Macca

Wow, that was one hell of a 7th innings in Toronto! Could only listen to the radio broadcast but it went on for nearly an hour ... the throwing of bottles & cans marred an enthralling series though - no need for that and someone might have got seriously hurt. Anyway, the best 2 teams now meet in the ALCS ... starts Saturday 11am AEDT. Should be a ripper.

I'm positive that all the clubs do all the analytics on the draft pick number & the players who are likely to be available and then weigh up what the best choice is. The "percentage play" is a very real thing with drafting especially so because we draft players at such a young age. What we were giving up may not be worth as much as what we get in a trade. Then there's the sum of all the parts to consider - it's not just the one deal in isolation.

A better way of judging these things is to only use the drafts prior to 2010 as a template ... with a bigger sample size - say, picks 23 - 27. I can't be bothered doing it but an educated guess tells me that most of the picks would be "bust like" with about 10-15% being very good or top players. There'd be about 15-20% who were decent players with the rest being C or D graders or worse. So, about a 1 in 3 chance of getting a decent player or a top player is best case scenario with pick 25. And about a 2 out of 3 chance of drafting a C or D grader or a complete bust. However, Melksham could well become a decent player who we don't have to start from scratch with - that being the case, we passed up about a 1 in 8 chance of snagging a top player (at a guess) Here's all the drafts from 2000-2009 if someone wants to take the time to analyse that pick range. It should be remembered that all the recruiters have to go on is under 18 footy and that's why the draft remains a bit of a lottery. 2000 draft 2001 draft 2002 draft 2003 draft 2004 draft 2005 draft 2006 draft 2007 draft 2008 draft 2009 draft

Yeah, well done to the Cubs - I've always liked the Cardinals organisation and they'd be disappointed with the way it all ended up. Anyway, it's do or die tomorrow - I fancy the Royals & Blue Jays but both games might go down to the wire. Cubs curse of the Billy Goat

Week 6 games Tipping comp leaderboard 4 - JV7 3 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 1 - titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - everyone else I'll put my tips in soon enough but I might be tempted to pick the Falcons on Friday - or is it a trap game JV7? Should be a good game all the same - a lot of the Thursday night games are divisional games so we at least see a fierce match-up despite the players often being a bit off the boil. I can't see why the league can't match up the byes with these games.

Average game today until the 4th quarter - that late Vick run was like the Vick of old. Steelers are now 3 & 2 and hangin' in there.

2 x game 5's now with KC & Toronto right back in it - home field for both teams as well. All happens Thursday our time. In the NL the Mets had a big win and the Cubs also - both the Dodgers & the Cardinals need to win out but both teams are capable of doing that - we might see 2 x game 5's with these 2 series as well. It's anyone's World series

And .... you're back in it - one of the commentators on the radio broadcast today said that whoever won game 3 would win the series - I didn't catch the reason but I'm assuming it might be because of the pitching match-ups in games 4 & 5 (?) Houston won again but that series could go to 5 too. 4 games tomorrow so we'll obviously know a lot more then.

As usual there's any number of stories out of this weeks games but Eli marching his team down the field for a game winning TD was a highlight - he's a big occasion player who seems to only show his absolute best when under extreme pressure. A lot of QB's are good until a certain point and then they fall away but this bloke is a negative splitter. The NFC East is always an interesting division and with Romo out, any of the teams are a chance. It's my favourite division to watch outside of the NFC North. Agree with you somewhat on the Freo/Denver comparisons and they do seem to have shifted towards being a defense orientated side with Peyton there to "manage" the games - it might just work too. Again, the seedings in the AFC are all important. Dalton & the Bengals - I'm still going to wait and see with them ... the Ravens are playing poorly and are just leaking far too many points and the Steelers will need to win at San Diego to remain a threat. However, it's hard to see Cinci not winning their division anyway whilst the other 4 divisions you mentioned seem to have already been decided. Other observations Seattle can't win away from home Atlanta are looking dangerous The Bears aren't tanking The Eagles might be back KC are in allsortsa Arizona look to be the real deal Detroit might be tanking Rodgers ruined his Lambeau record with 2 interceptions New England will probably get the 1 seed The Bills might get a wild-card spot .

We've got a breakaway group in the tipping comp after today's results - with JV7 leading the way (again) Seattle winning would have got 2 precious points for me if they hadn't have blown a 24-7 lead - not happy. Leaderboard 4 - JV7 3 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_ hell 1 - titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - everyone else

Yep, the Colts have now won 2 games without Luck and with a 40 year old Matt Hasselbeck. That division is theirs for the taking - it's really only a matter of the seeding number for them if they're fair dinkum.

Yikes ... what's happened to your Blue Jays GTG? - they've now got to win the last 3 games of their series against Texas to progress. Good luck with that! Cardinals winning was no real surprise but the Mets going 1 up was really important for them. The Royals clawed 1 back after falling behind in their 2nd game against Houston. I know the MLB doesn't like messing with their traditions but having a longer post season with a shorter regular season appeals to people like me ... I'd like to see the wild-card playoffs be a best of 3 and these divisional series to be a best of 7. That would add approximately 8-10 days to the post season but is a 162 game regular season really necessary in this day and age? There is talk of a 154 game regular season anyway. I do like the 2 month long NBA & NHL playoff schedule.

Cubs through but St Louis will be tough opposition - if they can beat the Cardinals they might go on and beat the curse ... here are the 4 match-ups with my tips in dark italics (for what it's worth) St Louis vs Cubs Royals vs Houston Blue Jays vs Texas Dodgers vs Mets

Seattle New England Denver

Week 5 games ... 2 points on offer this week Leaderboard in the comp 2 - JV7 1 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_hell titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - Everyone else

It seemed like the commentators & the special comments guys didn't know about the rule either - they all seemed suitably bemused when the rules guy came in and said that batting the ball out in those circumstances was an illegal move. I didn't pick up on it nor did a few people that I spoke to about it today know either - seems it's a "judgement" call but it looked quite blatant to me and the ref was right there to see it. If the call had have been made in Detroits favour they would have been 1st and a half a yard with 1min 50 odd seconds left to play ... here it is again for those who haven't seen it. Btw, what's with all the missed field goals? That Jags kicker couldn't hit the side of a barn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLL1ByAJb6M

A lot of close finishes in today's games ... 7 games decided by less than a TD (most within a field goal) Redzone couldn't keep up in the early games - still great viewing though. Many of the games carried a fair impact too ... Biggest losers were the Eagles, Raiders, KC & probably Dallas Biggest winners were Atlanta, Carolina, Denver & Cincinnati again whilst the Giants, Jets, Redskins, Chargers & the Rams all had important wins. Seattle should win comfortably tomorrow so a Lions win really would surprise. No points won this week in the tipping comp ... Leaderboard 2 - JV7 1 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_hell titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - Everyone else

Yep, the Steelers had a number of chances to at least pick up field goals but they either missed them or as we saw towards the end of the game, not even attempt one of those field goal opportunities. The game itself was close as usual but lacked the ferocity of previous encounters.

Any public holiday where I get to see an NFL game live is fine by me. These Ravens/Steelers match-ups are always good games too - they hate each other and it's a huge rivalry. The Ravens are lucky that Big Ben is out but Vick is still quite capable on his day. Ravens in a close one. .

Just a reminder that it's not too late to join in on the tipping comp ... Leaderboard 2 - JV7 1 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_hell titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - Others Week 4 games Week 4 for is for 1 point only but we have a bonus week coming up in week 5 (2 points) ... other bonus weeks are weeks 8, 10, 13, 15 & 17 Also, this week the Jets are the designated "away" team even though their game against Miami is being played in London. Previously we've allowed the designated away team (in London) to be allowed in your tips so unless anyone has any objections, we'll continue to allow it. My tips ... Panthers Packers Eagles

Points tally in the comp ... 2 - JV7 1 - Gorgoroth, cowboy_from_hell titan_uranus, Georgiou R.R. Martin, Macca 0 - Everyone else! No real surprises with the results although a lot of the games were difficult to call ... Indi were a little lucky to win, the Ravens & Saints are now staring down the barrel but Atlanta, Carolina, Arizona, Denver, Cincinnati, New England & the Bills have been very good. The Vikes have had 2 good wins as well. Don't know what to make of the 49ers and Detroit - Kaepernick is really struggling and Stafford labors when the heat is on. And can the Steelers win with Vick for 4-6 weeks? .

I wasn't tempted ... I'd rather wait till Monday to see my tips lose. It's tough enough trying to find home winners this week ... there's a whole bunch of games where I just can't find a standout winner. Seattle, New England and probably GB should win but that's about it - I like the Ravens at home too.

There's a few iconic teams represented by the looks of it ... St Louis, Yankees, Dodgers & Cubs. Would like to see the Mets and the Royals do well but even though I'm a Redsox fan, I lean towards the Cardinals as well because of their storied history. They've had another very good season and they might just pick up their 12th World Series title. I suppose I just like playoff baseball so will catch up with as many games as possible. Your Blue Jays might win the American League to reach the World Series but it's wide open in the AL.

Tipping comp leaderboard 1 - JV7 0 - Everyone else Week 3 games Tips ... (another tough week) Colts Atlanta Buffalo

Jets win! Not sure whether the story is the Jets winning or the Colts losing ... Indi have started 0-2 but they haven't played a divisional rival yet ... Tennessee might be tougher opposition with Mariota and Houston are good on their day - all the same, to only score 7 points at home in a game like this is a very poor return. As for the Jets, their defense played a big game and they might prove hard to beat if they can maintain that part of their game ... next 3 - vs Philadelphia, @ Miami, vs Washington - all winnable.