Tuesday, May 28, 2002 http://www.HWCI.com/worldcup Issue 1.0.1 "Who can dethrone France?" MANY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED BEGINNING THIS FRIDAY World Cup Pool Frequently Asked Questions EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) - Defending World Cup champion France will have its work cut out for them as they open up World Cup 2002 in South Korea on Friday against tiny Senegal. With Japan and South Korea as co-hosts, and therefore getting automatic bids (not to be the case in 2006 though), the Netherlands, ranked 4th in the FIFA poll, are the odd team out and will watch teams such as Senegal and Tunisia take the world stage. Several major injuries have taken place this year and two of the most notable, David Beckham (ENG) and Zinedine Zidane (FRA) will be coming off injuries at the start of the World Cup. The Group of Death (Group F) means one slipup and Argentina, England, Sweden, or Nigeria could be out of the Round of 16. Every host nation has advanced to the Round of 16 and this year, there are two chances. Japan has an easy path while South Korea, pending another USA debacle, is likely for an early exit. Will Argentina, who ran away in qualifying continue its run to a title? Will Brazil, who struggled to just qualify (unheard of) use a relatively easy group to bounce back? Will the USA finish higher than 32nd? Stay tuned. The 2nd HWCI World Cup pool FAQ ------------------------------- Q. What is the deadline to get my picks in? A. 11:59 PM PDT Thursday, May 30, 2002. However, I'll make exceptions up to the first kick of the first match, 4 am PDT Friday. Q. Which matches am I picking before the deadline? A. All of them. [Part I] You will pick the 48 Round-Robin matches (6 games in each of the 8 groups). [Part II] Then you'll pick your "Sweet 16" (Round of 16) teams (top 2 teams in each group), then pick the winners of those games, then the quarterfinal winners, then the semifinal winners, and lastly, who you think the World Cup 2002 champion will be. And the tiebreaker. Q. What is the tiebreaker? A. The tiebreaker is what you think the total goals scored in both the 3rd place and Final matches will be. You can pick in half-goal increments (e.g., 4.5 goals) to hedge your bet to getting closest to the actual total. Penalty kick tiebreaker goals do not count (so if a match ends 1-1 and goes to penalty kicks, the total goals is 2 regardless of outcome). Last year, 6 total goals were scored in the 3rd and Final matches. Q. How can I enter? A. The easiest way is to enter via the web. Alternate methods include emailing your picks (scott@hwci.com) or faxing your picks (707-221-2715) via page 3 of the Word document attached. You can also mail your entry to me (Scott Tamashiro, 17333 Jeanette Av., Cerritos, CA 90703-1220). Q. Who do I pay the $10 entry fee to? A. You can either pay me via PayPal (Send Money to: hwci@hotmail.com) or mail a check to the address above. You can also pay your referrer. Q. How many times can I enter? A. You can enter up to 3 times ($30). Q. How does the referral incentive work? A. For every five people you get to enter the pool, you'll get one free entry with one paid entry. Note that if you refer 10 people you get two free entries with one (not two) paid entry. The goal is to get as many entries as possible. Q. How is the prize money distributed? A. 100% of all monies are given to the winners. If under 21 entries, there will be a 1st/2nd/3rd place prize (approx: 57%/25%/18%) and if more than 21 then a 4th place prize will be included. Q. So you make no money off this pool? A. Well, I will pay for the "free" entries so we actually lose $10 per free entry. But this is all done for fun and bragging rights. We run the HWCI NCAA pool every year and the HWCI World Cup pool every four years (obviously). Q. How can I verify my picks and how do I update my picks? A. Up until the deadline, you can change your picks. Just send me a quick email letting me know you have changed your picks. Just go back and re-enter the info (use a different nicknmame, e.g., "Nickname-Update", however). You can print out your Round of 16 bracket but if you want to double-check your Round Robin picks, send me an email. All picks will go up on Friday. I'll be posting my picks on our Discussion board (http://www.hwci.com/forum/zix/forum.asp?H_ID=11&pageid=1) before the deadline. Q. What are some useful links to help me pick my teams? A. Official World Cup site (www.worldcup.com); ESPN/Soccernet World Cup site (http://www.soccernet.com); SoccerTimes (http://www.soccertimes.com/worldcup.htm); BBC Sport World Cup coverage (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002); The Sporting News (http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/news.html); Soccer American (http://www.socceramerica.com); and http://www.worldcupjapankorea.com. Cheers, Scott HW