BLOODY LONG ODDS…

Came across this quote on the BBC today, normally a credible source, although in this case they took it from the current bun so there’s a good chance it was never said, nonethless, it made me laugh.

“Help The Aged has hit out at Sir Alex Ferguson for branding Chelsea a bunch of old-timers.

The charity’s spokesperson Kate Joplin said: “In 2008, age is no longer an acceptable yardstick to measure a person’s worth or potential. There’s a lot to be said for experience.”

So in this age of political correctness, it’s only fair we give Gazza another chance! Hell, maybe finally we can see the great Pelé alongside Wayne “partial to a bit of granny-loving myself” Rooney? Sheesh…they’ll be stopping us calling the referee a w*nk*r next! New chant: “Who’s the mentally-challenged person dressed in clothes-of-colour?”. Can’t see it myself.

What a wonderfully stupid world we live in.

On the subject of “old” Sir Red face’s charges, I see Argentinian male model-cum-hairdresser Carlos Tevez has backed the One Trick Pony’s move to Surreal Madrid. Yeah! FREE THE SLAVES! This is the 21st Century for crying out loud. I can hear Ridly Scott scripting as I write…

With the new footie season only a few weeks ago, I know you’re dying to stick £50 on Hull City making the Champions League, or for Manchester United to get relegated. Dead certs for those in the know (or those in Portugal!). So, if you’re prepared to stick your money where your mouth is, then I know someone who’ll take your 50 squids and give you another bet to the same value gratis.

Yup - Goto this page on SkyBet and throw your money down the toilet :)

Having watched Turkey on the opening day of the 2008 European Championships in Swizzerlund unt Osterreich, I thought what better way to celebrate their performance than by a video of all the Top Diving we’ve seen in the Prem in recent years. Tuncay could take a leaf out of these boy’s books before he goes freestylin’ in the penalty area.

I ought to add, thet albeit it’s an excellent video, it’s clearly been made by a Londoner as there is not one Man Utd player featured! Even Ronald’oh seems to have escaped this one. But Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool fans…prepare to suffer. Well worth it though:

Paddy Power To Refund CL Final Bets If Ronaldo Scores!!
A rather interesting offer arrived in my inbox today. Now normally I bin these but this one caught my eye as it strikes me as a bit of a stick-on!

Basically, in a nutshell, Paddy Power are offering your money back on certain bets if Ronaldo scores in normal time during next week’s Champions League final.

Hang on let me just read that again. Hmmm, yep. That’s what it says. Now I’m no idiot, according to my mum, and correct me if I’m wrong, but if Man U score, Ronaldo scores. I mean OK, Scholesy got the emotional goal in the semi, but that was written in the stars back in ‘99, and this Portuguese boy…he’s the man in front of goal. Not to mention he takes all the Pens and FK’s too.

Why are they doing this??! Now I’m taking a punt here, but my guess is Paddy Power see Ronaldo scoring as a dead cert and if everybody punted on him they’d get taken to the cleaners. So, they worked out that refunding certain types of bet would put punters off betting on him. I’ll leave the maths to them, but I’m game!

So anyway, here’s the terms quoted by Paddy Power:

If Ronaldo scores in normal time, Paddy Power will refund ALL losing single pre-match Win-Draw-Win, Correct Score, 1^st/last/anytime goalscorer and Half-time/Full-time market bets on this match.

- Applies to singles placed before kick-off only

-Applies only to Win-Draw-Win, Corrrect Score, 1^st/last/anytime goalscorer and Half-time/Full-time market bets

- Max Refund €300/£200 per customer/bet

- Applies to win part of each way bets only

- Paddy Power football rules apply

- Ronaldo must score in normal time, offer does not apply to extra-time

- Own goals do not count

- Opta Index decision is final.

Er…see you there! Paddy Power…

Stumbled upon an interesting service today that provides all sorts of stats for would-be footie punters on English football. Actually, Stats On Sport provides statistics across more than just footie with Cricket, Golf, Grand Prix…all sorts of sports available. The idea behind the site is to give punters access to just about everything relating to individual matches, team stats, head-to-head stuff and pretty much anything that you could use to make a calculated bet.

Ignoring the fact that the bookie is always right and picking the favourite represents the best chance of winning, the “long shotters” should find this pretty useful I’d say. Just looking at the football stats and you get previews of upcoming games, match data, info on previous encounters between the teams like goals scored, form etc. Can’t see any mention of how many surgical supports Petr Cech has worn in the past season, but I guess (more…)

For the UK punter looking to place a bet online, there is obviously a big choice in this day and age with all of the big highstreet bookmakers and some lesser-known Internet-only bookies gathering like vultures to capture the new breed of high-tech armchair punter. Not that the Internet could be termed high-tech anymore I guess, but hey, you know where I am coming from!

One of the neat aspects about the highstreet chains is that a punter can bet online and either cashout via a card (or eWallet if you’re really tech savvy!) or they can nip into the local bookie and access their online cash from there which is pretty neat. In fact it goes a step further with bookmakers like Ladbrokes in that you can also play online poker with them or play a bit of blackjack, roulette or some fruities (more…)

Harry Enfield’s classic comedy sketch featuring Arsenal of the 1930’s against Liverpool of the 1990’s for those who haven’t seen it. It’s a defining moment in British comedy and I just stumbled across it on Youtube. So okay, not one I can offer you long odds on, but it’s well worth a watch, especially if you have never seen it. Pure genius!

Bookmark this video on del.icio.us to share it.

For a full list of Premiership odds on the next campaign, check out the 2007/2008 Premisership Odds article here at Bloody Long Odds…