2022 WNBA SEASON NEWS,NOTES, PICKS !

[Cnotes53]

WNBA BEST BETS AND OPINIONS:

Date................W-L-T................%............Units

05/27/2022......3-1-0.........75.00%...........+9.50
05/26/2022........1-1-0.........50.00%........-0.50
05/25/2022.......1-0-0.......100.00%.........+5.00
05/24/2022.......3-5-0.........37.50%..........-12.50
05/23/2022.......1-1-0.........50.00%..........-0.50
05/22/2022.......3-3-0.........50.00%...........-1.50
05/21/2022......3-1-0.........75.00%...........+9.50
05/20/2022......6-1-0.........85.71%...........+24.50
05/17/2022......4-6-0.........40.00%............-13.00
05/15/2022......3-1-0,,,,,,,,,75.00%.............+9.50
05/14/2022......4-2-0.........66.67%.............+9.00
05/13/2022......3-3-0.........50.00%..............-1.50
05/11/2022......3-3-0.........50.00%.............- 1.50
05/10/2022......1-3-0.........25.00%............-11.50
05/08/2022......4-2-0.........66.66%.............+9.50
05/07/2022......1-3-0 ........25.00%............-11.50
05/06/2022......3-5-0.........37.50%............-12.50

TOTALS......44-38-0.........53.65%..............+ 3.00


BEST BETS:

05/27/2022..........3-1-0.........75.00%.............+9.50
05/26/2022.........1-1-0.........50.00%...........-0.50
05/25/2022.........1-0-0.......100.00%...........+5.00
05/24/2022.........2-4-0.........33.33%............-12.50
05/23/2022.........1-1-0.........50.00%............-0.50
05/22/2022..........3-3-0.........50.00%...........-1.50
05/21/2022..........3-1-0.........75.00%.............+9.50
05/20/2022..........6-1-0.........85.71%...........+24.50
05/17/2022..........3-4-0.........42.85%.............-7.00
05/15/2022..........3-1-0,,,,,,,,,75.00%.............+9.50
05/14/2022..........4-2-0.........66.67%.............+9.00
05/13/2022..........2-3-0.........40.00%..............-6.50
05/11/2022..........3-3-0.........50.00%.............- 1.50
05/10/2022..........1-3-0.........25.00%.............-11.50
05/08/2022..........4-2-0.........66.66%.............+9.50
05/07/2022..........1-3-0..........33.33%............- 6.00

TOTALS..........41-33-0..........55.40%............+28.50


UPDATED 05/27/2022

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in batting average (min 100 AB’s):
.379— JD Martinez, Bos
.363— Tim Anderson, CWS
.357— Manny Machado, SD
.354— Taylor Ward, LAA
.353— Manuel Margot, TB
.349— Luis Arraez, Minn

Quote of the Day
“Jimmy Butler’s competitive will is as high as anyone.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; what was the team’s name when they played in Seattle?

Friday’s quiz
Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo all played their college football at the same school; Eastern Illinois.

Thursday’s quiz
Aaron Donald played his college football for the Pitt Panthers.

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

Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….

13) Miami 111. Boston 103— Jimmy Butler played a GREAT game, scoring 47 points, with nine rebounds, eight assists. Game 7 is Sunday night in Miami.

Boston’s Al Horford has played in 140 playoff games without ever playing in the NBA Finals, most of any player without making the Finals. That can all change Sunday.

12) Los Angeles Lakers named 48-year old Darwin Ham as their new coach; Ham has been an assistant in the NBA for 11 years, most recently with Milwaukee (they won the title last year).

Ham played in the NBA for seven years, won a title with the 2004 Pistons. This will be the first time he is a head coach. His mother used to be mayor of Saginaw, Michigan.

11) Last three years, first half under is 55-21-1, in Eastern Conference playoff games in Games 3-7 of a series. Teams get to know each other’s plays so well, the deeper you get into a series, the harder it is to score— very few easy baskets.

10) Cardinals 4, Brewers 2— St Louis is using pitch-com more; they’re trying to get Dakota Hudson to work faster when he is on the mound- they think it’ll help both his pitching and their team’s fielding behind him.

In this game, Hudson threw 97 pitches in only 4.2 IP, but he didn’t allow any runs.

9) Atlanta Braves’ TV Friday night, Chip Caray/Jeff Francouer broadcast the game from the bleachers in right-center field, which is pretty cool. They’re a good broadcast team.

Chip Caray is Skip Caray’s son, Harry Caray’s grandson, but he isn’t funny like they were. He has made himself into a good broadcaster; upbeat, prepared, fun to listen to. He’s worked very hard at his job; tough to follow in the footsteps of his famous relatives, but he is doing it well.

8) I enjoy fantasy baseball (except for weeks when my team gets killed, like this week) so this is interesting to me. Bryce Harper can’t play the field because he can’t throw— his elbow is messed up— he DH’s every day, but that means JT Realmuto can’t DH when he doesn’t catch.

So if you have Realmuto on your fantasy team, you’re losing 20-25 games where Realmuto would likely be the DH- lot of at-bats. If there was no DH, Harper wouldn’t even be playing.

7) Coming into Friday’s baseball, San Francisco Giants’ hitters in the Blogs spot in the order were hitting a combined .166, with only 8 RBI, which is terrible.

6) Last weekend, Josh Donaldson got int a kerfuffle with Chicago’s Tim Anderson; MLB said he was suspended for a game. Then he missed a game with COVID. Now he has a bad shoulder.

If I was a conspiracy theorist, I’d suggest his suspension might’ve been longer than one game, they just don’t want to make a big deal out of it.

5) Mariners 6, Astros 1— Both starting pitchers faced 30 batters in this game, which almost never happens these days. Pitchers seldom face the same batter four times in a game, but three batters on each team did it in this game. Unusual.

4) Orioles 12, Red Sox 8— Boston led 8-2 after six innings; their bullpen imploded. This game was 6-0 in second inning.

3) Reds 5, Giants 1— San Francisco reliever Jake McGee wasn’t allowed to pitch in this game, because his name wasn’t listed on the Giants’ lineup card, which is given to umpires.

Whoops.

2) In the NL East, New York has a 7.5-game lead.
In the AL East, New York has a 6.5-game lead.

Think the TV networks that show postseason games are excited about this?

1) There was an ad in a San Antonio newspaper Friday, which said “The summer sale you WON’T want to miss” The sale is for all kinds of rifles, all weekend long, a few days after 19 kids were murdered in a 4th grade classroom, two hours west of San Antonio.

What is wrong with people; why do they need all these assault rifles?

Remind me never to go to Texas again. Ever.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Saturday, May 28

WNBA

Saturday, May 28

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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Las Vegas @ Chicago
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Las Vegas is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Chicago
Chicago is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
Chicago is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games

Washington @ Connecticut
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Washington's last 9 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing on the road against Connecticut
Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Connecticut's last 5 games
Connecticut is 14-2 SU in its last 16 games at home


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in ERA, minimum 45 IP:
1.60— Martin Perez, Tex
1.70— Nestor Cortes, NYY
1.77— Alek Manoah, Tor
1.80— Tony Gonsolin, LA
1.86— Joe Musgrove, SD
1.96— Miles Mikolas, StL

Quote of the Day
“I saw a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. Number two was death. This means to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.”
Jerry Seinfeld

Sunday’s quiz
Before they moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes, where did the NHL team play its home games?

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; they were the Seattle Pilots for that one season, before moving to Milwaukee.

Friday’s quiz
Tony Romo, Sean Payton, Jimmy Garoppolo all played their college football at the same school; Eastern Illinois.

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

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) There is a Twitter account called Umpire Scorecards which grades the home plate umpire after every game; it shows where they missed calls, what %age they missed and which team was helped by those calls.

Friday night in Cincinnati, in a game whose start was delayed by rain, Hunter Wendelstedt had the plate. Of the 108 pitches he called balls, only two were strikes. That is very good. Of the 51 pitches he called strikes, 12 were actually balls, mostly borderline high pitches. No bueno.

76% accuracy on called strikes isn’t good; when robot umpires become a thing in a couple years, stuff like this won’t happen anymore. I’m not in favor of robot umpires, but they’re going to be a real thing fairly soon.

12) New Orleans 31, Michigan 27 OT
— First-ever overtime game in the new USFL.
— They use a 2-point conversion shootout for overtime games; Breakers converted both of theirs, Michigan went 0-2.
— New Orleans is 4-3, Michigan 1-6, with five losses by 7 or less points.
— Michigan’s kicker made a 60-yard field goal; they lost a game earlier this season when a different kicker missed a 21-yard kick at the gun that would’ve won the game.

11) New Jersey 20, Tampa Bay 13— Generals clinch a playoff berth; Tampa Bay didn’t score a TD in any of their three red zone drives. Bandits were minus-3 in turnovers, are minus-10 for the season. Thats a losing number in any league.

10) FS1 showed a picture from 1991, when TV analyst/former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was playing QB for the San Antonio Riders in the World League of American Football. His coach was Mike Riley, who is currently the New Jersey Generals’ coach.

Garrett spoke very highly of Riley, who has had an interesting career in almost every pro football league there has been, plus a couple college leagues— he is Oregon State’s all-time winningest coach.

9) Reds’ OF Tommy Pham and Giants’ OF Joc Pederson got into a pre-game scuffle Friday; now Pham has been suspended for three games. Apparently the dispute was over a fantasy football league they were in last fall; there was an actual dispute about putting a player on injured reserve and well…..you would think this wouldn’t result in a fight, but it did.

Two rich guys in a fantasy football league; there must’ve been lot of money at stake for things to carry over to May of the next year, but now Pham loses $111,111 for his three-game suspension, making it a very expensive fantasy football season.

8) They were talking on couple of different ballgames Saturday how catchers who use pitch-com are putting it on their knee pad instead of their wrist. Teams are paranoid that signs could still be stolen by seeing where the catchers presses the key pad, if it was on his wrist.

7) Someone kept track of this at a Tigers-Guardians game this week; they used a total of 115 baseballs in that game.

6) UCLA 25, Oregon State 22 (10)— Bruins tied game with nine runs in bottom of 9th inning in this Pac-12 tournament game, then won it in extra innings.

— This is the first year the Pac-12 has a postseason baseball tournament.
— Game lasted 5:44
— Kid on UCLA had seven RBI and he didn’t start.
— Beavers later beat UCLA 8-7 in another game, eliminating the Bruins from the double elimination event- they play Stanford for the conference title Sunday night on ESPN2.

5) Red Sox 5, Orioles 3— This was Nathan Eovaldi’s 211th career start; it was his first complete game. By way of comparison, Greg Maddux threw 109 complete games, Rick Langford 85. No one throws complete games anymore.

Last time a pitcher threw consecutive complete games? Corey Kluber, in 2017.

4) Golden State is 21-4 in playoff series since Steph Curry has been on the team; they’re 89-39 (.695) in playoff games in the Curry era, the best playoff winning %age of any MVP in NBA history.

3) NY Rangers 5, Carolina 2:
— Carolina is 7-0 at home in the playoffs, 0-6 on the road.
— First five games in this series stayed under the total; this one went over.
— Game 7 is Monday night in Raleigh.

2) Someone posted a picture on Twitter of a Pistons-Cavaliers game from 2004, when Lebron James scored 43 points. The guy guarding James in the picture was Darvin Ham, who is now going to be Lebron’s coach with the Lakers.

1) Former Iowa State guard Tyrese Hunter not only transferred away from the Cyclones, he bolted to Texas, a conference rival of Iowa State’s. He was the best available transfer out there; big loss for Iowa State.

Other schools trying to poach Hunter were Gonzaga, Kansas, Louisville, Purdue, Tennessee; last year, Purdue was one of the few top 50 programs that didn’t poach any transfers.

This is where college basketball is headed, free agency. It is what it is, even if it does suck.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, May 29

WNBA

Sunday, May 29

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

Phoenix @ Atlanta
Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Phoenix is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing at home against Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Atlanta's last 11 games at home

New York @ Seattle
New York
New York is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 7 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Seattle
Seattle is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing New York
Seattle is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against New York

Los Angeles @ Minnesota
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 8 games on the road
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles


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

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
Where the USFL’s starting QB’s went to college:
— Birmingham, J’Mar Smith— Louisiana Tech
— Houston, Clayton Thorson— Northwestern
— Michigan, Josh Love— San Jose State
— New Jersey, Luis Perez— Texas A&M- Commerce
— New Orleans, Kyle Sloter— Northern Colorado
— Philadelphia, Case Cookus— Northern Arizona
— Pittsburgh, Vad Lee— James Madison
— Tampa Bay, Jordan Ta’amu— Ole Miss

Quote of the Day
“I feel completely normal. So I think that’s where it’s going to be like, do we push it? Do we not? That’ll be the discussion over the next few days, and when we get on the mound, what is the safest way to go about this?”
Jacob deGrom, talking about his health on Saturday

Monday’s quiz
Who was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs?

Sunday’s quiz
In 1997, Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

Saturday’s quiz
Milwaukee Brewers came into existence in 1970, a year after they played one year as an expansion team in Seattle; they were the Seattle Pilots for that one season, before moving to Milwaukee.

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

Monday’s Den: Happy Memorial Day

13) Boston 100, Miami 96:
— Boston never trailed, leading 32-17 after first quarter.
— Miami had ball in last 0:10 down two points, but missed a 3-point shot.
— Jimmy Butler played the whole freakin’ game, scoring 35 points.
— Other than Butler/Adebayo, Miami shot 12-43 from floor.
— Celtics advance to meet Golden State in NBA Finals.

12) Over/under for this game was 198, lowest total for a playoff game since Game 7 of the 2018 series between Celtics-Cavaliers.

Since 2015, under is 57-50-1 in NBA playoff games with totals lower than 200.

11) Atlanta Braves promoted outfield prospect Michael Harris from AA to the major leagues this weekend; why do some teams have a prospect skip AAA altogether?

Harris is only 21 years old; he hit .305 in 41 games in the Southern League, but is he ready for the big leagues, and if he struggles at the plate, how will he react to that? Harris is a local kid from the Atlanta area; he made a great catch in centerfield the other day, but hitting has to be a struggle, jumping from AA to facing Sandy Alcantara in his first MLB game.

10) Next season MLB will use a different scheduling format; every big league team will face every other team, so the stars of the game will face every team, and traditional rivals will play each other less than they usually do.

Here’s the problem; baseball SAYS they want more scoring but when hitters see pitchers fewer times, it makes hitting a lot more difficult, and with this schedule, hitters will not see the same pitchers nearly as much as they do now.

9) White Sox star SS Tim Anderson is headed to the injured list after hurting his right leg in the field Sunday; Anderson is hitting .356; he is having an MRI Monday to see how severe the injury is. White Sox are going to miss their leadoff hitter.

8) Birmingham 26, Pittsburgh 16:
— Unbeaten Stallions clinched a playoff berth here.
— Game was 23-16 with 5:00 left; the Pittsburgh coach got upset his QB’s body language during a timeout, and yanked him, putting in a QB the team signed five days ago. Not ideal.
— Pittsburgh also wasted a timeout early in third quarter when they were trying to draw the Stallions offside— they should’ve taken a delay of game, kept their timeout.

7) Philadelphia 35, Houston 24:
— 1-6 Gamblers led 17-13 at halftime; they’ve led every game at halftime.
— Stars outgained Houston 315-200.

6) Giants 6, Reds 4:
— Giants scored six runs in 8th inning, after getting one hit in first six innings.
— Reds had won 29 games in a row when they led from 7th inning on.
— Despite the loss, Cincinnati is 13-9 in its last 22 games, after starting out 3-22.

5) At one point in his career, Sonny Gray went 48 consecutive starts without allowing more than six hits in any start. That is an all-time record, 16 games longer than the second-best streak.

4) 42-year old Rich Hill is pitching for Boston Monday; Red Sox are his 11th team in an interesting 18-year career. Betcha he could write a hell of a book.

3) Odd golf stat: Last time a golfer won a PGA Tour event without getting a birdie in the last round was 2014 in Memphis, when Ben Crane won the Fed Ex Open.

2) Harold Varner was tied for the lead on the 12th hole Sunday at the Charles Schwab Challenge, then his day got ugly; Varner shot +10 on the back nine, wound up tied for 27th.

1) Memorial Day is a day set aside for mourning the military personnel who died while serving our country, protecting us. We’re lucky to live in a democracy where we can do as we please, and our military does a lot of great work, which often goes unappreciated, which isn’t good.

So thank you to all military personnel; you’re doing very important work.

 

[Udog]

No games today.... play resumes tomorrow.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big X football title:
7-4— Oklahoma
2-1— Texas
5-1— Oklahoma State
15-2— Baylor
12-1— Iowa State
14-1— TCU
40-1— Texas Tech, West Virginia
50-1— Kansas State
300-1— Kansas

Quote of the Day
“I can have a conversation and Coach Pederson’s great about that. At every play, he gives you a piece of feedback that another coach might not give you just because he knows what it’s like and it’s something little that he might see that someone else doesn’t see. Having the head coach be able to step in, even today a couple times, three or four times, after a play, he’ll come over and give me a little tip or whatever. Just having a head coach that can do that and really, really knows what he’s talking about is cool.”
Jaguars’ QB Trevor Lawrence

Tuesday’s quiz
Who was the Warriors’ center, last time they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals?

Monday’s quiz
Terry Collins was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs, in 2016.

Sunday’s quiz
In 1997, Hartford Whalers moved to Raleigh and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

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

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

13) Last week or the week before, there was some stuff on social media mocking players of the past, that they could not compare to today’s NBA players. It was disrespectful.

12) There are 48:00 in an NBA game; Sunday night, Jimmy Butler played all 48:00 in Miami’s 100-96 Game 7 loss to Boston. Tremendous effort; the Heat came up just short. People made a big deal out of Butler playing the whole game; doesn’t happen much anymore.

NBA basketball has changed a lot over the years; last ten years or so, it has gotten a lot softer, guys opting out of playing back/back nights. The game has become a lot less physical. On the plus side, shooting has become more fashionable. More passing/less dribbling, which is a good thing. The game is different, for better or worse.

Back in the day, Wilt Chamberlain AVERAGED 45.8 minutes a game for his 13-year career, and that was the regular season. He averaged 47.2 minutes/game in playoff games. His first ten years in the league, he never played less than 72 games in an 82-game season.

11) My point is this: Guys can play major minutes, if they put their minds to it; teams fly around in private jets these days, the accommodations are a lot better now than in previous years.

When Wilt was 32, the 1968-69 season, the Lakers played back/back nights 12 times, but they also played three nights in a row four times, four nights in a row twice. Could you imagine asking one of today’s stars to play a game three nights in a row? No freakin’ chance.

That season, at age 32, Chamberlain averaged 45.3 minutes a game, playing in 81 of 82 games. 20.5 points a game, 21.1 rebounds a game.

Let’s see one of today’s players match those numbers.

10) Get well soon to ESPN’s basketball voice Mike Breen, who tested positive for COVID over the weekend; hopefully he’ll be back behind the mike for the NBA Finals.

9) Rangers beat Carolina 6-2 Monday night, to advance to the NHL’s Final Four; since 2005, under is now 38-25-9 in Game 7 of an NHL playoff series, 4-2 this year.

8) Under is 27-6 in Houston Astros’ last 33 games; they’re getting great pitching and they ain’t hitting so much.

7) Phillies spent lot of $$$ this winter on Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos; they should’ve spent some money on their bullpen. Phillies are 4-9 in games where the winning run scored from the seventh inning on. Not good.

6) Same thing for the Angels, who are 29-16-4 in the first five innings of games, but their overall record is only 27-22. Halos will probably still make the playoffs, but how they going to do once they get there?

5) Texas Rangers’ CF Eli White made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen Monday night, robbing Tampa Bay’s Ji-Man Choi of a home run in left-center field. His glove had to be a couple of feet over the fence; tremendous play.

4) Brewers-Cubs played a doubleheader Monday; first game had both starting pitchers making their major league debut, something that rarely happens this early in a season.

3) Are NFL teams scouting the USFL for kickers? Guy on Michigan made a 60-yard FG last week; guy on Pittsburgh made a 56-yarder.

2) There are point spreads posted for every NFL game this fall; Houston Texans are only team that is an underdog in all 17 of their games. Tampa Bay/Buffalo are either favored/pick ‘em in all of their games.

1) if the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL— Mets-Brewers-Dodgers. Wild Cards: San Diego-St Louis-San Francisco.
AL— New York-Twins-Astros. Wild Cards: Rays, Blue Jays, Angels

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Tuesday, May 31

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

Washington @ Indiana
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games
Washington is 14-2 SU in its last 16 games when playing Indiana
Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Indiana's last 8 games at home

Phoenix @ Chicago
Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Phoenix's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 11 of Phoenix's last 16 games when playing Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing at home against Phoenix
Chicago is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Phoenix

Connecticut @ Las Vegas
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Connecticut's last 8 games when playing Las Vegas
Connecticut is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Dallas @ Los Angeles
Dallas
Dallas is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Dallas is 10-1-1 ATS in its last 12 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games
Los Angeles is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games when playing at home against Dallas


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

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 31

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in runs scored:
50— Mookie Betts, LA
39— Aaron Judge, NYY
38— Rafael Devers, Bos/Tommy Edman, StL
37— Mike Trout, LAA/Francisco Lindor, NYM
35— Manny Machado, SD
34— Freeman LA, Harper Phil, Straw Clev, Ohtani LAA

Quote of the Day
“He barely practiced at Kentucky. Didn’t want to play in games and he didn’t want to play at combine. Who’s advising him? He can’t hide forever. Does he want to play in summer league?”
An unnamed NBA scout, talking about Shaedon Sharpe, who declared for the NBA Draft this week, after not playing at all at Kentucky as a freshman last season

Wednesday’s quiz
Which current major league manager was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Tuesday’s quiz
Wilt Chamberlain was the Warriors’ center, last time they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals, way back in 1964.

Monday’s quiz
Terry Collins was manager of the Mets, last time they made the playoffs, in 2016.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

45 years ago this month, I graduated from high school; long time ago. I’ll start today with a story from back then.

Our high school had a policy for certain classes; if you had a 90 average heading into the final exam, you didn’t have to take the final, you were “exempt”. Kids liked being exempt from finals.

My Sociology teacher was also the football coach, who had moved here from Ohio to take this job, at a school that didn’t have a great football tradition. He had improved the program; we won more than we lost that season, and we also upset the best team in our league, Shenendehowa, the school that current pro athletes Ian Anderson/Kevin Huerter went to.

I was/am a nerd; I helped Mr Gallas, a guidance counselor, do stats for the football team. We did it on the sidelines, each of us with a clipboard— our game with Scotia that year was a rainy mess, you could hardly read our charts when the game ended.

Anyway, Shenendehowa outgained us by a lot, 200+ yards, but we won the turnover battle, scored on a long TD play and we pulled the upset. It was a pretty big deal.

The next Monday, I am told to report to a classroom after school, the room where the football team did their film review— the room was obviously in a very good mood, but I had no idea why I was invited. Then they rolled the tape.

On our long touchdown play, a nerd with a clipboard is running on the sidelines on the bottom of the screen, shaking his fist and jumping up and down with excitement— that was me. Other people were also excited, but I was the only one who ran all the way to the goal line.

We all had a good laugh; by the way, one of our great players on that team played the whole second half that day with a broken wrist. He didn’t get the cast off for five months or so.

So a couple months later, January 1977, and I have a Sociology final; my grade was 87 or so; I trudged off on a cold winter day to take the final.

I was a lazy student; did what I had to do, then went and read the sports section; go figure. I sit down in my seat in the coach’s classroom and get ready to take the final. I had an 87; if I worked a little harder, I could’ve been home sleeping.

The coach walks into the classroom.

He looks at me and says, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take the final”

“Go home, you’re exempt” I started to explain that I had an 87, but he just shook his head and pointed to the door. I didn’t have to be told again; I scooted out of there and walked home, a mile or so on a cold day, realizing that sometimes enthusiasm has its benefits.

— Cleveland Cavaliers named Luke Walton as an assistant coach; Walton has been a head coach for the Lakers, Kings, was an assistant with Golden State when they won the 2015 title.

— Was telling someone this story Tuesday, how in 1979, Magic Johnson’s rookie season, the NBA wasn’t nearly as popular as it is now. The Finals games during the week were broadcast on tape delay, at 11:30 pm, after the local news.

Here in Albany, Scott Murray was the local sports guy; at 11:20, he would say: “I’m about to show the score of tonight’s Laker-76er game. If you’re going to stay up and watch the game, turn your head for 30 seconds, while I show everyone else the score. I’ll tell you when its OK to look again.”

He waited couple of seconds, then held up a board with the score of the game, held it there for 10 seconds or so, then put it down and said “It is OK to look” and the news continued. Five minutes later, they went to the tape delay broadcast of the game.

That is the huge impact that Magic Johnson/Larry Bird had on the NBA; that was the last damn time NBA Finals weren’t shown live.

— Since Steve Kerr has been coach at Golden State, Warriors are 7-9 vs Boston.

— Baylor-Gonzaga are meeting in Sioux Falls, SD on December 2; should be a good game.

— Mets sent Dom Smith down the minors Tuesday, probably to get him at-bats every day so they can trade him for pitching help. Smith is hitting .186 in 39 games this season, but he went 4-4 on a Sunday night couple weeks ago, then sat the next two games.

If Smith were on the A’s or the Pirates, he’d bat third; in 2020, he hit .316 with 42 RBI in 50 games. He is a good hitter who will help the team he gets traded to.

— Lot of times while I am writing late at night, I’ll stream episodes from the old TV show The West Wing on my laptop; picked up a good bit of trivia while listening last night.

There are 54 national parks in America; just thought you’d like to know.

— USFL’s Houston Gamblers have led every game at halftime this season; they’re 1-6.

Birmingham Stallions have been tied or trailed in second half of every game; they’re 7-0.

— Adding to the weirdness of the Tommy Pham/Joc Pederson fantasy football dispute is the knowledge that Mike Trout was the commissioner of the league.

— NL East standings:
33-17— Mets
23-26— Braves
21-29— Phillies
19-27— Marlins
18-33— Nationals

— Mets won their last five games, by a combined score of 44-17; they’re a good team, but the rest of the NL East just sucks.

— Winnipeg 25, Saskatchewan 16— Tuesday night football in the CFL; this game was on ESPN+, if you have that service.

— Colorado 8, Edmonton 6— This was the first playoff game in NHL history where both teams allowed 6+ goals and used multiple goalies.

— Arizona 8, Atlanta 7 (10)— Braves led 6-4 in 8th inning, but Arizona beat up on Atlanta’s bullpen and walked it off on Cooper Hummel’s double down the right field line. Christian Walker went 3-4 with three RBI for Arizona.

— Cubs 8, Brewers 7— Patrick Wisdom’s homer in 8th inning was the difference.

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Wednesday, June 1

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Trend Report
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Minnesota @ Atlanta
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Minnesota's last 6 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Atlanta's last 12 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing Minnesota

Indiana @ New York
Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing on the road against New York
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Indiana's last 10 games on the road
New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 7 of New York's last 10 games at home


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[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, June 1

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Thursday’s 6-pack
Pointspreads for some NFL games this season:
Week 1— Chiefs (-3) @ Arizona
Week 2— Bengals (+2.5) @ Dallas
Week 3— Ravens (even) @ New England
Week 4— Broncos (even) @ Las Vegas
Week 5— Chargers (-2) @ Cleveland
Week 6— Buccaneers (-6) @ Pittsburgh

Quote of the Day
“I’m not talented enough to be unprepared.”
Monroe Stahr

Thursday’s quiz
Which stadium was the first domed stadium in the major leagues?

Wednesday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Tuesday’s quiz
Wilt Chamberlain was the Warriors’ center, last time they played the Celtics in the NBA Finals, way back in 1964.

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

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

13) Teams’ records in series openers:

(home-away/total)
National League
Arizona 6-4, 2-4/8-8
Atlanta 3-6, 3-4/6-10
Chicago 3-5, 5-3/8-8
Cincinnati 3-4, 4-5/7-9
Colorado 3-6, 1-6/4-12
Los Angeles 5-2, 8-1/13-3
Miami 3-4, 1-8/4-12
Milwaukee 6-1, 5-5/11-6
NY Mets 6-2, 7-1/13-3
Philadelphia 4-5, 3-4/7-9
Pittsburgh 3-5, 2-6/5-11
St Louis 6-4, 4-3/10-7
San Diego 5-2, 7-2/12-4
San Francisco 3-5, 6-3/9-8
Washington 2-6, 3-5/5-11

American League
Baltimore 3-5, 4-4/7-9
Boston 4-4, 5-3/9-7
Chicago 2-6, 3-5/5-11
Cleveland 4-3, 4-5/8-8
Detroit 7-2, 2-5/9-7
Houston 4-2, 6-4/10-6
Kansas City 3-4, 4-6/7-10
LA Angels 5-4, 2-5/7-9
Minnesota 5-4, 4-3/9-7
New York 7-2, 6-1/13-3
A’s 1-7, 3-5/4-12
Seattle 5-2, 4-5/9-7
Tampa Bay 4-5, 3-4/7-9
Texas 5-3, 3-5/8-8
Toronto 6-2, 3-5/9-7

12) Mets lead the NL East by 10.5 games; since 1969, only two teams have had a bigger divisional lead on June 1st:
— 2001 Seattle led by 14 games— Wound up 116-46; last time they made the playoffs.
— 2017 Houston led by 11 games— Won World Series that year

11) Back in 1983, a relief pitcher named Tippy Martinez picked three runners off in the same inning, thought to be the only time that has ever happened in the major leagues.

10) Tuesday night, Adam Wainwright got 32 called strikes from home plate umpire Adam Segal; that’s a lot of called strikes for one game. Wainwright blanked San Diego for seven innings; he faced only 24 hitters.

9) Word has it that Cleveland QB Deshaun Watson will now be facing 24 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage parlor sessions. 24!!!!

Watson’s agent must be having a nervous breakdown; he just negotiated a 5-year, $230M contract; 3% of $230,000,000 is $6.9M; that would be the agent’s take, but Watson is going to be suspended, probably for at least six games. I’m wondering if the agent’s fee takes a hit when Watson gets docked those games via the suspension.

8) Random fact: There has been one no-hitter thrown at Coors Field in Denver, by Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers in 1996.

7) Phillies 6, Giants 5— Philly scored four times in 6th inning, then their bullpen tossed three perfect innings to snap their losing streak. So far this season, Phillies have been outscored by 15 runs from the ninth inning on- they’re 4-10 in one-run games.

6) Tampa Bay Rays occasionally use four outfielders, with the 2B in short right field, giving them basically five outfielders. Hopefully this will be the last season they can do this— baseball needs to ban shifts, to increase offense.

5) Atlanta 6, Arizona 0— Braves are still only 6-12 in day games.

4) Something I learned a long time ago; if you’re quiet and you wear glasses, lot of people assume you’re smart. They may/may not be right, but they do assume that.

3) Pirates 8, Dodgers 4— Pittsburgh sweeps 3-game series in LA; in those games, the Dodgers were -345, -370, -263. Never lay more than -175 in baseball, people.

2) Rays 4, Rangers 3 (11)— How would you like to be the GM of Texas, the guy who convinced his boss (the owner) to shell out $57M for Marcus Semien/Corey Seager?
Today is June 2…….
— Semien is hitting .193 with one homer; he hit 45 homers last year.
— Seager is hitting .236 with a .738 OPS; his career OPS is .860.

Rangers are 24-25, eight games out of first in the AL West; they’re 2.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot. There is still plenty of time, but the Rangers need more production from their $57M a year double play combination.

1) Detroit 5, Minnesota 0– Tarik Skubal is 3-0, 0.84 in his last five starts.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, June 2

WNBA

Thursday, June 2

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Trend Report
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Connecticut @ Las Vegas
Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Connecticut's last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Connecticut's last 5 games when playing on the road against Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
Pointspreads for some NFL games this season:
Week 1— Steelers @ Cincinnati (-6)
Week 2— Dolphins @ Baltimore (-4)
Week 3— Packers @ Tampa Bay (-3)
Week 4— Vikings (-1) @ New Orleans
Week 5— Colts @ Denver (-3)
Week 6— Cowboys (even) @ Philadelphia

Quote of the Day
“A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.”
Confucius

Friday’s quiz
Where did Steve Kerr play his college basketball?

Thursday’s quiz
Houston Astrodome was the first domed stadium in the major leagues.

Wednesday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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

Friday’s Den: Random stuff and Week 8 USFL notes

Celtics 120, Warriors 108:
— Golden State led by 12 after the third quarter.
— Celtics outscored them 40-16 in 4th quarter, including a 17-0 run.
— Boston was 21-41 on arc; they made their first seven 3’s in 4th quarter.

Brewers 5, Padres 4:
— Milwaukee scored four times in bottom of ninth.
— Andrew McCutchen walked it off with a one-out single.
— This was Milwaukee’s first home game this year where the game-winning run scored from the 7th inning on— they’re 8-4 in such games on the road.

Mariners 7, Orioles 6 (10)
— Jesse Winker had three hits for Seattle, which blew a 6-3 lead in sixth inning.

— Mets’ SS Francisco Lindor missed the game in Los Angeles Thursday; he slammed his right middle finger in a hotel door.

— Portland Trailblazers aren’t for sale, but Nike boss Phil Knight put in an offer to buy the team anyway. Nike headquarters are in Oregon, so that makes sense.

— Ryan Fitzpatrick retired this week, after a 17-year NFL career that spanned nine teams. He is expected to sign on with Amazon to be part of their NFL TV crew.

— October 5-6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Lakers are going to play couple of exhibition games, against the Suns on the 5th, against Minnesota the next night.

Week 8 USFL games……..
Pittsburgh vs New Jersey (-9)
Pittsburgh Maulers (1-6)
— Have been outscored 98-38 in first half of games.
— Last five weeks, allowed 172 rushing yards/game.
— Five of their last six games went over total.
— Covered spread three of last four weeks (3-3-1 ATS for year).

New Jersey Generals (6-1)
— Won last six games (4-2 ATS), scoring 23.6 ppg in last five.
— Generals held last six opponents 15 ppg.
— Outscored last five foes 53-32 in second half.
— 2-2 ATS as a favorite
— Three of their last four games went over the total.

First meeting:
— Generals (-9.5) 21, Maulers 13 (Week 4)
— Total yardage: 313-256, New Jersey
— Pittsburgh completed only 15-32 passes.

New Orleans vs Birmingham (-3.5)
New Orleans Breakers (5-2)
— Scored 23+ points in their wins, 13-17 in losses.
— Last four games went over the total
— Last five games, they’re minus-5 in turnovers (5-10)
— Won their only game this year as an underdog.

Birmingham Stallions (7-0)
— Trailed at halftime in four of seven games
— Outscored opponents 114-44 in second half.
— Outrushed last four foes 656-335
— 6-1 against spread

First meeting
— Stallions (-5.5) 22, Breakers 13 in Week 3
— Total yardage: 316-313, New Orleans
— Birmingham was +2 in turnovers; they led 10-6 at halftime.

Michigan vs Philadelphia (-5.5)
Michigan Panthers (1-6)
— Have four losses by 5 or fewer points- lost in OT last week.
— 0-4 in games decided by 5 or fewer points.
— Outgained five of their seven opponents.
— Their only win was 24-0 over 1-6 Pittsburgh.
— Last four games went over the total.
— Michigan is 1-3 ATS as an underdog.

Philadelphia Stars (4-3)
— Won three of their last four games, are 1-2-1 ATS as favorites.
— Last four weeks, they’re +6 in turnovers.
— Gave up 23+ points in all seven games (over 5-1 last six).
— Have been outgained in six of seven games (2-4-1 ATS).
— Scored 30-26-35-35 points in wins; 17-16-17 in losses.

First meeting:
— Stars (+1) won 26-25 (Week 4); Michigan missed 21-yard FG on last play.
— Total yardage: 301-293, Michigan
— Stars were +2 in turnovers; game was 17-17 at halftime.

Tampa Bay (-5) vs Houston
Tampa Bay Bandits (3-4)
— Bandits lost three of their last four games.
— Minus-10 in turnovers— have only three takeaways.
— 2-2 ATS as a favorite.
— Scoring 10.6 ppg in first half, 7.3 ppg in second half.

Houston Gamblers (1-6)
— Lost their last six games (2-4 ATS)
— Led all seven games at halftime, won only once.
— Last six games went over total
— Outscored 107-39 in second half.

First meeting:
— Tampa Bay (-2) 27, Houston 26 in Week 3
— Gamblers led 23-14 at halftime.
— Total yardage: 400-365, Houston- they ran for 160 yards.

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Friday, June 3

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

New York @ Washington
New York
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of New York's last 16 games when playing Washington
New York is 8-4 ATS in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Washington
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Washington's last 7 games at home

Chicago @ Atlanta
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Chicago's last 5 games
Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Atlanta's last 13 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 15 of Atlanta's last 20 games

Dallas @ Seattle
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 6 games on the road
Seattle
Seattle is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games when playing Dallas
Seattle is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Dallas

Connecticut @ Phoenix
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Connecticut's last 5 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Connecticut's last 8 games
Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Phoenix's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing at home against Connecticut


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

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, June 3

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the college football national title this season:
+198— Alabama
+328— Georgia
+460— Ohio State
+1180— Clemson
+2340— Texas A&M
+2500— USC

Quote of the Day
“I was in his hip pocket all the time. I was standing behind him in the huddle sometimes, listening to what he was saying before the start of a period. I was sitting in meetings with him, [taking] a ton of notes. I was watching hours of film on Mondays and Tuesdays trying to give him a little advantage for the week if I saw something that might help him in a game.

I would print out this reports every week. It had all the DB’s we were playing and the catches that were against them and the little things I saw on film. I always joked that he just toss them in the bin on the way out. But for me it was the best thing to learn to prepare for a game.”
Aaron Rodgers, on how he learned pro football from observing Brett Favre

Saturday’s quiz
Who was Golden State’s coach before Steve Kerr?

Friday’s quiz
Steve Kerr played his college basketball at Arizona.

Thursday’s quiz
Houston Astrodome was the first domed stadium in the major leagues.

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

Saturday’s Den: 13 of my favorite TV/movie quotes…….

13) “……here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.”
Mike McDermott, Rounders

12) “I’ve got a trig midterm tomorrow and I’m being chased by Guido, the killer pimp.”
Miles, Risky Business

11) “You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”
Al Pacino, Any Given Sunday

10) “He’s a great player, but I don’t think we can get him in academically.”
Jerry Tarkanian, Blue Chips

9) “Listen, Lupus, you didn’t come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya? Now get your ass out there and do the best you can.”
Walter Matthau in The Bad News Bears

8) “I’ll get to the bottom of this……if I have to go all the way to the top.”
Colonel Flagg, M*A*S*H*

7) “Do whats in your heart, son. You’ll be fine.”
Robin Williams, from Good Will Hunting

6) “God likes me!!! He really, really likes me!!! What a day!!! What a fabulous day!!!”
Richard Dreyfuss in Let It Ride

5) “Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It’s not about winning. It’s about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn’t let them down because you told them the truth…….”
Billy Bob Thornton, Friday Night Lights

4) “Why would you want to dance with someone who doesn’t want to dance with you?”
Adam Sandler, The Wedding Singer

3) “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”
Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own

2) “A little song, a little dance……a little seltzer down your pants”
Chuckles the Clown, from The Mary Tyler Moore Show

1) “There’s no such thing as a sure thing, thats why they call it gambling.”
Oscar Madison, The Odd Couple

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Saturday, June 4

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

Minnesota @ New York
Minnesota
Minnesota is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing New York
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Minnesota's last 8 games when playing New York
New York
The total has gone OVER in 7 of New York's last 8 games when playing Minnesota
New York is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing at home against Minnesota

Indiana @ Atlanta
Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Indiana's last 11 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Atlanta
Atlanta is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Indiana
Atlanta is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Indiana

Connecticut @ Seattle
Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Connecticut's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Connecticut's last 9 games
Seattle
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Connecticut
Seattle is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Connecticut

Los Angeles @ Phoenix
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Phoenix's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing at home against Los Angeles


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