The San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their final practice of the offseason workout program on Wednesday, which means there will be no practices until the starting of training camp in late July. The players and coaches are all going their separate ways, and so we are officially into the dead period. Training camp starts roughly six weeks from today, which means plenty of down time.
Thankfully, at least for some, the next month will be occupied by watching the World Cup. The quadrennial event kicks off today in Russia, with Russia and Saudi Arabia getting going at 8 a.m. PT. The United States is not taking part, which takes some of the fun out of it, but it is still a fun event for many.
I thought I’d open up this thread for the World Cup. If you’re looking for a country to root for, SB Nation put together a “Who to root for” guide that involves answering nine questions related to food. I got Colombia, although it’s safe to say a certain country will make it pretty obvious what choice you made on question No. 9.
I don’t know if I’ve watched even a minute of soccer since the last World Cup. I might have caught some of the American men’s team before they were eliminated, but I’m not even sure of that. Of course, that didn’t stop me from starting up a pool (OK, three of them). We have eight people, each picking four teams in a snake draft, and we accrue points based on how each team performs. My selections were based almost entirely on betting odds, so I’ve got some countries to cheer on over the next month!