Wednesday’s 6-pack
NFL leaders in rushing yardage:
740— Nick Chubb, Clev
726— Saquon Barkley, NJG
633— Josh Jacobs, LV
536— Derrick Henry, Tenn
510— Lamar Jackson, Balt
504— Dameon Pierce, Hst
Quote of the Day
“This has been a very tough day for me and, honestly speaking, coach was the most caring person I ever met. He cared so much for his players and honestly speaking it would (be) very difficult for me to put on a jasper’s uniform again if coach ain’t on those sidelines. Love you coach!”
Manhattan basketball player Jose Perez
Wednesday’s quiz
First time the Rams played in a Super Bowl, who was their QB?
Tuesday’s quiz
Last time the Chicago Bears played in a Super Bowl, Rex Grossman was their QB.
Monday’s quiz
Mary Tyler Moore Show was set in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
Notes on how NFL divisions are doing against the spread, in
non-divisional games:
— NFC East— (14-5) 9-2 ATS at home, 7-3 as underdogs, 7-2 as favorites.
— NFC North— (8-10) 2-5 ATS on road, 4-5 as underdogs, 3-4 as favorites.
— NFC South— (6-12) 3-5 ATS on road, 4-8 as underdogs, 2-4 as favorites.
— NFC West— (9-10) 3-6 ATS as favorites, 6-4 as underdogs, 4-6 at home
— AFC East— (12-8) 0-4 ATS as home dogs, 6-1 as road dog, 7-3 as favorites
— AFC North— (11-9) 5-2 ATS as underdogs, 6-4 on road, 6-7 as favorites
— AFC South— (6-8) 3-5 ATS as road underdogs, 2-3 at home, 1-2 as favorites
— AFC West— (6-10) 1-5 ATS as home favorites, 4-3 as road favorites.
— Scheduling quirk; Indianapolis Colts have already played five of their six division games. There are six teams that have only played one divisional game so far.
— Green Bay is +10.5 at Buffalo this week, just second time in last 11 years they’ve been a double digit underdog. In 2017, Packers (+13) lost 31-28 in Pittsburgh.
— QB Bailey Zappe has had an interesting path to the NFL:
He played three years at I-AA Houston Baptist. The offensive coordinator there got a better job at Western Kentucky— he took Zappe and HBU’s best receiver with him. Zappe threw for 62 TD’s in three years with the Huskies.
At Western Kentucky, Zappe threw for another 62 TD’s, but in one season. New England took him in the 4th round of last spring’s draft.
So far in his rookie season, Zappe has thrown for 596 yards, four TD’s.
— World Series starts Friday night; games are on FOX. Problem is, the FOX station in Albany is having a price war with DirecTV, as in, the station is no longer being shown on DirecTV, which means the World Series won’t be on my TV Friday night, unless these greedy bastards come to an agreement on their dispute.
Oy.
Called both parties to complain; they both blamed the other side. Go figure.
The DirecTV guy did tell me that I can probably watch the ballgame on my phone, so there is that. Can also go out and watch it at a bar that doesn’t have DirecTV.
— Miami Marlins named Cardinals’ bench coach Skip Schumacher as their new manager; he also spent four years coaching in the San Diego Padres’ organization, after playing 11 years in the majors, for three different teams.
— George Clooney/Julia Roberts have now been in six movies together; by way of contrast, Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were in nine movies together.
— Manhattan Jaspers fired their basketball coach Tuesday, less than two weeks before the season starts. Bad timing.
Manhattan had been picked to finish second in the MAAC in the preseason coaches’ poll; good luck with that, seeing how a lot of Manhattan’s players voiced their displeasure with Steve Masiello getting fired— he had been there for 11 years.
Manhattan made the NCAA’s in 2014 and 2015, but they haven’t had a winning season since; Masiello’s contract was up in April.
Manhattan has 10 seniors, who are not happy; the players could petition the NCAA to be immediately eligible if they transfer, which could create a small tsunami of players going elsewhere. Stay tuned.
— Speaking of the MAAC, the league made a big jump last year, ranked #16 out of 32 college hoop conferences. That is 11 spots higher than the year before, and highest ranking for the league since 2013, when the MAAC was #14 in the country.
— There are 11 Division I college basketball programs in the state of Indiana.
— In the NBA, Portland Trailblazers are 4-0 for the first time since 1999.
— Denver G Ish Smith is playing for his 13th NBA team, which is an NBA record. In his 13 seasons, he’s scored 5,465 points, with 2,800 assists. Interesting career.
— Halloween is coming up next week; few years ago, I spent Halloween weekend at the SouthPoint Casino in Las Vegas, a very good place.
The rodeo was also in Las Vegas; first couple nights I was there, 80% of the people in the casino were wearing cowboy garb— tins of Skoal, the whole deal. I felt like an extra in an old western movie. Bartenders were annoyed; apparently, cowboys aren’t good tippers.
The night after the cowboys went home, they laid out a red carpet at the front door of the casino; asked a security guard what the deal was, it was the Fetish and Fantasy Ball.
Talk about an eye-opening experience; some very interesting costumes. I rode up in the elevator with a couple; the guy was dressed up as a prison guard, his female friend was his prisoner, with a cuffs on and all that, even around her neck. Her costume was cut in strategic places.
Difficult to concentrate on your gambling with costumes like that roaming around the casino all night, but I do highly recommend Halloween in Las Vegas.
