Sports Desk - By Aodhán Elder

PDC World Championship
Such has been the astonishing consistency of darts supremo Phil Taylor that his picking up the PDC World Championship seems to have become a Christmas tradition as established as the Queen’s speech or letting your belt out an extra notch in January. Between the Professional Darts Corporation and the British Darts Organisation, Phil “The Power” has claimed an incredible fifteen titles in the last 20 years and at times he looks capable of taking his haul well into the twenties.
As ever, Taylor looks like the most likely winner of this year’s event by some distance. Even the more ardent opponents of backing heavily odds-on favourites must be tempted to make an exception for the virtually unbeatable Power. He’s available at a best price of 1/2 and how much appeal that holds for you will depend on your perception of the elusive concept of value. Of course anything that ends up winning can be seen as value, but backing anyone heavily at such a short price is liable to give you heart problems worse than platefuls of the greasiest of turkeys.
There may be grounds for a certain amount of unease about siding with Taylor on this occasion. It may not seem like much but it speaks volumes about the imperious standards Taylor has set for himself that two major tournaments without taking home the silverware constitutes a slump. He fell at the semi-final stage of both the Players Championship and the World Grand Prix and maybe that’s a sign he’s not as untouchable as he once was. He turned 50 during the year and although darts is arguably the most forgiving sport of all when it comes to the onset of age, he’s no Peter Pan and at some point his advancing years will have an impact on his play. It may not be this year or the next, but anyone taking an odds-on price needs to consider any potential downturn.
Counter to these cautionary notes are some equally valid arguments. First, the differences between a 49-year-old and a 50-year-old are almost entirely physchological rather than physiological. It may take several years yet before age hinders the Power to any significant degree. Secondly, although the recent defeats are fresh in the mind, 2010 has still been a very successful year for Taylor. Along with winning the Premier League, World Matchplay, UK Open, and of course World Championship, he found time to record two nine dart finishes, both in the final of the Premier League.
He’s still the preeminent power in the sport, but it’s up to you to decide if Taylor’s worth taking a punt on.
NFL Playoffs
The frequency of stoppages and ad breaks may not be to everyone’s taste, but if there’s one area where the National Football League excels it’s the organisation’s ability to create a fiercely contested competition. It’s around this time of year that thoughts turn from the regular season to the business end of proceedings, the playoffs, and ultimately, the Super Bowl.
In one respect, the post-season is a fresh start. Once you’ve booked your place, theoretically you’ve got as much of a chance as anyone else of getting your hands on the Vince Lombardi Trophy. In practice however, it’s generally the teams that have excelled in the regular season who go on to contest the decider.
It’s worth bearing in mind because if you think a team who just about crept into the playoffs have the potential to put together the wins when it really matters, the chances are you’re wrong. A record of winning just over half your games (9-7) is regularly enough to claim a playoff berth, and on eight occasions in the last 20 years, winning precisely half your games (8-8) has sufficed. But teams that have just about crawled into the playoffs rarely go on to defy the odds. In the last two decades, the worst record of a team in the Super Bowl was the 10-6 the New York Giants took into the showdown with the unbeaten New England Patriots in 2008. Famously they upset the overwhelming favourites, but this is very much the exception rather than the rule.
Of the 40 Super Bowl places up for grabs in the last 20 years, the Giants are the only side to have claimed one on the back of a 10-6 season. Teams with a marginally better 11-5 record have claimed a handful of places, but teams with a 12-4 record or better have claimed 75 percent of all Super Bowl places. That would appear to be a minimum requirement because since 1990, on average the two teams contesting the Super Bowl have won 12.5 and lost 3.5 of their regular season games.
Clearly miracles are always possible, but seeing teams who have preformed strongly all season long progress to the decider is a far more regular occurrence. ♠