2022 WNBA SEASON NEWS,NOTES, PICKS !

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Thursday’s 6-pack
Most single season rushing yards, college football:
2,628— Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State
2,587— Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin
2,567— Kevin Smith, Central Florida
2,427— Marcus Allen, USC
2,248— Rashaad Penny, San Diego State
2,219— Derrick Henry, Alabama

Quote of the Day
“He should pay for media training. It might be a good investment.”
A former big league executive, talking about MLB commissioner Rob Manfred

Thursday’s quiz
Where did James Harden play his college basketball?


Wednesday’s quiz
Actor Paul Giamatti is the son of the late baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie A Few Good Men, Kevin Bacon played the losing lawyer in the big trial at the end.

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

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

13) Milwaukee CF Jonathan Davis made one of the best catches I’ve ever seen Wednesday, as he took a double/triple away from a Rays’ hitter, on a ball hit over his head to straight-away center field. As he hit the ground, his neck/shoulder also hit the CF fence— it looked scary for a minute, but he finished the inning, though he would up leaving the game early.

12) Read an article today that said these things:
— Automated strike zone is likely to become a thing in 2024.
— MLB wants to add two teams, a way to make up some of the money they didn’t make during the shortened 2020 season.
— Pitch clock will likely become a thing next year. I’ve seen minor league games with the pitch clock; you won’t notice the difference.

As for expansion, A’s/Rays have to settle their stadium issues first—both of those teams could move, but Montreal, Nashville, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Portland OR are potential expansion cities.

11) Pirates 8, Nationals 7— Bryan Reynolds hit three home runs for Pittsburgh.

10) Best records in one-run games:
17-6— Bronx
13-6— Houston
18-11— Toronto
15-9— Milwaukee
14-9— San Diego

9) Worst records in one-run games:
4-13– Texas
5-13— Oakland
8-15— Cubs
4-8— Dodgers
6-12— Angels

8) Kansas City Royals are 0-22 this season when they trail after the first inning; they’re 27-25 when they don’t trail after the first inning.

7) Astros 2, Mets 0— Verlander tossed eight shutout innings; there was a scary collision in left field— Yordan Alvarez/Jeremy Pena both left the game. Alvarez left on a golf cart.

6) LIU fired basketball coach Derek Kellogg after five years; the guy had a 49-41 record in NEC games, never finishing under .500. June 29 is an odd time to be firing people.

LIU apparently wants G League Ignite director Rod Strickland to be its new coach.

Interesting twist on this is that John Calipari’s son Brad joined the LIU staff as an assistant this off-season. Kellogg played college ball for Calipari at UMass.

5) NBA salary cap is expected to jump $11.6M next season, up to $123.6m per team.

4) Washington Wizards’ Bradley Beal turned down his $36.4M option for next season and is a free agent— he figures to make more than $36.4M, obviously or else he would’ve opted in, like Kyrie Irving did this week.

3) Denver-Washington made a trade, with veteran PG Ish Smith heading to Denver;; when he takes the floor for the Nuggets in October, they’ll be his 13th NBA team, an all-time record.

2) Spurs traded Dejounte Murray to Atlanta, for Danilo Gallinari and three first round picks.

Murray and Trae Young will be the first pair of teammates in NBA history who each averaged 20 points and 8 assists per game in the previous season.

1) Utah Jazz named Will Hardy as its new head coach; he was most recently an assistant with the Celtics, but also spent 11 years with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant coach. He played college ball at Division III Williams College.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, June 30

WNBA

Thursday, June 30

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Trend Report
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Atlanta @ New York
Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games on the road
Atlanta is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against New York
New York
New York is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New York's last 5 games when playing at home against Atlanta


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
College football teams with lowest %age of production returning this year:
27%— Hawai’i
29%— Nevada
34%— Wyoming
36%— Iowa State
44%— West Virginia
45%— Baylor

Quote of the Day
“Having perspective and remembering even just two, three years ago. Even if I was just trying to come back, it’s never been a straight line for me. Even in that whole process, I was lost. I felt like there were times when I was hopeless, that this dream would never happen. So yeah, I was choking back tears.”
Phillies P Mark Appel, after his MLB debut, nine years after he was picked first in the draft

Friday’s quiz
What year did the designated hitter come into the major leagues?

Thursday’s quiz
James Harden played his college basketball at Arizona State

Wednesday’s quiz
Actor Paul Giamatti is the son of the late baseball commissioner Bart Giamatti.

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

Friday’s Den: Happy Canada Day!!!

To our neighbors to the north, Happy Canada Day.

Unusually busy day for a summer Thursday…….
13) USC/UCLA are jumping from the Pac-12 to the Big 14 (Big 16 now?), crippling the Pac-12 Conference. College sports are off the rails with greed; looks like the Big 16/SEC are going to be two super conferences, with other schools scrambling to climb aboard, or find the next best thing.

This catches me completely by surprise; had no idea it was in the works. Changes the landscape of college sports, in a big way.

12) Where does the Pac-10 go from here? Add San Diego State/UNLV to replace the LA schools? Or Fresno State? Gonzaga (doesn’t have football)? Boise State?

Or does the rest of the Pac-10 jump ship and hook up with the Big X? Crazy stuff.

11) NBA free agency started Thursday night; ridiculous sums of money are being tossed around.

Kyrie Irving opted in for his $36.9M deal for next year. Three days later, Kevin Durant asks for a trade; go figure. Ben Simmons is supposed to make $33M, but he never plays. Nets must’ve been a fun group to hang out with this past season.

Durant makes $44.1M this year, $47.7M next year, $51.2M in 2024-25. Going to take quite a haul of players to trade Durant and keep the payrolls balanced within the salary cap.

By the way, in an 82-game season, $51.2M works out to $624,390.24 per game; Durant will be 36 when that season starts.

10) Zion Williamson is supposed to make $13,534,817 this season; so far in his three-year NBA career, he’s missed 63.4% of the Pelicans’ games with injuries.

9) Portland Trailblazers signed Anfernee Simons to a 4-year extension worth $100M; last year was the first time in his 4-year career he scored more than 8.3 ppg. He scored 17.3 ppg in 57 games (30 starts), shooting 40.5% on the arc.

8) Bradley Beal re-upped with Washington for five years, $251M. Lot of cabbage for a team that, over the last four years, is 126-182.

7) Phoenix Suns are going to sign Devin Booker to a 4-year, $214M contract, which works out to $53.5M a year, $652,439 a game.

Denver Nuggets signed Nikola Jokic to a 5-year, $264M supermax extension, the biggest contract in NBA history

Pretty sure I’m going to cancel my NBA package on DirecTV; they obviously don’t need my $300 anymore. Guys making $652,439 a game is a bit much; what would Kareem or Wilt be making if they played today? What would Jordan be making?

6) There was a weird play in the Pirates-Nationals game the other day; because Washington didn’t know a rule, they cost themselves a run, in a game they wound up losing 8-7.

Top of the 5th, Pirates had guys on 2nd and 3rd, one out. Batter hits a soft line drive that the first baseman catches; both runners took off on contact, the 1B throws to third, where they tag the runner coming down from second. Inning over.

Problem is, because Washington never appealed that the runner on third left early, his run counted. Had they appealed his leaving early, the “4th out” would’ve prevented the run from scoring.

5) Giancarlo Stanton went 2-4 with two singles Thursday; they were his first singles since June 12 (72 AB’s ago). In his last 17 games, Stanton is 8-51 with six home runs. He also hit a line shot right at the shortstop for an out- it went 116 mph— he looked way better last night.

4) Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is the only baseball commissioner who played Little League baseball; he grew up in Rome, NY, wound up playing tennis in high school.

3) Miami Marlins fired VP of player development Gary Dembo Thursday; Dembo was the first person Derek Jeter hired when he was running the Miami franchise. Now with Jeter gone, Dembo was also told to take a hike.

2) Auburn-Memphis are playing a non-conference basketball game in Atlanta December 10.

By the time that game is played, who knows what league Memphis will be in.

1) USFL championship game, at Canton, OH:
Philadelphia Stars (7-4)
— Stars won six of last eight games.
— Last eight weeks, they’re +11 in turnovers.
— Gave up 23+ points in nine of 11 games (over 6-2 last eight).
— Were outgained in every game but their three games vs New Jersey.
— 2-3 ATS as an underdog.
— 6-1 if they score more than 17 points.

Birmingham Stallions (10-1)
— Led 21-14 at half last week, most first half points they scored this year.
— Trailed at halftime in five of their 11 games
— Outscored opponents 143-79 in second half.
— 1-4 vs spread the last five weeks (6-0 first six weeks)
— Four of their last six games went over the total.
— Stallions are favored for 11th time in 12 games (6-4 ATS as a favorite)

First meeting:
— Stallions (-6) beat Philly 30-17 in Week 5.
— Stars led 17-14 at the half; Birmingham outscored them 16-0 in second half.
— Birmingham outgained Philly 377-253; both teams had two turnovers.

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Friday, July 1

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Trend Report
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Los Angeles @ Dallas
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing on the road against Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 8 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
Dallas is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Los Angeles
Dallas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Los Angeles

Las Vegas @ Minnesota
Las Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Las Vegas's last 8 games when playing Minnesota
Las Vegas is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Minnesota's last 8 games when playing Las Vegas

Indiana @ Seattle
Indiana
Indiana is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Seattle's last 7 games when playing Indiana


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[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, July 1

 

[Cnotes53]

FRIDAY, JULY 1

LA at DAL	08:00 PM	DAL -4.5 U 166.0	+500 +500
LV at MIN	08:00 PM	LV -4.5 O 176.5	+500 +500
IND at SEA	10:00 PM	SEA -13.5 U 161.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
Week 18 NFL spreads:
— Arizona @ San Francisco (-3)
— Atlanta @ Tampa Bay (-6.5)
— Baltimore @ Cincinnati (-2.5)
— New England @ Buffalo (-6)
— Carolina @ New Orleans (-5)
— Minnesota (-2.5) @ Chicago


Quote of the Day
“Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston S. Churchill

Saturday’s quiz
Where did Kevin Durant play his college basketball?

Friday’s quiz
The designated hitter come into the American League in 1973.

Thursday’s quiz
James Harden played his college basketball at Arizona State

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

Saturday’s Den: College football knowledge

I’m having trouble processing this whole USC/UCLA to the Big 14 thing; my entire life, the Rose Bowl has been Pac-12/Big 14. Now? Not so much. Rutgers/USC are in the same league; one school is in New Jersey, one in Los Angeles. It makes very little sense.
Anyway, here is some college football info for you. Have a good Saturday.
13) Arkansas
— ran ball for 227.8 yards/game LY (#7)
— Hogs have 4 of 5 starters back on offensive line.
— They only have four starters back on defense.
— scored 30+ points in eight games; they won five of last six games.
12) Auburn
— Lost last five games LY, last three by 4-2-4 points
— ranked 96th of 131 teams in starting field position
— scored 3.3 points/drive that got inside 40-yard line (#121)
— Have 2 new coordinators this year, both promoted from within.
11) Florida
— 1-4 LY in games decided by 7 or less points.
— Gators had played in January 1 bowl three years in row before LY.
— Florida was minus-8 in turnovers last year.
— New coach Napier was 40-12 at Louisiana; he was an assistant at Clemson/Alabama.
10) Georgia
— Defending national champs have only 3 starters back on defense.
— QB Bennett is playing his 7th year of college football, six of them at Georgia.
— Dawgs had a 6.8-yard advantage in average field position LY.
— Kirby Smart is 66-15 at Georgia; he has a new defensive coordinator TY.
9) Kentucky
— 10-3 LY; they scored 40.5 ppg in winning their last four games.
— LY’s OC Liam Coen now works for the LA Rams in the NFL.
— Wildcats were 10-3 despite a minus-11 turnover ratio.
— Kentucky added WR transfers from Alabama, Virginia Tech.
8) LSU
— New coach Brian Kelly has only three starters back on offense.
— Tigers are 11-12 the last two years, since winning a national title.
— Tigers were 114th in country in rushing yardage LY.
— LSU allowed 60 plays of 20+ yards (116th)
7) Mississippi
— Rebels were 10-0 LY when they scored 27+ points.
— They were held to 21-20-7 points in their losses.
— Ole Miss went for it on 4th down 40 times (24-40) LY, most times in country.
— Rebels were +8 in turnovers; they were 105th in rushing defense.
6) Missouri
— Last two years, are 9-1 vs teams with losing records, 2-11 vs everyone else.
— Tigers have their third defensive coordinator in three years.
— Mizzou was 124th in rushing defense LY.
— 8 of their 11 I-A opponents this year played in bowls LY.
5) Oregon
— Auburn transfer Bo Nix figures to be their new QB.
— New OC Dillingham coached Nix at Auburn.
— All five starters are back on the offensive line.
— Ducks were 10-4 LY, but lost last two games, giving up 38-47 points.
4) Oregon State
— Played in bowl LY, their first bowl in eight years.
— Ran ball for 212.4 yards/game LY, #19 in country.
— Scored 4.9 points/drive inside 40, #8 in country.
— Have 4 of top 5 rushers back, 3 of top 4 receivers back
3) Texas A&M
— Who is the QB? Biggest question they have this summer.
— Allowed only 2.9 points/drive that got inside 40 (#10)
— Beat Alabama LY, then lost road games at Ole Miss, LSU
— Played only three true road games LY; they play four this year.
2) UCLA
— Were 8-4 LY, are 18-25 in four years under Kelly, who was 41-7 at Oregon.
— were penalized 69.5 yards/game LY (#109)
— Dorian Thompson-Robinson is in his 5th year as UCLA’s quarterback.
— Bruins ranked 14th in country in rushing yardage LY.
1) Washington
— Brought new coach in from Fresno State
— Brought in new QB from Indiana (12-5 there)— he is a mobile QB
— Ranked 125th in rushing offense, 108th in rushing defense.
— Huskies have only three starters back on defense.

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Saturday, July 2

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Trend Report
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Phoenix @ Chicago
Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Phoenix's last 6 games on the road
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Chicago is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Phoenix


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[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Saturday, July 2

 

[Cnotes53]

SATURDAY, JULY 2

PHO at CHI	01:00 PM	CHI -9.0 O 168.0	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack
Sports betting by handle, May 2022:
1) New York, $1.26B
2) New Jersey, $766.4M
3) Nevada, $561M
4) Pennsylvania, $493M
5) Colorado, $360M
6) Michigan, $356M

Quote of the Day
“I think the Browns should offer the olive branch to Baker (Mayfield) and ask him to stay if Deshaun Watson gets suspended for a significant amount of time. Baker’s proven in this city he can go win a playoff game, get you to the playoffs and do all those things……”
Robert Griffin III, talking about the Browns’ QB situation

Sunday’s quiz
Who is the only player to make the baseball All-Star game for both leagues, while playing for the same team?

Saturday’s quiz
Kevin Durant played his college basketball at Texas.

Friday’s quiz
The designated hitter come into the American League in 1973.

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

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

— 59 years ago this week, one of the greatest pitching duels ever took place; Braves-Giants in Candlestick Park, San Francisco. Giants won 1-0 in 16 innings, on a Willie Mays home run.

Here’s the thing; each team used only one pitcher. Braves had 42-year old Warren Spahn, who threw 201 pitches (he struck out only two guys), 25-year old Juan Marichal threw 227 pitches (he struck out 10).

If that happened today, both managers would’ve been fired, probably during the game; these days no one is allowed to face the same hitter four times, sometimes not even three times.

Atlanta had Hank Aaron/Eddie Mathews; they batted seven times each. Giants had Mays, McCovey, Cepeda, Felipe Alou, who all batted 6 or 7 times.

USFL championship game, at Canton, OH:
Philadelphia Stars (7-4)
— Stars won six of last eight games.
— Last eight weeks, they’re +11 in turnovers.
— Gave up 23+ points in nine of 11 games (over 6-2 last eight).
— Were outgained in every game but their three games vs New Jersey.
— 2-3 ATS as an underdog.
— 6-1 if they score more than 17 points.

Birmingham Stallions (10-1)
— Led 21-14 at half last week, most first half points they scored this year.
— Trailed at halftime in five of their 11 games
— Outscored opponents 143-79 in second half.
— 1-4 vs spread the last five weeks (6-0 first six weeks)
— Four of their last six games went over the total.
— Stallions are favored for 11th time in 12 games (6-4 ATS as a favorite)

First meeting:
— Stallions (-6) beat Philly 30-17 in Week 5.
— Stars led 17-14 at the half; Birmingham outscored them 16-0 in second half.
— Birmingham outgained Philly 377-253; both teams had two turnovers.

Major league records in series openers:
Home/Away….Total
Arizona 8-6/4-7….12-13
Atlanta 6-7/7-5….13-12
Cubs 6-7/6-6….12-13
Cincinnati 5-7/7-6….12-13
Colorado 5-9/3-8….8-17
Dodgers 8-3/10-4….18-7
Miami 6-5/3-11….9-16
Milwaukee 8-3/7-8….15-11
Mets 9-3/10-3….19-6
Philadelphia 7-6/6-5….13-11
Pittsburgh 5-8/2-10….7-18
St Louis 9-5/4-8….13-13
San Diego 7-4/8-6….15-10
San Francisco 6-8/7-5….13-13
Washington 5-8/5-7

Baltimore 5-7/6-7….11-14
Boston 7-4/9-5….16-9
White Sox 5-7/5-8….10-15
Cleveland 6-6/8-5….14-11
Detroit 7-6/4-8….11-14
Houston 7-4/8-6….15-10
Kansas City 4-8/7-7….11-15
Angels 6-8/3-8….9-16
Minnesota 7-7/7-4….14-11
New York 12-2/10-2….22-4
Oakland 1-10/3-11….4-21
Seattle 6-6/8-5….13-11
Tampa Bay 7-7/2-9….9-16
Texas 7-5/6-7….13-12
Toronto 9-4/6-6….15-10

— Phillies brought lefty hitter Darick Hall up this week; in his first three games, he went 3-13, but all three hits were home runs.

— Now we can figure out why Quin Snyder quit as coach of the Jaxx; Utah traded C Rudy Gobert to Minnesota this week, for five players and four first round draft picks, last of which is in 2029.

When this is all said and done, one of the players Utah acquired in this trade just graduated from 5th grade.

— Receiving TD’s in the red zone last season:
13— Cooper Kupp
10— Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs
9— Mark Andrews, Mike Evans, DK Metcalf, Hunter Renfrow

— Pittsburgh Pirates are first team ever to have three different players have a 3-home run game in the same month; Reynolds, Suwinski, Perez all had 3-homer games in June.

— Every July 1st until 2035, Bobby Bonilla will cash a check for $1,193,248.20 from the Mets; in 2011, they could’ve given him a check for $5.9M and have been done with it, but they deferred the payment and gave the $5.9M to Bernie Madoff to invest. Seriously, they did.

Hopefully, Bonilla sends his agent a nice gift every July.

— Cleveland Guardians’ P Kirk McCarty played high school football in Mississippi; one year, his team’s offensive coordinator was Brett Favre.

— Washington Nationals picked up the 2023 option on manager Dave Martinez, worth $3.5M. Nationals are expected to be sold soon, but Martinez will have a job next season, or at least he will have a paycheck.

— Cardinals 7, Phillies 6— St Louis hit four consecutive home runs in first inning.

— Dodgers 7, Padres 2— Los Angeles hit three homers in bottom of the first.

— Detroit Tigers hit a total of 12 home runs in June.

So did Kyle Schwarber.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, July 3

WNBA

Sunday, July 3

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Trend Report
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Washington @ Connecticut
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games
Washington is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Connecticut
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Connecticut's last 6 games at home
Connecticut is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Washington

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

New York @ Los Angeles
New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 6 games when playing Los Angeles
New York is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Los Angeles
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games when playing New York
Los Angeles is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games

Las Vegas @ Minnesota
Las Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Las Vegas's last 9 games when playing Minnesota
Las Vegas is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Minnesota's last 9 games when playing Las Vegas
Minnesota is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games


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[Cnotes53]

SUNDAY, JULY 3

WAS at CONN	01:00 PM	CONN -7.5 O 158.5	+500 +500
SEA at ATL	03:00 PM	SEA -6.0 O 158.5	+500 +500
NY at LA	06:00 PM	LA -4.5 U 163.5	+500 +500
LV at MIN	07:00 PM	LV -5.0 O 174.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
2nd round draft picks who are good NBA players:
— Nikola Jokic, 41st pick in 2014
— Draymond Green, 35th pick in 2012
— Khris Middleton, 39th pick in 2012
— Jalen Brunson, 33rd pick in 2018
— Malcolm Brogdon, 36th pick in 2016
— Dillon Brooks, 45th pick in 2017

Quote of the Day
“A little underwhelming. Fenway kind of has a presence to it. I really didn’t get that here, to be honest. I said to my mom last night, this place is very stock standard, if you ask me. I didn’t really feel anything, to be honest. It kind of just felt like another ballpark.”
Red Sox rookie Josh Winckowski, talking about Wrigley Field

Monday’s quiz
In the movie The Hangover, what kind of car do the four friends drive to Las Vegas?

Sunday’s quiz
Jose Altuve is the only player to make the baseball All-Star game for both leagues, while playing for the same team. Astros switched leagues in 2013.

Saturday’s quiz
Kevin Durant played his college basketball at Texas.

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

Monday’s Den: Happy 4th of July!!!!

13) Late Saturday night, I stumbled upon an old movie I’ve been looking for since I was a kid, over 50 years ago. Was pretty surprising to find it.

In 1969, Charlton Heston starred in a movie called Number One, about an aging quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Lot of the actual Saints from that era are in the movie; Heston’s character wears number 17, because Billy Kilmer wore number 17 for the real-life Saints.

Apparently the movie disappeared from circulation because Heston didn’t like it, but it is on Amazon Prime now. Watching it very late Saturday night, it is pretty obvious why he might not have liked it much. Number One isn’t a great movie.

Heston’s passing skills make Warren Beatty (in Heaven Can Wait) look like Dan Fouts. The story kind of drags, but there are parts of the movie that are interesting— dealing with injuries, dealing with moving on with your life after a long career. 1969 was a long time ago; the world is a different place now.

12) Two interesting sidebars to Number One:
— The actual New Orleans Saints are the extras in this movie, much like the Detroit Lions were in George Plimpton’s Paper Lion. One of the Saints back then was Jake Kupp, a lineman who played 12 years in the NFL. You may have heard of his grandson: Cooper Kupp.

— Music for Number One was done by Dominic Frontiere, who composed a lot of music for TV shows and movies in the 60’s/70’s. Is that name familiar?

Years later, Frontiere became more well-known when he married Rams’ owner Georgia Irvin Frontiere— he got nabbed scalping 16,000 tickets to Super Bowl XIV, and spent nine months in jail for tax evasion, for failing to report the $500,000 in income.

Music in Number One was good; I’m glad I finally got to see it.

11) Birmingham 33, Philadelphia 30
— Birmingham scored two TD’s in a 0:13 span late in 4th quarter.
— Stallions led 20-9 at halftime before a big crowd in Canton.
— Stallions ran for 175 yards, outgained Philly 381-340.

USFL was a success this season; games were highly competitive, fun to watch. Next spring will be interesting, with the XFL starting up to provide more spring football.

10) Best days of the year to have a birthday:
— July 4— People have cookouts, shoot off fireworks for your birthday.
— January 1— People have parties the night before to celebrate your birthday. Plus, there is a ton of football on TV all day.

Both days are holidays; you never have to work on your birthday.

9) Worst days of the year to have a birthday:
— February 29— Must suck to have a birthday once every four years.
— December 25— People put up trees/lights for your big day, but then everyone gets presents
— December 26— No one feels much like partying the day after Christmas.
— October 31— People come to your house and ask for free candy on YOUR birthday

8) Colorado Rockies are 13-4 at home if they score 7+ runs; they’re 0-2 if they score 7+ runs on road. Key point here is that in 17 of 19 games where they scored 7+ runs, they were at home.

7) Saturday at CitiField, Texas Rangers’ 2B Marcus Semien flew out to centerfield all five times he came to bat; it is the first time that happened since 2009.

6) Reds 4, Braves 3— Albert Almora had a walk-off single for the Reds, who didn’t get their first hit until the 7th inning. Cincinnati snaps a 10-game home losing streak.

5) Marlins 7, Nationals 4 (10)— Miami is 11-1 against Washington this season, 26-39 against everyone else. The two bullpens combined to allow seven runs in 7.2 IP in this game.

4) Astros 4, Angels 2— Walk-off home run by rookie SS Jeremy Pena was his second homer of the day; he was 4-5, and is now hitting .279.

3) Padres 4, Dodgers 2— San Diego scored four runs in 9th inning to end a 9-game losing skid in Chavez Ravine. Eric Hosmer had the game-winning single.

2) One of the best parts of watching baseball every day is seeing great athletes make great plays; there are two young centerfielders now who are tremendous fielders— Michael Harris in Atlanta, Alek Thomas in Arizona. They both cover a ton of ground.

1) Happy 4th of July; be careful if you’re handling fireworks. Our country is 246 years old; we are lucky to live in a democracy. Let’s hope it stays that way.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Monday, July 4

WNBA

Monday, July 4

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Trend Report
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Phoenix @ Los Angeles
Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Phoenix's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Phoenix's last 9 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games when playing at home against Phoenix
Los Angeles is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games


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[Cnotes53]

MONDAY, JULY 4

PHO at LA	07:00 PM	LA +1.0 U 168.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
NFL spreads for this season:

Week 4— Chargers (-8.5) @ Houston
Week 5— Giants @ Green Bay (-7.5)
Week 6— Ravens (-4) @ NJ Giants
Week 7— Chiefs @ San Francisco (even)
Week 8— Steelers @ Philadelphia (-4)
Week 9— Minnesota (-1.5) @ Washington

Quote of the Day
“The Hammer (Hank Goldberg) always put his money where his mouth was, and that immediately earned him a high level of respect with me. As a longtime Las Vegas bookmaker, there were few opinions I valued more than Hank’s on the NFL.”
Art Manteris, a longtime Las Vegas bookmaker

Tuesday’s quiz
What team did Max Scherzer break into the major leagues with?

Monday’s quiz
In the movie The Hangover, the four friends drove to Las Vegas in a silver Mercedes

Sunday’s quiz
Jose Altuve is the only player to make the baseball All-Star game for both leagues, while playing for the same team. Astros switched leagues in 2013.

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

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

— RIP to Hank Goldberg, who passed away Monday, on his 82nd birthday.

Mr Goldberg worked at ESPN as an NFL reporter and handicapping expert for two decades; he talked about betting on games on TV back when not many people talked about betting on games on live television.

He was smart, pleasant and he won more than he lost picking NFL games.

Goldberg was also a longtime fixture in Miami, serving as a local radio and TV host for more than 25 years and working as a Dolphins radio analyst. He began his career in the 1970s as an assistant to handicapper Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder.

RIP, sir.

— July 4, 1985 was one of the strangest baseball games ever played; Mets beat Atlanta 16-13 in 19 innings, in a game that was delayed by rain multiple times, and didn’t end until 4am or so.

I was still living at home back then; my dad and I both had to work the next morning, but at some point after midnight, I woke him up to watch the rest of the game. He loved the Mets, but he wasn’t overly thrilled that I woke him up. He watched the rest of the game, though.

Mets scored in the top of the 18th, and looked like the game would end there, but a relief pitcher named Rick Camp (lifetime .074 hitter) bit his one and only major league home run to tie the game again. The people who stayed for the postgame fireworks show were going nuts.

One of the TV voices for the Braves back in 1985 was John Sterling; his call of Camp’s home run was classic; he said it would be more likely that he (Sterling) would be elected President than Camp would hit a home run. But then Camp hit a home run. Classic.

If you don’t know, 37 years later, Sterling still does games on the radio for the Bronx Bombers.

Mets finally won the game in the 19th inning; current Mets’ TV analyst Ron Darling pitched the bottom of the 19th— Camp wound up batting again, but made an out.

They went ahead with the fireworks display at 4:15am or so; lot of people called the cops because it was so noisy.

All I remember about the next day at work is that I drank two or three Cherry Cokes for energy; I wasn’t America’s finest employee that day, and I crashed on my bed as soon as I got home from work, but it was worth it. Quite a ballgame.

— July 4, 2022, last game of the night: Braves 6, Cardinals 3, in a game delayed for a long time by rain. Does it rain in Atlanta every year on the 4th of July?

— Why doesn’t every major league team play on the 4th of July? I know it was a Monday this year, but Marlins-Nationals played an overlap series with a game on Monday. Heard a few people complain that their favorite team didn’t play Monday.

— Random prop bet I saw today:
Will the Cincinnati Bengals make the playoffs this year?
Yes -135, No +115

You’re probably actually betting on whether they keep Joe Burrow healthy all season; if he plays the whole year, Bengals will make the playoffs.

— Joey Chestnut ate 63 hot dogs (and buns) in 10 minutes Monday, to win the Nathan’s contest for the 15th time. For some reason, this gets televised on ESPN every year.

I have heard a few people who are grossed out by the hot dog eating; lot of other people enjoy it, but I like to eat hot dogs slowly and enjoy them. Stuffing them down my throat has no appeal.

His over/under for hot dogs eaten was 74.5, but all bets were refunded because someone got on stage to protest something and Chestnut got rid of the guy, but his eating was disrupted so they called off the over/under bets. Imagine wagering on an over/under in hot dog eating?

— Brewers 5, Cubs 2 (10):
Victor Caratini hit a walk-off homer for Milwaukee.
Seiya Suzuki hit an inside-the-park home run for Chicago.

— Astros 7, Royals 6— Kansas City led 5-0 in third inning.

— Cleveland Guardians have had a very busy week:
Tuesday, June 28— Guardians split a doubleheader with Minnesota.
Wednesday— Guardians beat Minnesota 7-6 in 10 innings.
Thursday— Guardians trailed 3-1 in 8th inning, beat Minnesota 5-3.
Friday— Guardians got rained out.
Saturday— Guardians got swept in a twinbill by New York.
Sunday— Guardians beat New York 2-0.
Monday— Guardians got swept in a twinbill by Detroit.

Three doubleheaders in a week; doesn’t happen much these days.

— Marlins 3, Nationals 2 (10)— Miami is 12-1 against Washington this season.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Atlanta, San Diego, St Louis
AL: New York, Twins, Astros. Wild Cards: Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, July 5

WNBA

Tuesday, July 5

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

Seattle @ Indiana
Seattle
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Indiana
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Indiana's last 8 games at home

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


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

 

[Cnotes53]

TUESDAY, JULY 5

SEA at IND	07:00 PM	IND +10.5 O 159.0	+500 +500
CONN at DAL	08:00 PM	CONN -5.0 U 163.0	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in slugging %age:
.663— Yordan Alvarez, Hst
.619— Mike Trout, LAA
.617— Paul Goldschmidt, StL
.612— Aaron Judge, NYY
.599— Bryce Harper, Phil
.579— Rafael Devers, Bos


Quote of the Day
“I had to take a driving test when I came over [to America]. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.”
White Sox P Liam Hendriks, who is Australian

Wednesday’s quiz
Other than the Seattle Mariners (20 years) which major league team has gone the longest since they were last in the playoffs?

Tuesday’s quiz
Max Scherzer broke into the major leagues with the Diamondbacks in 2008.

Monday’s quiz
In the movie The Hangover, the four friends drove to Las Vegas in a silver Mercedes

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

13) NBA Summer League starts Thursday; 11 days of competitive basketball from Las Vegas, most of which is televised nationally.


There are 30 teams, with players trying to get invites to NBA training camps or offers to play pro ball overseas. It is very competitive, fun to watch.

12) Few years ago, I was at the summer league and these two guys sit in front of me; one guy is huge, looked like a bodybuilder. Remember, this is Las Vegas; you can bet on the games- the big guy is saying how he bet on Team A in this game because “they posted a bad number on this game” at the sportsbook. He thought he had a sure thing. Uh oh.

The odds that the oddsmakers knew less about this game than the bodybuilder were slim, but he thought he knew better. There was one small problem.

Team A crushed its opponent the day before, but they were playing different guys in this game, guys who hadn’t played much the day before. Teams have 12-14 guys; they like to take a look at all of them. The second group of guys weren’t nearly as good as the first group.

The bodybuilder had a mixed drink; as Team A falls behind quickly, he begins to get steamed. Midway down the second quarter, it is fairly evident his bet is a loser and he is fuming. I’m not even sure he realized they were playing different guys than the day before.

For a split second, I thought about explaining this to him, but then bit my tongue; sometimes they kill the messenger. Instead, I just moved to a different part of the gym.

11) If you foul out of a summer league game, you’re a hacker; it takes 10 fouls to foul out of a summer league game. 10, not six.

10) Miami Heat drafted a kid named Nikola Jovic; he looked great in the San Francisco summer league Tuesday, scoring 25 points, grabbing nine rebounds. This was a 4-team, 3-day event that is a prelude to the Las Vegas tournament.

Catch-and-shoot is a huge thing now if you want to play college/pro ball; kids are much better these days at shooting, a positive effect of the Steph Curry/Klay Thompson Warriors winning so much (and making so much money)

9) NBA is doing really well financially; ten players have already signed contracts this offseason worth $100M+.

8) Portland Trailblazers have seven players who will be making $9M+ next season; that means at least two of their subs will be making $9M+, and they were 27-55 last year.

7) On the TV broadcast of the Miami-Golden State game summer game, they mentioned that pro games in Europe are only 40 minutes long, as opposed to the NBA’s 48 minutes.

6) I’m debating going to the summer league next year, as long as the league coincides with baseball’s All-Star break. They miss each other by a week this year. With no baseball for four days, it was fun to hang out in a gym all day and watch quality basketball.

5) Connor Allen posted info about NFL season prop bets on Twitter; he identified six categories where the unders really dominated last year:

rushing TD’s— under hit 76.5%
passing yards— under hit 74.1%
passing TD’s— under also hit 74.1%
receiving yards— under hit 66.0%
rushing yards— under hit 64.1%
Receiving TD’s— under hit 55.6%

4) Golfer Matt Fitzpatrick has really improved his driving this season; his club head speed has jumped to 70th on Tour this year, compared to 122nd two years ago. His strokes gained off the tee ranks 8th this year, compared to 59th two years ago.

This season, Fitzpatrick has earned $6,129,986, with eight top 10 finishes; last year, he earned $2,252,351, year before that, $2,109,709.

3) Johnny Cueto has started nine games for the White Sox this season; road team won eight of those nine games, which is unusual.

2) Orioles 10, Rangers 9 (10)— Two bullpens combined to give up 12 runs in 11.1 IP. Cedric Mullins had a walk-off double for Baltimore.

1) Reds 1, Mets 0— Max Scherzer struck out 11 batters in 6 IP, in his return to action. Reds won on a sac fly by Mike Moustakas in the last inning.