Monday’s 6-pack:
Major League leaders in home runs:
44— Shohei Ohtani, LAA
43— Matt Olson, Atl
39— Pete Alonso, NYM
35— Kyle Schwarber, Phil
34— Betts LA, Robert CWS, Soler Miami
32— Adolis Garcia, Tex
Quote of the Day
“That’s week-to-week right now. We’re hoping that he can have a chance for Week 1. He ended up straining his quad last week in practice. We’ll see how his body reacts to it.”
49ers’ coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking about his kicker’s injury
Monday’s quiz
Where did Larry Bird play his college basketball?
Sunday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was Arizona’s manager when they walked Barry Bonds intentionally with the bases loaded in the 9th inning of a game Arizona led 8-6
The next hitter (Matt Williams) lined out to RF, Arizona won 8-7.
Saturday’s quiz
Bob Brenly managed the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won their only World Series title; he is now a TV analyst on Arizona’s games.
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I keep thinking about this, the Al Pacino speech from Any Given Sunday, when he is talking to Jamie Foxx about his role as the Sharks’ QB:
“You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”
Hartman played five years for Wake Forest, which went 38-24 in those seasons, playing in a bowl all five seasons. He jumps to Notre Dame, which went 53-11 those five years, albeit with Brian Kelly at coach for four of those seasons- he’s at LSU now.
My question is this; if you run an NFL franchise, you going to to risk your job and your 7-figure salary by drafting a kid to be your QB, when he jumped ship on his college team?
It is an interesting situation that will play out over the next eight months.
— Raiders’ kicker Daniel Carlson kicked a 62-yard field goal Saturday night in Dallas.
— Arizona State won’t play in a bowl game in 2023 after self-imposing a one-year bowl ban this weekend, a decision that points out the severity of the evidence in the ongoing NCAA case against the school’s football program.
Herm Edwards got fired last year; the new coach is 33-year old Kenny Dillingham, who comes to ASU from Oregon. Dillingham has a thing in his contract that says for every year the Sun Devils aren’t bowl eligible or on probation for stuff that Edwards’ staff did, he gets an extra year on his contract, so Dillingham’s five-year contract just became a six-year deal.
— Over the last 29 years, only one team that lost the Super Bowl got back to the Super Bowl the next season, the 2018 Patriots.
— There will be 42 bowl games this college football season; as recently as 1982, there were only 15 bowl games played.
— Movie of the Day— Love Happens (2009)— A self-help guru writes a book about coping with loss; he falls for the hotel florist at his seminar in Seattle, only to realize that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s death, which is why he wrote the book.
Aaron Eckhart is the self-help guy, Jennifer Aniston is the florist, Martin Sheen plays Eckhart’s father-in-law, the dad of the woman who died.
Very good movie, some funny moments, some sad moments. If Martin Sheen is in a movie, chances are it is a good one.
— NFL Trend of the Day— last four years, Buffalo is 8-2-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
Total yardage: 444-171
Navy ran ball 47 times for 128 yards— they threw 7 passes.
— Jacksonville State 17, UTEP 14
UTEP outgained the Gamecocks, 364-277
UTEP was minus-3 in turnovers.
— UMass 41, New Mexico State 30
Taisun Phommachanh, a transfer QB who also played at Georgia Tech and Clemson, completed 10 of 17 passes for 192 yards and added 92 yards running for the Minutemen.
— San Diego State 20, Ohio U 13
Ohio U outgained the Aztecs, 380-309.
Bobcats, however threw 3 INTs, were minus-2 in turnovers.
Aztecs’ QB Mayden was 17-27/164 with two TD’s passing.
— Vanderbilt 35, Hawai’i 28
Vandy ran a kickoff back 97 yards for a TD.
Red flag: Vandy ran ball 23 times for 44 yards. Not good for an SEC team.
Commodores are now 3-11 ATS in last 14 home games.
— USC 56, San Jose State 28
Trojans led only 21-14 at halftime.
Total yardage: USC, 502-396
Caleb Williams was 18-25/278 passing, with four TD’s.
— Louisiana Tech 22, FIU 17
FIU led 14-0 early on; they scored on a 67-yard TD run.
For the game, FIU completed 5-14 passes, for four yards. 4 yards. Four.
Tech QB Bachmeier was 34-44/333 passing.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Arizona, Cubs
AL: Orioles, Twins, Mariners. Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers, Astros
Major League leaders in home runs:
44— Shohei Ohtani, LAA
43— Matt Olson, Atl
39— Pete Alonso, NYM
35— Kyle Schwarber, Phil
34— Betts LA, Robert CWS, Soler Miami
32— Adolis Garcia, Tex
Quote of the Day
“That’s week-to-week right now. We’re hoping that he can have a chance for Week 1. He ended up straining his quad last week in practice. We’ll see how his body reacts to it.”
49ers’ coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking about his kicker’s injury
Monday’s quiz
Where did Larry Bird play his college basketball?
Sunday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was Arizona’s manager when they walked Barry Bonds intentionally with the bases loaded in the 9th inning of a game Arizona led 8-6
The next hitter (Matt Williams) lined out to RF, Arizona won 8-7.
Saturday’s quiz
Bob Brenly managed the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won their only World Series title; he is now a TV analyst on Arizona’s games.
******************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
— Next April, when they have the NFL Draft, one of the big QB prospects is going to be Sam Hartman, who is Notre Dame’s QB this year, after playing at Wake Forest for five years.I keep thinking about this, the Al Pacino speech from Any Given Sunday, when he is talking to Jamie Foxx about his role as the Sharks’ QB:
“You’re a goddamn quarterback! You know what that means? It’s the top spot, kid. It’s the guy who takes the fall. It’s the guy everybody’s looking at first – the leader of a team – who will support you when they understand you. Who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for you, because they believe. ‘Cause you make them believe. That’s a quarterback.”
Hartman played five years for Wake Forest, which went 38-24 in those seasons, playing in a bowl all five seasons. He jumps to Notre Dame, which went 53-11 those five years, albeit with Brian Kelly at coach for four of those seasons- he’s at LSU now.
My question is this; if you run an NFL franchise, you going to to risk your job and your 7-figure salary by drafting a kid to be your QB, when he jumped ship on his college team?
It is an interesting situation that will play out over the next eight months.
— Raiders’ kicker Daniel Carlson kicked a 62-yard field goal Saturday night in Dallas.
— Arizona State won’t play in a bowl game in 2023 after self-imposing a one-year bowl ban this weekend, a decision that points out the severity of the evidence in the ongoing NCAA case against the school’s football program.
Herm Edwards got fired last year; the new coach is 33-year old Kenny Dillingham, who comes to ASU from Oregon. Dillingham has a thing in his contract that says for every year the Sun Devils aren’t bowl eligible or on probation for stuff that Edwards’ staff did, he gets an extra year on his contract, so Dillingham’s five-year contract just became a six-year deal.
— Over the last 29 years, only one team that lost the Super Bowl got back to the Super Bowl the next season, the 2018 Patriots.
— There will be 42 bowl games this college football season; as recently as 1982, there were only 15 bowl games played.
— Movie of the Day— Love Happens (2009)— A self-help guru writes a book about coping with loss; he falls for the hotel florist at his seminar in Seattle, only to realize that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s death, which is why he wrote the book.
Aaron Eckhart is the self-help guy, Jennifer Aniston is the florist, Martin Sheen plays Eckhart’s father-in-law, the dad of the woman who died.
Very good movie, some funny moments, some sad moments. If Martin Sheen is in a movie, chances are it is a good one.
— NFL Trend of the Day— last four years, Buffalo is 8-2-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— Notre Dame 42, Navy 3
Total yardage: 444-171
Navy ran ball 47 times for 128 yards— they threw 7 passes.
— Jacksonville State 17, UTEP 14
UTEP outgained the Gamecocks, 364-277
UTEP was minus-3 in turnovers.
— UMass 41, New Mexico State 30
Taisun Phommachanh, a transfer QB who also played at Georgia Tech and Clemson, completed 10 of 17 passes for 192 yards and added 92 yards running for the Minutemen.
— San Diego State 20, Ohio U 13
Ohio U outgained the Aztecs, 380-309.
Bobcats, however threw 3 INTs, were minus-2 in turnovers.
Aztecs’ QB Mayden was 17-27/164 with two TD’s passing.
— Vanderbilt 35, Hawai’i 28
Vandy ran a kickoff back 97 yards for a TD.
Red flag: Vandy ran ball 23 times for 44 yards. Not good for an SEC team.
Commodores are now 3-11 ATS in last 14 home games.
— USC 56, San Jose State 28
Trojans led only 21-14 at halftime.
Total yardage: USC, 502-396
Caleb Williams was 18-25/278 passing, with four TD’s.
— Louisiana Tech 22, FIU 17
FIU led 14-0 early on; they scored on a 67-yard TD run.
For the game, FIU completed 5-14 passes, for four yards. 4 yards. Four.
Tech QB Bachmeier was 34-44/333 passing.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Phillies, Arizona, Cubs
AL: Orioles, Twins, Mariners. Wild Cards: Rays, Rangers, Astros
