Issue # 8.2.4 "Again, is it Coming Home?" (History of the Pool)

 Archive

Friday, July 12, 2024

The European Championship Final   -
1968 Euro Champs   2008 Euro Champs   2010 WC Champs   2012 Euro Champs	vs	1966 WC Champs
ESP - Kingdom of Spain Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)		ENG - England The Football Assoc (The FA)
#8 | 1B | Winner | 6-0-0 5th Final ('64, '84, '08, '12) B1: Beat Croatia 3-0 B4: Beat Italy 1-0 B5: Beat Albania 1-0 R16: Beat 3F-Georgia 4-1 QF: Beat 1A-Germany 2-1 (aet) SF: Beat 2D-France 2-1		#5 | 1C | Winner | 3-0-3 2nd Final ('21) C2: Beat Serbia 1-0 C4: Tied Denmark 1-1 C5: Tied Slovenia 0-0 R16: Beat Slovakia 2-1 (aet) QF: Beat 2A-Switzerland 1-1 (PSO 5-3) SF: Beat 3D-Netherlands 2-1

 

CAN ENGLAND FINALLY DO IT?
Final is Noon PDT Sunday

LA MIRADA, CA (smt) - The summer of soccer continues with the conclusion of the EURO 2024 Final and the Copa América Final (Argentina vs Colombia) Sunday and then the men's and women's Olympic soccer kicks off July 24 in Paris and the Major League Soccer and Liga MX Leagues Cup kicks off July 26 with all 45 teams competing.

Issue # 7.2.3 "Don't Score First" (After Semifinals)

 Archive

Thursday, July 11, 2024
[Dailies: Jul 9-10 ]

SPAIN AND ENGLAND RALLY TO MAKE FINAL
Merman in 1st but JBueno Can Take Title; 10 get both final teams correct

HOME, CA (smt) - Scoring first is unhealthy for your chances.  On the last day of the quarters, 2F-Türkiye scored first but lost to 3D-Netherlands and 2A-Swiss scored first but 1C-England scored five minutes later and won in the PSO.  This time in the two semifinal matches, 2D-France finally scored an open play goal to open scoring in the 9' but 1B-Spain struck twice soon thereafter to hold on to a 2-1 win.  NED scored in the 7' but ENG scored on a controversial PK and then scored at the very end of regulation (I thought the goal was in the 90' but UEFA had it in the 90'+1 for a few hours) to stun NED, 2-1. 

ESP's Lamine Yamal became the youngest scorer in Euro history (16 years old, will be 17 come Sunday) and ENG's Ollie Watkins replaced PK scorer Harry Kane in the 81' and drilled the game-winner.  ESP makes its fifth Euro Final and will try to win its 4th while ENG makes its second straight Euro final and will try to win its first.

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free (7/10)

Who kicked who?

HOME, CA - 1C-England scored late again for the 3rd straight match but this time it was the game-winner at the start of stoppage time to beat 3D-Netherlands, 2-1.  ENG sub's Ollie Watkins' strike through the legs of the defender in the 90'+1 completed the comeback but it was a controversial VAR in the 14' that NED will be complaining about as a ENG shot follow-through connected with a defender's for a foul in the box.  I'm not sure how a defender is supposed to defend other than sticking his leg out, but VAR gave the PK.  Harry Kane's 18' PK tied it after NED went up in the 9'.  

ENG's rally was the fourth straight match where the team that scored first lost (three in regulation, one in PSO).  NED had just six shots and only two on goal and lost Memphis Depay in the 35' due to an injury.

Getting the hang of cooking sushi rice

22 picked ENG and ten got both ENG and ESP including the top 4.  Merman leads with 118 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (116), Big Blue third (115), and JBueno fourth (110).  The top two are guaranteed money with Big Blue either 3rd or a tie for 4th (would need total goals >8).  The total goals right now is 6 with one match to go.  Rainman would finish 4th with an ENG title and Kds911-3 and Luis Enrique's Armada would tie for 4th with a ESP title and total goals in final 2 or less.  So a total of 7 entries can win money and either Merman (ENG title) or JBueno (ESP title) will win the pool.

I'm under the weather with a cough so just made some nigiri (Japanese rice with a little vinegar and sliced salmon chunk sashimi - unfortunately, nearly impossible to get wild salmon sashimi from market) that I bought yesterday (no, I haven't tried the A5 Wagyu yet).  I wore my NED women's 2022 away shirt (thankful they sell men's sizes of the women's jerseys which sometimes have cooler designs) at home.  So that means FRA lost yesterday and NED lost today.  Do I wear my ENG or ESP jersey Sunday?

Oh, and bye-bye Berhalter!!!

Quick Strikes (7/9)

Initially a GW own goal

GARDENA, CA - 2D-France finally scored in open play in the 9' but 1B-Spain struck back twice in 5 minutes (21' and 25' with the latter initially an own goal and then changed to a goal) for their only two shots on goal for the entire match to win 2-1 and advance to their 4th Euro final.  ESP's Lamine Yamal became the youngest person ever to score in the Euros (16 but will be 17 in the Final).  FRA tried to even the score but the two great chances late were shot high over the bar (including one by face-maskless Mbappe).

Real A5 Wagyu Ribeye!

23 had ESP making the final which kept Merman at the top with 110 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (108) and Big Blue third (107).  Since all 3 have ENG as their champ, they will stay in this order.  10 entries can still win money and five can still win the pool.  Merman becomes the first person to win money and is guaranteed 4th.  Soccer Guru clinched last with 76 pts.  Eric F's three BigRedMessi entries are still alive but now he can't win the pool.  

BigRedMessi 3 is 2nd but can't win the pool while Sporty Xtina is 9th (101) but can win the pool.  Teton&Tahoe is 4th (106) but is eliminated while BigRedMessi 3 is tied for 37th but can still finish 3rd.

I love going to Tokyo Central for its Japanese groceries and now restaurant.  There, you can get A5 Japanese Wagyu ($99.99 per pound, same as when Costco sometimes sells it) which is delicious.  Because of the healthy fat content, you can't eat too much at a time so it lasts the whole week.  I wore my FRA women's 2022 home jersey and love that some nations produce different men's and women's jerseys (though that means I may have to buy double the jerseys if they look good).

Total Goals as of July 9 (1 of 3 Matches):  3

If SPAIN beats NETHERLANDS in Final…
1st-Tied	Kds911-3	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 1st/2nd
1st-Tied	Luis Enrique's Armada	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 1st/2nd
3rd	JBueno	114
4th	Merman	110
If NETHERLANDS beats SPAIN in Final…
1st	Sporty Xtina	121
2nd	Merman	110
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 2	108	Tie:	5.0	Wins 3rd if 3-5
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 1	108	Tie:	6.0	Wins 4th if 3-5, 3rd if 6, 4th if >=7
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 3	108	Tie:	6.5	Wins 4th if 6, 3rd if >=7
If SPAIN beats ENGLAND in Final…
1st	Jbueno	122
2nd	Merman	118
3rd	BigRedMessi 3	116
4th-Tied	Kds911-3	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 3-8
4th-Tied	Luis Enrique's Armada	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 3-8
4th-Tied	Big Blue	115	Tie:	10.5	Wins 4th if >=9
If ENGLAND beats SPAIN in Final…
1st	Merman	130
2nd	BigRedMessi 3	128
3rd	Big Blue	127
4th	Rainman	120

Issue # 6.2.2 "Best of the Best?" (After Quarterfinals)

 Archive

Sunday, July 7, 2024

[Dailies: Jul 5-6 ]

First Semifinal -  Munich Football Arena			Second Semifinal - BVB Stadion Dortmund
ESP - Kingdom of Spain La Roja (The Red One) Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)	FRA - French Rep Les Blues (The Blues) Fédération Française de Football (FFF)		NED - Netherlands Oranje Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KNVB)	ENG - England Three Lions The Football Assoc (The FA)
#8 | 1B | Winner | 5-0-0 6th Semifinal ('64, '84, '08, '12, '21) B1: Beat Croatia 3-0 B4: Beat Italy 1-0 B5: Beat Albania 1-0 R16: Beat 3F-Georgia 4-1 QF: Beat 1A-Germany 2-1 (aet)	#2 | 2D | Runner-Up | 2-0-3 5th Semifinal ('84, '96, '00, '16) D2: Beat Austria 1-0 D4: Tied Netherlands 0-0 D6: Tied Poland 1-1 R16: Beat 2E-Belgium 1-0 QF: Beat 1F-Portugal 0-0 ( PSO 5-3)		#7 | 3D | 3rd Place | 3-1-1 6th Semifinal ('76, '88, '92, '00, '04) D1: Beat Poland 2-1 D4: Tied France 0-0 D5: Lost to Austria 3-2 R16: Beat 1E-Romania 3-0 QF: Beat Türkiye 2-1	#5 | 1C | Winner | 2-0-3 4th Semifinal ('68, '96, '21) C2: Beat Serbia 1-0 C4: Tied Denmark 1-1 C5: Tied Slovenia 0-0 R16: Beat Slovakia 2-1 (aet) QF: Beat 2A-Switzerland 1-1 (PSO 5-3)

BIG NAMES IN SEMIS, BUT HOW GOOD ARE THEY
Merman in control with 102 pts; 13 get all 4 SF teams correct

ROSEMEAD, CA (smt) - We have the semifinals set with 1B-Spain facing 2D-France and 1C-England facing 3D-Netherlands.  The four have combined for six European championships and four World Cups with each team winning at least one of them.  While ESP has outscored opponents 11-2 (1 own goal), FRA has not scored in open play (its three goals have been 2 own goals and 1 PK), ENG has scored just four times (with the last two not getting a shot on goal for almost 95 minutes and 80 minutes, respectively), and NED only winning one game comfortably (3-0 in Round of 16) while needing to rally twice after falling behind 1-0. 

Rallies (7/6)

10th own goal stuns TUR

PALOMAR OBSERVATORY, PALOMAR MOUNTAIN, CA - For the second straight knockout match, 1C-England had to rally late with an 80' goal (for the second straight match, they scored on their only shot on goal in regulation) after allowing a 75' goal from 2A-Switzerland. Pushed to the penalty shootout, ENG hit all 5 of their kicks while SUI had their first saved as ENG advanced to the semis, 5-3.  2F-Türkiye were holding on to 1-0 halftime lead over 3D-Netherlands but NED scored twice in a six-minute span to stun TUR, 2-1.  The game-winning goal was the 10th own goal of the tournament (the second TUR have put into their own net) and was the 4th game-winning own goal this year.  

NED will try to replicate Portugal's third-place run to a title and will face ENG.  Like TUR's last group stage match, bench players and coaches were carded but this time, TUR's bench player was ejected and TUR's coach got a yellow in stoppage time.  NED's win was their second win after giving up the first goal (vPOL) and just the third time a team trailing at the half rallied to win.

200-inch telescope

44 had ENG making the semis and 12 NED.  Thirteen (13) went 2-0 while ten went 0-2.  Merman stays in the lead with 102 points but now Sporty Xtina is second (101).  Nacho Libre takes over last place with 75 pts although Soccer Guru (57th) will be stuck on 76 pts.  Overall, eight entries got all 4 semifinalists correct while Soccer Guru got none.

15 still have a chance to win money and six can still win the pool.  Merman has the best chance at money (62.5%) while Merman, BigRedMessi 1 (3rd-Tied, 100), and Sporty Xtina each have a 25% chance to win the pool.

BigRedMessi 3 (same remaining picks as Merman) is tied for 3rd but can't win the pool while JBueno (ESP>ENG in final) is tied for 12th (94) but can win the pool.  El Buenísimo is 8th (97) but is eliminated while Azzurri di Hermosa (FRA>ENG in final) is 41st (87) but can still win 3rd place.

Made the hour-long drive from Fallbrook to Palomar Observatory about 5,500 feet up.  On the tour there is a very helpful demo of how the telescope moves and tracks - because in looking at it behind the scenes, it's hard to visualize how these big pieces move.  I wore my adidas fan Ajax (NED) jersey featuring starry night which I always get compliments on, including the Cal Tech lady selling the tour tickets.