Posts Tagged impossible
Mission impossible
Posted by Peter Webb in Bet Angel on October 11th, 2011
Scotland travel to Spain this evening in an attempt to pull off the biggest shock in Euro qualification history with a win in the world champions back yard. Before we completely dismiss their chances, lets look at the some stats.
The market is pricing in a dominant Spanish performance with Spain coming out winners by at least two goals on average. In the past there have been some big wins in matches like this, but also a few shocks. Overall I found 211 similar looking matches in my database and of those 15 ended up as away wins or 7%. Scotland are priced at 20′s or around a 5% chance. 162 matches ended up as home wins equating to around 1.30 in digital odds. Spain are priced at 1.20, a little short. Spain should win but the stats hint that with such a strong Scottish incentive to win, the odds on a Spainish win are a little on the skinny side. The market has the overs and unders market spot on according to historic stats.
If you are looking for how such an unlikely win could occur here are a selection of matches where the unlikely did happen, study them for potential clues: -
Away – 2010 – Liverpool vs Blackpool – Result – 1-2
Away – 2010 – Arsenal vs Newcastle – Result – 0-1
Away – 2008 – Porto vs Leixoes – Result – 2-3
Away – 2009 – B Munich vs FC Koln – Result – 1-2
Away – 2009 – Barcelona vs Espanyol – Result – 1-2
Away – 2009 – AC Milan vs FC Zurich – Result – 0-1
Away – 2010 – Man Utd vs Leeds – Result – 0-1
Away – 2010 – Tottenham vs Wigan – Result – 0-1
Impossible?
Posted by Peter Webb in Bet Angel on August 31st, 2010
When I was young I was constantly reminded how some things were just impossible. I had many dreams, but a difficult start in life meant they were very very distant. I also had no mentor, guide or path on how to achieve the things I so dearly wanted to. This was going to be hard work. I saw my father suffer at the hands of fate at a young age and this was a pivitol moment. It could have reinforced any negative thoughts I harboured, but it actually drove me to make sure I did my best to achieve some of the things I really wanted to. That key moment gave me my drive. Sometimes you need that to fill in the skill gaps!
I started to read up and understand how others had been succesfull. A lot of them extoled the virtues of a positive mental attitude, a can do approach, a how not a why. At first this sounded like a load of BS, but over time I slowly realised that if you surround yourself with postive thoughts and people, while discarding negative thoughts and people, you slowly began to accept that anything is possible with enough effort and application. I learnt that nothing is completely impossible, just sometimes very difficult. Also, sometimes, you needed a bit of luck as well. But even that taught me something, that luck is where opportunity meets ability. Negative thinkers just never spot the opportunity.
What’s the source of this ramble? Tonight on Discovery channel there is a must watch film for everybody. It is the story of Philippe Petit, the film ‘Man on a wire‘. It’s an Oscar winner and one of the most inspirational films I have ever watched. The story and the man behind the film is a great example of ‘Anything is possible’. Also, listen carefully to Petit’s philosophy of life, it is refreshing and inspiring.
On my next trip to New York I’m going to seek out Petit to see if I can get five mintes with him, it would be a pleasure to meet him. Impossible? That’s what people said when I told them I wanted to meet Warren Buffett.
Impossible
Posted by Peter Webb in General on June 14th, 2010
During my career I’ve often relished the chance to break new ground in whatever I have been doing. It’s always the voyage and discovery that I enjoy the most, everything else can take a back seat. Breaking new ground, achieving the impossible, charting the unknown or pushing the boundaries is something that I really enjoy. Furthermore, as soon as the word impossible is uttered, it immediately makes me sit up and pay attention.
Last week I achieved something that will no doubt be viewed as seemingly impossible. So much so, that while I feel the need to note it’s passing, I don’t think I am ready to talk about it just yet, as I am sure it will be instantly dismissed. Instead I already firmly focused on a new goal. There is always more stuff just tantalisingly out of reach. You can often see it, but not touch it. Some things seem impossibly out of reach but life can paint a zig zag path to these things.
For an old story of impossible, a long time ago I picked up a book in a US airport about Warren Buffett. A few weeks later, having read and re-read the book, I said to a friend that I wanted to meet Mr Buffett. Inevitably he scoffed at the idea, how on earth was that going to happen? There seemed no way that such a meeting could possibly happen. Wind forward a few years and to a telephone call with the same friend, I had just returned from the US and guess what had happened?
What ever you do in life, always use the word impossible with the greatest of care!