Macca

All I can think about is Belichick and what new game-winning idea he comes through with. Andy Reid's teams are nearly always in the contest though so it could be a close one. A big night of sport tomorrow night ... Footy, NRL & NFL.

Anyone give KC a chance tomorrow? I'd like nothing better than to see the Pats get beaten but I can't see it. Hope it's close at least.

I have the same issue GTB so I generally put the tips in early. I post up the lines (see below) as a reminder to myself! Here they are again seeing we're on a new page ...

We played well enough tonight to win by 4 or 5 goals but such is the nature of the sport, we only just managed to achieve victory. We now need Japan to get at least a point against the Saudi's if we're to qualify automatically.

I'm at a stage with the pre-season games where I just have a quick look at the results and how many snaps Rodgers has had! The clubs get a bit out of them with regards schemes, formations and the like but the scoring and the winning & losing seems secondary.

Atlanta Pittsburgh Carolina

There's a couple of standout road chances in week 1 but finding a definite 3rd road winner is tricky ...

We'll do well to not lose this series to Bangladesh 2-0 This time last year we lost to Sri Lanka 3-0, then lost at home to South Africa, saved a bit of face at home against Pakistan but then, we lost another series in India. We haven't won in England since 2001 and have won just 1 series in India since the late 1960's. Gone are the days when we were an all-powerful outfit.

With no footy on this weekend I'll be tuning into the last round of league. Some vital games on show with finals spots at stake. Starts tonight on 'Gem' (or foxtel) ... Broncos @ Cowboys (7.30pm) Nth Queensland need to win to secure a finals spot.

Leaving aside those teams with little hope, I found myself still leaving out a number of decent or half decent teams (Giants, Eagles, Texans, Raiders, Bengals, Saints(?), Arizona(?). Rams(?) As always, a few teams will fall away and other, less fancied teams will bob up from nowhere. Every year we've done this I reckon we've all missed by a fair bit. Picking 5 from 8 division winners is about par. AFC: North: Steelers East: Pats South: Colts West: Denver WC: KC, Ravens NFC: North: Packers East: Dallas South: Falcons West: Seahawks WC: Vikings, Panthers NFC Championship - Falcons/Dallas AFC Championship - Patriots/Steelers SB: Patriots/Dallas

10 days to go and it's on ... not a bad game to start with too - KC @ Patriots (Friday Sept 8 - 10.30am) Anyway, for those who may want to participate in an NFL tipping comp, we're running one here (again) Feel free to join in the comp anytime. It's a bit of fun and we could do with a few more people on the thread anyway. It looks like we've got 6 or 7 starters to begin with so it's all systems go. Rules of the 'Demonland' NFL tipping competition All participants are allowed 3 picks only in any given week - but, they must all be 'road' teams. Anyone who correctly tips all 3 winners from their 3 picks receives 1 point (any number of people can win a point in any given week) Bonus points are up for grabs in weeks 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 (2 points to all winners) whilst week 17 carries 3 points for any given winner. No margins or correct scores are required - just the straight winners. If you miss a week or come into the comp later on, there is no penalty. You just simply miss the chance to win points for that week or weeks. You can join in the comp at any time. Your tips must be in before the start of Monday's games (AEST) ... or before the Friday game if you include that game. All 3 tips must be included in your post (editing your tips is strictly forbidden ) The person (or persons) with the most points at the end of the regular season wins. Here's an early look at the week 1 games & lines ...

Yep, you make a good point Gorgo but from my point of view and in the interest of keeping up the interest (so to speak), the 3 pointer at the end keeps the participants in it, often until the final week. And finishing 'on the podium' only is interesting for historical purposes. Anyway, the key to it all is perseverance and never believing you're out of it. From memory @Strafford missed a couple/few weeks in the first comp but was still the joint winner with 'cfh' The 'mathematical possibility' is never more apt than with this unnecessarily cruel tipping comp

That makes 4 starters so far in the tipping comp ... a shout out to @cowboy_from_hell @Dappa Dan @DeeSpencer @titan_uranus @Go the Biff @pantaloons @DemonDave & @layzie If any of you blokes are keen to participate in the tipping comp, just join in whenever. We'll probably end up with at least 5 or 6 players so it's all systems go. Any newcomers are welcome of course. Missing a week or 3 or starting late may not necessarily effect your chances of winning ... there are numerous weeks when no one gets a point or points. However, the bonus weeks is where the comp is usually won & decided. Bonus weeks are weeks 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15 & 17 (2 points are on offer with week 17 worth 3 points) It's easy to play ... just select 3 road teams in any particular week who you think can win ... if all 3 win you get the points.

So who's up for the tipping comp again? If we can get 5 or 6 participants, I'm happy to run it. For newcomers, the tipping comp involves finding 3 road winners (from 3 picks) each week. I point for each time you nail it and we normally have about 8 'bonus-point' weeks. Last year's notable's ... Final Leaderboard 12 - Gorgoroth 8 - cowboy_from_hell 7 - Clintosaurus, DeeSpencer -------------------------------- 6 - JV7 4 - Macca Regular Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 cowboy_from_hell/ pantaloons/ Gorgoroth Strafford Macca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Dappa Dan DeeSpencer Gorgoroth ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell, Macca JV7, DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth cowboy_from_hell Clintosaurus/ DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post Season Tipping Competition Year Winner Runners up 3rd place 2013 titan_uranus DemonDave cowboy_from_hell/ Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 JV7/ pantaloons Gorgoroth/ Go the Biff Macca ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015 JV7/ cowboy_from_hell, Gorgoroth/ Macca DeeSpencer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2016 Gorgoroth, JV7 Clintosaurus Macca --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Medal Tally Gold Silver Bronze Gorgoroth 3 0 4 JV7 2 2 0 Macca 2 1 3 ------------------------------------------------------------- cowboy_from_hell 1 3 1 Dappa Dan 1 0 0 Strafford 1 0 0 titan_uranus 1 0 0 Go the Biff 1 0 0 DeeSpencer 0 2 2 pantaloons 0 2 0 DemonDave 0 1 0 Clintosaurus 0 0 2

SBS are covering the Vuelta a España (starts tomorrow night) and this version of the Grand Tour looks to be as tough as it gets. There are no fewer than 43 climbs over 14 of the stages (including 12 x Cat 1 climbs) That includes 8 mountain top finishes. It promises to be a grueling affair and Froome has been installed as the short-priced favourite. He'll get strong competition from Nibali, Contador, Fabio Aru, Bardet and a number of others though. The Vuelta might prove to be the pick of the Grand tours (this year) Blisteringly hot conditions have been forecast as well. BBC Podcast - Can Froome do the Tour/Vuelta double? Cyclingnews.com - stage by stage preview

Ha ha ... that's it in a nutshell. However, Tottenham no longer seem to drop points inexplicably so top 4 is attainable if augurs well. Spurs are well coached & well managed. Winning the league will probably come down to how the big 6 teams all fare against one another. For instance, your blokes could get the 3 points against a slightly dishevelled Chelsea this week. Win that and you're right amongst it. I liked the look of Man Utd on the weekend ... Lukaku & Matic have already made a big difference. This might be the most competitive season we've seen for an age. Hard to fathom why a 28 year old Diego Costa isn't playing anywhere at the moment - I'd have him at the Hammers in a heartbeat. He's a maverick but knows how to get on the scoresheet.

That is sad news rjay ... one of my favourite jazz guitarists. Another musician to be taken by cancer. 'The Music Inside' is a track of his that I never tire of ... at his best on that one. RIP Chuck Loeb ... his music will always live on. Here's 'The Music Inside' & 'Blue Kiss' ...

Ha ha ... I'm very much the same with the Packers divisional rivals. Especially the Bears. Packer fans really hate the Vikings as well. I've got a mate who is a more recent convert to the NFL and he picked the Lions just so we can be rivals (he's also a bloody Collingwood supporter!) The divisions staying with the same make-up of teams for long periods must build up intense rivalries over there. The Packers/Bears rivalry is an ancient one and is ongoing. Outside of the NFC North I always take a keen interest in the NFC East games.

Highlights of last night's game .... And here's the line-up of EPL games to be shown on SBS (assuming SBS are going to be covering the Saturday lunchtime fixtures - ongoing) Sat Aug 12 ... 9.30pm Burnley vs Liverpool Sat Aug 19 ... 9.30pm Swansea vs Man Utd Sat Aug 26 ... 9.30pm Bournemouth vs Man City Sat Sept 9 .... 9.30pm Man City vs Liverpool Sat Sept 16 .. 9.30pm Crystal Palace vs Southampton Sat Sept 23 .. 9.30pm West Ham vs Tottenham Sat Sept 30 .. 9.30pm Huddersfield vs Tottenham

That was a decent opening fixture .... Leicester led twice and ended up losing 3-4 to the Gunners. It could be quite a season with 6 teams having a genuine chance at the title. Here's my finishing order (for what's it's worth) ... Man City Man United Arsenal Liverpool Chelsea Tottenham West Ham (14th)

For those without cable or a game pass the Seven Network will be covering 3 live games again on Monday's (our time) ... and that includes SNF. That agreement is for the 2018/19 season as well. There's a decent line-up of Thursday night games again this season ... the Pats & KC kick off the season on Sept 7th (Friday 8th our time) and here's the full line-up of Thursday night games.

Couple from Donald Fagen ...

NFL for me has become one of my favourite sports to watch (as a whole) ... it's right up there with Test Cricket but It's probably the only sport (NFL) where I have a really keen interest from week 1 to the Super Bowl. Most other sports I tune in and out of or the interest is primarily the finals/playoffs or major events like the Olympics/Tour de France or Golf & Tennis majors. The big impact with the NFL is how things can change dramatically from week-to-week. The division/conference/playoff set-up is second to none with regards to maintaining interest and there are just a stack of storylines (and that's week to week as well) It's a sport where it's so much more than just about your own team (well, that's how I view the sport anyway) I'm not sure @JV7 can bear to click on the following link ... Super Bowl LI: Patriots vs. Falcons Mic'd Up | NFL Films

It's cable for me JV (since the mid 90's) but more specifically, ESPN. Redzone, Sportscenter, NFL Primetime and all the associated shows fulfill my needs. SNF & MNF are also on the must watch list ... I'm hangin' out for the season to start. Redzone especially is great. I pay about $60 per month (HD & IQ) but I get a stack of other sports and other stuff so I see cable as fantastic value. I'm not sure I could cope without it. What do you get for the game pass? Every game? What's the picture like when fed through to the telly?

Here are the stages that involve various category 1 climbs in the 'Tour de France' ... click on the highlighted areas for details. Cadel Evans gives a summary of each stage as well (provided by the links) Wed 5th ....... Stage 5 Sat 8th ......... Stage 8 Sun 9th ........ Stage 9 Thurs 13th ... Stage 12 Fri 14th ........ Stage 13 Sun 16th ...... Stage 15 Wed 19th ..... Stage 17 Thurs 20th ... Stage 18