Going to keep this brief for once. It's been a crazy week. If you read my Royal Rumble preview column last week, you may already know why. Next week, I'll have a special preview of the Premier League Darts and, if I get around to it, a special article on gambling that I've been wanting to get around to for a while.
5-way accumulator; €5 returns €72.59; All odds via Paddy Power.
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| The man just loves windows of any kind... |
QPR vs. NORWICH
Harry Redknapp is finding his groove, it seems, and has now had a transfer window to power him up like Popeye with spinnach. QPR have yet to lose in 2013 and, at home to Norwich, they'll walk in confident of a win.
Pick: QPR (evens)
READING vs. SUNDERLAND
The one thing I'm hearing over-and-over again is how, given their current form, Reading need an early goal to start converting draws into wins and giving themselves a real shout at staying up. It's a relatively safe bet that, even if they'll eventually be proven right and even if the team itself agrees, when the media says you need to do something...it doesn't happen straight away. Don't ask, that's just how things work. So I think Reading do score early here but then get pegged back themselves, just because sports don't follow the most easily digestible narrative. I'd also be tempted by the 21/10 odds you'd get for Danny Graham to bag a goal on his debut.
Pick: Draw (9/4)
FULHAM vs. MAN UTD
This won't be as straightforward as last week's FA Cup tie, but Fulham have a rake of key injuries with Dimitar Berbatov, Mahamadou Diarra, Steve Sidwell and others all sidelined. With that in mind, Rooney back in form and Van Persie always dangerous, United are a good bet here.
Pick: Man Utd (8/13)
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| If you stare into his eyes for long enough, your soul actually starts to strange itself. |
RBS Six Nations: WALES vs. IRELAND
I'm no rugby expert, and far be it from me to back against The Accumulator's Transfer Deadline Day signing, Dan 'Pitchside' Pitcher, but Wales haven't beaten another country since they won last year's Six Nations! I'm not expecting much from Ireland's campaign - more soul-destroying mediocrity than anything spectacularly good or bad - but I think we get the job done here in a close match. Your soul can't be destroyed by mediocrity, though, unless you've a bit of hope and optimism left to get trampled. The young guns do the business in the Millenium Stadium before being trounced by England in the Aviva next weekend.
Pick: Ireland (+2.0 @ evens)
Superbowl XLVII: BALTIMORE RAVENS vs. SAN FRANCISCO 49ers
I'll leave the main preview and hype up to Angry Andy with his Superbowl preview to come later on The Accumulator, but I had to add this bet in with the weekend that's in it. Just to say that I'm bored of Ray Lewis. You'd think that with Lance Armstrong coming clean we'd learn to spot a false idol when we see one. This man is a murderer, for chrissakes!!! Oh, he's a surefire Hall of Famer and makes for great TV, but his last run has only served to do two things:
1) Take credit when Joe Flacco is the man who really got the Ravens here and,
2) Bore the tits off me (although it has inspired this one amazing skit, below)
Whatever you think of the man himself, I think his run gets halted right here on Sunday. The 49ers never win easy when you expect them too, though, so I'm avoiding the -3.5 handicap like the plague. This could go to overtime or be decided by a last second field goal (kicked by David Akers, while Angry Andy sobs into my shoulder in the Woolshed about how the Niners came so close).
Either way, it's going to be a tension-filled, (to quote a WWE favourite, Jim Ross) bowling shoe ugly, low-scoring affair that's as tight as a nun's knickers, but I think the Niners just about edge it. At least I hope they do: I can't handle Andy moping around the house for a month. Look out for his blog later, by the way. He's keeping quiet about its contents, and when he does that it's generally because he's got something good planned.
Pick: 49ers (outright @ 5/9)
Rick Nash is a former pro-wrestler who currently DJs for hire, makes piss-poor sports bets and has a community radio show. Altogether, he's a real bum, and you should be ashamed of yourself if you thought this piece was in any way insightful or entertaining. But still, follow him on Twitter and stuff.
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