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BETTING ADVICE - 'Double Chance' is the term used by bookmakers to describe the bet they offer which allows you to bet on a team to win or draw. In effect, the bookmaker is reducing the number of outcomes in a football match to 2 from 3. So Double Chance is exactly that: by striking only one bet you have a double chance of winning.
Basically the Double Chance bet has only two outcomes in any one match. You either back the home team to win or draw, or you back the away team to win or draw. You will win if the team you have backed wins or draws. The price for Double Chance is quite easily worked out by converting the win odds and draw odds into percentages, adding those percentages together and re-converting the percentage back into odds. Take as an example the following game:
Home team 13/8
Draw 9/4
Away team 7/4
Expressed as percentages, those odds are:
Home team 38.1%
Draw 30.8%
Away team 36.4%
So, if you want to bet the Double Chance with the home team your chance of winning will be 38.1 + 30.8 = 68.9%. Expressed as odds, this is approximately odds of 4/9. The Double Chance with the away team would be 30.8 + 36.4 = 67.2%, which expressed in odds is approximately 1/2.
Simple!
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Thursday, December 31, 2009
Betting Corner - Football Double Chance Betting Explained
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Man City's Sheikh Mansour Reportedly Wants To Buy Real Madrid
FOOTBALL - Reports suggesting that the mega-rich owner of Manchester City, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has tried to buy Real Madrid have been vehemently denied by the Spanish club. It has been said that Sheikh Mansour is prepared to pay a massive €1billion for Real Madrid and was due to meet the club president, Florentino Pérez, early in the New Year to discuss the details of any such deal. However Real Madrid have denied all knowledge of such a discussion and say the story is exactly that - a story.
A statement from Real Madrid on the club's website says: "Real Madrid wishes to inform that Real Madrid president Mr Florentino Pérez has had a great friendship for many years with His Highness, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and that the so-called interest and the existence of any offer to acquire Real Madrid are false.
His Highness has always shown tremendous respect for the club and understands that Real Madrid belongs to its members."
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Thursday, December 24, 2009
Ian McGeechan Knighted In New Year Honours
RUGBY UNION - Long-serving Scotland and British Lions coach Ian McGeechan is to be knighted in the New Year's Honours list for his services to rugby. 63-year-old McGeechan is already an OBE having guided Scotland to the Grand Slam in 1990. McGeechan has also been head coach of the British Lions on four occasions.
McGeechan has also been successful at club level as director of rugby at Northampton and Wasps. Prior to his coaching career the newly-knighted McGeechan was a talented rugby player himself, winning 32 caps for Scotland as well as playing on two British Lions tours including the 1974 'Invicibles' who beat the South Africans.
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Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Ricky Ponting Drops In World Batting Rankings
CRICKET - Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting's bad year with the cricket bat has left him falling to his lowest world batting ranking in more than seven years. Ponting's form with the bat during the recent test series against the West Indies was particularly poor, with Ponting scoring only 136 runs in five innings. Consequently Ponting has fallen to number 14 in the latest Reliance Mobile ICC rankings.
The last time Ponting was down in such a lowly position was way back in October 2002, but he ended that year in great form and ended 2002 being ranked number 3 in the world.
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Betting Corner - Corner Betting Explained
BETTING ADVICE - Corner betting is offered by most bookmakers for most football matches. Basically, you are betting on how many corners there will be in the football match. The most common form of corner betting is the 'Total Corners' market which follows the under/over/exactly format. This might be for example under 11 corners/over 11 corners/exactly 11 corners, with betting odds accordingly availble for each option. Other forms of corner betting include:
First/last corner (i.e. which team will take the first or last corner)
First half total corners (i.e. how many corners there will be in the first half)
Corner handicap betting (i.e. which team will win the most corners, after taking into account a plus or minus handicap)
FACTORS TO BEAR IN MIND WHEN CORNER BETTING:
Size of pitch - Games played on small pitches tend to have the most corners. Do your research before you have a bet!
Offensive prowess of the teams playing - It stands to reason that a match with two attacking-minded sides is more likely to be a game with lots of corners than a match with two defensively-minded sides.
Attacking formations - Teams that rely on firing crosses into the penalty area tend to win more corners than teams that rely more on playing the ball down the middle of the pitch.
What is at stake? - Think of the number of 'big' games that have ended up being damp squibs because both teams have been too scared to attack in case the the other side gets the chance to score a breakaway goal. The more that is at stake in a game, the lower the corner count tends to be.
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Julien Dupuy To Appeal Gouging Ban
RUGBY UNION - Julien Dupuy is going to appeal his six-month ban for gouging in a Heineken Cup match between his Stade Francais side and Ulster in December. 26-year-old Dupuy was found guilty of gouging the eyes of flanker Stephen Ferris in a bad-tempered game which Ulster won 23-13. Dupuy is set to appeal his six-month ban despite the fact that the maximum ban available to the authorities was three years.
Dupuy has won six caps for France, but unless his appeal is successful he will not be adding to that number as he is banned June 3 2010, ruling Dupuy out of the Six Nations championship as well as all club games for Stade Francais. As part of his appeal, Dupuy is likely to say that he does not deserve such a long ban because he fully confessed to the offence and made his apologies to the authorities and to Ferris himself.
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Monday, December 21, 2009
BETTING CORNER - Asian Handicaps Explained
BETTING ADVICE - Asian Handicaps are an alternative way of betting on football matches. Explained simply, Asian handicaps eliminate the possibility of a draw so that you can only win or lose your bet. One team is given a part of a goal as a start so that there cannot be a draw for the purposes of the Asian handicap bet.
Asian handicaps can be split into two different types: where the handicap consists of a part 1/2 goal start, or any part of a 1/4 start.
Firstly, the part of a half goal start. Let us take an example from Dec 21 2009, the match between Wigan and Bolton in the English Premier League. On the Asian handicap, Bolton were +0.5. This means that Bolton had been given half a goal start. Therefore, if you backed Bolton on the Asian handicap with £100 at 10/11 you would have won your bet as long as the actual match result was a draw or a Bolton win. Your winnings would have been your stake (100) multiplied by the odds (10/11), giving you a return of £191 (100 stake + 91 winnings). To lose the Asian handicap bet, Wigan had to win by only one goal, and you would have lost your entire stake (£100).
Secondly, there is Asian handicap betting where one team receives a start which consists partly of a quarter goal start. Take the Birmingham vs Chelsea match in the Premier League on Dec 26 2009. Birmingham could be backed at +0.75. In these circumstances, you win only half of what you could have won if your bet wins, or you lose only half your stake if your bet loses. These special rules come into play when the following handicaps are used in the Asian handicap: 0.25, 0.75, 1.25, 1.75 or 2.25, and so on. So in the case of Birmingham vs Chelsea, if you had bet on Birmingham at +0.75 and the match was a draw or Birmingham win you would have won your stake (100) multiplied by the odds (10/11), and this figure (91) would have been divided by two (40.5), meaning your total return would be 140.5 (original stake 100 plus winnings of 40.5). If you had bet on Birmingham but Chelsea had instead won the match, then you would have lost only half your original stake (100/2 = 50).
It is possible to bet an Asian handicap where one team gets a start which is a full number i.e. one goals start, two goals start etc. So if you back a team with a one goal start, and the other team win one - nil, you would get your stake money back as you have 'drawn' the match on the Asian handicap. However, most bookmakers do not off this bet as the whole point of the Asian handicap is to eliminate the possibility of a draw!
Is that clear? Read through the examples again if you are unsure. Trust us when we say it is easy to get the hang of once you have been through it a few times - it is not as complicated as it might first appear.
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Romelo Lukaku Linked With Chelsea, Real Madrid And AC Milan
FOOTBALL - Romelo Lukaku is the next bright young thing in European football, and if reports are to be believed the 16-year-old is being watched closely Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan. Lukaku, who plays for the Belgian side Anderlecht, has previously turned down the opportunity to sign for the Chelsea academy side.
Romelo Lukaku hit the headlines last week when scoring two goals for Anderlecht away against Ajax in the Europa League, helping his side earn a 3-1 win.
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Harry Redknapp Faces Tax Evasion Charges
FOOTBALL - Harry Redknapp is to face legal proceedings over charges of tax evasion. The Tottenham Hotspur manager has been under investigation by HM Revenue and Customs in the UK as part of the inquiry into alleged corruption in football which began in April 2007. The charges against Redknapp relate to his time as Portsmouth manager and Redknapp's alleged non-payment of tax after an offshore payment made to him by the former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric. Redknapp's current club Tottenham have issued a statement saying: "Harry Redknapp is extremely surprised and disappointed to have been informed that HMRC intend to institute proceedings against him in the week commencing January 11, 2010. We believe that the decision to commence proceedings will, in due course, be shown to have been totally misconceived."
Redknapp, whose only major honour as a manager came when his Portsmouth side won the FA Cup in 2007, lives in a mansion in Sandbanks, Dorset - one of the most expensive property hot spots in Britain - which is reported to be worth in the region of £10 million. Portsmouth, Redknapp's club before Tottenham, are currently facing great financial difficulties, as are another former club of Redknapp's, West Ham United.
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Saturday, December 19, 2009
Welsh Rugby Legend Gareth Thomas Announces He Is Gay
RUGBY UNION - Welsh rugby legend Gareth Thomas has announced that he is gay. Rumours have surrounded Thomas and his sexuality for several years, and his announcement that he is gay has put an end to all speculation. Thomas, who is Wales' most capped rugby union international, has said: "I just want to thank everyone for the amazing response I have received, on behalf of me, my family and friends."
Gareth Thomas revealed to the Daily Mail that it was in 2006 that he could not hide his sexuality any longer from his wife. "I was like a ticking bomb. I thought I could suppress it, keep it locked away in some dark corner of myself but I couldn't. It was who I was and I just couldn't ignore it any more. I'd been through every emotion under the sun trying to deal with this. It's been really tough for me hiding who I really am, but I don't want it to be like that for the next young person who wants to play rugby."
35-year-old Thomas has gained 100 caps playing for Wales, and captained Wales to the Grand Slam in 2006.
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Friday, December 18, 2009
Frankie Minoza Misses US PGA Senior Tour
GOLF - The top Filipino golfer Frankie Minoza has failed to graduate to the U.S. PGA's senior tour, and all because he did not supply his birth certificate on time.
50-year-old Minoza said he would instead return to the Japan Tour next year. Minoza has won seven times on the Japan Tour and once on the Asian Tour in 26 years as a professional. Minoza is currently playing in the Philippine Open and, after shooting a second round seven-under 65, he remains on course for a third Philippine Open title.
Minoza's best season came back in 1998 when he was ranked in the top 50 golfers in the world, and his best performance in a major tournament came when he finished joint 52nd in the British Open in 1997. Tiger Woods he 'aint.
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Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Jimmy Russo Resigns As Chairman Of Watford FC And Takes His Money With Him
FOOTBALL - Another English football club faces an uncertain future after Watford chairman Jimmy Russo stepped down from his post with immediate effect. Russo has decided to walk away from cash-strapped Watford along with his brother Vince and fellow director Robin Williams. Not only that, Russo is withdrawing a £1 million loan he made to the Watford football club two weeks ago, having already ploughed around £4 million into the club in order to stave off the threat of administration.
Internal politics at Watford have played a big part in the move, with Russo saying: "I was concerned about some of the treatment we were receiving, so I felt it was in the best interest of the club to resign. This evening we knew we were going to be voted off as the other two big shareholders were prepared to move me out. The reality is that the position we took was the right one."
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Australian Rugby Star Kurtley Beale Charged With Assault
RUGBY UNION - Australian rugby union international Kurtley Beale has been charged by Australian police with assault after an incident at a family birthday party earlier this year and will appear in a Sydney court next month. Beale, a fly-half aged 20, is regared as being among the brightest talents in Australian rugby and made his test appearance for the Wallabies against Wales in late 2009.
Beale is the second Australian international to be charged with a criminal offence this month. His teammate the New Zealand-born 21-year-old Quade Cooper faced a Queensland court last week charged with burglary, where he was reportedly "bewildered and nervous as he entered court". Bless.
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Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Capello Tells Owen Hargreaves He Is Still Figures In England World Cup Plans
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FOOTBALL - Owen Hargreaves has had his hopes raised for making the England World Cup squad after England manager Fabio Capello revealed that the Manchester United midfielder Hargreaves is still potentially part of his World Cup plans. However, Capello has warned Hargreaves that he needs to prove his fitness if he is to get on the plane for South Africa. "He has six months to recover his good form, but he needs to play," Capello said. "I will choose players that will be fit in May, the players that play all the games.”
The news will come as a boost to Hargreaves who has been out of action for the past 14 months, needing two knee operations along the way. However, should Hargreaves prove his fitness his availability for the World Cup in South Africa would provide a massive boost for Capello. Hargreaves was outstanding for Manchester United when they won the Champions League and Premier League in 2008, and Hargreaves was arguably England's player of the tournament at the last World Cup in 2006 in Germany.
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Virgin Racing Announce Di Grassi And Glock As New Drivers In 2010
MOTOR RACING - Sir Richard Branson has followed hot on the footsteps of the new Lotus team by announcing his two drivers for the 2010 Formula One World Championship. Branson announced that the new drivers for Virgin Racing in 2010 will be Lucas di Grassi and Timo Glock. Virgin Racing are the renamed Manor GP Formula One racing team, and Branson confirmed that Virgin Racing will operate on the smallest budget of any of the new Formula One teams in 2010, the budget being under £40 million. Branson said: "Our first year in F1 [with Brawn GP] was tremendous for the Virgin brand, so why not go in again with a new team from scratch? If you look at the history of Virgin we've loved supporting technical breakthroughs, great engineers, and there's something like 120 engineers working away on this project."
Branson must have caught the motor racing bug after his successful attachment to the Brawn Racing team who won the drivers' championship and constructors championship in 2009 in their first year of existence. Branson's Virgin Racing really will be going in fully exposed, with Virgin Racing being lowest-budget team in Formula One. It will run under the £40 million per year that was being set as a cap by Formula One's ruling authorities. "Money's not everything," said Branson. "Virgin Racing are determined to prove that via engineering prowess, great drivers and a great affinity with the public they can do well."
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Monday, December 14, 2009
Jarno Trulli And Heikki Kovalainen Join Team Lotus
MOTOR RACING - The new Lotus drivers for 2010 have been announced. Lotus, new to the Formula One World Championship in 2010, have announced Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen as their new drivers. The pair have won one grand prix each, with Italy's Trulli taking first place in the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix and Finland's Kovalainen winning the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix. Team principal Tony Fernandes said: "It was not a straight-forward decision because we spoke with other drivers who I rate very highly, but ultimately we have opted for a careful mix of experience, youth and ambition."
There had been rumours of Jacques Villeneuves coming out of retirement to take one of the drivers' positions, but clearly Lotus have decided that current driving experience is what is required. One of the new Lotus drivers, Kovalainen, seems very excited about driving for Lotus in 2010. "The team has ambitious plans for the future and everyone will see Lotus F1 Racing in Bahrain GP as a professional, competitive yet very humble group of intelligent individuals," he said.
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Kieren Fallon Claims That Racing Has Major Drug Problem
HORSE RACING - Kieren Fallon, widely regarded as the greatest jockey of his generation, has claimed there is an extensive drug problem within horse racing, paticularly at the home of British racing at Newmarket. Fallon has overcome his own problems with drugs and recemtly returned to race riding after seeing out an 18-month ban for a second failed drug test. In an interview with the BBC programme Inside Sport, Fallon says: "Newmarket has the highest rate [of drug use] for its population in any town in England. I don't know what can be done. I've done something and I'm all right."
Fallon is a six-times champion jockey who has battled personal demons over the years and been inolved in numerous controversies, ranging from hitting fellow jockey Stuart Webster to his recent drugs ban. Fallon's comments about drug abuse in Newmarket might sound like they belong in a Dick Francis novel, but Fallon is not the first to make such claims. For example, the suicides in 2005 of three stable staff in Newmarket were linked to alcohol and drug abuse andled to the establishment of the Newmarket Racing Partnership, funded in the main by the Racing Welfare charity.
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Sunday, December 13, 2009
Adam Booth Claims He Has Plan For David Haye To Beat Vitali Klitschko
BOXING - David Haye's trainer Adam Booth says he has identified how Haye can beat the WBC world heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after watching Klitschko's workmanlike performance in beating Kevin Johnson on points on Saturday night in Switzerland. Booth's charge Haye, who holds the WBA world title, has long been gunning for Vitali Klitschko and Booth believes he has a plan to make that happen. After watching Klitschko beat Johnson, Booth said: "It was a typical Vitali performance. He does the same thing over and over again and everybody that he fights is unable to pose a question of his style. "He does the same thing every second of every round of every fight and it amazes me that these so-called elite heavyweights cannot figure out that there is a simple answer to that style to be able to land your punches."
Any fight between Vitali Klitschko and David Haye will depend on how Haye first fares against John Ruiz early in 2010 at an as yet undecided location in the UK. Provided Haye comes through his first defence of the WBA title unscathed, then a mega-fight with Vitali Klitschko should then be on the cards, provided of course boxing politics does not rear its ugly head.
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Arsenal To Take Legal Action Against Dutch Over Robin Van Persie
FOOTBALL - Arsenal are to take the potentially explosive decision to take legal action against a national football federation after an injury suffered by one of their players while on international duty. Arsenal's Robin van Persie was injured while playing for the Dutch national side in a friendly against Italy in November, van Persie damaging ankle ligaments and expecting to be out for most of the remainder of the season, so Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has instructed the club's lawyers to bring legal action against the Dutch football federation the KNVB. Wenger has said: "I expect financial compensation for the damage it can make to the championship and the salary involved. It is especially frustrating to lose your players for the rest of the season in a friendly game. The question has to be raised."
Wenger continued: "I am not against the national teams. But at the moment we sit here and they can do what they want. The players are paid by their clubs and get injured playing for another team. I am happy if England wins, but if we lose because England wins nobody cares about me. There is something completely wrong with the system. I want the power to be rebalanced more in favour of the clubs."
Prior to damaging his ankle ligaments while playing for Holland versus Italy, Van Persie has been injury prone during his time with Arsenal. At the time of writing Van Persie has made only 126 appearances for the Gunners since making his debut in 2004, scoring 46 goals.
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
Cristiano Ronaldo Trickery Video - Real Madrid vs Marseille
FOOTBALL - Cristiano Ronaldo is a bit of an idiot. That is something we would say pretty much all football fans would agree on. However, he is without doubt an absolutely magnificent football player. Check out this video of Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Real Madrid versus Marseille in the Champions League where he shows off his full repertoire of tricks, flicks and deadly eye for goal.
It surely cannot be long before Cristiano Ronaldo is spoken of in the same breath as Diego Maradona. And Maradona is a pillock too!
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Friday, December 11, 2009
LeBron James Shoots A Hoop With An American Football
BASKETBALL - It is hard enough shooting a hoop from the opposite end of a basketball court with a basketball, never mind with an American Football, but that is not a problem for LeBron James. Check out this video of LeBron James throwing an American football the length of the court and straight through the hoop:
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Russian Shareholder Alisher Usmanov Increases Further His Stake In Arsenal
FOOTBALL - Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has increased his shareholding in Arsenal Football Club after his company Red & White Holdings increased their stake in Arsenal to 26.07%. Usmanov's share increase follows that of Stan Kroenke who last month increased his shareholding to 29.9%, which is just below the takeover threshold. Under the financial rules of the City, if anyone crosses the 29.99% takeover threshold, they are obliged to make a formal offer for the remainder of the shares at the highest price paid for stock during the past 12 months.
The battle for control of Arsenal between Usmanov and Kroenke has been a protracted affair, and both parties are sure to be trying to find favour with another influential Arsenal shareholder, former board member Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith, whose family hold a 15.9% shareholding in the North London football club.
Earlier this year the Arsenal board turned down Usmanov's proposals for a rights issue to generate new cash. Usmanov had argued the scheme would help to reduce the long-term debt of some £400m, which is mainly associated with the new stadium, and also create extra transfer funds for new players. Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood, said of the proposals: "This is not something that Arsenal has ever done previously in its history and it would be at odds with our ethos of running the club as a business which is self-sustaining and pays its own way in the world."
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Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Premier League Preview For 12th December - In Assocciation With Sporting Index
FOOTBALL - Arsene Wenger's Arsenal recovered well from two consecutive 3-0 defeats to beat Stoke City at the weekend, while Liverpool, the Gunners' opponents on Sunday, limped to a goalless draw with Blackburn. Spread buyers and sellers of Liverpool's win index will remember Arsenal's league cup win in October, but supremacy spread bettors should note that this fixture has ended level on each of the four last league meetings. In fact, as spread buyers of Liverpool's supremacy may have already noticed, only two of the last seven Arsenal/Liverpool clashes in all competitions have produced a victor. Sellers of the total match goals spread might also like to know that four of the five draws finished one apiece.
The exception, as many followers of the Premier League will remember, was last April's incredible 4-4 draw at Anfield. Spread buyers of goal minutes in that match will hold the finest memories though, as seven of the eight goals were scored in the second half for a truly staggering 530 goal minutes spread make-up. Buyers of Andrei Arshavin's goal minutes spread alone celebrated his total of 263 minutes as the Russian forward scored all four of Arsenal's goals. While they won't necessarily expect a repeat, Sporting Index's football traders will certainly be more wary of another goal glut owing to the increased number of goals this season. However, we can see that Liverpool have scored 21 goals at Anfield compared to Arsenal's 16 away (from one game less) and spread punters wishing to sell total goals can therefore work out Liverpool's average of 1.4 goals a game at Anfield, and Arsenal's 1.1 goal average away from home this season.
The other big game most likely to attract Sporting Index's neutral punters is Saturday's evening kick-off which sees Aston Villa travel to Manchester United's Old Trafford. This fixture has seen a number of goals in the last few seasons, with United winning 3-2, 4-0 and 3-1 on the last three occasions that they have hosted Villa. Buyers of United's win index spread will be encouraged that you have to go back to 2002 for the last time Villa earned a point here but buyers of Villa's win index spread will be even more dismayed that the West Midlands-based club has not won here since 1983. Those spread punters - and Martin O?Neill - would dearly love to see 26 years of history upended this weekend.
Both teams have been fairly well behaved this season, with United averaging just 15.4 points at home on Sporting Index's bookings index spread (10pts for a yellow card, 25pts for a red) while Villa have averaged just over two bookings. Sellers of the index spread on Saturday will be more impressed by the bookings history when these teams have taken to field together most recently. In the last four, no more than three bookings have been awarded in any match and the average spread make-up over the last 10 games is just 21 points.
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David Haye Abuses The Klitschkos And... Switzerland
BOXING - David Haye has stepped up his campaign to get the Klitschko brothers into the boxing ring (though not at the same time, we hasten to add). Haye is seemingly not bothered which one he fights first as he firmly believes he will give both Vitali and Wladimir a good hiding. Haye said: "I want to knock out both Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, and I don't care what order they fall in. Vitali is nearly 40 years of age now and the clock is ticking if he wants to form any sort of legacy."
Haye has also been equally dismissive of Switzerland, the location of Vitali Klitschko's fight against the unheralded American Kevin Johnson on Saturday, while also making the point that nobody is capable of generating more money in the heavyweight boxing division right now than Haye himself is. "The Klitschko's may be big in Switzerland, but so are yodellers, and nobody wants to watch them fight. The fact that a title fight between a Ukrainian and an American is being held in Switzerland tells you all you need to know about the appeal of this fight. Heavyweight title fights should be huge events, not an after-thought in a country most famous for producing Toblerone."
Well done David Haye for associating Switzerland with yodellers and Toblerone. But you forgot to mention cuckoo clocks. Surely cuckoo clocks would have been the top answer on Family Fortunes.
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Tiger Woods Partly To Blame For Corruption In Usa Say FBI
GOLF - Just when Tiger Woods thought he had enough on his plate the FBI have had a go at him. Special agent John Gillies, who has led major anti-corruption drives during his long and distinguished career with the FBI, was speaking principally about financiers and unscrupulous officials when he made a speech to a chamber of commerce meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, in which Gillies said that corruption in the USA was increasing and tearing at the fabric of society. But he went on to say that major sporting stars such as Tiger Woods were partly to blame for corruption in the USA, because when sporting heroes indulge in bad behaviour they are letting down children who see them as role models. As Gillies put it of Woods's 'car crash': "Money can't buy everything."
Woods might be a philanderer and wife-cheater, but to hold him partly to blame for an increase in corruption in the USA over the past five years seems a tad harsh!
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Thursday, December 3, 2009
BETTING CORNER - King George VI Chase Preview
HORSE RACING - Forget the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day has thrown up more season-best, champion chaser performances in recent year than jumps racing's Blue Riband event in March. The current King of Kempton is Kauto Star, a chaser who has stamped his authority on the staying division in recent times by winning the King George for the past three seasons in imperious fashion. Kauto Star is favourite for the King George again this year, and barring accidents we fully expect him to win once more. However, you would be mad to back a horse ante-post at odds on, no matter how good the horse might be (Kauto Star is currently available to back at a best-priced 4/5). Anything can happen between now and Boxing Day in any case, and anyway, there is each-way value to be had in a race that is likely to cut up and have a single-figure number of runners.
Second in the betting is Imperial Commander at a best-priced 6/1. On the face of it, Imperial Commander is a huge price set against Kauto Star, bearing in mind Kauto Star beat Imperial Commander last time only by the narrowest width of a nostril in the Betfair Chase at Haydock. But we believe there are several strong reasons why Imperial Commander's ante-post price for the King George is poor value.
Firstly, that run at Haydock needs to be taken in context. Kauto Star has traditionally always come on for his first run of the year, so if that proves to be the case again Imperial Commander will struggle to get near Kauto Star again this season if Kauto Star runs to his best form
Secondly, Imperial Commander is the type of horse who needs plenty of time to get going, and as such is suited by a galloping track. The galloping Haydock racecourse with its long straight suited him well, and he is a winner at Cheltenham too, but we are not sure the tight turns of Kempton Park will suit him all that well. Indeed, Imperial Commander ran a stinker in the King George last year.
And finally, Imperial Commander may still be rerouted to the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown over the Christmas period according to his trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies, who has said: "If that race looked like a walkover without Denman, then it would be silly not to give it serious consideration."
All in all, it is best to give Imperial Commander a wide berth. Instead we are placing our faith in Madison du Berlais. We tipped Madison du Berlais for the Betfair Chase at Haydock, and while he was beaten in that event we still think he will pick up a big race this season and as such he looks a massive price each-way at odds of 10/1, especially if Imperial Commander does run in the Lexus Chase. On his day Madison du Berlais is one of the best chasers around. He beat Denman over the King George course and distance last season, for example, as well as winning the Totesport Bowl at Aintree. In a race where many have little or no chance of lowering Kauto Star's colours, Madison du Berlais really does look like the only one on form who can get anywhere near him.
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Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thierry Henry Faces World Cup Ban
FOOTBALL - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has said that France's Thierry Henry could face a ban from the start of the World Cup in South Africa for Henry's now infamous handball that led to Ireland being knocked out of the World Cup qualifiers. Blatter has told the press that Henry's handball will be referred to the FIFA disciplinary committee who will decide whether or not Henry deserves a ban. "It was blatant unfair playing and was shown around the world, but I do not know what the outcome will be".
This unusual turn of events has come about after, among other things, a delegation from the FAI visited Blatter this week to plead the case for the France vs Ireland match to at the very least be replayed in order to give Ireland a second chance of qualifying. The FAI had also asked for Ireland to be given a 33rd place in the World Cup in South Africa, a request that was turned down flat by Blatter.
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Jacques Villeneuve To Return To Formula One With New Team Lotus
MOTOR RACING - Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve is set to return to the sport in 2010 as a driver with the new Lotus team. Villeneuve is currently undertaking a fitness regime in order to get fit for the job with Lotus, a regime Villeneuve has described as "really, really brutal".
Villeneuve, who won the Formula One Drivers' Championships way back in 1997 when he drove for the Williams team, would be a risky choice of driver for the new Lotus team bearing in mind the Canadian driver is no spring chicken at the age of 38. Villeneuve has not raced in Formula One since 2006 either. However, Villeneuve is certainly a 'name' driver and he would raise the profile of Lotus, at least in the short term.
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Sheikh Mohammed's British Horse Racing Spending Under The Microscope
HORSE RACING - The financial crisis in Dubai has brought the massive investment Sheikh Mohammed makes into British racing under the spotlight. Sheikh Mohammed has been a firm supporter of British horse racing over the past thirty years, owning many top horses along the way, but he has also funded many jobs too. It is estimated that Sheikh Mohammed's spending on British horse racing in 2009 has been somewhere in the region of £100 million, and that is what can be accounted for from information in the public domain and does not take into account private horse purchases where no sale price has been disclosed. And that is in Britain alone. Sheikh Mohammed has also made large investments in horse racing around the world, running racing stables in the USA and Australia, not to mention the investment he has made in the new Meydan City racecourse in Dubai which is due to open in January 2010 and has cost a reputed £1.25 billion to build.
As far as British racing is concerned, the money that Sheikh Mohammed has invested trickles its way right down through racing, helping provide livelihoods not only to the breeders of horses at the top of racing's financial tree but also the stable lads and lasses at the bottom, those people who look after Sheikh Mohammed's horses in the yards of his trainers. Should this money dry up, many thousands of people are going to feel the knock-on effects.
Will it all end in tears for British horse racing? We hope not. After all, horse racing in Britain has been a thriving industry in one form or another for the past three hundred years and has seen many wealthy owner-breeders come and go. But horse racing has never seen a spender like Sheikh Mohammed. If Sheikh Mohammed reins in his spending in on sport the consequences for British horse racing could be disastrous.
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Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Premier League Reveal £70 Million Made In Payments To Agents
FOOTBALL - For the first time ever Premier League clubs have revealed how much they have paid to agents for their involvement in player transfers. For the year October 1 2008 to September 30 2009, Premier League clubs have paid over £70 million to agents. Unsurprisingly, the club topping the table of players' agents fees is free-spending Manchester City. City, who were taken over by a mega-rich Abu Dhabi consortium led by Sheikh Mansour in 2008, paid £12,874,283 to agents over the period under review, which is approximately a fifth of the entire Premier League total. City's signings during that period included signings included Carlos Tévez (bought for around £47 million), Emmanuel Adebayor (£25 million) and Joleon Lescott (£22 million).
The Premier League are a little behind the times on this. The Football League have been publishing agents’ fees for the past five years, during which time the level of fees paid to agents has declined considerably.
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Michael Johnson Says Usain Bolt Should Run 400 metres
ATHLETICS - Track legend Michael Johnson has said that current world sprint king Usain Bolt should take up the 400 metres. Johnson was speaking ahead of a charity event he is attending that is being hosted by Usain Bolt in Jamaica. Johnson said: "There is no-one that can beat him [over sprint distances], so where does his motivation come from? He will have to find a new challenge and I think the 400m will be a new challeneg for him in a couple of years."
Usain Bolt may well take up Michael Johnson's suggestion and run the 400 meters in the future, but in the short term he has his charity event to be concerned with. The charity event being hosted by Bolt, the '9.58 Superparty', is in part helping to raise funds to support projects in Bolt's local community in Sherwood, Jamaica. In particular, Bolt is trying to raise money to buy the rented land that the Sherwood medical centre is built upon in order to safeguard the medical centre's future.
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