Macca

Yep ... summed it up perfectly Wadda. Over about a period of 8-9 years I have had 5 x 4 figure collects but each win has it's own story ... with one of them I had to lay-off to the tune of a decent amount of dosh but it insured a healthy collect. I couldn't lose once I had layed-off. With another I just needed a Colts win at home in the NFL as a final leg in a multi against lousy opposition with Andrew Luck fit and firing for Indianapolis. I was very confident of victory so I didn't feel the need to lay-off. It was a calculated risk but it paid off. Of late, the NFL has been really hard to figure out in terms of standout picks at the line - that's the last 2 or 3 years at least. Might be different this year.

Don't even give it a moment's thought DZ ... we all know how things can go in a 2-horse race (no pun intended) Small outlay = no great loss.

Long time ago now Wadda from when that collect happened, but the circumstances were that back then I kept getting 7 of 8 or 6 of 7 in multi's so my mate's advice was entirely logical. And it worked. A bottle of Jack his way eventuated - it was the least I could do! The transparency of this thread reminded me of that moment so 'going-again' makes sense considering the small outlay. I had a decent 3 figure collect with the help of this thread last weekend and all it cost me was the price of a cup of coffee. Not skiting either - that is neither here nor there, more-so passing on the many ways to maximise one's chances.

Here are some of the big clashes to look out for this weekend. Likely winners in dark italics. Sat 4.30am Bayern Munich vs Hoffenheim Sat 9.30pm Wolves vs Manchester City (SBS) Sun 12.00am Arsenal vs West Ham Sun 2.00am Juventus vs Lazio Sun 2.30am Liverpool vs Brighton Sun 4.30am Napoli vs AC Milan Sun 6.15am Real Valladolid vs Barcelona Mon 1.00am Newcastle vs Chelsea Mon 2.00am Borussia Dortmund vs FC Leipzig Mon 6.15am Girona vs Real Madrid Tues 5.00am Manchester United vs Tottenham (draw) EPL Table ...

All our tips are around the $2 mark which is notable but all the tips have a margin or goal factor apart from the win only pick with Penrith (who are struggling a tad!) But that's ok ... we can reload. I did that once and won a good amount. The same mate who won 7k a few weeks ago recommended once that I reload on the rest of my tips after bombing out with my first pick ... did that and won a decent 4 figure amount. So it's pick the eyes out of it or reload ... and/or add on a few others to suit. I've had my best results with overnight events. Wake up and win - there's nothing better!

Scott who? In other news ... click on this link to view the Group 1 Juddmonte International Stakes run at York on Wednesday. A crack field of 8 were engaged in the race - the 'Creme de la Creme' of Europe in a 2000m classic. 2 or 3 of the runners may end up in Australia this Spring although we know that Benbatl is definitely coming for the Cox Plate. Also, for those new to this thread, we have another thread going where we pick out our weekend sporting specials ... click here for a gander

We probably should collate the shorties on the racing thread and then post them up here. If we deem them worthwhile as add-ons of course. I just figured this time up that the 3 were quite obvious.

A few short priced favouriites from the horses to consider as add-ons. Works better on this thread. Not necessarily my picks but the punters like them especially ... Moonee Valley R3 No.5 Multaja 1.75 Moonee Valley R7 No.5 Brutal 2.00 Rosehill R7 No.9 Avilius 2.00

Italian League - Serie A I take too many things for granted Wadda but I can promise you I won't be putting up any games from the Iceland league no matter where they might play the games! Although apparently Íþróttabandalag (IBV for short) Vestmannaeyja are worth following. They didn't have any letters left over in the alphabet for a suitable nickname. I do occasionally partake in the Brazilian & Argentina leagues though ... there are some quite famous clubs over there that can deliver wins at home with a good goal spread. But I'll be more likely to pick games out of the EPL, Serie A (Italian). La Liga (Spain) or the Bundesliga (Germany) ... the big successful clubs more so. The trouble with baseball is the time contraints but the NBA games are often up 2 or 3 days beforehand when that league starts up.

2 Best Bets for the weekend ... shouldn't have too much trouble finding these 2. At some sites there's a bit of scrolling involved but thems the breaks. Saturday 9.30pm Manchester City Win & More Than 2.5 Goals in the Match $1.75 @ Wolves Sunday 2.00am Juventus Win & More Than 2.5 Goals in the Match $2.00 vs Lazio Sunday 2.00am

Here's the replay of Avilius winning 3 weeks ago (you'll have to log on to view) It might be being set for the Epsom Hcp which is run on GF Day (when we win our 13th flag)

Ha! I'm forever getting those 2 courses mixed up Wadda - same deal for Ascot & Belmont in the West. I'm all-in on trifecta's at the weekend ... can't find a standout winner at the Valley in 9 races! Even the Get-on crew were struggling. The fields are strong though so finding the 2-5-5 & 3-5-5 combinations was quite an easy exercise. Rosehill is much the same for the majority of races. Some strong fields there as well. Should be a really good days racing at both venues.

Best Bet ... Rosehill Race 2 No.4 Impavido $5.50 I like its chances in this small field. Going for an early collect and Ron Dufficy from Sky Racing has it on top as well. Tim Clark on board and he's in decent form.

Here are the 6 Stakes races to be run on Saturday to keep an eye out for ... Wadda's best bet 'Performer' is running around in the feature race at Rosehill (Race 5) whilst we'll get to look at Avilius, Brutal & Multaja in the other bigger events. And there are a good field of sprinters assembled in the Carlyon Cup @ Moonee Valley. But the import from the UK Avilius is my big watch in the Premier's Cup (Rosehill Race 7) ... too short for a best bet but could be an inclusion in a running double, multi or treble. Exceptionally impressive first time up last start. Went whoosho and it was done. Moonee Valley Race 3 3YO Fillies Plate 1200m Moonee Valley Race 7 McKenzie Stakes 1200m Listed Moonee Valley Race 8 Carlyon Cup 1000m Listed Rosehill Race 5 San Domenico Stakes 1100m Group 3 Rosehill Race 6 Ming Dynasty Quality 1400m Group 3 Rosehill Race 7 Premier' Cup 1900m Group 3

Well I will talk to you in 5 years time and we'll see if anything has changed. And if you want change to happen you are probably going to have to do sonething about it yourself. Don't ask me how to go about doing that. Maybe send off an email to AFL HQ? I don't necessarily disagree with your points on how things can be improved but my belief is that the custodians of the sport are incompetent so I am not holding my breath. There is cause & effect or we can blame the A-end of a problem.

No ... it is all connected from my point of view and is therefore a very complex argument. You just don't like my view and I don't like your view. Let's leave it that.

On the evidence to date, nothing much has changed nor do I believe anything will change ... and yours and mine opinions won't matter a jot anyway. Not now, not ever. We are mere onlookers who pass comment ... but I maintain we should hold the umpires in high regard and there should be a great level of respect shown towards umpires. At local level you have to behave yourself ... my 50+ seasons of sport taught me that. Abuse an umpire and you'll get reported and suspended. Become a serial offender and you'll probably get banned for life. So as an onlooker, my attitude mirrors my playing days. That is all I've got to say on the matter. If you or others disagree, so be it.

Because of the nature of the sport as it stands right now, I don't believe the game can be umpired any better than it is being umpired right now. Full time umpires might improve things a bit but if my estimation that 3 of 10 decisions are incorrect is correct, maybe 15 of 20 right or 7.5 out of 10. So not a great deal of difference. But full-time umps might not make any difference at all. And compared to just about any other sport, that is a terrible strike-rate. Thus, all the angst in our sport as opposed to most other sports. Well, that's the reaction that happens anyway. But again, I don't blame the umps. A more open game would help but that seems light years away ... zero interchanges and 15 a side but lets face it, that ain't gonna happen either. So in my opinion, we're stuck with what we've got and not much will change. You know dc, I could have had a very similar conversation with you 20 years ago or even 40 years ago. True dinks - I've always had the same attitude. By the way, getting 7 out of 10 decisions correct in footy is comparable to getting 9 out of 10 decisions correct in say, a sport like basketball (more so the NBA) In essence, I haven't got a fix though ... not a feasible one anyway.

I reckon the rigid argument is with those who view umpiring and umpires in an old-school way. And that isn't directed at you so don't take offence. My view is almost a solo one so I doubt whether you would have heard it before - not to this degree anyway. And new views are often rejected or dismissed so as not to interfere with old-school thinking. So if you are offended, you shouldn't be. If people here dislike or hate umpires, that's their choice. I obviously have a different take on things - the other side of the argument that rarely gets heard or talked about. @Bossdog usually speaks on my behalf on these matters but he hasn't been here for a while - can't say I blame him. I do 'like' his posts though. But this type of argument about umpires has been going on in the same way for forever and a day. It's never been any different and it will go on in the same way for another 5, 10, 20, 40 years hence. Unless the sport changes in a dramatic way in order to make the game way way easier to umpire than it ever was. You know, like AFLX ?

We are diametrically opposed on this issue ... I'm being quite honest when I say I almost always never notice the umpires, any decisions they make or any aftermath. My view is that the better team generally wins. I watch the sport in a completely different way to most because my view is that the umpires are in a no-win situation in a sport that is un-umpirable. So I switch off in compartmental way. Try watching one game as I do - not a Demons game, some other random game where you don't have a dog in the fight. Not even a tip. A game where you don't care who wins. Ignore every umpiring decision and just watch the football. Here's the thing, we can do that with other sports but it's very hard to do it with footy. But it can be done. Then you'll see my view as I see it - I already know and acknowledge your view - I've seen and heard it 1000's of times. No disrespect meant there either. You are one of many. The above mght suit someone else Dappa because when we post here, it's an open forum.

Yeah layz tunein is great ... the best 11 bucks a month you'll ever spend if you're a fan of overseas sports ... especially the American sports because of the time zones. 1 simple click or 2 and you're straight to the game. All 4 USA sports convert well to live audio but it must be said that I'm an audio bloke. I sometimes prefer it to visual.

Mathew Nicholls umpires in an un-umpirable sport. So in a flawed system you are going to get skewed results. That just stands to reason. Some umps are going to better than others but they're all on a hiding to nothing. The lack of respect towards umpires really jumps out at me and always has. And you'll never see 'balance' so that is a pipe-dream as well. The main thrust of my argument is that I reckon we spend far too much time concerning ourselves with the adjudication in an un-umpirable sport. My views aren't going to curtail things to any sort of a degree but I may get some people thinking about how they view umpiring. That's all.

So you're comfortable with Mathew Nicholls being targeted? Why? What has he done wrong? See there's the problem in a nutshell. He's just trying to umpire an un-umpirable sport to the best of his ability. I wouldn't do it for quids. Actually, the umps get paid very well for a part-time job but I still wouldn't ever contemplate doing it. Who needs that grief? I can't point you to the relevant threads because the hate & angst towards Mathew Nicholls happens randomly in various threads. But it does happen and it shouldn't happen. As for the posters here who slag off at players in an unnecessary way on a constant basis, I just put them on ignore.

I see the same umpiring mistakes that everyone else sees but my preferred stance is that the reason we see so many mistakes is because of the nature of the sport. So yeah, I reckon 3 out of 10 decisions or non decisions are inorrect. But I am not blaming the umpires so I am not being harsh. It's a system problem. Other people here have expressed a view similar to mine if you care to read the whole thread. So yeah, it's boring but I enjoy reading about the game, not about the officiating. Whatever floats your boat though. Why should people like me be turned away from the footy threads just because we have a differing view. The game-day thread fair enough but the other games thread is full of umpire angst and other threads the same. Who talks about the actual game? That's what many here want to talk and read about. People are quite within their rights to have different opinions but the hysteria concerns me ... especially in regards to Mathew Nicholls. Now I'm prepared to speak up about the hate and anger directed towards him. Are others?

From my point of view the constant talk about umpires and umpiring decisions is utterly boring ... there are so many better things to talk about. And I am not disrespecting anyone - what a load of nonsense. I have a different opinion and I believe my opinion is the correct one. I won't win this argument because you've got the masses on your side but I couldn't care less. You may not realise it but I'm actually trying to calm people down. Expecting perfect results and consistent outcomes from a majorly flawed system reminds me of the angst directed at the drafting results. As previously stated, 2 days of this and I'm done. However, my words might have an effect on a small percentage. And that's all I'm really aiming at.