Pool Standings: Final

With four teams picking United for their Bonus Pick, the resulting extra 3 points created some separation in the final standings:

Eastern Influence retain their title as they pick up their second consecutive CL Pool championship. Looks like this win was a combination of them knowing their football and the fact that their fav's United were ultimately the victors. Congrats once again on holding the bragging rights until next May.

New-comers Cantona and JonnyRay United made strong debuts by picking English sides through much of the tournament. In fact JonnyRay United was primed to split the first prize spoils with EI, but was foiled by the fact that EI and Cantona are die-hard Red Devil supporters who picked United to win-it-all at the start.

Big Bend and the Continentalist both made respectable showings in this year's contest having fought their way up from last place after Round 1 to finish firmly mid-table. Big Bend recovered quickly after an initial absence on the blog (the first batch of pool emails were buried in his Junk Mail folder) to provide some of the most colorful commentary of the pool. With the Continentalist having won first and second in the last two pools, you can bet he'll be training hard in the offseason to regain his competitive edge.

Banana Island made a solid debut as she was in contention from the beginning and at least finished satisfied that United won the title... though with Ji-Sung Park inexplicably watching the Final in a suit from the stands she described the feeling of winning the championship like "drinking champagne without the sparkles".

SaMo came a long way -- both in terms of his futbol knowledge and his place in the standings -- from the previous season's last place finish. He'll be happy to have his boys from Bayern back in the tournament next season (steins, fräuleins, and all) to challenge the English for at least a spot in the Last 4.

Team Jerusalem picked well (10-5) but in the final analysis was perhaps a product of his surroundings as he tied his fate to the luckless Avram Grant for the title. Had Chelsea won, Team Jerusalem would have won the pool as no team above him had picked the Blues. Unfortunately his prize slipped with John Terry on that slick Moscow turf. Impeccable timing on his move though as this was arguably the most intriguing year to be following the CL from Israel.

In a clear indicator of the weighty-ness of the last 3 picks, the Terrible Twos fell all the way to the 9th spot despite their stellar 11-4 record (the same as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd). Soccer can be a cruel game and no one was stung more than the Twos as they toppled from their lofty first place perch. Still... kudos for a pool well played and an unprecedented 11-1 record through the first two rounds. Will that mark ever be bested?

Lastly, Marin County put in an unbecoming performance in this year's pool with Team EC and Real Marin tied for last with a meager 12 points apiece. Team EC was strong out of the gates (2nd place after Round 1) but a tendency to pick Continental sides worked against them as three of the Last 4 turned up English. As for us? The last place finish is simply insult to injury as we spent this entire futbol season watching Barça tragically implode in slow-motion. We're just happy it's done and already looking to a fresh start in August.