FIFA World Cup!
 

Just got 10 days off from June 9 - 18, and I'm going to Cape Town for the world cup. I'm extremely psyched for this. I have a couple questions for those "in the know":

1. What's the best way to get to Cape Town from SFO, OAK, or PHX? I have CASS, and ZED priviledges (Not all ZED options though, for example can't use South African). I could go through AMS on KLM, or ATL on Delta. But I was wondering about a cargo option like FedEx, UPS, or another (perhaps Atlas, etc.). Does anybody know a website that is good for seeing up to date route options for cargo carriers (like passrider does for pax airlines)?

2. Any ideas on finding a great deal on lodging? I will have at least one buddy there the whole time, and we'll have a third for a few days. We're looking at renting an apartment for a week or so. But maybe there is a great flight crew discount somewhere?

3. Who else is going?! It's gonna be great!

good luck and wish i was going. what team are you fan of? can't help with your questions, might want to post a questions in the cargo section.

Why many Americans are not going to the Cup
 

http://www.shof.msrcsites.co.uk/sa.jpg

It explains why it was so easy for me to get a room though.

that is awesome. i wonder where south america is?

LMAO! This can't be serious??!
fbh

That's frickin hilarious! Well, at least everyone from Chicago and anyone who watches WGN on cable/satellite will be going to the wrong place. That definitely should free up some rooms! Guess the WGN sports guys' brain cells haven't quite thawed yet. Damn, must have been one hard winter.

Very funny! Who hired the graphics guy? My money is on Spain to win it. Who do you guys have? I saw Brazil play the Netherlands at the cotton bowl in Dallas in '94. That was a sweet match. Might have been the best of the cup. Brazil took it 3-2. I've never seen fans as crazy as those from Brazil. Very fun to watch them celebrate!

Gators


My home country is Slovenia so that is who I want to win. Other than that I would bet my obama unemployment check on Spain also.

great pic above. no surprise half of america doesn't know where africa is. i think less than half of 'em have passports. but i'm still rooting for the US. most of my family is pulling for an Italian repeat.

Definitely rooting for the Netherlands:D

Seems they always get shut out when they're so close. Here's hoping anyway...

Though if I were a gablin' man, I'd say Argentina, or Spain.

I hope you've bought some kind of back up plan. Might be some full flights.

I'd at least buy a ticket to/from Cape Town to a major hub, like Dubai, London, Paris, AMS, etc.

Yup, Argentina would be another good bet. Messi is unreal

messi can't perform on an international level like he does it the spanish league. i guess time will tell.

dont get me wrong, i love watching him play.

World Cup 2010: Lionel Messi insists he can cope with Argentina's weight of expectations - Telegraph

that's probably a reasonable idea to some, but there's no freakin' way I'm buying a real ticket. free (or at least super-cheap) travel is one of the main reasons I got into this racket. that said, i'm gonna buy some ZED tickets for sure. I'll check the loads in the days prior to my flights and have about 3 chances even with good loads. it looks like i can go through LHR, DXB, and AMS at least with BA, Emirates, or KLM. Gotta be a seat on one of those huge planes. also, tickets from Europe to Cape Town are like $1,500 right now. that's 4 months of student loan payments :D

does anyone know if Polar/Atlas goes there?

Free World Cup Bracket $1000 prize
 

I've been playing fantasy baseball / football here for a over a year; don't know much about soccer, but for you soccer lovers...

fantazzle.com has a free entry - bracket game (like march madness) with a $1000 prize. I'll take a ten dollar finder fee when you win :).

I picked Brazil to win over Spain.

Ha ha, nice. ESPN.com has one too, and I think it is $5000.

Just made an ESPN bracket. Netherlands to win over Argentina. (who am I kidding...) lol

hey, anything is possible. although I'm pretty sure most world cup winners have been favorite types going in. here are the latest odds:

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP - OUTRIGHT WINNER
Outcome Odds
SPAIN 4-1
BRAZIL 4-1
ENGLAND 13-2
ARGENTINA 7-1
NETHERLANDS 10-1
ITALY 14-1
GERMANY 14-1
FRANCE 18-1
PORTUGAL 28-1
IVORY COAST 30-1
USA 50-1
SERBIA 60-1
CHILE 66-1
MEXICO 66-1
GHANA 80-1
PARAGUAY 80-1
CAMEROON 100-1
URUGUAY 125-1
NIGERIA 125-1
SOUTH AFRICA 150-1
AUSTRALIA 150-1
DENMARK 150-1
GREECE 150-1
SWITZERLAND 200-1
SOUTH KOREA 200-1
SLOVENIA 275-1
SLOVAKIA 300-1
JAPAN 350-1
ALGERIA 500-1
HONDURAS 750-1
NORTH KOREA 750-1
NEW ZEALAND 750-1

didn't even realize until i posted that, but netherlands is not much of a long shot really - they could do it. now, the U.S.? different story :)

The U.S is going to get past the first round easily, but they will most likely get complacent as a result of that and be wiped out when they actually face real competition. Anyone feel sorry for the North Korea players? Brazil and Portugal?? They will most likely be tortured by Kim when they come home after a sweep for shaming the country.

I'm going to fill out some brackets here soon, however my answers would be different do to the fact there are a lot of key/talented players not going.

PurpleCRJ- thanks for posting the odds.

Look at those odds. I'm telling ya, Brazil over Spain... :D

a link for teams/times/places of games.


Mundial 2010 en MARCA.com

bit of annoyance to say the least
 

Can you imagine paying all that dough to watch a match and listening to this for the whole game ?
I,ve had to hit the mute button several times already .
Vuvuzela drone killing World Cup atmosphere - World Cup News - FOX Sports on MSN

if your in South Africa, call now for your chance to be in the next music video........for only $3US dollars a vuvuzela is all yours. Requirements: big lung capacity, a vuvuzela, interest in soccer(optional), and a keen sense of being able to pi$$ off everyone.

oh yeah, go slovenia

Sting operation
 

So that's what the hideous sound is! I thought a humongous swarm of killer bees, driven mad by global warming, was preparing to attack. :p

Yeah the vuvuzela is annoying .. you can't make it through a match without muting the damn television. What ever happened to singing?
Great matches so far ...

anyone else noticed this ?
 

Maybe I missed something but why do the people who are broadcasting these matches not show more of the host country ?
They do it for the Olympics so I,m curious as to why they would not do it for the cup .



Ally

The US got robbed of a win today by officiating that was some of the worst, in any sport, that I've ever seen (like the phantom penalty that cost the US the go-ahead goal). And after Germany-Serbia today, I didn't think the officiating could get much worse.

Glad to see they battled back to equalize in the second half, but the team really needs to be more aggressive on both offense & defense before getting themselves in a hole...

What's the world cup?

Only Half of It
 

I agree that the call against the U.S. that cost them the third goal and the game was horrendous. I would have said it couldn't get any worse until I watched Germany vs. Serbia. WOW ! How many yellow cards did "Yellow Card" Louie hand out ? Even the announcers were freaking out with yellow card after yellow card. If one of the German players was near a Serbian player and the Serb tripped...Opps....Yellow Card. No wonder Germany ended up with only 10 players.

I was amazed at the "professional divers" that some teams employ. I have watched a few hundred NHL games in my life and as a true "puck head", I've seen some "divers" on the ice but the "futbol" players in the World Cup take the cake !

G'Luck U.S.A.:)

I like the ref. from the first german game. This ref gave two yellows for players diving which made the rest of the game dive free(almost).

The US is lucky to be in the position they are in. England and Slovenia should of won their game. I agree that the call was pretty bad in the US vs Slovenia game but when hasn't there been a bad call?

I can't wait to see the next games because of most of the starting players have yellows. Everyone is on thin ice!

I wonder what the ratings are stateside for these games?




Ally

Snooze
 

The ratings are....YAAAAAAWN;)
You can get the entire day of "football" by watching the 10 min highlights clip each evening and see ALL of the action of the day!:D OK...shields up!

couldn't you say that for any sports(ie golf, tennis, hockey, football, soccer, especially baseball). why do people watch baseball anyways......it doesn't take 165ish games to show you that the yankees bought the best team.;)

The ratings will go up as soon as the 16 start and so on.

Everyone should buy the vuvuzela IPhone app!!!

Not Really
 

Not really. Golf...yes, Tennis...maybe, Hockey...definitely not, it is nonstop action, football (not soccer) depends on the game, baseball...yes. I'll still catch the ESPN highlights as opposed to wasting time watching soccer on TV. The same can be said for SOME of the other sports on your list.;)

To each their own. "1 hour" (2 1/2) of American football bores me to tears. Between the commercials, complete over analysis, useless factoids of every single player being spit out has killed it. Toss in the (de) evolution and the (un) professional behavior of many of the players on and off the field. Just can't seen to watch it anymore.

That's why there's rugby. No helmets, JUST BALLS!!!!!!!

Yep
 

I have to agree with you for the most part. I still really like NCAA football (sans the over analysis) and don't really care that much about pro football (except for the fact that I am a proud member of the "Who Dat" nation :D) NBA basketball wins the (de) evolution and the (un) professional behavior title, which is why I don't ever watch any NBA basketball. IMHO hockey is where it's at for action on TV, but much better live. I could do rugby, but have you tried finding it on TV in the USA lately?

Update. USA scores goal at 91st minute to win 1-0! (I rest my case.) I support USA soccer but I'm not sitting in front of the tube watching 90 minutes of "play" hoping to see the one goal scored in the game. I'll catch it on Sports Center!

Watching soccer on TV is more engaging than watching baseball on TV at least 90% of the time...and I love baseball.

There's not much in sports that beats the drama of a match decided by a game (and group-winning) goal, in stoppage time, of the World Cup.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still watch Texas-OU or Florida-Alabama playing football over most any soccer match...but thus far the WC has been rather entertaining from a spectator standpoint.