Macca

Oh yeah ... but I'm still thinking about not having a chance at winning the SB. Consolation prizes mean absolutely nothing to me.

Could do with a turnover but the Steelers having the ball here doesn't fill me with any confidence that we can stop them. They should be able to get within field goal range.

Forgot this was on - it's hard to keep track with so much sport going on ... Hugh Bowman takes World's Best Jockey title after Japan Cup win on Cheval Grand

What on earth is going on with these England cricketers? Ashes 2017: England crisis after revelations Jonny Bairstow headbutted Australia’s Cameron Bancroft in a Perth nightclub

And now the match looks decidedly one-sided. England really should have made a lot more in their 2nd innings. Bancroft looks alright too - red ink hopefully

It's the way we often used to do it (blood a new young batsman in the lower middle order) Instead of always looking for the next big thing at no.3 or no.4 we used to play young blokes down the order and see if they could work their way up the order. Ponting batted at no.6 for his first 20+ tests but who remembers that? There are numerous other examples from the past where that method worked. And a prospective Test batsman often needed to bat in the first 3 or 4 for his State to get a look in. There are always exceptions though but even Bradman batted at 6 or 7 initially. Greg Chappell the same.

I reckon a lot of other Test nations and their supporters could say the same thing ... it's not just unique to Australia. Reasonable 4th innings targets are notoriously difficult to chase down often because of the state of the wicket. The history books tell us that too. If England had another recognised spinner in their team they might prove a handful right now. Did they need 4 quicks?

Yeah, credit where it's due hey. I didn't have Marsh in the team and would have preferred if we'd stuck with Renshaw opening and blooded Bancroft down the order. But Marsh's 50 was vital in the whole scheme of things and he batted well. Cummins batted very well as well ... Smith was just superlative. England are now 9/195 and lead by 169. Advantage Australia (but that could change!)

A day later and we now hold the advantage ... that's Test cricket! The pitch is taking turn but Moeen Ali is no world-beater. If we can keep their lead to under 200 we should achieve a victory. But any wicket lost can lead to another quick wicket or 2 so this match may well go down to the wire.

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!