Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting NFL spreads for this week:
— Bills @ Miami (-2.5)
— Raiders @ Baltimore (-9.5)
— Chargers (-6.5) @ Carolina
— Saints @ Dallas (-6.5)
— Buccaneers @ Detroit (-7)
— Colts (-3) @ Green Bay
Quote of the Day
“I couldn’t coach bad players to play good.”
Nick Saban
Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the only major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter, and later become a US Senator after his playing days were done?
Tuesday’s quiz
Aaron Rodgers played his college football for the Cal Bears.
Monday’s quiz
Before Sunday, Robert Griffin III was the last rookie QB to start a game for the Washington Redskins/Commanders; that happened in 2012.
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AAC- 9-4 ATS, 6-2 as a road underdog
ACC- 7-8 ATS, 1-4 as a home favorite
Big X- 7-9 ATS, 0-3 as a road favorite
Big 18- 10-12 ATS, 8-9 s a home favorite (only 2 lined road games)
C-USA- 3-5 ATS, 2-4 as a road underdog.
MAC- 8-9 ATS, 7-6 as a road underdog.
Mountain West- 6-6 ATS, 6-4 as an underdog
SEC- 9-7 ATS, 4-5 as a home favorite
Sun Belt- 8-8 ATS, 1-4 as a home favorite
— This was the first Week 1 in 45 years that three NFL teams won, after trailing by 14+ points. Dolphins, Bears, Bills all trailed by 14+, but wound up winning.
— Since Week 9 of the 2022 season, Detroit Lions are 23-8 ATS.
— Two NFL players share the current record for most teams played for:
9- Josh McCown (2002-19)
9- Ryan Fitzpatrick (2005-21)……both guys were quarterbacks.
Nobody has played for eight teams; 25 guys have played for seven.
— NFL kickers were 21-23 last week on kicks of 50+ yards. Pretty, pretty good.
— 10 WRs had 100+ receiving yards in Week 1; Dolphins were only team that had two guys with 100+ receiving yards, Tyreek Hill/Jayden Waddle.
— Seven guys had 100+ rushing yards last week, including QB Lamar Jackson; Houston’s Joe Mixon leads the league with 159 rushing yards.
— College football teams playing the fastest tempo so far this year:
Oklahoma State
Old Dominion
Pittsburgh
South Florida
Texas Tech
Mississippi State
Toledo……..all 7 teams are averaging less than 21 seconds/snap.
— Famous birthdays, September 11th:
Earl Holliman, 96
Tom Dreesen, 85
Rod Perry, 71
Kristy McNichol, 62
Gerald Wilkins, 61
Bern Brostek, 58
Harry Connick Jr, 57
Ed Reed, 46
Zay Flowers, 24
— NHL’s Edmonton Oilers are favored to win the Presidents’ Trophy (best regular season record) for the first time since 1987.
— This week, there are two college football games between two top 25 teams:
Friday: Arizona @ Kansas State
Saturday: Boston College @ Missouri
— Clemson DB Caleb Nix hurt his knee on the first play of the Tigers’ game vs Appalachian State last week, but he played the rest of the game.
Turns out he tore his ACL, and played the whole game with it.
— Remember in the movie Moneyball, where Billy Beane is sitting at a table with a bunch of A’s scouts, talking about prospects?
Chicago Cubs just fired four veteran scouts, Boston Red Sox fired three of them, as veteran scouts are becoming less prominent. Change is happening, not sure if it is change for the better, but it is happening.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Dodgers Wild Cards– Padres-Arizona-Mets
AL: Bronx, Cleveland, Houston Wild Cards– Orioles-Royals-Twins
Interesting NFL spreads for this week:
— Bills @ Miami (-2.5)
— Raiders @ Baltimore (-9.5)
— Chargers (-6.5) @ Carolina
— Saints @ Dallas (-6.5)
— Buccaneers @ Detroit (-7)
— Colts (-3) @ Green Bay
Quote of the Day
“I couldn’t coach bad players to play good.”
Nick Saban
Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the only major league pitcher to throw a no-hitter, and later become a US Senator after his playing days were done?
Tuesday’s quiz
Aaron Rodgers played his college football for the Cal Bears.
Monday’s quiz
Before Sunday, Robert Griffin III was the last rookie QB to start a game for the Washington Redskins/Commanders; that happened in 2012.
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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
— How college football conferences are doing so far ATS:AAC- 9-4 ATS, 6-2 as a road underdog
ACC- 7-8 ATS, 1-4 as a home favorite
Big X- 7-9 ATS, 0-3 as a road favorite
Big 18- 10-12 ATS, 8-9 s a home favorite (only 2 lined road games)
C-USA- 3-5 ATS, 2-4 as a road underdog.
MAC- 8-9 ATS, 7-6 as a road underdog.
Mountain West- 6-6 ATS, 6-4 as an underdog
SEC- 9-7 ATS, 4-5 as a home favorite
Sun Belt- 8-8 ATS, 1-4 as a home favorite
— This was the first Week 1 in 45 years that three NFL teams won, after trailing by 14+ points. Dolphins, Bears, Bills all trailed by 14+, but wound up winning.
— Since Week 9 of the 2022 season, Detroit Lions are 23-8 ATS.
— Two NFL players share the current record for most teams played for:
9- Josh McCown (2002-19)
9- Ryan Fitzpatrick (2005-21)……both guys were quarterbacks.
Nobody has played for eight teams; 25 guys have played for seven.
— NFL kickers were 21-23 last week on kicks of 50+ yards. Pretty, pretty good.
— 10 WRs had 100+ receiving yards in Week 1; Dolphins were only team that had two guys with 100+ receiving yards, Tyreek Hill/Jayden Waddle.
— Seven guys had 100+ rushing yards last week, including QB Lamar Jackson; Houston’s Joe Mixon leads the league with 159 rushing yards.
— College football teams playing the fastest tempo so far this year:
Oklahoma State
Old Dominion
Pittsburgh
South Florida
Texas Tech
Mississippi State
Toledo……..all 7 teams are averaging less than 21 seconds/snap.
— Famous birthdays, September 11th:
Earl Holliman, 96
Tom Dreesen, 85
Rod Perry, 71
Kristy McNichol, 62
Gerald Wilkins, 61
Bern Brostek, 58
Harry Connick Jr, 57
Ed Reed, 46
Zay Flowers, 24
— NHL’s Edmonton Oilers are favored to win the Presidents’ Trophy (best regular season record) for the first time since 1987.
— This week, there are two college football games between two top 25 teams:
Friday: Arizona @ Kansas State
Saturday: Boston College @ Missouri
— Clemson DB Caleb Nix hurt his knee on the first play of the Tigers’ game vs Appalachian State last week, but he played the rest of the game.
Turns out he tore his ACL, and played the whole game with it.
— Remember in the movie Moneyball, where Billy Beane is sitting at a table with a bunch of A’s scouts, talking about prospects?
Chicago Cubs just fired four veteran scouts, Boston Red Sox fired three of them, as veteran scouts are becoming less prominent. Change is happening, not sure if it is change for the better, but it is happening.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Dodgers Wild Cards– Padres-Arizona-Mets
AL: Bronx, Cleveland, Houston Wild Cards– Orioles-Royals-Twins