CNOTES COLLEGE HOOPS OPINIONS BEST BETS AND NEWS !
- Thread starter Cnotes53
- Start date
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
NCAAB
Wednesday, December 21
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Trend Report
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Wednesday, December 21
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Trend Report
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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21
| GMU at ODU | 04:00 PM | ODU -2.5 O 127.5 | +500 +500 |
| BU at UMASS | 04:00 PM | BU +7.0 O 138.5 | +500 +500 |
| NORF at NEV | 05:00 PM | NORF +10.5 | +500 |
| UCD at UCLA | 05:00 PM | UCD +23.5 | +500 |
| PEAY at TENN | 06:00 PM | PEAY +28.0 O 127.0 | +500 +500 |
| UCSB at APP | 06:00 PM | APP +5.0 | +500 |
| HP at ECU | 06:00 PM | HP +5.5 | +500 |
| SJU at VILL | 06:30 PM | VILL -5.0 | +500 |
| OAK at MSU | 06:30 PM | OAK +20.5 | +500 |
| VT at BC | 06:30 PM | VT -9.5 | +500 |
| NAVY at VCU | 07:00 PM | NAVY +9.0 | +500 |
| OHIO at DEL | 07:00 PM | OHIO +2.5 | +500 |
| CAN at FGCU | 07:00 PM | FGCU -11.5 | +500 |
| BING at NIAG | 07:00 PM | NIAG -7.0 U 127.0 | +500 +500 |
| FAMU at UK | 07:00 PM | FAMU +37.5 | +500 |
| SUU at COLO | 07:00 PM | SUU +12.0 | +500 |
| UNH at BRWN | 07:00 PM | BRWN -7.0 O 126.5 | +500 +500 |
| SBON at UNI | 07:00 PM | UNI -2.0 | +500 |
| BUCK at RICH | 07:00 PM | BUCK +11.0 | +500 |
| SFPA at RMU | 07:00 PM | RMU -8.5 | +500 |
| GASO at BALL | 07:00 PM | GASO +8.5 O 136.0 | +500 +500 |
| YSU at CMU | 07:00 PM | YSU -7.0 | +500 |
| MURR at MTU | 07:00 PM | MURR +6.5 O 136.0 | +500 +500 |
| NKU at FAU | 07:00 PM | FAU -13.0 | +500 |
| IW at FIU | 07:00 PM | FIU -13.5 | +500 |
| MER at TROY | 07:00 PM | MER +5.5 | +500 |
| DETU at CIN | 07:00 PM | DETU +13.5 | +500 |
| STET at UCF | 07:00 PM | UCF -15.5 O 127.0 | +500 +500 |
| MICH at UNC | 07:00 PM | MICH +5.0 | +500 |
| UTA at CAL | 07:00 PM | UTA +4.5 O 120.5 | +500 +500 |
| KENT at NMSU | 07:30 PM | KENT -4.0 | +500 |
| SAM at BEL | 07:30 PM | BEL -5.0 | +500 |
| SIU at SEMO | 07:30 PM | SEMO +7.5 | +500 |
| CLEM at GT | 07:30 PM | GT +2.0 | +500 |
| ULL at TEX | 08:00 PM | ULL +18.0 | +500 |
| SIUE at SLU | 08:00 PM | SIUE +16.0 O 148.0 | +500 +500 |
| ETSU at LSU | 08:00 PM | LSU -14.0 | +500 |
| ALST at MEM | 08:00 PM | ALST +31.5 | +500 |
| SOU at SELA | 08:00 PM | SELA +1.5 | +500 |
| MVSU at TULN | 08:00 PM | MVSU +29.0 | +500 |
| MCNS at HOU | 08:00 PM | MCNS +35.0 | +500 |
| BELL at EVAN | 08:00 PM | BELL -3.5 O 126.5 | +500 +500 |
| SMC at WYO | 08:30 PM | SMC -8.5 O 125.5 | +500 +500 |
| ND at FSU | 08:30 PM | ND -2.0 | +500 |
| ME at OSU | 08:30 PM | OSU -24.0 | +500 |
| CSUS at CSF | 09:00 PM | CSUS +3.0 O 125.5 | +500 +500 |
| UNCA at ARK | 09:00 PM | UNCA +22.5 | +500 |
| UNO at PUR | 09:00 PM | UNO +34.0 | +500 |
| AUB at WASH | 09:00 PM | WASH +3.5 | +500 |
| TCU at UTAH | 09:00 PM | TCU +1.5 | +500 |
| NCAT at UTEP | 09:30 PM | UTEP -8.0 | +500 |
| TLSA at LMU | 10:00 PM | TLSA +9.5 | +500 |
| ASU at SF | 10:00 PM | SF +3.5 | +500 |
| IDHO at LBSU | 10:00 PM | IDHO +11.0 | +500 |
| DEN at ORST | 10:00 PM | O 138.0 | +500 |
| CSU at USC | 11:00 PM | CSU +2.5 | +500 |
| 12/21/2022 | 34-35-0 | 49.28% | -2250 | Detail |
| 12/20/2022 | 23-12-2 | 64.86% | +4900 | Detail |
| 12/19/2022 | 6-12-0 | 33.33% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/18/2022 | 13-14-1 | 48.21% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/17/2022 | 39-42-3 | 48.21% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/16/2022 | 5-10-0 | 33.33% | -3000 | Detail |
| 12/15/2022 | 3-6-0 | 33.33% | -1800 | Detail |
| 12/14/2022 | 11-14-1 | 44.23% | -2200 | Detail |
| 12/13/2022 | 13-8-0 | 61.90% | +2100 | Detail |
| 12/12/2022 | 6-5-0 | 54.55% | +250 | Detail |
| 12/11/2022 | 15-17-0 | 46.88% | -1850 | Detail |
| 12/10/2022 | 38-46-0 | 45.24% | -6300 | Detail |
| 12/08/2022 | 2-4-0 | 33.33% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/07/2022 | 23-13-0 | 63.89% | +4350 | Detail |
| 12/06/2022 | 18-13-1 | 57.81% | +1850 | Detail |
| 12/05/2022 | 3-3-0 | 50.00% | -150 | Detail |
| 12/04/2022 | 12-17-0 | 41.38% | -3350 | Detail |
| 12/03/2022 | 10-12-0 | 45.45% | -1600 | Detail |
| 12/02/2022 | 12-5-0 | 70.59% | +3250 | Detail |
| 12/01/2022 | 7-6-0 | 53.85% | +200 | Detail |
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
Armadillo Sports
Thursday’s 6-pack
— Eastern Illinois 92, Iowa 83— Panthers were a 31.5-point underdog.
— Florida State 73, Notre Dame 72— Seminoles won three of last four, after a 1-9 start.
— Nets 143, Warriors 113— Brooklyn led 91-51 at halftime.
— San Francisco 97, Arizona State 60— Dons made 15-29 on the arc.
— QB Nick Foles is going to start for the Colts this week against the Chargers.
— Tennessee Titans’ QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle) is likely out for the year. Rookie Malik Willis is the new starter, with Josh Dobbs the backup.
Quote of the Day
“Every time I walked in, he would have the Cubs game on. He just loved baseball so much. … Being a Cub means more to me than people will realize. It’s no secret I left my hometown team to be here.”
Cubs’ SS Dansby Swanson, talking about his late grandfather, who was a Cubs’ fan
Wednesday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, who was the Barons’ manager?
Hint: He later won two World Series as a manager
Wednesday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford played his college football at Georgia.
Tuesday’s quiz
They play the Holiday Bowl every December in San Diego.
****************************
Thursday’s Den: In a perfect world, where I made the decisions……….
In a perfect world, where I made the decisions……….
— Higher-seeded NFL teams would choose their opponents for playoff games.
Eagles are the #1 seed in the NFC right now; they would get a first round bye, which leaves Minnesota as the #2 seed. They would get the choice of playing the 5-6-7 seed in their first playoff game, then San Francisco would get their choice of the two remaining teams to play.
This would be a tremendous TV show, when teams announce who they choose to play. Great TV means more $$$ and we know NFL owners love $$$.
Second round of the playoffs would be the same thing; #1-seed would get to choose which of the two lowest-remaining teams they’d like to play.
They used to do this in the G-League; we do it in our fantasy baseball league now— it is fun.
— Long time ago, in the early 70’s, NBA had a 1-on-1 tournament; this would be an awesome idea for the offseason, to raise $$$ for the charities of the players’ choice.
Imagine a 64-player bracket, with games on national TV in the summer; it would be excellent. Would be fun to sit in a sportsbook and watch people who bet on these games.
Two players per team would get in, and then you could have fan voting for the last four spots. It would create a lot of interest.
— Major League Baseball has to have a salary floor; we pretty much know there will never be a salary cap, but for the love of God, if you own a big league team and you don’t try to win, why do you own the freakin’ team?!?!?!
A site called Spotrac estimates that the Mets will wind up paying a luxury tax of $84.2M on next year’s payroll. $84.2M tax on a payroll of $353,900,339. With Carlos Correa’s signing, the salary tax goes up to the $100M level.
Here are the bottom five estimated payrolls in MLB
26) Royals $96,280,809
27) Reds $86,491,989
28) Orioles $81,787,001
29) Pirates $72,965,709
30) A’s $61,930,158
Mets’ payroll TAX will be higher than five teams’ entire payrolls. Awesome.
So let’s suggest a $100M salary floor; you’re not up for that, then sell your team. Competitive balance is what makes the NFL great; baseball could use more of it.
— You know how they have four play-in games at the start of the NCAA Tournament? Those eight teams should all be at-large teams, not conference champs from cruddy conferences. Reward the conference champs by letting them all get to the first Thursday/Friday round.
Let the last teams eight who survive the bubble have to play in Dayton.
— Once a quarterback gets past the line of scrimmage running with the ball, he should lose his special quarterback protection. You see a guy run, then he slides down when he seems a tackler coming, and whines to the ref if he gets touched. You pass the line of scrimmage, you’re just another player.
— With USC/UCLA bolting the Pac-12 for a midwestern league (the Big 16?), Pac-12 will be back to Pac-10, unless they listed to us and add two teams:
UNLV, and either San Diego State/Boise State. BYU would’ve made sense, but they’re bolting to the Big X instead. Adding both San Diego State/Boise State would help the football side a decent amount, but how do you add teams and ignore Las Vegas?
— NFL should scrap Thursday games (except Week 1/Thanksgiving) and go to doubleheaders on Monday nights, that’s the better idea. Amazon Prime could still show a game every week, and the players wouldn’t have to play games on three days’ rest.
— One week every season, NBA games would use the red, white and blue ball the ABA had back in the day; the four former ABA teams that still exist (Pacers, Nuggets, Spurs, Nets) would play each other that week. A good way to honor the sport’s past.
— If I ran an NFL team and we had a good quarterback, I’d let him call plays and use no-huddle offense. Teams have all week to work up a game plan; let Sunday be the players’ day. Think that defenses would have harder time defining trends and they couldn’t substitute as much.
— Baseball should re-align geographically; the five California teams could be in one division, the two New York City teams should be division rivals, it would just be more fun.
Cubs-White Sox, A’s-Giants, Dodgers-Angels would be good division rivalries.
— High school basketball players should be able to jump right from high school to the pros; they used to do this. Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant; none of them played in college.
This would help the college game; people would become more familiar with the players who play college ball.
— There are readers out there who just LOVE IT when I talk about politics, so let’s do that for a minute. My idea: once any politician turns 72 years old, he/she cannot run for office again. We need younger people more invested in our government; having 80-year old senators makes zero sense. Who would be against this idea?
— When a college football/basketball coach takes more $$$ and moves up the coaching ladder, his new team should have to play a road game at the coach’s old school, to compensate them for poaching the coach.
Last spring, Shaheen Holloway bolted from Saint Peter’s to Seton Hall; under my plan, Seton Hall would have to come to Jersey City and play a road game against the Peacocks. Big money teams don’t like to play true road games.
— There is absolutely no need for baseball managers/coaches to wear uniforms; let them dress like football coaches, with pullovers/khakis.
— College basketball has no official starting point; they should bring back the 24-hour college basketball marathon that used to be on TV. It was awesome; it was actually 28 or 29 straight hours of college hoop, with a game from Hawai’i at 4am, then small college East Coast games at 6am/8am. Maybe the night before Election Day, so we have a solid TV option instead of results of elections.
Thursday’s 6-pack
— Eastern Illinois 92, Iowa 83— Panthers were a 31.5-point underdog.
— Florida State 73, Notre Dame 72— Seminoles won three of last four, after a 1-9 start.
— Nets 143, Warriors 113— Brooklyn led 91-51 at halftime.
— San Francisco 97, Arizona State 60— Dons made 15-29 on the arc.
— QB Nick Foles is going to start for the Colts this week against the Chargers.
— Tennessee Titans’ QB Ryan Tannehill (ankle) is likely out for the year. Rookie Malik Willis is the new starter, with Josh Dobbs the backup.
Quote of the Day
“Every time I walked in, he would have the Cubs game on. He just loved baseball so much. … Being a Cub means more to me than people will realize. It’s no secret I left my hometown team to be here.”
Cubs’ SS Dansby Swanson, talking about his late grandfather, who was a Cubs’ fan
Wednesday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, who was the Barons’ manager?
Hint: He later won two World Series as a manager
Wednesday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford played his college football at Georgia.
Tuesday’s quiz
They play the Holiday Bowl every December in San Diego.
****************************
Thursday’s Den: In a perfect world, where I made the decisions……….
In a perfect world, where I made the decisions……….
— Higher-seeded NFL teams would choose their opponents for playoff games.
Eagles are the #1 seed in the NFC right now; they would get a first round bye, which leaves Minnesota as the #2 seed. They would get the choice of playing the 5-6-7 seed in their first playoff game, then San Francisco would get their choice of the two remaining teams to play.
This would be a tremendous TV show, when teams announce who they choose to play. Great TV means more $$$ and we know NFL owners love $$$.
Second round of the playoffs would be the same thing; #1-seed would get to choose which of the two lowest-remaining teams they’d like to play.
They used to do this in the G-League; we do it in our fantasy baseball league now— it is fun.
— Long time ago, in the early 70’s, NBA had a 1-on-1 tournament; this would be an awesome idea for the offseason, to raise $$$ for the charities of the players’ choice.
Imagine a 64-player bracket, with games on national TV in the summer; it would be excellent. Would be fun to sit in a sportsbook and watch people who bet on these games.
Two players per team would get in, and then you could have fan voting for the last four spots. It would create a lot of interest.
— Major League Baseball has to have a salary floor; we pretty much know there will never be a salary cap, but for the love of God, if you own a big league team and you don’t try to win, why do you own the freakin’ team?!?!?!
A site called Spotrac estimates that the Mets will wind up paying a luxury tax of $84.2M on next year’s payroll. $84.2M tax on a payroll of $353,900,339. With Carlos Correa’s signing, the salary tax goes up to the $100M level.
Here are the bottom five estimated payrolls in MLB
26) Royals $96,280,809
27) Reds $86,491,989
28) Orioles $81,787,001
29) Pirates $72,965,709
30) A’s $61,930,158
Mets’ payroll TAX will be higher than five teams’ entire payrolls. Awesome.
So let’s suggest a $100M salary floor; you’re not up for that, then sell your team. Competitive balance is what makes the NFL great; baseball could use more of it.
— You know how they have four play-in games at the start of the NCAA Tournament? Those eight teams should all be at-large teams, not conference champs from cruddy conferences. Reward the conference champs by letting them all get to the first Thursday/Friday round.
Let the last teams eight who survive the bubble have to play in Dayton.
— Once a quarterback gets past the line of scrimmage running with the ball, he should lose his special quarterback protection. You see a guy run, then he slides down when he seems a tackler coming, and whines to the ref if he gets touched. You pass the line of scrimmage, you’re just another player.
— With USC/UCLA bolting the Pac-12 for a midwestern league (the Big 16?), Pac-12 will be back to Pac-10, unless they listed to us and add two teams:
UNLV, and either San Diego State/Boise State. BYU would’ve made sense, but they’re bolting to the Big X instead. Adding both San Diego State/Boise State would help the football side a decent amount, but how do you add teams and ignore Las Vegas?
— NFL should scrap Thursday games (except Week 1/Thanksgiving) and go to doubleheaders on Monday nights, that’s the better idea. Amazon Prime could still show a game every week, and the players wouldn’t have to play games on three days’ rest.
— One week every season, NBA games would use the red, white and blue ball the ABA had back in the day; the four former ABA teams that still exist (Pacers, Nuggets, Spurs, Nets) would play each other that week. A good way to honor the sport’s past.
— If I ran an NFL team and we had a good quarterback, I’d let him call plays and use no-huddle offense. Teams have all week to work up a game plan; let Sunday be the players’ day. Think that defenses would have harder time defining trends and they couldn’t substitute as much.
— Baseball should re-align geographically; the five California teams could be in one division, the two New York City teams should be division rivals, it would just be more fun.
Cubs-White Sox, A’s-Giants, Dodgers-Angels would be good division rivalries.
— High school basketball players should be able to jump right from high school to the pros; they used to do this. Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant; none of them played in college.
This would help the college game; people would become more familiar with the players who play college ball.
— There are readers out there who just LOVE IT when I talk about politics, so let’s do that for a minute. My idea: once any politician turns 72 years old, he/she cannot run for office again. We need younger people more invested in our government; having 80-year old senators makes zero sense. Who would be against this idea?
— When a college football/basketball coach takes more $$$ and moves up the coaching ladder, his new team should have to play a road game at the coach’s old school, to compensate them for poaching the coach.
Last spring, Shaheen Holloway bolted from Saint Peter’s to Seton Hall; under my plan, Seton Hall would have to come to Jersey City and play a road game against the Peacocks. Big money teams don’t like to play true road games.
— There is absolutely no need for baseball managers/coaches to wear uniforms; let them dress like football coaches, with pullovers/khakis.
— College basketball has no official starting point; they should bring back the 24-hour college basketball marathon that used to be on TV. It was awesome; it was actually 28 or 29 straight hours of college hoop, with a game from Hawai’i at 4am, then small college East Coast games at 6am/8am. Maybe the night before Election Day, so we have a solid TV option instead of results of elections.
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
NCAAB
Thursday, December 22
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Trend Report
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Thursday, December 22
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Trend Report
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22
| SPU at MD | 06:30 PM | SPU +22.5 | +500 |
| MRST at RID | 07:00 PM | MRST +7.0 | +500 |
| HARV at KU | 07:00 PM | HARV +21.5 U 139.0 | +500 +500 |
| YALE at MONM | 07:00 PM | YALE -13.0 U 133.5 | +500 +500 |
| CCSU at STJOE | 07:00 PM | CCSU +11.0 | +500 |
| QNC at FDU | 07:00 PM | QNC -6.5 O 154.5 | +500 +500 |
| WRST at M-OH | 07:00 PM | WRST -2.5 | +500 |
| WKU at SCAR | 07:00 PM | WKU -2.5 | +500 |
| LOU at NCST | 07:00 PM | LOU +18.0 | +500 |
| NJIT at USF | 07:00 PM | NJIT +13.5 | +500 |
| NMSU at NCAT | 07:30 PM | NCAT +11.5 | +500 |
| CHAR at UAB | 07:30 PM | CHAR +11.0 | +500 |
| MORG at ARIZ | 08:00 PM | ARIZ -31.0 | +500 |
| UNT at UTSA | 08:00 PM | UNT -13.0 | +500 |
| TXSO at WICH | 08:00 PM | WICH -12.0 | +500 |
| BUT at CREI | 08:00 PM | CREI -8.0 U 141.5 | +500 +500 |
| HART at SF | 09:00 PM | HART +26.5 | +500 |
| ILL at MIZZ | 09:00 PM | ILL -6.5 | +500 |
| GW at WSU | 09:00 PM | WSU -10.5 | +500 |
| WEB at BYU | 09:00 PM | BYU -13.0 | +500 |
| KENT at UTEP | 09:30 PM | UTEP +6.5 | +500 |
| L-IL at STAN | 10:00 PM | STAN -5.5 | +500 |
| USM at UNLV | 10:00 PM | USM +8.5 | +500 |
| PRST at CALBA | 10:00 PM | CALBA -7.0 | +500 |
| PEPP at HAW | 11:00 PM | PEPP +4.5 | +500 |
| 12/22/2022 | 16-13-0 | 55.17% | +850 | Detail |
| 12/21/2022 | 34-35-0 | 49.28% | -2250 | Detail |
| 12/20/2022 | 23-12-2 | 64.86% | +4900 | Detail |
| 12/19/2022 | 6-12-0 | 33.33% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/18/2022 | 13-14-1 | 48.21% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/17/2022 | 39-42-3 | 48.21% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/16/2022 | 5-10-0 | 33.33% | -3000 | Detail |
| 12/15/2022 | 3-6-0 | 33.33% | -1800 | Detail |
| 12/14/2022 | 11-14-1 | 44.23% | -2200 | Detail |
| 12/13/2022 | 13-8-0 | 61.90% | +2100 | Detail |
| 12/12/2022 | 6-5-0 | 54.55% | +250 | Detail |
| 12/11/2022 | 15-17-0 | 46.88% | -1850 | Detail |
| 12/10/2022 | 38-46-0 | 45.24% | -6300 | Detail |
| 12/08/2022 | 2-4-0 | 33.33% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/07/2022 | 23-13-0 | 63.89% | +4350 | Detail |
| 12/06/2022 | 18-13-1 | 57.81% | +1850 | Detail |
| 12/05/2022 | 3-3-0 | 50.00% | -150 | Detail |
| 12/04/2022 | 12-17-0 | 41.38% | -3350 | Detail |
| 12/03/2022 | 10-12-0 | 45.45% | -1600 | Detail |
| 12/02/2022 | 12-5-0 | 70.59% | +3250 | Detail |
| 12/01/2022 | 7-6-0 | 53.85% | +200 | Detail |
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
Armadillo Sports
Friday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams getting biggest % of points on 3’s:
47.4%— Liberty
47.0%— Lafayette
46.5%— Chattanooga
44.3%— Penn State
43.7%— North Carolina A&T
42.9%— Marist
Quote of the Day
“Our sport feels broken now. We’ve got somebody with three times the median payroll and has no care whatsoever for the long-term of any of these contracts, in terms of the risk associated with any of them. How exactly does this work? I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”
Anonymous MLB executive, talking about the Mets’ spending spree
Friday’s quiz
Who was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Thursday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager.
Wednesday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford played his college football at Georgia.
***************************
Friday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..
— NFL’s Sunday Ticket is going to YouTube TV starting next year, which means that I’ll dump DirecTV after college basketball ends in March. I’ve had DirecTV for a long time, but primarily so I can watch the Rams every week, without going out to bars to watch.
Have to do my research on the best TV plan going forward; lot of options out there. I know almost nothing about YouTube TV, but I have until August to figure it out.
— Mets’ fans are excited about signing Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa as free agents; they’re going to have the biggest payroll in MLB history. Good for them.
But hey, the A’s signed Drew Rucinski this week. The 33-year old Rucinski gets $3M for this year, roughly what the Mets’ batboys earn (kidding). $3M is big money in Oakland. So what if Verlander will make $1,343,750 PER START this year, and that’s if he starts 32 games.
Rucinski pitched for the NC Dinos in Korea the last four years, going 53-36, 3.06 in 121 KBO starts. He is 4-4, 5.33 in 41 major league games from 2014-18, with the Angels/Marlins.
— An unusual thing about college basketball is that once you play a team out of conference, you root like hell for that team to win games, since their success helps your strength of schedule, which factors in to if/where you land on Selection Sunday.
Let’s look at UNLV, which is 11-1, but against schedule #227. Rebels beat Dayton/Washington State, two top 100 teams, lost by a hoop to #89 San Francisco. None of those three teams are in the top 50, so it will really help the Rebels if those three teams win a lot of conference games.
— Jaguars 19, Jets 3
Jacksonville is 5-2 SU in last seven games after a 2-6 start.
QB Lawrence threw for 229 yards, ran 7 times for 51 more yards.
Jaguars were 7-16 on third down, Jets 2-13.
Last six games, Jaguars are +7 in turnovers (13-6)
Jets’ only score was FG on 1st drive; they recovered fumble on Jags’ 16-yard line.
#4 QB Streveler ran ball 9 times for 54 yards; rest of team had 11 rushes, 12 yards.
Jets are 2-6 SU in their last eight games, after a 5-2 start.
Jets are 6-1 scoring 20+ points, 1-7 scoring less than 20.
— Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts (shoulder) is out for Saturday’s game in Dallas; Gardner Minshew (8-14 as an NFL starter) will start under center for Philly.
— Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson is out again this week, third game in a row he’ll miss. He is trying to get a huge contract from the Ravens, but the best ability is availability— Jackson got hurt in Week 13 LY, never played again, and now he’s missed Weeks 14-16 this year. Not good.
Adding to the intrigue is that Jackson has been acting as his own agent, which makes things in negotiations a lot more personal.
— Eastern Illinois 92, Iowa 83— How does a 31-point underdog win on the road?
Favored Hawkeyes led 22-8 early on.
Iowa was down two starters (Murray, Connor McCaffery)
Eastern Illinois shot 66.7% inside the arc.
Iowa was only 7-33 on the arc.
Eastern Illinois is a bad team, 2-9 vs D-I teams; their other D-I win was over IUPUI, the worst of all the 363 D-I teams in the country. Just a hideous loss for Iowa, the biggest favorite to lose in the last 30 years.
— Wednesday was Early Signing Day in college football; lot of games that will be played 3-4 years from now were decided Wednesday, as teams re-stock their rosters. But don’t just assume what you hear on TV in true. Recruiting ratings aren’t gospel.
When he came out of high school, Aaron Donald was the #22 recruit in his class; he’s going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You think there were really 21 players who were better than him that year?
Some teams develop talent better than others; Kansas State is 10-3 this year, with three (3!!!!) players who were 4 or 5-star recruits. They recruit athletes, develop them into players.
— New York Knicks got nailed for tampering with free agent Jalen Brunson; as a result they’ll lose a 2nd-round draft pick in 2025.
— Golden State Warriors are 15-18, #11-seed in the west right now, and Steph Curry is out for the next couple months. Warriors are 3-16 on the road; looks like they’ll miss the playoffs.
— Law and Order is one of my favorite TV shows; 21 years, 472 episodes, a great launching point for lot of acting careers, not to mention the spinoff shows that branched off this original show.
Take Billions on Showtime; there are 32 actors who have appeared in 12+ episodes of Billons. 14 of those 32 actors appeared in at least one episode of Law and Order, and two others were in Law and Order SVU, and that doesn’t count Eric Bogosian, who was in Law and Order: Criminal Intent for 61 episodes, but was only in 11 episodes of Billions (so far).
— Cincinnati Reds signed OF/1B Wil Myers to one-year, $6M deal; Myers had an injury-plagued 2022, then went 3-29 in the playoffs for San Diego.
— Saints-Browns total Saturday is going to be the lowest NFL total since 2009, due to frigid weather in Ohio this weekend.
— Billy Eppler is the New York Mets’ GM; when he first graduated from college at UConn, he interned with the NFL’s Washington Redskins, then scouted in the Bronx, became assistant GM there, and later moved on to become GM of the Angels. Must also be nice to be GM of a team where the owner writes blank checks.
— SMU 85, Iona 81— Mustangs trailed by 12 with 10:36 left in game, but rallied to beat Rick Pitino’s Iona squad, overcoming 21 turnovers. Iona lost despite making 13-22 on the arc. SMU shot 64.3% inside the arc.
This game is part of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai’i. Christmas in Hawai’i must be fun.
— Detroit-Ottawa NHL game this week was postponed because of cruddy weather in Canada; it will be played February 27 instead.
— Missouri 93, Illinois 71— Tigers led 51-26 at half-time; putrid effort by the Illini, which is 2-3 in its last five games, after a 6-1 start.
— Western Kentucky 44, South Alabama 23
Hilltoppers led 31-3 at halftime.
WKU’s first three TD’s came on plays of 44-27-25 yards.
Hilltoppers threw for 522 yards (9.3 yards/attempt)
— Air Force 30, Baylor 15
Falcons outgained Baylor 379-230.
Bears ran ball 26 times for 42 yards, completed only 11-23 passes.
Baylor lost its last four games, after a 6-3 start.
— Major League Baseball reduced Trevor Bauer’s suspension from 324 games to 194, meaning he is good to go for spring training. Dodgers have until January 6 to release him or add him to the 40-man roster. Bauer is eligible now, but is being docked pay for the first 50 games of 2023
Friday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams getting biggest % of points on 3’s:
47.4%— Liberty
47.0%— Lafayette
46.5%— Chattanooga
44.3%— Penn State
43.7%— North Carolina A&T
42.9%— Marist
Quote of the Day
“Our sport feels broken now. We’ve got somebody with three times the median payroll and has no care whatsoever for the long-term of any of these contracts, in terms of the risk associated with any of them. How exactly does this work? I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”
Anonymous MLB executive, talking about the Mets’ spending spree
Friday’s quiz
Who was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars?
Thursday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager.
Wednesday’s quiz
Matthew Stafford played his college football at Georgia.
***************************
Friday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind……..
— NFL’s Sunday Ticket is going to YouTube TV starting next year, which means that I’ll dump DirecTV after college basketball ends in March. I’ve had DirecTV for a long time, but primarily so I can watch the Rams every week, without going out to bars to watch.
Have to do my research on the best TV plan going forward; lot of options out there. I know almost nothing about YouTube TV, but I have until August to figure it out.
— Mets’ fans are excited about signing Justin Verlander, Carlos Correa as free agents; they’re going to have the biggest payroll in MLB history. Good for them.
But hey, the A’s signed Drew Rucinski this week. The 33-year old Rucinski gets $3M for this year, roughly what the Mets’ batboys earn (kidding). $3M is big money in Oakland. So what if Verlander will make $1,343,750 PER START this year, and that’s if he starts 32 games.
Rucinski pitched for the NC Dinos in Korea the last four years, going 53-36, 3.06 in 121 KBO starts. He is 4-4, 5.33 in 41 major league games from 2014-18, with the Angels/Marlins.
— An unusual thing about college basketball is that once you play a team out of conference, you root like hell for that team to win games, since their success helps your strength of schedule, which factors in to if/where you land on Selection Sunday.
Let’s look at UNLV, which is 11-1, but against schedule #227. Rebels beat Dayton/Washington State, two top 100 teams, lost by a hoop to #89 San Francisco. None of those three teams are in the top 50, so it will really help the Rebels if those three teams win a lot of conference games.
— Jaguars 19, Jets 3
Jacksonville is 5-2 SU in last seven games after a 2-6 start.
QB Lawrence threw for 229 yards, ran 7 times for 51 more yards.
Jaguars were 7-16 on third down, Jets 2-13.
Last six games, Jaguars are +7 in turnovers (13-6)
Jets’ only score was FG on 1st drive; they recovered fumble on Jags’ 16-yard line.
#4 QB Streveler ran ball 9 times for 54 yards; rest of team had 11 rushes, 12 yards.
Jets are 2-6 SU in their last eight games, after a 5-2 start.
Jets are 6-1 scoring 20+ points, 1-7 scoring less than 20.
— Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts (shoulder) is out for Saturday’s game in Dallas; Gardner Minshew (8-14 as an NFL starter) will start under center for Philly.
— Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson is out again this week, third game in a row he’ll miss. He is trying to get a huge contract from the Ravens, but the best ability is availability— Jackson got hurt in Week 13 LY, never played again, and now he’s missed Weeks 14-16 this year. Not good.
Adding to the intrigue is that Jackson has been acting as his own agent, which makes things in negotiations a lot more personal.
— Eastern Illinois 92, Iowa 83— How does a 31-point underdog win on the road?
Favored Hawkeyes led 22-8 early on.
Iowa was down two starters (Murray, Connor McCaffery)
Eastern Illinois shot 66.7% inside the arc.
Iowa was only 7-33 on the arc.
Eastern Illinois is a bad team, 2-9 vs D-I teams; their other D-I win was over IUPUI, the worst of all the 363 D-I teams in the country. Just a hideous loss for Iowa, the biggest favorite to lose in the last 30 years.
— Wednesday was Early Signing Day in college football; lot of games that will be played 3-4 years from now were decided Wednesday, as teams re-stock their rosters. But don’t just assume what you hear on TV in true. Recruiting ratings aren’t gospel.
When he came out of high school, Aaron Donald was the #22 recruit in his class; he’s going to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You think there were really 21 players who were better than him that year?
Some teams develop talent better than others; Kansas State is 10-3 this year, with three (3!!!!) players who were 4 or 5-star recruits. They recruit athletes, develop them into players.
— New York Knicks got nailed for tampering with free agent Jalen Brunson; as a result they’ll lose a 2nd-round draft pick in 2025.
— Golden State Warriors are 15-18, #11-seed in the west right now, and Steph Curry is out for the next couple months. Warriors are 3-16 on the road; looks like they’ll miss the playoffs.
— Law and Order is one of my favorite TV shows; 21 years, 472 episodes, a great launching point for lot of acting careers, not to mention the spinoff shows that branched off this original show.
Take Billions on Showtime; there are 32 actors who have appeared in 12+ episodes of Billons. 14 of those 32 actors appeared in at least one episode of Law and Order, and two others were in Law and Order SVU, and that doesn’t count Eric Bogosian, who was in Law and Order: Criminal Intent for 61 episodes, but was only in 11 episodes of Billions (so far).
— Cincinnati Reds signed OF/1B Wil Myers to one-year, $6M deal; Myers had an injury-plagued 2022, then went 3-29 in the playoffs for San Diego.
— Saints-Browns total Saturday is going to be the lowest NFL total since 2009, due to frigid weather in Ohio this weekend.
— Billy Eppler is the New York Mets’ GM; when he first graduated from college at UConn, he interned with the NFL’s Washington Redskins, then scouted in the Bronx, became assistant GM there, and later moved on to become GM of the Angels. Must also be nice to be GM of a team where the owner writes blank checks.
— SMU 85, Iona 81— Mustangs trailed by 12 with 10:36 left in game, but rallied to beat Rick Pitino’s Iona squad, overcoming 21 turnovers. Iona lost despite making 13-22 on the arc. SMU shot 64.3% inside the arc.
This game is part of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai’i. Christmas in Hawai’i must be fun.
— Detroit-Ottawa NHL game this week was postponed because of cruddy weather in Canada; it will be played February 27 instead.
— Missouri 93, Illinois 71— Tigers led 51-26 at half-time; putrid effort by the Illini, which is 2-3 in its last five games, after a 6-1 start.
— Western Kentucky 44, South Alabama 23
Hilltoppers led 31-3 at halftime.
WKU’s first three TD’s came on plays of 44-27-25 yards.
Hilltoppers threw for 522 yards (9.3 yards/attempt)
— Air Force 30, Baylor 15
Falcons outgained Baylor 379-230.
Bears ran ball 26 times for 42 yards, completed only 11-23 passes.
Baylor lost its last four games, after a 6-3 start.
— Major League Baseball reduced Trevor Bauer’s suspension from 324 games to 194, meaning he is good to go for spring training. Dodgers have until January 6 to release him or add him to the 40-man roster. Bauer is eligible now, but is being docked pay for the first 50 games of 2023
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
INDIANA is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in home games after playing a game as a home favorite over the last 2 seasons.
GEORGE MASON is 41-19 Over (20.1 Units) in home games after 5 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers since...
IONA is 13-3 Over (9.7 Units) after 3 straight games - allowing a shooting pct. of 47% or higher since 1997.
RUTGERS are 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in home games versus good shooting teams - making >=45% of their shots over the last 2 seasons.
UTAH ST is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in all neutral court games over the last 2 seasons.
GEORGE WASHINGTON is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) in road games when playing their 2nd game in 3 days in the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON ST is 79-118 ATS (-50.8 Units) after 4 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers since 1997.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Friday, December 23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPPIN ST (5 - 9) at GEORGE MASON (7 - 5) - 12/23/2022, 4:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GEORGE MASON is 38-22 ATS (+13.8 Units) in home games when playing with one or less days rest since 1997.
COPPIN ST is 18-9 ATS (+8.1 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
GEORGE MASON is 7-20 ATS (-15.0 Units) in a home game where the total is 145 to 149.5 since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUCKNELL (7 - 5) at RUTGERS (7 - 4) - 12/23/2022, 5:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
RUTGERS is 4-13 ATS (-10.3 Units) in home games on Friday nights since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KENNESAW ST (8 - 4) at INDIANA (9 - 3) - 12/23/2022, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
INDIANA is 17-8 ATS (+8.2 Units) in all home games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 17-8 ATS (+8.2 Units) in home lined games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) in non-conference games over the last 3 seasons.
INDIANA is 71-48 ATS (+18.2 Units) in home games after scoring 80 points or more since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAMBLING (6 - 5) at WISCONSIN (9 - 2) - 12/23/2022, 9:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCAAB
Friday, December 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kean @ Princeton
Kean
No trends to report
Princeton
Princeton is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Coppin State @ George Mason
Coppin State
No trends to report
George Mason
George Mason is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
George Mason is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Iona @ Seattle
Iona
No trends to report
Seattle
No trends to report
Bucknell @ Rutgers
Bucknell
No trends to report
Rutgers
Rutgers is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Rutgers is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Kennesaw State @ Indiana
Kennesaw State
No trends to report
Indiana
Indiana is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
Indiana is 18-7 ATS in its last 25 games at home
Southern Methodist @ Utah State
Southern Methodist
No trends to report
Utah State
No trends to report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCAAB
Dunkel
Friday, December 23
GEORGE MASON is 41-19 Over (20.1 Units) in home games after 5 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers since...
IONA is 13-3 Over (9.7 Units) after 3 straight games - allowing a shooting pct. of 47% or higher since 1997.
RUTGERS are 9-0 ATS (9 Units) in home games versus good shooting teams - making >=45% of their shots over the last 2 seasons.
UTAH ST is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in all neutral court games over the last 2 seasons.
GEORGE WASHINGTON is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) in road games when playing their 2nd game in 3 days in the last 3 seasons.
WASHINGTON ST is 79-118 ATS (-50.8 Units) after 4 straight games forcing opponent to commit 14 or less turnovers since 1997.
NCAAB
Long Sheet
Friday, December 23
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
COPPIN ST (5 - 9) at GEORGE MASON (7 - 5) - 12/23/2022, 4:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GEORGE MASON is 38-22 ATS (+13.8 Units) in home games when playing with one or less days rest since 1997.
COPPIN ST is 18-9 ATS (+8.1 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
GEORGE MASON is 7-20 ATS (-15.0 Units) in a home game where the total is 145 to 149.5 since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BUCKNELL (7 - 5) at RUTGERS (7 - 4) - 12/23/2022, 5:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
RUTGERS is 4-13 ATS (-10.3 Units) in home games on Friday nights since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KENNESAW ST (8 - 4) at INDIANA (9 - 3) - 12/23/2022, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
INDIANA is 17-8 ATS (+8.2 Units) in all home games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 17-8 ATS (+8.2 Units) in home lined games over the last 2 seasons.
INDIANA is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) in non-conference games over the last 3 seasons.
INDIANA is 71-48 ATS (+18.2 Units) in home games after scoring 80 points or more since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GRAMBLING (6 - 5) at WISCONSIN (9 - 2) - 12/23/2022, 9:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.
Head-to-Head Series History
There were no past matchups in this series during this time period.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCAAB
Friday, December 23
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kean @ Princeton
Kean
No trends to report
Princeton
Princeton is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Coppin State @ George Mason
Coppin State
No trends to report
George Mason
George Mason is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
George Mason is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Iona @ Seattle
Iona
No trends to report
Seattle
No trends to report
Bucknell @ Rutgers
Bucknell
No trends to report
Rutgers
Rutgers is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Rutgers is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Kennesaw State @ Indiana
Kennesaw State
No trends to report
Indiana
Indiana is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
Indiana is 18-7 ATS in its last 25 games at home
Southern Methodist @ Utah State
Southern Methodist
No trends to report
Utah State
No trends to report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NCAAB
Dunkel
Friday, December 23
Last edited:
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24
| COPP at GMU | 04:00 PM | COPP +12.0 O 147.0 | +500 +500 |
| IONA at SEA | 04:30 PM | IONA -8.5 U 148.0 | +500 +500 |
| BUCK at RUTG | 05:00 PM | BUCK +19.0 O 133.0 | +500 +500 |
| KENN at IND | 07:00 PM | IND -19.0 U 142.0 | +500 +500 |
| SMU at USU | 07:00 PM | SMU +12.0 O 145.5 | +500 +500 |
| GW at PEPP | 10:00 PM | PEPP -3.5 U 151.0 | +500 +500 |
| WSU at HAW | 12:00 AM | WSU -3.0 U 127.0 | +500 +500 |
| 12/24/2022 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 12/23/2022 | 6-5-1 | 54.17% | +250 | Detail |
| 12/22/2022 | 16-13-0 | 55.17% | +850 | Detail |
| 12/21/2022 | 34-35-0 | 49.28% | -2250 | Detail |
| 12/20/2022 | 23-12-2 | 64.86% | +4900 | Detail |
| 12/19/2022 | 6-12-0 | 33.33% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/18/2022 | 13-14-1 | 48.21% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/17/2022 | 39-42-3 | 48.21% | -3600 | Detail |
| 12/16/2022 | 5-10-0 | 33.33% | -3000 | Detail |
| 12/15/2022 | 3-6-0 | 33.33% | -1800 | Detail |
| 12/14/2022 | 11-14-1 | 44.23% | -2200 | Detail |
| 12/13/2022 | 13-8-0 | 61.90% | +2100 | Detail |
| 12/12/2022 | 6-5-0 | 54.55% | +250 | Detail |
| 12/11/2022 | 15-17-0 | 46.88% | -1850 | Detail |
| 12/10/2022 | 38-46-0 | 45.24% | -6300 | Detail |
| 12/08/2022 | 2-4-0 | 33.33% | -1200 | Detail |
| 12/07/2022 | 23-13-0 | 63.89% | +4350 | Detail |
| 12/06/2022 | 18-13-1 | 57.81% | +1850 | Detail |
| 12/05/2022 | 3-3-0 | 50.00% | -150 | Detail |
| 12/04/2022 | 12-17-0 | 41.38% | -3350 | Detail |
| 12/03/2022 | 10-12-0 | 45.45% | -1600 | Detail |
| 12/02/2022 | 12-5-0 | 70.59% | +3250 | Detail |
| 12/01/2022 | 7-6-0 | 53.85% | +200 | Detail |
- Sep 10, 2018
- 17,762
- 20
- 38
Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack
NFL leaders in touchdown passes:
35— Mahomes, KC
31— Burrow, Cin
30— Allen, Buff
26— Smith, Sea
24— Cousins/Tagovailoa/Lawrence
23— Goff/Carr/Rodgers
Quote of the Day
“Right now, I think we are very fragile. You start going through these things and then you start believing them. Once you start believing them, it becomes who you are. The only way to break them is by being mentally tough.”
Draymond Green, talking about the Golden State Warriors
Saturday’s quiz
In 1971, James Caan starred in Brian’s Song, the story of NFL player Brian Piccolo, who died in his 20’s. Which NFL team did Brian Piccolo play for?
Friday’s quiz
Tom Coughlin was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Thursday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager.
*****************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
— First of all, hope all of you have an excellent Christmas; thanks for reading this blog, hope you read it every day (you don’t read it every day?!?!?!). Hope we all have an excellent 2023.
— Why, why, why do TV stations send reporters people outside during winter storms? As I type this, some poor bastard is standing outside in Buffalo, struggling to stand still in a vicious storm with both wind/snow beating down on him. We get it, the weather sucks; why punish this guy?
— 50 years ago this week, Steelers beat Oakland 13-7 in a dramatic playoff game, the Immaculate Reception game, where Franco Harris scored on a 60-yard TD pass off a deflection right at the end of the game. One of the most dramatic wins in NFL history.
Before that game, the Steelers had never won a playoff game; they had losing seasons in 25 of their previous 37 seasons. Starting in 1972, Pittsburgh made the playoffs eight years in a row, winning four Super Bowls. That one play was the turning point in their franchise history.
— Which college QB has thrown the most TD passes this season?
Western Kentucky QB Austin Reed has thrown 41 TD passes this year; never would’ve guessed that.
— Read this week that there are now 333.2 million people in this country, 1.2 million more than at this time last year.
— Phoenix Suns sold for $4B this week; that’s billion, with a B.
Just 12 years ago, Golden State Warriors sold for $450M. Warriors are a much more successful franchise than Phoenix. NBA has taken off in popularity all over the world. The league basically forced the Suns’ owner out because he’s a bad guy, but he still banks a $4B payday.
— There are 42 NBA players making $30M+ this season.
— Lakers’ star Anthony Davis is out for a while with a foot injury; they haven’t said exactly how long he’ll be out, but it doesn’t sound good.
— Kids today don’t know how great a basketball player Wilt Chamberlain was; he still holds the record, with two streaks of 14 games in a row with 40+ points.
Chamberlain helped the 76ers win the 1967 NBA title, but people criticized him because they said he didn’t pass enough, so the next year, Wilt led the league in assists. Seriously, he did.
The guy scored 100 points in a game; he also played in 79+ games in seven of his last eight seasons, spanning ages 29-36, and this was before teams flew on charters. None of this load management BS for him.
— Arizona Diamondbacks are trading OF/C Daulton Varsho to Toronto, for C Gabriel Moreno and OF/1B Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Varsho hit 27 homers for Arizona LY.
— P Erick Fedde signed a $1M deal with the NC Dinos in Korean baseball; $1M is the maximum deal for a foreign player who is in his first season in the KBO.
— Two best base stealers ever: Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock.
Brock stole his first base on April 13, 1962.
Henderson stole his last base on August 29, 2003.
There were four days in 1979 where Brock/Henderson both stole a base on the same day.
— Houston Astros are really good in large part because their international scouting is excellent; they have four starting pitchers— Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, whose COMBINED signing bonuses were only $140,000.
— Houston 23, Louisiana 16
Houston drove 92 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:20 left.
Ragin’ Cajuns led 13-0 in second quarter.
Teams combined to convert 6-25 on 3rd down, 6-8 on 4th down.
Houston was +3 in turnovers.
— Wake Forest 27, Missouri 17
Wake QB Hartman threw for 280 yards, three TD’s.
How is Dave Clawson still the coach at Wake Forest? Some big $$$ school should scoop him up. Wake is a smallish school for big-time football; last seven years, Deacons are 44-30- they’ve won four of last six bowl games.
— Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei is now Oregon State QB DJ Uiagalelei; he bolted to Corvallis this week, as the epidemic of QB’s transferring continues. He needs to be a more accurate passer.
— Mets traded backup C James McCann to Baltimore, have now signed C Omar Narvaez to an $8M deal for next season. Narvaez has a .728 career OPS.
— San Francisco Giants spend some of the $$$ they saved on the Carlos Correa non-signing; they gave Michael Conforto a 2-year, $36M deal— he sat out last year a shoulder sinjury, and they also gave P Taylor Rogers a 3-year, $33M deal. Rogers joins his twin brother Tyler in the Giants’ bullpen.
— Phillies signed closer Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $10M deal.
Saturday’s 6-pack
NFL leaders in touchdown passes:
35— Mahomes, KC
31— Burrow, Cin
30— Allen, Buff
26— Smith, Sea
24— Cousins/Tagovailoa/Lawrence
23— Goff/Carr/Rodgers
Quote of the Day
“Right now, I think we are very fragile. You start going through these things and then you start believing them. Once you start believing them, it becomes who you are. The only way to break them is by being mentally tough.”
Draymond Green, talking about the Golden State Warriors
Saturday’s quiz
In 1971, James Caan starred in Brian’s Song, the story of NFL player Brian Piccolo, who died in his 20’s. Which NFL team did Brian Piccolo play for?
Friday’s quiz
Tom Coughlin was the first coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Thursday’s quiz
When Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Birmingham Barons in the Southern League in 1994, Terry Francona was the Barons’ manager.
*****************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
— First of all, hope all of you have an excellent Christmas; thanks for reading this blog, hope you read it every day (you don’t read it every day?!?!?!). Hope we all have an excellent 2023.
— Why, why, why do TV stations send reporters people outside during winter storms? As I type this, some poor bastard is standing outside in Buffalo, struggling to stand still in a vicious storm with both wind/snow beating down on him. We get it, the weather sucks; why punish this guy?
— 50 years ago this week, Steelers beat Oakland 13-7 in a dramatic playoff game, the Immaculate Reception game, where Franco Harris scored on a 60-yard TD pass off a deflection right at the end of the game. One of the most dramatic wins in NFL history.
Before that game, the Steelers had never won a playoff game; they had losing seasons in 25 of their previous 37 seasons. Starting in 1972, Pittsburgh made the playoffs eight years in a row, winning four Super Bowls. That one play was the turning point in their franchise history.
— Which college QB has thrown the most TD passes this season?
Western Kentucky QB Austin Reed has thrown 41 TD passes this year; never would’ve guessed that.
— Read this week that there are now 333.2 million people in this country, 1.2 million more than at this time last year.
— Phoenix Suns sold for $4B this week; that’s billion, with a B.
Just 12 years ago, Golden State Warriors sold for $450M. Warriors are a much more successful franchise than Phoenix. NBA has taken off in popularity all over the world. The league basically forced the Suns’ owner out because he’s a bad guy, but he still banks a $4B payday.
— There are 42 NBA players making $30M+ this season.
— Lakers’ star Anthony Davis is out for a while with a foot injury; they haven’t said exactly how long he’ll be out, but it doesn’t sound good.
— Kids today don’t know how great a basketball player Wilt Chamberlain was; he still holds the record, with two streaks of 14 games in a row with 40+ points.
Chamberlain helped the 76ers win the 1967 NBA title, but people criticized him because they said he didn’t pass enough, so the next year, Wilt led the league in assists. Seriously, he did.
The guy scored 100 points in a game; he also played in 79+ games in seven of his last eight seasons, spanning ages 29-36, and this was before teams flew on charters. None of this load management BS for him.
— Arizona Diamondbacks are trading OF/C Daulton Varsho to Toronto, for C Gabriel Moreno and OF/1B Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Varsho hit 27 homers for Arizona LY.
— P Erick Fedde signed a $1M deal with the NC Dinos in Korean baseball; $1M is the maximum deal for a foreign player who is in his first season in the KBO.
— Two best base stealers ever: Rickey Henderson and Lou Brock.
Brock stole his first base on April 13, 1962.
Henderson stole his last base on August 29, 2003.
There were four days in 1979 where Brock/Henderson both stole a base on the same day.
— Houston Astros are really good in large part because their international scouting is excellent; they have four starting pitchers— Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, whose COMBINED signing bonuses were only $140,000.
— Houston 23, Louisiana 16
Houston drove 92 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:20 left.
Ragin’ Cajuns led 13-0 in second quarter.
Teams combined to convert 6-25 on 3rd down, 6-8 on 4th down.
Houston was +3 in turnovers.
— Wake Forest 27, Missouri 17
Wake QB Hartman threw for 280 yards, three TD’s.
How is Dave Clawson still the coach at Wake Forest? Some big $$$ school should scoop him up. Wake is a smallish school for big-time football; last seven years, Deacons are 44-30- they’ve won four of last six bowl games.
— Clemson QB DJ Uiagalelei is now Oregon State QB DJ Uiagalelei; he bolted to Corvallis this week, as the epidemic of QB’s transferring continues. He needs to be a more accurate passer.
— Mets traded backup C James McCann to Baltimore, have now signed C Omar Narvaez to an $8M deal for next season. Narvaez has a .728 career OPS.
— San Francisco Giants spend some of the $$$ they saved on the Carlos Correa non-signing; they gave Michael Conforto a 2-year, $36M deal— he sat out last year a shoulder sinjury, and they also gave P Taylor Rogers a 3-year, $33M deal. Rogers joins his twin brother Tyler in the Giants’ bullpen.
— Phillies signed closer Craig Kimbrel to a one-year, $10M deal.
