Pete’s Futbol Experiment Update: Group Stage Over

So all of the preliminaries are out of the way for this year’s Euro 2012 and I’m still watching. Not enthusiastically, mind you, but I’m still on board and I don’t believe I’m bailing any time soon. After all, we are approaching the exciting part of the tournament, the knockout stage.

It turns out I didn’t watch as many matches as I thought I did. I missed more than I saw. Here’s what happened:

GROUP STAGE

WATCHED

Poland 1, Greece 1 – Draw

Russia 4, Czech Republic 1

Italy 1, Spain 1 – Draw

Ireland 1, Croatia 3

England 1, France 1 – Draw

Ukraine 2, Sweden 1

Germany 2, Netherlands 1

Italy 1, Croatia 1—Draw

Spain 4, Ireland 0

England 1, Ukraine 0

MISSED

Netherlands 0, Denmark 1

Germany 1, Portugal 0

Greece 1, Czech Republic 2

Poland 1, Russia 1 – Draw

Portugal 3, Denmark 2

Sweden 2, England 3

Ukraine 0, France 2

Czech Republic 1, Poland 0

Greece 1, Russia 0

Croatia 0, Spain 1

Portugal 2, Netherlands 1

Denmark 1, Germany 2

Italy 2, Ireland 0

Sweden 2, France 0

So I was able to watch 10 and missed 14. So I’m 10 for 24, so I’ve watched about 42 percent of the matches in the Group Stage. It’s not a majority, hell it’s not even half, but I think I have a decent perspective so far. Unfortunately, I wanted to see the most exciting games possible and for me, that means games that result in a team actually winning. Well, unfortunately for me, I witnessed every draw except for one. That’s right, out of the five draws, I witnessed four of them. I want winners!

As for the tournament pick ’em I’m in, here’s a screen shot of how poorly I’ve done with my selections, even after advice from the Montrose Super Fans.

A little too much red for my liking

Out of 16 people, I’m in a three-way tie for last place. This doesn’t come as a huge surprise for me, considering how little I know about soccer. But I at least figured the advice of the Super Fans would give me some sort of competitive edge. But there’s still plenty of futbol to be played, so somehow, someway, I’m still optimistic I can finish strong.