WM Update (aka World Cup Update)

 To say I have football fever may be an understatement. You might be thinking a "slight fever". Nope, more like "104 degrees-we-better-go-to-the-hospital". And it caught me off-guard.

I love soccer. I run in social circles with others who love and appreciate soccer. I get swept up in Europe Cups and World Cups and friendly matches. But nothing compares to what I'm experiencing now.

Why?

1. I'm in Germany. A country that lives and breathes Fußball (and cars and beer).
2. I'm in an online betting pool at work (no money!).
3. I'm winning said pool.

People are always asking each other what they are "tipping" or what their "tip" is. This is your prediction. This takes it to the next level. I suppose you could compare it to March Madness brackets or even Super Bowl Squares. Yet, this requires lots of strategic thinking and you have to actively participate over the course of the entire tourney.

We are doing our pool at work with people from our German, English, and Spanish offices, a total of eight of us (one declined and was in no mood to be convinced otherwise). It's via kicktipp.de (it can be switched into various languages) and does all the work for you. There's even an app! You can change your tips up until the start of each game. We also had to answer some "bonus" questions at the beginning like who would win each group? who would be in in the final four? who will win or be the runner-up? These tips can't be changes and it would be really unfortunate, for example, if you picked Spain to go very far and then they got their butts kicked the first game of the tourney...hypothetically speaking...

You score 4 points if you guess the correct final score - 100% correct. You get 3 points if you pick the right winner and the right goal differential (you said team A would win 2-1, but they win 1-0). And you get 2 points if you at least pick the right winner (or correctly predict a tie).

I snagged 4 points on the opening game (no, I also did not know Brasil would score all four of those goals...). And since then I've been hooked in a way I've never been hooked before.

As the days go on, I come into the office and am greeted by head-shakes and emails calling me out for insider info -- even a call to call the ethics committee! No one can believe it. Me either to be honest. They want to know my secret. I can't help that I picked Nigeria over Bosnia because my book club just read a book about Nigeria, so I picked in their favor.

I'm currently leading by 15 points and I really hope I'm not jinxing myself by talking about it.

It's all in good fun and gives us lots to discuss at the water cooler, of course. And the winner, aside from pride, honor, and glory, also will get a hand-made trophy. It's quite the experience.

Due to the time difference, the first two rounds of games were at 18:00, 21:00, 00:00, and 03:00. Of course the first two US games were at midnight. I did watch until 1:30 when I just couldn't anymore and it through me off all week. Round 2 of group play has two simultaneous games at 18:00 an 22:00. The later start doesn't comply with my bedtime either, but at least the Germany vs USA game gets a prime time spot. And when two games are on at the same time, the games with European teams get priority coverages except for when a goal is scored and they pop over to the other game.

Some games are so intense I almost can't even watch and am glad I have to sleep and anxiously check my phone in the morning for results. The other good news is that you can't go far without passing a TV on the street, a kid steaming on his computer on the corner, a ubahn sign displaying the score, or jubilation. I pass 7 outside TVs on my walk from my apartment to work slash U-bahn.

And I'm interested in ALL the games, not just the big ones. Like when I arrived at the German's and he greeted me with a smile and I go 'why aren't you watching the game?!'. Why watch the real game when you can play the game on Fifa for Xbox instead?!?

I also got to watch a France game on my new French neighbor's rooftop terrace.

Having so many international contacts makes it also cool. Our Ecuadorian UPS guy. My colleagues cheering for Australia, England, Spain, Columbia, Netherlands, etc. My French friends. My Mexican friends. My friend who lived in Cameroon.

It's just plain fun.

Who wants to join my 2018 tipping pool?!

Barmbek U Station displaying all of the flags of participating countries