Did our Predictor winner wish for certain SPL results at Rome's Trevi Fountain?
Anyone who played BBC Scotland's Predictor game in the season that has just ended will be disappointed to learn that the winner, Alan MacDonald, has no magic formula to share. That's because, for MacDonald, there is no alchemy involved. "I just go in to work on the Monday or Tuesday and see how many points I got at the weekend and then stick down my predictions for the following round of matches," said the modest 42-year-old civil servant. Well, yes, but isn't that what we all do? Surely our winner, who amassed 234 points across the season, pores over reams of statistics, form guides and injury lists in his lunch breaks at the Scottish Office? "I really don't spend that much time thinking about it," said MacDonald, who lives in Edinburgh. "I've always been good at the fixed odds, especially for Scottish football, though since I started putting the English sides on my coupon I've not been too hot. "So The Predictor suits me well because it's based on the Scottish Premier League. "Put it this way, when I'm making my predictions I never look to see who is in or out of the team. I just use my gut instinct most of the time." MacDonald's sobering revelations have caused dismay in the BBC Scotland sport office, where hardened reporters have been seen whimpering in the corner at being leapfrogged in the pundits' table.
Our champion for season 2008/09 was encouraged to play The Predictor by friends who gather on the Julian Haines lawn bowls website. They set up a minileague of 40-50 bowlers and, of course, MacDonald, who plays at Colinton Bowling Club in the Water of Leith league, topped the charts in that too. "I got off to a flyer in the Predictor," said MacDonald. "I was way ahead and things were looking rosy, but gradually other players gained ground on me. "I had a terrible run at the end of the season and going in to the last weekend I just had one joker left, so I was worried that someone had kept all their jokers until then and would pip me to the post. "But thankfully I managed to stay ahead. "To beat guys like Richard Gordon and Billy Dodds is incredible." MacDonald had one exceptionally good week, where he guessed correctly five exact scores, and for the sixth match he went for a 1-1 when the correct score was 2-2. Around 35,000 people started out playing The Predictor at the beginning of the season, though some fell by the wayside as the weeks went by. Some gave up in a fit of depression - just how could it be so difficult to score in something so apparently simple? Others packed it in, fed-up with the gloating of family members or colleagues streets ahead in their minileagues. For all MacDonald's predicting skills, there is one thing he cannot foresee: the events of his impending stag do. MacDonald's twin brother is to be the best man at his wedding on 1 August and is arranging some sort of event for his sibling. "I'm a bit nervous about what my brother's got planned," he admitted. "But what is worse," added the fair-weather Hibernian fan, "is that if I get through the qualifying stages for the Scottish bowls championships, the finals are on the same day as my wedding!" His wife-to-be is Kirsteen, a Hearts fan five years his junior. We suspect that for this particular August clash, he already knows the score. Congratulations to Alan MacDonald and thanks to everyone who took part in the The Predictor over the season. An improved version will return next season.
|
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~40~RS~)
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version
© MMIX
Bookmark with:
What are these?