This And That

It's a rainy, grey day here in Cardiff. Autumn!

I'm at the laptop going into this post with nothing really of note to write about. 

I had the Texas and Kentucky game on TV when I went to bed last night. I had the volume down to zero and just had it play while I started to fall asleep.

I don't even recall seeing Arch Manning play at all. Every time I looked up, the Texas defence was on the field.

Also - I don't recall seeing any score. Other than 0-0, obviously. I have just had a look at the box score, from the 16-13 win for the Longhorns, and notice that the only scoring play in the first half was a touchdown for Kentucky in the second quarter. I must have been in dreamland by then.

I haven't looked at the Sky Sports schedule for today's NFL coverage. Yet. I am hopeful that the Colts versus Chargers is one of the live games on one of the channels. I'll catch it on there. If not, I'll simply keep NFL RedZone on and watch it from 6pm through to the close of the late games. I often do that, anyway, but - if there's a particular game I want to watch - I'll change the channel and watch that instead of RedZone.

The first game of the day is the Rams versus Jaguars from Wembley Stadium. 

That's enough rambling from me. Back tomorrow.

I Try 2 New Walkers Crisps Flavours - Sticky Teriyaki And Masala Chicken

I have recently tried two new flavours of Walkers Crisps. 

They're tastes of foreign countries with a sticky teriyaki flavour representing Japan while the Masala Chicken is emblematic of India.

I found the sticky teriyaki flavour to be quite bland. With that said, I'm possibly the wrong person to critique the flavour because the closest thing I've ever came to eating teriyaki is from the sandwich menu at Subway.

This crisp connoisseur has eaten a chicken masala on the extreme rare occasion. Therefore, what I write about that flavour should be taken into account more than for the other.

I thought the masala chicken variety is the best of the two. It has a stronger flavour in contrast to the blandness from the teriyaki flavour.

It also had a nice spicy after-kick that complemented the crisps. Coming from somebody who dislikes spicy food, I am surprised I preferred the Indian-inspired crisps from this head-to-head.

Discount Codes And Contrasts

I received a discount code from Waterstones a few days ago, so I thought I would use it today for Christmas shopping (yes!). I encountered a problem when I attempted to check out the four books I purchased, though.

As you'll see below, the entire order came to £61.97. I added the promotion code but was informed none of the titles were eligible for the discount.

I reread the email with the code and, fair enough, I had misinterpreted the point of the discount. It was to get twenty-five percent off titles due out in 2026. 

Only one of the books in my basket was a preorder. That also wouldn't have been eligible for any money off because it comes out next week.

So - the order would have been £61.97. 

I headed over to Amazon and added the same books to my cart and it came to £44.21.

Even if I had the Waterstones discount, it would have still been £2.27 more than Amazon ended up charging me.

I don't really know what I am trying to grasp here other than Waterstones could have had my custom had it opened the discount further than titles scheduled for 2026. Instead, I went with Amazon and saved myself a little over a couple of quid.

With all that said, I looked at two books in the 2026 range in the quest for balance.

One was £20 from both businesses while the second was £9.99 from the two sites. So - the discount offer does give Waterstones - and obviously its customer - an edge over Amazon. For now.

More News About Hatton Comes In

When Ricky Hatton's passing was breaking news, I couldn't shake off the feeling that he died by his own hand. The cause has been confirmed as such today.

It was the tone of some of the people brought onto the news channels to talk about the boxer. I sensed it wasn't going to be an accident, illness or simply not waking up in the morning.

Hatton's death was always tragic, but today's confirmation punctuates it further.

One of the things highlighted by the aforementioned people on the news coverage of Hatton's passing was a need for after-care to be provided to retired boxers. I'd go so far as to say all sorts of athletes should be cared for in some fashion once their career ends because I would surmise there's a comedown, of sorts, once the peak days - of that part of their lives - are in the rear.

I cannot shake off the fact that Ricky had a fight on the horizon. I worry something happened in training that made him realise he wouldn't have been able to go. But, that's just me trying to make sense out of this.

Such a very sad end for someone who gave his all in and out of the ring.

Another Hit At Colts Trivia

It's a lot of miss, and rare hits, when it comes to the days when I get trivia questions on my Indianapolis Colts page-a-day calendar.

Today was another hit, though. And - added to the fact that I also scored a win last week  - I believe it's safe to say I am in the midst of a rare good run.

A rare good run. You know, just like the real Colts are doing so far this season with their surprising and very unbelievable 5-1 record to start their 2025 campaign.

Today's page reads 'On this date in 2000, what Colts player posted the first 200-yard rushing game in franchise history when he gained 219 yards and scored three times on 38 carries at the Seahawks?'

I blurted out 'Edgerrin James' before I flipped the calendar over to see the correct answer.

Now it's time for the additional trivia content of today's post brought to you courtesy of my database.

The week seven game saw the Colts as six-point road favourites. The final score was 37-24 to the visitors.

As you'd guess by that scoreline, the totals result flew Over its line of 44.

Another Betting Angle Starts Off Perfectly And More

I was keen to see how the two Monday Night Football results from yesterday would play out. Both ended up as I hoped.

From a point-spread perspective, that is.

As highlighted in one of the chapters of my book - Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2025 - this season will see six teams return from bye weeks to play in a Monday Night Football fixture.

Last night's games saw the first eligible selections for '25 in the form of the Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears.

In the case of Atlanta, their last week and a day was spent preparing for a visit from the Buffalo Bills. The Falcons were priced up as underdogs for their home game. They did  more than cover the spread. They won outright with a score of 24-14.

The second MNF offering of the night saw the Bears as road dogs for their trip to Washington. A game-winning field goal ended the meeting with a 25-24 score for the visitors.

I played both selections in a betting contest. At the time the entry was placed, the Falcons were +4 and Chicago were +4.5. However, by game time, the Bears had risen to +5.5.

The other selections I had in the contest went 2-1 with winning plays on Pittsburgh -5.5, who won 23-9 against the Browns, and Miami managing to cover the four-point spread despite losing 27-29 at home against the Chargers.

The one in the week's 4-1 result was thanks, or rather no thanks!, to the Detroit Lions. I had them at +2.5 against Kansas City. 

The Chiefs won 30-17 as home faves.

Buy Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2025

Tortoise. Backwards.

A question on an episode of The Weakest Link, which was playing in my living room yesterday evening, was a bit of an eye opener.

I cannot remember how it was worded, but it went something along the lines of:

'Which book by Roald Dahl is tortoise backwards?'

'Esio Trot!' I shouted out.

But, it wasn't because I knew the answer. It was simply due to the fact of remembering there is a tortoise on the book's cover.

I looked the book up online shortly after I returned upstairs. Esio Trot is possibly the only Roald Dahl children's book I haven't read. Not because I was too old for it, when it was released in September 1990. 

I feel there's a good reason why I haven't read it. 

The publication date coincides with the month I first started high school. The primary school I went to was all-in on Roald Dahl. After all, us Cardiffians consider him one of us because he was born, and spent part of his childhood, here. 

I strongly believe that, had I still been at junior school when this book came out, I would have known more about it. Well, that's my defence anyway.

Dahl died a few months after I started high school. As I sit here, I am wondering how my old junior school would have dealt with such news. I have no doubt in my mind that the staff and pupils would have done a magnificent tribute to him because of how much his work was a part of that place. My love for Dahl's work will forever be credited to both the infants and junior parts of my old school. 

Anyway - back to last night's realisation. Why, oh why, did it take thirty-five years for me to figure out that Esio Trot is 'tortoise' backwards!?

One thing I'm going to have to do is read Esio Trot when I get a chance to. I'm absolutely adding it to my 'To Read' list that currently has the Booker Prize shortlisted novels, a biography about Gorilla Monsoon, a Japanese novel I quite fancy and - OBVIOUSLY! - all the Stephen King novels I have yet to read in my quest to cover his entire bibliography. 

I believe I own a physical copy of Esio Trot as well, which makes me not having read it all the more surprising. 

Yep, I do. I've just checked the shelf. On the list it goes!