Fantasy EPL: Gameweek 13

Ok, so after the international break there’s a few teams who are playing twice.  Everton, Blackburn, Hull & Fulham will all be playing on the weekend & backing up midweek, which means there’ll be a few players who could earn some solid points!  So I’ve only made the two changes to my team this gameweek, bringing in Dempsey for Petrov & Zamora for Tevez.  I’m not sure if I’ll put either back into my team again, especially considering that Mark Hughes has started playing them in the same position now (moron).  With Bullard, Geovanni & Baines all in the team too, I’ve got 5 players who can hopefully pick up major points for me this gameweek & send me up a bit more in the leagues I’m in.  I’ve decided to bench Ashley Young, because they’re away at Burnley & I don’t think he’ll be allowed the time or space to get really creative there.  Hopefully Drogba can overcome whatever’s ailing him to make a start & it would also be nice if Vermaelen could keep a clean sheet!!

Got a couple of substitutions in mind for next gameweek, but I’m keeping them hush hush =P.

**Edit: Just read that Drogba is going to miss this week’s game, so I’ve thrown in Ashley Young anyway.  Hopefully he does something.

Fantasy: EPL Gameweek 12

No changes to the overall squad this week.  Saving that up for next week because there’s four teams playing twice.  Hull City are one of those teams, which is why I’ve kept Geovanni & Bullard.  Hopefully Jimmy is fit this week and makes a start, not just because I need the points, but with Geovanni out, Hull need him in the midfield for sure.  Bosingwa’s doubtful against Man Utd, so I’ve left him on the bench rather than taking the risk.  Got Agbonlahor as captain this week, with Villa at home to Bolton I think they’ll be able to score some.

Biggest problem for me is who I should shaft next week to bring in two players who’ll be doubling up?  It’ll probably be Huddlestone/Petrov in the midfield & probably Warnock/Faye Ab in defence.  Then again, I bet [hope] all those players have massive gameweeks this time around and make things harder for me to decide.

Cricket: NSW v. WA – Live Streaming

The Domestic T20 champions of the World, NSW, start off their Australian domestic season with a one dayers against WA at North Sydney Oval.  As much as I wish I could be there, exams have forced me to drag my sorry backside to uni today, so the ABC’s keeping me updated with all the action:

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Fantasy: EPL Gameweek 11

Here’s the squad for the upcoming gameweek of the Fantasy EPL:

You’ll notice there’s a tonne of Villa players in there.  Brought in Agbonlahor for Saha (who’s done not much since I got him in a couple of weeks back), to maximise the Villians in my team because they’ll be playing twice this gameweek (v. Everton & v. West Ham).  Also thrown Green in as my keeper as the Hammers have the double hitout this gameweek too (v. Sunderland & v. Villa).  Hopefully Villa kills both games so I can pick up maximum points from this week.  Kinda stating to regret getting rid of Saha though, because I looked down the line at gameweek 13 & Everton will be playing twice, alongside Hull, Fulham and some other mob.  I’ve got Hull covered with Bullard and Geovanni. I’m tossing up between bringing another midfielder in, or to bring in Lucas Neill from Everton in the defence (really depends who & where Everton are playing).

Anyway, more on this gameweek.  Drogba’s captain because I think Chelsea can do another number this week on Bolton. Other than that, I’m gunning for my man Jimmy Bullard to actually start this weekend for Hull away to Burnley.  Phil Brown needs a win, and Bullard’s got the class to lift the Hull City midfield.  Let’s hope he knocks in a couple of assists.

Betting: WC Cox Plate 2009

Aite, I’m not a massive racing man, but I like a punt on the odd race.  My betting methodology is to put in 4 or 5 Flexi-Box Trifectas, with 5 horses in each one.  Pretty much depending on how much you bet, you make a percentage of the trifecta amount if any of the 5 horses finish 1, 2 & 3 in any order.  So here are the horses I’m looking at for today’s WC Cox Plate:

• 2 – Zipping
• 6 – Black Piranha
• 8 – Road to Rock
• 9 – Speed Gifted
• 10 – Whobegotyou
• 11 – Heart of Dreams
• 14 – So You Think

I’m going 4 box trifectas, mixing up these horses, hoping that one of them can come off.  I’ll be putting down $10 on each one, which means I’ll make 16.67% of the trifecta amount if one of them comes off.  Here are the boxes that I plan to do:

• Box 1: 10, 14, 11, 2, 9
• Box 2: 10, 11, 9, 8, 6
• Box 3: 10, 11, 9, 8, 2
• Box 4: 10, 11, 9, 6, 2

Fingers crossed.  Hopefully I’ll be a few dollars up when I get home tonight.

Fantasy EPL: Gameweek 10

Here’s my team for the upcoming gameweek of Fantasy EPL:

One change has been made to the squad, with Benayoun being replaced with Jimmy Bullard.  You’re probably thinking right now that I’m nuts, but I’m a massive Bullard fan & that’s how I pick my fantasy teams (note the lack of gerrard, lampard etc & NO MAN UTD players!).  This policy probably definitely costs me, but hey it makes me feel good (and lets me rage about how crap my team is).

I’m hoping that Bullard starts this weekend, but if not it’s not all lost because against Pompey he’d probably be able to cause some trouble even if he came on in the 60th minute.  I’m hoping Petrov plays too for City, cause he’s been a solid source of points since I brought him into the squad a couple of weeks back.  I’ve put Drogba as el capitan this week, hoping that his break from the Champions League will mean he’s hungry for some goals against Blackburn.

Cricket: Quick Rant – Dinesh Karthik

Just a quick little rant about India’s selections …

Why isn’t Dinesh Karthik deemed good enough as a batsman to earn a place in the squad??  Just watching him bat now, on a pitch that both Dilshan & Gambhir didn’t look comfortable on at all & he smacked three straight boundaries off an over.  He’s also hit a 60 already in the CLT20 tournament, on the same Delhi pitch which has troubled some of the best bats in the world.  The 12th Man gives his view on India’s selection situation in this piece.  No doubt when the next batting vacancy comes up it will be filled by Rohit Sharma, and Dinesh Karthik will be left to wonder what more he needs to do to crack the national team.

Also, another quick one …

Do you have to pass some kind of stupidity test to become a ground announcer?  The bloke at Delhi in this game between Delhi & Cape Cobras must have got full marks!  Delhi had just lost both openers within an over & he comes onto the microphone & cries “Delhi, make some noise!!!!!” … perhaps the crowd should have booed …

Cricket: Usain Pads Up

He’s a freak on the track.  He’s the fastest human of all time.  He’s a Matthew Hayden fan …

Usain Bolt rocked up for a charity cricket match against a Chris Gayle led team in Jamaica on Sunday.  Usain’s clearly got a thing for doing things fast.  He hit 13 off 10 balls, which included a six & a four off Chris Gayle (who has bowled for the Windies at the death …)  Ironically though, for the fastest man of all time, he was run out!  Apparently it’s easier running 100 meters than it is to go 22 yards with a couple of pads & a box on … I’d beg to differ Usain.  22 yards does me just fine.

You’d hate to face Bolt when he’s got the ball in hand too.  He’s got a long run by all accounts, but it probably takes 2 seconds for him to reach the crease & let it rip.  Just ask Chris Gayle, who copped a bouncer first up from Bolt, before bowling the Windies big hitter & giving him a send off for good measure.

So Bolt’s got talent.  He used to be a gun apparently in his school days with the ball & bat.  After hitting the six off Gayle he apparently told Curtley Ambrose “it’s all coming back …”.  Surely there’s no athletics during November.  Get Bolt on the Windies plane heading down to Australia … I wanna see him take Ricky Ponting down!!

Football: Class of its Own

Right, so everyone’s talking about the best on ground performance of the Liverpool beach ball on the weekend.  That was one hell of a goal & quite frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if Fabio Cappello named the beach ball in his next England squad to play alongside Rooney up front.

But while the beach ball gets all the wraps, in the Bundesliga Freiburg’s Du Ri Cha netted one of the best one goals you’re likely to see.  He struck the ball with poise, and total confidence into the bottom corner, totally wrong footing the keeper.  Any striker in the world would be stoked to beat the keeper like that – perhaps a move up front is in line for him next week.

While we’re looking at own goals, here are some more class ones.

Cricket: South Aust v. Tasmania – Live Streaming

South Australia & Tasmania open their Ford Ranger Cup campaigns at the Adelaide Oval today in a day-nighter.  As usual, the ABC are covering this game live & streaming it online too.  Tassie have a really decent side, and should be looking to take the points against SA today, however it’s the first game of the season, so who knows.

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