Rafael: Stud

Eight men, brave and true. Including meself, a course. We all stuck our necks out and kept our wallets in (so as not to contravene applicable legislation passed in our various domains.) I was joined by the following: Steve Smith, joejoejoe, Steve Gilliard, kb, iceman, Tug, and Rafael ...in order of bravery.

Wonderfully surprising results! First, let's get to the method of scoring: 3pts were awarded for picking the 1st and 2nd place teams in order. 1pt was awarded if you got one of the advancing two teams in your prediction. That's it. Therefore, if you got both teams right but in the wrong order you got 2pts.

The Champ deserves first mention... especially since he whupped all of us and didn't even bother to make a pick for Group H! Rafael, who I assume is a fellow yankee because of his only one-pointer (ITA-USA), bested us with 18 points. His only other pick that didn't bullseye was 2pts for FRA-SWZ. In the interest of full disclosure, I came in last.

Among the picks of interest were: POR-MEX which everybody got right except me. This year's Corrigan Trophy goes to FRA-SWZ which half of us got backwards... including Rafael.

Interestingly, or not, the only goose eggs that appeared were in Group E for the United States and Czech Republic combos. I'm guessing a little patriotism may have clouded our judgement in that group.