The Baftas used to take place after the Oscars but then the British Academy results were perceived as a bit of an irrelevance so they moved them to a date a week or two before their American counterpart so as to play an important role for award betting enthusiasts in foreshadowing the likely Oscar victors. Of course, the Golden Globes come a week or two before our award ceremony and they now act to foretell what the likely Bafta outcome will be.

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I read with disbelief that Manchester City are considering a bid of around £100 million for AC Milan striker Kaka. I have no doubt that the gifted Brazilian player is worh a few bob or two but 100 million pounds, come on! When you actually look into the deal it gets even more ludicrous. Reports suggest that Man City will pay Kaka, an estimated £15 million a year or about £500,000 per week, give or take a quid or two. With around a million people in this country facing possible unemployment over the next 12 months this highlights that professional sport, especially football, is divorced from reality.

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One, or perhaps even two, eyebrows may have been raised by the shrewder members of the tennis betting fraternity at the positioning of Andy Murray as favourite to win next week’s Australian Open, the first of the Grand slams in the tennis calendar. Roger Federer expressed surprise when he heard but then, isn’t this no more than a churlish remark to be expected from a vulnerable champion whose reign might soon be over? I’m not so sure. There is no doubt that Andy Murray has moved into a challenging position when it comes to the year’s forthcoming Grand Slams. He has demonstrated focus, indomitable will and a huge strengthening of skill over the last year. His wins in Abu Dhabi and Qatar have bolstered his confidence and set him up perfectly for his first Grand Slam of 2009.

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On Sunday evening I tuned in, along with over 4 million other UK dart lovers to watch one of the best dart games I have ever witnessed. The venue was The Lakeside, the competition The BDO World Championship, the contenders were Ted Hankey and Tony O’Shea, the prize a nice &pound95,000 pay cheque. Hankey won the game and also the battle with himself as he fought his inner demons to lift the BDO World Championship 7 sets to 6. It was an awesome encounter, with each player showing why they deserved to be in the final. As usual The Lakeside venue crackled with excitement as the crowd upped the wave of noise adding to the nervousness of the players. For me this is why the BDO is darts, it may not be superior to Sky’s offering but for sheer unpredictability, Sky can’t come close.

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In all matters in life there comes the defining moment, the critical moment, the turning point. That point in time when clarity emerges and the mists clear. A line in the sand between the way forward and the uncertainty of what went before. For football betting fans this occurred on Sunday when Manchester United exposed the fundamental weakness of a Chelsea side that represented the most serious challenge to the retention of their title. This last week has been an object lesson in footballing dynamics. The game has increasingly been revealed to be a battle between the generals who engage their troops against one another in the weekly battle for supremacy.

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The debacle of the ‘resignation’ of England cricket captain Kevin Pietersen and the ‘removal’ of Peter Moores as coach of the England side is yet another revelation of the amazing incompetence of the governing bodies of English sport – as if one were needed. The apparent inability of these bodies to organise a heavy drinking session in a building dedicated to the making of beer has long been apparent to your average sports betting fan. Football leads the way with the Football Associations past appointment of Steve McLaren as the England football manager, when even those citizens with the most limited knowledge of footballing matters could see that he was the least worthy option at the time.

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Australian cricket may be going through a bit of a lean spell at the moment and about to hand over their title as the best cricketing nation on the globe to either India or South Africa but their still smiling. Why’s that then? We’ll, for one thing the England Cricket captain crisis is certainly giving them (Australia) something to laugh about. In just 6 months time, the two nations meet to contest the 2009 Ashes.

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The Tiger is back on the range and golf betting fans are wondering if he can limber up in time for the Dubai Classic at the end of the month. He’s been hitting balls for two weeks now and still feels uneasy about stressing his recovering knee with a full swing just yet. It’s not unknown for Tiger to play a little gamesmanship and he may just be trying to lull the opposition into a false sense of security but there’s no doubt that causing further damage to his knee could put him out for the whole season.

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There’s something very interesting going on in Australia at the moment. Their national cricket team, long presumed the dominant force in test and One Day International cricket, is in danger of losing the top spot to a South African side that remains indomitable at home and has the best win record of any cricketing nation in its away matches. Certainly, as cricket betting enthusiasts will acknowledge, this turnabout has occurred partly as a result of the lost of legendary Aussie stalwarts of the game such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist, but it is also due to the continued development of skill and positivity within the South African team.

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I know we have barely ripped of the cellophane on this brand new year but one thing that has myself extremely excited this year is British Boxing. I mean for the first time we have some lively potential young stock coming through. We also have the comeback kings in Hatton and Khan. Plus the majestic and limitless Joe Calzaghe. There might even be a return for freed jailbird Scott Harrison if hopefully he can beat the personal demons.

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