CNOTES 2023- 2024 HNL NEWS BEST BETS AND OPINIONS !

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack:
Miami Marlins’ all-time leaders in hits:
1,273— Luis Castillo
1,103— Hanley Ramirez
1,005— Jeff Conine
965— Mike Lowell
960— Giancarlo Stanton
842— Miguel Cabrera

Quote of the Day
“Why would you want to dance with someone who doesn’t want to dance with you?”
Adam Sandler, The Wedding Singer

Monday’s quiz
First time the Marlins won the World Series, who was their manager?

Sunday’s quiz
Knicks beat the Lakers in the NBA finals in both 1970 and 1973; Lakers had different coaches in those two playoff losses- Joe Mullaney, Bill Sharman.

Saturday’s quiz
The ABA folded in 1976, then four teams got absorbed by the NBA; the New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets in six games, to win the last ABA title.

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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday

— Saw a clip on Twitter where a college ballplayer hit a home run, but was so busy celebrating as he rounded the bases that he neglected to touch home plate, and was called out. Not good. They showed the replay and sure enough, he missed home plate.

— I’m sure the Arizona Cardinals were thrilled to see clips this weekend of QB Kyler Murray taking batting practice with the Oklahoma baseball team; Murray used to say how he wanted to play pro baseball AND pro football, but light-hitting outfielders don’t make $46M a year.

— 2024 NFL schedule gets released Wednesday night, a few days late; there are rumors of two games on Christmas, with the games being shown on Netflix. Weird thing is, Christmas is on a Wednesday this year; curious how they’ll make that work for the four teams involved.

— Quick prediction; Marlins’ manager Skip Schumaker will be the Cardinals’ manager next year. He was their bench coach in 2022, and seems like he wants out of Miami.

— When hitters see the same pitchers fewer and fewer times, it makes hitting more difficult; the new schedule, with teams playing each other fewer times, hitters get fewer at-bats against the same pitchers, which hurts teams’ offense.

But MLB has said they want more offense; seems like one hand doesn’t know what the other hand is doing.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cubs, Padres
AL: Orioles, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: New York, Twins, Royals

— Atlanta Hawks won the NBA Draft Lottery, despite having only a 3% chance of doing so; they get the #1 pick in the NBA draft for the first time since 1975, when they drafted the great David Thompson, who chose to play for the ABA’s Denver Nuggets instead.

— Saw an NBA mock draft for next month’s draft; only one of the top five picks played college ball.

— Famous birthdays for May 13th:
Bobby Valentine, 74
Stevie Wonder, 74
Dennis Rodman, 63
Stephen Colbert, 60
Barry Zito, 46
Mike Bibby, 46
Rob Havenstein, 32
Willson Contreras, 32
Nico Hoerner, 27

— Mets 4, Braves 3
Brandon Nimmo hit a 2-run, walk-off homer in the 9th inning.
Braves are 3-6 in their last nine road games.

— Giants 6, Reds 5 (10)
Casey Schmitt hit a walk-off double for the Giants.
San Francisco lost CF Jung Hoo Lee to a left shoulder injury.

— Cubs 5, Pirates 4 (10)
Chicago won despite going 1-12 with runners in scoring position.
Pittsburgh is 7-16 in its last 23 games, after an 11-5 start.

— Astros 9, Tigers 3
Verlander tossed 7 shutout IP against his old team.
Jake Meyers was 3-3 with 3 RBI and he didn’t start.

— Royals 4, Angels 2
Seth Lugo struck out 12; he is 6-1, 1.66 this season.
Struggling Angels are 5-14 at home.

— Arizona 9, Orioles 2
Zac Gallen tossed six innings, got his 5th win of the year.
Jake McCarthy hit his first home run of the season for Arizona.

— Twins 5, Blue Jays 1
Minnesota has won 17 of its last 20 games.
Carlos Santana homered for the third day in a row.

— Cardinals 4, Brewers 3
Milwaukee led 3-0 after the first inning, didn’t score again.

Cardinals’ manager/coach got tossed after they won a replay challenge.
Goldschmidt went 2-5 with 2 RBI, snapping out of a slump.

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, May 13

 

[Cnotes53]

MONDAY, MAY 13​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
CAR at NYR	07:00 PM	NYR +101 O 5.5	+500 +500
DAL at COL	09:30 PM	COL -131 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Over last six years, % of time home plate umps have been right on ball/strike calls:
2023— 92.8%
2022— 92.4%
2021— 92.1%
2020— 91.7%
2019— 91.6%
2018— 91.2%

Quote of the Day
“There’s teachable moments in the building during the day, how you carry yourself as a quarterback. There’s teachable moments at press conferences. There’s teachable moments every snap on Sunday. When you’ve got two guys that have won as much as Nick (Foles) and seen as much as Andy (Dalton), and you don’t take that information in, because you’re a little standoffish and a little abrasive, you’re wasting that opportunity.”
Josh Lucas, Chicago Bears’ former director of player personnel, talking about Justin Fields

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 2021 NFL Draft, QB Trevor Lawrence was the first pick, by Jacksonville; the next two picks were also QB’s, who are still in the NFL. Who were they?

Monday’s quiz
First time the Marlins won the World Series, Jim Leyland was their manager.

Sunday’s quiz
Knicks beat the Lakers in the NBA finals in both 1970 and 1973; Lakers had different coaches in those two playoff losses- Joe Mullaney, Bill Sharman.

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

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

— 2024 NFL schedule gets released Wednesday night; Opening Night will be Ravens in Kansas City to play the Chiefs. The next night, Eagles-Packers will play in Brazil.

— Apparently, the Cowboys will open 2024 by playing a 4:25 game in Cleveland in Week 1, where Tom Brady will make his debut as a FOX TV analyst.

— Detroit Lions gave QB Jared Goff a 4-year contract extension for $53M a year, with $170M of the $212M guaranteed. Goff is 26-24-1 as Detroit’s QB, but he won two playoff games LY, Lions’ first playoff wins since 1991.
Goff was 44-30 in his five years playing for the Rams.

— Chicago Bears announced that they expect rookie QB Caleb Williams to be their Week 1 starter.

— UFL standings, thru seven weeks:
USFL Division
Birmingham 7-0
Michigan 5-2
Memphis 1-6
Houston 1-6
XFL Division
St Louis 5-2
San Antonio 5-2
DC Defenders 3-4
Arlington 1-6

— So far in this round of the NBA playoffs, home team is 4-0 SU in the New York-Indiana series, 0-4 in the Denver-Minnesota series.

— If you know someone who likes the NBA, tell them to go to the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which runs this year from July 12-22 at UNLV.
Lot of games every day on two courts, plenty of NBA players/coaches around, even some team owners, and the tickets are reasonable. One ticket gets you in for the whole day.

— Famous birthdays for May 14th:
Tony Perez, 82
Mike Quick, 65
Joey Cora, 59
Roy Halladay, 47
Eddie House, 46
Clay Matthews, 38
Rob Gronkowski, 35
Brenton Doyle, 26
Alec Marsh 26

— Movie of the Day: Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)- A married New York detective is assigned to protect a socialite who witnessed a murder, but they get involved romantically, which complicates the detective’s life, a lot.
Tom Berenger is the detective, Lorraine Bracco is his wife, Mimi Rogers is the socialite. Jerry Orbach, Daniel Hugh Kelly, John Rubenstein are also in the cast. Very good movie, with some good music, too.

— Cardinals 10, Angels 5
Angels led 4-0 after six innings.
St Louis scored eight runs in the top of the 7th.
Angels are now 5-15 at home.

— Phillies 5, Mets 4 (10)
Phillies scored twice in ninth inning to tie game.
Mets led 3-1 in 3rd inning, had bases loaded with no one out, but Cristopher Sanchez struck out the next three batters, on nine pitches.

— Braves 2, Cubs 0
Game was 0-0 after five; neither pitcher started the 6th inning.
Ronald Acuna got picked off first for third time in two games.

— Blue Jays 3, Orioles 2 (10)
Daulton Varsho hit a homer, robbed the Orioles of a homer with his glove.
Adley Rutschman hit two homers for Baltimore.

— Pirates 8, Brewers 6
Bryan Reynolds went 5-5, with two RBI
Mitch Keller tossed 6 shutout IP, then the Pirate bullpen held on.

— Diamondbacks 6, Reds 5
Kevin Newman’s 2-run single was a walk-off hit in the bottom of 9th.
Cincinnati has lost 11 of its last 12 games.

— Dodgers 6, Giants 4 (10)
Will Smith’s 2-run double was the game-winning hit.
Dodger bullpen threw 4.1 scoreless innings.

— Colorado 5, San Diego 4
Rockies have now won five in a row, after an 8-28 start.

— Here is a case for an unnamed player to make the baseball Hall of Fame:
Player X made six All-Star teams.
He led the AL in stolen bases six times, had 649 career steals.
2,249 career hits, 1,181 runs scored.
Most importantly, he was the leadoff hitter/offensive catalyst for a team that won the World Series three years in a row.

Here are stats for Player Y, who is in the Hall of Fame:
Player Y made ten All-Star teams.
2,170 career hits, 1,338 runs scored.
Batted 2nd most of his career.
Played on one team that went 1-6 in World Series.

Here are stats for Player Z, who is also in the Hall of Fame:
Player Z made ten All-Star teams.
2,677 career hits, 1,335 runs scored.
He led the AL in stolen bases nine years in a row.
Played on one team that won a World Series.

Player Z is Luis Aparicio
Player Y is Pee Wee Reese.
Player X is Bert Campaneris, who should join the other two guys in the Hall of Fame.
If Campaneris had done what he did for a team in New York City, he would’ve been in Cooperstown a long time ago.

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Tuesday, May 14

 

[Cnotes53]

TUESDAY, MAY 14​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
BOS at FLA	07:00 PM	FLA -201 U 5.5	+500 +500
VAN at EDM	09:30 PM	EDM -191 O 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
NFL games already released:
Week 1, Thursday— Ravens @ Chiefs
Week 1, Friday— Packers vs Eagles in Brazil
Week 1, Sunday 4:25— Cowboys @ Browns
Week 1, Monday— Jets @ 49ers
Week 2, Thursday— Bills @ Dolphins
Week 2, Sunday— Bengals @ Chiefs
The entire 2024 NFL schedule is being released at 8:00 tonight.

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

Wednesday’s quiz
A’s have played home games in Oakland since 1968; before that, what two cities did they call home?

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 2021 NFL Draft, QB Trevor Lawrence was the first pick, by Jacksonville; the next two picks were also QB’s, who are still in the NFL. Jets took Zach Wilson, who is now with Denver, and the 49ers drafted Trey Lance, who is now with Dallas.

Monday’s quiz
First time the Marlins won the World Series, Jim Leyland was their manager.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings………​

— Here’s a question; a celebrity like Jerry Seinfeld speaks at a college commencement like he did at Duke last weekend; how much does he get paid for that? Anyone know?

— College sports continue to get stranger:
Wyoming head coach Jeff Linder quit, to become an assistant coach at Texas Tech.
Green Bay coach Sundance Wicks quit after one year there to take the Wyoming job; last year, Green Bay improved from 3-29 to 18-14 under Wicks, but now he is gone.
Replacing Wicks will be former ESPN/CBS TV analyst Doug Gottlieb, who has never coached; his late father was a college head coach, his brother is a college assistant.
Gottlieb currently has a radio talk show on FOX Sports Radio; the weird thing here is that he will keep doing his radio show, even while he is coaching.

— New Mexico is going to play St John’s in Madison Square Garden on November 17; Richard Pitino’s team playing against his father’s team. I’m guessing it’ll be on national TV.

— Quarterback TJ Finley is going to play for Western Kentucky this year; he’s had an interesting college career:
2020- LSU
2021-22- Auburn
2023- Texas State
2024- Western Kentucky

Hilltoppers visit Alabama in their season opener August 31; it’ll be the third time Finley has played against the Crimson Tide, for three different teams:
2020- Alabama 55, LSU 17
2021- Alabama 24, Auburn 22

— Saw an old clip of the great comedian Steve Martin appearing on The Dating Game, which had to be in the late 60’s/early 70’s.
Would be good if they brought back old gameshows like that one and Hollywood Squares, would be a lot better than the contrived talk/yelling shows they have a lot of now.

— Angels haven’t played a divisional game yet; their first 44 games will be non-division games, which will be the 2nd-latest in a season ever that a team didn’t play a divisional rival.

— Last two years, with Buck Showalter as manager, the Mets were 17-5 in extra inning games; so far this year, with a new manager, they’re 2-4 in extra innings.

— Famous birthdays for May 15th:
Don Nelson, 84
George Brett, 71
Dan Patrick, 67
John Smoltz, 57
AJ Hinch, 50
Ray Lewis, 49
Justin Morneau, 43
Michael Brantley, 37
Cole Anthony, 24

— Astros 2, A’s 1 (10)
Houston pitcher Blanco was tossed after three innings for having a foreign (sticky) substance inside his glove. He is likely to get a 10-game suspension.

— Phillies 4, Mets 0
Aaron Nola threw a 4-hit shutout, on 109 pitches.
Phillies are 20-6 vs righty pitchers, 10-7 vs lefties.

— Cardinals 7, Angels 6
St Louis blew a 5-0 lead, but Alec Burleson’s 2-run homer in the 7th inning was a game-winner.
Pedro Pages hit a bases loaded double, his first major league hit.

— Marlins 1, Tigers 0
Both teams had only four hits.
Reese Olson has started eight games; Detroit scored total of 17 runs for him.

— Rockies 6, Padres 2
Colorado had won six games in a row, after starting the season 8-28.
San Diego is 10-15 at home, 12-8 on the road.

— There have only been games this season where both starting pitchers threw 100+ pitches.

— Ronald Acuna got picked off first base three times in Sunday/Monday games; maybe the Braves need to send their first base coach to AAA.

— Reds’ CF TJ Friedl broke his wrist in spring training; he recently came back, played six games, but now he’s broken his left thumb after being hit by a pitch Sunday.

— Monday night in Seattle, with Mariners’ leadoff hitter Josh Rojas at the plate, he hit a foul ball down the left field line- a younger fan caught the ball.
Next pitch, Rojas hit another foul ball, to the same area; no one caught the ball, but the same fan emerged from the scrum with the ball.
Two pitches, two foul balls; what are the odds of that???

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, May 15

 

[Cnotes53]

WEDNESDAY, MAY 15​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
COL at DAL	08:00 PM	DAL -150 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
Some Week 1 NFL spreads:
— Ravens @ Kansas City (-2.5)
— Packers vs Eagles (-1.5) (@ Brazil)
— Steelers @ Atlanta (-2.5)
— Cardinals @ Buffalo (-7)
— Titans @ Chicago (-4.5)
— Patriots @ Cincinnati (-8.5)
— Texans (-1.5) @ Indianapolis

Quote of the Day
“We are not missing on them (Houston Texans) again. They are in for primetime games: two Sunday nights, a Monday night and a Thursday night. And they are part of the Christmas round robin. So they’re in the Saturday and Wednesday national windows down there in week 16 and 17. So six nationally televised games for a team that last year, as you mentioned, was scheduled for zero.”
Mike North, NFL’s VP of broadcast planning

Thursday’s quiz
In the classic TV show The Odd Couple, what did Felix Unger do for a job?

Wednesday’s quiz
A’s have played home games in Oakland since 1968; before that, they called Kansas City and Philadelphia home.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the 2021 NFL Draft, QB Trevor Lawrence was the first pick, by Jacksonville; the next two picks were also QB’s, who are still in the NFL. Jets took Zach Wilson, who is now with Denver, and the 49ers drafted Trey Lance, who is now with Dallas.

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

Thursday’s Den: Quick thoughts on the NFL schedule​

NFC
— Arizona
Arizona opens in Buffalo; Cardinals are 3-2 SU/5-0 ATS in last five road openers.
Cardinals have Week 7 Monday night home game, then Week 8 they’ve got a cross-country trip to play the Dolphins in Miami.
Arizona’s two games with Seattle are in Weeks 12/14.

— Atlanta
Kirk Cousins visits his old team, the Vikings, in Week 14 (December 8)
Falcons are 5-12 ATS in their last 17 road openers, 5-2 ATS in last seven home openers.
Four of their first five games are at home (3 in row at home, weeks 3-5)

— Carolina
Rookie coach Caneles faces Tampa Bay, his old team, in Weeks 13/17.
Panthers lost four of last five home openers SU (1-3-1 ATS)
Carolina visits Denver in Week 8; Panthers’ DC Ejiro Evero was Denver’s DC two years ago.

— Chicago
Bears open their season at home vs Tennessee; since 2003, QB’s drafted first in a draft are 0-14-1 SU/1-14 ATS in their first start.
Weeks 13-15, Chicago has three straight road games (Lions-49ers-Vikings)
Last 20 years, under is 15-5 in Bears’ road openers. Last seven years, under is 6-1 in Chicago’s home openers.

— Dallas
Three of their first four road games (Giants-Steelers-49ers) are night games.
Over is 4-1 in their last five home openers.
Washington coach Dan Quinn was Dallas’ DC the last three years; Cowboy-Commander games are in Weeks 12/18.

— Detroit
Detroit doesn’t play a game outdoors until Week 9 at Green Bay.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine road openers.
Lions lost NFC title game 34-31 to San Francisco LY, blowing a 24-7 third quarter lead; they visit the 49ers on Monday night in Week 17.

— Green Bay
Packers open season against the Eagles in Brazil; Green Bay hasn’t started a season at Lambeau since 2018, but they’ve also won their last 11 home openers (8-3 ATS)
Over is 8-3 in their last 11 road openers.
Play consecutive Thursday games in Weeks 13-14: they host Miami on Thanksgiving night, then visit Detroit the next Thursday.

— LA Rams
Rams lost in playoffs at Detroit LY; they open this year on Sunday night, also at Detroit, which will revive the Stafford-Goff trade drama.
Rams are in Chicago in Week 4; their next road game isn’t until Week 9, at Seattle.
Under Sean McVay, Rams are 7-0 SU/5-2 ATS in road openers.

— Minnesota
Weeks 10-12, Vikings have 3 straight road games (Jaguars-Titans-Bears)
Under is 9-1 in Minnesota’s last ten home openers.
Vikings are 0-6-1 SU/0-7 ATS in their last seven road openers.

— NJ Giants
Last 12 years, Giants are 1-11 ATS in their home opener.
Both their games with Dallas are on Thursdays, including a Thanksgiving game.
Eagles’ new RB Saquon Barkley plays against his old team in Weeks 7/18.

— New Orleans
Visit Giants/Packers in December, two cold-weather games for a dome team.
Last nine years, Saints are 3-6 SU/1-8 ATS in home openers.
Dennis Allen/Derek Carr’s old team (Raiders) visit New Orleans in Week 17.

— Philadelphia
Open season against the Packers in Brazil; in Week 3, they go to Tampa, Week 4, they go to New Orleans, then they have an early bye in Week 5.
Last 15 years, Eagles are 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 home openers.
New OC Kellen Moore got run out of Dallas couple years ago; Eagles’ games with the Cowboys are in Weeks 10/17.

— San Francisco
Over last 21 years, teams that lost Super Bowl are 5-16 ATS in Week 1 the next year; 49ers host the Jets in Week 1.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten home openers.
Weeks 12-13, they visit Packers/Bills, two cold weather games; the game in Buffalo is at night.

— Seattle
Seahawks won four of their last five road openers.
Week 17 Thursday night road game is long travel/short week, plus a cold weather game.
Their two games with the Cardinals are in Weeks 12/14.

— Washington
Commanders play three of first four games on the road.
Washington is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 home openers.
Kliff Kingsbury is the new OC; Washington visits his old team (Arizona) in Week 4.

AFC
— Baltimore
Ravens visit Arrowhead in Week 1; they lost AFC title game at home to the Chiefs last year.
Harbaugh brothers face each other in Week 12, on a Monday night at SoFi.
Baltimore won/covered seven of last eight Week 1 games.

— Buffalo
Bills visit old friend, WR Stefon Diggs, in Week 5 at Houston.
Under is 6-2 in their last eight road openers.
Bills’ games with Dolphins are early in season; they visit Miami on a Thursday nite in Week 2; Dolphins come to Buffalo in Week 9.

— Cincinnati
Bengals’ games with Baltimore are fairly early (weeks 5/10); their games with Pittsburgh are later on (weeks 13/18)
Cincinnati is 2-6 ATS in its last eight home openers.
Bengals have five night games, three of them on the road.

— Cleveland
Four of their first six games are against NFC East opponents.
Since 2010, Browns are 5-1 ATS as an underdog in their home opener.
Browns visit Philadelphia in Week 6; Cleveland DC Schwartz was DC of the Eagles from 2016-20.

— Denver
Sean Payton’s Broncos visit Payton’s old team in New Orleans in Week 7.
Week 4, Broncos visit the Jets; will Zach Wilson be playing QB against his old team? At what point does rookie QB Bo Nix get the nod?
Denver’s last five home openers stayed under the total.

— Houston
They don’t play an outdoor game until Week 6 at New England.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine road openers.
It is conceivable that their first three games could be against very young QB’s:
Colts- Richardson, Bears- Williams, Vikings- McCarthy

— Indianapolis
Three of their first four games are at home.
Colts are 2-6-1 ATS in last nine road openers.
Their two games with Houston are before Halloween (weeks 1/8).

— Jacksonville
Jaguars visit Philadelphia in Week 9; Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl coaching the Eagles.
Jacksonville is 5-2 ATS in last seven road openers, last four of which went over the total.
Jaguars are playing Bears/Patriots in England in Weeks 6-7; the games are in different stadiums.

— Kansas City
Over last 21 years, Super Bowl champs are 11-7-3 ATS in Week 1 the next year, although they’re 0-3 ATS the last three years.
Last 7 years, Chiefs are 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS in road openers.
Chiefs have cold weather games in Cleveland (Week 15), Pittsburgh (Week 17), Denver (Week 18).

— Las Vegas
Two of their first seven games are on road at SoFi: Week 1 @ Chargers, Week 7 @ Rams.
Raiders are 7-2 ATS in last nine road openers.
Weeks 11-14, Raiders have three games in four weeks east of the Mississippi, visiting Miami, Chiefs and Tampa Bay.

— LA Chargers
Host the Raiders in Week 1; the rematch is in the season finale at Las Vegas.
Chargers are 8-3-1 ATS in last dozen road openers.
Chargers have an early (Week 5) bye, which isn’t ideal.

— Miami
Thanksgiving night in Green Bay should be fun, then they finish the season with a couple more cold weather games in Cleveland, New Jersey (Jets) in Weeks 17-18.
Dolphins are 6-2 ATS in last eight road openers.
Play three of first four games at home, with two of the home games at night.

— New England
Three of their first four games are on the road.
Games with Buffalo are very late, Weeks 16/18.
Their over/under win total is 4.5 wins, tied with Carolina for lowest in league.

— NJ Jets
First seven weeks, they have four night games, and a morning game from England.
Jets are 1-5 SU/ATS in last six home openers.
TV people like Aaron Rodgers; Jets have six night games scheduled, which is a lot for a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2010.

— Pittsburgh
Weeks 12-16, they play 4 road games in 5 weeks; 3 of the 4 games are divisional games.
Russell Wilson visits his old team/coach in Denver in Week 2.
Visit the Ravens in Week 16 on a Saturday, host Chiefs on Christmas four days later.

— Tennessee
Titans host Cincinnati in Week 15; Tennessee coach Callahan was the Bengals’ OC the last five years (head coach Zac Taylor is really the OC).
Titans are 3-9 ATS in last 12 home openers.
Play only one divisional game in first 11 weeks of the season; 5 of their last 7 games are against AFC South rivals.

— ESPN’s schedule release show was so much better than NFL Network’s; memo to Rich Eisen: no one gives a BLEEP!!! where you went to college. Jim Harbaugh coaches the Chargers now; talk about the Chargers, not his last job.

— Christmas is on a Wednesday this year; despite that, there will be two NFL games on Christmas, with Chiefs @ Pittsburgh and Ravens @ Houston- those games are on Netflix.

— Lowest win totals:
Carolina, New England both have 4.5 win totals
1991 was last time New England’s win total was that low.

— Week 1 thoughts:
Steelers (Russell Wilson) @ Falcons (Kirk Cousins)— battle of veteran QB’s who changed teams.
Jets @ 49ers- Hopefully Aaron Rodgers will last more than four plays this year, but he is on Monday Night Football in Week 1 for second year in a row.
Rams @ Lions- Rematch of a playoff game from last year; the two QB’s were obviously traded for each other, a trade that has helped both teams.
When do the rookie QB’s start?
Packers vs Eagles, in Brazil- Two teams are playing in a soccer stadium where the home team’s arch-rival wears green uniforms. Because of that, it is an unwritten rule that you never wear green in that stadium. Whoops.

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 16

 

[Cnotes53]

THURSDAY, MAY 16​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
NYR at CAR	07:00 PM	CAR -153 O 5.5	+500 +500
EDM at VAN	10:00 PM	VAN +127 O 6.5	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

Friday’s 6-pack:
More Week 1 NFL spreads:
— Titans @ Chicago (-4.5)
— LA Rams @ Detroit (-3.5)
— Raiders @ LA Chargers (-3.5)
— Broncos @ Seattle (-5)
— Cowboys (-1) @ Cleveland
— Commanders @ Tampa Bay (-4)

Quote of the Day
“People don’t want to say it, but part of playoffs is trying to hurt every player on the other team. The more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has.”
Boston Bruins’ captain Brad Marchand

Friday’s quiz
In the TV show CSI, Ted Danson’s character becomes head of the Las Vegas crime lab, after moving from which city?

Thursday’s quiz
In the classic TV show The Odd Couple, Felix Unger was a photographer (portraits a specialty)

Wednesday’s quiz
A’s have played home games in Oakland since 1968; before that, they called Kansas City and Philadelphia home.

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

Friday’s Den: Baseball trends, with regular season 25% over​

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 7-3 in its last ten games.
Under is 9-5 in their last 14 home games.

— Braves are 6-1 in home series openers.
Under is 19-1 in their last 20 games.

— Cubs are 22-15 vs righty starting pitchers, 3-5 vs lefties.
Under is 9-4 in their last 13 home games.

— Cincinnati is 1-10 in one-run games.
Overall, Reds lost 13 of their last 17 games.

— Rockies started season 8-28; they’ve won seven in a row since then.
3B Ryan McMahon is hitting .384, with an .856 OPS.

— Dodgers won seven of their last eight home games.
LA leads NL West by seven games; next biggest divisional lead is three games.

— Marlins are 1-15 against lefty starting pitchers, 12-17 vs righties.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine home games.

— Brewers won seven of their last nine home games.
C William Contreras is hitting .359, with a .987 OPS.

— Mets are 4-8 in their last 12 games.
Last year, Mets had a $346M payroll, they went 75-87.
This year, Mets have a $323M payroll, they’re 20-23.

— Phillies won 16 of their last 20 games.
Phillies are 29-5 when they score 4+ runs, 2-9 when they don’t.

— Pirates lost six of their last nine games.
Pirates are 14-12 when Keller-Jones-Falter start, 6-13 in all the other games.

— Cardinals are 7-14 in day games, 11-11 in night games.
St Louis hasn’t scored in first inning in its last 11 road games.

— Padres lost four of their last five games.
San Diego is 10-16 at home, 12-8 on road.

— Giants are 6-14 in their last 20 road games.
San Francisco is 12-8 in day games, 9-17 in night games.

— Nationals lost four of their last five games.
C Keibert Ruiz is batting .141 in his first 92 at-bats this season; he hit .260 LY, .251 the year before.

— Famous birthdays for May 17th:
Paige Turco, 59
Danny Manning, 58
Sasha Alexander, 51
Carlos Pena, 46
Tony Parker, 42
Matt Cassel, 42
Matt Ryan, 39
Austin Ekeler, 29
Brayan Bello, 25

— Orioles are 8-3 in their last eleven games.
C Adley Rutschman is hitting .314, with an .859 OPS.

— Under is 13-2 in Red Sox’ last 15 games.
Boston is 1-6 in home series openers.

— White Sox started season 3-22; they’re 11-8 since then.
Tommy Pham is hitting .319 in 18 games, with an .829 OPS.

— Guardians are 10-3 in their last 13 home games.
Cleveland is 7-2 vs lefty starting pitchers, 20-15 vs righties.

— Tigers lost nine of their last 12 games.
Detroit is 10-6 in divisional games, 11-16 vs everyone else.

— Astros won seven of their last eight games.
Houston has a hole at 1B; Abreu is in minors, Singleton is hitting .213.

— Royals are off to a 26-19 start; their last winning season was 2015, when they won the World Series.
Under is 15-6 in their last 21 games.

— Angels lost 11 of their last 14 home games.
Over is 9-3 in their last 12 home games.

— Twins are 44-119 in their last 163 games against New York.
Under is 5-1 in their last six games overall.

— New York won 10 of its last 12 games.
Under is 11-3 in their series openers.

— A’s are 2-10 in their last 12 games.
Over is 5-1 in their last six home games.

— Mariners are 7-1 in home series openers, 2-4 in road series openers.
Seattle is 11-4 in its last 15 home games, overall.

— Rays are 4-7 in their last eleven road games.
Under is 6-2 in their last eight road games.

— Texas lost five of its last six games.
Under is 14-4 in Rangers’ last 18 home games.

— Blue Jays SS Bichette is batting .221; last three years, he hit .298/.290/.301
Under is 8-2 in their last ten road games.

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Friday, May 17

 

[Cnotes53]

FRIDAY, MAY 17​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
FLA at BOS	07:00 PM	BOS +127 O 5.5	+500 +500
DAL at COL	10:00 PM	COL -111 U 6.0	+500 +500

 

[Cnotes53]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
Major league leaders in batting average:
.358— Shohei Ohtani, LA
.353— Steven Kwan Clev/William Contreras, Milw
.343— Trea Turner, Phil
.341— Mookie Betts, LA
.335— Salvador Perez, KC
.331— Alec Bohm, Phil

Quote of the Day
“I just dinked and dunked, it’s high school football. You don’t have to create all these magical plays. You just get the ball to your guys. … That’s all you’ve got to do. That’s why I just try to remind my guys that it doesn’t take much.”
Former NFL QB Teddy Bridgewater, who is now a high school coach in Miami. He played briefly in his team’s scrimmage Thursday night.

Saturday’s quiz
The great basketball player David Thompson came out of NC State and played for the Denver Nuggets in the ABA, before they joined the NBA in 1976. Which NBA team drafted Thompson?

Friday’s quiz
In the TV show CSI, Ted Danson’s character becomes head of the Las Vegas crime lab, after moving from Seattle; the actress who played also Danson’s wife (Peri Gilpin) also played Frasier Crane’s producer in Frasier, which was set in Seattle.

Thursday’s quiz
In the classic TV show The Odd Couple, Felix Unger was a photographer (portraits a specialty)

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

Saturday’s Den: Weekend thoughts…….​

— Nine years ago this week, the world lost a great guy; my dad was the best person I’ve ever met, a nice man, a decent man, and boy, we do need more decency in the world.
He was an excellent role medal for his nerdy son; he loved the Mets/Knicks, he enjoyed playing golf, going to Saratoga racetrack. Above all things, he was honest.
When he would come home from work, I’d be watching re-runs of the Odd Couple or M*A*S*H or Mister Ed, and he’d come into the room and say, “How can you watch that stuff?” Five minutes later, he’d be laughing harder than I was.
I’m guessing he is up in heaven, wondering why the Mets don’t win more games.
It’s been nine years, and he is missed every day.

— Pirates 9, Cubs 3
Rookie P Skenes struck out the first seven batters he faced.
He didn’t allow a hit in his six IP (100 PT), in his second MLB start.

— Rays 4, Blue Jays 3
Tampa’s Tyler Alexander had a perfect game thru seven innings.
Rays are 10-4 in their last fourteen games.

— Guardians 3, Twins 2
Ramirez hit the game-winning homer in 8th inning.
Minnesota has lost four games in a row.

— Tigers 13, Arizona 0
Skubal tossed six shutout IP, allowing one hit.
Baez went 3-4 with 5 RBI.

— Giants’ OF Jung Hoo Lee (shoulder) had an operation, is out for the year.

— Pacers 116, Knicks 103
Indiana outscored Knicks 32-21 in second quarter.
Siakam scored 25 points, had 5 assists, 7 rebounds.
Game 7 is in New York Sunday afternoon.

Famous birthdays for May 18th:
Reggie Jackson, 78
Jim Sundberg, 73
Tina Fey, 54
Vince Young, 41
Robert Quinn, 34
Clint Capela, 30

NFL schedule notes:
— Only one of Detroit’s first 14 games is outdoors, Week 9 in Green Bay.

— 49ers are the only team playing four teams that are coming off a bye.

— Bears/Steelers don’t play their first divisional game until Week 11.

— There are nine games this season that are rematches of playoff games from last year.

— Eagles play four of last five games at home, for the first time since 1951; their only road game in that span is against Washington, so the Eagles won’t fly at all after Week 13.

— Chicago’s first three games are all against AFC South teams.

— Carolina Panthers are only team that doesn’t have a primetime game.

— Four teams have three consecutive road games:
Bills, Bears, Browns, Vikings.

— Chiefs have a game on every day of the week except Tuesday.

— Patriots/Panthers are an underdog in every game thru Week 17.
Jets are favored in 14 of their first 16 games.