World Cup Death Watch

I love soccer. I hate death.

So what to do when World Cup rolls around and the two get entwined in a month-long headlock?

Answer: The World Cup Death Watch.

Here's how it works: Guess how many people will perish worldwide in World Cup-related violence between June 9th and July 9th. Get your guess in by 11:59pm on June 19th, EST. Whoever comes closest wins a WFMU Messenger bag filled with CDs, T-shirts and other sundry WFMU crapola. Bear in mind, we're not talking just about deaths in Germany! We're counting arson in Australia, deadly bar brawls in Brazil, homicidal hooliganism in Helsinki, just as long as the World Cup is implicated in a news report of said incident. More rules below, but first a wrap-up of World Cup weirdness to get you started:

Sex slaves being smuggled in to Germany to populate giant World Cup Brothel in Berlin.

Brits seize passports from 3,500 known soccer hooligans to prevent them from going to Germany.

Incessant flag-waving likely to be deadly.

Domestic violence sites worldwide gear up for increase in World Cup related battered women crimes.

Germans say: It will all be the fault of Polish hooligans!

German police will hum loudly when British hooligans sing their silly songs.

Nine million extra pints of beer to be consumed in UK during Wolrd Cup: no relation to forthcoming "summer of violence."

British World Cup video at youtube, via Moritz from Sound Scavengers

And dont forget this amazing Russian soccer brawl video.

Now get your guesses in. You can follow the official count with this link here. Follow the jump for the fine print.

World Cup Death Watch Rules:

• Only one guess per IP number.
• No pre- or post- World Cup deaths count. Death must occur between 12:01am on June 9th and 11:59pm on July 9th, Berlin time.
• In case of a tie, the earlier guess wins, and in case of an over-under tie, the lower guess wins.
• If you really want to win, leave a valid e-mail address. If your e-mail address is invalid, I'll go to the next closest guess. Feel free to put a fake address in the required field and then spell out your real e-mail address in the body of the comment if you're concerned about spam-bots.
• Deaths must be violence or mayhem related, eg: plane crashes don't count unless marauding hooligans have stormed the cabin, causing the plane to crash.
• Work the word "hooligan" and its many variations into your guess for extra credit.
• More rules to be devised as the need arises.

Comments

[goyim in the am]

7 deaths worldwide will be reported as "World Cup-related"; the actual number will remain utterly unknowable.

[tim turner]

genuine UK hooligan here mate. not just football hooligan, us limeys are hooligan about about pretty much anything - ESPECIALLY tea.

my hooligan guess - ZERO. 0. Nil.

[craigiestar]

let's guess at 66 - it was a good world cup year after all... and i'm all for coincidence related hooligan death stats.

Strangely, no hooligans seemed to be around back then, so it's fair to blame the parents...

hooligingergeezer,

craigie*

[Matthew]

i'm guessing 73. woulda guessed higher but so many hooligans are so sweet and tender these days.

[julian]

14. Obviously.

[Dan]

Hooligan number 9, Hooligan number 9, Hooligan number 9...

[Steven Wilson]

I'll shoot low and guess 11.

[dullandboring]

i agree with krebstar that the events will be well controlled by fifa and german authorities. but that ain't where the hooligans bring it. they bring it in the parking lots. they bring it in the beverage dispensing districts. i think the number will be 18. i would go a step further. after all is said and done, I will bet that more morbidity in the form of suicide occurs after teams lose than in of the form of homicide. not that you were asking. I'm just sayin....

[AnthonyBot]

I think the FMU internet community is woefully misunderestimating the violent capacity of hooliganism. id wager some 200 hooligan deaths.

[Steve PMX]

Lucky 13, bitches.

[john mark]

worldwide hooliganism = 300 deaths even. one stampede and half of you are out of the running...

[Eric B.]

I agree with Anthony that you hooligans are underestimating the true depth of hooligan rage in this hooligan sport. I predict 254 hooligans dying 254 hooligan deaths by the time the hooliganism ends.

Word to yer hooligan mutha!

[J W Buchanan]

19 Hooligans free-kick the bucket

[James]

176 deaths due to barely-domesticated primate hooliganism.

[Kevin]

15 hooligans trampled in the stands

[Chris P.]

Theres a whole world of hooligans, so the death count will be 119. Not a doubt in my mind.

[listener_paul]

42 Hooligans dead. The deaths will all be caused by other hooligans. No innocent hooligans will perish, though there will be many injuries. Hooligans will not be stopped by tear gas. Only Chuck Norris will stop the Hooligans.

[BrianTurner]

May this be the anthem of the World Kup Killings (released just in time):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zAP5WyZjD2Q&search=crazy%20frog%20we%20are%20the%20champions

[kathryn]

142 hooligans of every nation will kick the proverbial bucket.

[Kim]

I think we plan to see 87 deaths due to the World Cup.

[listener erin]

56

[Paul T]

My Guess for the "WCDW" is there'll be 72 RagaMuffin Related deaths.
Regards pturkk at gmaildotkom

[Hmm..]

My suspicion is that there will be 16 poor hooligans who kick it. I think we are being insensitive to the poor hooligans.

bugaspard at yahoo dot com

[Gere B.]

I believe 21 hooligans will enter hooligan heaven, the eternal hooligan hell.

[josh]

i reckon 99 people are daft enough to die for football