OT: Final results of MGoBlog World Cup Bracket Predictor; Also, overall snowflakes on tourney

Submitted by taistreetsmyhero on

Here are the final results of the ESPN bracket:

http://games.espn.go.com/world-cup-bracket-predictor/2014/en/group?groupID=54759

I'll toot my horn and note that I finished in 2nd based on tiebreaker. I didn't want Germany to win, but I figured it would be inevitable.

So:  final thoughts on the game and tourney in general?

B-Nut-GoBlue

July 13th, 2014 at 6:08 PM ^

Good tournament; good action throughout.  Every game, save for a few obvious ones early and the Brasil representation at the end, was good and entertaining futbol.

America represented themselves well, in my humble opinion.  I understand there are opinions on our team in regards to how we're still no where near the elite teams but even addressing the issues we have, we're building and gaining some ground.  I hope we can become a final 8 team by 2016.

*This from a fairweather soccer/futbol fan.  I don't watch on a regular basis but I've played many years of soccer, growing up and onto travelling teams during junior high so I understand the game fairly well.  I'll try to get myself to watch more European futbol in the near future.

snarling wolverine

July 13th, 2014 at 6:37 PM ^

I don't think too many non-Germans have a problem with them waving their flags and whatnot.  It's really Germans themselves who have hangups over it, having been scarred from the Nazi experience into thinking that any display of patriotism must be evil. 

(BTW, "Vive la France" isn't a sports cheer.  It's something politicans say.  French sports fans would say "Allez les Bleus" - Go Blue.)

bronxblue

July 13th, 2014 at 6:58 PM ^

Really good tournament, and the right team won. Russia will be interesting in 4 years, just from a viewership perspective, and then hopefully even come to their senses and gets the game out of Qatar.

c2mcclel

July 13th, 2014 at 7:26 PM ^

Thought it was a very entertaining game, but I wish there were a few more goals.  Also, I wish dives were called a little more often, but unfortunately they are hard to determine in real time.

jmblue

July 13th, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^

I'm surprised Messi won the Golden Ball over James Rodriguez or Arjen Robben.  Messi was fantastic in the group stage but then pretty quiet thereafter.

 

Clark Griswold

July 13th, 2014 at 9:23 PM ^

Whats up with Russia getting the World Cup right after they get the Olympics? Same thing with Brazil.....

jmblue

July 13th, 2014 at 9:50 PM ^

This has happened many times.

Mexico got the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1970 World Cup.

West Germany got the 1972 Summer Olympics and 1974 WC.

The U.S. got the 1994 WC and '96 Olympics.

Japan got the 1998 Olympics and co-hosted the 2002 WC.

 

 

 

jmblue

July 13th, 2014 at 10:49 PM ^

How would it have been huge for the Midwest? 

Recent history has demonstrated that these kinds of events generate little to no long-term economic benefit, while leaving the host city/cities with a bunch of expensive white elephant stadiums that taxpayers are stuck paying off for years.

I could go for the World Cup because (unlike most countries) the U.S. actually has the stadiums in place already, but I'm fine with not hosting the Olympics again for a long time.

 

denardogasm

July 14th, 2014 at 12:40 AM ^

I dont think that would be the case for the US these days because they actually have the sports and entertainment infrastructure to use stadiums they already have or continue using ones they build for the event. They wouldnt be building one in the middle of the jungle.

chatster

July 13th, 2014 at 10:00 PM ^

No problem with Lionel Messi getting the Golden Ball.  He was the Man of the Match in Argentina’s first four matches, all of which were victories.  Müller and Götze each was Germany’s Man of the Match twice, but Götze scored the most important goal of the tournament.
 
James Rodriguez might’ve been the only other outfield player with an argument for the Golden Ball.  He was Colombia’s Man of the Match in three of their first four victories, and he scored the only goal for his national team (on a penalty kick) in their 2-1 loss to Brazil in the quarterfinals. 
 
We’ll never know whether Neymar might’ve challenged for the award had he not suffered that injury in the quarterfinals.  He’d been Man of the Match in Brazil’s two Group-Stage wins.  Belgium had three different players named as Man of the Match (DeBruyne, Hazard and Vertonghen), so as exciting a player Arjen Robben is, I don’t think that he would’ve been a legitimate candidate for the award unless Belgium had advanced to the finals and he’d scored or assisted on some key goals.
 
For me, this was the Goalkeepers’ World Cup – lots of great, memorable performances from the men guarding the nets, including a few during penalty kick stages.  No argument giving Neuer the Golden Glove.
 
But the best part of this World Cup for me was being able to watch most of the matches when they were being broadcast live in the United States (and that included having watched matches on the west coast and the east coast.)
 
While the UEFA Champions League might be a better tournament, because you’ve got teams that have been together much longer than the times that the national teams get to train together and it’s played throughout the regular season, this was a very good World Cup tournament.
 
Kudos to ESPN and ABC for the coverage.  Now, who do I speak to about having Michigan and NFL football games telecast without commercial interruptions in each half?  And will Desmond Howard and Kirk Hirbstreit be doing pre-game broadcasts from Lee Corso’s Panic Room as College Football’s Men in Letterman’s Jackets this coming season?
 
(As an Arsenal fan, it was nice to see Özil, Mertesacker and Podolski getting to hoist another trophy after the FA championship.)

chatster

July 14th, 2014 at 5:18 AM ^

But Seriously; Another Lesson Learned:  Before you copy and paste on MGoBlog, be sure that you've added in all your corrected text. And proofread, proofread, proofread!

Apologies to Arjen Robben, Man of the Match in three of the Netherlands' wins, including the third place match.  (Some have speculated that in two years, he'll be competing for the Dutch again in Brazil in the Olympics in both football/soccer -- as one of the three overage players allowed on the U-23 team -- and in non-platform diving.)

ThadMattasagoblin

July 14th, 2014 at 2:15 AM ^

Chicago already has a lot of the stadiums in place. Northwestern, Loyola, Chicago State, NIU, UIC, Depaul, Illinois, Notre Dame, Wrigley, US Cellular, Soldier Field, United Center, Allstate Arena, Sears Centre, etc.

jmblue

July 14th, 2014 at 11:34 AM ^

The Olympics don't boost tourism.  While they're going on, there is an increase in first-time visitors, but this is offset by a massive decrease in regular visitors, who stay away those two weeks to "avoid the crowds".  After the Games, there is never much of a difference from before.  Politiicans always claim the first-time visitors will fall in love with the city and want to go back, but there is little evidence of this happening in any of the recent host cities. 

 

 

 

jmblue

July 14th, 2014 at 11:21 AM ^

I imagine that all Olympic host cities had a bunch of existing sports venues before they got the Games.  The problem is that a lot of them weren't appropriate for the sports the Olympics has.  For example, what good do Wrigley and U.S. Cellular do, when baseball has been dropped from the Olympic program?  Also, some of the sites you mentioned are too far away to be useable.  The IOC expects most venues to be in a compact, walkable area.  Going all the way to South Bend?  Forget it.

In the end, you have two weeks of fun and then you're left with a huge bill to pay off.  And contrary to what organizers claim, there is rarely any increase in tourism or economic investment in the years that follow.  Hosting the Olympics is an egotrip for local politicians, nothing more.

 

 

 

 

 

Yeoman

July 16th, 2014 at 8:01 AM ^

I'm not sure the ego trip is the whole story. There's a lot of money to be made if you land a construction contract or happen to own or control the right real estate and as a former Chicagoan I can tell you that that's a form of power most Chicago politicians understand very well.