Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack
Odds to win the 2018 college basketball championship:
10-1— Kentucky, Louisville, Duke
12-1— Kansas, North Carolina, Villanova, Gonzaga
15-1— Arizona
20-1— Michigan, Indiana, Wichita St, Florida, Michigan St
25-1— West Virginia, Butler, UCLA
30-1— Virginia
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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud……
13) Dustin Johnson fell down a flight of stairs Wednesday, is a ???? for The Masters today, which wreaked havoc with odds here in Las Vegas, and also in my golf pool. Hope he is OK; Wednesday was a rainy day in Augusta; otherwise Johnson would’ve been at the Par 3 tournament they usually have the day before the tournament starts.
12) People who paid to see the Par 3 tournament (some as much as $1,800) were out of luck Wednesday. I’m assuming they gave out refunds, but I couldn’t find anything that said one way or the other if that happened.
11) Del Mar Deli by the SouthPoint sports book has superior pizza; they also have Dr Brown’s soda, which isn’t easy to find. If you’re looking for an excellent place to stay in Las Vegas that is a little more casual than some places, SouthPoint would be a great choice.
This weekend: bowling tournaments and a cheerleading competition are here. Oy.
10) Akron hired former Ohio U/Illinois coach John Grace to replace Keith Dambrot, who is now the coach at Duquesne.
9) Memphis Tigers lost two of their top three scorers when the Lawson brothers bolted with their father to a school to be named- the dad was a program assistant. Lawsons were two of Memphis’ top three scorers, so their talent pool takes a big hit, but you get the idea reading between the lines that chemistry-wise, this could be addition by subtraction.
8) Cubs are batting their pitcher 8th again this spring, which is Joe Maddon playing mind games with his competitors. If he really thought this was a good idea, they would’ve done it during the playoffs- thats when you show your hand as to what your best strategy is.
Seriously, other teams batted their pitcher 8th last year and their managers basically didn’t have any good reason to do it, other than, “…well (Tony) LaRussa and Maddon did it.”
7) Rumors on the Interweb say Jeb Bush may buy the Miami Marlins; hey, it worked for his brother, who once owned the Texas Rangers before becoming President.
6) Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson didn’t play last night, missing his first NBA game since February 10, 2012, when he was a rookie- he had played in 447 consecutive games.
5) Last guy to win The Masters in his first try? Fuzzy Zoeller, in 1979.
4) Bartolo Colon made his MLB 20 years ago for Cleveland, against an Angels’ team managed by Terry Collins. Colon pitched against the Mets last nite, managed by Terry Collins.
3) Astros 5, Mariners 3 (13)— Seattle went to Houston, scored total of five runs in losing their first three games of the season. Mariners led 3-2 in 13th inning before George Springer hit a 3-run walk-off tater. If you had Seattle and the under (7.5), not your finest hour.
2) Masters prop bets: Which par-5 hole will yield the most birdies this weekend?
13th hole: 7-5, 15th hole: 2-1, 2nd hole: 2-1, 8th hole: 4-1.
1— Which par-3 hole will yield the most birdies?
16th hole: 2-7, 12th hole: 13-5, 6th hole: 14-5, 4th hole: 20-1.
Odds to win the 2018 college basketball championship:
10-1— Kentucky, Louisville, Duke
12-1— Kansas, North Carolina, Villanova, Gonzaga
15-1— Arizona
20-1— Michigan, Indiana, Wichita St, Florida, Michigan St
25-1— West Virginia, Butler, UCLA
30-1— Virginia
**********
Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud……
13) Dustin Johnson fell down a flight of stairs Wednesday, is a ???? for The Masters today, which wreaked havoc with odds here in Las Vegas, and also in my golf pool. Hope he is OK; Wednesday was a rainy day in Augusta; otherwise Johnson would’ve been at the Par 3 tournament they usually have the day before the tournament starts.
12) People who paid to see the Par 3 tournament (some as much as $1,800) were out of luck Wednesday. I’m assuming they gave out refunds, but I couldn’t find anything that said one way or the other if that happened.
11) Del Mar Deli by the SouthPoint sports book has superior pizza; they also have Dr Brown’s soda, which isn’t easy to find. If you’re looking for an excellent place to stay in Las Vegas that is a little more casual than some places, SouthPoint would be a great choice.
This weekend: bowling tournaments and a cheerleading competition are here. Oy.
10) Akron hired former Ohio U/Illinois coach John Grace to replace Keith Dambrot, who is now the coach at Duquesne.
9) Memphis Tigers lost two of their top three scorers when the Lawson brothers bolted with their father to a school to be named- the dad was a program assistant. Lawsons were two of Memphis’ top three scorers, so their talent pool takes a big hit, but you get the idea reading between the lines that chemistry-wise, this could be addition by subtraction.
8) Cubs are batting their pitcher 8th again this spring, which is Joe Maddon playing mind games with his competitors. If he really thought this was a good idea, they would’ve done it during the playoffs- thats when you show your hand as to what your best strategy is.
Seriously, other teams batted their pitcher 8th last year and their managers basically didn’t have any good reason to do it, other than, “…well (Tony) LaRussa and Maddon did it.”
7) Rumors on the Interweb say Jeb Bush may buy the Miami Marlins; hey, it worked for his brother, who once owned the Texas Rangers before becoming President.
6) Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson didn’t play last night, missing his first NBA game since February 10, 2012, when he was a rookie- he had played in 447 consecutive games.
5) Last guy to win The Masters in his first try? Fuzzy Zoeller, in 1979.
4) Bartolo Colon made his MLB 20 years ago for Cleveland, against an Angels’ team managed by Terry Collins. Colon pitched against the Mets last nite, managed by Terry Collins.
3) Astros 5, Mariners 3 (13)— Seattle went to Houston, scored total of five runs in losing their first three games of the season. Mariners led 3-2 in 13th inning before George Springer hit a 3-run walk-off tater. If you had Seattle and the under (7.5), not your finest hour.
2) Masters prop bets: Which par-5 hole will yield the most birdies this weekend?
13th hole: 7-5, 15th hole: 2-1, 2nd hole: 2-1, 8th hole: 4-1.
1— Which par-3 hole will yield the most birdies?
16th hole: 2-7, 12th hole: 13-5, 6th hole: 14-5, 4th hole: 20-1.