Add 1, affect 57

That's more like it

We have new leaders!  Well, in my zeal to move BigRedMessi's info to the top of my list in Excel as our first entry, the cut & paste affected the other 57 entries in the formulas in about 6 different sheets I track.  I missed the temp standing one where the first entry was the second entry info, the 2nd was the 3rd, etc.  Also, for some reason I'm reading horizontal data as vertical so copy & paste doesn't change the formulas relative to cell correctly.  So that's been corrected.

I apologize for causing you a little stress if you saw you only had 7 points but really had 9.  If there are any more corrections, please let me know.  Thanks!

It All Changes Now - Who is Eliminated?

You'll see a couple of changes of interest to you.  The Standings page now includes two additional columns.  "Pl" is the highest placement you can reach with the remaining 128 possible outcomes.  If it says "E", well, that means your entry has been eliminated.  Sorry.  My primary entry Futbol Fabone Five is one of 20 to get an early retirement.  Since we have 4 money spots, the number 1-4 corresponds to the highest possible placement (you could lose a tiebreaker) where "1" means you are one of the 9 entries with a chance to win the pool.  My second entry (SiemkoStrimkoPlinko!), barely surviving thanks to France back-dooring into the Quarters, has a "2" which means I could still finish in 2nd place though it might mean I need GRE and FRA meeting in the final.  If you want to know which possible outcomes would win you money, please post a comment at the bottom of this post or request it via Facebook or Twitter.

The other new thing is a new menu tab on top called "Possibilities".  This shows what percentage you could win 1st or win money.  Right now, The Flying Elvi is flying high as he has a 26.6% to win 1st and a 71.9% to win money.  But that could change in a few days!

Placement Doesn't Matter (For Now)

So what if you had GRE as the Group A winner and CZE as the Group A runner-up?  You get the same 10 points (5 per) as if you correctly had it CZE and GRE.  Sounds great, right?  The problem arises is that you have the teams in reverse order in your bracket.  Now, if you have both CZE and GRE losing in the quarterfinals, then this does not matter.  However, let's say you picked a championship final matchup of GRE and ESP (you picked correctly as runners-up of Group C-- I hope I didn't jinx Spain), the last 2 EURO champions.  Because you misplaced GRE, you can't get both in the final since now they would meet in the semifinals (if both win their quarterfinal matches).  So the good news is you are guaranteed to get 1 team in the Final you picked; the bad news is you can't get both.  So that's your potential penalty.

Group of Death it is

Denmark has made its mark that there are FOUR great teams in the group. Germany finally broke through with a 1-0 victory as well.   SalsaKing was the only to pick Denmark while 31 picked Germany. The same six still top the leaderboard. 32 got one correct today. Was late to Gymboree as Portugal was threatening late.

The leaders thus far:

Rnk	NAME	Correct->	RND1
1	BigRedMessi1		3
	BigRedMessi2		3
	Jay		3
	Sisyphus13		3
	Walleye		3
	XaviOzil		3

Polling & Distribution

Our poll has closed and 13 put in a vote as to who will win EURO 2012 and Germany led the way with 6 with Spain and Holland tied for second with 3 each.  And no one picked England?  So, now, what would be a good poll question to put up?  I'm taking suggestions.

The site has been updated with more information as we now have the current standings up (click on "Standings" above).  The goal is to update it soon after the last match is played, but with work and two demanding kids, it probably won't be updated until late at night.  I've tailored it from our HWCI World Cup files, so it's still a work in progress.

Next, if you want to see how many entries picked Germany (14) as their champion, then click on the "Distribution" menu item above.  It'll list all 16 teams and you'll find some gems like every team was picked at least two times to make the Quarterfinals but four teams were predicted to not reach the Semis.  Denmark, in the Group of Death is the odd man out as only two entries picked them into the Quarterfinals over Germany, Holland, and Portugal.  Six teams are picked to win it all while only eight teams had someone pick them through to the final.  Someone picked Ukraine into the Semis.

In the menu of that file, you can also see how everyone picked each Round Robin match and bracket.   You can visually scan the table to find which entry picked Ukraine into the Semis or which two entries picked Denmark to advance to the Quarters.

And now, the "Your Picks" menu item above now is complete and sorted by name and by nickname so you can find your friends and family members easier.  You can also make fun of people's nicknames or praise them on our Facebook group or any item on this blog.  Since there are links to your individual brackets, this may be referred to as the Brackets page as well.

Wild First Day - Six tied for 1st

What a topsy-turvy first match.  Seemed like co-host Poland was going to blow out Greece, especially when the refs generously sent a Greek off with two soft yellows, giving 18 entries a first taste of victory to start the pool.  Then Greece tied it with super sub Dimitris Salpigidis equalized early in the second half putting 10 entries closer to the win column.  Then the Polish GK took down Salpigidis for a PK and 11 who picked Greece were getting ready to celebrate their two points.  But the backup GK saved it and in the end, 10 entries got it correct -- a tie.  The first tie of our soccer pools where you could earn points and it happened in the very first game.  So instead of 18 entries losing a chance for points in a wash (no points for anyone), 10 picked up two points.  Of course, I was one of those 18 who are now 2 points behind instead of tied with everyone.  How bizzare must it be for the Polish fans to hear a goal celebration song when Greece scored in their own stadium.

In the nightcap (in Poland at least), Russia showed they are the team to beat in Group A by thumping the Czech Republic 4-1.  Roman Pavlyuchenko's one-man effort (for the 4th goal) was so great it reminded me of someone like Kobe Bryant taking on the entire opposing team and still scoring.  So 27 of the 39 entries picked Russia and in the end, six are on top of the standings with 4 points while eight entries are still pointless.  You can now find the daily standings in the menu above (usually by the next morning, but hopefully always earlier).  We are unofficially at 39 entries which is more than the 20-25 I expected.  We should be official by Monday evening when I check the PO Box for any more mailed entries (we had 2).