That Friday Feeling Pt 4 - 140's, Gateshead and Drawing
Happy Easter folks
and welcome to this week's edition of TFF, remember you can get involved
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We’ve all been there haven’t we? Whether it’s down at the local
snooker club or at major international tournaments, we’ve all rattled the jaws
of the pocket with the black ball when needing it to drop for a 147 break. But, seriously,
spare a thought for poor old Mark Selby who was a hairs breadth away from
snooker’s maximum, and a cheque for over £20,000, in his China Open first round
match against Mark King. The self-proclaimed ‘Jester from Leicester’, who is
the reigning UK and Masters champion, tried his best to laugh it off but will
be hoping for no repeats when he enters the quarter final stage against Mark
Williams this weekend.
Watch Selby's miss on the final black here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_752908&feature=iv&src_vid=26YONL6_7Mg&v=cxdP6DT4Vcs
Fans of Gateshead’s football club, who ply their trade in
the fifth tier of English football, the Blue Square Premier, won’t be the first,
or the last, to have travelled nearly 370 miles for a 0-0 draw. They might
however, be the first to have travelled that distance for Thursday night’s ‘home’
fixture against Newport County, which was played in the Lincolnshire town of
Boston. The change had come about due to a damaged pitch at their regular
venue, the Gateshead International Stadium (right), and Boston’s York Street was the
nearest available ground to suit all parties. Several of the Tyneside club’s
remaining games have been moved to nearby Hartlepool United’s Victoria Park,
while their rugby league counterparts, the Thunder, have already faced Welsh
opposition in the North Wales Crusaders in Hull, a mere 288 mile round trip. |
| Jamie Peacock played in his 50th Leeds-Bradford game, a draw! |
Super League XVIII has not yet completed nine rounds this
year and already there is an interesting trend developing: draws. And plenty of
them! Leeds and Bradford’s stalemate on Thursday evening at Headingley provided
the seventh of the campaign, and we’re still in March. To put this in context,
this figure has only been reached once in the last five seasons, in 2011, and
that was after all 27 rounds had been finished.
Other seasons read as follows:
2012 – 4 draws
2010 – 2 draws
2009 – 1 draw
2008 – 5 draws
Other seasons read as follows:
2012 – 4 draws
2010 – 2 draws
2009 – 1 draw
2008 – 5 draws
“So, what?” You may ask. Odds of a draw can be as high as
33/1 with some bookmakers, which is quite remarkable considering both teams
start with the same score, don’t you think? With only Hull KR and Huddersfield
yet to be involved in a deadlock, and SkySports summariser Mike Stephenson
predicting that this weekend’s Hull derby will be decided “by the toss of a
coin”, are you willing to put that coin the bookies way?
And finally...
We are all up for a laugh and a joke at The Sporting Hack,
it is meant to be informal entertainment, after all. However, the sad events emanating from Christchurch, New Zealand, this week, with regards the health of Kiwi cricketer Jesse Ryder are due a mention. The 28 year old is currently in a medically-induced coma after being viciously assaulted outside a bar on the south island and a 20 year old man has been charged in connection with the incident. It is the last thing New Zealand cricket, in particular, needed after acquitting themselves so well in the recent test match series against England, and displaying what marvellous hosts they can be.
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