Monday Morning Mock Draft: Hindsight Remains 20/20

Once again we expand our “things you’d change from last week’s games” to include the Copa del Mundo, which might be Spanish for The World Cup, but I wouldn’t know because I made the sound decision to take three years of Latin in high school.  It was a huge help on my SAT verbal section, (damn near perfect), but far from any sort of help on the math portion, (damn far from perfect), and little help at all in later life.  Make of that what you will, but if you have children and they are considering studying a foreign language I would urge you to recommend they consider a live one.

I guess that is indeed hindsight, although a bit farther back than last week.

This week I am reaching again to soccer, specifically the Brazil-Croatia game.  I had Brazil as the winners of this tournament because a) I don’t follow world soccer all that closely and it’s one of the few powers I recognize by name, b)  I knew the US wouldn’t be winning it, and c) I don’t think I had a third reason.  As noted above, I are not good at math.

Anyway Brazil, as you may have noticed, lost to Croatia on penalty kicks and was sent home.  They lost for two reasons.  1) They never let Neymar attempt a PK, saving him for last, because why, in the World Cup would you want to pressure the other team by having one of the best players in the world take the first attempt?  Yes, I see your hand in the air Mr. Kane,

but I am not calling on you.  2)  The Ustase, (tips hat to Hippo) goal keeper is stupid-good at stopping PKs, and saved the first two Brazil attempts before the 4th and last hit the post, and (counts on fingers), (shit they lost for 3 reasons!  Goddamn math!), and 5, (no, 3 Sir!), 3!, and most importantly, after scoring the potentially game-winning goal in extra-time Brazil were still pressing 6-7 players forward into Croatian territory, (and we all know how much Croatians enjoy people encroaching on their turf), rather than parking the bus for 3 goddamn minutes and waiting it out.

So that’s what I’d change:  Brazil playing sound tactics after taking the lead.

Honorable mention to whatever Mike McCarthy did to prepare the Cowboys for the Texans game.  I didn’t see it, but given that they beat an absolutely lost, and quite possibly non-existent, team by 4 points I would have gone with a different approach at practice this week.  I swear to Christ Dallas, as Hippo predicted, is going to draw Tampa in the first round of the play-offs and they’re going to fucking find a way to lose.  I’m already getting mad about it.

Yours in the comments.  Go and change history!