Goldman Sachs Might Be Dumber Than Your Friends

Goldman Sachs’ World Cup predictions were pretty terrible.On the one hand, they correctly predicted three of the four semi-finalists. On the other hand, that’s about the only measure by which they weren’t completely awful. And it doesn’t take a cadre of geniuses to say, “I think the winningest team in the history of the competition, […]

Bin Laden and the 1998 World Cup

I did a piece for the current issue of Howler about an attempted attack by Osama Bin Laden on the 1998 World Cup in France. I recommend picking up a copy not just because I wrote something in it, but because Howler is impeccably done. Each issue almost seems like a collectible. It’s also the […]

Where Do World Cup Goals Come From?

Not Canada. That’s the short answer. Should be obvious from the map. But that’s earth, color-coded by World Cup goals dating back to the competition’s first edition in 1930 (it’s current through the semi-finals of the 2014 edition and there’s a larger version with some interactivity here—mouseover to get the country and its total goals). […]

I Wrote About the World’s Most Hateful Idiot

Or maybe it’s the world most idiotic hate-monger? Not sure. I’m loathe to even mention her name because publicity is the sole source of any power she may or may not have but I came really, really close to nailing her for out-and-out lying. So I wrote something for Fusion. Anyway it’s about the World […]

The World Cup: Where Being Old Might Be Good

1990199419982002200620102014 England never really had a chance in Brazil. And not for the reasons they normally ascribe to their failures at international tournaments—penalty kicks, not being Germany, etc. No, England were done pretty much the moment manager Roy Hodgson decided to leave Ashley Cole off the national team. That’s not to say that Cole’s absence […]