World Cup 2010 Blog: “The World Cup Killed Online Poker” plus 4 more

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• The World Cup Killed Online Poker
• Les Bleus Get A Surprise New Call Up – Zinedine Zidane
• UEFA Gives The Vuvuzela The Finger, Bans It Across The Board
• Euro 2012 Schedule and Friday Night Lights – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
• 1930 World Cup Final Replay In The Clouds Now Complete

The World Cup Killed Online Poker Posted: 01 Sep 2010 02:22 PM PDT Everyone anticipated that the World Cup would be a distraction, but the size of the distraction was vastly underestimated, and as a result online poker sites have seen their profits plummet. Can we not all agree that online poker is the “distraction” and not the other way ’round? Poker’s nice and all, surely, but the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the land – it deserves its due respect. Or else… And maybe that’s why it took online poker down for the month of June. One of the big ones didn’t anticipate just how much of a “distraction” the World Cup would cause. Something says that’s not good business foresight. Share holders in one company who were expecting a healthy dividend have been disappointed by the news that in order to preserve its diminished supply of cash, the company has cancelled its half yearly interim dividend. During the first six months of the year their profits fell by 56% to £2.7 million. Even though this is just one company, we can take a wild guess and say the pinch was felt somewhat across the board. So don’t mess with the World Cup – it will take you down. (56% or thereabouts.)

Les Bleus Get A Surprise New Call Up – Zinedine Zidane Posted: 01 Sep 2010 11:30 AM PDT Though he could probably walk into any international midfield in the world save for Spain, it seems the nature of Zizou’s surprise showing at Clairefontaine was more training for his eventual political career – handshakes, photos, kissing babies, etc. – than training for a surprise return to the football pitch. But given how the summer went for France, don’t be surprised if Laurent Blanc names him in the starting XI on Friday, completely unbeknownst to Zizou.

UEFA Gives The Vuvuzela The Finger, Bans It Across The Board Posted: 01 Sep 2010 10:30 AM PDT It’s been nice, football sans vuvuzelae, hasn’t it? For most of us, anyway, and this surely goes double if you’re the sound engineer for a broadcasting company which pumps out football. (Nightmares of ambient noise and so forth.) UEFA feels similarly and has done away with the devil seed for UEFA-sanctioned competition. A large battle in the fight against the vuvuzela has been won. According to the official release, UEFA would prefer the magical environment of songs about so and so’s mother and chants mentioning unmentionable things. But it’s still better than the vuvuzela. (Unless you’re on the receiving end, of course.) The magic of football consists of the two-way exchange of emotions between the pitch and the stands, where the public can transmit a full range of feelings to the players. However, UEFA is of the view that the vuvuzelas would completely change the atmosphere, drowning supporter emotions and detracting from the experience of the game. To avoid the risk of these negative effects in the stadiums where UEFA competitions are played and to protect the culture and tradition of football in Europe – singing, chanting etc. – UEFA has decided with immediate effect that vuvuzelas will not be allowed in the stadiums where UEFA competitions matches are played. And for the umpteenth time, just how do they plan on enforcing this? “Excuse me, is that a mini vuvuzela in your pants?” Up next on UEFA’s to-do list: instant death for those who show up with a cowbell.

Euro 2012 Schedule and Friday Night Lights – Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? Posted: 01 Sep 2010 08:53 AM PDT Euro 2012 qualifying gets underway in a few days, and – if you haven’t noticed already – the scheduling may come as something of a surprise. In a break from tradition, games will no longer follow the familiar Saturday afternoon/Wednesday evening pattern, but will instead be played on Friday and Tuesday evenings. The Tuesday games maybe aren’t so strange because we’re all used to mid-week internationals, but seeing internationals played under Friday night lights is definitely new. The obvious question: Why? And the inevitable answer: Clubs. Because the midweek international has the second of the double-header games on a Tuesday instead of Wednesday, it means the clubs get their players back a) one day sooner and b) one day more rested. The downside for international teams is that they now have one less day to prepare for games, and fans who don’t live near the stadium may not be able to make it to the Friday night games after work. Also, there’ll be no football on television over the weekend. It’s not all bad, obviously. There’s a certain novelty to these Friday games, and if it does mean players are genuinely more rested and clubs do less complaining then good for them. Maybe. UEFA has also shown some flexibility. Israel were not happy to be playing their games on a Friday because it’s the Jewish Shabbat, so Israel will play Malta on Thursday evening instead. You can see the full Euro 2012 schedule on UEFA’s website. What do you think about the new Friday/Tuesday setup?

1930 World Cup Final Replay In The Clouds Now Complete Posted: 31 Aug 2010 01:20 PM PDT Though it may seem an occasion long since gone, yesterday brought forth a significant obit: the only player still remaining from the first World Cup final in 1930. Argentine Francisco Varallo passed away at the ripe young age of 100. That first World Cup final was more than 80 years ago, and 75 or so before the advent of YouTube. But through the miracle of technology and someone falling asleep in FIFA’s intellectual copyright division, we can get a grainy glimpse at the game, long before most of us were alive. And we’re only a few years away from the replay in heaven being broadcast on YouTube as well.

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