10 Things I Read This Month That You Should Too

Jun 27th, 2012 - Posted by Andrew_Brocker in Football, American Sports, Other, Euro 2012

bettingexpert blog editor. Always taking the alternative route to finding the value.

With the busy month of June coming to a close, Andrew once again delivers us 10 of the best reads he read this month that you should too.

June2012

Plausible Fixes : An Accompanying Discussion About Conspiracy Theories In Boxing

Jay Caspian Kang and Bill Barnwell take a look at this June's Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley Jnr fight. While Kang wonders about the state and future of a sport so now corrupted that conspiracy theories seem a more logical explanation to an unlikely outcome, Barnwell considers the three judge system and by what margins a shift to a five judge system would diminish 'randomness' in judging.

"The most plausible explanation as to why this decision occurred is the combination of judging incompetence and randomness. Not randomness in the sense that the judges just gave a random score to each fighter after each round (although that also is plausible), but randomness in that the fight happened to be assigned two of the very few people in the world who truly believed that Bradley won that fight."

Do the Tournament's Best Performers Always Win The UEFA European Championship?

On his The Power of Goals blog, Mark Taylor takes a look at the recent history of the European Championships, considering the issue of randomness and chance in the knock-out competition format and how unlike a full 38 game league season, the best team doesn't always claim the title.

"The Euro format gives the opportunity to mid and lower ranked teams to succeed by producing a short term run of unlikely outcomes. But fortune can also play a role in allowing any team to overcome relatively poor performances in the more forgiving early group games. France may be Euro 2000 victors in the record books,but did Holland produce that tournament's overall best results?"

Of Satellites And Streams: How Technology Changed Everything About The Way We Follow Football.

Great piece from Giancarlo Rinaldi on how modern technology has made football more accessible to fans especially those of us who have been following our teams and leagues from afar long before the days on internet and iPhones.

"Nowadays if we can’t find a satellite channel or internet feed of every match down to the Bosnian boys Under 16 championships we feel cheated. Back then you simply had to take it on the chin."

In The Premier League, The Sun Always Shines On TV

The Swiss Ramble blog takes a look at the new Premier League TV deal. Following what many have regarded as the most enthralling Premier League season ever played , chief executive Richard Scudamore remarked that the world's most popular football league could not have gone to market at a better time.

"The rise in the Premier League’s TV rights has been so impressive that on its own its estimated €2.2 billion will be higher than the TOTAL revenue of every other league: Bundesliga €1.746 billion, La Liga €1.718 billion, Serie A €1.553 billion and Ligue Un €1,040 billion."

Euro 2012: The Telling Statistics That Damn England

If you're still feeling a little blue about England's quarter-final exit from Euro 2012 at the hands of Italy, here's some sobering statistics from the Guardian's Mike Adamson to help you come to terms with the reality.

"30 - Cristiano Ronaldo has had more shots in his first four games at Euro 2012 than the entire England squad (29) had at the tournament."

Is Winning More Important Than Style?

In the wake of Chelsea's Champions League success, ThinkFootball asks if winning ugly has just as much merit as winning pretty. Does a pragmatic defensive approach deserve as much praise as the handsome offensive flair of those champions we fondly remember?

"In 10 years or 20 years time, who will we remember from this time period? The Inter team of 2010, who adopted a counter attacking philosophy against Barcelona in the Champions League semi final and again against Bayern Munich in the final yet were successful? Or this Chelsea team of 2012 who seemingly defied the odds to overcome a first leg deficit at the hands of Napoli in the quarter finals, were outplayed yet held on for victory against Barcelona in the semi final before triumphing on penalties against Bayern Munich in the final?"

1 in 114 billion: Las Vegas Rio Roulette Wheel Comes Up Red 19 Seven Consecutive Times

The BeyondTheBets blog posted this photo taken by professional poker player Jeff Romano at the Rio in Las Vegas. Yes, that's right, a roulette wheel came up Red 19 seven straight spins.

"Poker pro Jeff Romano tweeted a picture (see below) of the roulette board, which reveals the previous 16 spins. Half of the spins were Red 19 and four of them were Black 20. The other four numbers: 0, 5, 15 and 23."

The Joys Of Death: Euros Expansion Threatens Tournament’s Identity

On A Football Report, Max Grieve takes a look at the upcoming expansion of the European football championship from 16 to 24 teams. There was a time when the tournament consisted of just 4 teams. Heading into Euro 2016, we will see 6 times that many compete for the claim of the best footballing nation in Europe. What will the impact of such an expansion be upon the purity and intensity of the tournament?

"So the notorious Group of Death for the European Championships of 2012 was decided. Enjoy it; it may well be the last of its kind."

Manchester United: 659 million People Can’t Be Wrong. Can They?

Nick Harris at Sportingintel takes a look at the claim made that Manchester United now boast a following of over 600 million people worldwide, 1 in 10 people on the face of the planet.

"When Manchester United announced last week that they had 659 million followers and are thus “the most popular club in the most popular sport in the world”, the figures were met with widespread scepticism, even derision. But I can only speak for myself."

Euro 2012 Focus: WhoScored's Team Of The Group Stages

The guys over at WhoScored posted their team of the Euro 2012 Group Stages based upon their player performance ratings. Hats off to the likes of Arshavin, Ibrahimovic and Dzagoev making the starting 11 despite their teams not qualifying for the knock-out stage.

"England's Steven Gerrard is our top-rated central midfielder, having picked up 2 assists as well as doing all the hard work to create Rooney's winner against Ukraine. A total of 13 tackles is only bettered by 3 players, and his cross accuracy has really shone, with a diagonal ball to Andy Carroll perhaps the cross of the tournament to date."