CNOTES 2024 - 2025 COLLEGE BASKETBALL NEWS-BEST BETS-OPINIONS THRU THE CHAMPIONSHIP !

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
NFL WR’s with the most receiving yards:
567— Nico Collins, 567
493— Ja’Maar Chase, Cinc
450— Justin Jefferson, Minn
421— DK Metcalf, Sea
414— Jayden Reed, GB
397— Brian Thomas, Jax

Quote of the Day
“We’re not even just playing for just football now. We’re trying to play for something a little bit bigger.”
Tampa Bay WR Mike Evans

Thursday’s quiz
Kansas City Royals came into existence in 1969; which major league team left Kansas City for another city, after the 1967 season?

Wednesday’s quiz
Don Mattingly was the Dodgers’ manager, last time they missed the playoffs.

Tuesday’s quiz
Patrick Mahomes played his college football at Texas Tech.

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Thursday’s Den: Baseball stuff, and ACC basketball notes…….​

— Estimated payrolls of the 12 teams in this year’s baseball playoffs:
$336,065,016- Mets
$324,976,209- Dodgers
$302,491,525- Bronx
$247,792,033- Phillies
$244,010,307- Astros
$231,937,258- Braves
$168,878,991- Padres
$116,328,391- Brewers
$113,530,985- Royals
$103,584,429- Tigers
$102,525,167- Guardians
$102,511,257- Orioles

— Tigers 3, Guardians 0
Underdog Tigers grab a 2-1 series lead.
Cleveland didn’t score a run in last two games.
Six Detroit pitchers combined to pitch a shutout.

— Mets 4, Phillies 1
Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam in the 6th inning.
Jose Quintana allowed an unearned run in 5 IP.
Phillies scored only three runs the last two games.

— New York 3, Royals 2
Giancarlo Stanton hit the game-winning HR in 8th inning.
New York bullpen threw 4.1 scoreless IP.
Game 4 is tonight in Kansas City.

— Dodgers 8, Padres 0
Eight pitchers combined to throw a shutout.
Padres started Dylan Cease on short rest; it didn’t go well.
Game 5 is at Dodger Stadium Friday night.

— Famous birthdays, October 10th:
Gene Tenace, 78
Gus Williams, 71
Bradley Whitford, 65
Derrick McKey, 58
Brett Favre, 55
Troy Tulowitzki, 40
Andrew McCutchen, 38
Jeurys Familia, 35
Geno Smith, 34
Lourdes Gurriel Jr, 31
Vinnie Pasquantino, 27
Josh Giddey, 22

With college basketball approaching, some notes on ACC teams

— Boston College
Three years under Grant, BC is 23-37 in ACC games.
Eagles haven’t made the NCAA’s since 2009.

— California
Had a losing record in Pac-12 games the last seven years.
Haven’t been to NCAA’s since 2016

— Clemson
Last two years, Tigers are 47-23, 25-15 in ACC play.
Last year, Clemson made the Elite 8 as a 6-seed.

— Duke
Last two years, Duke is 54-18, 29-11 in ACC play.
Have slowed down under Scheyer (#298/#253 in tempo)

— Florida State
Last three years, Seminoles are 27-33 in ACC play.
Made the NCAA’s every year from 2017-21, but not since.

— Georgia Tech
Last three years, Yellow Jackets are 18-42 in ACC play.
Have made NCAA’s once since 2010 (2021).

— Louisville
Last three years, they’re 11-49 in ACC play.
Pat Kelsey will be Cardinals’ third coach in four years.
Louisville’s last NCAA Tournament win: 2017.

— Miami
Made NCAA’s two of last three years, went 7-2 in tournaments.
Slipped to 15-17, 6-14 LY (#353 in FT’s taken)

— North Carolina
Three years under Davis, UNC is 43-17 in ACC play.
They’re 7-2 in NCAA Tournament under Davis.

— NC State
Went 9-11 in ACC last year, then went 9-1 in ACC tourney/NCAA’s.
Made NCAA’s twice in last five years, both times as an 11-seed.

— Notre Dame
Last two years, they’re 24-41, 10-30 in ACC play.
They’ve made NCAA’s once in last six NCAA Tournaments.

— Pittsburgh
Last two years, they’re 26-14 in ACC play.
Have made only one of last seven NCAA Tournaments.

— Stanford
Cardinal hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2014.
Last three years, Stanford was 23-37 in Pac-12 play.

— Syracuse
Orange was #39 in tempo LY (#144 or lower previous 8 years)
Syracuse has made one of last five NCAA Tournaments.
Last six years, Syracuse is 59-55 in ACC games.

— Virginia
Last seven years, Cavaliers are 111-32 in ACC play.
Virginia has played in nine of last ten NCAA Tournaments.
Last 14 years, Cavaliers have been #336 or slower in tempo.

— Virginia Tech
Under Young, Hokies are 45-48 in ACC play.
Tech has made NCAA’s twice under Young (0-2, as 11/10 seeds)

— Wake Forest
Last three years, Wake was 34-26 in ACC play, only 2-3 in ACC tourney.
Deacons haven’t made the NCAA’s since 2017.

 

[Cnotes53]

Friday’s 6-pack:
Last six World Series champs:
2023— Rangers
2022— Astros
2021— Braves
2020— Dodgers
2019— Nationals
2018— Red Sox

Quote of the Day
“He specialized in recovery across time zones. How the body can recover under duress. It was very informative. We were there with all the head coaches. A lot of great information was shared. The bottom line is we’ll come out during conference play, we’ll come out either two days early or one day early, depending on the academic workload.”
Cal basketball coach Mark Madsen, talking about long road trips in the ACC

Friday’s quiz
Where did Geno Smith play his college football?

Thursday’s quiz
Kansas City Royals came into existence in 1969; the A’s left Kansas City for Oakland, after the 1967 season.

Wednesday’s quiz
Don Mattingly was the Dodgers’ manager, last time they missed the playoffs.

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

— 49ers 36, Seahawks 24
First six drives, SF scored two TD’s, kicked three FG’s.
Seattle’s first four drives: 18 plays, 69 yards, no points.
San Francisco led 16-3 at halftime.
49ers outscored last four opponents 73-23 in first half.
49ers won their last six games vs Seattle (5-1 ATS)
49ers ran ball for 228 yards, threw for 255 more.
Seattle lost last three games, giving up 42-29-36 points.
Seahawks are 3-7 ATS in last ten NFC West home games.

— Guardians 5, Tigers 4
David Fry came off bench, drove in Cleveland’s last three runs.
Guardians had lost their previous 11 postseason elimination games.
Decisive Game 5 is Saturday night in Cleveland.

— New York 3, Royals 1
Gerrit Cole allowed one run in 7 IP.
Royals scored total of five runs in last three games of the series.
New York will host Games 1-2 of the ALCS, starting Monday.

— James Madison 39, Coastal Carolina 7
JMU ran ball for 222 yards, outgained Coastal 421-181.
JMU scored two TD’s 70 seconds apart early in second quarter.
Dukes led 29-7 at halftime; they’re 5-1 now.

— Western Kentucky 44, Texas-El Paso 17
Hilltoppers led 27-7 at halftime.
WKU ran ball for 218 yards, threw for 264 more.
UTEP was outgained 482-330; they slip to 0-6.

— Louisiana Tech 48, Middle Tennessee 21
Frosh QB Bullock threw TD passes on four straight drives early in game.
Bulldogs led 34-14 at halftime; they’re 2-3 now.
Tech converted 12 of 16 third down plays.

— Jacksonville State 54, New Mexico State 13
Gamecocks won third straight game, scoring 44-63-54 points.
Jax State led 33-6 at halftime.
Jax State ran ball 49 times for 334 yards (6.8 yards/carry).

— Famous birthdays, October 11th:
Daryl Hall, 78
Mark Goodman, 72
David Morse, 71
Norm Nixon, 69
Chris Spielman, 59
Mike Conley, 37
Gio Urshela, 33
TJ Watt, 30
Brian Allen, 29

— Jets demoted OC Nathaniel Hackett, tabbed Todd Downing to run the offense going forward. Jets are ranked 27th in yards/game; Downing used to be the Titans’ offensive coordinator.

— Las Vegas Raiders are starting QB Aidan O’Connell this week, replacing Gardner Minshew after the team’s 2-3 start. Raiders were 5-5 with O’Connell under center last year.

— New Orleans Saints are starting rookie QB Spencer Rattler vs Tampa Bay Sunday, with #1 QB Derek Carr out injured (oblique). Rattler played college ball at Oklahoma/South Carolina; Las Vegas drafted him in the 5th round last spring.

— New England Patriots are starting rookie QB Drake Maye this week, at home vs Houston, after they started season 1-4. Patriots lost their last four games, scored a total of 26 points in their last three.

— Pohlad family bought the Minnesota Twins for $44M in 1984; they’re worth around $1.5B now, and now they’re looking to sell the team.
Twins put out a statement:
”After months of thoughtful consideration, our family reached a decision this summer to explore selling the Twins. As we enter the next phase of this process, the time is right to make this decision public.”
Only three teams have been under the same ownership for longer than the Twins; White Sox, the Phillies and Bronx.

— Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes apparently owns 1% of the Kansas City Royals; his dad was a major league pitcher. From what I can tell, his share of the team is worth $12-15M

— Scary to see the damage to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, where the Tampa Bay Rays call home; what used to be a domed stadium isn’t right now. The hurricane tore the roof off the place. You wonder how quickly the damage to the facility and some spring training facilities around Florida will be fixed. Will it affect spring training four months from now?
They had 18 inches of rain in St Petersburg in one day, 5 INCHES IN AN HOUR!!!!

 

[Cnotes53]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
Extra-inning games played the last six full seasons:
2024— 216 extra-inning games
2023— 201
2022— 216
2021— 216
2019— 208
2018— 216
Same exact amount four of the last six full seasons; that is unusual.

Quote of the Day
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”
Albert Einstein

Saturday’s quiz
Last time Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series (2012), who was their manager?

Friday’s quiz
Geno Smith played his college football at West Virginia.

Thursday’s quiz
Kansas City Royals came into existence in 1969; the A’s left Kansas City for Oakland, after the 1967 season.

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Saturday’s Den: Big East basketball notes, and other stuff…….​

— The other night in Las Vegas, at 2:30am out there, they imploded the Tropicana hotel, to make room for the A’s new baseball stadium. Quite a production, lot of fireworks and all before the two buildings came down.
Imagine staying across the street at the MGM? Must’ve been quite a view.

— Today’s Game 5 between Tigers-Guardians was moved up from 8:00 to 1:00, because it is supposed to rain in Cleveland Saturday night. Winner starts the ALCS in the Bronx Monday.

— Famous birthdays, October 12th:
Jack Marin, 80
Chris Wallace, 77
Susan Anton, 74
Sid Fernandez, 62
Chris Chandler, 59
Hugh Jackman, 56
Leon Lett, 56
Charlie Ward, 54
Ketel Marte, 31

Notes on Big East basketball teams:
— Butler
Last four years, Butler is 27-51 in conference games.
Bulldogs made the NCAA’s six times in seven years, the last seven years before they joined the Big East. They’ve been in NCAA’s four times in the 10 years they’ve been in Big East.

— UConn
UConn won last two national titles, first team since Florida Gators in 2006/2007.
Last four years, Huskies have been in top 12 in country on offensive rebounding.

— Creighton
Last four years, Bluejays are 94-44, 54-25 in Big East tilts, 8-4 in NCAA tourney.
Last two years, Creighton was in bottom five in country in forcing turnovers.

— DePaul
DePaul hasn’t been over .500 in Big East games since 2007.
Blue Demons haven’t been in NCAA’s since 2004.
Last year, DePaul was 3-29, 0-20; their last win was December 30th.

— Georgetown
Last three years, Hoyas are 22-73, 4-55 in conference games.
Last year, Ed Cooley’s first year there, Georgetown was #358 in field goal defense.

— Marquette
Three years under Shaka Smart: 75-30, 42-17 in Big East, 3-3 in NCAA’s.
Last two years, Marquette was #4, #13 in 2-point field goal %age.
Marquette was a 2-seed LY; they lost 67-58 to NC State in Sweet 16.

— Providence
Last three years, Friars are 69-32, 37-20 in Big East games, 2-2 in NCAA’s.
Last year, first year under Kim English, Providence was #18 in country in defense.

— St John’s
St John’s hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2000.
Johnnies were 11-9 in Big East LY, just second time in last nine years they were over .500 in conference games.

— Seton Hall
Pirates were 25-12, 13-7 last year; they won the NIT.
Since 2006, Seton Hall is 1-6 in NCAA Tournament.
Two years under Holloway, they’re 42-28, 23-17 in Big East games.

— Villanova
In two years since Jay Wright retired, Villanova is 35-23, 20-20 in Big East tilts.
Villanova made the Final Four in Wright’s last season.
In two years under Neptune, Wildcats ranked #347, #333 in tempo.

— Xavier
Chris Mack left Xavier in 2018, having made NCAA’s five years in a row,
Since then, Xavier has made only one of five NCAA Tournaments.

 

[Cnotes53]

Sunday’s 6-pack:
QBs who played for the Jets under Robert Saleh:
13-21 W-L record— Zach Wilson
2-6— Mike White
1-6— Joe Flacco
3-3— Aaron Rodgers
2-3— Trevor Siemian
0-3— Tim Boyle

Quote of the Day
“Another game down to the wire. We’re kind of getting accustomed to those. There’s some things that we can do to make sure it doesn’t get to that point. But we always talk about finding a way to win. As many times as it looked like we weren’t, we did.”
Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer

Sunday’s quiz
Of the 32 starting QB’s in NFL, which two have fathers who played major league baseball?

Saturday’s quiz
Last time Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series (2012), Hall of Famer Jim Leyland was their manager.

Friday’s quiz
Geno Smith played his college football at West Virginia.

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Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday…….​

— Oregon 32, Ohio State 31
Ducks drove 74 yards, kicked game-winning FG with 1:47 left.
Oregon outgained the Buckeyes, 496-467.
Ducks’ QB Gabriel was 23-34/341 passing, and 2 TD’s.
Former Oregon coach Chip Kelly is Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.

— Penn State 33, USC 30 OT
Trojans led 20-6 at halftime.
PSU QB Allar threw for 391 yards, two TD’s.
PSU TE Warren caught 17 passes for 224 yards.
Dating back to last year, USC is 5-8 in its last 13 games.

— Alabama 27, South Carolina 25
Alabama led 14-0 with 2:00 left in first half.
Gamecocks led 19-14 after the third quarter.
Trailing 27-19, Carolina scored TD with 0:43 left- 2-point play failed.
Gamecocks recovered the onside kick, but didn’t come close to scoring again.
Alabama still hasn’t lost consecutive regular season games since 2007.

— LSU 29, Ole Miss 26, OT
Nussmeier threw a 25-yard TD pass on their first play of OT.
Ole Miss kicked a 57-yard FG on their first possession of OT
LSU forced OT by scoring a TD with 0:27 left in regulation.
Rebels were 11-22 on third down, LSU 6-16.

— Vanderbilt 20, Kentucky 13
Commodores (+14) posted another huge upset, this one on road.
Vandy converted 8-13 on third down, Kentucky 4-9.
Wildcats had 12 penalties for 105 yards.

— Illinois 50, Purdue 49 OT
Illinois led 24-3 at halftime.
Purdue went ahead 43-40 on a 13-yard TD pass with 0:46 left.
Illini forced OT with a 38-yard FG at the gun.
Purdue scored 40 points in 2nd half, averaged 9.2 yards/play but still lost.

— Famous birthdays, October 13th:
Paul Simon, 83
Rich Kotite, 82
Randy Moffitt, 76
Reggie Theus, 67
Marie Osmond, 65
Doc Rivers, 63
Jerry Rice, 62
Trevor Hoffman, 57
Nancy Kerrigan, 55
Paul Pierce, 47
Quincy Carter, 4
Brian Hoyer, 39

— Tennessee 23, Florida 17 OT
Florida led this game 10-0 with 4:00 left in third quarter.
Gators tied game on a TD with 0:29 left in regulation.
Florida outgained Tennessee, 361-312.
This was Tennessee’s first OT game since 1998, their 2nd one ever.

— Georgia Southern 24, Marshall 23
Thundering Herd led 23-3 after the third quarter.
Georgia Southern threw a 34-yard TD with 1:00 left for the comeback win.
Marshall ran for 200 yards, but turned ball over three times.

— Army 44, UAB 10
Army ran ball 56 times for 413 yards (7.4 yards/carry)
Army only completed three passes; one of them was a 50-yard TD.
Black Knights are 6-0, have won ten games in a row.

— Guardians 7, Tigers 3
July 29, Washington traded Lane Thomas to Guardians, for 3 minor leaguers.
Saturday, Thomas hit a 5th inning grand slam, the big hit of this game.
Guardians advance to the ALCS Monday in the Bronx.

— Upsets of the Week:
Vanderbilt (+14) 20, Kentucky 13
Northwestern (+10) 37, Maryland 10
Buffalo (+9.5) 30, Toledo 15
Rice (+6.5) 29, Tex-San Antonio 27
Arizona State 27 (+6.5), Utah 19
Nevada (+4.5) 42, Oregon State 37

— Pitt 17, California 15
Pitt is 6-0 for the first time since 1982.
Cal missed a 40-yard, go-ahead FG with 1:54 left.
Cal is 0-3 in ACC games, losing by 5-1-2 points.

— San Diego State 27, Wyoming 24
Aztecs outscored Wyoming 10-0 over the final 14:00 of game.
San Diego State’s first TD was a 43-yard pick-6.
Wyoming completed only 12 of 31 passes, with two INTs.

— Ball State 37, Kent State 35
Cardinals led 20-7 at halftime, hung on for dear life.
Kent QB Ulatowski was 17-36/394 passing, with four TD’s.
Kent State is 0-6; they outgained Ball State 461-406.
Golden Flashes threw a 57-yard TD pass with 0:30 left for a backdoor cover.

— Rice 29, Tex-San Antonio 27
EJ Warner threw an 18-yard TD pass with 0:04 left for the win.
Roadrunners had taken a 27-23 lead on a TD with 2:06 left.
Warner (Kurt Warner’s son) was 25-39/347 passing, with 2 TD’s.
UTSA had 16 penalties for 146 yards, Rice 11 for 93.

— Georgia Tech 41, North Carolina 34
RB Haynes ran 68 yards for game-winning TD with 0:16 left.
Carolina had tied game on a 44-yard FG with 0:44 left.
If you had the Tar Heels +3.5, it was a very bad beat.

— Louisville 24, Virginia 20
Cardinals drove 67 yards, scored game-winning TD with 1:55 left.
Louisville had lost its previous two games, both by 7 points.
Virginia outgained the Cardinals, 449-408; game was 7-7 at halftime.

 

[Cnotes53]

Monday’s 6-pack:
Interesting Week 7 college football spreads……
— Alabama (-2.5) @ Tennessee
— Nebraska @ Indiana (-5)
— South Carolina @ Oklahoma (-2.5)
— Michigan @ Illinois (-1)
— Georgia @ Texas (-3.5)
— Kentucky @ Florida (-2)

Thought of the Day
Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian friends…….

Monday’s quiz
Where did Jared Goff play his college football?

Sunday’s quiz
NFL QB’s Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes have fathers who played major league baseball.

Saturday’s quiz
Last time Detroit Tigers made it to the World Series (2012), Hall of Famer Jim Leyland was their manager.

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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….​

Ravens 30, Commanders 23
Baltimore won last four games, scoring 28-35-41-30 points.
Ravens’ first 3 drives: 17 plays, 79 yards, 3 points.
Ravens rest of game: 51 plays, 405 yards, 27 points.
Ravens are 7-3 ATS in last ten games as a home favorite.
Over is 5-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Ravens ran ball 37 times for 176 yards.
Washington ran ball 18 times for 52 yards.
Baltimore was 6-10 on third down, Commanders 4-12.
Washington’s team total: over 5-1
Over is 5-1 in Washington games this year.

Bears 35, Jaguars 16
Bears’ first two drives: six plays, 7 yards, two punts.
Bears’ next six drives: 45 plays, 353 yards, 35 points.
Last three games, Chicago scored 13 TD’s on 29 drives.
Opponents’ team total: under 6-0
Jaguars in first half: 25 plays, 112 yards, 3 punts, 3 points.
Last five games, Jaguars were outscored 88-35 in first half.
Bears outgained Jacksonville, 373-278.
Jaguars are 12-20 ATS last 32 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Texans 41, Patriots 21
Texans’ first two drives: 19 plays, 100 yards, 14 points.
Houston ran ball 28 times for 192 yards.
2nd-year QB Stroud is 15-8 as an NFL starter.
Houston had four takeaways (+3); they didn’t have any in previous 3 games.
New England lost last five games, outscored 68-33 in first half.
Patriots are 14-53 on third down in their last four games.
NE is 1-10-1 ATS in last dozen games as a home underdog.
Patriots are 30-44 since Tom Brady left town.

Eagles 20, Browns 16
Cleveland’s only TD was on a blocked field goal late in first half.
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16 points in its 1-5 start.
Browns are 15-78 on 3rd down so far, 10-16 on 4th down.
Browns have gained 230-297-217-152-215-244 yards so far.
Browns are 5-11-1 ATS last 17 games as a road underdog.
On their last five drives, Browns were 3-4 on field goals; no TD’s.
Eagles outgained Cleveland, 372-244.
Under Sirianni, Eagles are 12-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
QB Hurts is 39-22 as an NFL starter.

Packers 34, Cardinals 13
Packers’ first five drives: 34 plays, 251 yards, 24 points.
Cardinals’ first four drives: 14 plays, 34 yards, four punts.
QB Murray is 30-41-1 SU as an NFL starter.
Last four games, Arizona opponents are 28-47 on third down.
Green Bay led 24-10 at halftime.
QB Love was 22-32/258 passing, with four TD’s.
Packers have 17 takeaways in six games (+9 turnovers)
Green Bay is 27-16-1 ATS in last 44 home games.

Buccaneers 51, Saints 27
Tampa Bay led 17-0 after the first quarter.
Mayfield threw 3 INTs in 2nd quarter; Saints led 27-24 at half.
Bucs’ last five drives: 31 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51 points in their last three games (7 TD’s/19 drives).
Tampa Bay is 12-9-2 in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Saints in 2nd half: 32 plays, 107 yards, outscored 27-0.
New Orleans lost its last four games, by 3-2-13-24 points.
Rookie QB Rattler was 22-40/243 passing in his first NFL start.
Saints are 9-12-2 ATS in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points,

Colts (-1) @ Titans
Colts are 10-3 SU/ATS in last 13 visits to Nashville.
Colts are 8-5 ATS in last 13 games as a road favorite.
Under Steichen, Colts are 10-5-1 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less points.
All six Colts games were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Colts were 7-15 on third down, Tennessee 4-11.
Tennessee is 0-6 ATS in last six games coming off a win.
Titans have averaged 5.3/5.3/4.9/4.6/3.5 yards/pass attempt.
QB Levis is 4-10 as an NFL starter.

Famous birthdays, October 14th:
Al Oliver, 78
Charlie Joiner, 77
Brent Strom, 76
Lori Petty, 61
Joe Girardi, 60
PJ Brown, 55
Jim Jackson, 54
Merrill Kelly, 36
Jared Goff, 30

Chargers 23, Broncos 16
Chargers in first half: 46 plays, 247 yards, 20 points.
Chargers had 20-play, 69-yard drive that took 10:29- they kicked FG.
Denver in first half: 20 plays, 61 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.
Chargers are 7-3-2 ATS last 11 games as road favorites.
Dobbins ran ball 25 times for 96 yards and a TD.
Chargers led 20-0 at halftime.
Denver is only 20-80 on third down conversions (3-11 this game)
Broncos outscored last five opponents 59-17 in second half.
Broncos are 10-17 ATS in last 27 games coming off a win.
Chargers had lost their last five visits to Colorado.

Steelers 32, Raiders 13
Steelers ran ball 35 times for 183 yards (5.2 yards/carry)
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Opponents’ team total: under 5-1
Steelers are 15-8-1 ATS in last 24 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Raiders drove 70 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Next eight drives: 36 plays, 130 yards, no points.
Raiders have 12 turnovers in six games (minus-10).
Raiders’ two wins were by 3-4 points, losses by 12-14-16-19 points.

Lions 47, Cowboys 9
Detroit had 10 drives: 5 touchdowns, 4 field goals on first nine.
Goff was 18-25/315 passing, with three TD’s.
Detroit ran ball 36 times for 184 yards.
Lions outscored last three opponents 73-23 in first half.
Star DE Aidan Hutchinson appeared to break his leg
Dallas is 0-3 at home this year, losing by 25-3-36 points.
Cowboys gave up 17-15-17 points in wins, 44-28-47 in losses.
Dallas allowed 14.2/12.1/10.3 yards/pass attempt in their losses.
Cowboys turned ball over on each of their last four possessions.

Falcons 38, Panthers 20
Falcons ran the ball 38 times for 198 yards.
Falcons scored a TD on three of their first five drives.
Atlanta is 12-6 ATS in last 18 NFC South road games.
Falcons scored 22-26-36-38 points in wins, 10-17 in losses.
Panthers trailed this game 22-17 at halftime.
Carolina’s five losses are by 37-23-10-26-18 points.
Carolina is 0-3 SU at home (26-3 Chargers, 34-24 Bengals)
Panthers are 3-7-1 ATS in last 11 games as a home underdog.
Carolina opponents’ team total: over 5-1

Bengals 17, Giants 7
QB Burrow ran 47 yards for a TD on Cincy’s first drive.
RB Brown put game away with a 30-yard TD run with 1:52 left.
Bengals had allowed 10+ points in 75 consecutive games.
Bengals are 11-6 ATS in last 17 games as a road favorite.
Cincinnati is 20-11-1 ATS in last 32 games coming off a loss
Giants are 0-3 at home (28-6 Vikings, 20-15 Cowboys)
Giants were 5-15 on third down, 3-5 on fourth down.
Giants have one TD on 29 drives in their three home games.
Five of their six games stayed under the total.
QB Jones is 25-41-1 as an NFL starter.

Dodgers 9, Mets 0
Jack Flaherty allowed four baserunners in 7 scoreless IP.
Dodgers have now thrown 33 consecutive scoreless IP.
Mookie Betts knocked in three runs; Ohtani scored twice.
Dodgers grab a 1-0 series lead; Game 2 is today at 5:00.

 

[Cnotes53]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
NFL underdogs of 5.5+ points this year:
Week 1— 3-1 ATS
Week 2— 6-0 ATS
Week 3— 5-1 ATS
Week 4— 3-2-1 ATS
Week 5— 2-1 ATS
Week 6— 1-3-1 ATS

Quote of the Day
“In practice I think we can get up and down more. I think so often as coaches in modern-day NBA, the league’s gotten so soft, everybody’s afraid to condition and run. We have to.”
Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone

Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, what well known actress plays the owner of the Sharks?

Monday’s quiz
Jared Goff played his college football for the Cal Bears.

Sunday’s quiz
NFL QB’s Jared Goff, Patrick Mahomes have fathers who played major league baseball.

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

— Bills 23, Jets 20
Buffalo had 11 penalties for 94 yards.
Jets had 11 penalties for 110 yards; refs threw too many flags.
Buffalo led this game 20-17 at halftime.
Jets missed field goals of 32, 43 yards; Bills missed a PAT.
Jets threw a 52-yard Hail Mary TD on last play of first half.
Rodgers was 23-35/294 passing, with 2 INTs and an INT.
Jets are 17-28 ATS last 45 games as an underdog.
Jets are 9-14 ATS in last 23 games as a home underdog.
Bills scored TD’s on three of their first four drives.
Buffalo is 16-5-1 ATS in last 22 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Buffalo won eight of last ten series games.

— Mets 7, Dodgers 3
Mark Vientos broke the game open with a 2nd inning grand slam.
Mets bullpen didn’t allow a run in 4 IP.
Series heads to New York, tied 1-1.
Modern baseball: When the Dodgers threw three consecutive shutouts the last few days, they still made 13 pitching changes in those games.

— New York 5, Guardians 2
Soto, Stanton both homered for New York.
Carlos Rodon allowed 3 baserunners, one run in 6 IP.
Alex Cobb started on mound for Cleveland, only his 5th start all season.
This season, Cleveland OF Steven Kwan had a .988 OPS in Guardians’ wins, .565 in the Guardians’ losses.

— Week 6 was a big week for NFL road favorites; they were 7-0 ATS this week.

— So far this season, NFC North teams are 17-4 ATS in non-divisional games.

— Imagine being coach of the Dallas Cowboys, playing a game on your boss’s (Jerry Jones) 82nd birthday, and losing 47-9, heading onto a bye week? Not great.

— Today is October 15, Week 7 is looming, and the Detroit Lions still haven’t played a game outdoors this season.

Famous birthdays, October 15th:
Linda Lavin, 87
Jim Palmer, 79
Joe Klecko, 71
Vanessa Marcil, 55
Fred Hoiberg, 52
Connor Barwin, 38
Blaine Gabbert, 35
Teoscar Hernandez, 32
Jack Flaherty, 29
Brandon Pfaadt, 26

Movie of the Day: Before We Go (2014)- Two strangers stuck in Manhattan for the night become good friends when a lot of unexpected things happen in one very long evening.
Nick is a musician trying to catch his one big break in the business, while also trying to avoid an old girlfriend. Brooke is a woman trying to find the right way to dump her husband, who has been cheating on her.
Good movie; I’ve never heard of one person who was in this movie, but it was well done and fun to watch. It is on Tubi, which has several good movies.

— Best college football teams against spread this year:
Army, BYU, both 6-0 ATS

Worst college football teams against spread this year:
0-6- Air Force, Kansas
0-6-1- North Carolina, NC State

— Florida Gators QB Graham Mertz (torn ACL) is out for the year.

— Kentucky is ranked #23 in the preseason college basketball top 25, their lowest rank in the preseason since 2009,
Kentucky alum Mark Pope is the new basketball coach at Kentucky; this past weekend, his coach with the Wildcats, Rick Pitino, was back in Lexington. Pitino has served as a mentor for Pope since he replaced John Calipari as Kentucky’s coach this spring, but it is an unusual situation, seeing how Pitino coaches St John’s now.
Not often do you see a big-time coach helping prop up a different top 25 program. Pitino wore a Kentucky pullover Friday, but had St John’s gear on Saturday.

— Cleveland Browns are first NFL team in 10 years to score less than 20 points in each of their first six games of a season.

— Louisiana-Monroe’s football team is off to a 5-1 start; Warhawks went a combined 10-36 the last four years. Good start this season for first-year head coach Bryant Vincent.

— Wealthiest owners in the NFL:
$94.3B- Rob Walton, Broncos
$21.3B- David Tepper, Panthers
$17B- Stephen Ross, Dolphins
$16.9B- Stan Kroenke, Rams
$15.2B- Jerry Jones, Cowboys

 

[Cnotes53]

Monday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Eagles @ Cincinnati (-2.5)
— Packers (-4.5) @ Jacksonville
— Titans @ Detroit (-11.5)
— Falcons @ Tampa Bay (-3)
— Cardinals @ Miami (-3.5)
— Ravens (-9.5) @ Cleveland

Quote of the Day
“We’ve been good enough to have the lead to win them all — we just haven’t been good enough to separate. So we’ve put ourselves in that position. … There’s not a magic remedy, right? You go back to work, you keep identifying the things we’re not doing well, keep trying to emphasize and maximize the things that we are, and trying to be 1-0 next week.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley. Trojans are 6-9 in their last 15 games.

Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, who is least wealthy of the group?

Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.

Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.

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

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….​

Chiefs 28, 49ers 18
Kansas City is 6-0, last unbeaten team in the NFL.
Chiefs ran ball for 184 yards on 39 carries (4.7/carry)
Chiefs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2017, Kansas City is 13-4 ATS as an underdog.
Chiefs were 8-14 on third down, San Francisco 2-11.
49ers scored 32-30-36 points in wins, 17-24-23-18 in losses.
49ers are 0-3 when they gain less than 400 total yards (310 this game)
Chiefs have won five in a row vs 49ers, including two Super Bowls.

Lions 31, Vikings 29
Lions’ first three drives: 10 plays, 30 yards, no points.
Lions’ next four drives: 28 plays, 299 yards, 28 points.
WR St Brown caught 8 passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Detroit scored 42-47-31 points last three games (15 TDs on 30 drives).
Lions drove 44 yards, kicked game-winning 44-yard FG with 0:19 left.
Vikings had taken 29-28 lead on a defensive TD with 5:50 left.
Minnesota is 1-6 ATS in last seven NFC North home games
Over is 8-1-1 in last their last ten games with Detroit.

Packers 24, Texans 22
Green Bay drove 39 yards, kicked 45-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Packers are 5-0 when they allow less than 30 points.
Green Bay outscored last five opponents 66-22 in second half.
Packers survived being minus-3 in turnovers (+9 first six games).
Texans led 19-14 at halftime.
Houston in 2nd half: 30 plays, 76 yards, 3 points.
Stroud was only 10-21/86 passing (2.2 yards/attempt)
Texans are 10-4-1 ATS in last 15 games as a road underdog

Eagles 28, Giants 3
RB Barkley ran ball 17 times for 176 yards against his old team.
Philly led 14-3 at half, outgained the Giants, 339-119.
Overall, Eagles ran ball 45 times for 269 yards.
Eagles are 14-3 in last 17 games against the Giants.
Giants’ first six drives: 23 plays, 32 yards, six punts.
Giants’ QB’s threw for 105 yards, were sacked 8 times for 62 yards.
In four home games TY, Giants have one TD on 41 drives.
Under is 6-1 in Big Blue games this season.

Jaguars 32, Patriots 16
New England lost its last six games, outscored 90-43 in first half.
Last three weeks, Patriots gave up 193-192-171 rushing yards.
Patriots are 30-45 since Tom Brady left town.
NE is 7-20-1 ATS in last 28 games as an underdog.
Patriots led 10-0 early in 2nd quarter; Jaguars led 22-10 at half.
Washington ran a punt back 96 yards for a Jaguar TD.
Jaguars outgained New England 364-295.
Jacksonville is 4-2 in their last six games in England.

Bills 34, Titans 10
Buffalo in first half: 20 plays, 90 yards, 5 punts, 7 points.
Tennessee led 10-7 at halftime.
Buffalo in second half: 36 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Bills averaged 9.3 yards/pass attempt (Cooper 4 catches, 66 yards)
1-5 Titans scored 17 or fewer points in their losses; their win was 31-12.
Tennessee is minus-9 in turnovers, has had two punts blocked.
Tennessee is 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a road underdog.
Titans has trailed in only one of their six games at halftime.

Famous birthdays, October 21st
Manfred Mann, 84
Zack Grienke, 41
Shelden Williams, 41
Ricky Rubio, 34
Greg Robinson, 32
Davis Mills, 26

— New York 5, Cleveland 2 (10)
Juan Soto hit a 3-run homer in 10th inning.
Stanton hit 2-run HR to tie game 2-2 in 6th inning.
New York advances to World Series for first time since 2009

Dodgers 10, Mets 5
Tommy Edman batted cleanup, drove in four runs.
Dodgers led this game 6-1 in third inning.
World Series starts Friday; the #2 and #3 payroll teams in baseball.
Someone needs to tell the FOX TV guys that the Mets were #1 payroll team in the major leagues this season, not exactly a Cinderella story.

Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
Seahawks threw 31-yard TD pass with 0:04 left in first half to go up, 17-7
Up 24-14, Seattle salted game way with a defensive TD with 12:46 left.
Seahawks are 17-10-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Seattle’s team total: over 7-0
Atlanta is 5-15-1 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Atlanta was 8-15 on third down, but turned ball over three times.
Falcons were held to 10-17-14 points in their three losses.
Falcons are 5-14 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.

Bengals 21, Browns 14
Bengals ran opening kick of game back 100 yards for a TD.
Bengals rest of first half: 24 plays, 86 yards, no points.
Cincinnati led 7-6 at half; Browns missed PAT after a TD.
Bengals first three drives of second half: 12 plays, 113 yards, 14 points.
Browns had 2 of their 3 QB’s knocked out of this game.
Looked like QB Watson tore his achilles; he is out for the year,
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16-14 points in its 1-6 start.
Browns were 8-19 on third down, Cincinnati 2-13.

Colts 16, Dolphins 10
Miami scored a TD on its second drive (11 plays, 58 yards)
Dolphins rest of game: 56 plays, 280 yards, 3 points.
Down 13-10, Miami clanked 54-yard FG off upright with 5:14 left.
Last four games, Dolphins have four touchdowns on 55 drives.
Dolphins’ team total: under 6-0
Colts QB Richardson completed only 10-24 passes for 129 yards.
Indy won four of its last five games (4-0-1 ATS)
All seven Colts games (4-3) were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Under Steichen, Colts are 4-1 ATS as a home favorite.

Commanders 40, Panthers 7
Carolina’s six losses are by 37-23-10-26-18-33 points.
Carolina is 2-10-1 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog.
Panthers gave up 20+ points in first half in six of seven games.
Carolina is 4-14-2 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Rookie QB Daniels (ribs) left early in game, after a 46-yard run.
Veteran backup Mariota was 18-23/205 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Washington’s first score was a 67-yard pick-6 by Fowler.
Commanders won/covered five of their last six games.
Last six games, Commanders scored 19 TD’s, kicked 20 FG’s on 51 drives.

Rams 20, Raiders 15
LA allowed 17 TD’s in first five games; Raiders had no TD’s, 5 FG’s.
Rams had 4 takeaways (+3); their TD drives were 47-26 yards.
Rams are +4 in turnovers in their wins, minus-3 in losses.
RB Williams ran ball 21 times for 76 yards, two TD’s.
First time this season Rams led after the three quarters.

QB O’Connell hurt his thumb; Minshew was 15-34/154 passing (3 INTs)
Raiders have 16 turnovers in seven games (minus-13).
Since 2019, Raiders are 20-13 ATS as a road underdog.
Opponents have converted only 24 of 83 third down plays.
Rookie TE Bowers caught 10 passes for 93 yards.

Steelers 30, Jets 15
Jets led 15-6 with 5:00 left in first half.
Jets lost last four games, by 1-6-3-15 points.
Jets scored 24-24 points in wins, 19-9-17-20-15 in losses.
Jets are 5-12-1 ATS in last 18 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 4 drives- 36 plays, 227 yards, 24 points.
QB Wilson was 16-29/264 passing, 2 TDs in his first Pittsburgh start.
Steelers are 13-5-2 ATS last 20 games as a home underdog.
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13-15 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Steelers are 16-8-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or less points.

 

[Cnotes53]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Bills (-3) @ Seattle
— Bears (-3) @ Washington
— Panthers @ Denver (-7.5)
— Chiefs (-10) @ Las Vegas
— Cowboys @ San Francisco (-4.5)
— Giants @ Pittsburgh (-6)

Quote of the Day
“We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter anymore. So there’s zero pressure. You have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and history of what this organization has. And what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time?”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, talking about Boston repeating as NBA champs

Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; who was their QB in that game?

Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.

Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.

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

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

— Ravens 41, Buccaneers 31
Baltimore won/covered last five games, scoring 28-35-41-30-41 points.
First seven drives, Ravens ran 40 plays for 379 yards, 34 points.
RB Henry carried ball 15 times for 169 yards.
Ravens are 10-4 ATS in last 14 games as a road favorite.
Over is 6-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Both of Buccaneers’ star WR’s (Evans/Godwin) left with injuries.
Tampa Bay led 10-0 after the first quarter.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51-31 points in last four games.
Tampa Bay is 2-5 ATS last seven games as a home underdog.
Buccaneers are 4-9 ATS in last 13 games vs AFC teams.

— Cardinals 17, Chargers 15
On their first drive, Chargers fumbled on Arizona’s 2-yard line.
Chargers wound up kicking five field goals on their eight drives.
Last four games, on 17 2nd half drives, Chargers have no TD’s, 4 FG’s.
Chargers scored 22-26-23 points in wins, 10-10-15 in losses.
Chargers are 3-12 ATS in last 15 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Arizona drove 56 yards, kicked game-winning FG at the gun.
Cardinals are 17-12 ATS last 29 games coming off a loss.
Chargers were 6-14 on third down, Arizona 2-7
Murray’s 44-yard TD run put Cardinals ahead 14-9.
Cardinals are 8-5 ATS last 13 games as a home underdog.

— OK, let’s say you’re voting for who gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at the blind resume for two candidates (both QB’s):
Player A: 117-117 regular season W-L, 8-4 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Player B: 72-72 regular season W-L, 8-2 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Who gets in? Both? Neither? Just Player A? Just Player B?
Both won two Super Bowls, with a .500 regular season record. Seems logical that both of them should get in, or neither one, right?

— Cleveland Browns are planning on building a domed stadium in suburban Brook Park, which apparently will be privately funded.

— Giants’ QB Daniel Jones is the only starting QB since 2000 with no passing TD’s in six consecutive home games.

— When the Lions play in Green Bay on November 3rd, it’ll be their first game outdoors this season, their eighth game this year.

— Famous birthdays, October 22:
Christopher Lloyd, 86
Wilbur Wood, 83
Jeff Goldblum, 72
Jamie Quirk, 70
Luis Zendejas, 63
Ichiro Suzuki, 51
Carmen Ejogo, 50
Robinson Cano, 42
Corbin Burnes, 30

There will be scapegoats:
— Oklahoma has lost three of its last four games, is 132nd in the country in offense; they fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell Sunday.
Littrell was North Texas’ head coach from 2016-22; he was an analyst at Oklahoma last year, was promoted to OC this year when Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach.

— Oklahoma is an underdog of 20.5 points vs Ole Miss this week; it would be the first time since 1997 that the Sooners were an underdog of 20+ points- 348 games ago.

— Utah Utes offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned (was fired) Sunday; Utah lost its last three games, scoring a total of 36 points. Mike Bajakian was promoted to QB coach/offensive coordinator (on an interim basis).
Bajakian joined Utah this year as an analyst after spending four seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Northwestern, a school exactly known for offense, but he was also a QB coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2015-18.

— East Carolina fired football coach Mike Houston after their 3-4 start; Houston was 27-38 in 5+ seasons coaching the Pirates, getting to bowl games in 2021, 2022, but ECU lost its last two games, giving up 100 points to Charlotte/Army. Not good.

— USC has led in the 4th quarter of all their games this season, but they’re 3-4; over the last 20 years, only one other team has led in the 4th quarter of their first seven games, and been under .500 (Utah State in 2011).

— Movie of the Day: One on One (1977)- A small-town basketball star goes to college and tries to impress his tutor, teammates, and coach.
Robby Benson is the star; lot has changed since this movie was made (I was in high school, for example) but some of it still holds up. Annette O’Toole is his tutor and a very young Melanie Griffith has a cameo at the start of the movie.
One on One was filmed at Colorado State; I think they still use that arena.

— In September, parlays accounted for 32.3% of sports bets in New Jersey, 72.5% of their gross revenue. Parlays are a casino’s very good friend.

— Do NFL coaches get drug tested? I’m wondering this because Detroit coach Dan Campbell does some weird stuff— he takes chances, reckless chances at times.
First possession Sunday, Lions tried a fake punt in Minnesota; it failed badly, but the Lions were good enough to win anyway, kicking a field goal at the end. Couple of years ago against the Rams, Detroit tried an onside kick/fake punt in the first half….of the same game!!!

— 2016 Atlanta Falcons had five coaches on their staff who are currently NFL head coaches:
Dan Quinn, Washington
Raheem Morris, Atlanta
Mike McDaniel, Miami
Jeff Ulbrich, Jets
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco

— Oh, by the way, the two quarterbacks up above?
Player B is Jim Plunkett
Player A in Eli Manning

 

[Cnotes53]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting college football spreads, Week 8
— Boise State (-3) @ UNLV
— Notre Dame (-12.5) vs Navy (@ Meadowlands)
— Washington @ Indiana (-6.5)
— Illinois @ Oregon (-21.5)
— BYU @ Central Florida (-1.5)
— Texas Tech @ TCU (-6.5)

Quote of the Day
“If a guy is going to cheat you on the golf course, he’s going to cheat you in business.”
Arnold Palmer, as told to Rick Reilly

Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, which team did they beat in the Finals both times?

Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.

Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….​

— Celtics 132, Knicks 109
Celtics led 74-55 at halftime.
Boston shot 29-61 on the arc, and they missed their last 14.
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points.

— Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
Anthony Davis scored 36 points, grabbed 16 rebounds.
Lebron/Bronny James are first father/son to play in same NBA game.
Lakers had lost their last six season openers.

— Sam Houston 10, Florida International 7
Game was scoreless at halftime.
Sam Houston kicked a 20-yard FG with 1:57 left for the road win.
Bearkats are bowl eligible for the first time as a I-A team.

— Louisiana Tech 14, Texas-El Paso 10
Tech was 6-17 on third down, Miners 1-14.
Bulldogs ran ball 30 times for 7 yards, UTEP 47 times for 166 yards.
Tech has won 11 of its last 12 games against UTEP.

— All 32 NHL teams played Tuesday; the over/under on goals scored for all 32 teams was 101.5. Night ended with 98 goals being scored.

— American League teams won last two World Series; leagues split the last 12 Fall Classics.

— When the Rams won Sunday, Sean McVay tied John Robinson for the most wins (79) by a coach in franchise history.

— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 65
Doug Flutie, 62
Mike Tomczak, 62
Keith Van Horn, 49
Ryan Reynolds, 48
Kyle Gibson, 37
Nick Bosa, 27
Dylan Carlson, 26

— Random fact that is kind of amazing; Pittsburgh Steelers have had only three head coaches since 1969- Chick Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin.
Steelers are only NFL team that hasn’t played a divisional game yet.

— Indiana Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke had surgery on his right (passing) thumb, is out for a while. Indiana, off to its best start since 1967, hosts Washington Saturday.

— Hawai’i is joining the Mountain West on a full-time basis in two years, which figures to hurt their basketball program. Hawaii is 34-21 in Big West games the last three years, but moving up to the Mountain West is a big step up, just ask UNLV.

— If you have a son who is athletic and kind of tall, get him a basketball and send him outside to practice……..a lot
Denver Nuggets signed Aaron Gordon to a 4-year, $133M contract extension.
Washington Wizards signed Corey Kispert to a 4-year, $54M contract extension.
Atlanta Hawks signed Jalen Johnson to a 5-year, $150M contract extension.
Golden State Warriors signed Moses Moody to a 3-year, $39M contract extension.
Houston Rockets signed Alperen Sengun to a 5-year, $185M contract extension.
Minnesota Timberwolves signed Rudy Gobert to a 3-year, $110M contract extension.
It is really, really hard to make it to the NBA, but if you do, it pays off handsomely.

— Fernando Valenzuela, the great Dodger pitcher, passed away Tuesday at age 63.
In 1981, Valenzuela won the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards as a 20-year-old by going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA.
Valenzuela went to six consecutive All-Star Games from 1981-86 and also finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting in 1982, 1985, and 1986.
June 19, 1990, Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against St Louis, the same night Dave Stewart also threw a no-hitter, the only time two no-hitters happened on the same day.
Valenzuela had a 173-153 record in the majors, then was 5-1, 1.98 in eight playoff games.
RIP, sir.

 

[Cnotes53]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24- Liberty was favored by 27.5 points.
— Jacksonville State 42, MTSU 20- Gamecocks outscored MT 21-3 in 3rd quarter.
— Suns 116, Clippers 113 OT- Suns were +14 in 24:00 Royce O’Neale played.
— Grizzlies 126, Jazz 124- Ja Morant had 22 points,, ten assists.
— Pacers 115, Pistons 109- Indiana outscored Pistons 33-19 in 4th quarter.
— Hawks 120, Nets 116- Onyeka Okongwu scored a career-high 28 points.

Quote of the Day
“We are not making any changes.”
New Jersey Giants owner John Mara

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, what holiday did Magnum always spend by himself?

Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.

Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.

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

Thursday’s Den: Very early college basketball information…….​

College basketball starts in 10 days…..some stuff to think about
— UConn won the last two national titles; last team to win three in a row was UCLA, way back from 1971-73. Last spring, Danny Hurley turned down a chance to coach the Lakers; he lost four starters from last year, but his Huskies are still a preseason top 10 team.

— TV/radio personality Doug Gottlieb is the new coach at Green Bay; he’s making $215,000 this year coaching, as well as continuing as host of his national radio show during the week. He was a really good TV analyst on game broadcasts.
Gottlieb played point guard at Notre Dame/Oklahoma State; his late father was a coach, and his brother is still coaching. This should be interesting to follow.

— 6-3 guard PJ Haggerty scored 21.2 ppg last year for Tulsa, more than any freshman in the country; he then bolted to Memphi$, because that’s what happens in college sports now. Rooting for smaller college teams is like rooting for the A’s or the Pirates- your best players are bolting for $$$.

— No Pac-12 this year; it’ll be back down the road, but there is one less automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this year, and one more at-large bid. Oregon State, Washington State are playing in the WCC this year, Gonzaga’s league.

— 15 of the 18 ACC teams will be in the ACC Tournament……10 of the 13 teams in the MAAC will be in their tournament. In the past, the whole league played in their conference tournaments.

— Since 2015, six ACC teams have made it to a Final Four:
Duke, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia

— College sports has gone mad; realignment of leagues has been to maximize $$$ from football, and basketball (and other sports) are suffering as a result.
Stanford/Cal are in the ATLANTIC Coast Conference; they’ll take two-game road trips this winter. January 15, 18th Stanford plays at Wake Forest/North Carolina; this makes no sense, and must cost schools a ton of dollar$.

— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 77
Chester Marcol, 75
Omar Moreno, 72
Jay Novacek, 62
Corey Dillon, 50
Eric Hosmer, 35
Jalen Ramsey, 30
Rafael Devers, 28
Jaylen Brown, 28
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 25

— David Patrick is a coach who has now quit as a head coach twice, to become an assistant coach somewhere else, an unusual career move.
From 2018-20, Patrick was coach at Cal-Riverside; they went 10-23/17-15 at UCR, improving from 4-12 to 7-9 in the Big West in his second year, but then he bolted to Arkansas, where he was an assistant for Eric Musselman.
The last two years, Patrick was an assistant at Sacramento State in the Big Sky, where he went 14-18/10-24 in two years. Last spring, Patrick moved on and is now an assistant at LSU.

— Only three Big East teams made the NCAA Tournament last year, the fewest amount of teams since the league re-booted in 2014. One of those teams won the national title, but St John’s and Seton Hall getting squeezed out of at-large bids was surprising.

— Eric Musselman is going to win big (eventually) at USC; he’s added 10 transfers this season, eight of them seniors. There is only one kid on USC’s team who was a Trojan last year, and he only scored 2.3 ppg last year.

— Last seven years, seven different teams have won the C0nference USA conference tournament; last 11 years, eight different teams have won the Big West tournament.

— Steve Lutz is the new coach at Oklahoma State; he was 22-12 in his one year at Western Kentucky last year, after he was 47-23, 21-11 in two years at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Oklahoma State was 21-9 in the one year Cade Cunningham played for them, but in the three years since, Cowboys went 8-10, 4-14. 4-14 in Big X games.

— Utah State is on its sixth head coach in 11 years, which is weird because during that time, they’ve had only one losing season.

— Since 2010, Ivy League teams are a surprisingly good 8-14 in the NCAA Tournament.

— Coaching carousel was in full gear this past spring:
Rob Lanier went from SMU to Rice
Andy Enfield went from USC to SMU
Eric Musselman went from Arkansas to USC
John Calipari went from Kentucky to Arkansas
Mark Pope went from BYU to Kentucky.
Kyle Smith went from Washington State to Stanford
Danny Sprinkle went from Utah State to Washington
Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan
Pat Kelsey went from Charleston to Louisville
Former Louisville coach Chris Mack went to Charleston.
Should be a very interesting season; enjoy!!!