 1/8 finals.
*** bonus point for every country placed in the correct position.

Quarter Finals

+2 points for every correct predicted country in the quarter finals.
+2 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Semi Finals

+3 points for every correct predicted country in the semi finals.
+3 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Third place

+4 points for every correct predicted country in this round.
+4 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

Final

+5 points for every correct predicted country in the final.
+5 bonus points for every country placed at the correct position.

[BoldHighlander]

I don't have cable, so I haven't been able to watch soccer for a while (except when shopping at Costco ). Sounds like fun though, I'll have to check this out.

Thanks.

[CDNSushi]

Man. Only 1 taker on the pool, huh? I thought we had a few football (soccer) fans on here.

I guess people are unwilling to join in because they are already keenly aware of my mad skills and uncanny ability to accurately predict which team will win the cup and don't want to be embarrassed. That's ok. I don't blame you -- not everyone has mad skillz like I do...

Well, anyway -- if you change your mind, it's really super-easy. All you do is pick which countries you think will beat other countries. Just get your guesses in before the beginning of the first match on June 11. Oh yeah, and if you do decide to give it a "go," make sure you sign using "XMTS" as the "sub-league name."

Olé, olé, olé, olé....

[Gunnar]

Ahhh!! I read this thread a bit too late, would have loved to participate in this!

[BoldHighlander]

Man. Only 1 taker on the pool, huh? I thought we had a few football (soccer) fans on here.

Yeah, what's up with that?!
I also thought there'd be more takers

I guess people are unwilling to join in because they are already keenly aware of my mad skills and uncanny ability to accurately predict which team will win the cup and don't want to be embarrassed. That's ok. I don't blame you -- not everyone has mad skillz like I do...

So, far I'm just a point behind you!

[CDNSushi]

Cool! ;-) I'll have to look this weekend.

If you're interested, you can also create a membership with FIFA.com. They have a fantasy league and some other fun games too... But the one that I've been really hitting HARD has been the contest to win an actual Jabulani kick-off ball.

During the live match, you have to answer some trivia questions, and if they are all correct, you are entered into a draw to win that match's kickoff ball... In other words, you have 64 chances to win!

For the opening and closing games of the tournament, the kickoff ball itself is not up for grabs, but another ball is... And I think it's the Jo'bulani... The Jabulani's special-edition, gold-colored cousin.

I really shouldn't be telling anyone this, because the more who enter decreases my odds of getting one (lol)... But truth be told, if any one of the rabble won, I would be thrilled for them too!

[Lachlan09]

Cool! ;-) I'll have to look this weekend.

If you're interested, you can also create a membership with FIFA.com. They have a fantasy league and some other fun games too...

I'm a member of Fifa.com but I haven't tried any competitions yet. My moniker is "1RedLion", with my persona all Scotland-related. 1RedLion is a Scottish parody I created, based on England's media-created nick-name "Three Lions".

They should have a survey to see how many people detest those stupid, oversized kazoos that are getting sold to spectators. I find I have to turn off the sound to watch a match, otherwise I start to get a headache after a while. The constant buzzy drone of these obvious Ad-agency gimmicks for this World Cup detract from the enjoyment. Many expat colleagues of mine (mainly British) are completely of the same mind. I understand one channel (possibly UK based) has managed to filter out these sounds from the commentary !

Hopefully, Brazil's samba drums, England supporter-songs and European chants etc will drown out these monstrosities and they'll die the death after the World Cup is over. I can imagine if anyone tries to bring them into UK football, let us say they won't last very long.