And here we go...

Bye Bye Panini, Hello Topps.

DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CARSON, CA -- In 15 days, the 17th UEFA European Championship kicks off with Germany hosting Scotland.  Italy will try to make it back-to-back Euros, despite not even qualifying for the last two World Cups.  More importantly, our 4th HWCI EURO pool is now ready to go!

You can read more about the pool on our blog (rules and how to enter)and you can enter now from there or here.  The deadline is Noon PDT Friday, June 14th.  Everything is same as always - ten dollar fee, all fees go to prizes, point system, and 68 choices in the pool.

Some non-pool related news:

• For the first time, the popular sticker album will not be from Panini as Topps secured the rights for 2024 and 2028.  Panini has been doing this since 1980.
• For the first time since every tournament game was on American TV in 2008, you won't be able to watch the games on ESPN.  FOX won a six-year deal that started with UEFA Nations League in 2022 and includes EURO 2024 and 2028.
• All Russian soccer teams have been banned from competitions after their country's invasion of Ukraine and they will get to watch Ukraine's soccer team, who will play in Group E.
• A god-awful Euro 2024 logo is like ChatGPT gone wild.  Just a motley splash of colors.  This was the worst until World Cup 2026 revealed their bland logo (I'm not even going to link to it, it's so bad).