FIFA World Cup 2006

[Mythor]

G'day!

I will be running a tipping competition for the upcoming FIFA World Cup.
It has been imaginatively titled "FIFA World Cup 2006 Tipping Comp of DOOM".
There is currently NO PRIZE involved, other than the bragging rights of being the elitest tipping person to enter the tipping competition of DOOM. This may change prior to the start of the World Cup.

The rules for scoring are currently thus:

Points:
1 for correct tip of a win in group matches.
1 for correct tip of a draw in group matches.
1 for correct tip in the finals.
1 bonus point for correctly tipping every match in a round.

Failure to submit tips before cutoff:
Awarded the same points as the lowest tipper, minus 1 point.

Late starters:
Start at Average score in the comp, minus 1 point.


(Rules subject to change prior to start of the World Cup - so if you think a change should be made, make your case!)

There is NO FEE to enter.

NO KNOWLEDGE OF SOCCER IS REQUIRED. Tip your favourite countries. Tip alphabetically. Tip the hottest team. Tip however you want!
The GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL is to have fun during the greatest single sport carnival IN THE WORLD. :-)

To enter:
1) Go to www.oztips.com
2) From the 'Home' page, click "I'm new and I want to Tip" and register a new Login for the site (or, if you are already registered with OzTips, Login).
3) Click "I want to join a Tipping Comp" on the 'Home' page, or "Join a Tipping Comp" on the 'Tipping' page.
4) The competition number is: 76309
5) The password is: doomydoomdoom
6) Leave me a message here, or email me or send me a PM to let me know you've joined.* (* Optional)

Questions? Comments?

(Note: People from outside MOSH are also in the competition. Some are ex- or part-time MOSHers. Any harassment will get you punted from the comp. So please don't join just to be a prat. )

[Renee_Turner]

Joined. I'm basing my tips solely on cultural stereotypes. Yeah. (going by my other name of microwave_popcorn)

[unfrufru]

i'll join 2morrow once i hace access to a faster net connection

what's football??

i shall be choosing teams either based on actual football knowledge (i went to a mainly italian/greek/leb high school. or i'll just stick to who has the cutest players

[Playm8]

Joined, yay

Originally Posted by unfrufru

or i'll just stick to who has the cutest players

Impossible, coz that's all of them. I love soccer

[Mythor]

Yay! More people!

There's a friendly on tonight, Australia vs Netherlands. Coverage starts at 10.30pm on SBS with kickoff expected around 11pm. The Netherlands are apparently fielding their full strength squad (RUUUUUUUUUUD! Yay!) so keep your fingers crossed Australia don't get trounced too badly.

[Renee_Turner]

Originally Posted by unfrufru

or i'll just stick to who has the cutest players

Have you see the Italian team's calendar? Rowr. Can email to you if you like.

[susanjacobs]

I joined. I have no idea about soccer/football. I don't plan to watch any of the events. But someone will let me know when I need to do something again, yeah???

[Mythor]

You should need to put more tips in once a week. There's a setting at OzTips that will send you a reminder if you haven't tipped for the current week.
Login to OzTips and go to the Settings tab, then the Preferences. Make sure the Reminder box is tipped and you're done.

[unfrufru]

i'm registered.

i also picked teams that i've heard the boys in the office talk about (in a good way i hope)

[katrant]

I've joined. I have no bloody idea what I'm doing, coz I know bugger all about soccer, but I've joined

[susanjacobs]

Originally Posted by Mythor

You should need to put more tips in once a week. There's a setting at OzTips that will send you a reminder if you haven't tipped for the current week.
Login to OzTips and go to the Settings tab, then the Preferences. Make sure the Reminder box is tipped and you're done.

It seems that the default is to have that ticked, so it seems to be all good.

[Playm8]

In preparation for the World Cup, the "offside rule" explained for women:

You're in a shoe shop, second in the queue for the till. Behind the shop assistant on the till is a pair of shoes which you have seen and which you must have.

The female shopper in front of you has seen them also and is eyeing them with desire. Both of you have forgotten your purses.

It would be rude to push in front of the first woman if you had no money to pay for the shoes.

The shop assistant remains at the till waiting.

Your friend is trying on another pair of shoes at the back of the shop and sees your dilemma.

She prepares to throw her purse to you.

If she does so, you can catch the purse, then walk round the other shopper and buy the shoes!

At a pinch she could throw the purse ahead of the other shopper and "whilst it is in flight"you could nip around the other shopper, catch the purse and buy the shoes!

BUT, you must always remember that until the purse has "actually been thrown", it would be plain wrong for you to be in front of the other shopper and you would be OFFSIDE!

[Mythor]

That is both the funniest explanation of it for women and the only one that's actually gotten it right that I've ever read.

[sara]

I'm ashamed to admit it but I've never understood that rule before and now it finally makes sense.


Although that could be because someone finally explained it instead of just going "yeah yeah offside...."

[Mythor]

Offside is definitely one of those rules that sounds really bizarre and is hard to understand if you've never had it explained properly. Once you do, it becomes pretty obvious and you know what to look for... and can mock the people who don't understand.

REMINDER: The first World Cup match is TONIGHT! Well, very early tomorrow morning, actually. Tipping closes for the first two matches at 1.55AM AEST which means you need your tips in before then!
Or, if you have yet to join, it would be a good idea to join and tip before then, so you don't end up starting on -1 or something.

Is anyone actually planning on staying up/waking up to watch the matches? Germany v Costa Rica is on at 2am on SBS.
For Opening Ceremony nuts, the World Cup one is airing at 12am apparently. Only goes till 1.30am though, not 17 hours like Olympic Games versions.