S14M16: 1946 and All That

 A slightly different blog from me this week. Forgive me, but it's my canvas...

This week, my grandfather passed away. He'd had a long, fulfilling life full of excitement and adventure. Equally importantly, he also had a good death - peaceful and comfortable, surrounded by his loved ones, with just enough time for everyone to say goodbye, but not so much time that he was suffering.

My grandfather was very keen on sports. He would regularly tell us of when he boxed at school (complete with shadowboxing a left jab uncomfortably close to your face), and is responsible for the golfing spark in several of his grandchildren. Later on in life, he took up bowls and competed at a relatively high level, including internationally. He loved "rugger" and I have very vivid memories of watching Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon when we were at my grandparents' house growing up. In fact, that TV often had some sort of sports on - I also remember watching Freddie Flintoff smash South Africa all around the park in the 2003 test at Lords, including this moment where his bat just gave up on him. One smash too far.

Strangely though, he never really had an interest in football. He was nominally a Derby County fan - a boy who'd grown up in North London, spent part of the war evacuated in Berkshire and latterly ended up in Hertfordshire professed allegiance to the 1946 FA Cup winners in his early adolescence and never really shifted. As reasons go.....

Of course, he knew nothing about Derby. He could tell you their strikeforce in 1946, but knew nothing of the Jim Smith revival, the Paolo Wanchope-inspired massacre at Old Trafford or the infamous trivia answer that was the 2007-2008 season. I told him this week's result - a 0-0 draw away at Burnley when I saw him this week - a great result breaking a streak of 3 defeats, and I got nothing back. Admittedly, he was on some lovely medication to keep him comfortable, but the truth is I could have had the exact same response to a Derby result 5 years earlier. I never really understood why he kept up the charade - in a family full of passionate football fans (~70% Arsenal, 30% Spurs - how North London...) maybe he just wanted to be a part of the conversation. 

Anyway, I'll never find out now. But you can be sure I'll be following the Rams for the rest of the season, hoping for a mid-season revival and a play-off charge. And when they bounce back up, I'll have a little toast (of cloudy lemonade) in his honour. 

💗

Let's get statty:

Pro-rated to 10 due to postponement of the Merseyside derby due to a little bit of wind

This week, 22 people played
Most popular predicted result: Villa Win (22/22)
Most disputed predicted result: Brentford vs Newcastle (7-7-8 split)

Highest odds: AFM (16,571/1)
Lowest odds: Hannah Daniels (778/1)
Average odds: 4222/1

Best predictor: Josh Daniels (6.67/10)
Worst predictor: David Silverman (2.22/10)
Average score: 4.39/10

Best predicted result: Villa Win (22/22)
Worst predicted result: Crystal Palace vs Man City DRAW (0/22)

Everyone's score:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 11/15)

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To this week's predos:

Good luck all