Issue 1.0.1 "The Quarantine Pool" (7/7)

Archive

Just realized I never posted this (though it was in the Archive).  So here it is... Issue #3 will come out after tonight's match as then all 24 teams will have played at least one match.

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

     MLS IS BACK! FIRST POOL IN QUARANTINE ERA

Our 11th HWCI soccer pool will be free to all!

SANTA BARBARA, CA (smt) -- With the 2020 HWCI NCAA and 2020 HWCI EURO pools cancelled this year due to the pandemic (COVID-19), Major League Soccer has come back with an interesting concept.  A World Cup style tournament with group stage and knockout stage.  There are some key differences such as this pool is FREE (up to 2 entries per person) as who knows what will happen (DAL has already withdrawn due to 10 player COVID-19 positive tests) and handling money/refunds is not desirable.  Thus, FREE!  I'll see what kind of MLS/soccer swag I may have and will mail stuff out to the top 3 if shipping prices are reasonable.   Also, no Web Entry is not available yet... so print or take a photo or edit and email back to me at worldcup@hwci.com.  Hopefully this will bring some a distraction from the craziness of life. 

All teams are quarantined at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort (pretty nice, stayed there a couple times) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and all matches will be played at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee.  Nashville moved to the Eastern Conference for the rest of the year which means 14 teams in the East and 12 in the West.  Groups A, C, and E have teams from the East and Groups B, D, and F have teams from the West.

Host, Union, and Fire (7/14)

WFH, CA -- SEA let a draw slip away as Chicago Fire FC made an impressive debut with a 2-1 win over the defending MLS champs.  Robert Beric had a sweet backheel dribble behind his back to get one-and-one with the GK which he buried to break the scoreless match.  SEA tied in the 77' but a sweet back post run by Mauricio Pineda gave CHI the lead in the 84'.  CHI, which had been moved from Group A to Group B to replace DAL when NSH dropped out (leaving Group A with 5 teams), is in pole position for Group B with two matches left.

Host ORL got off to a strong start with a brace from Chris Mueller in the first 10 minutes en route to a 3-1 win over NYC to move closer to the Knockout stage.  The ref actually held up 10 minutes of stoppage time in the second half which just allowed NYC to run up the shots on ORL, finishing with a tourney high 26 shots.

PHI scored in the 5' and in the second half to outlast expansion MIA, 2-1, to secure themselves and ORL into the knockout round.  PHI and ORL will play each other to determine the Group A winner.

Since the opponents changed, the CHIvSEA and PHIvMIA results do not count in the pool standings.  Just 4 got ORL right putting Six Foot Box and TomJ into a tie for first with Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders with 5 pts.  BigRedMessi 2 is still in last with one lone point.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC finally gets to play tomorrow!  And they are huge underdogs to SJ (+300) but not a bad as CIN to ATL (+475) and LA to LAFC (+325).  It's the lone match of the day.

Epic Comeback (7/13)

BACK TO WORK AT HOME, CA -- The last 156 times, a team that trailed by 2 goals and went down a man went on to lose, as expected.  Well, that changed today as D.C. United rallied in the second half to score twice to stun Toronto FC, 2-2, in the Group C match.  DC played the entire 2nd half with 10 men and TOR controlled possession but sub Federico Higuain got DC on the board in the 84' with a great chip over the GK and Federic Brilliant scored a minute into stoppage time.  It ruined a "brilliant" performance from TOR's Ayo Aknola (2 goals) and Alejandro Pozuelo (2 assists) but provided fireworks after the match.

Both LA teams have a very leaky defense but the difference is Los Angeles Football Club, even with Carlos Vela, knows how to score and score often.  The Houston Dynamo's Memo Rodriguez scored twice in the first half around LAFC's Bradley Wright-Phillips' first goal in his first appearance for LAFC.  VAR helped and overruled an offside and HOU got their 3rd goal.  In the second half, LAFC scored twice and ended with 71.5% possession in the 3-3 draw.  This was the 2nd straight match LAFC allowed 3 goals (both 3-3 draws).

The LA Galaxy gave up two sloppy goals in the second half and Chicharito's first MLS goal was of little consolation after his PK was saved in the 12'.  The Portland Timbers vaulted to the top of Group F with a 2-1 win despite being down a man the last 15 minutes.

Will coaches want to talk with TV announcers?  POR's coach watched his team seemingly give up a goal in the 81' while talking with FS1 but VAR intervened and ruled offsides denying Gordon Wild's first goal on his first touch in his first minute of MLS play.  This was after yesterday when COL's coach watched his team give up a goal while talking with ESPN.  LA also had a goal disallowed by an offside in the 86'.

LA came up short ending a 2-match streak (and 3 of the past 4) where the trailing team scored the last two goals in the second half.

No one got the TOR-DC or LAFC-HOU draws but 5 did get POR correct leaving Kona Coast Sliders and Kona Coast Fauci's tied for first with 5 pts.  BigRedMessi2 is last with one point.

Better not be Charlotte FC

So the new MLS Charlotte expansion franchise released the the seven candidates for the team name and eliminated one of them:  Charlotte Fortune FC.  I do like this Survivor-like elimination of names as we head towards the announcement on July 22, but if the winning name ends up being boring like "Charlotte FC", I may just go outside in public without a mask!   By the love of whatever-god-you-support-or-don't-support, not another CITY FC team.  We already have Toronto, NYC, LA, and Austin.  We already have the reverse with Dallas and Cincinnati.  Not to mention the "SC"s (Orlando City and Nashville).  I'm okay with adding FC/SC after a nickname (Sounders, Crew, Whitecaps, Fire, United (at least Charlotte United FC wasn't an option)).

What do I like?  I'm partial to Carolina.  When I ran a Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) fantasy league, I had a team Carolina Wave.  So Carolina Gliders, though not great, is okay.  All Carolina?  Don't know what I think about that, unless it's a local thing, then I'm all for it.  Charlotte Town and Charlotte Crown rhyme and would be different.  

Monarchs is going back to traditional but the last traditional plural nickname (that didn't come from the NASL/USL like Whitecaps, Sounders, Timbers, Impact) was the New York Red Bulls 14 years ago in 2006, and that's because Red Bull was the sponsor.  The only other non-plural "nicknames" would be Union in 2010, Dynamo in 2006, and Fire and Fusion in 1998.  So not great odds for Monarchs.

I like Charlotte Athletic since it is a different European take (we already have 3 Uniteds, an Inter, a Real, a Chivas (okay, Mexican take), and a Sporting).  So we'll see if they keep eliminating names every few days and I'll be happiest when Charlotte FC gets eliminated/executed/voted out.

A Delay, a Rally, and a Shutout (7/12)

DAUGHTER THINKS DE-ICING FRIDGE IS SNOW, CA -- The day started with potentially more team troubles with testing but it turned out the players re-tested negative delaying the Toronto FC and D.C. United match by 24 hours.  The evening saw Sporting Kansas City with lots of possession and a one-goal lead but a GK challenge ended in the tourney's first red card turning the tide.  Minnesota United FC took advantage and scored two stoppage time goals, the first on an own goal by SKC's scorer Khiry Shelton (yes, he scored for both teams) and the last in the 90'+7' by Kevin Molino giving MIN a 2-1 win.  For the first time, VAR overruled the call for the first time denying MIN a goal in the 64' as Molina was deemed to interfere while offside.

Real Salt Lake beat the Colorado Rapids for the 4th straight time, a 2-0 win that would have been worse if not for the PK and follow-on shot saves by COL GK Clint Irwin.  It was the first PK of the tournament.  Group D now sees RSL on top with +2 GD over MIN's +1.  

TORvDC's delay means their 2nd matches are also delayed a day with TORvMTL moving from 7/15 to 7/16 and DCvNE moving from 7/16 to 7/17.  Two matches will be played at 5 pm PDT July 17, one on FS1 and one on ESPN.  The SJvVAN time changed from 7:30 pm to 6 pm PDT on 7/15.

In the pool, 5 got MIN and 8 got RSL but only Six Foot Box got both.  3 got both wrong.  Six Foot Box moves into a tie for first with Kona Coast Fauci's and Kona Coast Sliders with 4 points.  Deutschland = Koenig got RSL snapping an 0-7 start and is tied with BigRedMessi2 for last.

Real fans, real noise

MINDING MY BUSINESS, CA -- So I get a notification on my Moto X4 Android One Edition, which still allows me to tether real (not throttled) unlimited Verizon data (safer-at-home with WiFi has knocked my data usage to just 13GB last month from 40-80GB typically), that the USL Championship match-up between Louisville City FC and Pittsburgh Riverhounds were going to play in front of real, not piped in, fans.  Say what?  So I tuned to ESPN2 and sure enough, LOU was hosting their first match in their brand new spankin' Lynn Family Stadium in front of a limited 5,000 fans (capacity 15,304) with lots of social distancing and drums and cheering.  Compared to MLS telecasts, the ESPN2 telecast was professional with cool graphics with no gaudy Adidas logo at midfield.  What a difference playing in sunlight with a home crowd behind you.  The play felt faster and the LOU scored the first goal on a great strike.

But LOU wasn't the first USA pro sports team to play in front a crowd as the USL Championship opened its abbreviated season yesterday with six matches, all at home stadiums.  However, just 3 were in front of fans with Indy Eleven the first pro sports team to play in front of real, bonafide fans with a limited crowd of 4,761 in attendance (boy, that Indianapolis Colts football markings are awful).  If MLS goes back to home crowds, Indy posted their safety plan for employees and fans to get a taste of how it would work.  Later, the Tampa Bay Rowdies hosted around 100 fans (invited fan groups and family only) in St. Pete and the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC drew 1,000 to Weidner Field.  

Also, Paris Saint-Germain became the first top flight European club to play in front of fans with 5,000 (out of a capacity of 25,000) at Stade Oceane in Le Havre, France for an exhibition match against French League 2 club Le Havre.  So, maybe we'll get to see MLS soccer soon in our home cities.  Crossing fingers.

Another match postponed

PLANTING TOMATO PLANTS, CA -- The Sunday 6 am match between Toronto FC and D.C. United was postponed at kickoff due to one "initial unconfirmed positive COVID-19 case" and one "inconclusive test".  To be safe, the match was postponed.  With Toronto FC getting into Orlando late (which is why this match was originally delayed from July 10), new testing was done Saturday.  The hope would be that the players will later test negative (such as the case with PGA golfer Cameron Champ).   And even if they do, this is not a false positive as these tests are more likely to give a false negative meaning the players MUST have had some low levels of COVID-19 that dissipated quickly.  Or that is what the spin doctors say.

Or more players will test positive on subsequent tests.  Then, the question is, was this a burst in the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort/ESPN WWOS Complex "bubble" or did the players get it in TOR or DC before the flight?  Trying to seclude themselves from COVID-19 like Prince Prospero did in "The Masque of the Red Death" only to succumb in the fake security.  We'll see.

With the max of 3 fields (though there is a spare training field that could also be used) and the brutal weather, scheduling becomes tough as it bumps into the knockout rounds.  Even TOR's original 3 1/2-day rest (next match is July 15 evening) seemed not to be in the players' best interest.  But by having everything at one site, flexibility is easier and no fans to worry about (maybe TV).  

Early Lightning Strike (7/11)

107°F BUT DRY, CA -- A rain and lightning delay postponed kickoff 45 minutes which seemed to energize both pool favorite Atlanta United FC and the New York Red Bulls with NY getting on the board in the 4' and several great chances for both teams in the first half.  The second half seemed to tire both teams but ATL had a few good chances with the last a leaping 90'+8' save by David Jensen to help NY preserve the 1-0 win.   This was the first time in 5 matches a team scored in the first half and it was the first time in 28 matches that ATL failed to score (regular season plus playoffs).  

The second match was delayed 30 minutes meaning an 11 pm EDT start (11:25 pm kickoff) and it didn't end until 1:22 am which wasn't soon enough for FC Cincinnati.  Columbus Crew SC scored twice in both halves in a 4-0 rout of CIN.  A lot of firsts for the tourney:  first team with a multi-goal lead, first team to score more than twice, first player to score more than once (Gyasi Zardes), and first official VAR review (on Zardes' second goal if he was offsides).  It was not a good night for new CIN coach Jaap Stam (hired on May 21 during the shutdown) and CIN's next opponent is ATL.

So FOX is piping in fake noise?  Yuck.  But you can listen to the natural noise on the FOX Sports app (not to be confused with the FOX Sports Go app -- ok, it's confusing).  I mean USA head coach Gregg Berhalter couldn't have made ALL that noise when his son Sebastian debuted for CLB in the 77'.

No one believed in RBNY but 12 did get CLB right.  The same 3 are on top (Kona Coast Fauci's, Kona Coast Sliders, and Super League) with 3 pts while Deutschland = Koenig is last with zero points.

Issue 2.1.1 "Are We Stable Now?"

Archive

Friday, July 10, 2020

     AFTER ALL THE HOOPLA, MLS REVERTS TO TRADIATIONAL 24 TEAM TOURNEY
In 1st MLS pool, 5 entries from 12 people try their hand in our first Major League Soccer Pool

SAFER-AT-HOME DRIVE-IN: "PINOCCHIO", CA (smt) -- A lot of rust as the first four matches featured scoreless first halves including two 1-0 matches and one nil-nil match.  Orlando City FC, de facto host of the tourney, rallied to beat fellow Floridian Inter Miami CF 2-1 thanks to Nani's goal and assist.  The Philadelphia Union outlasted New York City FC 1-0 while the New England Revolution upset Impact de Montreal 1-0.  Big underdog San Jose Earthquakes held defending MLS champ Seattle Sounders FC to a scoreless draw.

The NYCvPHI was the first 9 am EDT match and it still felt like 99 deg F.  Just miserable with high humidity 24 hours a day.  Within minutes of the opening whistle, players and the ref were drenched with sweat.  The matches at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex take place on 3 natural surface fields as there could be as many as 3 matches a day (first time is July 12). 

Part of this experiment is a completely uneven broadcast with fake ads on the far sideline and behind the goals and a horrendous Adidas logo at midfield (that thankfully shrunk from the first match).  Not having fake crowd noise is a plus IMHO and it reminds me of the early matches of doubleheaders of less attended events like U-23 Gold Cup or something.  You can hear the players which is cool and the cheering became loud after Nani's stoppage time game-winner.  Seems more and more people are in the crowd.  Hearing instructions from coaches and players being yelled into the field is some neat behind-the-scenes action.  The opening match 8:46 tribute was powerful in its ambient noise of machinery chugging away in the background.

Nil-Nil (7/10)

HOMEMADE PIZZA AND SAUCE DRIVE-IN, CA -- It seems the only players in shape are the goalkeepers as Seattle Sounders FC's Stefan Frei made 8 saves and San Jose Earthquakes' Daniel Vega made 6 to end the match in a 0-0 tie to kick off Group B.  Remember, Group B now has Chicago Fire FC who will play their first match on July 14 against SEA.  If there's anything to say besides all 4 matches have been scoreless in the first half is at least the Adidas logo has shrunk.  Still weird along with the fake virtual ads and "fan interaction" video boards.

At least when watching the alternate AT&T 5G Aerial Cam broadcast you don't get any virtual shenanigans, a better uncompressed stream, and about 4-6 seconds ahead of the main broadcast feed. 

So it looks like we'll be official with 15 entries from 12 people.  Should be fun.  If you want to know who everyone picked, what the standings are, what the group standings are, who is who, and which teams did everyone picked, they are now all on the homepage.

No one got this match correct (14 picked SEA and 1 SJ) leaving the top 3 the same.

Back to Familiar Groups (7/9)

MY WIFE'S OFFICE -- While Group A still had 6 teams, Philadelphia Union picked up a crucial three points in a 1-0 win over New York City Football Club.  NYC pressured hard at the end but couldn't come up with the equalizer as PHI's Andre Blake made 7 saves.  Despite a 9 am EDT start, temps still felt like 99 deg F.  Yesterday, with an 8 pm ED start, within minutes, players were drenched in sweat.  Bet they wish they were in Utah with the NWSL.

Now that Group A has 4 teams (as expected, Nashville Soccer Club withdrew as they had 9 confirmed COVID-19 positive tests which resulted in a reshuffling, with Chicago Fire Football Club moving to Group B, giving it 4 teams once again).  So there are 24 teams in six groups, just like last year's Women's World Cup.  And like the WWC, the top 2 in each group and four best 3rd place teams will make the Round of 16.  We'll see if the bubble holds and no more teams withdraw.  CHI will now face SEA (7/14), SJ (7/19), and VAN (7/23) while PHI will now face MIA (7/14) and ORL (7/20) and NYC will now face ORL (7/14) and MIA (7/20).  SEAvVAN moved from 7/20 to 7/19.

While waiting for the evening match, I emailed all the participants and most can keep their Round of 16 bracket intact as it does not matter if you have a team in the right position or not, just that they made the Round of 16.  Thus, it doesn't matter if you placed CHI as 1st A, 2nd A, 3rd A, 4th A, 1st B, 2nd B, or 3rd B, you still get 3 points.  Only four of 13 entries HAD to change as they either had 7 Group A and Group B teams (max is 6) or had NSH in the Round of 16 (just one entry).  But everyone still has a chance to tweak their bracket (in case they care about match-ups and want to tweak who advances to the quarterfinals, etc) until the fourth match, 6 pm PDT Friday.

Also, 9 group matches will not count (games involving DAL, CHI, and NSH) and there is no need to pick the new games (unless you want to brag!).  So there will be 30 points possible in the group stage.

The evening match saw Gustavo Bou's blast into the upper net give the New England Revolution a 1-0 win over Impact de Montreal to start off Group C play.  A third straight scoreless first half and a third straight match with the horrible Adidas logo.  

Only 2 got PHI correct and only 3 got MTL.  No one is a perfect 3-0 with Kona Coast Fauci's, Kona Coast Sliders, and Super League on top with 2 points.  Three are 0-3.

Nani, Nani (7/8)

One match down, hopefully 50 to go (maybe less as NSH has now registered 9 positive player COVID-19 cases).  The night started off with a powerful 8:46 tribute and then kicked off with a horrendous virtual Adidas logo on the field (well, at least it was black, going with the theme).  Sigh.  No pomp and circumstance as no MLS anthem, no introductions, and no National Anthem since there were... no fans.

After a really sloppy first half, the second half started well with Juan Agudelo (remember when he was the future) scoring giving expansion Club Internacional de Fútbol Miami the lead over fellow Floridian Orlando City Soccer Club.  A scary injury to MIA's Andres Reyes in the 58' seemed to turn the tide as ORL tied it in the 70' off a great assist by Nani.  With 10 minutes of extra time, Nani broke the tie in the 90'+7' with an opportunistic put back.

No second match as Nashville Soccer Club and Chicago Fire Football Club was postponed due to NSH's nine positive COVID-19 cases.  Football Club Dallas had 10 and withdrew.  No word yet on NSH.  So the next game is at 6 am PDT featuring New York City Football Club and Philadelphia Union.  The 5 pm match features Impact de Montréal and New England Revolution.  The 7:30 pm match was cancelled between DAL and Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club.

So this match was played on Field 17 as expected but apparently there are 3 full fields that will be used, hopefully the technology to project an Adidas logo was lost on the other two fields.  VAR is available for these matches if needed.

As for the pool, unofficially we have 13 entries from 11 people with 8 picking ORL.

Admin's Picks

NOT WORKING FROM HOME -- You would think I would have more insight into MLS than the NCAA or World Cup/Euro pools since I do gamedays with the LA Galaxy (my 25th year!) and have a season ticket with LAFC (my 3rd year).  But, no.  Haven't had any time to think about the pool since putting feelers out there a month ago due to work commitments, but likely most teams will be rusty so will the powerhouses of ATL, TOR, SEA, and LAFC survive their groups.  Looking at the map, it looks like Field 17 a the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.  Didn't read if it was turf or not but having 3 matches in one day could take a toll.

So, here are my two picks.  The first represents the 11th soccer pool we have done and the 11 players on each team on the pitch.  The second is a reference to the six-yard goal box in which case during these safer-at-home protocols, becomes a six-foot box.

Futbol Fabone Eleven
The Six Foot Box

I'll be emailing your picks in this format as well later.  With 2 hours left, good luck!

Web Entry is Live!!! Deadline 5 pm PDT!

BACK IN QUARANTINE AT HOME -- Maybe just to get a little practice in but I was able to create the online entry and it is now live!  So Enter Now!  It's Free!  Of course, you can still print and send in your picks to me via the email on the form  (Word | PDF) as several have done.  Again, as MLS struggles to decide what to change, if anything in the MLS is Back Tournament, we will adapt.  So there is a soft deadline of 5 pm PDT Wednesday so if you're late, enter anyway!  The Web Entry button is also in the menu at the top.  Good luck!

Quick rules.

Here is a quick look at the pool:

WHAT:              1st HWCI MLS is Back Tournament Soccer Pool (11^th overall soccer pool, 36^th overall pool)

FEE:                 FREE per entry (max 2 entries per person)

DEADLINE:       5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, July 8, 2020

WHO:               Anyone with interest!  Invite friends!  No more than TWO entries per person.

INFO:               HWCI World Cup Pool:  1998 | 2002 | 2006 | 2010 | 2014 | 2018

                        HWCI EURO Pool:  2012 | 2016

                        HWCI Women’s World Cup Pool:  2015 | 2019

PRIZES:           Something I can mail, got lots of old/vintage soccer stuff – maybe top 3.  Winners will be determined by points, not correct number of games (see Points section).

POINTS:           39 Round Robin matches=         1 point each (you can now pick ties!)

                        16 Round of 16 teams=             3 points each

                        8 Quarterfinal picks=                 4 points each

                        4 Semifinal picks=                     6 points each

                        2 Final picks=                           8 points each

                        1 Champ pick=                         12 points

                        -----------------------------------------------------

                        Total possible points=               171

Nashville tip-toeing and Toronto delayed

SANTA BARBARA, CA -- More changes as five players on Nashville SC have tested positive with a few in waiting so their first match July 8th vs Chicago Fire FC has been postponed.  Toronto FC is late getting into Orlando so their first match vs D.C. United has been moved to July 12th.

Again, don't worry about filling out an outdated bracket.  There is time to make corrections even after the first match is played.  However, once the first match is played, any team that drops out affects everyone.  Well, good news is the LA Galaxy have increased their chances :-)