OK, to explain how this contest (which I've done on a few other boards during the playoffs) works, this is a "Draft" rather than a "Prediction" contest, where the basic rule of an American-style sports draft works: Select your champion and runner-up. That's it; no need to submit an entire bracket. Once someone selects a champ / runner-up combo, no one else can select it. (Hence, at the start of the R-16, there are 128 combinations to select; this would be the largest such contest that I've run.) This is on-going throughout the entire final-16; you don't have to submit a selection before the knockout round starts. You can wait to see what teams get eliminated early, but of course, many of the remaining combinations would already have been taken. If one of your teams lose, you can wait 24-ish hours, then you get another selection. Later on, the rules can become "fluid," for example, if no-one has made a selection for a while, then we may open it up for players to make a second selection. So one half of the bracket has: China PR, Cameroon, USA, Colombia, Germany, Sweden, France, Korea Republic while the other half has: Brazil, Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, England, Canada, Switzerland The schedule, in "list" form. (I like to expand out the potential matchups, instead of that "Winner of match #43" stuff.) Times are U. S. Eastern: Sat, Jun 20, 4:00 PM, Germany -v- Sweden Sat, Jun 20, 7:30 PM, China PR -v- Cameroon Sun, Jun 21, 1:00 PM, Brazil -v- Australia Sun, Jun 21, 4:00 PM, France -v- Korea Republic Sun, Jun 21, 7:30 PM, Canada -v- Switzerland Mon, Jun 22, 5:00 PM, Norway -v- England Mon, Jun 22, 8:00 PM, USA -v- Colombia Tue, Jun 23, 10:00 PM, Japan -v- Netherlands Fri, Jun 26, 4:00 PM, [Germany -v- Sweden] -v- [France -v- Korea Republic] Fri, Jun 26, 7:30 PM, [China PR -v- Cameroon] -v- [USA-v- Colombia] Sat, Jun 27, 4:00 PM, [Brazil -v- Australia] -v- [Japan -v- Netherlands] Sat, Jun 27, 7:30 PM, [Norway -v- England] -v- [Canada-v- Switzerland] Tue, Jun 30, 7:00 PM, [China PR -v- Cameroon -v- USA -v- Colombia] -v- [Germany -v- Sweden -v- France -v- Korea Republic] Wed, Jul 1, 7:00 PM, [Brazil -v- Australia -v- Japan -v- Netherlands] -v- [Norway -v- England -v- Canada -v- Switzerland] Sat, Jul 4, 4:00 PM, [L: China PR -v- Cameroon -v- USA -v- Colombia -v- Germany -v- Sweden -v- France -v- Korea Republic] -v- [L: Brazil -v- Australia -v- Japan -v- Netherlands -v- Norway -v- England -v- Canada -v- Switzerland], third Sun, Jul 5, 7:00 PM, [China PR -v- Cameroon -v- USA -v- Colombia -v- Germany -v- Sweden -v- France -v- Korea Republic] -v- [Brazil -v- Australia -v- Japan -v- Netherlands -v- Norway -v- England -v- Canada -v- Switzerland]
Ok, there aren't many comboes left with Japan as a winner, is it? I was tempted by Japan-Cameroon, but I guess I'll go with a maybe even more hilarious... Winner: Japan Runner-up... Sweden! (throughout a trafic jam of Germany, France and USA! )