An Experimental Wager On Today's Premier League Games

I have placed an experimental wager on today's trio of Premier League games.

You'll soon realise exactly why I used the term 'experimental'.

Instead of going with my gut instinct, or proper research for that matter, I asked three AI assistants for their predicted scores. I then compared and contrasted the results in order to decide what to bet on.

AI predictions for Brighton .vs Aston Villa

Microsoft Copilot has forecasted a score 2-1 to Villa for their trip to the seaside. However, both ChatGPT and Grok are calling for a 1-1 draw.

My pick: Both Teams to Score

AI Predictions for Manchester City .vs. Bournemouth

All three AI services are predicting a victory for The Citizens. Copilot has the home side winning 3-0 while the other two expect the visitors to get at least one goal with ChatGPT guessing a scoreline of 3-1 and Grok going 2-1.

My pick: Over 2.5 Goals

AI Predictions for Newcastle .vs. Liverpool

2-1 to Liverpool was the consensus score selected by all three programs with Copilot offering that 'Liverpool have the higher win probability (50.3% vs Newcastle's 25.3%). Newcastle at home will make it competitive, but Liverpool's attacking depth should edge it.'

My pick: Liverpool 2-1 Correct Score

How I'm Betting

I've placed the three selections in a Patent bet. This way, I get to have three singles, three doubles and one treble.

How It Went

Rubbish.

The only winner, of the three, came in Manchester City's 2-1 winner over Bournemouth. The game needed an injury time goal, for the home team, to send the score Over 2.5.

Brighton shutout Villa 4-0, ruining the both teams to score bet while Newcastle and Liverpool drew 2-2. The latter didn't come close to being a 2-1 away winner for the Reds. Newcastle went 1-0 up, then Liverpool equalised. The home team made it 2-1 up before their guests tied things up with a late penalty.

Infantino's Bald Banter

There is a somewhat hysterical exchange between FIFA President - Gianni Infantino - and Sky News correspondent, James Matthews, doing the rounds on social media today.

The reporter caught up with the controversial Infantino in the Dominican Republic. Matthews initially asked 'have you betrayed the game of football?' relating to a plot to sell stakes in the World Cup to big businesses.

Infantino's response went like this:

You have a nice haircut

Matthews continued to seek a reasonable response to his questions, as Infantino headed towards his getaway car. Infantino's parting words:

See you at the hairdressers

By the looks of both men's pates, it'll be a long time before that happens.

NCAA Football Coming To Disney Plus In The UK?

At the risk of jumping the gun - it looks like American college football will stream on Disney Plus, here in the UK, this season.

Here's what comes up if you type 'NCAA' in the search box on the platform.

Great news for yours truly. I'll get to continue watching the Texas Longhorns led by Arch Manning in what could be his final season before declaring for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Last year, I consumed college football on DAZN. As of the time of writing, there are two Boston College games listed on its 'Live and Coming Up' menu. The first is for their trip to Cincinnati, scheduled for September 5th. Then there's a visit from Rutgers, which will stream live at 12:30am on September 12th. 

I hope College GameDay is part of the DAZN or Disney+ overage for 2026.  Searching for the programme on the former leads to previous editions from earlier this year. Typing it into Disney's platform leads to a 'No results' message.

Mr T's Netflix Documentary Premiere Date Set

I'm excited to see the Mr. T documentary that's coming to Netflix in a few weeks.

Even though I was born in the late 70s, I grew up in the 1980s. Therefore, I was there during Mr. T's boom period. It was obviously gigantic in the US, but us here - in the UK - got to experience it on a smaller scale. However, it was a scale nonetheless.

One of the things I'll always recall is having to go to a hospital appointment because I had allergic reactions to certain colours in food and drink. The person carrying out the test on me had to write letters on my arm and would prick my skin with a needle to see if it caused a reaction. 

As the person wrote the letters on my arm, they said I was going to 'look like Mr. T with his tattoos'. Even to my young self at the time, that didn't make sense for many reasons. They also did the 'you'll be brave like Mr. T' schtick as they punctured me.

By the end of the 'experiment' I thought I was a brave Mr. T (upon reflection, considering my surname, I legitimately was a brave Mr. T!) and begged my mother to keep the ink on my arm for as long as possible.

Ironically, my allergic reaction to food and drink colourings wasn't triggered by Mr. T's Knockout Punch - a bright blue drink my parents bought me for the Soda Stream machine we had in our kitchen.

I loved that drink. I mentioned it ten years ago, when I revisited Soda Stream machines.

Those are two random examples of Mr. T having a somewhat significant part of my childhood memories. I haven't even covered The A-Team, Mr T's cartoon, Rocky III, a yellow Mr T watch my dad bought me from the Sunday market.

I could go on. Especially considering how Mr. T was a significant factor in the WWF's early rise. 

So - yes, I will absolutely tune in to see the documentary once it hits Netflix in a few weeks.

When is the Mr. T documentary coming out?

Mr T: I Pity the Fool, a documentary which is part of Netflix's Untold series, will premiere on Tuesday September 8th 2026.

Netflix claims the feature will reveal 'the full story behind the mohawk, chains and catchphrases from the man himself'.

Goodell Does It Again

One of the NFL's old chestnuts has reappeared ahead of the new season.

I came across a quote by NFL Commissioner - Roger Goodell - yesterday. He was once again hyping up the possibility of the NFL having a fulltime franchise outside of the US.

The American football head claimed that he is in 'no doubt' about such a prospect happening in the future.

With that said, let's look at a quote from the past.

The above image is of a headline from the Sky Sports website. It was published on 21st July 2014. Back then,  Goodell claimed that London had a good chance of having its own NFL team 'within 10 years'.

It is now twelve years since that assumption was made. London still doesn't have its own NFL team. I'll be fair, though. There was a pandemic sandwiched in-between that period which might have added more time to Goodell's plan.

This sort of lip service pops up every single year, in the days leading into an International Series game. That's all it is. 

Take it with a pinch punch of salt. It'll never happen.  

It gets people talking. 

And - as you can see here - bloggers blogging.

Watching The Keffe D Trial

Thanks to the Internet, I've been able to catch a lot of livestreams of big US trials over the years. I now get to watch one that I've, if you think about it, been waiting almost thirty years for.

I'm, of course, referring to the Keffe D trial. He's being charged with the murder of Tupac Shakur.

Even though I'm following along, I cannot shake off the suspicion that this is a trial of convenience.

The alleged shooter - Orlando Anderson - denied doing so when 2Pac's murder was being investigated. Anderson was killed two years later. So, even if he did murder Shakur, Anderson obviously cannot be charged with the crime.

Four other people were in the car with Anderson that night. Only one remains alive - Duane 'Keffe D' Davis - who was Orlando Anderson's uncle.

He's the one and only person who can be brought to justice here. Even if he didn't pull the trigger.

In Keffe D's 2019 autobiography, Compton Street Legend, the author took credit for orchestrating the hit on Shakur. I surmise it was that chutzpah which led to his 2023 arrest.

Davis' defence is arguing that the content of the book was exaggerated. I suspect the team will do enough to argue that point resulting in a 'not guilty' outcome.

Still A Rookie

How bloody stupid of me

Those were the last few words I wrote in my journal before heading off to sleep last night. There was a good reason, nay - a bad reason! - why I scribed such a thing.

Ahead of the weekend, I placed an online grocery shop. I didn't need to get anything for Oreo, but noticed Morrisons had a £3 for 3 offer on some treats. As I added the items, I noticed Lily's Kitchen food. I had bought Oreo their Halloween special last year (he didn't like it), but thought I would add the 'Sunday Lunch' to my order just to give the company another shot. 

Seeing as yesterday was Sunday, I thought I'd give Oreo the food. I prepared it in haste because I had to catch the final night of the G1 Climax. I put everything together and laid it out for my feline friend. 

Oreo came up to me shortly after I put the food and water down. He meowed a few times. That wasn't unusual. I assumed he was simply thanking me for giving him something new.

'Result!' I thought.

Later in the day, when I went to give Oreo fresh food, I noticed he hadn't really gone all-in on the meal as I had hoped. I had reminders of the failed attempt at the pumpkin food from Halloween, so I gave him the remainder of the Sunday lunch meal but added some wet duck on top.

No result. Oreo refused to even sniff at it. Something was amiss.

Wondering if I was in the minority, with a cat who seemingly dislikes Lily's Kitchen products, I headed online to read product feedback.

The first review was positive. Their dog loves Lily's Sunday Lunch.

Yes, you read that right. 

Dog. 

D.O.G.

Or D Oh Double G to those who know. 

Seeing as I'm spelling things out, I'll share with you the letters that first entered my mind as soon as I realised what I had done.

S. 

H.

I.

T.

I rushed down and pulled the packaging out of the bin. Yes... I had given Oreo dog food!

Remember when I wrote about Oreo meowing at me shortly after I had given him his food? He was likely telling me 'that isn't for cats!' 

Or something worse.

Upon realising my mistake, I threw out the food and fed Oreo some of his favourite wet food. I had to. You know, to make up for the rookie error.

Oreo has now been with me for four years. I'm evidently still learning the ropes.