[SHEP_HTAFC]

So I'm leading.....not often I can say that in any predictions I've ever done. Things are getting spooky.

[theo_luddite]

No pints or even points (I left the typo in on porpoise, hic) were awarded (as previous) in the RL as the Red, Red, Robins went Bob, Bob, Bobbing Along to another title. The first set of Super League play-off games were determined however and Leigh Leopards will play Wakey's Trinity and Leeds Rhinos will play St. Helens. These games take place next Friday and Saturday with The Championship games (see above somewhere) being played Saturday and Sunday.



The Ladies RU semi's coughed up an upset of sorts as Canada defeated New Zealand, who hadn't previously lost in the World Cup since Noah's wife was checking their 2 by 2 boarding passes and Noah was giving his shit shovelling muscles a final warm up. England beat the Froggies to set up next weekend's final at Twickers. The Canadian RU apparently didn't have the funds to pay for their Ladies trip over here so the Ladies set up a Crowd Funding (like JustGiving or similar) web page so they could come here. If that doesn't mean they deserve their place in the Final I don't know what does.

In the F1 in Baku, McLaren could have sewn up the Constructors Championship but in a weekend of mayhem, it all went Pete Tong. 6 crashes in Saturday's Qualifying, along with on and off rain, played havoc with the "normal", if anything in F1 is "normal", order of things. (Are you sure they weren't racing round the streets of Huddersfield?) With his head apparently still in Qualy mode, current Championship leader Oscar Piastri forgot to turn left somewhere on a track full of left turns on the first lap and ploughed into a barrier in the opening lap of the race.

Crash had come out of Final Qualy in pole, somewhat "normal", but had the unusual sight of a Williams driven by Carlos Sainz along side him and Racing Bull driven by Liam Lawson in his mirrors behind him on the grid. Crash led from lights out to flag (pretty "normal" for F1) but despite having been handed one of the snookers (punctures, crashes, engine failures, shirley? - Ed) that Lando Norris needs to catch his team mate, he managed to turn his 5th place start into a 7th place finish, so only took a nibble out of Piastri's lead. In the end, Crash won from George Russell and Carlos Sainz. Lawson finished a credible, if difficult to overtake down the narrow lanes and one-way streets of Baku, 5th. They could have been racing in Huddersfield and called it Baku. Who knew, really?

Across The Pond, the Boys of Summer have a week to go before they start their World (sic) Series Play-off's. That translates to about 6 or 7 games to finally shuffle everything out.

In the American League, The Blow Jays are the only team to have secured a Play-Off Spot so far, though the fast finishing Seattle Mariners (won 9 of last 10 games) and the Noo Yark Yankees (won 7 of last 10) aren't far behind them. The Detroit Tigers appear to be running out of steam having lost 9 of their last 10. Apart from that, the Rangers, Royals and Rays are going to need a lot of wins and luck on their side to overhaul the Red Sox, Guardians and Astros. The Tigers and The Guardians are both in the Central Division.



In the National League, Milwaukee Brewers and the Phillies have already clinched their Divisional Titles and The Dodgers and The Cubbies are both guaranteed a Play-Off berth. Below them, The Padres aren't too far of clinching the same, but Cincinnati, Noo Yark Mets, Arizonza, Frisco Giants and even Miami and St. Louis are still in with a sniff of Wild Card berths.



WARNING
Between us we've picked Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, LA Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. Under the rules of this competition, if any of you are suffering from buyers remorse, (I might be looking at you, Snoots and AmcChaff in particular but it applies to all of us) you have about a week to change your mind, but once the first pitch of the Play-Off's has been chucked, you're stuck with your current pick, whether they are in the Play-Off's or not. Occassionally they need a one-off game or two to decide the final Play-Off Clubs, those games count as the first game of the play-off's. It's my party and I make the rules up as I want to.

So, let's a have a look at the Canadian Boys of Autumn. In the CFL so far only Saskatchewan (where's that? you ask. It's A Little House on the Prairies, I reply) have secured a Play-Off berth. Still plenty to play for here though "Toronno" ain't looking too good though, eh? You're stuck with buyers remorse on this one though, as the last chance saloon was when the season started back in June.



Crossover you may ask? - well to be honest so did I.
https://www.cfl.ca/game-rule-crossover/

The small egg chasers in 'merca are 3 weeks into their season, with a bit of a change as they've now got East, North, South and West Divisions. Maybe they had them for a while and I've been taking no bloody notice. Does it matter? The guys that bounce balls into Peach Baskets or get involved in no holds barred All-In Ice Wrestling for Lord Stanley's Shaving Mug don't get started until next month at the earliest, and as they go on forever, they'll be in next years version.

In other sports that you can't score points in, GB & NI athletes continued to disappoint over all in Japan despite another couple of medals in the Ladies 800m. They were beaten by a Kenyan lady that suddenly ran 2 seconds faster than she's ever run before. Even in the 800 metres that's er, astonishing. As said before, come back later to see how the medals are finally handed out in about 5 years time. Meanwhile our relay teams failed to get the batons round for a medal for the first time in ages while splashing through the puddles. Are you sure these were held in Japan, they could have been in Huddersfield too this weekend. My trainers and me have just about dried out.

No changes to the points shown on Friday, so SHEP is still a nervous ninny in 1st place but we've got The Ryder Cup next weekend so some of us will have a point to make (or prove).

[theo_luddite]

More points up for grabs this weekend.

To start with there's the Womens RU World Cup Egg chasing at Twickers in front of what will be yet another World Record crowd by a long way. England are carrying the flag for AmChaff, SHEP and myself. Nobody saw the crowd funded Ladies from Canada coming and they are more than capable of another upset, having beaten New Zealand last weekend.

The noisiest weekend in golf tees off just after mid-day our time when Europe defend the Ryder Cup against the USofA in Noo Yark. If it finishes with the scores tied on Sunday, Europe as holders will retain the Cup and those of us that chose them will still get the points. That's the way the joke golf balls crumble.

RL Egg Chasing Play-offs get underway both up here and Darn Unda, though we're only playing for points in our Super League.

The Boys of Summer go into their final weekend of rich, fat-boys rounders tonight with teams having 3 game stands to stake their claims.
The Blow Jays have had a tough week and have been caught by the Noo Yark Yankees in the AL East. Both are guaranteed Wild Card berths. Cleveland Guardians have also caught Detroit Tigers in the AL Central but at the moment neither are guaranteed a Wild Card berth as Boston in the AL East have more wins than both. Seattle Mariners are the only side that have won their (AL West) Division.

The Blow Jays finish off with 3 games at home to Tampa Bay, The Yankees are home to Baltimore, The Tigers are at Boston, that will rain on someone's parade, and Cleveland are home to Texas.

In the NL, Philadelphia Phillies (NL East), Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central) and LA Dodgers (NL West) have all won their Divisions. The Cubbies and the Padres have secured a Wild Card slot.

Other fixtures can be picked through here - https://www.mlb.com/schedule/2025-09-25

Snoots and AmChaff in particular, but also everyone can still change their selection before the first Wild Card games next Tuesday.

The CFL (and NFL) Egg Chasers continue their thing well into snowy season.

[theo_luddite]

Good start by Europe, 3 up after the first day. 1/3rd of the way there.

[theo_luddite]

Another great day for Europe at the whack ... f**k in Noo Yark. For a long time they were leading all the games in the afternoon session. 4½ v 11½ going into Sunday. 3 points to win outright, 2½ to retain it. Careful what you eat tonight boys, no gippy tummies tomorrow.

[Lord Snooty]

Kevin the Gerbil. Sidekick Dave. David Wagner. Jon Thorrington. Lynden Gooch.....

Your boys took a hell of a beating.

---

Bit too close for comfort in the end though.

[theo_luddite]

England won the Ladies RU World Egg Chasing Cup on Saturday at Twickers in front of a record women's rugby crowd of 81,885. A fully professional (if maybe not hugely paid) side beating Canada, 33-13, a crowd funded side that included The Barenaked Ladies amongst their backers.

No, that's not some sleazy website, it's one of Canada's favourite home grown pop/rock/whatever genre you want to throw at them bands along with The Tragically Hip. Yes they've got Brian, Shania, Celine, Avril, Anne (Snowbirds) Murray, Bublé, Jeff Healey, Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot (RIP), Bieber, to name but a few .... but the BNL's were the one's giving them a boost. Not heard of them you say? Ever watched The Big Bang Theory? Guess who sang the theme tune? Sheldon would be proper miffed if you didn't know that one (as if Sheldon ever knew what miffed means). You've got One Week to work it out.

Any road, back to the ruggers at Twickers and OK I was listening to Town at Exeter and then watching the whack .. f@@k in Noo Yark and not the rugger, but Yorksha lass, nay, Keighley lass, Ellie Kildunne was front and centre throughout the competition and a fine example of Yorksha grit.

As a young 'un she got picked for Yorksha U15's when she didn't even play for a team. There were issues with her being better than the boys she was playing against at school, not to mention the changing room issues. She invented the Keighley Queens as her team, though she found a real one soon after. She was also playing League as a kid for Keighley Albion, who I had many a scrap with on the muddy fields of Yorksha as an U16/U18 back in the day. Glad she wasn't playing against us, though to be fair, she weren't a twinkle in her grandad's eyes back when I was playing.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/...2xpxl5lwvo

Well done Ladies and well done to the organisers for taking the competition around the country to stadiums that they could pretty much fill, regardless of the main sport played there. Putting it on free to access TV and selling tickets at affordable prices can only inspire more youngsters to get involved in sport of any kind, which ultimately can only be a good thing.

Points awarded to AmChaff, SHEP and me.

It's a shame the same can't be said about the way the US PGA went about organising the Ryder Cup. Employing a starting announcer that led abuse towards Rory was only part of it. There's being partisan and there's outright verbal abuse and also reports of Rory's missus having a beer thrown at her on Sunday. Claiming "this is Noo Yark, it's how we are" doesn't come close to excusing it. Noo Yarkers might be a bit sarky but they aren't known for being that abusive. Sorry chaps, but that just isn't cricket.

Europe finished Saturday leading USA,USA,USA 4½ - 11½. They kicked off on Sunday afternoon leading 5-12 after a tactical injury to Hovland's neck meant one tie was pulled and they took ½ point each. Of course, some dumb Yank had to moan about it even though he signed up for it. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/articles/cz08e7r597zo It wasn't his only moan on Sunday when his players simply hadn't turned up on Friday and Saturday.

The USA's were apparently paid $600,000 each to turn up this weekend. Strange that most of them didn't for the first two days but they'll still be banking a cheque to take part in something that they've already banked $millions in order to be there. Generally the cash generated goes back down through the PGA/R&A to fund amateur golf for the next generation of pro's .... well, in theory. Quite honestly they should hand their cheques back and pay the same amount to a charidee or amateur golf association for the same amount in my opinion. Just eff'in Yankee greed.

The European lads that couldn't miss a putt for the first two days, suddenly couldn't hit one. The American boys that couldn't find a fairway with a guide dog or sink a putt with the help of a laser beam suddenly couldn't miss one. The Miracle at Medina in reverse. Finally, after all of Europe's big boys had fired blanks, and Aberg had been the only European winner on the day, Sean Lowry downed the putt for a half that secured the 14th point for Europe. Two more halved games put daylight between the two sides.

OK so how did it finish? USA 13 Europe 15 .. which means points to AmChaff, SCO, SHEP and me. That also means SHEP retains his lead and ritchie is now Tail-End Charlie. It's not done yet.



The Boys of Summer have finished the regular season and this is how they go into the "World" Series Play-off's.

American League

The Blow Jays recovered from their wobble to win all 3 games against The Rays, including a 13-4 shellacking on Sunday. They finished up on the same record as the Noo Yark Yankees 94-68, but qualify as AL East Champions due to some convoluted head-to-head method of working it out rather than a mini-play-off. https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-tiebreaker-rules.

Someone at MLB has worked it out so I don't have to. It was easier to understand when they just had a mini-play-off but it means Da Jays have home field advantage through the AL play-offs, as long as they keep winning obvs. The Yankees and The Red Sox go into the Wild Card. Cleveland pipped Detroit for the AL Central meaning The Tigers also go into the Wild Card, just shaving the place from Houston due to the same head-to-head calculation. Seattle Mariners make the final qualifier as AL West winners by some distance.



National League

The Milwaukee Brewers finished top of the pile in the NL, winning the NL Central with 97 wins from the Phillies in the NL East with 96 and LA in the West with 93. The Chicago Cubs, San Diego Pardres and Cincinatti Reds take the Wild Card places, with the Reds also shaving a place with a better head-to-head record somewhere from the Noo Yark Mets.



Who plays who is in the graphic below.



https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-playoff-format-faq

Could this be another Jays-Phillies Final?

Final Warning (and I mean AmChaff and Snoots more than the rest of us) to pick teams that are actually competing in the play-offs or change your own pick. Last call, last call. Sort it out by Tuesday lunch-time please to be sure to be in it to win it. The first pitch will be thrown around 6pm UK time Tuesday. Any changes after that will be null and void.

In the Mens RL Egg chasing, Leigh beat Wakey's Wakey to set up a semi-final against Wigan and St. Helens grabbed a match winning try after the hooter sounded to beat Leeds and set up the other semi against Hull KR. That won't please ritchie as his scoring drought continues.
In the Championship, York comfortably beat Halifax and will be at home in the final against Toulouse who beat Bradford by 4 points.
The Ladies version will see Wigan play St. Helens next Sunday at Wigan. Halifax won the Wheelchair version to grab all 3 trophies this season.

In other sport I've not included this season, only 2184 days and a few broken bones since he last won the MotoGP World Championship, Marc Marquez wrapped up the winners MotoGP Trophy from his brother Alex with a 2nd place finish behind his Ducati Team mate in Japan over the weekend. He's 201 points in front with 5 more races still to take place. Dominant might be the word. https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2025/09/2...ney/760026

[theo_luddite]

Snoots and Amchaff seem to be snoozing into no points before they start again .......... Helloooooooo

[Lord Snooty]

It be reyt, theo. No idea what we're predicting anyway.

[theo_luddite]

Fairy snuff, I've tried to help you out as much as possible with the 12 that you could have picked from.