World Cup Draw: United States in the “Group of Luck”

Posted by Creaven on December 4, 2009 under England, United States, USMNT, World Cup | 17 Comments to Read

02sportsplashpa_271881sThis is how lucky the United States got Friday.

After the U.S. was drawn in Group C with England, if I could have handpicked a country from Pot 3 and Pot 4 I would have selected Algeria and Slovenia (if you don’t believe me, I worte it yesterday). For the U.S. to actually draw both those teams there was a 1/64 (1.5 percent) chance. It was the exact same odds a poker player has of hitting a runner-runner straight in Texas Holdem in an internet casino. In other words, the U.S. (and England too for that matter) hit the jackpot.

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The draw is overrated, but what should U.S. fans root for?

Posted by Creaven on December 3, 2009 under United States, USMNT, World Cup | 3 Comments to Read

world-cup-001At about 12:o3 p.m. EST on Friday, someone on ESPN (probably Alexi Lalas or John Harkes) will give the following monologue:

“This is the day we’ve been waiting for. Trying to make predictions before the draw is foolish because no one knows who’s playing who. It’s all about matchups! Depending on the group, the U.S. could be a strong quarterfinal candidate or it might be a candidate to leave South Africa without a point. This is so exciting! Finally we’re going to know what the U.S. chances are at the 2010 World Cup.”

This, ladies and gentleman, is bullshit.

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