Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Six best basketball conferences in country, according to kenpom.com
— SEC
— Big 18
— Big X
— Big East
— ACC
— Mountain West
Quote of the Day
“I really believe that he could look at the field and decide where he wanted to hit the ball and then he would hit it in a manner that would fall in front of outfielders. Although he had pop in his bat, he knew how to just hit it over infielders — almost like his bat was a fungo — and as if the pitcher was just tossing it up in the air and he would hit it somewhere; it was just really maddening to defend it.”
Former Angels manager Joe Maddon, talking about Ichiro Suzuki
Wednesday’s quiz
Which team did CC Sabathia break into the major leagues with?
Tuesday’s quiz
The baseball scenes filmed in the great baseball movie, The Natural were filmed in Buffalo.
Monday’s quiz
Kansas City Chiefs came into being in 1963, their fourth year in the old AFL. The previous three years, they were the Dallas Texans.
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Johnson is a QB guru; he chooses working with Caleb Williams (in frigid weather) over Jayden Daniels, which seems like a mistake. Bears are also in the best division and are rivals with the team Johnson just spent the last six years working for.
Count on this: Bears-Lions is a Sunday night/Monday game in Week 1 next fall.
— Wake Forest 67, North Carolina 66
Deacons have won six in row, are 7-1 in ACC.
Wake was 21-27 on foul line, Carolina 6-10
Teams combined to shoot 10-47 on the arc.
— Ohio State 73, Purdue 70
Purdue led 41-28 at halftime.
OSU shot 59.1% inside arc, 11-23 on the arc.
Just second win in last six games for Ohio State.
— UConn 80, Butler 78 OT
UConn led by 15 late in first half.
Butler is 1-10 in its last eleven games.
UConn has #9 eFG% in the country.
— Minnesota 72, Iowa 67
Iowa lost its last three games, giving up 99-94-72.
Teams combined to shoot 10-45 on the arc.
Four of Minnesota’s last five games were decided by 6 or fewer points.
— UCLA 85, Wisconsin 83
Wisconsin led by 7 early in second half.
UCLA’s leading scorers had 22-19 points; neither guy started.
Wisconsin shot 15-30 on the arc, 10-19 inside arc.
— Ball State 82, Central Michigan 80 OT
Chippewas led by 13 early in second half.
Chippewas were +8 in turnovers (19-11)
Ball State was 19-25 on foul line, CMU 9-13.
Upsets of the Night:
Ohio State (+10.5) 73, Purdue 70
Minnesota (+8.5) 72, Iowa 67
Eastern Michigan (+8.5) 94, Ohio U 87
Arizona State (+8.5) 65, West Virginia 57
Ball State (+4.5) 82, Central Michigan 80 OT
— Famous birthdays, January 22:
Larry Conley, 81
Lester Hayes, 70
Jeff Rutledge, 68
Diane Lane, 60
Gabriel Macht, 53
Chone Figgins, 47
Carlos Ruiz, 46
Dillon Brooks, 29
— Ichiro Suzuki got in the Hall of Fame, along with CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner; one person didn’t vote for Ichiro- that person should be identified. They’re entitled to their opinion/vote but we should get to know who it is.
— Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23
Notre Dame’s first drive: 18 plays, 75 yards, TD; 9:45 off clock
Notre Dame’s next three drives: 11 plays, 4 yards, no first downs.
Ohio State’s first four drives: 38 plays, 306 yards, 28 points.
Buckeyes win their first national title in ten years.
— QB Devin Brown transferred from Ohio State to Cal; he was 14-23/137 passing as a backup for the national champs this season. Now he is going to a team that will start him next fall.
— With Anthony Santander signing with Toronto, that means the Orioles will have three of the top 31 picks in this summer’s amateur draft.
— Texas agreed to a 7-year contract with football coach Steve Sarkisian, who is 38-17 in four seasons with the Longhorns; he made $10.3M this season, so it figures that he got a raise in addition to the extra years on the deal.
— Minnesota Vikings signed coach Kevin O’Connell to a multiyear contract extension; he is 34-19 in three years coaching the Vikings, 0-2 in playoff games.
Since 1989, Minnesota is 8-19 in playoff games; they’re 0-4 in Super Bowls, with their last appearance in a Super Bowl in 1977.
— Definition of awkward:
Josh Harris owns the Washington Commanders, who play the Eagles in the NFC title game Sunday afternoon in Philly.
Josh Harris also owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, who are struggling this season at 15-26.
Six best basketball conferences in country, according to kenpom.com
— SEC
— Big 18
— Big X
— Big East
— ACC
— Mountain West
Quote of the Day
“I really believe that he could look at the field and decide where he wanted to hit the ball and then he would hit it in a manner that would fall in front of outfielders. Although he had pop in his bat, he knew how to just hit it over infielders — almost like his bat was a fungo — and as if the pitcher was just tossing it up in the air and he would hit it somewhere; it was just really maddening to defend it.”
Former Angels manager Joe Maddon, talking about Ichiro Suzuki
Wednesday’s quiz
Which team did CC Sabathia break into the major leagues with?
Tuesday’s quiz
The baseball scenes filmed in the great baseball movie, The Natural were filmed in Buffalo.
Monday’s quiz
Kansas City Chiefs came into being in 1963, their fourth year in the old AFL. The previous three years, they were the Dallas Texans.
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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
— Chicago Bears hired Lions OC Ben Johnson as their new coach; had to be an interesting decision for Johnson, who turned down the Washington Commanders at this time last year, and also passed on coaching the Raiders next fall.Johnson is a QB guru; he chooses working with Caleb Williams (in frigid weather) over Jayden Daniels, which seems like a mistake. Bears are also in the best division and are rivals with the team Johnson just spent the last six years working for.
Count on this: Bears-Lions is a Sunday night/Monday game in Week 1 next fall.
— Wake Forest 67, North Carolina 66
Deacons have won six in row, are 7-1 in ACC.
Wake was 21-27 on foul line, Carolina 6-10
Teams combined to shoot 10-47 on the arc.
— Ohio State 73, Purdue 70
Purdue led 41-28 at halftime.
OSU shot 59.1% inside arc, 11-23 on the arc.
Just second win in last six games for Ohio State.
— UConn 80, Butler 78 OT
UConn led by 15 late in first half.
Butler is 1-10 in its last eleven games.
UConn has #9 eFG% in the country.
— Minnesota 72, Iowa 67
Iowa lost its last three games, giving up 99-94-72.
Teams combined to shoot 10-45 on the arc.
Four of Minnesota’s last five games were decided by 6 or fewer points.
— UCLA 85, Wisconsin 83
Wisconsin led by 7 early in second half.
UCLA’s leading scorers had 22-19 points; neither guy started.
Wisconsin shot 15-30 on the arc, 10-19 inside arc.
— Ball State 82, Central Michigan 80 OT
Chippewas led by 13 early in second half.
Chippewas were +8 in turnovers (19-11)
Ball State was 19-25 on foul line, CMU 9-13.
Upsets of the Night:
Ohio State (+10.5) 73, Purdue 70
Minnesota (+8.5) 72, Iowa 67
Eastern Michigan (+8.5) 94, Ohio U 87
Arizona State (+8.5) 65, West Virginia 57
Ball State (+4.5) 82, Central Michigan 80 OT
— Famous birthdays, January 22:
Larry Conley, 81
Lester Hayes, 70
Jeff Rutledge, 68
Diane Lane, 60
Gabriel Macht, 53
Chone Figgins, 47
Carlos Ruiz, 46
Dillon Brooks, 29
— Ichiro Suzuki got in the Hall of Fame, along with CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner; one person didn’t vote for Ichiro- that person should be identified. They’re entitled to their opinion/vote but we should get to know who it is.
— Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23
Notre Dame’s first drive: 18 plays, 75 yards, TD; 9:45 off clock
Notre Dame’s next three drives: 11 plays, 4 yards, no first downs.
Ohio State’s first four drives: 38 plays, 306 yards, 28 points.
Buckeyes win their first national title in ten years.
— QB Devin Brown transferred from Ohio State to Cal; he was 14-23/137 passing as a backup for the national champs this season. Now he is going to a team that will start him next fall.
— With Anthony Santander signing with Toronto, that means the Orioles will have three of the top 31 picks in this summer’s amateur draft.
— Texas agreed to a 7-year contract with football coach Steve Sarkisian, who is 38-17 in four seasons with the Longhorns; he made $10.3M this season, so it figures that he got a raise in addition to the extra years on the deal.
— Minnesota Vikings signed coach Kevin O’Connell to a multiyear contract extension; he is 34-19 in three years coaching the Vikings, 0-2 in playoff games.
Since 1989, Minnesota is 8-19 in playoff games; they’re 0-4 in Super Bowls, with their last appearance in a Super Bowl in 1977.
— Definition of awkward:
Josh Harris owns the Washington Commanders, who play the Eagles in the NFC title game Sunday afternoon in Philly.
Josh Harris also owns the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, who are struggling this season at 15-26.
