Double Gaffes

Today's Wordle word is 'GAFFE'. I couldn't figure it out, when I played in the early hours of this morning, but - upon realising what the answer was - I rolled my eyes.

Typical. The word 'Gaffe' popped up mere hours after I found out I had made a couple of gaffes of my own.

My friend reached out yesterday evening and alerted to me to some mess ups I made in Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual.

Coincidentally, they both appeared in one section of the the chapter for this week's fixtures.

While writing about tomorrow's game between the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons, I wrote that the Ravens 'parted ways with Jim Harbaugh after eighteen seasons'.

Those who follow the NFL are sure to know exactly where the screw up is in that line. Jim Harbaugh was not a head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. That job was his brother's. Yep, I typed 'Jim' instead of 'John'.

There's no excuse. However, I think there could be a mild reason why Jim Harbaugh came out instead of his sibling. The new Ravens head coach - Jesse Minter - had worked under Jim at the University of Michigan and the Los Angeles Chargers between 2022 and 2025. It must have been a subconscious 'don't mention Jim' thing... which led to me mentioning Jim.

Either way, that was one big:

The second mess up was a simple typo. I can back it up. I wrote the Atlanta Falcons' head coach's name as 'Kevin Stevanski' when it's actually 'Kevin Stefanski'. I know that. I've written it the correct way at least two other times in the book. 

My friend suggested it was likely because the V and F are close to each other on the keyboard. That's a fair excuse. Still, it's an embarrassing:

At least I haven't written 'San Francisco ho' as I did last year. 

Denver's Ugly OT Win And Picks For Rest Of Week 6

'That was an ugly win,' was the first thing I thought when the Denver Broncos scored an overtime field goal last night. As if to punctuate my opinion, Kirk Herbstreit said something along the lines of 'that wasn't pretty.'

Either way, it was a win. A win is a win is a win. And all that.

Playing Denver in football contest

I was happy with the result because I opted to take the Broncos +2.5 as one of the five selections in the spread contests I play in. I went against my rule of not taking a side in Thursday night games.

The reason why I opposed my self-appointed ruling is because of some of the things I liked about the game, when I researched it earlier this year.

Was Denver the correct play?

While writing Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2026, I found the Broncos had gone 14-9 overall and 7-4 at home against the spread whenever they've faced current Super Bowl Champions.

As well as that, I liked the fact that the bookies had cast Denver as home underdogs in a situation where they had a straight up home record of 8-2 (80%) against Seattle between 1995 and 2024.

Seahawks .vs. Broncos head-to-heads since 1995 (before last night's game)

Those home stats now obviously improve to 9-2 (90%) straight up at home against the Seahawks. Denver will now have a 1-0 (100%) record in the home underdogs section.

All of the information for that game, and every other fixture of the NFL's 2026 regular season, can be found in the latest edition of Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual.

The Remaining Week 6 NFL Contest Picks

For those interested to know, the other four selections in this week's entry are:

• New York Giants +1: The Giants are 7-4 SU at home against the Saints
• Arizona +12.5: Mainly a play on the double digits but also factoring in the Rams are coming off a Monday night overtime game and are facing a head coach who knows them well in Mike LaFleur. The Cardinals are also 15-10 (60%) ATS at the Rams. Eighteen of those games were as underdogs. They own an 11-7 (61%) record in covering from those meetings.
• Las Vegas +5.5: Just like with the Cardinals, I'm fading the other team in Monday's OT game (Bills). 
• Dallas +1.5: Another situational play. This time, I'm backing the Cowboys because they are returning to action following a Week 5 Thursday game. The Packers, on the other hand, beat their rivals - the Bears - on Sunday. The head-to-head history doesn't paint a good picture for the Cowboys, so this sure is a troublesome pick and one I wouldn't put real money on.

Buy Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual

A Ghostbusters Christmas

A little over a week ago, I came across a story - doing the rounds - which indicated that a new Ghostbusters movie was in the early stages of development.

Ohh, I thought. Especially after I saw its rumoured title.

Ghostbusters: Nightmare on 34th Street

I might be jumping to conclusions, but the subtitle teases the movie is set around Christmastime. To speculate further, that would make it eligible for A Diet of Christmas Films should the project progress 

It won't be the first Ghostbusters movie to have that time of the year as a setting. Kind of. The first sequel of the franchise was set during New Year's Eve celebrations with the team having to stop New York City from being overcome by slime with the help of.. the Statue of Liberty.

If it goes ahead, Ghostbusters: Nightmare on 34th Street will be the sixth movie in the franchise. That number includes the female reboot from 2016. The most recent instalment - 2024's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - was not received well by many.

'What's In The Tin?'

Take a look at this.

I'd like you to guess what it is in the tin.

I'll tell you further on down this post. No cheating!

Almost there!

If you had guessed cat food, you'd be VERY WRONG.

If your prediction happened to be tuna with mango and chilli, you are correct.

I had this intriguing food item yesterday evening after finding it whilst doing my online shop at Asda last week.

Mango is one of my favourite fruits. Tinned tuna is my favourite kind of 'fish food' as funny as that may come across. 

It was a perfect match. Throwing in chilli - one of my least liked food items - had the potential to ruin the experience. However, it didn't, In fact, I thought the kick - brought on by the chilli - was one of the most enjoyable parts of my evening meal.

I'm definitely going to buy another tin when I next order from Asda. There are other flavours in the range. They are:

• Lemon and Thyme
• Chilli and Garlic
• Sun-dried Tomato

I might give the rest a test drive sometime in the near future.

These tuna cans might not be a new thing. I rarely venture further down the Asda page, when looking for tinned tuna. I often find what I want in the early results. These products are, as of the time of writing, on the sixth row. Hence why I have only become acquainted with their existence.

Halfway

As of right now, I am halfway through the 2026 Booker Prize shortlist. 

I finished reading the third novel last night. The next one will be randomly selected sometime today.

The 'Booker Prize Marathon' post for this year will go live as soon as I've completed all six of the titles. However, I have a feeling I've read what will be the winner.

No spoilers.  Not yet, anyway.

We'll know for sure in twenty-seven days.

The Incident At Yorkshire Wildlife Park

I was stunned early on Saturday evening when I came across the footage of a man inside the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

I sensed it wasn't going to end well. For obvious reasons. My fears became a reality shortly after that when I caught the news an hour or so later.

Over the past couple of days, I've read some horrific takes by people on social media. Some claim the tiger should be put down. Then there are others calling the man names. 

In my opinion, the tiger did what is natural. It attacked what it considered to be its prey. As for the comments about the victim, the reasonable conclusion to make is he wouldn't have placed himself in a situation like that had they the capacity to judge the danger he was creating for himself. Empathy should be conveyed here. Not ridicule. 

It's a terrible situation for all involved.

Eagles @ Jacksonville In London (Again!)

The Eagles versus Jaguars has just kicked off.

Jacksonville are the designated home team, but have been booed by the seemingly heavy Philadelphia fan contingent at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Looks like it's going to be one of those games. (I wrote that sentence before the fight thirteen seconds in).

I have Philadelphia to win straight up in the ESPN contest I play in each week. I've also selected them in ESPN's against the spread contest. They're +6.5 in that.

The Eagles are 5-3 (63%) straight up from all eight times they've played the Jags.

Philly are also 1-0 (100%) straight up and against the spread from their previous visit to London. Their opponents on that 2018 day? None other than this week's opponents.

The tables appear in my NFL handicapping book - Taylor's Pro Football Gambling Annual 2026. You can read more about it by following THIS LINK.