“The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself–the invisible battles inside all of us–that’s where it’s at.”
Jesse Owens
The Year in Review: Number 3 … dispelling the Lyon fallacy
Shane Watson aside there have been few Australian cricketers this year who have been more maligned than off spinner Nathan Lyon. I have become a massive fan of Lyon and took up his cause in the face of the selectors failing to support him, the press lambasting and those on social media baying for his blood. One of the biggest statements about Lyon’s form was that he regularly failed in the final innings of games.
My blog dispelling that fallacy was the third most read post on the blog this year and the link to it is here: https://shumpty77.com/2013/06/13/the-nathan-lyon-conundrum-the-second-inning-fallacy/
Quote of the Day
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”
Bill Cosby
The Year in Review: Number 4 … The Victor
I have posted a lot of poetry this year, principally related to positivity in the face of adversity and the mental approach to winning.
The fourth most popular post on the blog this year was one such poem: The Victor by C W Longenecker.
Here is a link to this post: https://shumpty77.com/2013/08/08/poetry-the-victor-by-c-w-longenecker/
Quote of the Day
“First, have a definite, clear practical ideal; a goal, an objective. Second, have the necessary means to achieve your ends; wisdom, money, materials, and methods. Third, adjust all your means to that end.”
Aristotle
Shumpty’s Punt: Best Bet
The Oklahoma City Thunder (19-4) are the hottest team in the NBA at the moment and travel to Denver seeking to extend their current winning streak to seven games and to win its fifteenth game of sixteen. In their last fifteen games they have scored 100 or more points in eleven of those games whilst restraining their opponents to less to than 100 points in ten of the fifteen games. The Nuggets (14-9) have won seven of their last eight games at home and have an excellent record against the Thunder having won nine of the last eleven games between the two teams.
This game, for me, comes down to the form of the stars from Oklahoma City: Durant and Westbrook. Durant leads the NBA in scoring with 28.5 points per game and Westbrook has been creating opportunities in attack with steals of which he has a team leading 40. I think they will have too much offensive power for the Nuggets and will cover the line of -3.0 points.
Bet: Oklahoma City Thunder to cover the line (-3.0 points) against the Denver Nuggets in the NBA.
Shumpty Speaks 