Notebook: Winnipeg should blame itself for lack of World Cup buzz
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Just before the traveling circus of American fans and media left Winnipeg, a writer in the Winnipeg Free Press penned a lament about the lack of buzz on the city's streets during the World Cup.
Columnist Bartley Kives laid the blame at FIFA's feet for not putting resources into having festivities downtown. Soccer's governing body is always fair game, considering the organization's vast financial resources. It would have practically cost pocket change for FIFA to set up community events, or even just a gathering place for fans.
Kives might want to turn the spotlight back on Winnipeg's local organizers, though – and he should look to Vancouver for proof of why. Vancouver's city council spent over $1 million to help fund construction of a fan zone that takes up a square-block parking lot just around the corner from BC Place. And the city ensured that it would be open to host fans wanting to watch games from across the tournament, not just in Vancouver.
That's much more like what FIFA has done for recent men's World Cups, especially in Brazil last year and in Germany in 2006.
Get your conspiracy theories ready
An email came down from FIFA's media relations office on Sunday with an ominous-sounding subject line: "Potential drawing of lots."
Yes, that's right. When determining order of finish in a group, if every tiebreaker is even, the final judgment is made by a lottery.
If two teams finish tied on points atop the group, a series of tiebreakers is used to pick the winner. First comes goal difference, which is goals scored minus goals conceded. Then comes goals scored. If those numbers are all level, next is the result between the teams. If that was a tie, the lottery comes into play.
It's also possible for three teams to finish tied on points, which would require repeating all the steps above and then factoring in round-robin results between the teams.
A lottery could also come into play to determine which of the four third-place finishers from the six groups will advance to the round of 16. There, the tiebreakers only diference after points gained are goal difference and goals scored.
Hopefully it won't matter. But we won't know for certain until the last group stage games conclude Wednesday night.