Saturday, May 29, 2021
Issue # 1.0.1 "The 2021 HWCI Euro 2020 Pool... or Something Like That"
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SANTA
BARBARA,
CA (smt)- After the pandemic
postponed Euro 2020, UEFA's celebration across Europe kicks off June 11th in
2021 although the 24-team tournament will still be called
Euro 2020.
Eleven cities (down from original 13) in 11 countries will host with 9 teams
getting to host at least two group matches. Thanks the UEFA Nations
League, C4-North Macedonia
(MKD)
won a place in the tournament, its first (along with Finland). Hosts
were paired (if both qualified) in each group then drawn for order (1,2,3,4) so
you'll see, for example, #37 Hungary leading Group F as F1. Will
playing at home, with fans mostly from their country (due to some
inter-Europe travel
restrictions), help elevate teams? There is no overwhelming favorite
so is this England's year (with a potential to play 6 of 7 matches in Wembley
Stadium)?
B3-Belgium
is the
#1 team in the world while F3-France (#2), D1-England (#4), F2-Portugal (#5)
(defending champs), E1-Spain (#6), A2-Italy (#7), and B1-Denmark (#10) are also
in the top 10. As you can infer, Group F is the group of death with
France, Portugal, and Germany (have fallen to #12!). Since there are just
six groups, four of the six 3rd place teams will advance to the Knockout Stage
so all three could make it but maybe #37 Hungary can surprise someone in that
group.
So what has changed in our pool? If all goes well, nothing. Deadline is Noon PDT Friday, June 11th and UEFA won't change teams, although a match could be postponed 48 hours if a team does not have 13 players due to positive COVID-19 tests. If a team can't compete, it's a win by forfeit (according to UEFA) and you'll still get the points (round robin or knockout round). If the rare case both teams can't play, however UEFA decides to move a team to the next round gets the points (best mascot?). If UEFA just vacates the position, no one gets points (e.g., for a Round Robin match, UEFA allocates zero points to both teams, then no one gets points (win/lose/tie)).
Remember, regardless how you pick the six matches in each group, you will pick the top 2 teams in Groups A-F plus the best four 3rd place teams you think will make it (no math needed!). When you pick your four 3rd place teams, there will be only one way to place all four in the Round of 16 Bracket. If you need help, let me know.
Our HWCI
EURO Pool is our 3rd but its our 12th soccer pool (6 World Cup, 3 Euros, 2
Women's World Cup, and one MLS last year (which was free to enter)).
Last time (2016) we had
27 entries, off
2012's 39, but still a passionate group of people who love the high quality
competition. The entry
fee is still $10 (and although we now accept Google Wallet
& Venmo payments, we do not accept
non-fungible tokents (NFTs), the latest trend). Deadline is
Noon PDT
Friday (June 11th) before
the first match. Same point
system. Remember, you can either update your bracket (same nickname or add
"update" to it)
or email your change (easier to email one or two changes than resubmit a
new entry). So you can pick as early as
NOW or wait until the last minute.
For
the fifth time, Eric's
Foster's Fubtol (or Football) Brew commentary will be back.
Usually he is visiting the tournaments though not this year (I think).
Expect insight into not only the Euros but Copa America and the USMNT (if
applicable) as well. I love other people's views and it is always a great
read.
We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools)
and Discord for
discussion or questions.
Please follow! I will post using
#hwcincaa
mini-updates during the day so you can follow without being on Twitter (and if
you are, please use #hwcincaa).
Please join our
Facebook
HWCI Soccer
Pool Group or post comments on our
blog.
You can mail your entry fee (email me for snail mail) or give your $10 (per
entry) to someone who will give the money to David or Scott. We are accepting
PayPal
(check or PayPal
funds only) to "hwci<at>hotmail.com" or credit card
PayPal payments to "smt0222<at>yahoo.com" (but the
entry fee is $10.61 (61 cents in PayPal fees... damn them!)).
Now, you can send money via your Smartphone an
d pay no fees! Use Google
Pay's Send Money
function and send your $10 (per entry) to "smt0222<at>gmail.com"
or Venmo (@smt0222)-- just make sure you put
your NAME and NICKNAME in the notes section. And if you're having trouble
getting your picks in, take a picture of your bracket with your phone and email
it to ncaa<at>hwci.com.
Last time, Ford R won the pool and took home $120 as the only entry picking Portugal for their first major world title. Last time we received 27 entries from 25 people.
WHAT: | 3rd Quadrennial HWCI EURO Tournament Pool |
DEADLINE: | Noon PDT on Friday, June 11 |
ENTRY FEE: | $10.00 per entry (max 3 entries per person) |
PREV CHAMPS: |
---Euros--- 2016- RAINMAN $120 (27 entries) 2012- SALSA KING, $190 (39) ---World Cup (Next: November 2022 in Qatar)--- 2018- WALLEYE, $355 (79) 2014- GANDHI UNITED, $345 (75) 2010- FORZA PAZZA, $310 (67) 2006- ELASTIGIRL, $220 (44) 2002- PUNA, $110 (23) 1998- LE BIX, $115 (21) ---Women's World Cup (Next: July 2023 in Australia/New Zealand)--- 2019- FROM THE PUBS!, $220 (44) 2015- THECOMEBACKER, $110 (22) ---Special Edition: MLS is Back--- 2020- BOBBY CEE RACER, Jersey (15) [Free entry] |
RULES: | Check http://hwci-euro.blogspot.com/p/rules.html for more info |
FAQ: | http://hwci-euro.blogspot.com/p/faq.html |
ARCHIVE: | Check http://www.HWCI.com/euro/2020 |
BLOG: | Comment at http://www.HWCI.com/euro |
NOTES: |
|
Enter online now! You can also fax your entry (DOC | PDF) to me at (720) 368-0816 or email us for a snail mail address (postmarked by Thursday AM). Make arrangements (such as PayPal, GPay, Venmo) to send in your $10 entry fee(s) by June 12th (you can also pay me directly at a future Galaxy match). Complete rules and daily pool information can be found on the official site: http://www.HWCI.com/euro.
Tids &
Bits - there have been more than 33 million COVID-19 positive
cases with over 593,000 related deaths in the U.S. (169 million cases and 3.5
million deaths
worldwide); thanks to
Operation Warp Speed, vaccine doses were ready to go much
less than a year
with over 1.8 billion doses already administered worldwide - but
new variants have hit Brazil and India hard...
13 cities were initially chosen in 2014 (London for the Final Four and 2 per
group splitting knockout stage matches) but the
Eurostadium delay (and eventually cancellation) moved matches from Brussels
(BEL) to London (ENG) (Group D matches and one Round of 16 match) in 2017 and
with no guarantee of having fans, UEFA
moved matches from Bilbao (ESP) to Seville (also ESP) and from Dublin (IRL)
to St. Petersburg (RUS) (Group E) and London (one Round of 16 match which could
feature ENG if they win Group D) in April... MKD is the worst-ranked team (#62)
in the tourney while Serbia (#25) is the highest-ranked team that failed to
qualify... all matches will either be 6 am, 9 am, or Noon PDT and all on
ESPN/ESPN2/ABC (5 on network television for first time since Euro '08)...
odds by PointsBet - ENG & FRA 5:1, BEL 6:1, GER & ESP 7.5:1, and POR 8:1;
HUN and MKD are each 300:1...
while
MKD (well, didn't think I'd mention North Macedonia this much) won Path D,
Hungary (ranked 31 of 55 in UEFA, upset #12 Iceland to win Path A), Slovakia
(Path B), and Scotland (Path C) also won their
Nations League playoffs to be the final 4 teams in the tournament... because
HUN and SCO qualified later, ENG gets to host ENG-SCO and GER gets to host
GER-HUN; however, there was a coin toss between DEN and RUS since both qualified
in group play and DEN won the right to host RUS-DEN... hosts Baku, Azerbaijan
(AZE) and Bucharest, Romania (ROU) didn't qualify (IRL also didn't qualify but
lost their host duties in April anyway)... the
Word or
PDF form may state
Apr 7th FIFA rankings but yesterday's rankings (May
27th) show the top 97 did not change... rosters should be finalized June
1... why no CONCACAF Gold Cup or CONMEBOL Copa Ámerica pool?
Several reasons, these usually overlap (this year, overlap with Euro as well and
last year the Women's World Cup), nations or federations only sometimes take
these tournaments seriously (e.g., USA has won 5 of the past 10 Cups but only
once ('07) when it really mattered (e.g., spot in FIFA championships) and Copa
America invites random teams such as USA, Qatar, or Japan for some reason), Gold
Cup quality is typically low (go Montserrat or Saint Vincent & Grenadines!), and
Copa is held randomly (Copa in USA in '16? Copa in '15 and '16 then '19?
this year maybe in USA - who knows what CONMEBOL is doing)... but our next
"dead" soccer year is 2025 (no WC, WWC, or Euro) so if Copa or Gold Cup is a
"real" and stable competition, maybe do a Special Edition pool then...
An American will be an UEFA Champions League champion? how awesome,
watch it today (Saturday) at Noon PDT on
CBS or Paramount+ with a 90-minute pregame show... let's not even talk about
the still existing (according to three clubs) but
failed 20-team Super League... or the
record $2 million fine MLS levied against Inter Miami... or the
Mexican chant that won't die.... happy thoughts, please...
--------
I only started watching the Euros thanks to this pool in 2012...
Scott