Stan Hey: 6-5 Against

Friday 25 September 2009 15:43 EDT
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I hate to sound like Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction but, according to Proverbs xxvi, 11 "as a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly". And lo, Sunday sees another Singapore Grand Prix a year on from a startling act of corruption. Punters can't exactly claim the moral high ground but we can keep our money in our pockets when a sport stinks.

Turning to the NFL might not seem an elevation in the week that the Super Bowl-winning wide-receiver Plaxico Burress got two years' jail for firing his gun in a nightclub.

But the sport's misdemeanours are heavily policed by its commissioners so players know where the lines are drawn.

Without these circumstances eyebrows might have been risen last week when eight of the 16 games produced home defeats. Injuries and rustiness played a part. But the NFL's draft system, in which the worst teams get first pick of college players, keeps the sport vital.

Take Mark Sanchez, the rookie quarter-back for the New York Jets, who has notched two straight wins. Tomorrow he faces a test when the Tennessee Titans visit after two losses. Unromantically, I'm backing the Titans to win; £10 at 6-5, Totesport.

The handicap, like the draft, is an equalising mechanism, and today's Totesport-sponsored Challenge Cup at Ascot (3.40) could suit Roker Park, who has a victory over the recent sprint winners Barney McGrew and Baldemar on his CV. I recommend £5 each-way at 33-1, generally.

*Sri Lanka started boldly in the ICC Trophy with a win over South Africa. By now, you will know if they did the same to England last night.

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