2022 WNBA SEASON NEWS,NOTES, PICKS !

[Udog]

WNBA

Friday, August 12

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Trend Report
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Washington @ Indiana
Washington
Washington is 15-2 SU in its last 17 games when playing Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Indiana
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Indiana's last 19 games at home

New York @ Atlanta
New York
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 7 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing New York

Seattle @ Minnesota
Seattle
Seattle is 14-1 SU in its last 15 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 6 games
Minnesota
Minnesota is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Minnesota is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

Dallas @ Phoenix
Dallas
Dallas is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games


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[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, August 12

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
Over/under win totals for SEC football:
2.5— Vanderbilt (under -140)
5.5— Missouri (under -130)
6— South Carolina (over -150)
6— Auburn (over -120)
6.5— LSU (over -120)
6.5— Mississippi State (over -120)

Quote of the Day
“It felt like a college atmosphere. Definitely not normal. I could visibly see a horse from shortstop pretty easily.”
Nico Hoerner, on playing in the Field of Dreams game Thursday

Saturday’s quiz
Other than Bill Belichick, which NFL head coach has been in his current job the longest?

Friday’s quiz
In the movie Field of Dreams, Burt Lancaster played Moonlight Graham.

Thursday’s quiz
Brett Favre was a 2nd-round draft pick who played 20 years in the NFL; Atlanta Falcons drafted Favre, traded him to Green Bay a year later.

******************************

Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..

— Wynton Bernard played CF for the Colorado Rockies Friday, his major league debut after playing in the minor leagues for 11 years, 863 games for four different organizations. He was playing in an independent league two years ago. Can you imagine how freakin’ excited he was to actually be in a major league game?

Bernard went 1-3 in his first MLB game, with a stolen base and a run scored.

— More good news; this week, a friend of mine’s mom had an interview to become an American citizen. She passed the test and next month she will be sworn in as an American citizen, after living here since 1965.

There are lot of people in our country now who seem to want to ruin it; here is a person who can’t wait to become a citizen, so she can vote in November. Congratulations, Doris!!!

— NFL preseason games are fun to watch and all, but if you think teams really want to win those games, that’s not always true.

Thursday night in Foxboro, Patriots lead the Giants 21-20 with 1:55 left; Giants had the ball on New England’s 12-yard line, 1st-and-10.

In a game that mattered, the Giants would run the ball three times, Patriots would call three timeouts, Giants would kick a field goal and New England would have 1:30 or so to rally.

In this game, Giants ran the ball three times, Patriots called no timeouts, Giants kicked a field goal at the gun, and everyone went home.

Preseason games are played for two reasons:
1) make $$$ from ticket sales
2) evaluate players further down the roster

— Exception here seems to be the Baltimore Ravens, who have won 21 preseason games in a row, are 19-2 ATS in those games.

Does it translate to the regular season? Ravens are 5-1 ATS in their last six season openers, 5-1 ATS in last six home openers.

— San Diego Padres’ star Fernando Tatis was suspended 80 games for PED’s, which ends his season; he will also miss the first 32 games next season. Tatis hasn’t played at all this season because of a broken wrist.

By my calculations, the suspension will cost Tatis $3,214,814 in salary— he was supposed to make $5.71M this year, $7.71M next year.

— One of more underrated aspects of NFL offenses is which voice is in the quarterback’s ear; the QB has an earpiece in his helmet, which turns off when the :40 second clock hits :15. Maybe this is why younger QB’s can play sooner in their career than they used to- they can be coached for :25 after every play.

As a Rams’ fan, I’ll never say anything bad about Jared Goff; he won an NFC title game on the road in New Orleans, was 44-23 as a quarterback when Sean McVay was the voice in his ear.

Goff is 3-17-1 otherwise; 0-7 in his rookie year, 3-10-1 with Detroit LY. They were saying on the Lions’ preseason game Friday that they haven’t decided who is calling plays this year, which is odd. Ben Johnson is the 36-year old rookie offensive coordinator for Detroit.

— We mentioned this a few weeks ago, and it still holds; Los Angeles Dodgers are 78-33 this year, with only eight one-run wins (8-9). So if you bet the Dodgers, is it smart to lay 1.5 runs instead of just playing the money line?

— Detroit Tigers fired GM Al Avila, with Detroit 43-71 this season, despite having a payroll of $113M- they’re paying Javier Baez $20M, Eduardo Rodriguez $14M. Aging star Miguel Cabrera is making $32M this year and next; lot of $$ for not a lot of production.

In 2017, Avila traded Detroit’s catcher to the Cubs; the catcher was Alex Avila, his son. Wonder what Mrs Avila had to say about that.

— Speaking of the Tigers, in their game with Cleveland Thursday, the base umpires had a rough time. In the first 3.5 innings, teams challenged three calls on the bases; all three calls were overturned. The dugout reporter on TV said the first base ump was getting hammered by fans near the first base dugout.

— Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins tested positive for COVID, didn’t make the trip to Las Vegas for the Vikings’ first preseason game. Cousins is unvaccinated, which complicates things a little bit.

— NBA is retiring number 6 from now on for all teams, to honor the late Bill Russell; players who currently wear Special can still wear it, but teams can no longer issue Special to a player. Last year, 25 NBA players wore number 6, including Lebron James.

— NIT basketball tournament has most always had its Final Four in Madison Square Garden, but this winter the semis/finals will be in Las Vegas— they’ll be in Hinkle Fieldhouse in 2024, where the climactic scenes of Hoosiers were filmed, in Indianapolis.

— Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo signed a 5-year, $31M contract extension.

— I’m not a huge fan of the movie Field of Dreams; much prefer Kevin Costner’s other baseball movies, but MLB has gone all-in on promoting games in the Iowa cornfield.

I’m curious if MLB would consider playing an All-Star Game in Iowa; the Home Run Derby would be tremendous!!! Even if they had two All-Star Games in one season- they actually did that from 1959-62.

Maybe the Futures Game would work in Iowa; having regular season games there seems like a lot of work for not much return.

— Angels are 9-52 this season when they allow 4+ runs, 40-12 when they do not.

— Astros’ OF Michael Brantley had shoulder surgery, is out for the season.

— Jets QB Zach Wilson hurt his right knee Friday; his backups are Joe Flacco, Mike White. If Wilson’s injury is severe, would the Jets deal for Jimmy Garoppolo? Jets’ coach Saleh came to New Jersey from the 49ers, as did OC LaFleur.

 

[Udog]

No games today. The last day of the regular season is tomorrow and the playoffs start Wednesday.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack
Chargers’ all-time leaders in passing yards:
59,271— Philip Rivers
43,040— Dan Fouts
26,938— John Hadl
16,085— Stan Humphries
12,348— Drew Brees
9,350— Justin Herbert

Quote of the Day
“Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them so much.”
Oscar Wilde

Sunday’s quiz
When the Chargers came into existence in 1960, where did they call home?

Saturday’s quiz
Other than Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin has been in his current head coaching job the longest, followed by Andy Reid in Kansas City.

Friday’s quiz
In the movie Field of Dreams, Burt Lancaster played Moonlight Graham.

******************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

— Dodgers 13, Royals 3— Dodgers are the first National League team to win 12 straight games by 2+ runs since the Pirates had a 13-game streak that was snapped on August 13, 1922 – exactly 100 years ago.

— Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 0— Jeff Banister was Arizona’s interim manager for this game; he was the Rangers’ manager from 2015-18, making the playoffs twice.

They told this story on the Arizona TV broadcast last night; when Banister was in high school, he had swelling near his ankle, so he went to a doctor, and was told he had bone cancer. One of the options they gave him was amputation of the foot, which Banister turned down— he still wanted to play baseball.

He wound up having seven operations on the leg, but wound up playing ball— he played in the minor leagues for six years, before the Pirates called him up for 1991. He batted once and he singled in his only at-bat, pinch-hitting for Doug Drabek.

Imagine having to decide whether to keep your foot or not? He made the right decision.

— Friday night, White Sox took Michael Kopech out of his start after he threw six no-hit IP on 85 pitches. Why?

This season, Kopech has thrown 104.2 innings; he threw 69.1 last year, and didn’t play in 2020.

There is a thing that once a pitcher throws 20% more innings than he did the year before, then he is much more prone to injury; Kopech is already 50% past last year’s total, so the White Sox are going to be careful with his innings because they need him down the stretch.

— New Jersey Jets got something of a break; QB Zach Wilson’s injury is a bone bruise and a meniscus tear in his right knee— he could be back in 2-4 weeks, much better than what originally feared.

— Two best-ever seasons for NFL receiving yards:
1,964 yards— Calvin Johnson, 2012
1,947 yards— Cooper Kupp, 2021

The common thread between those two seasons? Matthew Stafford was QB for both of them.

— When NFL roster cuts come at the end of this month, 864 guys lose their job; 300 or so of them will sign on to someone’s taxi squad, others will go to the CFL or the XFL or USFL, but these preseason games are interesting in large part because guys are playing for their careers.

— QB named Drew Plitt played at the end of Friday’s game for the Bengals; he was only signed because Joe Burrow had his appendectomy, and they needed another camp arm, but Plitt completed 6-6 passes for 76 yards and a TD in his only drive. Impressive.

Not sure if Drew Plitt will make the Bengals’ squad, but chances are he’s going to be signed by someone; productive quarterbacks are hard to find.

Plitt played five years at quarterback for Ball State, starting the last four years— he threw 1,246 passes in college, so he has a lot of experience in the MAC, where Ben Roethlisberger and Byron Leftwich played (Sean McVay played in the MAC too, but he was a WR).

Ball State went 13-8 the last two years, so Plitt has led a winning program; will be interesting to see where he winds up.

— When the NBA season starts in mid-October, Lakers @ Warriors will be played Opening Night.

— Mets 1, Phillies 0— Jacob deGrom used 76 pitches to throw six shutout innings; he struck out 10, allowed two hits. He’s allowed three runs in 16.2 IP in three starts this season.

— By the way, the Wild Cards in baseball are valuable; right now, three of the six division leaders lead by 10+ games. Would be kind of ho-hum without the Wild Card races.

— Before they rallied to win in the 9th inning Friday, Red Sox had lost 78 games in a row when they trailed going into the ninth inning.

— Deshaun Watson played the first three drives for Cleveland Friday night; Browns didn’t get any first downs on those drives. Watson completed one of five passes, for 7 yards.

How do the Browns handle his playing time the next two weeks? Watson is suspended for at least six weeks; they need to get Jacohy Brissett ready to play in Week 1.

— Buffalo’s rookie punter Matt Araiza had an 82-yard punt Saturday; he was a great punter snd kicker at San Diego State. Usually the punter holds for kicks; but Araiza was also the kicker, so will someone else be the holder for Buffalo’s kicks?

— AFC East odds:
-225— Buffalo
+450— Miami
+450— New England
+2200— NJ Jets

— AFC West odds:
+155— Kansas City
+240— LA Chargers
+260— Denver
+650— Las Vegas

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers. Wild Cards- Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Diego
AL: New York, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards- Blue Jays, Mariners, Rays

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, August 14

WNBA

Sunday, August 14

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Trend Report
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Minnesota @ Connecticut
Minnesota
Minnesota is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Minnesota's last 8 games
Connecticut
Connecticut is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota
Connecticut is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota

Atlanta @ New York
Atlanta
Atlanta is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing on the road against New York
New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 6 games when playing at home against Atlanta
New York is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home

Indiana @ Washington
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing Washington
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 7 games when playing on the road against Washington
Washington
Washington is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Indiana

Seattle @ Las Vegas
Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Seattle's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 6 games on the road
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games
Las Vegas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Seattle

Chicago @ Phoenix
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Chicago's last 8 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Chicago is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Phoenix
Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Phoenix's last 8 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing Chicago

Dallas @ Los Angeles
Dallas
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Dallas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 16-3 SU in its last 19 games when playing at home against Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing Dallas


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
Packers’ all-time leaders in passing yards:
61,655— Brett Favre
55,360— Aaron Rodgers
24,718— Bart Starr
21,369— Lynn Dickey
11,535— Tobin Rote
10,870— Don Majkowski

Quote of the Day
“I get paid to be suspicious, when I’ve got nothing to be suspicious about.”
Wilford Brimley, in The Firm

Monday’s quiz
When the Chargers came into existence in 1960, they called Los Angeles home; they played in LA for one year, then moved to San Diego until 2017, when they moved back to Los Angeles.

Sunday’s quiz
When the Chargers came into existence in 1960, they called Los Angeles home; they played in LA for one year, then moved to San Diego until 2017, when they moved back to Los Angeles.

Saturday’s quiz
Other than Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin has been in his current head coaching job the longest, followed by Andy Reid in Kansas City.

************************************************** ******************************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend……..

13) Chase Daniel is the Chargers’ backup QB; he’ll be 36 in October. This is his 13th year in the NFL, playing for his sixth team. Most fans probably have either not heard of him or forgot about him- he was a 3-year starter in college, at Missouri.

In 12 seasons in the NFL, Daniel has started five games, going 2-3; he’s thrown 8 TD’s, 7 INT’s. 12 seasons, six teams, 261 passes, 5 starts.

But quarterbacks get paid well; in his NFL career, Chase Daniel has earned $39,828,471. Pretty good bank for a guy who mostly runs the scout team in practice, and is an insurance policy in case the starting QB gets hurt.

12) So far in NFL preseason games this month, over is 14-3. Lot of points were scored this weekend.

11) Miami Marlins have scored 3 or fewer runs in each of their last 15 games, the longest-such streak since the 1979 Chicago Cubs. Marlins went 3-12 in those 15 games.

10) Atlanta Braves are 52-24 in night games, 18-22 in day games. Not really sure if there is a reason behind this stat, but most playoff games are played at night.

9) Quick look at NFL starting QB’s, by what college they went to:
3— Oklahoma (Hurts, Mayfield, Murray)
2— California (Rodgers, Goff)
2— Alabama (Mac Jones, Tagovailoa (Hurts started at Bana, but transferred out))
2— Clemson (Lawrence, Watson)
2— Oregon (Herbert, Mariota)
2— North Dakota State (Lance, Wentz)

How weird is it that North Dakota State is on this list?; Plus, Easton Stick also played for the Bison; he is a backup QB for the Chargers.

8) 3am Saturday night, I’m watching a replay of the Rams-Chargers game; Dan Fouts is the analyst, one of the best-ever QB’s. Made me smile every time he said “Super Bowl champion Rams.” Never get tired of hearing that.

Summer of 1986, I went to a free scrimmage in Anaheim Stadium, Rams-Chargers. Starters played 7-on-7, basically touch football. Watching Dan Fouts throw a football was incredible; right on target with every throw.

After that, the rookies played a full contact scrimmage; rookie QB Hugh Millen broke his ankle, not really sure why I remember that, but he wound up playing eight years in the NFL.

7) One of the cool things about the NFL is that players come from all over; Saturday night at SoFi Stadium, rookie WR Lance McCutcheon caught five passes for 87 yards and two TD’s for the Rams. He looked like a guy who is going to make the Opening Day roster.

McCutcheon is an undrafted free agent from Montana State, yet another reason why I never stress out about what GM Les Snead is doing— the man is great at his job.

Remember, Cooper Kupp played college ball at I-AA Eastern Washington.

6) Royals 4, Dodgers 0— KC pitcher Brady Singer tossed six shutout innings, continuing a trend where he pitches great whenever he is on my fantasy team’s bench. His agent should pay me to never, ever activate him.

Here’s the thing; Singer blanked the Dodgers, he blanked the Bronx Bombers, but he also lost twice to the A’s, who are a glorified minor league team.

Go figure.

5) Giants 8, Pirates 7— San Francisco blew a 5-0 lead, needed a two-run, walk-off home run from Thairo Estrada to pull out the win.

4) Rays 4, Orioles 1— Drew Rasmussen had a perfect game going in the 9th inning, but Jorge Mateo ruined the fun with a one-out double. Rasmussen got 25 outs on only 87 pitches, which is pretty damn impressive.

3) Kid from Wyoming playing in the Little League tournament didn’t use golf gloves, he used actual work gloves, like guys use when they’re digging a ditch. Kid hit a ball about 50 feet over the left field fence; he looked like a 12-year old Luke Voit.

2) There are only two NFL stadiums left that haven’t sold their stadium’s naming rights; Soldier Field in Chicago, Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Word seems to be that naming rights bring in about $10M a season.

Andrew Brandt used to be Vice President of the Packers; he once suggested to the team’s Board of Directors that a company would be interested in buying naming rights to Lambeau Field.

One of the board members told him, “Sir, if you made that deal, we would have to put you in witness protection.” I’m guessing Lambeau Field will always be called Lambeau Field.

1) RIP to Doug Kern, who passed away unexpectedly this week, at age 48.

I didn’t know Doug Kern, but I followed him on Twitter; he was great at provided statistical nuggets on baseball. Every night, he was religious about posting information, some of which found its way into this space. He was really, really good at his job.

We never met, but we were kindred spirits. RIP, sir.

 

[Udog]

xx

 

[Udog]

Playoffs begin Wednesday.

 

[Udog]

New WNBA Playoff format for 2022 and beyond

Beginning with the WNBA’s 26[SUP]th[/SUP] season, the eight teams with the highest winning percentages over a 36-game schedule regardless of conference will qualify for the playoffs and be seeded based on their record. All eight playoff teams will participate in first-round, bracket-style play consisting of four best-of-three series.

In one bracket, first-round play will place the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed and the No. 4 seed versus the No. 5 seed in a best-of-three series, with the winners advancing to a best-of-five semifinals series against one another. In the other bracket, the No. 3 seed will face the No. 6 seed and the No. 2 seed will meet the No. 7 seed, with the winners moving on to face one another in the other best-of-five semifinals series.

The winners of the semifinals series will then meet in the WNBA Finals, which also will be a best-of-five series, to determine the WNBA champion. Additional elements regarding the playoff structure are as follows:

• The number of playoff rounds shifts from four to three and no teams will receive a bye to start the postseason. Teams will not be reseeded following the first round.
• The planned change for the first-round series games will include a 2-1 format in which the higher seed will host Games 1 and 2 and the lower seed will host Game 3 if necessary.
• The new format will add eight potential games to the playoff footprint.
• The semifinals and WNBA Finals will each remain unchanged as best-of-five series and follow the same 2-2-1 format whereby the higher seed hosts Games 1, 2 and 5, and the lower-seeded team will host Games 3 and 4 in their respective series

“We have been evaluating different playoff formats over the past 12 months, and the new playoff format being announced today will enable fans to engage with all of the league’s best teams and top stars right from the start of the postseason with all eight championship contenders immediately involved in exciting, first-round action,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

“Following significant discussions with our Competition Committee and a Playoff subcommittee we formed last year, it was clear that while the prior format’s single-elimination games created a win-and-advance level of excitement to the start of the postseason, the new best-of-three series format will provide added opportunities to create and showcase rivalries with all playoff-eligible teams participating.”

 

[Udog]

How to watch WNBA Playoffs 2022: TV Schedule

All WNBA playoff games will be broadcast on either ABC, ESPN, or ESPN2. To watch the 2022 WNBA semifinals online, you can stream every game at ESPN.com or on the ESPN app, or on the ABC live website.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the BMW golf championship this week:
10-1— Rory McIlroy
12-1— Jon Rahm
14-1— Justin Thomas
16-1— Cantlay, Finau, Fitzpatrick, Scheffler, Zalatoris
20-1— Im, Morikawa, Schauffele
25-1— Sam Burns

Quote of the Day
“Playing Princeton is kind of like going to the dentist. You know that down the road it can make you better, but while it’s happening it can be very, very painful.”
Jim Valvano

Tuesday’s quiz
Who is the only guy who was a head coach in a Super Bowl and also played in the NBA?

Sunday’s quiz
When the Chargers came into existence in 1960, they called Los Angeles home; they played in LA for one year, then moved to San Diego until 2017, when they moved back to Los Angeles.

Saturday’s quiz
Other than Bill Belichick, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin has been in his current head coaching job the longest, followed by Andy Reid in Kansas City.

***************************

Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….

— College basketball lost a giant this week; former Princeton coach Pete Carril passed away, at age 92.

Carril went 514-261 coaching Princeton, winning 13 Ivy League titles, making the NCAA’s 11 times; he won the 1975 NIT, but he became most famous in 1989, when his 22-point underdog Tigers lost 50-49 to Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA’s, barely missing out on the first-ever 1-16 upset.

That was the night Dick Vitale was in the ESPN studio with Bob Ley; at halftime, Vitale said if Princeton pulled the upset, he would stand on his head on live TV. After the game, he still tried to do it, which made for some weird TV for a few minutes.

Carril’s last win as a head coach came in 1996, when his 10-point underdog Tigers upset UCLA 43-41, in a 4-13 first round game.

He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997; after leaving Princeton, he was an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings.

Pete Carril was a basketball genius. RIP, sir.

— Texas Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward Monday; Texas is 52-63 this season; they won their first game with interim manager Tony Beasley last night.

In four years as manager, Woodward’s Rangers were 211-287. This year, Texas was 6-24 in one-run games under Woodward- they won 2-1 last night, under Beasley.

You pay two guys (Corey Seager/Marcus Semien) $57M a year and you go 51-63, someone has to be the scapegoat. In this case, it was the manager. Someone should remind the GM that pitching is an important part of baseball; Seager/Semien aren’t pitchers.

— Tigers/Guardians split a doubleheader Monday; they’ve been playing against each other since 1901. The series record?

Detroit has won 1,143 times. Cleveland has also won 1,143 times. Exactly even.

— Historian Michael Beschloss is a very good follow on Twitter; he was posting stuff about the old TV show The Addams Family this week. I’m not really sure why, but he pointed out that the actor who played Lurch (Ted Cassidy) had been a radio announcer at WFAA in Dallas before he got the role on The Addams Family.

On November 22, 1963, the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, Cassidy was on the air at the time of the shooting.

Cassidy was also occasionally used to play Thing, the hand that would appear out of a box to give Mr/Mrs Addams things they needed, like the mail. Check it out on YouTube.

— Dodgers P Tyler Anderson is 13-2 this season; weird thing is, in his two losses, the Dodgers were shut out both games, first at Colorado, then by the Royals. You wouldn’t expect a team like the Dodgers to get shut out in Denver and Kansas City, but they were.

— Jets’ QB Zach Wilson is having knee surgery in Los Angeles today; don’t they have good knee surgeons in New York or New Jersey? Why send him all the way to California?

— Minnesota Twins were 41-33 when they announced that pitching coach Wes Johnson was quitting to take the same job at LSU. LSU is paying Johnson $750,000 a year; the Twins were paying him $350,000, making the Twins look like huge cheapskates.

Twins are 18-22 since then; they’re two games out of first place in the AL Central, also two games out of the last Wild Card slot. Minnesota is fading; Joe Ryan has been getting waxed in road games. Having a good pitching coach might’ve helped them.

— Kansas City Royals started seven rookies Monday night, the most they’ve started in any game since 1991.

— Tampa Bay 4, New York 0— Bronx was shut out for second game in a row for first time since 2016; they’re 8-16 since the All-Star break.

They’ve got injury issues; Stanton, LeMahieu, Carpenter are all hurt.

New York still leads the AL East by 10 games, but this is where moving the trade deadline up to August 2 is a big thing. Trade deadline used to be August 31, but now they can’t poach guys from some stiff team to re-inforce their lineup.

Time for Aaron Boone to do some managing.

— Detroit Tigers have used 16 different starting pitchers this season, most in the major leagues.

— LSU QB Myles Brennan quit football this week; he played in 18 games over five seasons for LSU, replacing Joe Burrow as the Tigers’ QB in 2020.

Brennan entered the transfer portal last winter when former LSU coach Ed Orgeron was fired, but new coach Brian Kelly talked him into staying. Kelly then poached QB Jayden Daniels from Arizona State, and Brennan saw the writing on the wall, so he is walking away form football.

— As I’m typing all this, I’m watching ESPN’s fantasy football marathon; must be an awful lot of $$$ in hosting fantasy football leagues. I’m no good at fantasy football, but live TV is most always fun.

 

[Udog]

Playoffs begin tomorrow.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the CFL’s Grey Cup this year:
+150— Winnipeg Blue Bombers
+250— British Columbia Lions
+450— Calgary Stampeders
+850— Toronto Argonauts
+1000— Saskatchewan Roughriders
+1200— Montreal Alouettes
+1400— Hamilton Tiger-Cats
+4000— Ottawa RedBlacks
+15000— Edmonton Elks

Quote of the Day
“I want people to know how great my brother truly was in his prime. I think that it gets lost in today’s — and I know that he would be upset if I said this — but I think it truly is. You go back and you look at it, you watch the film, the guy was fricking unstoppable. Like absolutely unstoppable. ”
Steelers’ LB TJ Watt

Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ all-time leader in passing yardage?
Hint: He is currently an assistant coach in the NFL

Tuesday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams in Super Bowl XIV.

Monday’s quiz
Bud Grant is the only guy who was a head coach in a Super Bowl and also played in the NBA; he coached the Vikings in four Super Bowls, played for the Minneapolis Lakers.

************************************************** ***********************************

Wednesday’s Den: My revised list of favorite movies, #’s 14-26

26) Bulworth— Warren Beatty plays a suicidal liberal politician who puts a contract out on himself and takes the opportunity to be bluntly honest with his voters. When he falls head over heels for a younger woman (Halle Berry), he tries to cancel the contract, but it turns out that the woman is the hit man.

25) Molly’s Game— The true story of Molly Bloom, a young woman who ran the world’s most exclusive high-stakes poker game and later became an FBI target, when Russian mobsters joined the poker game. This movie is a continuation of a book she wrote about her experiences.

24) Dave— Guy who runs an employment agency is recruited by the Secret Service to become a momentary stand-in for the President of the United States- he looks exactly like the President. But the President dies suddenly, and his henchmen keep the lookalike in charge, so they can run the country…….or so they think.

23) The Verdict— Paul Newman plays an outcast, alcoholic Boston lawyer who sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling. Jack Warden is his friend/co-counsel; one of the great supporting actors of all-time.

22) Lost In Translation— A movie star on the down side of his career and a neglected young woman form an unlikely friendship after crossing paths in Tokyo. Bill Murray is great in this; Scarlett Johansson is the young woman.

21) Good Will Hunting— Matt Damon plays a janitor at M.I.T. who has a gift for math, but needs help from a psychologist (Robin Williams) to find direction in his life. Robin Williams is great in this, and Ben Affleck is excellent as Damon’s best friend.

20) The Hangover— Three friends wake up from a bachelor party in Las Vegas, with no memory of the previous night and the fourth friend (the bachelor) missing. They make their way around the city trying to find their friend so he can drive back to Los Angeles to get married.

This movie had two sequels; Hangover Part 2 is one of the worst movies ever, Hangover Part 3 is pretty good.

19) Let It Ride— A cab driver gets a hot tip on a race horse and wins big, but he can’t seem to stop gambling. Hilarity ensues; Richard Dreyfuss is the gambler, Teri Garr is his frustrated wife, Robbie Coltrane adds a lot as the ticket seller at the racetrack. Jennifer Tilly is in this, before we knew she was hanging out with professional poker player Phil Laak.

18) One on One— A small-town basketball star goes to a big-time college and tries to impress his tutor, teammates, and coach. He isn’t always successful. Robbie Benson was excellent as Henry Steele, the ballplayer. G.D. Spradlin was the coach; he also played Tom Landry in North Dallas Forty. Melanie Griffith has a cameo appearance as a hitchhiker early in the movie.

17) Begin Again— A chance encounter between a down-and-out music executive and a young singer-songwriter, new to Manhattan, turns into a promising collaboration between the two talents. If you like music, you’ll enjoy this movie; Mark Ruffalo is the music executive, Keira Knightley the singer. James Corden adds a lot as her friend from back home.

16) Any Given Sunday— Al Pacino plays an aging football coach with a struggling team that is owned by an impatient young lady (Cameron Diaz). Jim Brown is an assistant coach, Lawrence Taylor is a linebacker. Two of the team’s three QB’s are Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx.

Pacino’s Miami Sharks play teams all coached by Hall of Famers: YA Tittle, Johnny Unitas, Bob St Clair, Warren Moon, Dick Butkus.

15) Heaven Can Wait— An NFL quarterback, accidentally taken away from his body by an overanxious angel before he was meant to die, returns to life in the body of a recently murdered millionaire. I was 18 when this movie came out, at a time when the Rams made the playoffs every year but never won the Super Bowl.

For the next 20 years, I was convinced that this movie was the only time I was ever going to see the Rams win the Super Bowl— I still have the actual movie poster from the theater.

Warren Beatty, Jack Warden, James Mason are in this: Beatty/Warden were both in Bulworth, Mason/Warden were both in The Verdict.

14) Fast Break— Gabe Kaplan plays a New York City basketball enthusiast who works in a deli, but he really wants to coach ball. He is offered the coaching job at a small Nevada college; he recruits some players, who are a bit odd but good- one of his starters is a young lady.

Bernard King, Michael Warren played big-time basketball for real; they’re on his team, too.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, August 17

WNBA

Wednesday, August 17

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New York @ Chicago
New York
The total has gone OVER in 8 of New York's last 9 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 12 of New York's last 16 games when playing Chicago
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Chicago's last 9 games when playing at home against New York
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Chicago's last 7 games at home

Phoenix @ Las Vegas
Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Phoenix's last 11 games when playing on the road against Las Vegas
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Phoenix's last 7 games on the road
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Las Vegas's last 11 games when playing at home against Phoenix


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Thursday’s 6-pack
Spreads, totals for NFL exhibition games this week:
— Chicago @ Seattle (-3.5, 40)
— Carolina @ New England (-2.5, 40)
— New Orleans @ Green Bay (-3, 39.5)
— Houston (-2.5, 38.5) @ LA Rams
— Detroit (-1.5, 39.5) @ Indianapolis
— Denver @ Buffalo (-4.5, 41.5)

Quote of the Day
“This is a very good unique situation. We have two quarterbacks that are playing at a high starter level and we’re gonna keep competing and it’s possible there’s a starter by the first game, and then possible that it plays into the season. Then we pick the one that’s gonna help the team win, who’s gonna be the best person to play quarterback to win the game.”
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh

Thursday’s quiz
What pitcher has the most wins while pitching for the San Diego Padres? He also gave up Pete Rose’s 4,195th hit in 1985, giving Rose the all-time record.

Wednesday’s quiz
Mark Brunell is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ all-time leader in passing yardage; he is currently the quarterback coach for the Lions.

Tuesday’s quiz
Vince Ferragamo played QB for the Rams in Super Bowl XIV.

*******************************

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..

13) Had an excellent day Wednesday; went to Saratoga Racetrack with four of my cousins, sat around and shot the breeze all day, enjoyed the unusually cool weather, and spent $6 for a 20-ounce bottle of Sprite (the prices at Saratoga are ludicrous).

Back in the mid-80’s, my cousin KL Wheat taught me (indirectly) that I know NOTHING about handicapping horse racing. He is an expert on breeding, what to look for with jockeys and how to judge workouts in the Racing Form. He won a few hundred Wednesday; must be nice to be so smart about something.

20-ish year old kid sitting behind us was surprisingly enthusiastic to be down only $90 after three races. Wonder how that went the rest of the day.

12) NBA schedule came out Wednesday; they have no games scheduled on Election Day- all 30 teams will play the night before, with a campaign designed to encourage people to go out and vote the next day. Sounds like an effective maneuver; the mid-term elections are important.

11) Lebron James signed a two-year, $97.1M deal with the Lakers; when his next contract comes up, his son will likely be an NBA rookie and word is father/son will want to play together.

10) Mets P Carlos Carrasco got hurt the other night; he’s thrown 126.1 IP this season, but is now out for several weeks. If Carrasco gets to 170 IP this season, his $14M option for next year will automatically kick in. If not, the Mets can buy him out for $3M.

It is possible that injury will cost him $11M (actually less, if the Mets cut bait with him, he’ll sign somewhere else, but not for $11M)

9) Colleges spend a lot of $$$ on football; Florida Gators have a new $85M practice facility.

The facility has:
— a swimming pool
— a basketball court
— a steam room
— a plunge pool
— a virtual reality room
— a hair salon
— a dining hall
— The facility is 142,000 square feet

8) Seattle Seahawks QB Drew Lock tested positive for COVID this week, is out for tonight’s home game with the Chicago Bears. 3rd-string QB Jacob Eason figures to carry the load for Seattle in the last two pre-season games- their starter is Geno Smith.

7) Pittsburgh 2B Rodolfo Castro got suspended for a game for playing last week with his cell phone in the back pocket of his uniform pants. Seriously, he slid head-first into third base and the cellphone popped out of his pocket, much to the surprise of the ump and 3rd base coach.

He is hitting .232; how is he still in the major leagues after that?

6) San Diego Padres got blindsided when Fernando Tatis Jr got suspended for 80 games; they made a huge trade with the Nationals to land Juan Soto/Josh Bell, giving them a formidable lineup when Tatis got healthy, but he got suspended before he got healthy.

His injury, by the way, was a broken wrist suffered in a motorcycle accident in the offseason; when asked about the accident., Tatis replied, “Which one?” Awesome.

Padres’ GM AJ Preller on Tatis: “I think what we need to get to is a point in time where we trust. Over the course of the last six or seven months, I think that’s been something that we haven’t really been able to have there.”

Unusual to hear a team executive criticize a star player like that.

5) Speaking of Josh Bell, he is 7-52 (.135) in his first 14 games as a Padre; he hit .301 in 103 games for Washington this year. Nationals visit San Diego this weekend; maybe that will shake Bell out of his funk.

4) Atlanta Braves signed 21-year old CF Michael Harris II to an 8-year, $72M contract, not bad for a kid who skipped the AAA level- he played Class A ball last year, only 43 games in the AA Southern League this season. He is hitting .288 in 72 major league games.

3) Phillies got their 10,000th win in franchise history Tuesday in Cincinnati.

2) 2023 All-Star Game is in Seattle, which could hamper the Home Run Derby. Ball doesn’t carry well there; any chance they let guys use aluminum bats for Home Run Derby?

Nah, didn’t think so.

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Mets, Cardinals, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Atlanta-Philly-San Diego
AL: New York, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards: Seattle-Tampa Bay-Toronto

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, August 18

WNBA

Thursday, August 18

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dallas @ Connecticut
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
Dallas is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
Connecticut
Connecticut is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games when playing at home against Dallas
Connecticut is 5-0-1 ATS in its last 6 games

Washington @ Seattle
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Washington is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games
Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games
Seattle is 19-3 SU in its last 22 games when playing at home against Washington


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
Career passing yardage leaders for the Chicago Bears:
23,443— Jay Cutler
14,686— Sid Luckman
11,567— Jim Harbaugh
11,203— Jim McMahon
10,609— Mitchell Trubisky
10,502— Erik Kramer

Quote of the Day
“We’ll see. We’ll talk about it next week. [I’m] not concerned about it right now. We’re trying to practice against Tennessee and play a game. I said ‘sometime after Tennessee.’ There’s no definitive date for me. But we’ll check on it, we’ll keep in touch and we’ll find out.”
Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, when asked when Tom Brady will return to the team

Friday’s quiz
What team did Henry Aaron finish his major league career with?

Thursday’s quiz
Eric Show has the most wins while pitching for the San Diego Padres; he also gave up Pete Rose’s 4,195th hit in 1985, giving Rose the all-time record.

Wednesday’s quiz
Mark Brunell is the Jacksonville Jaguars’ all-time leader in passing yardage; he is currently the quarterback coach for the Lions.

*********************************

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here………

— Verdict is finally in; Deshaun Watson gets suspended for the first 11 games this season; he is also fined $5M.

There are no coincidences; Watson can return in Week 13, when the Browns visit Houston, Watson’s old team.

Go figure.

— Watson will play only two regular season games in Cleveland this season; other four are on the road.

— How Cleveland’s odds changed with this news:
Super Bowl odds slip from 25-1 to 45-1.
Odds to win AFC go from 11-1 to 20-1
Odds to win AFC North go from +275 to +475.

Will Cleveland playoffs? No -175, yes +135

— Salary cap hits for QB’s in the AFC West:
$35.8M— Patrick Mahomes
$24M— Russell Wilson
$19.4M— Derek Carr
$7.2M— Justin Herbert

Teams can do more with their roster when the QB is on his rookie contract.

— Speaking of which, LA Chargers paid S Derwin James $19.1M a year for four years, the biggest contract for any safety, ever.

— Sunday-Tuesday, Bronx Bombers were favored in three straight games, but scored only one run total in losing all three games.

Since 2004, in 44,558 major league games, that is only the 11th time a team scored one run in losing three games in a row as a favorite.

— Arizona 5, Giants 0— Zac Gallen tossed 7.1 scoreless IP, struck out 12, two of which were guys trying to bunt for a hit with a 1-2 count. Don’t see that a lot in the majors.

— St Louis Cardinals acquired lefty starters Jose Quintana, Jordan Montgomery at the trade deadline; people were not excited by that, but the Cardinals are 6-0 in their starts so far:

Montgomery 3-0, allowed one run in 16.2 IP
Quintana 1-0 in three starts, allowed five runs in 17 IP

— Utah Utes opened at Visitor Messages in the AP’s first college football Top 25, their highest preseason ranking ever.

— Thursday night was Jim Kaat’s last game in the broadcast booth; the 83-year old Hall of Fame pitcher announced this week that he is stepping away from the mike to give a younger guy a chance. Too bad; always enjoyed listening to him.

— Braves 3, Mets 2— Atlanta wins three of four in this series, move within 3.5 games of first place in the NL East. Teams play each other only three more times this season.

— Six actors who appeared in both Batman and Magnum PI:
Elisha Cook (Icepick in Magnum)
Howard Duff (played Magnum’s grandfather)
Alan Hale (best known as the skipper on Gilligan’s Island)
Cesar Romero (the Joker on Batman)
Barbara Rush (Nora Clavicle on Batman)
Jill St John (Jan Kona in Magnum)

— If the World Series goes seven games this fall, Game 7 will be on November 5, only a couple days before the college basketball season starts.

— Good segment on Hard Knocks this week with Detroit Lions’ backup QB David Blough and his wife, who ran track in the last Olympics for Colombia. They showed him watching her race in the Olympics in the Lions’ meeting room, with teammates/coaches rooting for her.

— Texas Rangers fired manager Chris Woodward Monday; they fired team president Jon Daniels Wednesday. Daniels was with the Rangers for 17 years; they had some good teams. From 2010-16, Texas made the playoffs five times in seven seasons, but they haven’t had a winning season since then.

— Baseball injuries:
Reds 1B Joey Votto (shoulder) is out for the year
Mets 3B Eduardo Escobar (leg) is on the IL
Bronx reliever Clay Holmes is on the IL
White Sox 2B Leury Garcia is on the IL
Tampa Bay 3B Yandy Diaz Thursday’s game with a sore knee

— Big 14 signed a 7-year media deal where schools will make a boatload of $$$; their games will be televised everywhere but ESPN. League is expected to bank $1B a year with the deal, but the deal doesn’t start until next summer.

— Cal Bears’ football announcer Joe Starkey is retiring after this season; I remember him from listening to Pittsburgh Penguin hockey games on KDKA radio in the early 70’s, when I was a kid.

— Happy 86th birthday to the great actor Robert Redford.

— Bears 27, Seahawks 11
Chicago led 17-0 at halftime.
You try not to overreact to exhibition games, but Seattle was bad in this game.
Seahawks had 13 penalties for 92 yards, Chicago 3 for 38.

---

 

[Udog]

No games today.... playoffs resume tomorrow.

 

[Old School]

Friday’s quiz
What team did Henry Aaron finish his major league career with?

same place he started w/different team and different jersey #