Not The World Cup 2006!

Like a super-charged Halley's Comet, the FIFA Football World Cup flies into our orbit as regular as clockwork and in the process it deflects everyone's attention from their routines. The four-year gap between these colour-festooned celebrations is sufficiently wide to give each one its place in the memories of those who cannot get enough of the stuff!

Yet there are a few tortured souls out there in the twilight zone who find the World Cup a turn-off, or at least an unwelcome distraction. Hmmm!

Then again, there are sports fans that prefer a wider range of sporting activities and competitions across the spectrum. At this time, with wall-to-wall World Cup on mainstream television, the fans could be forgiven for believing that other sports alighted from Planet Earth at the last galactic bus stop.

They would be wrong! The British summer is always a favourite time of mine in the sporting calendar. I gleefully anticipate events such as the Wimbledon Tennis Open, with its grass surfaces, frumpy line judges and absurd weather breaks! What is a major sporting event without character? Or characters even!

Then there is the Open Golf Championship from one of the many great seaside links courses. This year, in a change from the norm, Hoylake and the Royal Liverpool Golf Club makes a long-awaited return to the circuit after 39 years in the Open Golf wilderness. The last winner there, in 1967, was Roberto de Vincenzo. The traditional Open Golf TV coverage on the BBC is ingrained in my psyche and long may it continue. What would American TV viewers give for hours of coverage without a single ad break?

One thing about these two events is certain, the favourite in the betting is as predictable as rain in South East London at the end of June.

Cue Roger Federer in the tennis. Having won the Men's Singles Championships at Wimbledon on his last three visits, and showing few signs of deterioration this year, apart from his recent blip on clay in the French Open to Rafael Nadal, the betting is predictably skinny - actually, call it anorexic. Several firms have him as squeaky as 4/11 (1.36) to win the whole thing outright! The best odds are predictably on the Betfair exchange at present, but still painfully odds-on, an Incredible domination by the man! Next in line, Andy Roddick, can be had at around 12's at Pinnacle Sports. The Ladies event is a little more competitive according to the layers, with a best-priced Maria Sharapova at 4/1 (5.0).

For the Golf Open, read Tiger Woods in a tournament that is always competitive and fairly tough to predict. Woods comes in at a miserly 5/1 (6.0). That said, he won't be short of backers!

What else have we got while the footballers do their stuff in Germany? What about this for a sample?

- Cricket - Natwest Series at the Oval - England v Sri Lanka
- Horse racing at Royal Ascot
- Formula 1 Racing - Canadian and USA Grand Prix
- Athletics from Malaga - European Cup; and other meetings
- Cycling - Tour de France

These all commence before the World Cup Final is played out on 9th July.
We'll take a closer look at the betting at some of these major events later on.

Ed note: Grab a 10% cash bonus with Pinnacle Sports.

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