Friday’s 6-pack:
Best ERA’s for starting pitchers with 20+ career playoff starts:
2.51— Jon Lester (22 starts)
2.67— John Smoltz (27)
2.71— Whitey Ford (22)
2.98— Gerrit Cole (20)
3.27— Greg Maddux (30)
3.30— Tom Glavine (35)
Quote of the Day
“All of these kids that move around in the portal, none of them are pros. There are no pros in the portal. If they were pros, they wouldn’t be in the portal. They’re all college guys looking to improve.”
Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, where did the team call home?
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
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Riley is 1,381-805 as an NBA coach, winning five NBA titles (4 with Lakers, one with the Heat, in 2006). He also led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994.
Miami has won two NBA titles with Riley as team president and Erik Spoelstra as coach; Riley was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coach Riley is from Schenectady, NY; he went to Linton High School, in 1992, Linton merged with Mont Pleasant HS to form Schenectady High School, which is located in the former Linton facility. Coach Riley gave the school a lot of money to help refurbish the gym/locker room. The gym at Schenectady is named after him.
Long time ago (1993-2001), I spent eight years as an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High; I was the analytics/numbers guy, the geeky coach/scout. This was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life, and one of the most fun.
I was lucky to work for great people and we had really, really good players; we won state titles in 1998 and 2001. When we won the state titles, coach Riley sent us all gifts to commemorate our efforts- I’m looking at them in my living room as I type this.
Congratulations to you Coach Riley, on one of the best careers anyone has ever had. It was an honor to spend eight years working in your gym.
— Rams 30, Vikings 20
Stafford was 25-34/279 passing, with four TD’s. (helps to have Kupp/Nacua healthy)
Rams outgained Minnesota, 386-276.
LA was 4-10 on third down, Vikings 2-7.
Rams scored 27-20-30 points in their wins, 20-10-18-19 in losses.
Rams are 6-3-1 ATS last ten games as a home underdog.
Vikings’ first two drives: 18 plays, 140 yards, 14 points.
Vikings’ last six drives: 30 plays, 125 yards, 2 FGs and a safety
Minnesota ran for only 64 yards; they were 2-7 on 3rd down.
WR Jefferson caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Minnesota is 4-8-1 ATS in last 13 games coming off a loss.
— Pitt 41, Syracuse 13
Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982.
Pitt scored three defensive TD’s in the first half, led 31-0 at halftime.
Syracuse ran ball for only six yards on 29 carries; they threw 5 INTs in all.
— Old Dominion 47, Georgia Southern 19
Monarchs led 30-7 at half; QB Jospeh threw 4 first half TD passes.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern, 560-416.
Monarchs ran ball 41 times for 256 yards.
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
1-6 Owls were a 27-point underdog; Liberty came into the game 5-0.
This is Kennesaw State’s first-ever win as a I-A program.
Liberty had nine penalties for 100 yards.
— Jacksonville State 42, Middle Tennessee 20
QB Huff threw for 137 yards and TD, ran for 151 yards and 2 TD’s.
Gamecocks have won four games in a row for first time since 2020.
Jax State outgained the Blue Raiders, 577-365
— There was very sad news Thursday; South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away at age 43.
Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died due to complications that arose during the procedure. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in coaching; he built the Kennesaw State program from the ground up, going 26-9 two years ago, making the NCAAs as a 14-seed.
He then moved on to South Florida last year, went 25-8, 16-2 in the AAC.
Very sad news. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Dan Issel, 76
Dave Cowens, 76
Gifford Nielsen, 70
Mark Vlasic, 61
Pat Swilling, 60
Mike Harkey, 58
Terrell Lowery, 54
Pedro Martinez, 53
Juan Soto, 26
— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice Wednesday for jury duty; he got a letter from the court and was selected as a juror for a felony case. In order to be removed from the jury, both sides and the judge would have to sign off and install an alternate juror.
Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday afternoon for their game against the 49ers; they return to Dallas early Monday morning.
— NBA has an in-season tournament starting November 12, kind of an admission that interest in the league is weak before Christmas.
Last year, the Lakers won the tournament; they raised a banner in their arena, but showed their true colors when they fired coach Davin Ham after a 47-35 season and a first-round exit from the playoffs.
If the in-season tournament had any meaning at all, no way does the coach get fired.
— Speaking of the Lakers, the G-League starts November 8; hopefully they’ll send Bronny James to play there, so the young man can play a lot and get the experience he needs.
Lebron/Bronny played a few minutes together the other night, becoming the first father/son to play on same team, but Bronny only played one year at USC— he isn’t as good as his dad, and likely never will be (who is???). He needs to play a lot to progress into an NBA-level player.
— Watching the Phoenix Suns should be fun this winter; 22 of their first 32 shots the other night were 3-pointers. Coach Mike Budenholzer likes a wide-open style, for to watch.
— Congrats to Atlanta Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman, who recently broadcast his 3,000th consecutive game for the Hawks.
— NC State QB Grayson McCall is retiring from football, after he had a concussion in a game earlier this month. He is 23 years old, played six years of college football. We wish him well.
— Carolina Panthers’ QB Andy Dalton got banged up in a car accident this week; he won’t start this week, when the 1-6 Panthers visit Denver.
2nd-year QB Bryce Young will start this week; Carolina lost 47-10/26-3 in the two games he started earlier this season, in Weeks 1-2.
— There are 134 I-A college football teams; Florida State is the only one that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
Best ERA’s for starting pitchers with 20+ career playoff starts:
2.51— Jon Lester (22 starts)
2.67— John Smoltz (27)
2.71— Whitey Ford (22)
2.98— Gerrit Cole (20)
3.27— Greg Maddux (30)
3.30— Tom Glavine (35)
Quote of the Day
“All of these kids that move around in the portal, none of them are pros. There are no pros in the portal. If they were pros, they wouldn’t be in the portal. They’re all college guys looking to improve.”
Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, where did the team call home?
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
*****************************************
Friday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
— Wednesday night, Miami Heat named their home court after longtime coach/team president Pat Riley; this is his 30th year with the Miami franchise.Riley is 1,381-805 as an NBA coach, winning five NBA titles (4 with Lakers, one with the Heat, in 2006). He also led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994.
Miami has won two NBA titles with Riley as team president and Erik Spoelstra as coach; Riley was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coach Riley is from Schenectady, NY; he went to Linton High School, in 1992, Linton merged with Mont Pleasant HS to form Schenectady High School, which is located in the former Linton facility. Coach Riley gave the school a lot of money to help refurbish the gym/locker room. The gym at Schenectady is named after him.
Long time ago (1993-2001), I spent eight years as an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High; I was the analytics/numbers guy, the geeky coach/scout. This was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life, and one of the most fun.
I was lucky to work for great people and we had really, really good players; we won state titles in 1998 and 2001. When we won the state titles, coach Riley sent us all gifts to commemorate our efforts- I’m looking at them in my living room as I type this.
Congratulations to you Coach Riley, on one of the best careers anyone has ever had. It was an honor to spend eight years working in your gym.
— Rams 30, Vikings 20
Stafford was 25-34/279 passing, with four TD’s. (helps to have Kupp/Nacua healthy)
Rams outgained Minnesota, 386-276.
LA was 4-10 on third down, Vikings 2-7.
Rams scored 27-20-30 points in their wins, 20-10-18-19 in losses.
Rams are 6-3-1 ATS last ten games as a home underdog.
Vikings’ first two drives: 18 plays, 140 yards, 14 points.
Vikings’ last six drives: 30 plays, 125 yards, 2 FGs and a safety
Minnesota ran for only 64 yards; they were 2-7 on 3rd down.
WR Jefferson caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Minnesota is 4-8-1 ATS in last 13 games coming off a loss.
— Pitt 41, Syracuse 13
Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982.
Pitt scored three defensive TD’s in the first half, led 31-0 at halftime.
Syracuse ran ball for only six yards on 29 carries; they threw 5 INTs in all.
— Old Dominion 47, Georgia Southern 19
Monarchs led 30-7 at half; QB Jospeh threw 4 first half TD passes.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern, 560-416.
Monarchs ran ball 41 times for 256 yards.
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
1-6 Owls were a 27-point underdog; Liberty came into the game 5-0.
This is Kennesaw State’s first-ever win as a I-A program.
Liberty had nine penalties for 100 yards.
— Jacksonville State 42, Middle Tennessee 20
QB Huff threw for 137 yards and TD, ran for 151 yards and 2 TD’s.
Gamecocks have won four games in a row for first time since 2020.
Jax State outgained the Blue Raiders, 577-365
— There was very sad news Thursday; South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away at age 43.
Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died due to complications that arose during the procedure. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in coaching; he built the Kennesaw State program from the ground up, going 26-9 two years ago, making the NCAAs as a 14-seed.
He then moved on to South Florida last year, went 25-8, 16-2 in the AAC.
Very sad news. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Dan Issel, 76
Dave Cowens, 76
Gifford Nielsen, 70
Mark Vlasic, 61
Pat Swilling, 60
Mike Harkey, 58
Terrell Lowery, 54
Pedro Martinez, 53
Juan Soto, 26
— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice Wednesday for jury duty; he got a letter from the court and was selected as a juror for a felony case. In order to be removed from the jury, both sides and the judge would have to sign off and install an alternate juror.
Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday afternoon for their game against the 49ers; they return to Dallas early Monday morning.
— NBA has an in-season tournament starting November 12, kind of an admission that interest in the league is weak before Christmas.
Last year, the Lakers won the tournament; they raised a banner in their arena, but showed their true colors when they fired coach Davin Ham after a 47-35 season and a first-round exit from the playoffs.
If the in-season tournament had any meaning at all, no way does the coach get fired.
— Speaking of the Lakers, the G-League starts November 8; hopefully they’ll send Bronny James to play there, so the young man can play a lot and get the experience he needs.
Lebron/Bronny played a few minutes together the other night, becoming the first father/son to play on same team, but Bronny only played one year at USC— he isn’t as good as his dad, and likely never will be (who is???). He needs to play a lot to progress into an NBA-level player.
— Watching the Phoenix Suns should be fun this winter; 22 of their first 32 shots the other night were 3-pointers. Coach Mike Budenholzer likes a wide-open style, for to watch.
— Congrats to Atlanta Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman, who recently broadcast his 3,000th consecutive game for the Hawks.
— NC State QB Grayson McCall is retiring from football, after he had a concussion in a game earlier this month. He is 23 years old, played six years of college football. We wish him well.
— Carolina Panthers’ QB Andy Dalton got banged up in a car accident this week; he won’t start this week, when the 1-6 Panthers visit Denver.
2nd-year QB Bryce Young will start this week; Carolina lost 47-10/26-3 in the two games he started earlier this season, in Weeks 1-2.
— There are 134 I-A college football teams; Florida State is the only one that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
