1 - What level of interest do you have in the World Cup, on a scale of 1 ("Is that rugby?") to 10 (taking off work for two weeks to go to bars and watch games at 9am)?
2 - If/when the US is eliminated, who's your next favorite World Cup team?
3 - On a scale of 1 to 10, how alarmed should Mizzou fans be about the Tony Mitchell qualification news starting to bubble to the surface?
4 - Please provide an example of a more unexpectedly successful internet meme than last week's #TremendousStubble, which went from "Roundtable joke" to "KOMU asks Earleywine about it on camera" in less than 48 hours. Or at least one that comes close. Subquestion: what's the next meme Rock M Nation can start?
RPT: 1. 7, because arbitrary ratings are my thing.
2. TBD. I usually find myself in the corner of the Germans and the Dutch more often than not, though. And I'll generally pull for whoever is playing England, just because their suffering is so much freaking fun to watch.
3. The report I read bumped me from about a 2 to about a 6. DISD is the Chicago politics of Texas school districts, so nothing really catches me by surprise, but I'll wait to see the results of the investigation.
4. Did ZouDave's sister ever get a mention in a media outlet? I think that's got to be priority number one, right?
Doug: 1 - I'm about an 8. I love the having live sporting events on in the morning and during the day while I'm at work. Makes the day much more bearable.
2 - I'll keep a close eye on how the African countries are doing and how badly North Korea gets it's rear end handed to it.
3 - Isn't he the best player in this recruiting class? I don't know off the top of my head and am far too lazy to look it up. I don't have a number in mind, but people seemed excited to pick up the commitment, so losing him as a non-qualifier would be less than ideal.
4 - Dave's Sister seconded.
Michael Atchison: 1 - A 10 on a World Cup scale is no ordinary 10 (I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a hardcore fan in Europe right about now), but as far as middle-aged American suburban dudes go, I’d rate pretty high, probably a 7 or 8. I’ll watch religiously, and I’ve already made my group stage picks in Commie Kickball, the WC fantasy league of which I’m a member. The level of play is so high, the atmosphere so great, the production so compelling. 2006 was the first time I really paid attention, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.
2 - I don’t have a next favorite team in anything, but I am interested in watching particular players. I’ll watch England because I’m familiar with so many of the guys from the Premier League. Ivory Coast because of Drogba. Cameroon because of Eto’o. Portugal because of Ronaldo. Spain and Brazil because they’re loaded, and Italy because they’re the champs. Also, I’m curious to see if train conductor Maradona drives Argentina over a cliff. If you haven’t read S.L. Price’s profile on Lionel Messi and the dysfunction of Argentine soccer, pick it up.
3 - It sounds serious, and it would certainly be terrible for him if it derails his chance to play in college, but the fan should never fret much about one recruit. Would it be a blow? Sure, but this team will be good with or without him.
4 - Once you get a mention on KOMU, you’ve reached the pinnacle, so I declare it the most successful internet thingy ever (I can’t bring myself to use the "m" word). Next up? Can’t force it. Must come naturally.
RPT: "Can’t force it. Must come naturally."
Yeah, Dave's sister. We've got it.
ZouDave: 1 - If that's your definition of 10, then I guess I'm a 9. I only took work off on the days that the USA plays, but I will be up at 6:30am every day to watch the first game and will likely have the 2nd game on at my desk at work. I will try to take my lunch at 1:30 every day to watch at least part of the 3rd game. I freaking LOVE the World Cup and I cannot wait.
2 - After the USA, I only root against teams. Mexico is the team I wouldn't root for against anyone, regardless of opponent. The only way I'd ever root for Italy is if they're playing Mexico. And it kind of goes up from there. I think that would put me with teams like The Netherlands, Denmark and Australia as teams I'd like to see win the whole thing.
3 - We shouldn't be alarmed by any of it because it's not like Mizzou is being implicated in any wrong-doings. We should not be happy that Mitchell may not qualify, but no more so than how we felt when Sheldon Richardson didn't qualify.
4 - I doubt there is one more successful than that, but the next one better not involve my sister.
ZouDave: And after reading the replies sent before mine, I have one thing to say:
(An hour later...)
ghtd36: I'm not real sure why we continue to do these Roundtables. It's not like anything really comes out of them.
1 - I'm a very fickle soccer fan in the sense that while I do enjoy the sport, if I don't have a team to root for, I won't watch it. I'd love to get into the English Premier League -- it seems like it's a viciously competitive league -- but I don't have a squad. The United States is in, which gives me a rooting interest, and they're playing England in the first game, which gives me an excuse to scoreboard my British friends over the Revolutionary War. So, I'll go with a 6, with all those caveats considered.
2 - Like I said, I don't really have another team, so my secondary rooting interest will be ...
/spins globe
/stabs globe with index finger
...The Ottoman Empire! Crap. Stupid pre-WWI globe.
3 - Alarmed? About a 7 or so. Obviously you don't want your top recruit involved in any sort of questions regarding his qualification status, so there's definitely cause for alarm. That said -- and I texted RPT about this last night -- the sad thing is the biggest thing playing into Mizzou's favor is that Dallas ISD is as crooked as the day is long. It's sad, but it's true. I really wouldn't be surprised if DISD came out in the next couple weeks and said "Nope, nothing to see here" even though there is clearly something to see here.
4 - Gotta admit, I'm shocked and awed by the exponential growth of #TremendousStubble. It's a victory for the power of a dumb idea. But in the end, isn't this the best possible scenario? True MU softball fans get to make fun of dorks like us, Ehren Earleywine gets to make fun of dorks like us, and casual softball fans find a silly reason to get behind what really might be the second-strongest athletic program at Mizzou (behind wrestling). HOORAY INTERNET.
Also, additional question: is the 11:30 a.m. kickoff to the Mizzou-Illinois game proof that Dan Beebe wants to turn all Mizzou fans into alcoholics in hopes that then they will drunkenly express their desire to never leave the Big XII?
Bill C.: Actually, I've always thought that the 11:00 or 11:30 kickoffs are by far the LEAST alcoholic-friendly times ... meaning Beebe is trying to prevent Mizzou fans from drunkenly expressing their desire to leave ... and ironically, they'd be expressing their desire to leave for a conference that would give them about 90% 11:00 kickoffs...
ZouDave: true dat. I drink far, far less for 11:xx kickoffs. Dad and I will leave KC around 7:45 or so to get to Columbia by 10:00 which gives us a max of like an hour of drinking before we head into the stadium. Whereas if it's a 1:00 or 2:30 kickoff, we'll leave around 8:00 to get to Columbia by 10:30 which gives a MINIMUM of 2 hours and often more.
The 11:30am kickoff in STL doesn't really affect me at all. I'll still be up at the same time, I'll be sitting either at home or at my dad's so I'll be drinking during the game, and since I don't have to drive anywhere I can drink afterwards. The 11:30am kickoff in KC in November means if the weather is nice I'll get out there early for a breakfast tailgate, but if the weather sucks we'll just go straight to the game and leave the drinking for after.
(An hour later...)
ZouDave:
ghtd36: So, in the past two weeks, I've been hit with a number of fraudulent charges on my bank accounts. And this is not an insignificant amount of money: in all, it's roughly 10% of all the money I have in the bank.
And Bank of America decides that the best decision isn't to freeze my account -- no, not even after my repeated requests to do so -- but to instead proceed with its collective thumb up its collective ass.
I got hit with another fraudulent charge today. The biggest one yet.
God help you, random fraud perpetrator, if I ever find you. I'm going to go after you like The Beef after Ron Prince.
ZouDave: That's crazy that BOA wouldn't help you. I got a fraudulent $50 charge on my debit card like 2 years ago, called them immediately about it, they took the charge off while I was on the phone with them, cancelled my card and had another one overnighted to me at no charge, and called the company that took the fraudulent charge to get more information. That was excellent service. You're getting the Lew Perkins version.
ghtd36: I've really had no problems with B of A before this, either; been great to me, actually. But it's incredibly frustrating when they say "well, you should probably go close your account."
YEAH, YOU THINK?!? WHY CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING -- ANYTHING -- TO STOP THE BLEEDING RIGHT NOW?
(Two hours later...)
ghtd36: So...Big Gulps, huh?
(An hour later...)
Bill C.: Yeah, we're definitely losing in softball this weekend at this rate.
Michael Atchison: We’re playing softball this weekend? It wasn’t in the questions.
ZouDave: I'll take some of the blame here. You asked about the World Cup and I've just had too busy of a day to keep a conversation going about it. It's like my favorite sporting event outside of the NCAA Tournament so I could sit her and talk about it all day, if someone would play along. Just not today, apparently.
Here's how it's going down.
A1 - France
A2 - South Africa
B1 - Argentina
B2 - Nigeria
C1 - England
C2 - United States
D1 - Germany
D2 - Ghana
E1 - Netherlands
E2 - Denmark
F1 - Italy (oh how I hate them)
F2 - Paraguay
G1 - Brazil
G2 - Ivory Coast
H1 - Spain
H2 - Chile
A1 vs B2 - France
C1 vs D2 - England
D1 vs C2 - Germany
B1 vs A2 - Argentina
E1 vs F2 - Netherlands
G1 vs H2 - Brazil
F1 vs E2 - Italy (oh how I hate them)
H1 vs G2 - Spain
France vs England - England
Germany vs Argentina - Argentina
Netherlands vs Brazil - Brazil
Spain vs Italy - Spain
England vs Argentina - England
Spain vs Brazil (probably the best match of the entire month) - Spain
Argentina vs Brazil for 3rd Place - Brazil
England vs Spain for 1st Place - Spain
I really don't think England is the 2nd best team in the world, but the matchups are great for them all the way through. If the USA is able to somehow win our group, I think the USA would probably end up losing to Argentina in this draw and then would lose to Brazil to claim 4th place. And I would blow a freaking gasket if that happened.
I'm very, very happy to be able to realistically pick Mexico to not even make it out of their group. F*** Mexico.
ghtd36: This week, we'll see just how tremendous the stubble truly is. If he can overcome a terrible roundtable to secure victory...I mean, might as well create his bust for the Badass Hall of Fame right now.
Also, via @MUTigersDotCom:
"Taylor, Fleming, et al. were coaxed into doing impersonations of Coach E for ESPN promos taped this am. Worth tuning in tomorrow!"
OH MY.
ZouDave: Would Coach E's Badass Hall of Fame bust be a chia pet?
Bill C.: All I know is, when he shaved before both games this weekend, it was like he was speaking directly to us.
ghtd36: I'm pretty sure we've earned Marla Schweisberger as a RMN BFF, though.
I think we need to print up "RMN BFF" shirts and send them to all our friends. Send one to Matter, Kimmeh, Party Starter, Tremendous Stubble and Marla.
Bill C.: If you'll pay for them, I'm all for it.
Michael Atchison (whoops) ghtd36: I vote Moneybags Atchison finance this project.
ZouDave: Mental Image: set
ghtd36: I know this Roundtable prides itself on its ability to avoid tangents, but permit me:
First, look at this photo.
If you're Scrooge McDuck, what's the purpose of having a room full of money? I mean, do you go in there and just grab a handful before you go out for the day? What are the security precautions you take to do this? Also, wouldn't it hurt to dive into a pile of coins? IT'S METAL! And what's up with the bulldozer of money in the background? Seriously, dude? How did you get that bulldozer in there? And what's the point? Do you really have a major need to move all your money to the other side of your money room? And has this dude never heard of a bank? THE COINS ARE ONLY HINDERING YOUR FINANCES. Deposit that into a money-market savings account, dawg. Or invest it. It seems to me that for a guy who is filthy rich, he's not very smart.
And that concludes my critique of Scrooge McDuck.
ZouDave:
Michael Atchison: I can only assume that the photo was taken during a major deflationary recession (or even depression). In such times, hoarding cash is a good thing because investments yield diminishing returns and the prices of goods drop, which means that the cash you hold actually increases in value. The coins likely mean that he’s a goldbug, or perhaps, Glenn Beck in a duck suit.
ghtd36: See, I can buy that -- you'd want to hold up as much cash as possible. But are we assuming that Scrooge McDuck lives in America? Because then the FDIC will insure him up to $250,00 PER BANK. So he can deposit all of that money into, say, 20 different banks and A) earn a bit of interest, and B) NOT BE A MAJOR CRIME RISK. There's not a whole lot you can do to convince me that having a room full of money is sound financial strategy.
ghtd36: That's $250,000 per bank, of course. Stupid fingers.
Michael Atchison: A1: France
A2: Mexico
B1: Argentina
B2: Nigeria
C1: England
C2: USA
D1: Germany
D2: Serbia (would’ve liked to pick Ghana, but not without Essien)
E1: Netherlands
E2: Cameroon
F1: Italy
F2: Paraguay
G1: Brazil
G2: Ivory Coast
H1: Spain
H2: Chile
France
England
Germany
Argentina
Netherlands
Brazil
Italy
Spain
England
Germany
Brazil
Spain
England
Brazil
Brazil
I harbor no antipathy toward the Mexicans or Italians.
ZouDave: You ever been to a USA vs Mexico game?
Do it once, I bet you'll harbor all kinds of antipathy. In many ways they're worse than beakers, because at least the beakers have actually been fans of champions before. Mexico sure acts like it, but they've won dick and dick in their existence.
Michael Atchison: 1) Dave has uncovered rude nationalistic behavior at a soccer match. Alert the media (or are we the media?)
2) That sounds like what Nebraska fans say about us.
Doug: "That sounds like what Nebraska fans say about us."
Minus the accents... or at least minus the Mexican accents.
ZouDave: Three days prior to being at this match I was at a USA vs Canada match. I didn't get pelted, drenched or hit with anything thrown, hurled or spit. I don't see videos like this surfacing when USA plays Honduras, Guatemala, Spain, Brazil or Italy. At some point it really should be more about cheering for your team as opposed to cheering against the other.
And please don't compare US National fans to Nebraska fans. That's uncalled for.