Thank you to all those who supported me throughout this long and difficult journey. The album is now complete.
Tag Archives: brazil2014
World Cup photos
Final thoughts on Polla Brasileira 2014
The World Cup ended, leaving us all with that familiar giant void in our hearts that comes back every four years. Oh, and there was the Polla.
Here are some notes on it:
- Record participation: 156
- Some people complained that the entry fee was high, even more people complained that it was too low. Unsure what it will be next time if there is one.
- I added the ability to create your own polla groups, but they weren’t used very much. I think the idea is good but the implementation was too barebones. Food for thought.
- A surprisingly large number of people complained or were even scandalized about the use of the term “polla” which is slang for penis in some Spanish-speaking countries. I used the name originally in 2006 as suggested by Jaramillo and kept it since. Interestingly, as people wanted to join, we discovered Wells Fargo disallows transactions with the word “polla” in the description.
- Users came from all over the world but mostly from the United States. Is this a tipping point in the popularity of soccer in the US? I doubt it.
- Over 60% of all visitors were using an Apple doohickey. Less than half of those were trapped in Windows hell. And only 6% decided to visit from giant Android phones.
I know whose Windows Phone those 77 hits came from. - The Polla system had some massive internal restructuring and it all went surprisingly smooth considering. I am already thinking of improvements for the next round, whenever that is, but it’s not a sure thing.
- I made heavy use of Facebook and replaced the internal blog and comment system. It helped spread the word but made the Polla more… sterile. Also, less things to code.
- Here’s a photo of the very last place. He won restitution. He’s a good looking guy with enough money to buy you dinner at Burger King. Sadly for all of you out there, he’s married:
Those of you who helped out with the website and the running (Eva, Jose Antonio, Moi): Thank you for the help. Those of you who played: Thank you for playing; do you have any suggestion or feedback? Please use the comments.
Brazil 2014 videos
Here are some short videoclips from our trip to the World Cup. The Big Bad Huge Photo Dump will come soon.
First, a quick clip of the cheers outside Estadio Castelao right before Mexico vs Brazil. I’ve seen this many times: the rival (Brazilians) cheer for their country, and we (Mexicans) cheer against the rivals. Nobody cheers for Mexico. Hey, at least we weren’t calling anyone “puto”… not yet, anyway.
This is our view before Mexico vs Brazil before it filled up. Yes, we were sitting far. Yes, we paid more money in scalped tickets than I’m willing to admit in order to get in there. But this was it: Mexico vs Brazil in a World Cup in Brazil. Cannot miss it. Odd thing: in the background you can hear a Brazilian cover of Soda Stereo’s hit “De Música Ligera”. Yes, they have covers in Portuguese for every conceivable famous song over there. I heard a bunch from the Doors. Go figure.
Remember the dune buggy in Natal? It may not look it, but going 80 km/hr in the back of a sand buggy completely unstrapped is terrifying. Here’s a little video, and also a video of a random zip line in the middle of the dunes.
More from the games: In the Mexico vs Croatia match we had an overwhelming majority. I recorded the Mexican National Anthem. I usually don’t do that, because I learned in school to stand very straight and sing very seriously, and I really do. This was an exception and I hope it was worth it.
Last one: In Greece vs Ivory Coast I was able to record a decent clip of the Mexican Wave. In every match you go to, someone in the crowd tries to start a wave. It takes a really boring match to get it going good… this was it.
World Cup Autograph
I forgot to post about the autograph I was able to get from Uruguay’s star forward Luis Suárez while in Brazil. Isn’t it cool?
Note to self: get tested for rabies.
Greece vs Ivory Coast. Obrigado Brasil
We reached the end of our short World Cup adventure. Mexico is playing Holland on Sunday after a great first round. It’s a tough match but doable. Unfortunately we can’t stay and must go back to watching games on TV like all of you sad suckers.
We came back to Fortaleza for one last game: Greece vs Ivory Coast.
Brazil was great. I will try and post some final thoughts and cleaned up photos and videos in the next few days.
Next stop: Russia. In four years at least. If my wife lets me. But she will because she’s THAT cool.
México 3-1 Croatia
Madness in Recife. The crowd was over 90% Mexican. The atmosphere before, during, and especially after the match was unbelievable.
Porto de Galinhas
New people keeps joining our group. Today Fernando and Grazi took us to Porto de Galinhas for a little bit of suffering.
Afterwards we made it in the nick of time to see the oldest synagogue of the Americas (closed yesterday and tomorrow).
Recife / Olinda
Full day of activity. First we went to pick up tickets, then to the FIFA Fan Zone, old Recife (where the oldest synagogue in South America is), lunch at a nice seafood restaurant across the bay, more FIFA Fan Fest, and finally the town of Olinda. I didn’t catch a photo of the amazing tapioca crepe things with the iPhone so those photos will need to wait until we get back and I can download then from the grown up camera.
Recife arrival
We had to leave Natal at 6 AM in order to arrive in Recife on time for the match (Costa Rica vs Italy).
We met out hosts Grazi and Fernando, and fellow World Cup travelers Arturito and Nathan.
Recife is huge, the bus to/from the airport was great. And even though I wore an Italy jersey, I’m happy Costa Rica won (note: Ticos always want Mexico to lose).
Some photos:
