No, really. Who is going to win the World Cup?
Okay, there’s a new poll running. Make your vote, leave a comment here if you’re brave and smart enough to back it up.
The poll is on the right-side of the page, near the bottom.
Archive for June, 2006
World Cup Disappointments
Despite being entertained overall and enjoying some matches, there have been some huge disappointments with this year’s world cup. Firstly, some of the referees have been terrible. Take the Ukraine – Tunisia match. Not only did Tunisia carry the bulk of the play, but with 25m left to play a Ukranian handled the ball in the box. No call. Then about 2 minutes later Shevkenkov tripped over himself in the box and was awarded a penalty. Ukraine wins 1-0. Then there was the Dutch-Portuguese game…. Not much needs to be said about that one.
Secondly, there have been some terrible performances from teams that you would expect better from. England comes to mind. They haven’t played one good game yet, and they are in the quarter-finals. Other under-performing teams include the Netherlands, France, and Sweden.
The biggest problem in mind is that there are too many teams in this competition. Here are some revised numbers for qualifiers:
Concacaf: let’s face it, all the teams suck except for Mexico. I guess concacaf needs to send two teams though.
Asia: they pretty much suck. Saudi Arabia? Iran? Japan? Give them two places, not four.
Concacaf and Asia can then play-off for one more spot.
Africa: poor bastards. In a continent that just can’t get it right, it’s not surprising that great talent often leads nowhere. Give them 3 teams because they need something to brighten their day. And they usually play entertaining football
South America: wow, check out that gap in talent between the top two teams and the bottom two. Maybe this year is an anomaly. Give them 3 places
Europe: Europe needs a shakeup. No-one in the world wants to see Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine play. I would suggest that placings are decided on wins and goals, not goal difference. Give Europe 12 places, and make them fight a bit harder to get in.
Host nation gets one team.
I guess that leaves just 24 teams. Perfect.
New World Cup poll (quarter finals) coming tonight
Check back later today for a new and improved riveting poll on the World Cup. The quarterfinals will be set…
Sustainable Energy
Sustainable energy is a huge issue for me, it seems like I am always thinking about it. This is a bit odd, because I had never spent much time learning about sustainable energy. I guess I just kept thinking in the back of my mind, “gas bad, windmills good…” and, “I sure wish everyone would use less oil and less water.”
This past weekend I had a chance to discuss sustainable living with a good friend of mine, Jason Kubian, and he told me about the BC Sustainable Energy Association. I haven’t had time yet to dig into what they are all about, but I guess this is a great place to check out for more information on sustainable energy.
While I aquaint myself with BCSEA, here are a couple of thoughts:
the USA is the largest user of oil in the world
24% of there oil consumption is for automobiles
if everyone in the US doubled their vehicular fuel efficiency, there would be an immediate 12% reduction in oil and its resulting pollution
Anyways, check out BCSEA and see what they have to offer.
Softwood Deal
Could someone please fill me in on the US-Canada softwood deal? I just read something in the paper and it sounds like the deal could be dead. Boy, that didn’t take long. In any event, was it a good deal for Canada? I’ve mostly heard positive things about it.
While we’re at it, let’s spare a minute and take stock of Harper’s accomplishments to date.
1. upset a lot of Canadians and fellow caucus members with his questionable cabinet appointments and seemingly double-standard when dealing with floor-crossers.
2. doesn’t talk to the media
3. struck a softwood lumber deal which now appears to be dead
4. introduced another debate/challenge to the “traditional definition of marriage”
5. dismissed Canada’s involvement in Kyoto
6. pushed forward with their ridiculous child care program*
So in others words, Harper and his government have done almost nothing. If you can think of something positive that they have brought forward, let me know.
* once again, here’s how stupid their plan is. They give cash to families with kids. They say it’s for childcare. Any family worth its salt will have already put childcare money into their budget since it is a mandatory expense. Extra money given to families will therefore be allocated to discretionary spending. This budgeting/spending pattern will almost certainly exist, whether or not the family purposely sets up a budget. The end result is that the money will not be spent on child care, but on more discretionary things such as cell phones, cable tv, beer, etc. Cash is cash, calling it “child care money” doesn’t change what it is. The government could have given the money to families with kids, called it “gas relief money”, and families would be screaming for child care programs when in fact the reality between this scenario and the current Conservative plan is exactly the same.
World Cup, Germany 2006 Poll Added
Check out the poll on the right, scroll to near the bottom. Show me what you got!
My pot-stirrers are Switzerland (I haven’t heard the outcome of their match with France earlier today). I think they can make it to the quarters. They’re young and gutsy from what I understand.
I’m going with the Netherlands, probably beating Argentina in the finals.
The Czechs may get to the finals instead of Argentina.
England has a great midfield but I’m betting that they have problems finding the back of the net.
If Netherlands doesn’t beat Brazil in the Semis, then Brazil wins the cup.
