Friday, June 25, 2010

World Cup Picks: Update

Checking in on my World Cup picks for the Group Round:

A: (1) Uruguay, (2) France
B: (1) Argentina, (2) Nigeria
C: (1) US, (2) England
D: (1) Germany, (2) Serbia
E: (1) Netherlands, (2) Cameroon
F: (1) Italy, (2) Paraguay
G: (1) Brazil, (2) Portugal
H: (1) Spain, (2) Chile

10 out of 16 spots predicted correctly, including winner vs. runner-up. Correctly predicted Paraguay would advance, but blew the spot. So that's 11 correct in some way.

Missed entirely on 5 spots, including a big whiff on Italy winning Group F. I know bragging rights are won and lost on picking runners-up, not group winners, but I'm proud of my initial results.

FWIW: From my original picks, I am VERY chalky in the 2nd round, and I'm sticking with it.

I have every group winner advancing (including the US), except I picked B2 to beat A1. (What the hell: Even if I got the teams wrong, let's keep the premise and pick South Korea over Uruguay.)

And, of course, I picked Italy to be F1, which was horribly dumb. But I will stick with the F1-over-E2 pick, Paraguay over Japan.

Also FWIW: I have the US advancing to the semifinals. I'm sticking with it! (Ack: Quickie jinx!)

Now that the World Cup is a straight 16-team bracket, where's the office pool.....

-- D.S.

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