UPDATES:
Jamaica-New Zealand draw; Scotland edges France.
Ireland edges out Norway; Wales wins by forfeit.
Scotland submits its strikes for key match vs France.
England edges Germany.
USA recovers from upset at the hands of Australia to win top spot in Group A.
Canada stays in the hunt with win over Sweden.
Norway awaits Ireland.
The Netherlands exits tournament with victory over Australia.
Brazil and USA get match underway!

A final set of games is scheduled for Round 1 play. Following these games the top two teams in each flight will move forward in the tournament. A number of teams are within range of securing one of those precious spots. A few teams will be playing for little more than national pride and the future dreams of their national rock ‘n roll programs.

Matches to watch:

• USA v Brazil will determine who moves along in Group A with Australia to the next round of play.
• Another forfeit by Nigeria v Wales almost ensures that Wales will progress (Germany faces England and, should Wales win by forfeit and increase their rock differential by 2 more points, would not only need to win but would need to blow out the English squad).
• A New Zealand win over Jamaica will not ensure the Kiwis of moving forward thanks to the squad’s lack of positive rock differential. Ireland, which is also at 0, plays the hapless Norwegian club.
• In Group D, a win by France over Scotland ensures their moving forward with Sweden. Meanwhile, the underachieving Canadian club needs a resounding victory over the Swedes coupled with a loss by France to have a chance to land the second spot.

Following are the standings to date and the remaining schedule for the opening round of play. Teams scheduled to play their third game can submit their opening two strikes, either in the Comments section or, if you want to play your hand close to the vest, to the Commissioner, that is, me: mrmoderator [at] rocktownhall [dot] com.

Play on!
Continue reading »

UPDATES:
Nigeria forfeits match vs Germany.
Canada-Scotland play to draw.
Germany lays its opening strikes on the pitch, awaits Nigeria.
Sweden wins; Scotland-Canada match to be determined shortly.
New Zealand, Australia, and Jamaica win opening matches; APB put out on Team Canada.
USA decimates the Netherlands!
England defeats Wales.

Just about all 16 teams competing in the innaugural Rock Town Hall World Cup of Rock ‘n Roll have their coaching staffs in place and tryouts for roster spots in place. Before play begins each competing nation will submit up to three artists, past or present, from which to pull songs for competition. Each team may select one possible substitute artists, which will be announced along with the roster and, if played, must replace the artist substituted for the rest of the tournament.

The rules for play are surprisingly simple, but will be challenging over time:

• Each team will play one match against every team in its group; the top 2 point scorers (Win=3, Tie=1, Loss=0) at the end of Round 1 play will progress.
• On the day of play, coaches for competing teams will submit 2 songs from among the collective catalogs of their starting artists.
• Coaches and Townspeople will discuss the merits of each team’s selections.
• A winner will be calculated through a combined tally of stated opinions, anonymous poll votes, and the judge’s (ie, our) discretion. In most cases, the RTH poll will only be used as a potential tie-breaker.
• If there is a deadlock following the submission and discussion over the competing nations’ first 2 songs, each team will submit a third song, a selection which may come from the substitute artist’s catalog. Remember, though, once a substitute artist is used that artist must complete the tournament.

Not too complicated, is it? I’m sure we’ve overlooked some important rule, but it’s not like we’ve never been able to adjust on the fly before.

The schedule for Round 1 of play follows the jump!
Continue reading »

Fela, captain of the Nigerian team, wants in!

To celebrate the kick-off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, can we select a bracket of the 16 most-rocking nations, including artists to represent each nation? Although this is the World Cup of Rock ‘n Roll, let’s be open-minded and allow “world” musicians into the mix. The roster of each nation can be represented by as many as THREE artists, to avoid having to choose between the Beatles and the Stones, for instance, after first selecting Led Zeppelin and Lily Allen to represent the mighty entry from England.

Feel free to begin by suggesting nations, with or without the two representative artists. You may suggest as many as 16 finalists or as few as 1 at a time.

Once the brackets are set – and only then – will the matches play out!