CNOTES 2023 2024 NHL NEWS BEST BETS AND OPINONS !

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Thursday, May 30

NHL

Thursday, May 30

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Trend Report
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Florida @ NY Rangers
Florida
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Florida's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 19 of Florida's last 23 games when playing NY Rangers
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 16-3 ATS in its last 19 games when playing Florida
NY Rangers is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games


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[CNOTES]

THURSDAY, MAY 30​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
FLA at NYR	08:00 PM	NYR +112 O 5.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
— Dallas 124, Minnesota 103— Mavericks advance to NBA Finals.
— Mets 3, Arizona 2- Arizona P Gallen left after 6 pitches (hamstring)
— Tigers 5, Red Sox 0- Flaherty allowed one hit over 6.1 IP.
— Nationals 3, Braves 1- Washington is 9-2 in Trevor Williams’ starts.
— Astros 4, Mariners 0- Rookie Arrighetti tossed 6.2 scoreless IP.
— Brewers 6, Cubs 4- Gary Sanchez hit a 2-run HR in 8th inning.

Quote of the Day
“There are times in the job when you’re a bully and times you need to be a statesman. I try not to be a bully, really, but that day was enormously frustrating. It was for several reasons. I, as a commissioner, can go invite Oklahoma and Texas to join. I can sign media deals … but I can’t decide who’s on the women’s golf team.”
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey

Friday’s quiz
Who was the Dallas Mavericks’ coach when they won their only NBA title, in 2011?

Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the Chicago White Sox, Frank Thomas has hit the most home runs.

Wednesday’s quiz
Brewers started playing in Milwaukee in 1970, but the year before that, they were an expansion team playing in another city; in 1969, they were the Seattle Pilots.

***************************************

Friday’s Den: Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….​

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….
— Arizona was 28-21 LY vs lefty starting pitchers; they’re 6-14 this year.
Merrill Kelly hasn’t pitched since April 15; Zac Gallen left Thursday’s start with an injury, after throwing only 6 pitches.

— Braves are 5-10 in their last 15 games.
Atlanta is 11-5 vs AL teams, 20-18 vs NL teams.

— Cubs lost seven of their last eight games.
Cubs are 8-2 in Imanaga’s starts, 20-27 with anyone else starting.

— Since April 26, Reds are 0-10 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Cincinnati won five of its last six series openers.

— Rockies won eight of their last ten home games.
Over is 10-4 in Colorado’s last fourteen games.

— Dodgers are 8-2 when James Paxton starts.
Under is 12-5 in their last 17 road games.

— Marlins are 2-18 against lefty starting pitchers, 18-19 vs righties.
Over is 12-3 in their last 15 home games.
Under is 7-1 in their last eight road tilts.

— Brewers are 10-3 in their last 13 home games.
Rookie P Gasser is 2-0, 2.35 in his first four MLB starts.

— Mets are 7-17 in their last 24 games.
Last year, Mets had a $346M payroll, they went 75-87.
This year, Mets have a $323M payroll, they’re 23-33.

— Phillies won 18 of their last 20 home games.
Phillies are 10-1 when Ranger Suarez pitches, 7-0 at home.

— Pittsburgh are 16-9 when Keller, Falter, Skenes start.
Over is 10-1 in Pirates’ last eleven home games.

— St Louis won 12 of its last 15 games.
Cardinals are 9-15 in day games, 18-12 in night games.

— Padres are 11-4 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
San Diego is 13-19 at home, 17-10 on road.

— Giants won 10 of their last 13 games.
San Francisco is 16-9 in day games, 13-19 in night games.

— Nationals won seven of last eight series openers.
Washington is 9-2 when Trevor Williams pitches.

Famous birthdays, May 31st:
Clint Eastwood, 94
Joe Namath, 81
Tom Berenger, 75
Chris Elliott, 64
Lea Thompson, 63
Kenny Lofton, 57
Dave Roberts, 52
Jake Peavy, 43
Nate Robinson, 40
Shane Bieber, 29

— Orioles are 6-1 in their last seven games.
Baltimore is 13-4 vs lefty starters.

— Red Sox lost six of their last eight home games.
Nick Pivetta struck out eight straight Tigers in Thursday’s game.

— White Sox lost 12 of their last 13 games.
Chicago scored total of eight runs in their last five games.

— Guardians are 16-3 in their last 19 home games.
Cleveland is 10-4 vs lefty starting pitchers, 27-15 vs righties.

— Tigers are 13-9 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Over is 10-3 in their last 13 games.

— Astros’ last six games stayed under the total.
Houston is 6-12 against lefty starting pitchers, 19-20 vs righty starters.

— Royals are off to a 35-23 start; their last winning season was 2015, when they won the World Series.
Kansas City is 21-8 at home, 14-15 on road.

— Angels are 7-21 at home, 14-14 on foreign soil.
Over is 14-7 in their last 21 home games.

— Twins won seven of their last nine games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten home games.

— New York won 20 of its last 26 games.
NY scored in first inning in nine of its last 15 games.

— A’s lost 10 of their last 11 road games.
Over is 8-4 in their last 12 home games.

— Mariners are 8-1 in home series openers, 3-6 in road series openers.
Seattle is 14-5 in its last 19 home games, overall.

— Rays are 8-5 vs lefty starters, 20-24 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 3-8 in home series openers.

— Texas lost eight of its last nine road games.
Under is 18-5 in Rangers’ last 23 home games.

— Toronto is 7-4 in its last eleven games.
Blue Jays are 3-7 vs lefty starters; LY, they were 20-15.

 

[Udog]

NHL

Friday, May 31

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Trend Report
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Edmonton @ Dallas
Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Edmonton's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Edmonton's last 10 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Dallas's last 15 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Dallas's last 10 games when playing at home against Edmonton


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[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Friday, May 31

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack:
— Padres 11, Royals 8- Game was 0-0 after 5 innings; KC led 3-2 after seven.
— Phillies 4, Cardinals 2- Philly has won seven in a row at home.
— Blue Jays 5, Pirates 3 (14)- Longest game in majors this season.
— Guardians 7, Nationals 1- Cleveland has won eight in a row at home.
— Brewers 12, White Sox 5- Chicago led 5-4 in the 7th inning.
— Reds 5, Cubs 4- Chicago lost eight of its last nine games.

Quote of the Day
“When it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a bit longer. I like what we’ve built here starting with ownership, the head coach, the GM on down. We have a great group of guys in the locker room and I want to reap the rewards with them a little bit longer.”
Detroit Lions’ OC Ben Johnson, on why he stayed with the Lions

Saturday’s quiz
Darryl Strawberry played 17 years in the majors, for four teams; the two New York teams, and what other two teams?

Friday’s quiz
Rick Carlisle was the Dallas Mavericks’ coach when they won their only NBA title, in 2011.

Thursday’s quiz
In the history of the Chicago White Sox, Frank Thomas has hit the most home runs.

*************************************************

Saturday’s Den: Some college football QB’s who transferred this year……

This is a listing of QB’s who transferred this season; it is NOT a ranking; players are listed alphabetically by their new school’s name.

— Dequan Finn, Baylor- A 3-year starter at Toledo, was MAC Player of the Year LY, throwing for 2,657 yards, 22 TD’s. Also ran for 563 yards, 7 TD’s.

— Maalik Murphy, Duke- A former 5-star recruit, Murphy started twice for Texas LY, but threw only 71 passes all season. Former starter Riley Leonard bolted to Notre Dame.

— DJ Uiagalelei, Florida State- Threw for 2,638 yards and 21 TD’s for Oregon State LY, after starting for two years at Clemson before that. FSU has only 10 starters back, but they added 14 transfers. Uiagalelei needs to be a more accurate passer.

— Cade McNamara, Iowa- Hawkeyes ranked 129th in scoring last year, 127th in passing yardage; fair to say they had the worst offense in the country, but they went 10-4, despite losing their last two games, 26-0/35-0. McNamara was QB for a 12-2 Michigan team in 2021; he had a torn ACL last year. Iowa brought in a new offensive coordinator to try to score some points.

— Tyler Shough, Louisville- Texas Tech transfer threw for 177 yards in Louisville’s spring game; Cardinals coach Brohm is an excellent offensive coach, but Louisville has only two starters back on the offensive line.

— Cam Ward, Miami- Started out at I-AA Incarnate Word, then bolted to Washington State; he threw for 6,963 yards, 48 TD’s in two years at Wazzu. Miami was 1-4 last year in games decided by 7 or fewer points last year. Ward was brought in to reverse that trend.

— Max Johnson, North Carolina- Started 22 games at LSU/Texas A&M; his dad is former NFL QB Brad Johnson, his uncle is Mark Richt, the former Miami coach. Tar Heels started last year 6-0, but then the defense imploded and they finished 8-5.

Famous birthdays, June 1st:
Morgan Freeman, 87
Brian Cox, 78
Tony Bennett, 55
Teri Polo, 55
Paula Malcomson, 54
Alanis Morrissette, 50
Brandi Carlile, 43
Nick Young, 39
Andrew Abbott, 25

— Grayson McCall, NC State- 3-time Sun Belt Player of the Year at Coastal Carolina, where he threw for over 10,000 yards. Wolfpack has September games against Tennessee/Clemson, so McCall better mesh with his new teammates fairly quickly.

— Riley Leonard, Notre Dame- This is what Notre Dame does now, they just poach QB’s; last year it was Wake Forest’s Sam Hartman (they went 10-3), now it is Leonard, who led Duke to 9-4/8-5 records the last two years. Notre Dame added three transfer WR’s, figures to have a more wide-open offense this season,

— Will Howard, Ohio State- Was a 4-year starter at Kansas State (Wildcats were 31-19 during that time); he is more of a run/pass guy than a deep passer, will be interesting to see how he does under Buckeyes’ new OC, former Oregon/UCLA/Eagles coach Chip Kelly.

Ohio State lost to Michigan the last three years; there is heat on the head coach.

— Alex Bowman, Oklahoma State- Is going into his 7th college season (even I got out of college faster than that); he threw for 3,460 yards LY, with only 15 TD’s, 14 INT’s (RB Gordon ran for 21 TD’s). Cowboys’ entire offensive line returns, so their offense should be stellar.

— Dillon Gabriel, Oregon- Started for two years at UCF, two more years at Oklahoma, now plays for an Oregon team that scored 44.2 points/game LY, with Bo Nix at QB.

Ducks are in the Big 18 now (there are 18 freakin’ teams in this league); November visits to Michigan, Wisconsin will test Gabriel’s skill in cold weather.

— EJ Warner, Rice- Son of Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner, EJ threw for 3,076 yards last year for a 3-9 Temple squad; he is still an Owl, but a Rice Owl now. Warner led the AAC in passing yards the last two years; he figures to help Rice improve on last year’s minus-14 turnover ratio.

Rice went bowling the last two years, which hasn’t happened a lot for them; they’ve got an experienced team, actually have some expectations this year.

— Will Rogers, Washington- Rogers started for four years at Mississippi State, where he played for the late Mike Leach, but things imploded in Starkville LY, after Leach’s untimely death. He ranks #2 in passing yards in the history of the SEC.

Huskies lost all 11 starters on offense after their head coach bolted to Alabama; they’ve got only one starter back on defense, but new coach Jedd Fisch rebuilt Arizona’s program fairly quickly

This is what college sports are becoming; the rich poaching from the not-so-rich. Not an ideal situation, but it is what it is……..

 

[Udog]

NHL

Saturday, June 1

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Trend Report
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NY Rangers @ Florida
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
NY Rangers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Florida
Florida
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Florida's last 11 games when playing at home against NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Florida's last 8 games


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[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, June 1

 

[CNOTES]

SATURDAY, JUNE 1​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
NYR at FLA	08:00 PM	FLA -162 O 5.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack:
Most home runs in New York Mets’ history:
262— Darryl Strawberry
242— David Wright
220— Mike Piazza
204— Pete Alonso
192— Howard Johnson
154— Dave Kingman

Quote of the Day
“To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.”
George McDonald

Sunday’s quiz
When was last time an Eastern Conference team won the NBA title?

Saturday’s quiz
Darryl Strawberry played 17 years in the majors, for four teams; the two New York teams, and the Giants/Dodgers.

Friday’s quiz
Rick Carlisle was the Dallas Mavericks’ coach when they won their only NBA title, in 2011.

******************************************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday…….

— Chicago Bears will be on this summer’s version of HBO’s Hard Knocks, which should be very interesting, seeing how they have a rookie QB and all. Bears are 16-35 the last three years, have not had a winning season since 2018.

— Last year, Notre Dame poached QB Sam Hartman from Wake Forest, after he started for the Deacons for four years; he probably made a lot of $$$ making the move, but a disturbing lack of loyalty. Wake Forest is in the ACC after all, but then after a 9-3 regular season, Hartman sat out Notre Dame’s bowl game, so he could prepare for the NFL Draft.

Oy.

Problem is, Hartman never got drafted; he will be in the Washington Commanders’ camp as an undrafted free agent. Too bad the Commanders aren’t on Hard Knocks.

— Miami Dolphins inked WR Jaylen Waddle to a 3-year deal worth $84.75M, with $76M of that money guaranteed. He is now the 4th highest-paid WR in the league.

Last year, Waddle caught 72 passes for 1,014 yards, and 4 TD’s; he’s had 1,000+ receiving yards in all three of his years in the NFL.

— Bought my first college football magazine of the year couple days ago; hard to process the shuffling that has gone on in college sports.

The Big 10 is now the Big 18
Stanford, Cal and SMU are in the ACC, which makes zero sense.
Oklahoma/Texas are in the SEC.

— Mets retired Darryl Strawberry’s #18 Saturday; Strawberry last played for the Mets in 1990- since then, 19 different players have worn #18 for Mets, but no one else will anymore.

— Sacramento Kings more than doubled coach Mike Brown’s salary; he re-upped with the Kings for $8.5M a year, a deal that runs thru 2027. Sacramento was 94-70 the last two seasons, ending a 16-year playoff drought.

— All four of these guys went to the same college, three of them played QB there:
Jimmy Garoppolo
Sean Payton
Tony Romo
Mike Shanahan

Pretty impressive list; I never would’ve guessed they all went to Eastern Illinois.

Famous birthdays, June 2nd:
Jerry Mathers, 76
Lawrence McCutcheon, 74
Joanna Gleason, 74

Dennis Haysbert, 70
Dana Carvey, 69
Al Wood, 66

Earl Boykins, 48
Nikki Cox, 36
Austin Davis, 35

— Panthers 2, Rangers 1
Florida wins series 4-2, is in Stanley Cup for third time ever, second year in a row. They also made the finals in 1996, their third year in existence.

— Orioles 9, Rays 5
Ryan Mountcastle hit two homers.
Tampa Bay lost nine of its last 12 games.

— A’s 11, Braves 9
Miguel Andujar was 4-5, with 3 runs scored, 4 RBI
Atlanta is 3-8 in its last 11 home games.

— Phillies 6, Cardinals 1
Phillies have won eight in a row at home.
P Ranger Suarez got hit in the hand with a line drive; x-rays came back negative.

— Brewers 4, White Sox 3 (10)
Chicago has lost ten games in a row.
Milwaukee is 5-0 when Robert Gasser pitches.

— Rangers 7, Marlins 0
Michael Lorenzen tossed 6.1 scoreless innings.
Texas has won four of its last five games.

— Some media people have been mumbling about Shohei Ohtani winning MVP this year; can’t see how a DH could ever win MVP- he doesn’t play the field, all he does is hit, plus the Dodgers have Mookie Betts hitting in front of him, Freddie Freeman behind him. Lot of talent there; why would one guy be more valuable than the other two?

— Ravens’ QB Lamar Jackson has a deal in his contract where he has to participate in 80% of the Ravens’ offseason workouts to earn a $750,000 bonus, but when you sign a contract worth a total of $260M, $750,000 probably seems like pocket change.

Jackson has missed most of Baltimore’s workouts this spring.

 

[Udog]

NHL

Saturday, June 1

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Trend Report
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Dallas @ Edmonton
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Dallas's last 7 games when playing on the road against Edmonton
Dallas is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games on the road
Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Edmonton's last 7 games when playing at home against Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Edmonton's last 9 games at home


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[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, June 2

 

[CNOTES]

SUNDAY, JUNE 2​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
DAL at EDM	08:00 PM	EDM -135 U 5.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack:
Last six Stanley Cup champs:
2023— Vegas Golden Knights
2022— Colorado Avalanche
2021— Tampa Bay Lightning
2020— Tampa Bay Lightning
2019— St Louis Blues
2018— Washington Capitals

Quote of the Day
“It’s a lot that myself, and we can learn from that experience being in the Finals, and this time, this go-around is a lot different. Obviously, we’ve been there before, we came up short. And a great opportunity to make it to the Finals again. You don’t always get a second chance, so really just looking at it as a second chance and trying to simplify things as much as we can.”
Celtics star Jayson Tatum

Monday’s quiz
Who was coach of the Boston Celtics, last time they won the NBA title?

Sunday’s quiz
2021 was last time an Eastern Conference team won the NBA title, when the Milwaukee Bucks beat Phoenix 4-2 in the Finals.

Saturday’s quiz
Darryl Strawberry played 17 years in the majors, for four teams; the two New York teams, and the Giants/Dodgers.

****************************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend…….

— Baseball front offices have been overrun by over-educated morons; the new thing is that a marginal starting pitcher is only allowed to face 18 batters, no matter how he is doing. There is evidence that pitchers struggle when they go thru lineups a third time, but for the love of Christ, use some freakin’ common sense.

Saturday afternoon, Arizona is beating the Mets 4-1 in bottom of the 5th; rookie pitcher Slade Cecconi is pitching. Mets have a man on 2nd, two out- Cecconi got the last two hitters out, but they take him, because he had gone thru the lineup twice.

How the hell is he supposed to develop into a dependable starting pitcher if he isn’t allowed to finish the 5th inning? He had only thrown 71 pitches. It makes no sense.

— Baltimore Orioles are 37-20, they’re probably going to make the playoffs; they’re 3 games out of first place in the AL East, but they’ve got an 8.5-game lead for a Wild Card slot, so they’re a solid bet to make the playoffs.

Problem is, their starting pitching is banged up; Means/Wells are out for the year, and they’ve got several position player prospects in the minors. It makes sense that between now and July 31 (the trade deadline), Orioles are going to trade for a couple starting pitchers.

— Detroit 8, Boston 4 (10)- Tigers have won five games this year that they trailed in by 3+ runs, more than any American League team.

— Arizona 5, Mets 4- Mets, on the other hand, have lost six games that they led after eight innings. Mets have the 3rd-worst record in the National League. Ketel Marte homered twice; the second one was a 2-run blast in the ninth inning.

— Texas 6, Miami 0- Marlins start out June by getting beat 7-0/6-0. Not ideal.

— Brewers 6, White Sox 3
Chicago has now lost 11 games in a row.
OF Tommy Pham had been a bright spot for Chicago, but he was 2-21 last week.

— Oilers 2, Stars 1
Edmonton is in Stanley Cup finals for first time since 2006.
Oilers haven’t won the Stanley Cup since 1990.

There is a player on Edmonton, Corey Perry, who is the first player in NHL history to play in the NHL’s Final Four for five different teams. He is 39 now, has been in NHL since 2005; he was on the Anaheim Ducks when they won the Stanley Cup in 2007.

Florida Panthers opened as -125 favorites to win the Stanley Cup final.

Famous birthdays, June 3rd:
Billy Cunningham, 81
Anderson Cooper, 57
Az-Zahir Hakim, 47
Al Horford, 38
Rafael Nadal, 38
Imogen Poots, 35
Harrison Bader, 30
Luis Gil, 26

Host of The Gong Show, Chuck Barris, was born on June 3, 1929. The Gong Show was one of the funniest game shows ever; it was American Idol without talented contestants.

— Week 10, UFL:
Birmingham 20, Michigan 19
These teams meet again in the playoffs next week.

St Louis 13, San Antonio 12
These teams also meet again in the playoffs next week.

Arlington 32, DC Defenders 31
Arlington drove 41 yards, scored game-winning TD with 2:28 left.

Memphis 19, Houston 12
Houston lost despite outgaining the Roughnecks, 323-203.

Four games decided by total of 10 points in the last week of the regular season.

— Former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel is now an assistant with the Cleveland Browns; I was so hoping Browns-Titans played each other this fall, but they don’t. Vrabel coached under Cleveland DC Jim Schwartz in Tennessee.

— Ever hear of Reese Poffenbarger? Didn’t think so.

Reese Poffenbarger played QB for the I-AA Albany Great Danes, which is where I went to college. Back then, Albany was D-3; they ran the wishbone and usually won. My work-study job in college was doing stats for football/basketball games, a really good work-study job.

These days, Albany is I-AA, and Poffenbarger has thrown for 6,613 yards and 60 TD’s the last two years— he is very good. Good enough to get poached by an ACC team.

Miami’s QB the last three years, Tyler Van Dyke bolted to Wisconsin, so Miami hit the transfer portal and paid Poffenbarger, but then they also hit the portal for Washington State QB Cam Ward, so now Poffenbarger gets paid to run the scout team, unless Ward gets hurt.

— New York 7, Giants 5
Juan Soto homered twice, including the game-winner in the 9th inning.

Blake Snell left in the 5th inning with a leg injury, is likely headed to the IL.
Snell, who signed a 2-year, $62M deal just before the season, is 0-3, 9.51 in six starts.

— All six division leaders have a 3+ game lead in their division; the three NL leaders have leads of 6.5, 6.5 and 7 games over the second place teams. Good thing the Wild Cards exist.

— Clemson was playing Coastal Carolina in the college baseball tournament, and they actually used the hidden ball trick in the second inning- it worked. Clemson won the game 12-5; college baseball is high-level stuff. How do you fall for the hidden ball trick?

— Early part of the week is going to be quiet; NBA Finals don’t start until Thursday, Stanley Cup Finals start Saturday.

 

[Udog]

No games today. Oilers vs. Panthers championship series begins Saturday.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Last six NBA champs:
2023— Denver Nuggets
2022— Golden State Warriors
2021— Milwaukee Bucks
2020— Los Angeles Lakers
2019— Toronto Raptors
2018— Golden State Warriors

Quote of the Day
“I think I was able to reel it in a little bit, got right into the at-bat. I guess there’s something about competing against the people you know that makes you lock in a little bit. But also, the guy on the mound [Wheeler] was pretty good tonight, so you better do that, or you’re probably not going to have too much of a chance.”
Milwaukee DH Rhys Hoskins, talking about his first game against his old team

Tuesday’s quiz
In the first-ever episode of Cheers, why was Diane (Shelley Long) in Sam Malone’s bar?

Monday’s quiz
Doc Rivers was coach of the Boston Celtics, last time they won the NBA title.

Sunday’s quiz
2021 was last time an Eastern Conference team won the NBA title, when the Milwaukee Bucks beat Phoenix 4-2 in the Finals.

*********************************************

Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….

— Vikings’ WR Justin Jefferson broke the bank Monday, landing a 4-year, $140M deal, with $110 of that money guaranteed, the biggest contract ever for a non-quarterback.

In four seasons with Minnesota, Jefferson has 392 receptions for 5,899 yards, 30 TD’s.

His problem is that Kirk Cousins lives in Atlanta now, so at some point this fall, the Vikings will be breaking in a rookie QB, which figures to hamper Minnesota’s passing game, at least for a little while.

— Read this Monday and thought it was interesting:

Say there are two NHL players, both of whom earn $3M a year; one plays in Toronto, the other guys plays for Tampa Bay or Florida.

The guy on the Maple Leafs will play roughly $500,000 more in taxes than the guys who call Florida home. Has to hurt the Canadian teams in free agency, right?

— Edmonton beat Dallas 2-1 Sunday night to win the Western Conference; they got outshot 34-10, tied for the fewest shots on goal ever for a team that won a playoff game.

— Tigers 2, Rangers 1
Jake Rogers, Detroit’s #9 batter, hit two homers.
Wonder how many times a team scored two runs, won the game, with both runs coming on home runs hit by the #9 hitter?

— Diamondbacks 4, Giants 2
Pavin Smith hit a 2-run, pinch-hit, walk-off home run for Arizona.
Giants have lost five games in a row.

— Seattle Mariners are 34-27, lead the AL West, but they recently fired their bench coach.

Brant Brown was the bench coach/offensive coordinator; he was the Marlins’ hitting coach LY, when Miami made the playoffs, but this year’s Mariners are 29th in runs/game and have struck out the most of any team.

Firing a 1st-year assistant coach on a successful team around June 1st? Must be an interesting story there.

Famous birthdays, June 4th:
Terry Kennedy, 68
Xavier McDaniel, 61
Scott Servais, 57

Noah Wyle, 53
Darin Erstad, 50
Angelina Jolie, 49

Aaron Nola, 31
Freddy Peralta, 28
Skylar Thompson, 26

— Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee, Brewers beat the White Sox 6-3; Freddy Peralta’s line was mediocre, three runs in 5 IP (97 PT) but a deeper dive shows that he threw 43 pitches in the first inning, barely survived that, then needed only 54 pitches to get thru the next four innings and get the win.

When you’re the ace of a staff, part of your job is to eat up innings, to take strain off the bullpen. Getting knocked out in the first inning would’ve screwed up the bullpen for a couple days.

— Reds 13, Rockies 3
Cincinnati is 7-3 in its last ten games.
Spencer Steer is 8-14 in his last three games.

— Astros 7, Cardinals 4
Alex Bregman tied game with an 8th inning home run.
Yainer Diaz hit a 2-run homer later that inning for game-winning runs.

— Angels 2, Padres 1
Angels snapped their 5-game losing streak.
Manny Machado homered for San Diego’s only run.

— Mets 8, Nationals 7
Starling Marte had three hits, scored two runs.
Jose Iglesias had three hits, including the go-ahead single.

— Phillies 3, Brewers 1
Zach Wheeler pitched seven strong innings for the home team.
Rhys Hoskins homered against his old team, his first game back in Philly.

— Orioles 7, Blue Jays 2
Austin Hays homered twice for Baltimore.
Orioles are 9-2 in their last eleven games.

— Detroit Tigers are going to retire former manager Jim Leyland’s number 10 in a ceremony August 3rd, two weeks after he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Major league leaders in runs scored:
54— Bobby Witt Jr, KC
48— William Contreras, Milw
47— Gunnar Henderson, Balt
46— Jose Ramirez Clev/Juan Soto NYY
44— Kyle Schwarber Phil/Aaron Judge NYY
43— Marcus Semien Tex/Mookie Betts LA/Anthony Volpe, NYY

Quote of the Day
“That was a terrible game by us today, especially the early portion of the game. When you’re going through losing streaks, at least you fight. For the most part we have. That was an awful game.”
Giants’ manager Bob Melvin, after an 8-5 loss in Arizona.

Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the San Diego Padres’ all-time leader in home runs?

Tuesday’s quiz
In the first-ever episode of Cheers, Diane (Shelley Long) was in Sam Malone’s bar because she was with her fiancee, waiting to get married, but he wound up walking out on her and Sam hired her as a waitress in the bar.

Monday’s quiz
Doc Rivers was coach of the Boston Celtics, last time they won the NBA title.

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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

— There is an excellent 90-minute special on HBO with former NBA player/US Senator Bill Bradley; he talks about his very interesting life and one of the stories he told was especially interesting, at least to me.

Jerry Lucas was a very good ballplayer; he played for the ’73 Knicks championship team, he scored over 14,000 points in his career, but he was also a memory expert- he wrote books with a guy named Harry Lorayne about how to improve your memory.

I bought one of his books when I was in high school, but I forgot where I put it

Bill Bradley tells this story about how Lucas met the great chess champion Bobby Fischer, and Lucas told Fischer how he memorized pages in a phone book. He could tell you anyone’s phone number in the book; Fischer didn’t believe him.

Fischer picks a page in the phone book, asks Lucas for the phone number of the 10th name on that page, and Lucas rattles it off, no problem.

An amazing skill, but not sure how marketable it was.

— Northwestern’s basketball team is taking a 10-day trip to Italy/Greece August 20-30; trips like those help with team bonding, especially in this transfer portal era, when teams get cobbled together quickly.

— 49ers signed Christian McCaffrey to a 2-year, $38M contract extension; there are only five running backs who are making $10M+ a year.

— Today is June 5th; the baseball trade deadline is eight weeks from tomorrow, so for the next 57 days, writers will guess which players the contending teams will poach from the poor teams before July 31st. No bueno.

All this stuff gives fantasy baseball managers a headache; one of your players gets traded to a smaller ballpark (or a pitcher to a bigger one) that helps. Of course the opposite can also happen; real-life trades will keep us on our toes next month.

— Tuesday was a rough day for my fantasy squad; three of my players went on the IL, one of whom sprained his ankle stumbling on the dugout steps during Sunday’s game. Seriously, a 24-year old pro athlete is out for three weeks because he tripped on the dugout steps.

Oy.

— Phillies 2, Brewers 1 (10)
Alec Bohm tied the game with an 8th inning home run.
Phillies are 43-19, 26-9 at home; they lead NL East by 7 games.

— Pirates 1, Dodgers 0
Jack Suwinski’s home run was the game’s only run.
Jared Jones tossed six shutout inning for Pittsburgh.
Dodgers were 0-12 with runners in scoring position.

Famous birthdays, June 5th:
Leslie Hendrix, 64
Jeff Garlin, 62
Mark Wahlberg, 53
Zydrunas Ilgauskas, 49

Torry Holt, 48
Andrew Heaney, 33
Joe Ryan, 28
Sam Darnold, 27

— Guardians 8, Royals 5
Kansas City led 5-0 in fifth inning; Bobby Witt hit two homers.
Cleveland leads AL Central by 5 games over the Royals.

— Rays 9, Marlins 5
Brandon Lowe hit a 3-run homer, knocked in five runs.
Tampa Bay is 21-4 in its last 25 games against the Marlins.

— Cubs 7, White Sox 6
White Sox led 5-0 in fifth inning, still lost their 12th game in a row.
Cubs won for only third time in their last 12 games.

— Tigers 3, Rangers 1
Jack Flaherty tossed five shutout IP (60 PT), left with back tightness.
Detroit is over .500 for first time since May 18th.

— Astros 8, Cardinals 5
Yanier Diaz homered for the second game in a row.
Alex Bregman scored three runs for Houston.

— Reds 4, Rockies 1
Frankie Montas allowed only one hit in 7 IP.

Hideo Nomo threw the only no-hitter in Coors Field history, in 1996.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Padres, Cubs
AL: New York, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Orioles, Royals, Twins

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Rays 5, Marlins 3— Tampa Bay won 23 of last 26 games vs Miami.
— Cubs 7, White Sox 6- Pale Hose led 5-1 in fifth inning.
— Reds 12, Rockies 7- Cincinnati scored six runs in ninth inning.
— Pirates 10, Dodgers 6- Pittsburgh scored seven runs in 2nd inning.
— Angels 3, Padres 2- Zach Neto hit a 2-rum homer.
— A’s 2, Mariners 1- Joey Estes had a perfect game going until 7th inning.

Quote of the Day
“It just wasn’t perfect for us playing together, and it didn’t work out. And that’s it. There’s no ill will, I don’t think from their side. For sure, [there is not] from my side. I don’t think there should be. It just didn’t work out, but I have nothing but love for Dallas and for my teammates and for everybody there.”
Celtics C Kristaps Porzingis, talking about his time with the Mavericks

Thursday’s quiz
Dave Winfield was a Hall of Fame baseball player, was drafted by four pro teams in three different sports. Where did he go to college?

Wednesday’s quiz
Nate Colbert is the San Diego Padres’ all-time leader in home runs, with 163.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the first-ever episode of Cheers, Diane (Shelley Long) was in Sam Malone’s bar because she was with her fiancee, waiting to get married, but he wound up walking out on her and Sam hired her as a waitress in the bar.

************************************************

Thursday’s Den: Random college football knowledge​

— Replacing Nick Saban at Alabama is going to be really difficult; the fanbase is spoiled, the SEC is a really tough league. Very little chance this ends well.
Remember Gene Bartow coaching basketball at UCLA? The guy replaced John Wooden, he went 52-9 in two years, then beat feet to start the program at UAB, because back then, 52-9 at UCLA wasn’t good enough. Kind of like Alabama now.
Kalen DeBoer went 25-3 in two years at Washington, 12-6 in two years at Fresno State and before that, he was 67-3 at an NAIA school. Very good coach.
But Alabama has only 8 of 22 starters back from last year; good luck.

— Georgia scored 40.1 ppg last year; they’ve got nine starters back on offense, but lost four assistant coaches, two of whom became head coaches (Georgia State/Syracuse).
Last time Georgia didn’t play in a bowl: 1996.

— USC is in the Big 18 now; they got a break with their schedule- their three eastern road trips are in September/October. Trojans’ over/under win total is only 7.5, not very high; they’ve got only nine starters back. Who will play QB; last year’s backup, Miller Moss or UNLV transfer Jayden Maiava?

— Oklahoma/Texas are both in the SEC now; Sooners figure to struggle some.
Oklahoma has a new:
Offensive coordinator
Quarterback
5 new offensive linemen
Sooners open with four straight home games, but Houston/Tennessee are two of those.

— As for Texas, they’ve got 5 starters back on offense, 7 on defense; their QB is back, and so are 4 of their starters on the offensive line, which is good. They’ve got a tough road game September 7 at Michigan.
Last year, Longhorns were #70 in country in 3rd down conversions (38.4%), 120th in country in TD %age in the red zone (50.8%). Those numbers need to improve.

— Florida’s November schedule is kind of hard:
November 2- vs Georgia
November 9- @ Texas
November 16- LSU
November 23- Ole Miss
November 30- @ Florida State
No bye weeks in there; not ideal.

— Coordinators who changed jobs since last year:
Ohio State OC Chip Kelly was head coach at UCLA last year.
Alabama DC Kane Wommack was the head coach at South Alabama last year.
Arkansas OC Bobby Petrino was head coach at Missouri State last year.
UCLA OC Eric Bieniemy was OC for the Commanders last year.
Boise State OC Dirk Koetter comes out of semi-retirement to revive the Broncos’ offense.
Michigan DC Wink Martindale was the Giants’ DC last year.

— Famous birthdays for June 6th:
Max Venable, 67
Cam Neely, 59
Paul Giamatti, 57
Mark Ellis, 47
Anthony Rendon, 34
DeAndre Hopkins, 32
Joey Lucchesi, 31
Kenny Pickett, 26

— 12-team college football playoff starts with two games each December 20-21.
Quarterfinals will have two games each December 31-January 1st.
Semi-finals are January 9-10.
National championship game is January 20th.

— Last year, I-A teams went 113-4 vs I-AA teams; it is stupid that these games are played, it is stealing money from fans to watch non-competitive games. This year, there are 121 of these games. Awesome.
I-A teams that lost to a I-AA team last year:
Buffalo, Nevada, Northern Illinois, Stanford.

— Michigan QB Jack Tuttle was the 7th-rated QB in the 2018 freshman class; he is still a Wolverine. Here are some other QB’s who were also in that class:
#1- Trevor Lawrence- Was #1 pick in the 2021 draft
#11- Justin Fields- #11 pick in ‘21 draft just got traded to the Steelers.
#25- Zach Wilson- #2 pick in ’21 draft just moved to the Broncos.
#36- Michael Penix- #8 pick in 2024 draft by Atlanta.
#50- Brock Purdy- #262 pick in ’22 draft starts for the 49ers.
Tuttle isn’t the only QB in his 7th year of college football.
Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman used to play at Texas Tech.
Utah QB Cam Rising used to play at Texas.

— Clemson won its last five games LY, after starting the season 4-4; six true freshmen started 3+ games last year, and none of them transferred. This year, Tigers play Georgia, Florida State, NC State in their first five games.
Last year was first time in 12 years Clemson didn’t win 10+ games; they’ve only got three starters back on defense, but the offense figures to be improved.

— Coaches on the hot seat, alphabetically by school:
(In reality, every coach who lost his last game is on the hot seat, but still…….)
Arkansas- Sam Pittman- Hired Bobby Petrino to save his offense.
Baylor- Dave Aranda- Bears are 3-10 in last 13 games, with a home loss to Texas State.
BYU- Kalani Sitake- Were 118th in country running ball LY, now they’re in the Big X.
Florida- Billy Napier- He is 11-14 in two years, but has 13 starters back this season.
Pittsburgh- Pat Narduzzi- Pitt was 3-9 LY, then fired the offensive coordinator.

— Top QB’s who transferred this year:
Dillon Gabriel (Oklahoma to Oregon)
Cam Ward (Washington State to Miami)
Riley Leonard (Duke to Notre Dame)
DJ Uiagalelei (Clemson to Oregon State to Florida State)
Cam Howard (Kansas State to Ohio State)

— With all the conference shuffling going on, Oregon State/Washington State got screwed over, left behind to fend for themselves, all of which makes Oregon State-Oregon, Washington-Wazzu must watch TV this fall.
Beavers/Coogs are basically playing a Mountain West schedule for now; Oregon State’s coach bolted to Michigan State, and he’s an OSU alum. Not a good sign for the future.

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
Highest-paid coaches, by league:
NFL— Andy Reid, Chiefs, $20M
NBA— Steve Kerr, Warriors, $17.5M
MLB— Craig Counsell, Cubs, $8.5M
NHL— Mike Sullivan, Penguins, $5.5M
CFB— Kirby Smart, Georgia, $13M
CBB— Bill Self, Kansas, $10.6M

Quote of the Day
“Either you lose or you win. First to four (wins), we’ve got to focus on the next game.”

Luka Doncic
Friday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, what number did Corbin Bernsen’s character (Roger Dorn) wear for the Cleveland Indians?

Thursday’s quiz
Dave Winfield was a Hall of Fame baseball player, was drafted by four pro teams in three different sports. He went to college at Minnesota.

Wednesday’s quiz
Nate Colbert is the San Diego Padres’ all-time leader in home runs, with 163.

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Friday’s Den: Trends for all 30 MLB teams……..​

— Giants lost six of their last seven games.
San Francisco is 17-11 in day games, 13-22 in night games.

— Nationals lost six of their last seven games,
Rookie P Parker is 4-3, 3.47 in his first 10 MLB starts.

— Famous birthdays for June 7th:
Cazzie Russell, 80
Don Money, 77
Terrell Buckley, 53
Allen Iverson, 49
Anna Kournikova, 43
Kellen Clemens, 41
Christian McCaffrey, 28

— Orioles are 14-6 in series openers.
Baltimore is 13-5 vs lefty starters.

— Red Sox are 6-11 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 1-9 in home series openers.

— White Sox have 14 games in a row.
Lefty P Garrett Crochet is 4-1, 1.03 in his last six starts.

— Guardians are 19-5 in their last 24 home games.
Cleveland is 12-4 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 8-4 in their last 12 games.
Over is 10-3 in their last 13 road games.

— Under is 11-3 in Astros’ last 14 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 6-12

— Royals are 3-7 in their last ten games.
Kansas City is 22-10 at home, 15-16 on road.

— Angels won three games in row for first time since April 3rd.
Under is 5-1 in their last six home games.

— Under is 8-2 in their last ten home games.
Since 2002, Twins are 44-123 against New York.

— New York won 26 of its last 32 games.
NY scored in first inning in 12 of its last 21 games.

— A’s lost 12 of their last 14 road games.
Under is 9-2 in their last 11 games.

— Mariners are 9-1 in home series openers, 4-6 in road series openers.
Seattle is 17-5 in its last 22 home games, overall.

— Rays are 11-5 vs lefty starters, 20-26 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 3-8 in home series openers.

— Texas lost nine of its last 12 road games.
Under is 20-6 in Rangers’ last 26 home games.

— Toronto is 7-3 in its last ten games.
Blue Jays are 7-3 in road series openers.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack:
NFL Week 1 spreads:
— Ravens @ Kansas City (-2.5, 46.5)
— Packers vs Eagles (-1.5, 49)
— Titans @ Chicago (-4.5, 43.5)
— Texans (-2, 48) @ Indianapolis
— Cardinals @ Buffalo (-7, 48)
— Patriots @ Cincinnati (-9, 42)

Quote of the Day
“We’re not looking next year. We’re forecasting where FSU is going to be five, 10, 15 years from now and how do we make sure we’re doing our due diligence now to position ourselves. Where is college athletics going to be five,10 years from now and making sure this is a part of it.”
Florida State athletic director Michael Alford

Saturday’s quiz
Which active major leaguer has the most career home runs?

Friday’s quiz
In the movie Major League, Corbin Bernsen’s character (Roger Dorn) wore #24 for the Cleveland Indians.

Thursday’s quiz
Dave Winfield was a Hall of Fame baseball player, was drafted by four pro teams in three different sports. He went to college at Minnesota.

**********************************************

Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..

— Royals 10, Mariners 9
Seattle led 7-0 in top of the first inning…….but lost.
MJ Melendez hit a grand slam for the Royals.

— New York Mets have played nine extra inning games this year; they haven’t scored a run in the 10th inning in any of the games, even though every half-inning starts with a runner on second base. Astros have played five extra inning games, also don’t have a 10th inning run.

— Mets cut Omar Narvaez/Jorge Lopez this week, which raises their dead $$$ count to $76M this season- they’re paying $76M this season to players who aren’t in their organization.

By way of comparison, the Oakland A’s ENTIRE payroll for this year: $63M.

— Congrats to Justin Turner, who got his 1,500th career hit this week; Turner was mostly a stiff in his first five big league seasons, with Orioles/Mets. He went to the Dodgers and pretty quickly became a star, with an .865 OPS in nine years. 1,088 of his hits were with the Dodgers.

— UConn basketball coach Danny Hurley apparently met with the LA Lakers Friday; if he takes the Lakers’ head coaching job, there will be an interesting domino effect of other people changing jobs, and maybe UConn players bolting to other schools.

— West Virginia’s basketball team is off to Italy for 10 days in August, another one of those foreign trips that help team bonding.

— Celtics beat Dallas in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday; Game 2 isn’t until Sunday; I understand that TV ratings/TV $$$ drive all these decisions, but there were eight days in between the semi-finals and Game 1 of the Finals, now three more days until Game 2.

They’re not exactly capturing the attention of their target audience, or any audience.

— I went to the horse races at Saratoga Thursday, hung out with friends and got some fresh air; they have races in Saratoga for four days this weekend, with the Belmont Stakes Saturday (Belmont is being refurbished). The regular Saratoga meet doesn’t start until next month.

Two total strangers made fun of my hair (they said it is too long, and I had a hat on), I paid $6.42 for a 20-ounce Coke, but other than that, it was a very good day.

— Famous birthdays for June 8th:
Bob Tucker, 79
Sonia Braga, 74
Julianna Margulies, 58
Tom Nutten, 53

Mark Feuerstein, 53
Bryant Reeves, 51
Connor Norby, 24
Tyson Bagent, 24

— Brewers 10, Tigers 0
Blake Perkins hit two triples, his first two triples in the big leagues.
Tobias Myers tossed eight scoreless IP for Milwaukee.

This was the Brewers’ 9th game this year with 10+ runs, most in the major leagues.

— Random stat: Last major leaguer with three triples in a game: Yasiel Puig, who hit three triples against the Giants on July 25, 2014, in an 8-1 Dodger win.

— A’s 2, Blue Jays 1
JJ Bleday hit a walk-off homer for the A’s;
Hogan Harris tossed six shutout IP for Oakland.

— Blue Jays haven’t scored a first-inning run in their last 29 games.

By way of comparison, Angels’ P Griffin Canning has allowed 15 first inning runs in his 13 starts.

— White Sox 7, Red Sox 2
Chicago ends its 14-game losing streak.
Garrett Crochet is 6-5, 3.33 and is headed to the All-Star Game.

— Pirates 3, Twins 0
Mitch Keller won his sixth straight start, first Pirate to do that since 2015.
Minnesota was shut out for the fourth time this season.

— Nationals 2, Braves 1
Jake Irvin tossed six shutout IP for Washington.
Chris Sale lost for the first time since April 13.

— Reds 3, Cubs 2
Cincinnati won its sixth game in a row.
Nick Lodolo allowed one run in 6 IP.

— Pat Sajak signed off as host of Wheel of Fortune Friday, ending his 41-year run on the show. Imagine having a job that is so much fun that you do it for 41 years, and he did it very well.

We need more game shows on TV, of that I am sure.