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Welcome to another season of our Vancouver Whitecaps contest “Guess the Starting XI and Final Score”. As is tradition, thanks to former regular Spencer for starting this several years ago. It has grown into a great contest and I am appreciative of him for the original idea. Like last season, we will break the contest up into the three ‘seasons’: first half, second half, and non-MLS. We will continue to have fun monthly ‘bonus’ prediction categories, with some being based on whatever it topical at the time. Last season we had things like “Robbo post-match quotes”, “yellow cards”, “first goal scorer”, and several others. However, to start the season, we will keep March simple. With that out of the way, let’s remind you all how the scoring is done.
Contest article will be posted 2-3 days prior to game day.
- We will keep track of first half, second half, and monthly winners so that late joiners will have something to play for.
- I will have a separate ‘contest’ for Voyageurs and Champions League.
- As the MLS season is 34 matches, each half of the season will be based on 17 matches, with your worst two match predictions being dropped. This will allow everyone a few misses or bad guesses throughout the season.
- Predictions will be ‘valid’ if posted HERE half-an-hour prior to the lineup being officially announced (1 hour before kickoff).
How Scoring is Determined
- You receive 1 point for every player you correctly guess to be in the Starting XI. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly predicting 10 starters. Receive 3 bonus points for correctly predicting 11 starters.
- You get 5 points for correctly guessing Win/Lose/Draw.
- You receive 1 point for correctly guessing each team’s final score. Receive 1 bonus point for correctly guessing both teams final score (for a total of 3).
- That means, if you correctly predict the Starting XI, Final Score, and Winner, you can earn 22 points!
After each match, I will tally the scores and update the standings, which will be posted with the following match’s prediction article. I will post three sets of standings. First, the results from the previous match. Second, the monthly standings. Third, the first/second half standings (with your worst two match predictions removed).
Match #26 Standings
| Rank | User | Total Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Yellow Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | User | Total Score | Lineup | Bonus | Winner | Score | Yellow Card |
| 1 | Colombian_Southsider77 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | edmondk | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | GreyHouseEffect | 17 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | hbamaral | 17 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | Island Life | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Tres_Tristes_Tigres | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | CascadiaCrunchFC | 15 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | chuckbiscuits | 15 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Isabelt | 15 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | AshMan77 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | AtlantisB | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | CDPrior | 14 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | tecate | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Westsider13 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | The Squirrel | 12 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Airos | 11 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Stick of butter | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | AmandaC | 9 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Match Review and Preview (AtlantisB and Tres_Tristes_Tigres)
They won! Who saw that coming? Apparently a bunch of you but not AtlantisB. Once the optimism runs out, and He/I predict a loss they end up winning. Going to be a VERY poor second half finish for me!
Among the other predictions, a lot of 10’s for the lineup prediction, meaning plenty of one-point lineup bonuses. No perfect lineups though, as the inclusion of Erice and exclusion of Ardaiz seemed to be the biggest stumbling block. However, everyone (except AtlantisB) predicting a Caps victory bolstered match scores. We even had CDPrior, Island Life, and chuckbiscuits correctly predict the final score -the typical 2-1 line. Finally, three people (AmandaC, GreyHouseEffect, and rtomsheck) correctly predicted ‘no Caps player would be carded’.
rtomsheck used the card prediction, while CDPrior used the scoreline prediction, to sit at the top of the rankings for this match, with 19 points. Behind them was a three-way tie for third, at 17 points, between Island Life, Columbian_Southsider77, and chuckbiscuits.
The Caps now travel to Portland to take on the Timbers. Loss right? The biggest question for the Caps is who will even play in this match. The midfield and wing positions are sparse, with Felipe and Venuto gone, Lass Bangoura injured, and new additional Chirinos unlikely to be available. In addition, Erice’s excite has really made MDS’ cupboard bare. It is anyone’s guess what happens ahead of the back five, which seems fairly stable. Could this be another blow-out? Have the Caps stopped the bleeding? Will a Cascadia rivalry lead to an upset? Time for you to make your predictions.
Finally, don’t forget that with August our bonus category is correctly predict the first Whitecaps yellow card. Get it correct, receive three points towards your monthly total ONLY. If you believe no Caps will be carded, then make sure to explicitly state that.
Good luck everyone!