Over The Line

Crystal football gazing for 2009

Premier League
There’s something ominous about Man Utd’s form of late. They’re generally winning and not playing well. They look like they can step it up a couple of gears when needed. Much has been made about Liverpool topping the table at Christmas – mostly by Rafa Benitez – but the undeniable truth is that in recent seasons, their form in the second half of the season has matched and in some cases surpassed that of the title contenders. Having not conceded the ground to their rivals in the first half of the season that they have done in recent years, it looks to be a genuine title challenge.

Not that we need an excuse to be grumpy in general, but we’ve been doing a lot of tut-tuting thanks to a certain Mr Jack Frost who has been spending too much time around racecourses in the UK. Sedgefield and Leicester have succumbed to the ‘cold snap’ but we’ve managed to put together some NAPs at the remaining All Weather tracks.

Daily Mirror - Newsboy: Sir Billy Nick 1.10 Southwell
Daily Mirror - Bouverie: Moon Crystal 4.20 Kempton
The Sun - Tom Pepper: The Tatling 3.10 Southwell
The Sun - Templegate: My Friend Fritz 2.10 Southwell

The difficulty in predicting how Tiger Woods will return from his knee injury is that we’re applying what we know about other golfers to Tiger and at this stage, we know Tiger is utterly unlike any other golfer. Ernie Els suffered a similar knee injury to Woods and it’s only recently that he has rediscovered any semblance of the form that made him one of the world’s top players. It was a couple of years ago that Els began on the path to rehabilitation and even now he hasn’t got back to his normal self. That example could be irrelevant, because we’re talking about Tiger and who would have thought he could win the US Open on one leg? Timing his return to coincide with the Masters looks ideal because he knows what it takes to win at Augusta.

Cricket - The Ashes
Looking at the recent form of both sides, England could win the Ashes at a canter. That would have been unthinkable about a year ago, but Australia have finally crash-landed following the retirements of Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist. For a while, they got away without unearthing players of a similar calibre, but now the Aussies are discovering that you can’t replace the irreplaceable.

There’s joy and even more joy at Wimbledon this summer when, in a typical piece of summer weather, SW19 is hit by a monsoon. Cliff Richard, spotting the microphone and an opportunity to flog more albums to exactly the kind of people who probably buy his albums, warms up his vocal chords for a spot of rain-delay entertainment. Just as he launches into the first few bars of ‘Summer Holiday’ some bright spark remembers that they’ve recently put a retractable roof over centre court. Cliff is devastated as he watches the iron behemoth glide across and shut out the rain, bringing an abrupt end to his impromptu gig, but the universal consensus is “brilliant, why didn’t we do this years ago?” And Marat Safin joins the UFC.

Harking back to the days when the ability to light your own farts and drink fifteen pints was seen as the main criteria for success as a rugby player, the Lions Tour is set to be the big news of 2009. But do they have a chance of upsetting the reigning World Champions? No is the short answer, but that doesn’t take up much space on a blog, so gazing into our oval shaped crystal ball, here’s some of what might happen in 2009.

FACT: Experts say today is the most depressing day of the year. For most of you this Monday is the first day back at work. You’re probably not feeling too good about that so we won’t dwell on it for too long, but once the unnecessary handshakes and annoying New Year’s greetings are over with, everything will be back to normal. i.e. avoiding potential work as much as possible. Abandonment’s mean there’s only action from Wolverhampton and Lingfield. Let us know if there are any horses that catch your eye, and tell us about it in the grumpiest manner possible below. Thanks. Happy Ne….hogwash.

Irish Independent - Capt Keen: Fantasy Ride 4.40 Wolverhampton
Irish Times: Triple Axel 2.10 Wolverhampton
Daily Mirror - Newsboy: Pab Special 5.10 Wolverhampton
Daily Mirror - Bouverie: Majehar 3.45 Lingfield
The Sun - Tom Pepper: Artreju 1.15 Lingfield
The Sun - Templegate: Milne Bay 4.10 Wolverhampton

At this time of year, that Friday feeling is a little different from the rest of the year. Normally it’s a day of not doing a whole lot and winding down for the weekend, but after the Christmas holiday’s it’s a day of going ‘oh crap, back to work on Monday, better make the most of the weekend.’ On that ray of sunshine, here’s today’s tips:

Irish Independent - Trav Corr: Collingwood 9.20 Wolverhampton
Irish Independent - Capt Keen: Aux Le Bahnn 2.05 Folkestone
Irish Times: Give 7.20 Wolverhampton
Daily Mirror - Newsboy: Minotaurius 8.50 Wolverhampton
Daily Mirror - Bouverie: Mr Big 12.30 Folkestone
The Sun - Tom Pepper: Aux Le Bahnn 2.05 Folkestone
The Sun - Templegate: Night Jar 12.40 Southwell

A bizarre mix of lots of racing but hardly any newspapers means that we don’t have a whole lot in the way of tips this Thursday, but we can distract you with a vaguely topical joke:

What’s the difference between a tyre and 365 blowj … er … Actually, let’s scrap the joke and just carry on with the tips for today.

Daily Mirror - Peter O’Hehir: Good Fella 3.10 Fairyhouse
Daily Mirror - Newsboy: Majuro 3.15 Southwell
Daily Mirror - Bouverie: Calgary Bay 1.40 Cheltenham
The Sun - Templegate: Majuro 3.15 Southwell

We’ve lost a good chunk of today’s tips due to abandonments, but not to worry, they’re normally crap anyway. For what it’s worth here are the tips for Wednesday 31st December:

Irish Independent - Capt Keen: Mister Thatcher 2.00 Lingfield
Irish Independent - Damien McElroy: Carnbridge 2.15 Punchestown
Irish Times - Brian O’Connor: Forest Leaves 12.45 Punchestown
Daily Mirror - Peter O’Hehir: Ebaziyan 1.15 Punchestown
Daily Mirror - Bouverie: Mr Willis 1.30 Lingfield
The Sun - Templegate: Mr Willis 1.30 Lingfield