Top Bananas

Congrats to Nick Hogwood winning his first scudetto and almost £200 for the season – Nick moved up 3 places to edge out non mover Will Oppong in second and Week 13 winner (and the week’s highest climber!) Tony Bowley in third. Matt Davies’s “Best Correct Score of the Season” (unlucky Barrie R!) helped put him in 4th just above long term leader Neil Meredith in fifth by virtue of 5 more correct scores (there’s always the PAS Cup for Neil or will it be time for a verse of “I’m Forever Blowing Doubles”?). Jon Allin, Mark Fawke & Danny Ashworth all fell a few places to take up 6th,7th & 8th respectively and Ben Hogwood and Dave Nicklin stayed put in 9th and 10th. It was nice to have a member of the PAS Board in the prize positions cos I’m not gonna mention who finished in the “ouch” slot….

Spotters

Gareth Morgan got just reward for his fine BotW in 13th, Janine Ryan made use of several people doing her scores by claiming 17th (unfortunately just outside the Euro 2008 qualification spot though – more later…) Jazz Sian probably had his worst season ever but still managed to win some money in 27th (congrats/envy is due to Jazz as he has now officially passed the £1,000 prize money barrier – amazing!). Howard Thomas plugged away landing on 32 and John Williamson is what PAS is all about (sending in scores all the way from Japan!) persevering to get the last money position on 42nd.

European Adventure

Jon Tofeili dropped nicely into 16th position to take the last slot for PAS Euro 2008…here’s the boring, but essential bit – Top 16 it’s a fiver to play Euro 2008 – let me know if you don’t want to play – I’ll take your entry fee from your prize money if you actually won some. ANYONE ELSE who wants to join us in Switzerland/Austria has to pay a tenner and certain rules apply – let me know if you’re interested asap!

Wooden Spoon

It went to the wire (kind of) but in the end Martin Stafford refused to let go of the spoon he won last season and will now have another to remind him of his shame!

PAS Cup:

Can Neil Meredith salvage something from a promising season? Will Mark McDowell be the PAS Cardiff and upset the form book? All will be revealed on May 22nd… don’t worry you’ll all be kept in the loop, willingly or not!

Thanks for you participation once again, we couldn’t do it without you – it all starts again in September – you WILL be emailed!

Cheers,
Pab.

Luca Toni:

Good news: Gareth Morgan 28 (4) has broken the record for the all-time lowest winning week – congrats my Kentish friend £20 to you!

Bad news:

At the start of the season my foolish Kentish Sp*rs friend bet me £20 that his lot would finish above my lot – I’ll take that £20 then yeah?!

Darren Moore:

Woe is a Citeh fan – Andrew Chesworth 9 (0) probably feels a bit like Sven at the moment…

Correct Score of the Week :

In a very bad week for predicting scores not one person gained any bonus “goal” points this week – surely another first… anyway, Olly O/Anthony Y got Dundee Utd’s lucky draw at Motherwell, Olly O/Gareth M/Ciaran McG got West Ham’s lucky draw with the Toon, Tim B/Jamie S/Dan R got Villa’s lucky draw at Evington and Anthony Y got Gretna’s creditable draw at Killy.

This week’s best correct score though goes to Matt Davies for his prediction of Liverpool’s lucky draw at Brum.

Bet of the Week:

An absolute disaster from start to finish – be gone Will O! Going into the final week we find ourselves £18.75 down – over to the Sp*rs man to sort it out…

Table News:

Neil Meredith has a 4 point lead but any of the top eight could win it – highest climber unsurprisingly was Gareth M (+11) – and down the most was Mark McD (-8) – to qualify for Euro 2008 you need to be where Tim B is for automatic involvement – Anthony Y is off the bottom 2 points clear of Martin S who in turn is 3 correct scores above bottom placed Ben McKeown.

Cheers,
Pab.

Just Like A Dream:

In a season of doubles, Will Oppong 38 (6) collects his second weekly win of £20. Nice one Willo you are a Black Star!

Weston Super Mare:

Nice to see a Sp*rs fan getting it in the neck in these current times – Anthony Yearwood 8 (0) you’re just like the Arse!

Correct Score of the Week:

4 people got Blackburn’s 1-1 vs the Champions, Will O got a creditable Falkirk 0 Gretna 0 and best of the week goes to Olly Osmond for his Inverness CT’s 3-0 defeat of Killy

Bet of the Week:

Now had this come in (Jesus, I hate the Huns!) I would’ve taken full credit but as it stands, Matt D let us down with his ridiculous bets, so we’re £13.75 down with two weeks to go – Will O is up next to try and bail us (me) out…

Table News:

Neil Meredith has had his lead cut to 3 points in a pretty static Top Ten – highest climber was Wayne C (+12) – falling furthest was Anders H (-12) – to qualify for Euro 2008 you need to be where Mark G is for automatic involvement – Martin S is off the bottom 2 points clear of Anthony Yearwood

Cheers,
Pab.

Grinding Out A Win :

Close call this week (again). Tim B missed out by 2 points and Greg E missed out by one correct score. Matt Davies 36(7) sweeps up the £20 but I reckon he’ll have to lend it to Sven if you believe what you hear…

Playing Nice Football :

Should’ve been Mr 2-0 but somehow Wayne Connolly 10(0) managed to under-perform him.

Correct Score of the Week :

6 of us got Cardiff and 8 got Liverpool. Janine R got Pompey’s 0-0 and this week’s best goes to Anthony Yearwood for his M K Dons 2 Wycombe 2

Bet of the Week:

Boo! Nick H lost again -£8.75 down. Over to Matt D…

Table News:

Will he do the double? Neil Meredith moves 7 points clear of Nick H at the top with a Cup Final to look forward to. Highest climber? Tim B (+14) Furthest faller? Neil B (-11). Euro 2008? Tim B is where you’ve got to be for automatic involvement.

Will he do the double? Martin Stafford is making a valiant effort to avoid his 2nd spoon in succession, now only 2 points behind Ben McK.

Cheers,
Pab.

2-0 down, 3-2 up!:

A pretty random week again (see Mr 2-0 for confirmation) predicting-wise and it went to the wire for the weekly prize. Thanks to her beloved local team winning 4-0, Clare Nevin 32(5) just about edged out the other Hogwood from turning into a family thing and Anthony Y from bragging from here to kingdom come despite his team getting walloped by the only team that Derby have beat. So, £20 to spend in a Belfast cocktail bar Clare – bottoms up!

That Brum City penalty:

A bit like the Arse, his has gone as well – Will Oppong 14 (1) limps in with his first bad week of the season

Correct Score of the Week :

Scant. Clare N and Anthony Y got the Man Yoo masterclass and Julian F took time off getting 0-0’s to land Coventry 3 Plymouth 1. However this weeks award and now best of the season, goes to Barrie Riding for his Charlton 2 Wolves 3 prediction. I’m not happy…

Bet of the Week:

Grrrr! Only ’that brilliant team at home’, Ipswich let our Norwich friend down this week – we are now £10 down – time for some luck o’ the Irish Clare!

Table News:

Will O is still there but his lead has been drastically cut to 5 points – highest climbers are the Marks J Brown and Seels (+8) and the furthest fallers mark McD/Steve T (yes, he actually sent some scores in!)/Dan R (-9). Mr. 2-0 (booooo! He’s still there dammit!) is where you’ve got to be for automatic Euro 2008 involvement and Martin S is now a long long 14 points from wooden spoon avoidance.

Cheers,
Pab.

Mustard:

Norfolk in way! He’s racking up the money and weekly wins – Nick Hogwood 40 (7) collects his third prize of the season and crashes into the Top 5 to boot. And obviously hacks off his brother at the same time. And Ben A and Neil M cos they were pretty close too.

Tractor:

Ahhh, bless! Our fave girl from Cymru (after Charlotte, natch) always asks for a mention and she’s ended up here again… nevermind, Lisa Grey 10(0) has got the memory of the grand slam to soften the blow…

Correct Score of the Week :

10 got a feeble Celtic score, the nil all tip continues apace – Julian F & Gareth M got Bolton v Man City, 4 got Southampton v Coventry (inc. Julian F again!) and Martin S got Hearts v Falkirk. Quite unbelievably, Jazz S got Wolves 3 QPR 3 but so did John W! That left Ben Alder to take this week’s best correct score with Blackburn 3 Wigan 1

Bet of the Week:

Both Nick H & Wayne C (unluckily) failed in their quest and the PAS betting forum finds itself back in familiar territory – the red. By £5. Nick H can make amends this week though…

Table News:

Will O stays top and keeps his 14 point lead. Ben A is up up up and Lisa G is very much on a downer (again) Mr. 2-0 (booooo! don’t let it happen!) is where you’ve got to be for automatic Euro 2008 involvement and Martin S swaps places with Anthony Y again at the bottom.

Cheers,
Pab.

“There Was Something In The Air That Night”:

You can tell it was another bizarre week (or was it?) cos Mr 2-0 scored exactly the same as some people who actually bothered to submit scores (i.e. me! Grrrrr!) – so, top of the bizarros this week were another pairing – stand up Nick Hogwood & Wayne Connolly 37 (6) – you is winners! Of £10 each! A lite bite @ Delia’s and a Roman stab vest the priority purchases then?

RVP:

Ahhh, bless! Our fave girl from Cymru (after Charlotte, natch) always asks for a mention and it always ends up here – nevermind, Lisa Grey 12(0) has got the grand slam to soften the blow…

Correct Score of the Week :

9 got QPR, 8 got Aberdeen, 2 groups of 3 continued in the invigorated thrill of getting a 0-0, the Fernandez brothers & Jon A got Dundee Utd and Rich L got a very commendable Darlo 3 Grimsby 2. However, top dog Will Oppong has this week’s best score with Fulham 1 Everton 0

Bet of the Week:

Dave N has officially wiped out our profit – starting from scratch in Week 7 will be Nick & Wayne…

Table News:

Will O stays top and doubles his lead to a Jazz-esque 14 point lead. Unsurprisingly, Nick H climbs highest and Lisa G falls furthest. Mr. 2-0 (ahem) is where you’ve got to be for automatic Euro 2008 involvement and Anthony Y swaps places with Martin S at the bottom (albeit alphabetical!)

Cheers,
Pab.

European Glory:

You already know dontcha! Gretna was called off again (thanks Neil T/Jazz S) so the spoils are shared between Will Oppong & Dave Nicklin 39 (6). Will will probably put the tenner towards a girdle for his “dodgy” back and Dave will probably start the “Kelvin Koogan Out Now – We Will Pay Money!” campaign…

Another Potless Season:

Mr 2-0 had an Elm Street (at last – ha!) but even worse, John Williamson 9 (0) managed to score the same but actually submitted scores. Like his team, after the Lord Mayors show…

Correct Score of the Week:

A bumper week had by most – 5 got the Arse, 9 got Man Yoo, 5 got the Baggies, 6 got the Teddy Bears, 4 got the Scousers and 4 more got the other Scousers. Will O and Jamie S got a commendable Falkirk 0 Motherwell 0, Neil T and Dave N got a jammy Darlo 3 Brentford 1 and Julian F kept up his speciality 0-0 spotting with Man City-Wigan. (drum roll please) As you probably noticed and groaned when it came in, I had West Ham 0 Chelsea 4 and therefore am best in show. Never underestimate a wounded animal even if it’s fat…

Bet of the Week:

…unfortunately I couldn’t deliver on the money front – both bets were well short so I hand over to Will & Gra, Dave, to improve on our showing profit of £10.

Table News:

Will O goes clear at the top closely followed by Danny A and Mark F. Dave N makes a spectacular splash into the Top Ten and Ben H benchmarks where you have to be to be invited into the European Championships. Neil T, Andy C and Tony B make great strides up and Jon T, Neil M and Greg E go impressively the other way. Anthony Y hauls his carcass off the bottom only to be replaced by another of his ilk in John W. Mr 2-0 and his cronies fell way more than any other. So there.

Cheers,
Pab.

Sleep – dontcha just love it!

The Big Apple was sweet – I have calf muscles made of steel and big bags full of shopping and under my eyes – anyway… Week 4 will conclude tonight as Gretna v Dundee Utd was moved(?) from Saturday for some reason which is just as well as it’s a very close week at the top!

A Gretna win will see the weekly prize shared, a draw will give it to Will O and an away win will sway it Dave N’s way. Oh, Mr 2-0 is having a mare btw so if you didn’t submit any scores, then you is a fool…

The Week 5 scoresheet is also the PAS Cup Quarter Finals – attention now kids – EVERYONE has to fill this in and send it back (got that Greg?!)

The Cup draw has been made – “home” boys don’t forget your “joker” (it can be any of the 30 games) and please be double aware, these scores count towards the league as well but any bonus “joker” points do not.

Now for the light entertainment…

NYC – the facts

1. When it’s cold, it’s cold. Northface never made more sense…
2. Homefries and eggs for breakfast is the bomb!
3. The streets of Manhattan are really clean – looks like that “real rain” finally came Travis..
4. US telly should be renamed US ads with bits of programmes in between
5. Saks is the best dept store if you like expensive things served by gay people.
6. Schezuan International the best Chinese in town has gone! I shed a tear…
7. Lombardi’s the best pizza in the world has changed from a homely little restaurant in 2001 to a full on “chain” style eaterie 5 times the size. I wept, but the food is still gorgeous.
8. The “Soup Nazi” is real.
9. The “Top of the Rock” (Rockafeller Centre) is officially better than the Empire State – don’t go up when it’s really windy and cold though cos the very top bit is “open” – whoo, scary!
10. There’s hardly any fat annoying loud people in NYC but they’re really rude to make up for it
11. The food is fab – from any hotdog stand to the top notch eateries
12. If Duane Reade isn’t one of the richest peole in NY I’ll be amazed – don’t ever arrange to meet “by Duane Reade’s on the corner” – there’s about 15 million of them.
13. Mr Starbuck is running close second..
14. If you’re going to buy electrical stuff from the numerous discount stores do your RRP homework first – I didn’t and I’m sure I’ve been done over even though he gave me “like, a 50% discount…”
15. You cannot get the football scores off the telly
16. Virgin is still called Virgin
17. If you have been clubbing for a while and want to see what the (NYC) kids are into, go into Abercrombie & Fitch – it’s dark (the shutters are all down – it looks closed from the outside), loud (I’m talking house at “club” volume!) and full of the young & beautiful (about 5 sales people per customer all chatting to each other, posing and not really working). It’s really disorientating and you can’t really see the clothes, which is just as well cos the latest “distressed” line is a bit rubbish..
18. You could really eat and drink like a king in the deli’s
19. Flying business class (we got upgraded on the way out!) makes premium economy seem like standing on one leg in economy. I may quit flying now while I’m ahead..
20. If you haven’t been, go!

The Dignified Croatian:

In a week that saw my team possible blow up in all competitions for the secod time in two seasons, a welcome restbite was winning the £20 weekly prize – my fellow Gooner may well be feeling like the world is against him as he lost out by one point (I’ll buy you a pint at the Boro game Anders!) $40 for me to spend in NYC then, more of which later…

Wenger & Gallas:

He will claim to care less, but Anthony Yearwood 12 (0) put in an old skool Spurs-like performance

Correct Score of the Week:

Seven of us got Plymouth’s 3-1 mauling of Burnley and that was it really! CSotW goes to Martin S for his Dundee Utd 0 Falkirk 0

Bet of the Week:

We stand at £15 thanks to a dodgy penalty and the Championship throwing up yet another freak result at the Hawthorns – me next!

Table News:

Mark Fawke tops the table from the two Jon’s, I get the highest climber award and land in 10th – Anders H, Howard T and Greg E make significant moves whilst Wayne C goes the wrong way the most followed by Gareth M, Andy C, Dave N and Tim B. Anthony Yearwood goes bottom and I can only laugh while he’s still Carling Cup giddy…

Cheers,
Pab.

“…best team in the land and all the world”:

It went to the wire but Jon Tofeili 41 (7) will be the only person smiling on Tyneside this week as he just shaded Mark J B by a point. Well done JT, I promise your £20 winnings won’t be as late as your payment ; )

Joey:

More misery in Geordieland as Ben McKeown 17 (1) notched up another black n white striped nightmare…

Correct Score of the Week:

Nine of you got Spurs’ canter at Derby, Anthony Y/Stephen P/Mark G got the stalemate at Sheff Utd and Jon A & Danny A earnt 9 points each with QPR’s 2-3 win at St Mary’s. However, correct score of the week goes to Julian F for his “yep, with hindsight it was sooooo obvious” Chelsea 0 Liverpool 0.

Bet of the Week:

Mark F was first up and eventually sent his Forest/Egypt/Arsenal treble through (to the wrong e-dress!!!) so we’ll, ahem, scrap my selections and say we’re £20 to the good, which is typical as no one got a chance to lump on…

Table News:

You’ll see from the table you can now see if you went up or down each week and it saves me typing out an elaborate, witty, well thought out email every week that no one reads (lucky you eh?!)… Our man in Dubai is top and our man from Wigan is bottom…

Cheers,
Pab.

“…give him the ball, and he will score!”:

In a truly horrendous week getting 20 or over was some achievement (I mean, even Mr. 2-0 managed it… Yeah, that bad) so lets doff our caps to Mark Fawke 41 (6) who managed to guess his way to the first £20 of the new season. Well done Drazic, £20 towards a League Cup Final ticket? Ooops, sorry, my mistake – you haven’t even been to White Hart Lane let alone Wemberlee…

Rugby:

Organising this can sometimes be a chore especially when you don’t win every week or get 10 (0) – fortunately my misery wasn’t fully compounded as Neil Templeton 9 (0)managed to predict even worserer (yessssss, I know that’s not a word but it sounds better doesn’t it – it’ll make him feel really bad ha ha ha…)

Correct Score of the Week:

Half a dozen of you got the City’s first home defeat of the season, a magnifique seven got the Scousers annoying 3-0 win, Neil M & Mark McD got Colchester 2 Sheff U 2 and, you can see how he won now, Mark Fawke got QPR 3-0 v Bristol City and Watford’s 3-0 against Wolves – who cares what’s the best, it’s not gonna last is it…

Bet of the Week:

Mr Fawke is first up with his selections – we’ll make it a bit easier(realistic?) this season – give us a treble to bet a fiver on Mark!

FYI:

You’ll see from the table you’ll need to finish in the Top 16 to qualify for Euro 08 – it’ll be a fiver in (there’s some prize money already there!) and you’ll be “allocated“ a team each that may earn you more points – all fun, and even the “outsiders” can get a piece of the action for a mere tenner…

Cheers,
Pab.