So we’ve reached Round 2 of the Rock Town Hall World Cup of Rock ‘n Roll. Congratulations to the 8 nations that have moved forward to this elimination round, and thanks to all 16 participants, well at least the 15 who were able to keep pace. I hope all is well with sir telewacker and that he was simply too busy to bring Team Nigeria to the pitch. I think we can agree that all the teams brought some surprises to their matches.
Following is the schedule for the second round of play, our first elimination round. There will be no ties, so coaches: have a third strike ready. You will pick up with the rosters you used to end the first round of play. Remember: any artist substituted for in Round 1 is now OUT of play.
On the advice of participants in the opening round, lets see if we can’t submit actual mp3s of our competing songs, especially if the song is not particularly well known. As with the opening round, teams can submit their opening two strikes in the Comments section or, if you want to play your hand close to the vest and would like to submit mp3s for me to post, to the Commissioner: mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com.
Second-round schedule follows the jump!
Tuesday, June 29
USA v Wales
Ireland v Sweden
Wednesday, June 30
Australia v England
Jamaica v Canada
Let me know if any of the remaining coaches do not expect to be able to keep up with the competition on these days. Thanks.
I confess, perhaps even boast of not owning any ABBA. I may need MP3 assistance with the next choice if I do not sub TSOOL in. My girlfriend contends she lost her ABBA cd in the divorce. How very appropriate.
I’m sure we can help you out on ABBA, mockcarr. I’ve got their vinyl GH collection – maybe even volume 2.
And if you would like to consult on choices of musical tracks, Abba was the first band I saw live. I continue to love them to this day. (Renditions of their songs were better in “Muriel’s Wedding” than “Mamma Mia.”)
I’ve got two ABBA songs in mind, and some TSOOL to think about using too. Man, I’m wishing I had Eggstone right now. Maybe that’d be leaning on the power pop too hard.
I realized the other day that there’s at least one KILLER ABBA song that’s yet to be played, so that may help you, mockcarr. Your other choice may be a winner as well; I’d already blanked on this one winner that finally popped in my head as I assessed your possible strikes. Your match with Ireland will be a real battle of coaching wits.
Wales has its work cut out for it. Meanwhile, England-Australia promises to be a real dogfight. One false move by the Brits coupled with just the right moves by the Aussies might prove fatal to the favorites’ cause. The puzzling Canadian team should also be interesting in its match against Jamaica.
So who’s in and who’s out for Canada? Neil Young replaced which band?
Also, maybe some strategy for this round? Higher seed goes first, countered by the opponent, then the opponent, the the higher seed offers the final song?
bostonhistorian wrote:
If participants can manage to get me their songs in this sequence, that would be fine by me. What do others think?
Man, upset favorites Wales and Australia have drawn the short straws in the knockout round. I would have thought they’d be set up for a final four showdown vs. the US and England. Ah well, guess they had to go through the favorites eventually.
Their coaches have not let them down so far, and I think the Aussies may be able to exploit the fact that the English have been on autopilot so far, with some relatively phoned-in play from the highly touted Lennon/McCartney and Jagger/Richards striker duos.
After Round 1, I think the Tournament’s Dream Team thus far has been Angus Young (leading goal scorer), Gruff Rhys, Bob Marley and first round breakout stars Rory Gallagher and the now ousted French Iggy Pop Guy from Telephone. Team Canada captain Burton Cummings deserves praise as well for his solid play and veteran leadership.
The only problem with the one by one thing is that some of the mysteriousness of the rulings is taken away. Isn’t soccer supposed to be about inscrutable rulings that make it “beautiful”? When is a goal a goal, can a keeper turn it into a mirage?
I’m going on the record as being ANTI-mp3 for this contest. Or, rather, anti-only-mp3. Our teams need to bring their best game to the match — if that means their live act, then that should count for something. Look for more vids from Ireland.
The seeding for these knockout matches looks exactly right since the 1st 4 seeds were US, Eng, Ire and Canada and they are all playing later qualifiers. Tough road for Aus but they have been up to it so far.
Re: Youtube vs .mp3 Taking the broad view, I think the coach can submit whichever they feel is most effective. Nosehair may have worked against BigSteve but good video selection has only helped 2000Man.
Like in Survivor, I will stay in the tournament as a jury member and look forward to this week’s matches.
I have two or three different strategies that I’m mulling over right now and I’m really anguishing over my choices.
I kick myself for pulling my punches against the Netherlands. If I had won that match, I’d be breathing a lot easier right now.
The match with Australia will tax my abilities as a coach. I’m pretty sure if we can win this match we’ll put away anyone left. I’m trying to determine how much I should allow my intellect to dictate my coaching for this particular contest. Our artists are also sensing that a large segment of World Cup fans are rooting for a collapse. This is inevitable when you’re a heavily favored powerhouse team. Mick Jagger called a brief team meeting to relate some stories from the Steel Wheels Tour, stressing the importance of feeding off this backlash.
Don’t hold back, Mod. The Aussies are strong but with the right offensive line, you Brits can make it to the finals and win it all.
Balls to the wall, mate!
God Save The Queen (and her facist regime).
Do we know yet who is in goal for the English? Is it Charlie Watts, Ringo or Bernard Purdie? I figure Andy White is drowning his sorrows over Scotland’s defeat and may now be hoping that the Welsh are planning to use his work on “It’s Not Unusual” to go for the upset over USA.
Team Canada update:
Neil Young replaces RUSH. RUSH had some good moves, but the refs and commentators couldn’t get over their obvious flaws; excessive solo-dribbling, whining in a high pitch voice when calls went against them, and an obsessive fan base that was 96% male who cheered their every move like they were rock and roll Pele.
alexmagic, Pete Thomas is the keeper for Team England. The rest of our starting 11 is as follows.
Defense (diamond alignment): Bruce Thomas at sweeper, Keith Richards and Bill Wyman on the outside, and Bernard Purdie at stopper.
Midfield: Brian Jones, George Harrison, Elvis Costello, and John Lennon.
Strikers: Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney.
The Beatles and Brian Jones have a cool way of shaking their moptops when they head the ball. The girls at English matches have been drowning out those godawful feedbacking guitars South African fans insist on wailing through this tournament.
Bob Marley, practicing a little for the match with Canada.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-zzVfyTuZg
OK, after some discussion, let’s say that submission of mp3s is not REQUIRED. If you’d like to submit mp3s rather than videos (or rather than simply stating the song title, if playing a well-known powerhouse of a song), then submit it to mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com.
Also, there was not a groundswell for submitting one song at a time – and that would be harder for me to manage. As we’ve been doing, submit your two opening strikes, and keep a third strike in your back pocket. Remember, there are no ties from this point forward!
I am certain I am not alone in looking forward to tomorrow’s opening second-round matches!
As previously noted, the Red Dragons have quite a challenge ahead of us – first England then U.S.? Gwael! I now realize that I should have reserved “No Matter What” for the next round. Will the Badfinger catalogue deliver again?
The coach of Team Scotland would gladly assist any other teams, ale or not.