• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Bark louder, little dog.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

T R E 4 5 O N

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Come on, man.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Not all heroes wear capes.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Sports / An Analysis of My Group Picks

An Analysis of My Group Picks

by Randinho|  June 25, 201010:35 pm| 26 Comments

This post is in: Sports

FacebookTweetEmail

Group A: Clearly I overestimated France and underestimated Uruguay as I picked France and Mexico to go through.

Group B: I picked Argentina and leaned towards South Korea.

Group C: I picked USA and England.

Group D: I picked Germany and Ghana.

Group E: I picked the Netherlands and Denmark. I was clearly behind the curve on Japan.

Group F: I said I was going out on a limb and picked Paraguay and Slovakia.

Group G: I picked Brazil and Portugal.

Group H: I picked Spain and Chile.

So, the only ones I didn’t get right were Groups A and E.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « And Now For Something Completely Different
Next Post: Some Thoughts on Friday’s Games 6-25-10 »

Reader Interactions

26Comments

  1. 1.

    MikeJ

    June 25, 2010 at 10:40 pm

    In which order did you pick USA and England? I know I got it wrong.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    June 25, 2010 at 10:45 pm

    I’ll just have to say this and risk the charge of racism: I work with a lot of Mexicans, including one of my bosses, so the Mexico versus Argentina results will be very closely monitored at my workplace. I, fortunately, will not be there.

  3. 3.

    handy

    June 25, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    Clearly I overestimated France and underestimated Uruguay as I picked France and Mexico to go through.

    Who’s performance was more disappointing this year, France or Italy? Deep down I am rooting for Mexico to advance. I always do. Living in SoCal I run into many Mexico fans, and I admire their passion for the game and love to see my neighbors happy :)

    Edited for verb tense fail.

  4. 4.

    burnspbesq

    June 25, 2010 at 10:47 pm

    What does your bracket for the knockout stage look like? I have the Netherlands beating Spain in the final, and the USA beating Argentina in the third-place game.

  5. 5.

    beltane

    June 25, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    I wonder how many times I’ll have to wash my husband’s Nederland shirt before it can go into hiding for the next four years. The orange makes me feel like it’s hunting season.

  6. 6.

    burnspbesq

    June 25, 2010 at 10:55 pm

    My complete bracket:

    Round of 16:
    Uruguay over South Korea
    USA over Ghana
    Netherlands over Slovakia
    Brazil over Chile
    Argentina over Mexico
    Germany over England
    Paraguay over Japan
    Spain over Portugal

    Quarterfinals:
    USA over Uruguay
    Netherlands over Brazil (my pick for best game of the tournament)
    Argentina over Germany
    Spain over Paraguay

    Semifinals:
    Netherlands over USA
    Spain over Argentina

    Third Place:
    USA over Argentina

    Final:
    Netherlands over Spain

  7. 7.

    Spaghetti Lee

    June 25, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    I wish the U.S. wasn’t playing the only African team left. I wish we were playing Spain or Argentina or someone else hateable.

  8. 8.

    Spaghetti Lee

    June 25, 2010 at 10:57 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Given how the U.S. has played so far, I think you’re being a bit optimistic. I’d have them losing to Uruguay, if we even beat Ghana.

  9. 9.

    Quaker in a Basement

    June 25, 2010 at 10:59 pm

    First round of the knockouts has some fantastic rivalry matchups. Mexico v. Argentina (as Yutasano mentioned), England v. Germany, Chile v. Brazil, and Spain v. Portugal.

  10. 10.

    Peter J

    June 25, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    Most European teams will continue to disappoint, Spain might make it all the way, but this year it will be all about South America.

    The Netherlands will lose against Brazil. If the US team survives against Ghana, Uruguay will take them down.

    I would not be surprised if the first four teams will be Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, with Brazil winning over Argentina in the finals.

  11. 11.

    Jay C

    June 25, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    I wish we were playing Spain or Argentina or someone else hateable.

    Heh – I see there’s hope for the American Soccer Fan yet….

  12. 12.

    burnspbesq

    June 25, 2010 at 11:00 pm

    @Spaghetti Lee:

    Maybe. But the game plan for Uruguay is really simple: make somebody other than Forlan beat you. I wonder who on Uruguay is going to step up if we manage to make Forlan an afterthought.

  13. 13.

    Nylund

    June 25, 2010 at 11:02 pm

    My complete bracket:

    Round of 16:
    Uruguay over South Korea
    USA over Ghana
    Netherlands over Slovakia
    Brazil over Chile
    Argentina over Mexico
    Germany over England
    Paraguay over Japan
    Spain over Portugal

    Quarterfinals:
    USA over Uruguay
    Brazil over Netherlands
    Argentina over Germany
    Spain over Paraguay

    Semifinals:
    Brazil over USA
    Argentina over Spain

    Third Place:
    Spain over USA

    Final:
    Argentina over Brazil

    What I HATE about this is that the Netherlands have a great team and I think they deserve third (if not second) over both Spain and the US, but the brackets don’t work out that way.

  14. 14.

    MattR

    June 25, 2010 at 11:03 pm

    @burnspbesq: The bracket I filled out on ESPN before the tourney started

    Uruguay over Greece (is actually S Korea)
    USA over Ghana
    Netherlands over Slovakia
    Brazil over Chile
    Argentina over Mexico
    Germany over England
    Italy over Japan (is actually Paraguay, and I change my pick to Japan)
    Spain over Portugal

    Round of 16
    USA over Uruguay
    Brazil over Netherlands
    Argentina over Germany
    Spain over Italy (actually Japan/Paraguay)

    Semifinals
    Brazil over USA
    Argentina over Spain

    Finals
    Argentina over Brazil

    If I could change things, I would ride the Netherlands all the way to the championship but I think I would leave the rest the same.

  15. 15.

    burnspbesq

    June 25, 2010 at 11:04 pm

    The big imponderable: we have the best goalkeeper, by far, in our quarter of the draw. If we go to PKs, we win. In Timmeh we trust.

  16. 16.

    burnspbesq

    June 25, 2010 at 11:07 pm

    Sucks that Netherlands-Brazil is a quarterfinal.

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    June 25, 2010 at 11:13 pm

    Yes, but how have your predictions fared compared to the octopus?

  18. 18.

    Randinho

    June 25, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    @burnspbesq: I didn’t do a bracket. By the time I was able to, the games had started.

    I take it one step at a time.

    @MikeJ: I don’t believe that I picked any in any order, I just picked who would go through.

    To everybody: let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

  19. 19.

    Yutsano

    June 25, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    @Mnemosyne: As soon as that octopus is wrong he’s oden. Humans are fickle like that.

  20. 20.

    MattR

    June 25, 2010 at 11:23 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I did an ESPN contest for that too. I got 24 of 48 matches correct so far and those were the predictions I used to determine who would advance to the knockout stage for my bracket predictions above. I am actually kinda proud that my bracket predictions are currently tied for 13th overall with 28 of 32 points (6 people have 30 and 6 have 29). I am sure they are gonna get blown up soon, but I am enjoying the moment while it lasts.

  21. 21.

    Derek

    June 25, 2010 at 11:24 pm

    Impressive prognosticating there, Randi.

  22. 22.

    Randinho

    June 25, 2010 at 11:33 pm

    @Derek:

    Thanks, but it wasn’t that hard. The only real gamble I took was picking Ghana and predicting Italy wouldn’t make it out of the group.

    This post on Group H has links to my other selections for you to check.

  23. 23.

    Violet

    June 25, 2010 at 11:55 pm

    I wish we didn’t have to play Ghana. I like the thought of an African country getting further into the competition. But for that to happen the US would have to lose and I don’t want that to happen.

  24. 24.

    Mark

    June 26, 2010 at 4:19 am

    Don’t kick yourself – by a large margin, Uruguay and Japan had the least possession of the teams that advanced. They needed and got good luck.

  25. 25.

    Peter J

    June 26, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Some more observations.

    South America got five teams left, and since four of them won their groups and them having a bit of a luck, these four won’t run into each other until the semifinals.

    Of these four the one I see as the weakest Paraguay, is going to face the winner of Spain and Portugal, which I’d pick to be Spain.

    The second weakest, Uruguay, got lucky by ending up in a great spot for advancement, first facing South Korea, and then the winner of Ghana and the US. None of these teams should be a threat against them reaching the semifinals.

    South America hasn’t just had great teams this year, the teams have also had the fortune of a lot of luck.

  26. 26.

    Randinho

    June 26, 2010 at 9:41 am

    @Peter J: Good observation, Peter.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Recent Comments

  • YY_Sima Qian on War for Ukraine Day 393: Zelenskyy Goes to Kherson! (Mar 23, 2023 @ 10:18pm)
  • Another Scott on War for Ukraine Day 393: Zelenskyy Goes to Kherson! (Mar 23, 2023 @ 10:17pm)
  • oldster on War for Ukraine Day 393: Zelenskyy Goes to Kherson! (Mar 23, 2023 @ 10:16pm)
  • trollhattan on Happy Diversions: Respite Open Thread (Mar 23, 2023 @ 10:16pm)
  • TriassicSands on No Cake for Me Today Open Thread (Mar 23, 2023 @ 10:14pm)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!