Macca

I listen to to a few soccer podcasts DJ and the pundits have often made mention of how various teams are able to manipulate their ranking by who they choose to play in International friendlies ... Wales has been mentioned as well as Poland and a few others. Group draws in WC & EC qualifying are the targets ... also, the actual make-up of the groups in the WC & EC. Seedings decides the pots and manipulating friendlies (opponents) is within the rules (whilst being ethically wrong) Spain won their WC qualifying group which included Italy and are obviously one of the best teams in the World - yet not rated in the top 8? FIFA should act on the inequity but what are the chances of that happening?

Irish radio station 'Today FM' are broadcasting some EPL games ... tuned in last week to the Spurs/Gunners game but I'm not sure how many games they cover or whether we'll be able to listen in on an ongoing basis. Anyway ... listen in here Other games to keep an eye out for this weekend ... Sun 1.30am - Dortmund vs Schalke 4.30am - Liverpool vs Chelsea Mon 4.30am - Villarreal vs Sevilla 6.45am - Valencia vs Barcelona 7.00am - Monaco vs PSG

I take it you got a nice collect Wadda ... well done. I had no such luck but had a couple of collects to break even. It's got me thinking about doing 4 or 5 parlays next week (3 races only with one 5 or 6 leg parlay to win big) And Pike will probably be on a number of fancied horses so he'll probably be my conduit (your's too I'm guessing!)

Yep ... I'll be following Pike as well. He''s the parlay king!

There's a Group 1 next week (Winterbottom Stakes 1200m) and another Group 1 a week after that (Kingston Town Classic 1800m) ... both are million dollar races so the fields should be good. The racing has really come on over time out of WA. In fact, the group races continues at Ascot right up to New Years day. I'll have a small wager on the feature races.

Great Shot ran a close 2nd to Silverstream over 1400m (Group 2) last start so the form was there with the extra 200m to run. Tough race to find a winner though Wadda. My horse (Pounamu) was coming from too far back for this sort of field. I've got 'See me Sizzle' (Pike) in a couple of multiples in race 9 (the get-out stakes)

I haven't tuned in yet Wadda - watching the cricket. It's a small straight at Ascot and a lot of horses can get blocked for runs in the Guineas & Railway Stakes. Mainly because the fields are so even. Barrier draws are all important too ... I reckon the trifecta & first 4 dividends could be quite healthy. I've parlayed a few as well (3 races only)

We'll do well to get out of this Test without losing. By my reckoning we need to get to 360-380 in our first innings just to square things up. And that is a long way off (currently 7-209) Chasing 320+ in the fourth innings here will be a difficult assignment (if that ends up being the target) And next up is the day/night Test in Adelaide (which can suit their bowling attack)

Good luck trying to find a winner in the 2 feature races at Ascot tomorrow ... I'm not sure I want to tarnish my 4-3-0 record (4 picks, 3 winners, 0 placings)!! I've had a good look at the form anyway have narrowed it down to 5 horses in the Guineas & 6 horses in the Railway Stakes. So it's almost certainly multiples only for me. There is some value there though so the dividends could be quite hefty with the right combinations. Art Series caught my eye last start and although it's a step up in class, the horse can perform well if it gets a clear run. Race 7 (W.A. Guineas) ... Achernar Star, Money Mahar, Salubrious, Art Series & Sophia's Secret And I like Pounamu for a bit of each-way value in race 8 but to be perfectly honest, any number of horses can win this wide-open betting affair. Race 8 (Railway Stakes) ... Black Heart Bart, Scales of Justice, Tom Melbourne, Silverstream, Gatting & Pounamu

Yep, and how 'bout those Vikings! ... 9 & 2 and eyeing off a 1 or 2 seed in the NFC. And it's hard to believe the transformation in Keenum as well.

The World cup not having Italy, Netherlands, USA or Chile has opened up the real possibility of the event having a number of weaker groups. And we are a real chance of being drawn in one of those weaker groups. Spain not being in pot 1 makes zero sense but nations like Poland have been able to manipulate the rankings/seedings by carefully picking & choosing who they play in friendlies.

Tennessee Panthers Seattle

We could end up in not-so-hard group if things fall our way ... the draw is on Dec 1st. Here's a few combo's that might suit ... Poland, Peru, Senegal, Australia Russia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Australia Portugal, Colombia, Egypt, Australia We don't want ... Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, Australia

Leaderboard in the comp 9 - Clintosaurus 7 - Go the Biff 6 - Dappa Dan 4 - Macca 3 - JV7 2 - Gorgoroth 0 - The usual suspects Guess the Lines Thanksgiving Week Special With Cousin Sal Podcast Only 1 point on offer this week but every point counts ... all 3 of the Thanksgiving games are being covered by 7mate whilst the middle game is on ESPN. The pick of the games are the Vikes @ Lions & the Saints @ Rams. As for the road chances, there's a few there. Good luck!

I'm still quite surprised with the departure of Ange despite all the murmurings. There's any number of likely replacements but much will depend on availability and how much we're prepared to spend. We may well go for a coach formally from the Dutch or Italian systems but who knows DJ?

The Falcons might have just kick-started their season after today's win. You'll know your schedule for the rest of the season JV but for the benefit of others, here are Atlanta's games from here on in ... vs Tampa, vs Vikes, vs Saints, @ Tampa, @ Saints, vs Carolina. Atlanta's destiny is in their own hands in terms of gaining a wild-card but they'd need to win at least 4 or 5 of those 6 games. Win-out and the Falcons definitely win the division (they'd end up with a 12 & 4 record with a better head-to-head record against the Saints and a better divisional record than the Panthers would have) I reckon you can get to 10 wins and that should be enough for a wild-card. It's do-able but Atlanta will have to recapture last year's form and have a fair bit of luck on their side as well. Every game is like a final from here on in. But right now, the Falcons are the 6th seed in the NFC. I'm forever surprised how just one win can change the fortunes of a team in this league. A week is a long time in the NFL!

Their schedule isn't tough though ... vs Bills, @ Jets, vs Oakland, vs Chargers, vs Miami then @ Denver. They should win most of them ... 4 wins would get them to 10 wins and that would win them the division. Reid's teams generally can find winning sequences so I reckon they'll still find a way. However, they can almost certainly say goodbye to the 1 or 2 seed in the AFC. And that would mean they'd have to visit Pittsburgh and/or New England in the playoffs.

We're starting to see some real separation now ... and a number of teams have run out or are running out of games to catch up. Packers are cactus, Dallas are staring down the barrel and Atlanta need to win tomorrow to keep in touch. If Seattle win tomorrow there will be 6 teams in the NFC on 7 wins or better. Over in the AFC KC have got the staggers whilst the Pats & Steelers remain dominant. Jags at 7 & 3 are a feature.

Dallas have really dropped away ... the Eagles stepped it right up though (as they have done all season) The NFC East is decided unless something extraordinary happens. For the Eagles, it's all about their seeding now. The Vikes with Keenum are playing great too ... I keep expecting them to hit a snag in the road but it ain't happening. They are @ Detroit on Thanksgiving (next Friday our time) and if they win that, the NFC North is almost certainly done as well.

You'll like 'Chance' if you like Hugh Laurie ... got through 3 episodes in all last night and it's brilliant. 'Noir' influences as well with all the players - Film Noir is possibly my favourite movie genre so the show works for me on a lot of levels. But it's each to their own with regards to sports & entertainment, D77. As is often the case, the first 3 episodes of a show decides things.

Hope this isn't a trap game for the Eagles. Surely not.

'Art Series' won in fine style in the G3 7th race at Ascot on Saturday ... the trainer described the horse as one who never stops trying to get to the lead. Might be worth looking at for it's next run.

Really enjoyed season 2 of 'Stranger Things' D77 ... watched it with the family and found it to be wonderful entertainment. The music accompanying the show was fabulous too. 9/10 for me. Am going to start watching 'Chance' ... know very little about the show apart from a brief outline of the plot and that it stars Hugh Laurie. He was fantastic in 'The Night Manager' so I probably won't be disappointed with this new show. Edit: Watched the first 2 episodes of 'Chance' and it's very very good. A psychological thriller with some 'Breaking Bad' type elements. Laurie is great as usual.

I can see an NFC Championship match-up involving the Rams & Eagles but that might mean that New Orleans fall away. There are so many factors at play including of course, home field advantage & the seedings. The Panthers are my dark horse in the NFC. With Chancellor out now as well as Sherman, Seattle could start losing games they would ordinarily win. Over in the AFC I wouldn't bet against the Pats not making the SB unless they end up not being the 1 or 2 seed. The Pats have to visit Pittsburgh and that might decide things ... however, KC do not have a tough schedule on their run in either. It's out of those 3 teams unless something extraordinary happens. I'd like to see the Jags do well but the other 3 teams probably have their measure.

I've got Seattle going out in week 2 of the playoffs so it's no biggie. The real question is which teams make the overall last 4 (NFC & AFC Championship games) It's out of 5 teams for the SB winner as I see it ... Pats, Saints, Eagles, Steelers & Rams ... the Panthers, KC might surprise. But another team or 2 could get on a roll ... the winner of the NFC North could win a couple of playoff games. I'm not sure we're going to see a wild-card team that can progress to the SB ... the Panthers maybe but that's a stretch.