A Recent History of Liverpool Football Club

by Rick Nash

The past week has sparked an almost-shocked tone of discussion about the existence of schadenfreude in sports, particularly football, consumption. I'd imagine it's because only the half-hearted fans rear their heads towards the end of the season to join in the conversation and are shocked by what they see. "You're all so AWFUL to each other!" they'll say. "These people are your friends! Stop being so mean to them!"

Yes, they're our friends. And yes, we do take pleasure in their pain. And they do the same to us too. That's typically the common bond that makes us friends. It's what we talk about. It's how we relate to each other. Not to be too blunt and sexist, but in stereotypical terms men tend to rip into each other about sports and girls tend to build each other up by talking about how their hair looks amazing (yes, I realise that a lot of men/women don't do one and do the other, but I'm illustrating a point using offensive, lazy stereotypes here...and now you understand it better, so fuck off).

The battle of Man Utd vs Liverpool is about as primal in sports' fans existence as it is for cats to forever be the enemies of mice. It makes no sense. Surely the two can co-exist in peace? I'm sure they could, but if cats and mice didn't beef then we wouldn't have Tom & Jerry or Itchy & Scratchy. Similarly United and Liverpool fans probably wouldn't find football nearly as interesting without this pointless, never-ending feud of 'My Dad would bash your Dad' proportions.

Week 6: Win At All Costs

by Rick Nash

Here's a list of things I've been clinging to, tearfully, since Man Utd's humiliating defeat at Man City last Sunday:

• Jon Jones is still the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, just. 
• Dublin are All-Ireland Champions.
• My NFL and Premier League fantasy teams are finally kicking arse (Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Petersen, LeSean McCoy and Dez Bryant all making up the core of the former...yes, my league absolutely sucks at drafts).
• Speaking of NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles are now revolutionising offence in the league under Chip Kelly and look on course to get back to the playoffs.
• Actually forget that last one.
• I have my health.
• Oh, and United bounced back from their loss with a 1-0 midweek win over Liverpool upon the return of Luis Suarez, continuing Pool's recent, Walter White-like tradition of only meeting devastation when confronted with a possible solution to their ills. Seriously, the people that have brought this once-great club to their knees over the past decade? Rafa Benitez, Fernando Torres, Kenny Dalglish and Luis Suarez...four bonafide 'legends' of the club, like White, talented but ultimately destructive. I guess Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher can serve as Skylar and Marie in this metaphor: well-intentioned but incapable of stopping these monsters, as well as being kind of annoying and - in Marie's case as in Gerrard's - getting on the wrong side of the law on more than one occasion.

This is one of those seasons, though, where I have to take stock in the positives. Because the negatives are alarming. Not only is Lady Luck not on my side, Lady Luck left me at the bar with an empty-wallet, filled with booze that I paid for, laughing in my face for daring to think that I ever had a chance with her. 

I need a pick-me-up. I need a win. Not even a big win, just a win of any kind. As Ian Holloway would put it, "To put it in gentleman's terms if you've been out for a night and you're looking for a young lady and you pull one, some weeks they're good looking and some weeks they're not the best." Quite.

This week we're going to go for blunt and easy bets, just to get some money in the kitty and pride restored. This week we're going to win ugly.

Week 5: Head vs Heart

by Rick Nash

I was really, really happy with this week's picks...until I saw the potential winnings. €5 on these tips can earn you a whopping €324. Given my track record of outsmarting the bookies this season, that doesn't seem likely before you even look at the merits of each tip.

But this website lives for the long odds, so let's give it a whirl nonetheless. At worst, there's some well researched, great value, individual tips to behold here. At best, you feel really confident, put €100 on these bets and win €6,480. But please don't do that. If you're going to waste €100, I'd much rather you installed it directly into my bank account so I can turn a profit on this blog one way or another.

This week, a look at Saturday's UFC main event before we go toe-to-toe with the heavyweight clashes to come on this wonderful sporting Sunday ahead.

The FA Cup-set Specials

by Rick Nash

NEVER ask Balotelli to do burpees...

Contrary to popular belief...I don't enjoy losing money.

So for me to sit here and even attempt an accumulator on FA Cup 3rd Round day would only serve to waste your time. I quit. I've tried it the past few years and found that trying to bet on a selection of games together, on the very DAY were upset results thrive, is like trying to order pizza on Christmas Day. You're there to eat Turkey, the day is pretty much designed for you to eat Turkey, so don't fight a losing battle and eat your Domino's some other time.

That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the Turkey, though.

Dreams Can Come True...Unless You're Playing Phil Taylor...

by Rick Nash

If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know that this has been a rough few weeks for me, gambling-wise.

I knew from the offset that it'd either be glorious or disastrous, with four Premier League gameweeks in quick succession and four lucrative accumulators potentially wiping my Christmas debt away from me. Unfortunately, what ended up transpiring was that my Internet will probably get cut off due to non-payment. Turns out that the only apocalypse that happened in 2012 took place within my bank account.