2014 Prognostication Quiz: Question 7, Soccer

7. Soccer

The World Cup takes place this summer. Who will win? Answers are listed in reverse order of their likelihood to win, according to early sports betting sites. Brazil is the early favorite, with perhaps a 25% chance of winning it all.
Who will win the FIFA World Cup?
a. Brazil
b. Argentina
c. Spain
d. Germany
e. Italy
f. Belgium
g. Colombia
h. England
i. France
j. Uruguay
k. Portugal
l. None of the above

Embarrassingly, C, E, and H didn't even advance out of the initial group stage. The final four were A, B, D, and L (Netherlands). The early tournament favorite Brazil was trounced in quite embarrassing fashion (at home, remember) 7-1 by the upstart Germans, who eked out a 1-0 win over Netherlands to win the tournament. This means the answer to Question 7 of the 2014 Prognostication Quiz is D. Germany.

Twenty-six entrants chose A, followed by 5 for B, 6 for C, 9 for D, 3 for E, 2 for F, and a lonely single vote for poor K. Portugal by Jason C.

Congratulations to the Germany fans for avoiding the Brazil trap.


Die Deutschen

Ben S.

Todd C.

Matthew D.

Stephanie A.

Cameron M.

Miriam S.

Rachel F.

Bao Bin

Melissa A.

Leaderboard

Ben, Todd, and Matthew join the seven-way tie for second place, but no one has been able to join Larry in his splendid isolation, as he has sat atop the leaderboard all by himself since March. Keila sits ahead of the second place tie because she picked D for the Stocks and Bitcoin questions and would be two points richer if the year ended right now.

Larry's toughest challenge is yet to come: the mid-term elections. Questions 8 and 9 will decide with the voters on November 4.

8. House (November 4)

Republicans currently control the US House of Representatives, with a 234-seat majority. How will that change after mid-term elections?

What will happen with the House Republican caucus?
a. They will hold steady or gain more seats (234 or more total)
b. They will lose seats, but keep control of the House (218 to 233 total)
c. They will lose control of the House (0 to 217 total)

9. Senate (November 4)

Democrats currently control the US Senate, with a 54-seat majority. How will that change after mid-term elections?What will happen with the Senate Democratic caucus?
a. They will hold steady or gain more seats (54 or more total)
b. They will lose seats, but keep control of the Senate (50 to 53 total)
c. They will lose control of the Senate (0 to 49 total)

Most of the top 8 chose A for Question 8: Larry, Keila, Russell, and Todd picked A and B for Questions 8 and 9, Nadir and Craig chose A and A, and Matthew chose A and C. Only Ben digressed, picking C and B. A slew of people with three points chose B on Question 8, making a great opportunity for Grant, Ron, Valerie, Janet, Miriam, Katie, Adam, Xing Yue, Ryan, Dave, or Cameron to advance if the Republicans lose some seats (but not too many) in the House.

Rank	Score	Name
1	5	Larry A.
2	4	Keila B.
3	4	Ben S.
4	4	Matthew D.
5	4	Russell V.
6	4	Nadir Y.
7	4	Todd C.
8	4	Craig W.
9	3	Grant M.
10	3	Ron D.
11	3	Valerie M.
12	3	Janet C.
13	3	Stephanie A.
14	3	Miriam S.
15	3	Katie M.
16	3	Chris C.
17	3	Adam K.
18	3	Xing Yue
19	3	Sarah M.
20	3	Ryan M.
21	3	Dave S.
22	3	Ellen Y.
23	3	Stacey C.
24	3	Jenny A.
25	3	Cameron M.
26	2	Michael A.
27	2	Collette T.
28	2	Tori V.
29	2	Dawn K.
30	2	Sarah T.
31	2	Yue Nan
32	2	Adrian C.
33	2	Rachel F.
34	2	Megan T.
35	2	Liz K.
36	2	Gloria T.
37	2	Jason C.
38	2	Jan M.
39	2	Jeffrey T.
40	2	Marcus S.
41	2	Xiaoqi
42	2	Rachel H.
43	2	Bao Bin
44	2	Hexiang
45	1	Jeff C.
46	1	Melissa A.
47	1	Zhangying
48	1	Ekrem S.
49	1	Ryan C.
50	1	Zhiqi Q.
51	1	Chris M.
52	0	Ling Chen

Condolences to Ling Chen, who has finally won the race to the bottom, sitting all alone in dead last. Happily, there are many chances yet to score, so the issue has not been settled finally. And the Prognostication Quiz is hard stuff. It's not like the World Cup or anything.