The Mail Bag
Happy Birthday to Me
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It was my birthday on Friday and I had a feast of sporting events over the weekend in which I had a serious interest.
On Friday night, my local team Maritzburg United had its first victory of the season (similar story as Everton ? decent buildup but lacking a class striker). The KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins (my local first-class cricket team) beat the Titans by nine wickets, which represents a serious improvement in recent seasons' form. In the semi-finals of the Currie Cup rugby, my local side the Sharks pulled off a minor upset by beating the formidable Bulls to secure a place in the final (South African rugby's equivalent to the Premier League and FA Cup rolled into one). Come Saturday night and it's three out of four.
That left the Derby and I must admit to a fair amount of trepidation. We had been underperforming (which everyone here knows about) and Liverpool would surely be inspired by the positive (for them, I think?) events of the week. But to put the cherry on the top, was the Sports Betting column in our local Saturday newspaper, The Weekend Witness.
I always approach this column with a sense of anticipation as regards how the author predicts the Everton game, because he is almost invariably off the money. Let's put it this way ? if he made a living betting on Everton games, he would be insolvent. (I do think he deserves a bit of sympathy, because I am sure lots of ToffeeWebbers have lost money betting on surefire home wins in recent years against teams like Wolves, Stoke and Newcastle.)
Anyway, there it was on Saturday morning in the paper ? the kiss of death: 'Everton's position in the league does not represent their ability, and with Liverpool in total shambles on and off the field, I think the price of 13-10 looks good value for a big bet on Everton. If you want to back a side with Joe Cole as one of your goal scorers, it's not my problem that you have no respect for your hard-earned money'. There, I thought, was one of the most unequivocal tips this guy had ever given and it was on us. As I said before, the mother of all kisses of death. I was tempted to go out and bet on a Liverpool win and Cole scoring.
But, fortunately, he came right this weekend and we all know what happened. My birthday weekend comes to an end with a perfect four-out-of-four results and Everton three points off sixth. Interesting match-up against Spurs next weekend that will give us a realistic view of how we are doing. (Liverpool today were dire.)
Toffees forever!
Michael Kidd, Posted 17/10/2010 at 18:52:20
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Here in Singapore I decided to buck the trend and watch round at a mates place, as we were both fed up of watching in bars with plastic reds given recent history.
It was great. Mental at 1st goal, kinda numb when the 2nd went in (through lack of recent experience), then just sat back (like the team) and watched the game out, whilst finishing the beer, and prior to cracking open the whiskey!
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1 Posted 18/10/2010 at 03:50:33
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I'm waiting for MOTD2 to come on after enjoying various radio post match moan-ins. I can't help feeling slightly guilty and would welcome the opinion of fellow blues as to how I should deal with my smugness on meeting RS fans in the coming days (assuming they aren't cleaning their "Yanks Out" banners). Am I wrong to do this?