Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Round 2: Pool Standings

In the quarterfinals the Premiership showcased itself as the peeminent league in Europe and thereby the world with three English clubs qualifying for the Last 4 of the Champions League tournament. Four of the pool teams broke out their brooms and swept their way to the top of the table with the full complement of 16 points available from Round 2 (4 pts for each correct pick): Eastern Influence maintained his dominance, Nutmeg strengthened his bid to repeat as pool champ, Team Auckland was perfect from halfway around the globe, and KC Barstow were the comeback kids rising through the ranks to challenge for the title. Those of us who looked for a more diverse collection of sides to advance to the semifinals paid a price for that hope. While nothing is decided there is an increasing gap between the have's and have-not's. Bear in mind that point values will continue to increase in the subsequent rounds (6 pts for the semifinals, 8 for the championship) and that there will be a second place prize. There is a week hiatus but look to be making your picks before the tournament resumes on Tuesday, April 24th. Here's the schedule.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I hope Eastern Influence and Team Auckland accept PayPal to save us the international postage.

Congrats to KC Barstow on their dramatic resurgence while the rest of us flirt with relegation.

As for Team Nutmeg, I'm beginning to wonder whether he has a pyramid scheme of sorts going here. First he organizes the World Cup pool, gets us hooked on soccer, and then takes all the winnings. Then WE organize the CL pool, and he threatens to take the bounty again...

If any such scandal comes to light, I say Nutmeg follows Juventus and starts the South Africa 2010 pool with -30 points. That should level the playing field.