World Cup Excitement - Free Download

ATTENTION! If you downloaded the World Cup spreadsheet before June 21, 2014 then you have a copy that has errors.  A fixed version is now available for download here with scores filled out up to June 21 or for a blank version download this one.

I apologize for the calculation error.  Technically, it's not my fault.  I originally built this spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel 2003.  Since the first round is a point system that breaks ties in points by goal difference and ties in goal difference by total goals scored, the formulas to determine the ranking for each group are surprisingly difficult to write.  I wrote formulas with multiple nested formulas within them.  Microsoft reduced the number of formulas for which you can nest within other formulas in Microsoft Excel 2010.  So, the formulas were logically correct but disallowed by the newer version of Excel that I am using.  As a result, the ranking of teams within Group play were not calculated and no teams were pulled over into Round 2.  Thanks, Microsoft, for that "improvement" (eye roll).

UPDATE:  For a free downloadable and printable poster of the brackets, go to my newest post and click on the link for the download.

FIFA World Cup 2014 is coming up and this guy is getting excited.  The weekend before last was the draw and so the official schedule has been filled and is ready to go.

So, without hesitation, I built my Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to keep up with all the games.  It's in the same user-friendly interface as it's been when I originally designed it for World Cup 2006.  I updated it a little bit, but I was afraid to get into the formulas too much because I keep getting a warning about too many arguments being nested within single cells.  Apparently, I was able to do more within a single cell in Microsoft Excel 2003 than in the 2010 version I have now.

Anyway, it works like a charm with no more interaction from the user than entering the final scores of each game.  In Round 1, it does all the math for you on the fly in regards to team points, total goals scored, total goals scored against, and total goal difference.  Basically, every scenario that might possibly be used to determine final ranking in Round 1 to see who makes it into Round 2 and who doesn't.

In Round 2, in the event of a tied game going into penalty shots for a tie breaker, a box pops up to allow the user to enter the penalty shots results.

It's a fun way to follow along with all the games.  Otherwise, with 64 games being played in roughly a month, it's easy to just miss a good portion of the action.

I considered marketing this sheet of mine, selling it online for download for something like a dollar.  But, after some investigation, I found out that FIFA holds exclusive rights for a lot more than I thought.  I would have been infringing on the intellectual property rights of FIFA had I done something like that.  Perhaps, on Microsoft, as well.

So, here it is for free.  Also, it will be available in the 'Downloads' drop-down menu at the top of this blog.  FIFA can't sue me for distributing it this way.   Well, they can, I guess, but they won't win since I am adhering to their legal requirements.

• I'm receiving no monetary benefits in the distribution of this file, nor any other form of compensation.
• I'm not using this distribution as a means to advertise any product or company.
• The file contains no copy-written or otherwise protected images belonging to FIFA or any of its affiliates.
• The file does not contain excessive words or phrases registered as intellectual property of FIFA or any of its affiliates.
• The purpose of distribution of this file is to excite a fan base and increase the number of individuals watching the World Cup in 2014, which is FIFA's own product.

P.S.  FIFA, if you are reading this, don't get mad.  You don't want to sue me.  You want to hire me.

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FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 - Free Download

After church, last Sunday, we went out for lunch to the new downtown Qdoba.  It was great food as usual and being summer with all the college kids away from the area, it's considerably less busy than the other ones in town.

They had ESPN going on a couple televisions and I spotted what appeared to be the opening of a World Cup soccer game between Italy and Mexico.  But, the World Cup isn't for another year.  I should know.  I've been looking forward to it since the last one ended in 2010.  So, what was this?!

It turns out that it's the FIFA Confederations Cup 2013.  What is that?!  How is it that I've never heard of this before?  Granted, I don't have cable, the only television I watch is Netflix, and the only radio I listen to is Christian radio.  But, surely someone would have told me about this, right?

Well, no one did.  Evidently, it's sort of used as a rehearsal for the host nation of the upcoming World Cup to take place the following year.  Thus, this year it is in Brazil preceding FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil.

Those of you who know me well know that, of course, I will be following along.  And, yes, I'll be following along with my Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet that I customized just for this newly discovered tournament.  If you would like to follow along with the spreadsheet, as well, I have conveniently included it in the Downloads section of the drop-down list found at the top of this blog.  Or, since you're here anyway, feel free to just click this link.

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Excel-lent Fun

This past week, I was playing around with the World Cup Spreadsheet that I posted for download on the last blog, and I wound up running across a huge error. As I was popping in numbers in the score section to test it out, I realized that it was taking the wrong teams from the first round and placing them incorrectly into the second round. I tried to follow the string of functions to see if I could correct the issue, but whoever wrote the thing appears to have only learned a few choice functions in Excel and doesn't like to stray from what he knows. I would finally figure out what one function did only to find that it pointed to the results of three other functions that pointed to results of two more. It went on like that about 5 functions deep and I gave up.

I'm no Excel guru. Trust me. I think I know the program really well, but some forums have shown me that I know very little. Guy's are on there talking about pivot tables and background coding and I just have to ignore it from lack of understanding. However, I decided to take a crack at redoing the World Cup sheet because I couldn't help but think that whoever wrote this one was over-complicating the whole thing. I do admit, though, that some of the situations I got into when coding the functions seemed to paint me into a corner, if you will. I was a little stumped a couple times, but it all finally came to me.

This spreadsheet is much better. It's more attractive, in my opinion. It's simpler. And, most importantly, it works right. So, in case you were one of the seven people who downloaded the old one from last week, I suggest that you download this one again, here. I also changed the old link so that people wouldn't get one that doesn't work right. Enjoy!

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World Cup 2010

I'm not a very big spectator sport person. I love sports but my love for them is in playing them not watching others play them for me. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm not saying that. I just don't really care about them.

This puts me into a somewhat unique place among male social circles. See, it's no big secret that men don't talk to each other near as much as women talk to each other. I even heard once that an average woman will speak 4 to 5 times as many words per day than the average man will. I can believe that. Men, don't talk a lot. But, when they do, one of the old trusted subjects is sports. Men will even talk to complete strangers about sports. Salesmen commonly use it to break the ice when meeting new clients. It's almost a universal male tool to get a conversation started, to save one that is losing steam, or to fill an awkward silence.

Unlike a lot of guys, I quietly bow out of the conversation when it turns to sports. Guys will start naming names, throwing stats around, describing plays, etc. I even see the types of guys that probably never played a sport in their life chatting away about batting averages, quarterback blitzes, and personal fouls. Not me. I commonly get caught off guard when I'm not aware of what professional sport is playing currently. The following dialogue is real and has occurred more times than I can count:

Average Joe - "You gonna watch the big game this weekend?"
Me - "No, I'm not really into football."
Average Joe - "I was talking about the fifth game of the World Series."
Me - "Oh."

The two exceptions to my lack of interest in sports is when I either A) know someone personally in the game that I am watching, or B) it's a World Cup year. And 2010, is the year. Beginning June 11th and ending July 11th will be 64 of the most watched games in the world. Each one will have more people watching it than any one of the 44 Super Bowls. It's the largest sporting event on planet Earth. Its fans must wait four years from one to the next, but in June the wait is over. Among the millions watching, I, Lord willing, will be.

A tradition that I began eight years (two World Cups) ago was to keep a record of the outcome of every game played. Eight years ago, I downloaded and printed a bracket and tediously wrote down every game result and tabulated the points and goals for and against. Four years ago, I found a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that all I had to do was plug the scores of the games in. The calculations were done for me. This year I was forced to modify an old 2006 spreadsheet to use for 2010 because I couldn't find any good ones. I found one that worked well enough, but was not very user friendly, even for an Excel geek like myself. Another, looked great, but failed to function properly.

Here is a link to the spreadsheet in case you would like to follow along with me. Let me know if you find any formula mistakes and I'll take a crack at repairing it. Thanks,
Levi

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Not so New, but Improved

I love math. I also like the thinking that it takes in order to program functions in Microsoft Excel. I probably would've been a prime candidate to be a programmer, but no college ever received my application. So, here I am. A guy who may not be in the exact profession in which his ASVAB results suggested he would be best suited for, nevertheless, liking what he does anyway.

I worked on my home-built Mortgage Calculator over the weekend, and completed it's renovation. This came about because I decided that it was a little too difficult-looking. I thought that I would dumb it down a bit. Make it look a little more corporate. Give the user less opportunity to screw it up. So, behold! Mortgage Calculator Version 2.3 is now available for free download. You'll find it above in the "Downloads" drop-down menu.  It's much easier to use and understand and it even comes with an introduction that walks you through it step by step.

I invite anyone to download this and try it out. I could use some feedback. Does it work for you? Could it use something else? When you filled it out with your information, did you get formulas returning the dreaded "#N/A"? Let me know.

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