Neighbours Week (Day 7): After Neighbours

It has almost been two days since Channel 5 aired the finale episode of Neighbours and - as I have been writing about the Australian soap for a week - I thought I would use day seven to write about some of the other things I enjoyed about the closing instalment.

I covered the returns of Charlene Robinson, Scott Robinson and Mike Young in yesterday's post, so - for today - I'll like to concentrate on other highlights from the episode. Before I do, though, I want to repeat once again: Guy Pearce's return as Mike was the best part of the final two episodes.

Other things came close.

While Susan was doing her closing monologue, I was surprised to see Phil Martin at the street party. I had no idea Ian Rawlings, who was a regular in the series from 1992 to 1999, was coming back. 

As soon as I saw him, I couldn't help but laugh. The reason why is because, maybe this is ironic, one of my neighbours looked like Philp Martin back in the '90s. I'm happy to report that they STILL look similar!

It wasn't just Philip Martin's appearance which surprised me. 

Earlier in the episode we witnessed the returns of Natalie Imbruglia, Holly Valance, Margot Robbie and a plethora of other actors. However, it was the unlikely returns of certain characters which made it all the more of a viewing spectacle.

As Susan spoke about Ramsay Street, but more specifically - characters who couldn't come back, the camera panned to a few former regulars that passed away in the soap's storylines over its history. This gave the actors who played them the opportunity to appear in the final scenes as ghosts.

We once again got to see Madge Bishop (Anne Charleston) back together with her husband - Harold - for one last time. Sitting at the table, also as a ghost/image in Susan's mind, was Doug Willis (Jason Donovan's real-life dad, Terence, who was in the show for four years between 1990 and 1994, but made sporadic appearances after that).

Madge and Doug weren't the only ghostly returnees. 

Susan mentioned characters who were 'just lost' and then popped up her nemesis, Finn Kelly, who was killed off in 2020, but returned a year later in scenes in which saw Susan still haunted by the baddie.

Sonya Rebecchi, who passed away from ovarian cancer in heartbreaking scenes in 2019, was reunited with her son, Callum, and daughter, Nell in the sequence.

There was also a comeback by Hendrix Grayson, played by Benny Turland, who was written out a little over a month ago. 

Hendrix will go down in Neighbours trivia as the last character to die in the soap's history.

Following Susan's speech, the episode eventually faded out with Susan and Karl Kennedy as the last characters we'll see on screen. The credits fittingly had other pictures from the soap's history starting with Helen Daniels (Anne Haddy) and her son-in-law, Jim Robinson (Alan Dale), who were the main two characters in the programme's early years.

Once the credits, and theme song - which was a medley of all of the songs that have been used over the years - had ended, the final thing shown was a thank you message to the fans.

And that was it. 

Home and Away will now move into Neighbours' slot on the TV schedules here in the UK. That means my own schedule will change slightly after Neighbours. I might even revert back to watching Home and Away's premiere episode a day before it lands on Channel 5. 

All this talk about 'schedules' made me think back to the days of Neighbours on BBC 1. 

My life, back then, went by the 'After Neighbours' schedule. Everything seemed to happen once it was 6PM.

Homework, baths, showers, getting ready for cubs, scouts, youth clubs, nightclubs, or simply hanging out with friends. All those things were done... After Neighbours.

Neighbours Week (Day 6): Initial Thoughts After Watching The Finale

I am a little over forty minutes removed from watching the final episode of Neighbours as I sit here at my computer with - other than the words I've just written - a blank screen.

How am I meant to write about what I've just watched with so little time before my intended 12AM BST cut-off to send the blog out live?

The finale was a fitting way to call time on Neighbours. 

One of the things I wrote about, after finding out about the show's cancellation, was my concern about who would have the final words. I had argued it should have been Karl or Susan Kennedy because they had the longest tenure. The important monologue was performed by Susan (Jackie Woodburne). However, there was little-to-minor dialogue said by Scott Robinson (Jason Donovan) and Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) as the scenes started to close out. 

It was fitting to see Stefan Dennis do the opening voiceover considering his character of Paul Robinson was there from episode one and was a major part of the series with a few-year gap  sandwiched inside his reign.

As for the episode itself, and in my humble opinion, the star - among the many stars who showed up to celebrate this closing special - was Guy Pearce.

Pearce's character of Mike Young, who left the soap in 1989, returned in the penultimate episode to set up the rekindling of his love for Jane Harris (Annie Jones) which played out in the finale.

Jane takes Mike on a trip through all of the houses in the cul-de-sac. In a way, I could see these brief scenes with Mike acting as the fans - both old and new - being shown around for one final time. 

It was really cool to see Mike back at the home he shared with Des and Daphne Clarke. But, that wasn't all. 

It was even cooler to see Guy Pearce once again share screen time with Paul Keane, who reprised his role as Des for the finale.

The most famous couple in the soap's history also made their appearance mid-way through the episode. 

Scott and Charlene Robinson returned to Ramsay Street in a green Mini. The choice of vehicle was a nod to Charlene's exit from the soap because she did so in a green Mini she had christened 'Willy' as in 'Will He Go Or Won't He?'

Oh, and guess which song was playing when they made their reappearance - none other than 'Especially For You' by Jason and Kylie.

(It should have been 'Suddenly' by Angry Anderson).

Those weren't the only nods to the history of Scott and Charlene. 

Charlene stopped at the open window of her old home. This was significant because it's where she first met Scott because she was trying to enter the house through the window, Scott thought she was a burglar and pulled her out only to get a punch in the face for his trouble.

It didn't seem as though Guy Pearce was on set the same day as Jason and Kylie. Their characters were reunited, but it was done through trickery.

Jane met up with her former schoolfriends while Mike was still on the street. The scene then cut to Mike realising that Scott and Charlene were also in town. He ran to embrace them.

The scene then cut away before we were able to witness the four musketeers as one for the first time in over thirty years.

Clever camera directions was also performed in part of the closing sequence to give the impression that Mike was with Jane, Harold, Paul, Scott and Charlene as they overlooked the street party going on below them.

As you can see, in the images both above and below, Guy Pearce does not share any shots with Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue in one of the final scenes of the soap.

Even though I noticed it, I think it's worth overlooking it just for how special it was just for these iconic characters to be back for one final time whether they properly shared the stage together or not. They still did due to the efforts of the production staff, who should also be honoured for all their work over the years.

So, yeah, as already noted - Guy Pearce's return for the final two episodes makes him the MVP of the final week of Neighbours for me.

With that said, there were some other returns in the finale which stood out. 

But that's a story for tomorrow.

Neighbours Week (Day 5): The Best Comeback

Today is the day. At 9PM BST, Channel 5 will air the final-ever episode of Neighbours.

As you've probably figured out, if you've read the other posts in my Neighbours Week, Neighbours was something I enjoyed watching as a child. I was young when the programme was at its most popular here in Britain. 

My following of the show was briefly halted in the 2000's. However, there was a renaissance many years ago when I began to watch it again following its move to Channel 5.

One of the things which kept me glued in each weekday was the return of some of the characters from the past for brief stints. I thought it was quite fun to see how some of those names again. I was even more pleased to see characters come back as regulars. 

With a handful, and then some, of old characters coming back tonight, I am bound to be in my element. With that said, their returns come with the knowledge that it'll be for one last hurrah.

As you can see, the TV magazine - which came with one of last weekend's editions of The Sun - has Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan on this week's cover to honour the final episode of the soap.

In years from now, people will look back at Neighbours and they'll point to the returns of Charlene and Scott Robinson as being one of the most iconic returns to the soap.

I'd like to argue that, in my opinion obviously, the greatest comeback in Neighbours history is Harold Bishop's.

Harold, who was lost at sea in 1991 (I believe), returned five years later under a new name of Ted after suffering amnesia from his accident. He eventually regained his memory and became good old Harold for many years afterwards. Ian Smith, who plays Harold, returned a few weeks ago for the final run to the finish line.

Harold's mid-1990's comeback will always be number one. An honourable mention has to go to Jim Robinson's ghostly return during Christmas of 2018, though.

In tomorrow's post, I'll share my immediate thoughts after watching tonight's finale.

Neighbours Week (Day 4): Cards

Over the past couple of days, I've written about the merchandising opportunities that arose when Neighbours became popular over here int he 1980's.

In today's post, I have another thing on my mind: Neighbours trading cards

As you can see, just like with the others things I've written about this week, there is a market for the Neighbours trading cards on eBay. 

One of the things I fondly remember from my early days at junior school are the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards which were very popular back then.

They were produced by Topps. Each packet came with a stick of bubble gum.

Years later, when Neighbours was close to its peak, Topps released Neighbours trading cards. Just like with the Garbage Pail Kids, they also became fairly popular in the playground.

But, here's the thing - they were TOO popular. I saw children with the cards in my school. However, I could never find them in any of the shops I would go to on the way back-and-forth to school each day.

The search concluded in a different country.

Yes, you read that right.

Back in late-1988, my mother took my sister over to Ireland to buy a communion dress. My mum and sister returned home from that weekend away not only with the dress, but also with packets of the Neighbours trading cards for me.

The only thing I can remember from those cards is the reverse of the one with Harold Bishop's face on it said that the actor who portrays him, Ian Smith, appeared in 'Prisoner'. 

It was around that time when Prisoner Cell Block H was airing on late-night TV over here, so I was obviously interested to find out that somebody from Neighbours was in it.

Looking at eBay, it seems that there were other editions of the Neighbours cards produced. I can only recall the ones which came in the purple packets with the pink Neighbours logo.

Just like with the sticker album, I didn't complete the collection. Not surprising considering the difficulty I faced in finding packets over here.

Neighbours Week (Day 3): The Sticker Collection

In yesterday's post, I wrote about how The Sun newspaper jumped on the Neighbours boom within Great Britain by launching a Neighbours-themed competition 

It wasn't the only thing The Sun latched onto.

As you'll see below, I've had a look on eBay to see if a Neighbours sticker album, which was published by The Sun,  is on there. It is and it's going for a ridiculous price.

£20 for that!? I got mine for free. But it came with some disappointment along the way.

You see, back when The Sun launched the Neighbours sticker album, the newspaper gave away free books. In order to get one, I had to collect coupons inside the daily newspaper and then bring them to a newsagent once I had saved up enough.

Once I had cut out and collected enough of the numbered squares, I glued them onto the form (which was also cut out of the paper) and took it to a local newsagent. 

I asked the old lady who owned the shop if she had any copies of the Neighbours sticker album. She told me she hadn't and that she would 'look out for it'. 

I returned to the shop the next morning. I asked again. Still no. I then visited again after school. Same result. 

The process repeated each and every school day. For weeks. The piece of paper with coupons glued to it remained in my mother's purse for the time when the sticker book was finally on the shelf of that shop.

And then it was there.

I rushed outside the shop and to my mother who was walking me home from school. I asked for the coupons and she handed them to me.

Returning to the shop, I grabbed the book from its shelf and walked up to the counter. The lady I had pestered for weeks was sat behind the counter waiting for me. I handed her the sticker book and then parted with my coupons. I was finally going to be an owner of the Neighbours sticker book and my collecting could begin.

To quote Lee Corso from ESPN College GameDay: Not so fast, my friend.

'What's this?' asked the shopkeeper.

'It's to get a free copy of the sticker book. It's from The Sun.'

She read the small print on the coupon. Importantly for her, I am sure she came across the part which told the retailer to give the person the book and The Sun would reimburse them for the loss.

'I don't do that.' She told me.

And that was that. She handed back the piece of newspaper with the coupons and I put the book back on the shelf.

I still think about that anticlimactic build-up every time I am reminded of the lady and her shop. Sure, she probably had a right to refuse the 'sale', but it wasn't as if she was going to lose anything. She simply didn't want to be bothered having to deal with the process of reimbursement. Had it been me, and I had seen a child come into my shop twice a day for weeks asking for something, I would have happily handed the item over. Even if you want to look at it from a business decision - that child was going to have to come back to the shop, again and again, to buy stickers for the book!

This story ends happily ever after. Sort of.

I was able to find a shop with the album and managed to use the coupons to get a copy. As for the collecting - well, I didn't manage to complete the book.

Neighbours Week (Day 2): Games And Competitions

In yesterday's post, I wrote about how popular the Australian soap opera - Neighbours - was with the British public in its early years.

Whenever something becomes hot, there is an opportunity for merchandising and other forms of synergy. Neighbours was no exception.

Sometime in 1988, a Neighbours-themed board game was released. 

The first time I played it was at a schoolfriend's home. 

I went to his place for dinner after school one day. To start off, he showed us a videotape he had received from a relative in Australia. It was an episode of Neighbours. Back then, the BBC was eighteen months behind Australia when it came to airing the programme. Therefore, my friend and I had the opportunity to watch an episode with characters that hadn't debuted over here.

It was the first time I got to see Todd and Katie Landers. I vividly recall seeing them visiting Paul and Gail Robinson's home.

That's really all I can remember about that particular episode.

The video wasn't the only thing my friend's relative had sent him. He was also given The Neighbours Game. 

Going by memory - in the game, each player gets a handful of cards with certain character names and situations. It is then their job to create a storyline using the character and situation cards.

For example - one of the players may have been dealt cards with 'Harold Bishop', 'buys a plant' and 'gets sent to a nursing home' and then they could have used those three cards to build up a sentence for a storyline when it was their turn to add their plot to the game board.

I've had a look on eBay as I'm writing this post. Boxes of the game are on there.

I ended up getting my own Neighbours Game back in 1988. There was something different between my edition and the one my friend had direct from Australia.

As I've already noted, we were eighteen months behind Australia. Therefore, my friend's edition contained names of characters yet to appear on our screens. Mine, on the other hand, only had characters that were on UK screens.

With that said, it was a fun game. Thinking about it, it's the kind of game that I would even enjoy playing nowadays. 

There is one other 'game' I can recall from Neighbours' British Boom. 

The Sun newspaper ran a competition in which readers were given a list of characters from Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm (it was before they dropped 'Farm' from the name!), Eastenders and - possibly - Brookside.

The aim of the comp was to work out which characters/actors from Britain would be perfect to play already established characters from Neighbours.

I remember only one person in my entry.

I had Cy Chadwick, who played Nick Bates in Emmerdale Farm, as my pick to portray Scott Robinson in Neighbours.

Chadwick had the blonde hair and was close to the same age as Jason Donovan. I thought it was my best selection.

As noted, I cannot remember any of the other people I had in my entry. 

It should go without saying I didn't end up winning that competition. But, I'd be very surprised if Cy Chadwick as Scott Robinson was not on the winners' list.

Neighbours Week (Day 1): Working Out The First Time I Watched Neighbours

With the Australian soap opera - Neighbours - ending its run after thirty-seven years later this week, I thought I would dedicate a week of posts to the programme.

In today's post, I'll discuss how I came across the series and how its popularity grew here in the UK.

***

I'll go out on a limb and say that the first time I ever watched an episode of Neighbours was sometime in 1987. 

The programme first started airing on the BBC on October 27th 1986 (thanks Wikipedia), so I am sure it would have been months afterwards.

With the programme only showing on weekday afternoons initially, I think there was a good chance that I watched my first-ever episode while off school with sickness. Either that, or it was during a school holiday.

The reason why I suggested an illness is not something I came up with without thought. I recall a few days - in 1988 - when I was off school with a fever and had Neighbours on in the living room while I was nearly out for the count on the living room sofa.

I was already a fan by 1988, though. 

I remember the announcement that Neighbours would be repeated at 5:35PM to allow schoolchildren, and other people who couldn't watch the first daily airings, to follow all the goings on in Ramsay Street. The second airings began in early January of 1988. 

Therefore - it absolutely must have been '87. 

Another way to try and work out when I first came across Neighbours is to cast my mind back to the earliest characters or storylines I can recall.

The first character I can remember seeing was Shane Ramsay. That's quite a coincidence seeing as he has recently been brought back for the final few weeks.

Shane - or maybe Jim Robinson - was in a relationship with a pregnant lady named Zoe. By the time I was following the programme daily, the character of Zoe had departed.

A quick look online (thanks again, Wikipedia!) states that Zoe Davis was in the series from January to September of 1986. With Britain a year-plus behind Australia, the estimation that 1987 was the first year I came across Neighbours seems spot on.

As I noted, the episodes were repeated at teatime from January 1988. Nearly every person I knew at school were fans of it either by then or shortly afterwards.

Ratings for Neighbours at that time were huge. According to Wikipedia, the peak number came in on January 26th 1990 when 'over 21 million viewers' had tuned in combined for the afternoon and early evening airings.

Curious, I looked at the Radio Times archive to see what was going on in the soap on that particular day. It read:

Todd and Katie are on the move again. Nick and Sharon mend their broken relationship

Todd Landers and Nick Page were two of my favourite characters back then. With that said, I have no idea why that episode drew such a big number. 

Before writing this post, I had been under the belief that the wedding between Scott and Charlene (Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue) was the biggest recorded figure for a Neighbours episode on the BBC. 

The ceremony, which took place in Episode 523, brought in 2 Million viewers when it aired in Australia on July 1st 1987. To contrast, the same episode had an audience of 19.6 Million when Britain had its chance to watch it in November '88.

I know that the TV industry has changed a lot since then. However, looking at the ratio between Australian and British viewers back then, it's not difficult to understand how important Britain was to keeping the soap on the air as long as it did.

Pop Goes The Hardware

A few weeks ago, I was on the hunt for a new mouse to go with my laptop. One stood out because I liked its colour.

The Pop mouse is part of Logitech's studio series. I'm not really a mouse kind of person. I am usually happy going for a cheap wireless one that uses an adapter in a USB slot on my computer. However, I thought I would go down the Bluetooth route once again (I had an arched mouse with my Microsoft Surface over five years ago).

I do not regret shelling out the extra bit of cash. It works a treat. There is no noise when it is clicked and the scroll button is great.

One of the things I was not really interested in when I read up about the mouse before I purchased it is the emoji button. The user can click the button and it works as a hotkey for emojis. You'll need to download the software to make all the adjustments.

If I were to click on the mouse right now, I will have a menu of emojis, GIFs, Kaomojis and symbols literally at my fingertip. 

I don't plan to use the software to choose one particular emoji to use. I'm happy with the menu so I can pick and choose at that particular moment. Like now. Let's see what I can do:

🥸💀🐶😒😂❤️👍🎶🥶🤣🤐

There tons to choose from.

Earlier this week, I was admiring the look of the mouse and texted my friend to tell me about it. I explained Logitech's Pop range and noted to him that there was a keyboard that would go with the mouse.

I told him I had no intention of buying the keyboard even though - as I pointed out when I was talking myself out of buying one - it would look cool to be together with the mouse.

Famous. Last. Words.

Twenty-four hours removed from talking about the keyboard, I decided to purchase one. It arrived on Friday afternoon.

Just like with the mouse, it is Bluetooth compatible and you can use it on up to three different devices. The emoji gimmick exists on the keyboard as well with the ability to use the most often used expressions on the right hand keys.

There are even additional emoji keys inside the box just in case the user wants to have differing emojis at hand.

Unlike the mouse, which is 100% Bluetooth, the keyboard also has a USB adapter for anyone who may want to use the keyboard in the regular wireless way.

I have only used the keyboard for a little over twenty-four hours. I love the way the keys feel as I type with it. 

It feels old school like I am using a typewriter or something. It will take a bit of getting used to, though. I noticed that I made a fair amount of typos. That isn't abnormal. I often make typos when I type fast (especially when using a new keyboard).

As you can see in the picture above, I have both keyboard and mouse working together by flipping my laptop over. 

Just like with the mouse, the keyboard can also be attached to up to three other devices. I've sent texts with it on my iPad. 

It was easy to set up with both my laptop and iPad. All I needed to do was enter in an on-screen code which, pardon the pun, popped up at the pairing stage.

I've looked at the online reaction to both the mouse and keyboard. One of the surprising things I've noticed is that some of the reviewers I've watched dislike the yellow and black 'Blast' colours and have opted to go with the 'Daydream' colours which come in a lilac, green and yellow. In my opinion, it is second-best, I like the colour scheme I have with these two items.

Check Out The Logi Pop Mouse On Amazon UK

Check Out The Logi Pop Keys Mechanical Keyboard on Amazon UK

Vince McMahon Retires As WWE Chairman Amidst Sexual Misconduct Allegations

Vince McMahon has retired as chairman of World Wrestling Entertainment.

It's fair to assume that the decision was forced upon McMahon due to the recent investigation which saw the WWE's board looking into sexual misconduct allegations that were made against the chairman.

I genuinely didn't think I would see the day when McMahon walked away from WWE. I morbidly thought the changing of the guard would have taken place upon McMahon's passing.

I've been a fan of professional wrestling since I was a child. I was one of those British kids that started following the World Wrestling Federation during its first boom period in the 1980s. I have followed the product ever since.

Vince McMahon's vision is what hooked me to his promotion back then. It's that same business which has intrigued me, both positively and negatively, ever since.

It feels really weird knowing that things - on the surface - appear to have changed. However, I cannot shake off the feeling that we haven't seen the end of Vince McMahon. 

Maybe that's denial on my part?

In his press release, McMahon subtly pointed out he'll continue being a majority shareholder. I surmise that sentence existed for stock purposes. To me, it still came across as if he has power and influence in WWE even with his chairman role now in the hands of his daughter - Stephanie McMahon - and Nick Khan.

Database Done For Another Year

I have just finished working on my NFL historical betting results database for another year.

Or have I?

This week was spent filling in all the results from the 2021 season. Not only just the scores of games, but also what the point-spread and totals were (as well as their results).

I now have 2001 to 2021 covered. I have more data at hand that I'd like to expand further back than 2001 and I will get there eventually.

For now, I am going to sit back, use the database for betting during the 2022 season, and then see how that goes.

I always said this project was going to be long-term...

Days After The Heat

It has just gone 10AM as I begin to write this post.

The weather is a heck of a lot cooler than it had been the past few days. That isn't saying much, however. There is a nice breeze coming through my window, though.

I get the feeling that there is another hot spell on its way. Hopefully, it's more bearable than a couple of days ago.

How insane was that? Tuesday was officially the hottest day in the UK on record. It was like Armageddon seeing all the fires burning on the news.

The fire brigade even said that it was the harshest day they had experienced since World War II. Imagine that one for a moment - World War II!

Season Handicap Betting 2022/23

I placed my annual season handicap bets yesterday, so thought I would share with you what I've gambled on.

If you've ever read one of the Season Handicap Betting posts in the past, you should be aware that I often take a special approach to picking the teams. This involves using the season guides that appear in the Racing and Football Outlook newspaper as well as using my spreadsheets.

When I bought the RFO issues last year, I noticed the write-ups had changed significantly. This meant that I had to change things up. I have expanded on that in 2022 and decided that - for now - I will no longer use the Racing and Football Outlook to help me.

The method I will use going forward is to simply use the average points per position that I have always done and then simply put each team in the order they appear in the betting. Therefore, if Team 1 is the favourite it will go at the top. The team at the foot of the market will obviously be added to the bottom of the table.

With all the teams added to each list, I join up their handicap points to the average points that are accumulated for the respective positions and then sort the list to see which teams are near the top.

For example, in League Two - the team which has finished top has done so with an average points tally of 88. In the betting, Stockport County is favourite to win the league and has a zero points advantage over the other teams in the season handicap market. Therefore, 88 + 0 = 88 for Stockport.

League 2
Stockport turned out to be the top team when I applied all the average and handicap points to the League 2 predictor. Next up, behind Stockport's 88 points, is Bradford City which has 86 points (84 average points per its predicted 2nd place finish and +2 for the handicap).

I'm not picking either Stockport or Bradford in my bet. I'll explain why below.

League 1
Another favourite found its way to the top of the League 1 season handicap predicted table for 2022/23 with Sheffield Wednesday having 94 points (94 is the average for the first place finishers and the bookmakers have given the Owls a zero-point head-start).

Championship
Yet again, there is another team with a +0 head-start sitting atop the prediction table. In this case, Norwich (93 points predicted finish) is above Watford, who are on 89 points (87 predicted finish for a second-place team in the Championship plus +2 head-start).

Premier League
The Premier League predictor gave me more interesting results with Newcastle and Everton both at the top of the division with 90 points apiece. The bookies have given the former a handicap of 31 while Everton gets 44.

Manchester City is in third (or second if we consider the top two to be a tie!) with +0 added to the eighty-nine points average that the top team in the Premier League has averaged over the past few years.

My Bets

This approach may need to be tweaked once again. I dislike taking a handful of teams with zero points for my each-way bets, so I've opted to handpick one of the top four in each league.

For League 2, I've gone for Salford City +3. I couldn't help but go for the ten point start for Portsmouth in League 1. I've selected Norwich with the +0 in the Championship and then - in the Premier League - I think it was worth taking the +31 with Newcastle.

Here are the final picks. I've put them in an each-way single and also done them in a small stakes Lucky 15.

League 2: Salford City +3 18/1

League 1: Portsmouth +10 18/1

Championship: Norwich +0 18/1

Premier League: Newcastle +31 15/1

Just like all other Season Handicap posts in the past, I always close by pointing out that I do these annual wagers for fun. I lose a lot more than I have ever won doing them. The main reason why I do them is to have something to keep tabs on during the season for, as they say, entertainment purposes.

I aim to return to this topic next summer once the seasons have concluded.

Heatwave!

Here's something I hadn't seen on my PC before yesterday.

Sure, I haven't had the local temperature on the Windows taskbar for that long. 

Seeing 'Record high' was referring to Wales recording its highest temperature to date. The 37.1C in North Wales beat out a record of 35.2C which was recorded in August of 1990.

I am in the south of Wales, but - trust me - I would not be surprised if we were in the mid-30s yesterday.

As I sit here now, at 8:38AM BST, the air is warm. The forecast is warning of another day like yesterday. I have just asked Siri for the forecast and they've said to expect the temperature to reach 31C.

It's going to be a hot one. Hot. Hot. Hot.

Rating Drink Powders IX Redux

On July 1st, I published a ninth edition of the 'Rating Drink Powders' series that I've ran on this blog since the middle of 2021.

In the post, I wrote about my experience sampling Starburst's Fruit Punch drink powder. At the time, I was a few days into a Covid outbreak and realised - in the midst of writing - that I could not taste the drink at all.

I think it's only fair to redo the post now that my smell and taste have returned. Here goes.

Well, it does have have a flavour that I didn't taste back when I had lost the two senses. However, there isn't THAT much of a difference.

It still tastes more watery than flavourful. 

I'm going to have to give it one star. I'm really surprised because Starburst's Blue Raspberry drink is my favourite of all the drinks powders I've ever tasted. 

It's disappointing. I expected better due to the high opinion I have on the blue offering from Starburst.

Looking at it from a positive point of view - at least it tastes better than it did on July 1st!

Zeros To Heroes 2022

In yesterday's post, I reintroduced the Zeros to Heroes NFL betting idea I like to write about ahead of an upcoming season.

What I do in these bets is take a look at the finishing order of each division from the previous season and then pick out the teams that (1) finished fourth and (2) hired a new head coach in the off-season.

I then gamble on those teams to win their division in the following year.

My idea has not performed well in recent years, but I have continued to place these small wagers as something to root for as the season is in progress.

I have taken a look at the 2021 results and pinpointed three of the eight teams which finished at the bottom of their leagues with new head coaches. They are:

New York Giants
The Giants are 8/1 to finish atop the NFC East with their new head coach - Brian Daboll.

Denver Broncos
The Broncos have brought in Nathaniel Hackett following the dismissal of Vic Fangio. Not only that, they have also signed Russell Wilson as quarterback. They're 5/2 to be division champs.

Jacksonville Jaguars

The Urban Meyer experiment turned out to be a costly one for the Jaguars. After firing Meyer, the Jags now have Doug Pederson in charge. An AFC South division win will pay out at odds of 7/1

My Bets

I've gambled on each team individually and have also included all three in a patent.

Zeros To Heroes 2021 Results

I was recently sorting out the Zeros to Heroes NFL betting idea I like to write about each year and realised that I hadn't published an update following the end of the 2021 season. So, here goes.

The idea behind the Zeros to Heroes wagers goes like this: I back teams to win divisions. However, each team I pick must have (1) finished at the bottom of the division in the previous season and (2) hired a new head coach in the off-season.

Five teams were eligible to bet on using those two prerequisites. All five failed to win top their division.

Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons brought in Arthur Smith, but finished third in the NFC South.

Detroit Lions
The Lions once again finished fourth in the NFC North. They had Dan Campbell in charge.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Going into 2021, the Jaguars lined up Urban Meyer as their new HC. It was a sink or swim decision. Ultimately, it turned out to be the latter. The office ended up firing Meyer after once again finishing in the dungeon of the AFC South. Spoiler alert: The Jags are eligible for a bet to win the division in 2022.

NY Jets
Robert Saleh was unable to improve the position the New York Jets held in the AFC East once again finishing fourth.

Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles came the closest out of the five teams I bet on. They closed the 2021 in second place of the NFC East after bringing in Nick Sirianni to replace Doug Pederson.

I'll return tomorrow with a look at the teams I've backed to win their respective divisions in 2022.

View The 2022 Edition Of Zeros to Heroes

White Helmets With Tiger Stripes

You can tell the NFL season is on the horizon when the most random news story pops up and I get fairly excited.

In last night's case, it was finding out that the Cincinnati Bengals are planning to play using white helmets with tiger stripes this year.

The team's colours are orange and black. Their helmet is orange with tiger stripes to play into the 'Bengal' name. 

I love the idea of the team occasionally playing with in white with tiger stripes. 

The new helmets have been given the okay by a new rule which has allowed teams to produce new designs for the headgear. 

Houston was the first team to take advantage of the new approach by the NFL and has unveiled a 'Battle Red' helmet which will be worn when the team meets the Philadelphia Eagles on November 3rd.

Unfortunately, the Bengals haven't published any pictures of the white and tiger striped helmet. Yet.

Not In A G1 Mood (Yet)

New Japan Pro Wrestling's annual tournament - the G1 Climax - begins over the weekend.

Usually, I would be hyped up for the month-plus of wrestling action. However, I am not feeling it just yet.

I've looked at the start times (in BST) of some of the events and I don't know if I can really push myself to wake up for 6:00AM, or even 7:00AM, starts. 

There are four early ones this year.

I haven't looked at the matches that are scheduled for the dates with the early starts. If there's a match, or matches, that I think I'll enjoy - I might set the alarm. If not. I'll simply watch on demand once I've woken up.

In 2021, I watched all but two of the shows live. One kicked off at 6:00AM while the other started at 8:00AM.

Neighbours All Over The News

I keep seeing, and hearing, news stories about the final episodes of Neighbours.

Just this morning, as I was making breakfast, I heard the theme tune playing. I don't know where it came from, but I surmise the programme was being discussed on Lorraine.

Pictures of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue's returns as Scott and Charlene Robinson have also been released. Not only did I see them in online news articles, it also made television news broadcasts. 

The end of the show is big. I already knew that. However, I think it'll become even more grander as the finish line becomes even more clear.

There's a little over two weeks left. 

Serendippity

I bought a box of Serendippity Peanut Butter Stix with one of my previous Costco orders.

They are sticks, with peanut butter inside them. Each package comes with some raspberry jam to dip the sticks in.

As you can see, the jam was not just your run-of-the-mill jam. It looked posher than regular raspberry jam you would find with other products (think doughnuts).

The only complaint I have is the sticks were fairly brittle. My first 'dip' saw the stick break off inside the jam.

The packaging states that it's 'Made in Greece'. I don't know how popular it is over there. All I know is I hadn't heard of it until I saw them for sale on the Costco website.

Now that I have sampled a few packets after my initial test, I have to answer the obvious question.

Do I like Serendippity? Yes, I do. Would I buy them again? I doubt it.

Playbook 2022 Has Arrived

I've just received today's mail. Look what came with it.

It's Marc Lawrence's Playbook annual for the 2022 pro and college seasons.

I purchase these yearbooks each and every summer. If I'm not mistaken, this is the twelfth year I've found a way to ship the title in from the United States. This one took a little less than a week to get here.

They're one-hundred percent the best American football guide when focusing on the sport from a betting perspective.

I now have close to eight weeks to get myself even more prepared for the new season. This book will come in handy. As usual.

9 To Go

If my calculations are correct - nine weeks from now, I'll be getting ready to watch some NFL

We are now in the zone where you can count down the weeks until the season starts on your two hands. To be fair, we've been in that zone for over a week already. It's just that I am late to that realisation.

All good, though. I'd rather be late than early when it comes to looking forward to American football.

The Very Faint Line

It was looking so good.

I had taken a Covid test to see if I was finally negative. 

With five minutes to go, before my fifteen minute timer went off, I had a sly look at the test. The C line was red. The T line wasn't. 

Or so I thought.

Once the fifteen minutes were up, I checked the result. Same as it had been during my peek. 

Until I looked closely. 

There was an extremely faint line next to the T. They say that any kind of line is a positive result. This was the narrowest of lines I've ever seen in all the tests I've done to myself and family members over the past couple of years.

Even my camera couldn't capture it. You have to look hard to see it.

I'm sure it'll come back negative when I next have a test.

The Attempt

Just like I wrote the other day, I don't regularly cover politics on this blog. I certainly don't write about foreign politics. However, I felt I had to today.

I woke up to see people on Twitter responding to what was - at the time - called an 'assassination attempt' on the former Japanese Prime Minister - Shinzo Abe.

Hours later, it was revealed that the attempt turned out to be accurate. Abe had passed away from the injuries sustained in the attack.

The video I saw was quite shocking. Especially if I didn't know what I was going to see (I hadn't when I clicked on it). One minute the former PM was standing in front of people delivering a message, the next came what sounded like a mini cannon going off. The camera didn't catch anything else beyond that booming sound.

Anyway, I looked further into it and saw the weapon that was used. I couldn't help but think that it looked like a hand-made gun that was created in a prison movie I watched many years ago. I cannot even recall the film. It could have even been from a television series. 

Such a devastating device. 

Harold Bishop Returns (Again)

One of Neighbours' most iconic characters returned yesterday.

Harold Bishop, played by Ian Smith, is back for the final few weeks of the Aussie soap opera.

In my opinion, Harold is one of the best characters the show created. He was there for the series' huge wave of popularity in the 1980s. Then he was around for the mid-to-late 1990s right through to the late 2000s and made guest appearances after that. 

 It's fitting that he's back for the denouement and not just in for an episode or two like I expect some of the other legends are doing.

British Politics In The Mud

I rarely write about politics, but I feel like I cannot escape it this morning.

It feels like we've been bombarded by Boris Johnson news for an eternity. It looks like this could be it. But, I thought that the most recent scandal.

And the one before that.

Don't think I'm focused on the Conservative Party. Labour is just as bad.

I cannot recall a time when British Politics was as shambolic as it is right now. It seems like wrong people are in wrong jobs. 

I'm sure some of the great leaders of our time are rolling in their graves.

15-1

If you read yesterday's post, you would have got the hint that I had bet against Joey Chestnut to once again win Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.

12/1 for 'The Field' was just too good a price to turn down. Even against someone who is considered the GOAT of his.. err.. sport.

He won. I lost.

This now makes it fifteen victories in the annual July 4th competition. Crazy!

Dog Day

It's July 4th today. You know what that means.

For the past few years, I've woken up on America's Independence Day in my home - 3,438 miles away - and wondered 'is today one of those days when the GOAT is taken down?'

I am of course referring to Joey Chestnut who consistently wins Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every July 4th.

He is currently on a 14-1 run since first winning the competition fifteen years ago today. His only loss, in those years, came in 2015.

As of this afternoon, I've seen one sportsbook offering 'The Field' as a 12/1 underdog to Chestnut. Good odds.

If you're looking for an upset, that is.

MITB 2022 Thoughts

I watched WWE Money in the Bank last night.

It was a pretty good show. The best match of the night was the tag team contest which saw The Usos retain their titles over The Street Profits.

The worst match, without any doubt as far as I'm concerned, was the opener - the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. Far too many dangerous and botched spots.

Liv Morgan and Theory won the Money in the Bank briefcases. The latter wasn't even advertised for the bout ahead of time.

Morgan cashed in her title shot against Ronda Rousey and became WWE Smackdown Women's Champion. Ronda had just beaten Natalya.

Now the question is this: will Theory's cash-in be a successful one? 

About Yesterday...

If you read yesterday's post, you would have seen that I sampled a Starburst drink powder and realised that I may not have been able to taste it properly because I had lost that sense due to currently being ill with Covid.

I wasn't sure if it was Covid, or if it was the drink not being flavourful. Well - I now know it's the former because I noticed that I couldn't taste anything else after writing the post.

It's quite scary not being able to taste things. I hope this doesn't last long.

As for the Starburst powder from yesterday - I'm going to have a redo once things are hopefully back to normal.

Rating Drink Powders IX: One More Punch

I bet you didn't think you'd get to read another Rating Drink Powders post so soon after the eighth edition just a couple of days ago.

Well, this isn't really your usual Rating Drink Powders post because I only have one flavour to try out today.

I have tasted everything I've wanted. All I have left is Starburst Fruit Punch.

Seeing as I have only the one to try, I'm going to test the flavour live.

I've just put the powder into the bottle. It has made the water a dark red colour. It's now time to taste.

Hmm, I don't taste anything. I don't know whether or not this is because I am currently ill with coronavirus but I have been able to taste other things...

This is really off-putting because I cannot taste a thing. It just seems like red water. It absolutely cannot be Covid because I've been able to taste up until now.

I'm going to have to wait until another time to give this flavour a rating. It does not seem right that I cannot taste something from a brand that offers my favourite ever flavour of a drink powder in its blue raspberry offering.