Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting Week 7 NFL spreads:
— Dolphins @ Indianapolis (-3.5)
— Panthers @ Washington (-7.5)
— Chiefs @ San Francisco (-1.5)
— Jets (-1.5) @ Pittsburgh
— Ravens (-3.5) @ Tampa Bay
— Chargers (-2.5) @ Arizona
Quote of the Day
“It’s just funny how things change, where there was a lot of concern about Shohei not being able to get hits with the runners in scoring position — and now we’re all trying to find ways … to get guys on base so he can hit, right? I kind of find that comical, a little bit.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
Wednesday’s quiz
How many NFL teams have not won a Super Bowl?
Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, Cameron Diaz plays the owner of the Sharks.
Monday’s quiz
Jared Goff played his college football for the Cal Bears.
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings, and Big X basketball notes…….
— Couple of well-known receivers got traded Tuesday:
Jets acquired Davante Adams from Las Vegas, sending a 3rd round pick to the Raiders, a pick that could become a 2nd round pick if the Adams/Jets did really well the rest of this season. Move saves the Raiders $29.6M in dead money on next year’s salary cap.
Cleveland Browns sent Amari Cooper to Buffalo, also for a 3rd round draft pick; Cooper had 53 targets with Cleveland, but caught only 24 of those passes.
— Sounds like Russell Wilson is going to get his first start at QB for Pittsburgh Sunday night, when Steelers host the Jets. Steelers are 4-2 with Justin Fields playing QB in all six games, but they were held under 300 total yards the last two weeks, and Wilson is healthier now.
— Over their last three games, LA Chargers have been outscored 39-3 in the second half.
— New York 6, Cleveland 3
Cleveland P Bibee allowed three runs, got only four outs.
Aaron Judge hit a 2-run home run.
New York leads best-of-7 series, 2-0
— 38.8% of major league pitchers this year have had Tommy John surgery, roughly three of every eight pitchers.
— South Alabama 25, Troy 9
South Alabama led 19-3 at halftime.
Jaguars outgained 1-6 Troy, 318-172.
Troy threw 3 INT’s, averaged only 3.8 yards/pass.
— Middle Tennessee 14, Kennesaw State 5
Blue Raiders ran a punt back 61 yards for a TD.
MTSU outgained the Owls, 284-234.
Kennesaw State is 0-6, in their first year at the I-A level.
Famous birthdays, October 16th:
Timothy Robbins, 66
John Mengelt, 75
Kevin McReynolds, 65
Adrian Murrell, 54
Kordell Stewart, 52
Jonathan Schoop, 33
Bryce Harper, 32
John Wolford, 29
Notes on Big X basketball teams:
— Arizona
Three years under Tommy Lloyd, they’re 88-20, 47-13 in Big X, 4-3 in NCAA’s
In those three years, Wildcats ranked #7-10-11 in the country on offense
— Arizona State
Last four years, Sun Devils were 62-62, 36-41 in Pac-12.
Last three years, ASU ranked #308-275-331 in 3-point FG%.
— Baylor
Bears won national title in 2021; since then, they’re 74-29, 36-18 in Big X.
Last three years, Baylor went WL in NCAA’s all three years, |
Last five years, Baylor was a top 20 offense all five years.
— Brigham Young
BYU hasn’t won an NCAA Tourney game since a play-in game in 2012.
In five years at BYU, Mark Pope was 110-52, 49-29 in WCC, 0-2 in NCAAs.
Pope has moved on to coach Kentucky.
— Central Florida
Last five years, UCF is 39-51 in conference games.
Last four years, Knights ranked #246 or worse in 2-point %age.
UCF’s last NCAA appearance was 2019.
— Cincinnati
Bearcats haven’t made NCAAs since Mick Cronin was coach in 2019
Three years under Wes Miller: 63-43, 25-29 in conference games.
— Colorado
Made NCAA’s twice in last four years.
Last six years, Buffs were 67-49 in Pac-12 games.
Boyle is 3-3 in first round NCAA Tourney games, 0-3 in second round.
— Houston
Last four years, they’re 61-10 in conference games, 11-4 in NCAA Tourney.
Went 32-5, 15-3 last year, their first year in Big X
Last four years, Houston has been a top 10 defensive team.
— Iowa State
In three years under Otzelberger, made NCAA’s last three years, going 4-3 in tourney.
Two years before Otzelberger got there, Cyclones were 5-31 in Big X games.
Iowa State has been a top 8 defensive team the last three years.
— Kansas
Jayhawks won national title is 2022.
Last five years, Kansas is 1-4 in second round of NCAA’s.
Last time Kansas lost a first round NCAA game: 2006.
LY, Jayhawks were 10-8 in Big X, their worst conference record since at least 1997.
— Kansas State
K-State made NCAA’s once in last four years (got to Elite 8 in 2023).
Wildcats turned ball over 21.7% of time LY (#345)
— Oklahoma State
Steve Lutz is new coach (22-12 @ Western Kentucky, 44-23 @ A&M-Corpus Christi)
Last three years, Cowboys were 20-34 in Big X games
Last three years, Cowboys ranked #293-320-332 in turnover %age
— TCU
Last three years, TCU was 64-39, 26-28 in Big X, 2-3 in NCAA’s
Before 2022, Horned Frogs had been in NCAAs once since 1998.
Last three years, TCU ranked #44-23-13 in defense.
— Texas Tech
Tech has been in five of last six NCAA’s, but with 3 different coaches.
Red Raiders lost national title game in 2019.
LY, Tech was 23-11, 11-7 in Big X, their first year under McCasland.
— Utah
Utes last made the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
Utah picked up the pace LY; they were #57 in tempo LY, #237 the year before.l
— West Virginia
DeVries is Mountaineers’ third head coach in three years.
DeVries got Drake to the NCAA’s three of last four years.
Last three years, West Virginia was 15-39 in Big X games.
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting Week 7 NFL spreads:
— Dolphins @ Indianapolis (-3.5)
— Panthers @ Washington (-7.5)
— Chiefs @ San Francisco (-1.5)
— Jets (-1.5) @ Pittsburgh
— Ravens (-3.5) @ Tampa Bay
— Chargers (-2.5) @ Arizona
Quote of the Day
“It’s just funny how things change, where there was a lot of concern about Shohei not being able to get hits with the runners in scoring position — and now we’re all trying to find ways … to get guys on base so he can hit, right? I kind of find that comical, a little bit.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts
Wednesday’s quiz
How many NFL teams have not won a Super Bowl?
Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, Cameron Diaz plays the owner of the Sharks.
Monday’s quiz
Jared Goff played his college football for the Cal Bears.
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings, and Big X basketball notes…….
— Couple of well-known receivers got traded Tuesday:
Jets acquired Davante Adams from Las Vegas, sending a 3rd round pick to the Raiders, a pick that could become a 2nd round pick if the Adams/Jets did really well the rest of this season. Move saves the Raiders $29.6M in dead money on next year’s salary cap.
Cleveland Browns sent Amari Cooper to Buffalo, also for a 3rd round draft pick; Cooper had 53 targets with Cleveland, but caught only 24 of those passes.
— Sounds like Russell Wilson is going to get his first start at QB for Pittsburgh Sunday night, when Steelers host the Jets. Steelers are 4-2 with Justin Fields playing QB in all six games, but they were held under 300 total yards the last two weeks, and Wilson is healthier now.
— Over their last three games, LA Chargers have been outscored 39-3 in the second half.
— New York 6, Cleveland 3
Cleveland P Bibee allowed three runs, got only four outs.
Aaron Judge hit a 2-run home run.
New York leads best-of-7 series, 2-0
— 38.8% of major league pitchers this year have had Tommy John surgery, roughly three of every eight pitchers.
— South Alabama 25, Troy 9
South Alabama led 19-3 at halftime.
Jaguars outgained 1-6 Troy, 318-172.
Troy threw 3 INT’s, averaged only 3.8 yards/pass.
— Middle Tennessee 14, Kennesaw State 5
Blue Raiders ran a punt back 61 yards for a TD.
MTSU outgained the Owls, 284-234.
Kennesaw State is 0-6, in their first year at the I-A level.
Famous birthdays, October 16th:
Timothy Robbins, 66
John Mengelt, 75
Kevin McReynolds, 65
Adrian Murrell, 54
Kordell Stewart, 52
Jonathan Schoop, 33
Bryce Harper, 32
John Wolford, 29
Notes on Big X basketball teams:
— Arizona
Three years under Tommy Lloyd, they’re 88-20, 47-13 in Big X, 4-3 in NCAA’s
In those three years, Wildcats ranked #7-10-11 in the country on offense
— Arizona State
Last four years, Sun Devils were 62-62, 36-41 in Pac-12.
Last three years, ASU ranked #308-275-331 in 3-point FG%.
— Baylor
Bears won national title in 2021; since then, they’re 74-29, 36-18 in Big X.
Last three years, Baylor went WL in NCAA’s all three years, |
Last five years, Baylor was a top 20 offense all five years.
— Brigham Young
BYU hasn’t won an NCAA Tourney game since a play-in game in 2012.
In five years at BYU, Mark Pope was 110-52, 49-29 in WCC, 0-2 in NCAAs.
Pope has moved on to coach Kentucky.
— Central Florida
Last five years, UCF is 39-51 in conference games.
Last four years, Knights ranked #246 or worse in 2-point %age.
UCF’s last NCAA appearance was 2019.
— Cincinnati
Bearcats haven’t made NCAAs since Mick Cronin was coach in 2019
Three years under Wes Miller: 63-43, 25-29 in conference games.
— Colorado
Made NCAA’s twice in last four years.
Last six years, Buffs were 67-49 in Pac-12 games.
Boyle is 3-3 in first round NCAA Tourney games, 0-3 in second round.
— Houston
Last four years, they’re 61-10 in conference games, 11-4 in NCAA Tourney.
Went 32-5, 15-3 last year, their first year in Big X
Last four years, Houston has been a top 10 defensive team.
— Iowa State
In three years under Otzelberger, made NCAA’s last three years, going 4-3 in tourney.
Two years before Otzelberger got there, Cyclones were 5-31 in Big X games.
Iowa State has been a top 8 defensive team the last three years.
— Kansas
Jayhawks won national title is 2022.
Last five years, Kansas is 1-4 in second round of NCAA’s.
Last time Kansas lost a first round NCAA game: 2006.
LY, Jayhawks were 10-8 in Big X, their worst conference record since at least 1997.
— Kansas State
K-State made NCAA’s once in last four years (got to Elite 8 in 2023).
Wildcats turned ball over 21.7% of time LY (#345)
— Oklahoma State
Steve Lutz is new coach (22-12 @ Western Kentucky, 44-23 @ A&M-Corpus Christi)
Last three years, Cowboys were 20-34 in Big X games
Last three years, Cowboys ranked #293-320-332 in turnover %age
— TCU
Last three years, TCU was 64-39, 26-28 in Big X, 2-3 in NCAA’s
Before 2022, Horned Frogs had been in NCAAs once since 1998.
Last three years, TCU ranked #44-23-13 in defense.
— Texas Tech
Tech has been in five of last six NCAA’s, but with 3 different coaches.
Red Raiders lost national title game in 2019.
LY, Tech was 23-11, 11-7 in Big X, their first year under McCasland.
— Utah
Utes last made the NCAA Tournament in 2016.
Utah picked up the pace LY; they were #57 in tempo LY, #237 the year before.l
— West Virginia
DeVries is Mountaineers’ third head coach in three years.
DeVries got Drake to the NCAA’s three of last four years.
Last three years, West Virginia was 15-39 in Big X games.
MLB
Weather Report
Wednesday, October 16
MLB
Dunkel
Wednesday, October 16
MLB
Wednesday, October 16
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Trend Report
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LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
NY Mets is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
NY Mets is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games at home
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Weather Report
Wednesday, October 16
MLB
Dunkel
Wednesday, October 16
MLB
Wednesday, October 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
NY Mets is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games at home
NY Mets is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games at home
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Armadillo Sports
Thursday’s 6-pack:
Highest paid college football coaches:
$13M— Kirby Smart, Georgia
$11,132,775— Dabo Swinney, Clemson
$10,600,000— Steve Sarkisian, Texas
$10,043,418— Lincoln Riley, USC
$10,021,250— Ryan Day, Ohio State
$10M— Mike Norvell, Florida State/Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Quote of the Day
“I’m telling you, he is not as good as you think- we need to trade him before people find out.”
Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, talking to Washington owner Daniel Snyder about QB Robert Griffin III after the 2012 season, when Griffin won Rookie of the Year.
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, what actor played the Vice President?
Wednesday’s quiz
12 NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl yet.
Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, Cameron Diaz plays the owner of the Sharks.
***********************************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
— Dodgers 8, Mets 0
Walker Buehler threw 4 scoreless IP.
Hernandez, Muncy, Ohtani all homered.
Dodgers lead best-of-7 series, 2-1.
— Western Kentucky 31, Sam Houston 14
QB Veltkamp threw for 281 yards, three TD’s.
WKU outscored Sam Houston 14-0 in second half.
Hilltoppers were 11-18 on 3rd down, Sam Houston 6-15.
Both teams are 5-2.
— Texas-El Paso 30, Florida International 21
Miners outscored FIU 10-0 in fourth quarter.
UTEP knocked out two QB’s; FIU’s #3 QB threw 2 INTs.
Miners get first win in seven games; they outgained FIU 372-287.
— New Mexico State 33, Louisiana Tech 30 OT
State tied game, scoring a TD with 1:41 left in regulation.
Tech had a 26-yard FG blocked on last play of regulation.
Tech was 11-23 on third down, Aggies 8-15.
This was New Mexico State’s first OT game since 2017.
— Michigan State won the college basketball national title in 2000; that is the last time a Big 18 team won a national championship, kind of hard to believe.
Since then, national titles won by league:
8— ACC, Big East
3— Big X, SEC
1— American
— Joel Embiid just signed a 3-year, $192.9M contract extension with the 76ers, which works out to $784,146 per regular season game.
Embiid came out recently and said he won’t play on back/back nights this year. 76ers have 15 back/backs this year, which means the most games Embiid will play this season is 67.
At $784,146.34 per game, that works out to $11,762,195 Embiid will get paid, for nothing. Of course, Philadelphia pays him for what he’ll do in the playoffs, but still……..
— This summer, I traded for Padres 1B Luis Arraez for my fantasy team; ;he hit .317 in August, .340 in September, but turns out he had a torn ligament in his thumb— he had it operated on this week.
Watching him bat, it looked like he was hurt; he would re-coil after some swings, they took him out of some games early, but he still got lot of hits— thought I was imagining things.
Hopefully he’ll be good to go next spring.
— Red Sox OF Masataka Yoshida is recovering from surgery to fix the labrum in his right shoulder; Yoshida hit .280 this year but only played in 108 games- he hit .289 last year, in 140 games.
— Hurricane Milton shredded the Tropicana Field roof, where the Tampa Bay Rays call home; the stadium isn’t expected to be ready for the start of next season.
Rays are moving into a new stadium in St Petersburg in 2028; the team said “there are more questions than answers” at this point, with the 2025 regular season 162 days away.
— Famous birthdays, October 17th:
Michael McKean, 77
George Wendt, 76
Mike Bratz, 69
Jay Humphries, 62
Danny Ferry, 58
John Mabry, 54
Willie Snead, 32
Myles Straw, 30
— Dallas Cowboys have allowed 415+ total yards in their last five home games, the longest-such streak in the NFL since the 2012 Saints.
— Georgia Bulldogs are an underdog at Texas Saturday, which will end a streak that has seem the Dawgs favored in 49 consecutive games.
— Word of the Day: Kerfuffle- a disturbance or commotion typically caused by a dispute or conflict.
— Tom Brady now owns a piece of the Las Vegas Raiders; if he owns 5% of the team, whose valuation is $6.7B, then his piece is worth $335M. Brady is also obviously a TV analyst now; there are rules he has to follow:
Brady isn’t allowed in other teams’ practice facilities.
He isn’t allowed to watch other teams practice.
He isn’t allowed to go to broadcast production meetings, awkward for a TV analyst.
He can’t publicly criticize game officials or other teams.
Interesting to see how this all turns out.
— In best-of-7 baseball playoff series, teams that took na 2-0 series lead have won 76 of 91 series (84%). Under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning the first two games at home have won the series 44 of 55 times (80%).
— People gamble on everything these days; there are even Bronny James props for the NBA season, when there is no guarantee how much the young man will even play this year:
-110- James scoring 15+ points in any regular season game
+120- James making 3+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
+550- James making 4+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
+800- James scoring 20+ points in any regular season game.
+1200- James making 5+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
— Things have changed a lot in baseball; back on June 14, 1974, Red Sox played the Angels in Anaheim, Luis Tiant vs Nolan Ryan.
Tiant threw 14.1 innings, threw 280 pitches.
Ryan threw 325 pitches in 13 innings.
Angels won 4-3 in 15 innings.
Unusual for a pitcher to throw 100 pitches in a start now.
Thursday’s 6-pack:
Highest paid college football coaches:
$13M— Kirby Smart, Georgia
$11,132,775— Dabo Swinney, Clemson
$10,600,000— Steve Sarkisian, Texas
$10,043,418— Lincoln Riley, USC
$10,021,250— Ryan Day, Ohio State
$10M— Mike Norvell, Florida State/Kalen DeBoer, Alabama
Quote of the Day
“I’m telling you, he is not as good as you think- we need to trade him before people find out.”
Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan, talking to Washington owner Daniel Snyder about QB Robert Griffin III after the 2012 season, when Griffin won Rookie of the Year.
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, what actor played the Vice President?
Wednesday’s quiz
12 NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl yet.
Tuesday’s quiz
In the football movie Any Given Sunday, where Al Pacino coaches the Miami Sharks, Cameron Diaz plays the owner of the Sharks.
***********************************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
— Dodgers 8, Mets 0
Walker Buehler threw 4 scoreless IP.
Hernandez, Muncy, Ohtani all homered.
Dodgers lead best-of-7 series, 2-1.
— Western Kentucky 31, Sam Houston 14
QB Veltkamp threw for 281 yards, three TD’s.
WKU outscored Sam Houston 14-0 in second half.
Hilltoppers were 11-18 on 3rd down, Sam Houston 6-15.
Both teams are 5-2.
— Texas-El Paso 30, Florida International 21
Miners outscored FIU 10-0 in fourth quarter.
UTEP knocked out two QB’s; FIU’s #3 QB threw 2 INTs.
Miners get first win in seven games; they outgained FIU 372-287.
— New Mexico State 33, Louisiana Tech 30 OT
State tied game, scoring a TD with 1:41 left in regulation.
Tech had a 26-yard FG blocked on last play of regulation.
Tech was 11-23 on third down, Aggies 8-15.
This was New Mexico State’s first OT game since 2017.
— Michigan State won the college basketball national title in 2000; that is the last time a Big 18 team won a national championship, kind of hard to believe.
Since then, national titles won by league:
8— ACC, Big East
3— Big X, SEC
1— American
— Joel Embiid just signed a 3-year, $192.9M contract extension with the 76ers, which works out to $784,146 per regular season game.
Embiid came out recently and said he won’t play on back/back nights this year. 76ers have 15 back/backs this year, which means the most games Embiid will play this season is 67.
At $784,146.34 per game, that works out to $11,762,195 Embiid will get paid, for nothing. Of course, Philadelphia pays him for what he’ll do in the playoffs, but still……..
— This summer, I traded for Padres 1B Luis Arraez for my fantasy team; ;he hit .317 in August, .340 in September, but turns out he had a torn ligament in his thumb— he had it operated on this week.
Watching him bat, it looked like he was hurt; he would re-coil after some swings, they took him out of some games early, but he still got lot of hits— thought I was imagining things.
Hopefully he’ll be good to go next spring.
— Red Sox OF Masataka Yoshida is recovering from surgery to fix the labrum in his right shoulder; Yoshida hit .280 this year but only played in 108 games- he hit .289 last year, in 140 games.
— Hurricane Milton shredded the Tropicana Field roof, where the Tampa Bay Rays call home; the stadium isn’t expected to be ready for the start of next season.
Rays are moving into a new stadium in St Petersburg in 2028; the team said “there are more questions than answers” at this point, with the 2025 regular season 162 days away.
— Famous birthdays, October 17th:
Michael McKean, 77
George Wendt, 76
Mike Bratz, 69
Jay Humphries, 62
Danny Ferry, 58
John Mabry, 54
Willie Snead, 32
Myles Straw, 30
— Dallas Cowboys have allowed 415+ total yards in their last five home games, the longest-such streak in the NFL since the 2012 Saints.
— Georgia Bulldogs are an underdog at Texas Saturday, which will end a streak that has seem the Dawgs favored in 49 consecutive games.
— Word of the Day: Kerfuffle- a disturbance or commotion typically caused by a dispute or conflict.
— Tom Brady now owns a piece of the Las Vegas Raiders; if he owns 5% of the team, whose valuation is $6.7B, then his piece is worth $335M. Brady is also obviously a TV analyst now; there are rules he has to follow:
Brady isn’t allowed in other teams’ practice facilities.
He isn’t allowed to watch other teams practice.
He isn’t allowed to go to broadcast production meetings, awkward for a TV analyst.
He can’t publicly criticize game officials or other teams.
Interesting to see how this all turns out.
— In best-of-7 baseball playoff series, teams that took na 2-0 series lead have won 76 of 91 series (84%). Under the current 2-3-2 format, teams winning the first two games at home have won the series 44 of 55 times (80%).
— People gamble on everything these days; there are even Bronny James props for the NBA season, when there is no guarantee how much the young man will even play this year:
-110- James scoring 15+ points in any regular season game
+120- James making 3+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
+550- James making 4+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
+800- James scoring 20+ points in any regular season game.
+1200- James making 5+ 3-pointers in any regular season game
— Things have changed a lot in baseball; back on June 14, 1974, Red Sox played the Angels in Anaheim, Luis Tiant vs Nolan Ryan.
Tiant threw 14.1 innings, threw 280 pitches.
Ryan threw 325 pitches in 13 innings.
Angels won 4-3 in 15 innings.
Unusual for a pitcher to throw 100 pitches in a start now.
MLB
Weather Report
Thursday, October 17
MLB
Dunkel
Thursday, October 17
MLB
Thursday, October 17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Cleveland's last 17 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games when playing NY Yankees
LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of NY Mets's last 7 games
NY Mets is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weather Report
Thursday, October 17
MLB
Dunkel
Thursday, October 17
MLB
Thursday, October 17
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Cleveland's last 17 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 7 games when playing NY Yankees
LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of NY Mets's last 7 games
NY Mets is 14-3 SU in its last 17 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armadillo Sports
Friday’s 6-pack:
Top 6 teams in the AP preseason college basketball poll:
1) Kansas
2) Alabama
3) UConn
4) Houston
5) Iowa State
6) Gonzaga
Quote of the Day
“First step in solving any problem, is recognizing there is one.”
Jeff Daniels
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, who has hit the most postseason home runs?
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson played the Vice President; he was also in Animal House.
Wednesday’s quiz
12 NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl yet.
*************************************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff, and Big West basketball info…….
— Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett surprisingly retired Thursday, 19 days before the Cavaliers’ season opener against Campbell.
Unusual timing for sure; Virginia players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, but how many teams have scholarships open now? Virginia also added three transfers this year to come in and play for Bennett. They can’t be real happy.
Bennett was at Virginia for 15 years; he won a national title in 2019, won six ACC regular season titles, two ACC tournaments and made the NCAAs 10 times in his 15 years in Charlottesville.
Reading into the stuff that has been written so far, this sounds similar to Jay Wright leaving Villanova; Bennett has apparently had enough of the NIL culture in college sports these days, so he has decided to walk away from a very lucrative job.
This will be the first time since 1982 that the ACC doesn’t have a basketball coach who has won a national championship.
— Broncos 33, Saints 10
Sean Payton wins big in his return to the Superdome.
Broncos ran ball 35 times for 225 yards (6.4 yards/carry).
First seven drives, Denver scored two TD’s, kicked four FG’s.
QB Nix threw for 164 yards, ran for 75 more.
New Orleans lost its last five games, by 3-2-13-24-23 points.
Saints were outscored 44-7 in 2nd half of last two games.
Saints are 4-8 ATS last 12 games as a home underdog.
Saints are 9-13-2 ATS in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
— Guardians 7, New York 5 (10)
Pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel tied game with a 2-out, 2-run HR in 9th inning.
David Fry hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
New York lost its last six playoff games that went extra innings.
New York leads series 2-1; home team has won all three games.
— Dodgers 10, Mets 2
Mookie Betts was 4-6 with three runs scored, 4 RBI
Shohei Ohtani homered, scored four runs.
Max Muncy reached base in 12 consecutive at-bats, before making an out.
— Marshall 35, Georgia State 20
Thundering Herd led 25-10 at halftime.
Marshall ran ball 37 times for 295 yards (8 yards/carry)
Only nine of Marshall’s 57 plays came on third down.
— Virginia Tech 42, Boston College 21
Hokies led 28-0 at halftime.
BC rallied, cut lead to 28-21 after three quarters.
Tech ran ball 40 times for 368 yards (9.2 yards/carry)
— Army, Navy are both in the college football top 25, for first time since 1960.
— Famous birthdays, October 18th:
Bobby Knoop, 86 (my glove in Little League was a Bobby Knoop model)
Mike Ditka, 85
Willie Horton, 82
George Hendrick, 75
Pam Dawber, 74
Jerry Royster, 72
Lindsey Vonn, 40
Yoenis Cespedes, 39
Zac Efron, 37
Big West basketball notes:
— Cal-Bakersfield
Last three years, Roadrunners are 16-38 in Big West games.
Last time they made the NCAAs: 2016, when they were in the WAC.
— Cal Poly
Last five years, Cal Poly went 8-77 in Big West- they fired the coach.
New coach is from Division II Colorado Mesa; he wants to play fast.
Last time Cal Poly made the NCAAs: 2014.
— Cal-Davis
Last two years, Aggies were 25-14 in Big West games, 1-2 in Big West tourney.
Last time Cal-Davis made the NCAAs: 2017.
— Cal State Fullerton
Since 2009, Titans made NCAAs twice (2018, 2022)
Last three years, Fullerton was #229 or worse in eFG%.
Since 2018, Titans are 10-3 in Big West tournament games.
— Hawai’i
Last three years, Hawai’i is 34-21 in Big West conference games.
Hawai’i has been .500+ in conference games the last 12 years.
Since 2017, Rainbows are 2-7 in Big West tournament games.
— Cal-Irvine
Since 2013, Anteaters are 149-48 in Big West games.
Problem is, they’re only 17-10 in conference tournament games.
Cal-Irvine hasn’t won the Big West tournament since 2019.
— Long Beach State
Long Beach won Big West tournament LY, after they fired their coach.
Last three years, Long Beach is 33-22 in conference games.
New coach is a former San Diego State assistant.
— Cal-Northridge
Last three years, Matadors are 16-40 in conference games.
Last NCAAs for Northridge: 2009
Since 2015, Matadors are 1-7 in conference tournament games.
— Cal-Riverside
Four years under coach Magpayo, Riverside is 41-26 in Big West games.
Last 20 years, Highlanders are 0-6 in their second Big West tourney game.
Three of last four years, Riverside went WL in conference tourney.
— Cal San Diego
Tritons were 21-12, 15-5 LY, their 4th year as a Division I team.
Tritons led San Diego State by 14 with with 7:36 left last December, lost 63-62; they’re probably a team to watch in this league.
— Cal Santa Barbara
Gauchos won the Big West tournament in 2021 and 2023.
In 7 years under Pasternack, UCSB is 76-41 in conference games.
Last year was his worst year with Gauchos, 16-15, 9-11 in conference.
Friday’s 6-pack:
Top 6 teams in the AP preseason college basketball poll:
1) Kansas
2) Alabama
3) UConn
4) Houston
5) Iowa State
6) Gonzaga
Quote of the Day
“First step in solving any problem, is recognizing there is one.”
Jeff Daniels
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, who has hit the most postseason home runs?
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson played the Vice President; he was also in Animal House.
Wednesday’s quiz
12 NFL teams haven’t won a Super Bowl yet.
*************************************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff, and Big West basketball info…….
— Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett surprisingly retired Thursday, 19 days before the Cavaliers’ season opener against Campbell.
Unusual timing for sure; Virginia players have a 30-day window to enter the transfer portal, but how many teams have scholarships open now? Virginia also added three transfers this year to come in and play for Bennett. They can’t be real happy.
Bennett was at Virginia for 15 years; he won a national title in 2019, won six ACC regular season titles, two ACC tournaments and made the NCAAs 10 times in his 15 years in Charlottesville.
Reading into the stuff that has been written so far, this sounds similar to Jay Wright leaving Villanova; Bennett has apparently had enough of the NIL culture in college sports these days, so he has decided to walk away from a very lucrative job.
This will be the first time since 1982 that the ACC doesn’t have a basketball coach who has won a national championship.
— Broncos 33, Saints 10
Sean Payton wins big in his return to the Superdome.
Broncos ran ball 35 times for 225 yards (6.4 yards/carry).
First seven drives, Denver scored two TD’s, kicked four FG’s.
QB Nix threw for 164 yards, ran for 75 more.
New Orleans lost its last five games, by 3-2-13-24-23 points.
Saints were outscored 44-7 in 2nd half of last two games.
Saints are 4-8 ATS last 12 games as a home underdog.
Saints are 9-13-2 ATS in last 23 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
— Guardians 7, New York 5 (10)
Pinch-hitter Jhonkensy Noel tied game with a 2-out, 2-run HR in 9th inning.
David Fry hit a walk-off home run in the 10th inning.
New York lost its last six playoff games that went extra innings.
New York leads series 2-1; home team has won all three games.
— Dodgers 10, Mets 2
Mookie Betts was 4-6 with three runs scored, 4 RBI
Shohei Ohtani homered, scored four runs.
Max Muncy reached base in 12 consecutive at-bats, before making an out.
— Marshall 35, Georgia State 20
Thundering Herd led 25-10 at halftime.
Marshall ran ball 37 times for 295 yards (8 yards/carry)
Only nine of Marshall’s 57 plays came on third down.
— Virginia Tech 42, Boston College 21
Hokies led 28-0 at halftime.
BC rallied, cut lead to 28-21 after three quarters.
Tech ran ball 40 times for 368 yards (9.2 yards/carry)
— Army, Navy are both in the college football top 25, for first time since 1960.
— Famous birthdays, October 18th:
Bobby Knoop, 86 (my glove in Little League was a Bobby Knoop model)
Mike Ditka, 85
Willie Horton, 82
George Hendrick, 75
Pam Dawber, 74
Jerry Royster, 72
Lindsey Vonn, 40
Yoenis Cespedes, 39
Zac Efron, 37
Big West basketball notes:
— Cal-Bakersfield
Last three years, Roadrunners are 16-38 in Big West games.
Last time they made the NCAAs: 2016, when they were in the WAC.
— Cal Poly
Last five years, Cal Poly went 8-77 in Big West- they fired the coach.
New coach is from Division II Colorado Mesa; he wants to play fast.
Last time Cal Poly made the NCAAs: 2014.
— Cal-Davis
Last two years, Aggies were 25-14 in Big West games, 1-2 in Big West tourney.
Last time Cal-Davis made the NCAAs: 2017.
— Cal State Fullerton
Since 2009, Titans made NCAAs twice (2018, 2022)
Last three years, Fullerton was #229 or worse in eFG%.
Since 2018, Titans are 10-3 in Big West tournament games.
— Hawai’i
Last three years, Hawai’i is 34-21 in Big West conference games.
Hawai’i has been .500+ in conference games the last 12 years.
Since 2017, Rainbows are 2-7 in Big West tournament games.
— Cal-Irvine
Since 2013, Anteaters are 149-48 in Big West games.
Problem is, they’re only 17-10 in conference tournament games.
Cal-Irvine hasn’t won the Big West tournament since 2019.
— Long Beach State
Long Beach won Big West tournament LY, after they fired their coach.
Last three years, Long Beach is 33-22 in conference games.
New coach is a former San Diego State assistant.
— Cal-Northridge
Last three years, Matadors are 16-40 in conference games.
Last NCAAs for Northridge: 2009
Since 2015, Matadors are 1-7 in conference tournament games.
— Cal-Riverside
Four years under coach Magpayo, Riverside is 41-26 in Big West games.
Last 20 years, Highlanders are 0-6 in their second Big West tourney game.
Three of last four years, Riverside went WL in conference tourney.
— Cal San Diego
Tritons were 21-12, 15-5 LY, their 4th year as a Division I team.
Tritons led San Diego State by 14 with with 7:36 left last December, lost 63-62; they’re probably a team to watch in this league.
— Cal Santa Barbara
Gauchos won the Big West tournament in 2021 and 2023.
In 7 years under Pasternack, UCSB is 76-41 in conference games.
Last year was his worst year with Gauchos, 16-15, 9-11 in conference.
MLB
Weather Report
Friday, October 18
MLB
Dunkel
Friday, October 18
MLB
Friday, October 18
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Trend Report
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LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Mets's last 8 games
NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
NY Yankees is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Cleveland is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against NY Yankees
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games
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Weather Report
Friday, October 18
MLB
Dunkel
Friday, October 18
MLB
Friday, October 18
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Trend Report
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LA Dodgers vs NY Mets
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing NY Mets
LA Dodgers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Mets
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 7 of NY Mets's last 8 games
NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games on the road
NY Yankees is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Cleveland is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against NY Yankees
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games
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Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack:
— Mets 12, Dodgers 6- Mets led 8-1 in third inning.
— New York 8, Guardians 6- Stanton hit a 3-run homer.
— Duke 23, Florida State 16- Duke’s 1st win in 23 games vs FSU.
— Oregon 35, Purdue 0- Ducks’ first road shutout since 1992.
— Fresno State 24, Nevada 21- Bulldogs outscored Nevada 7-0 in 2nd half.
— BYU 38, Oklahoma State 35- 7-0 BYU scored winning TD with 0:11 left.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think I’m equipped in this new way to coach, and it’s a disservice if you keep doing that. I’m very sure that this is the right step. I wish I could’ve gone longer. I really do. But it was time.”
Former Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett
Saturday’s quiz
Who was the first Vice President of the United States?
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, Jose Altuve (27) has hit the most postseason home runs.
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson played the Vice President; he was also in Animal House.
***********************************************
Saturday’s Den: How NFL teams do on first drive of a half
How teams do on first drives of a half:
NFC
Cardinals
Scored TD on first drive in five of six games.
Outscored 21-7 on first drive of third quarter.
Falcons
In four of last five games, they kicked FG on first drive of second half.
Overall, have outscored opponents 29-26 on first drive of a half.
Panthers
Opponents on first drive of last 4 games: 17 plays, 42 yards, 4 punts.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 34-16 on first drive of a half.
Bears
First drive of game: 36 plays, 109 yards, 4 punts, 3 points.
In 3 of last 4 games, have takeaway on first drive of 2nd half.
Cowboys
First drive of half: 12 drives, 6-7 on field goals, no TD’s.
Opponents on first drive of half: 7 TD’s, 4 field goals, one punt.
Lions
First drive of last 3 halves: 70-70-70 yards, all TD’s.
Overall, have outscored opponents 31-23 on first drive of a half.
Packers
First drive of 2nd half: 32 plays, 275 yards, 4 TDs and a FG.
Overall, outscored opponents 41-24 on first drive of a half.
Rams
Last four games, Rams allowed TD on first drive of second half.
Rams on first drive of a half: 53 plays, 228 yards, no TD’s, 2 FG’s.
Vikings
Vikings have outscored opponents 17-0 on first drive of their five games.
Opponents on first drive of a half: 45 plays, 110 yards, 7 punts, one FG.
Giants
Last two games, Giants have takeaway on first drive of 2nd half.
Opponents have outscored them 30-9 on first drive of a half.
Saints
First drive of 2nd half, last 5 games: 26 plays, 54 yards, five punts.
Overall, Saints have outscored opponents 38-26 on first drive of half.
Eagles
First drive of game: 16 plays, 12 yards, 4 punts and a turnover.
First drive of 2nd half: 38 plays, 240 yards, 17 points.
49ers
49ers have outscored opponents 41-14 on first drive of a half.
49ers on first drive of 2nd half: 44 plays, 322 yards, 28 points.
Seahawks
First drive of game: 30 plays, 124 yards, 2 turnovers, 3 points.
First drive of 2nd half: 44 plays, 323 yards, 21 points.
Buccaneers
First drive of last 3 games: 27 plays, 216 yards, 21 points.
Bucs have outscored opponents 38-27 on first drive of a half.
Commanders
Commanders’ first drive of half: 83 plays, 439 yards, 40 points.
Opponents’ first drive of half: 78 plays, 509 yards, 44 points.
Famous birthdays, October 19th:
Lynn Dickey, 75
Lionel Hollins, 71
David Palmer, 67
Brad Daugherty, 59
Keith Foulke, 52
Leonard Little, 50
Rajai Davis, 44
Anthony Santander, 30
Zack Gelof, 25
AFC
— Baltimore
Outscored opponents 31-10 on first drive of a game.
12 halves: Ravens have 7 TD’s, 2 FGs on first drive.
— Buffalo
Outscored opponents 45-30 on first drive of a half.
12 halves: Bills have 6 TD’s, one FG on first drive. Also missed a FG.
— Cincinnati
In 4 of last 5 games, Bengals scored TD on first drive of 2nd half.
Overall, outscored opponents 45-38 on first drive of a half.
— Cleveland
Opponents on first drive of game: 20 plays, 3 yards, 6 punts.
Overall, outscored opponents 27-3 on first drive of a half.
— Denver
First drive of 3rd quarter: 24 plays, 46 yards, six punts.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 17-10 on first drive of a half.
— Houston
Last 3 weeks, Texas outscored opponents 14-0 on first drive of game.
Overall, outscored opponents 33-24 on first drive of a half.
— Indianapolis
First drive of last three games: 70-71-70 yards, all TD’s.
Opponents outscored them 16-3 on first drive of second half.
— Jacksonville
Jaguars have been outscored 28-3 on first drive of games.
Jaguars on first drive of half: 66 plays, 256 yards, 10 points.
— Kansas City
First drive of half: 4 TD’s, 3 FG’s, 3 turnovers, no punts.
Opponents on first drive of game: 44 plays, 311 yards, 24 points.
— Las Vegas
Last two games, Raiders drove 70 yards for TD on their first drive.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 36-17 on first drive of a half.
— LA Chargers
Chargers have outscored opponents 17-3 on first drive of their games.
Opponents’ first drive of half: 54 plays, 225 yards, 4 FG’s, no TD’s, 5 punts.
— Miami
Dolphins first drive of half: 55 plays, 219 yards, 3 turnovers, 2 FG’s, no TD’s.
Opponents on first drive of 2nd half: 24 plays, 66 yards, 4 punts, one FG.
— New England
Patriots’ first drive of game: 26 plays, 37 yards, six punts.
Last 3 games, opponents’ first drive of half: 48 plays, 329 yards, 30 points.
— NJ Jets
First drive of game: 30 plays, 100 yards, 4 punts, 3 points.
Jets have outscored opponents 20-17 on first drive of their games.
— Pittsburgh
Opponents’ first drive, last 3 games: 24 plays, 161 yards, 17 points.
Opponents’ first drive of 2nd half: 23 plays, 76 yards, no points.
— Tennessee
Titans’ first drive of a game: 26 plays, 113 yards, 7 points.
Opponents’ first drive, last 7 halves: 48 plays, 337 yards, 31 points.
Saturday’s 6-pack:
— Mets 12, Dodgers 6- Mets led 8-1 in third inning.
— New York 8, Guardians 6- Stanton hit a 3-run homer.
— Duke 23, Florida State 16- Duke’s 1st win in 23 games vs FSU.
— Oregon 35, Purdue 0- Ducks’ first road shutout since 1992.
— Fresno State 24, Nevada 21- Bulldogs outscored Nevada 7-0 in 2nd half.
— BYU 38, Oklahoma State 35- 7-0 BYU scored winning TD with 0:11 left.
Quote of the Day
“I don’t think I’m equipped in this new way to coach, and it’s a disservice if you keep doing that. I’m very sure that this is the right step. I wish I could’ve gone longer. I really do. But it was time.”
Former Virginia basketball coach Tony Bennett
Saturday’s quiz
Who was the first Vice President of the United States?
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, Jose Altuve (27) has hit the most postseason home runs.
Thursday’s quiz
In the TV show The West Wing, Tim Matheson played the Vice President; he was also in Animal House.
***********************************************
Saturday’s Den: How NFL teams do on first drive of a half
How teams do on first drives of a half:
NFC
Cardinals
Scored TD on first drive in five of six games.
Outscored 21-7 on first drive of third quarter.
Falcons
In four of last five games, they kicked FG on first drive of second half.
Overall, have outscored opponents 29-26 on first drive of a half.
Panthers
Opponents on first drive of last 4 games: 17 plays, 42 yards, 4 punts.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 34-16 on first drive of a half.
Bears
First drive of game: 36 plays, 109 yards, 4 punts, 3 points.
In 3 of last 4 games, have takeaway on first drive of 2nd half.
Cowboys
First drive of half: 12 drives, 6-7 on field goals, no TD’s.
Opponents on first drive of half: 7 TD’s, 4 field goals, one punt.
Lions
First drive of last 3 halves: 70-70-70 yards, all TD’s.
Overall, have outscored opponents 31-23 on first drive of a half.
Packers
First drive of 2nd half: 32 plays, 275 yards, 4 TDs and a FG.
Overall, outscored opponents 41-24 on first drive of a half.
Rams
Last four games, Rams allowed TD on first drive of second half.
Rams on first drive of a half: 53 plays, 228 yards, no TD’s, 2 FG’s.
Vikings
Vikings have outscored opponents 17-0 on first drive of their five games.
Opponents on first drive of a half: 45 plays, 110 yards, 7 punts, one FG.
Giants
Last two games, Giants have takeaway on first drive of 2nd half.
Opponents have outscored them 30-9 on first drive of a half.
Saints
First drive of 2nd half, last 5 games: 26 plays, 54 yards, five punts.
Overall, Saints have outscored opponents 38-26 on first drive of half.
Eagles
First drive of game: 16 plays, 12 yards, 4 punts and a turnover.
First drive of 2nd half: 38 plays, 240 yards, 17 points.
49ers
49ers have outscored opponents 41-14 on first drive of a half.
49ers on first drive of 2nd half: 44 plays, 322 yards, 28 points.
Seahawks
First drive of game: 30 plays, 124 yards, 2 turnovers, 3 points.
First drive of 2nd half: 44 plays, 323 yards, 21 points.
Buccaneers
First drive of last 3 games: 27 plays, 216 yards, 21 points.
Bucs have outscored opponents 38-27 on first drive of a half.
Commanders
Commanders’ first drive of half: 83 plays, 439 yards, 40 points.
Opponents’ first drive of half: 78 plays, 509 yards, 44 points.
Famous birthdays, October 19th:
Lynn Dickey, 75
Lionel Hollins, 71
David Palmer, 67
Brad Daugherty, 59
Keith Foulke, 52
Leonard Little, 50
Rajai Davis, 44
Anthony Santander, 30
Zack Gelof, 25
AFC
— Baltimore
Outscored opponents 31-10 on first drive of a game.
12 halves: Ravens have 7 TD’s, 2 FGs on first drive.
— Buffalo
Outscored opponents 45-30 on first drive of a half.
12 halves: Bills have 6 TD’s, one FG on first drive. Also missed a FG.
— Cincinnati
In 4 of last 5 games, Bengals scored TD on first drive of 2nd half.
Overall, outscored opponents 45-38 on first drive of a half.
— Cleveland
Opponents on first drive of game: 20 plays, 3 yards, 6 punts.
Overall, outscored opponents 27-3 on first drive of a half.
— Denver
First drive of 3rd quarter: 24 plays, 46 yards, six punts.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 17-10 on first drive of a half.
— Houston
Last 3 weeks, Texas outscored opponents 14-0 on first drive of game.
Overall, outscored opponents 33-24 on first drive of a half.
— Indianapolis
First drive of last three games: 70-71-70 yards, all TD’s.
Opponents outscored them 16-3 on first drive of second half.
— Jacksonville
Jaguars have been outscored 28-3 on first drive of games.
Jaguars on first drive of half: 66 plays, 256 yards, 10 points.
— Kansas City
First drive of half: 4 TD’s, 3 FG’s, 3 turnovers, no punts.
Opponents on first drive of game: 44 plays, 311 yards, 24 points.
— Las Vegas
Last two games, Raiders drove 70 yards for TD on their first drive.
Overall, opponents have outscored them 36-17 on first drive of a half.
— LA Chargers
Chargers have outscored opponents 17-3 on first drive of their games.
Opponents’ first drive of half: 54 plays, 225 yards, 4 FG’s, no TD’s, 5 punts.
— Miami
Dolphins first drive of half: 55 plays, 219 yards, 3 turnovers, 2 FG’s, no TD’s.
Opponents on first drive of 2nd half: 24 plays, 66 yards, 4 punts, one FG.
— New England
Patriots’ first drive of game: 26 plays, 37 yards, six punts.
Last 3 games, opponents’ first drive of half: 48 plays, 329 yards, 30 points.
— NJ Jets
First drive of game: 30 plays, 100 yards, 4 punts, 3 points.
Jets have outscored opponents 20-17 on first drive of their games.
— Pittsburgh
Opponents’ first drive, last 3 games: 24 plays, 161 yards, 17 points.
Opponents’ first drive of 2nd half: 23 plays, 76 yards, no points.
— Tennessee
Titans’ first drive of a game: 26 plays, 113 yards, 7 points.
Opponents’ first drive, last 7 halves: 48 plays, 337 yards, 31 points.
MLB
Weather Report
Saturday, October 19
MLB
Dunkel
Saturday, October 19
MLB
Saturday, October 19
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Trend Report
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NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games on the road
NY Yankees is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing at home against NY Yankees
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Weather Report
Saturday, October 19
MLB
Dunkel
Saturday, October 19
MLB
Saturday, October 19
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Trend Report
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NY Yankees vs Cleveland
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games on the road
NY Yankees is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Cleveland's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Cleveland's last 5 games when playing at home against NY Yankees
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Sunday’s 6-pack:
Last six NBA champions:
2024— Boston Celtics
2023— Denver Nuggets
2022— Golden State Warriors
2021— Milwaukee Bucks
2020— Los Angeles Lakers
2019— Toronto Raptors
Quote of the Day
“Our kicking game is atrocious. If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, e-mail me. We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday … I’m dead serious.”
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. How many did he have that year?
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, Jose Altuve (27) has hit the most postseason home runs.
*********************************************
Dawgs led #1-ranked Texas 23-0 at halftime.
Longhorns benched QB Ewers in first half, put him back in later
Texas ran ball 27 times for only 29 times.
Georgia turned ball over three times, Longhorns four times.
— Tennessee 24, Alabama 17
Vols ran ball 43 times for 214 yards (5.0 yards/carry).
Alabama has lost two of its last three games.
Last three games, Tennessee has been outscored 13-0 in first half.
Alabama had 15 penalties for 115 yards, Tennessee 11 for 95.
— Iowa State 38, Central Florida 35
UCF led 28-14 with 9:00 left in third quarter.
Cyclones scored game-winning TD with 0:30 left.
Iowa State is 7-0 for the first time since 1938.
UCF lost despite running ball 39 times for 354 yards.
— Miami 52, Louisville 45
Miami QB Ward threw for 319 yards, four TD’s.
Hurricanes are 7-0 for first time since 2017.
Louisville ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a TD.
Miami scored a defensive TD to make score 24-14 in 2nd quarter.
— Indiana 56, Nebraska 7
7-0 Hoosiers have yet to trail in a game this season.
Indiana QB Rourke hurt his thumb, didn’t play in 2nd half.
Hoosiers are off to their best start since 1967.
Only 9 of Indiana’s 63 plays came on third down.
— Famous birthdays, October 20th:
Juan Marichal, 87
Noland Smith, 81
Isaac Curtis, 74
Dave Collins, 72
Keith Hernandez, 71
Dave Krieg, 66
Herman Moore, 55
Calvin Broadus, 53 (better known as Snoop Dogg)
— Military schools kept on rolling:
Navy 51, Charlotte 17- Middies had pick-6’s of 61, 84 yards.
Army 45, East Carolina 28- QB Daily ran ball 31 times for 171 yards, 5 TDs
Army is 7-0, Navy is 6-0; they play each other December 14th.
— Duke 23, Florida State 16
Duke had been 0-22 against the Seminoles.
This was first time Duke was favored over Florida State.
Duke was +4 in turnovers; they were outgained 291-180.
— Missouri 21, Auburn 17
Auburn led 17-6 after the third quarter.
Mizzou QB Cook went to hospital for an MRI on his ankle, came back to lead two 4th quarter TD drives.
6-1 Mizzou scored game-winning TD with 0:46 left.
— Illinois 21, Michigan 7
Illini ended a 6-game losing skid against Michigan.
Wolverines outgained Illinois 322-267, but were minus-3 in turnovers.
4-3 Michigan is off to its worst start in ten years.
— UNLV 33, Oregon State 25
Beavers led this game 17-16 at halftime.
Oregon State was on UNLV’s 6-yard line when game ended.
UNLV is 6-1 and bowl eligible for second year in a row.
Rebels ran ball 40 times for 188 yards.
— Upsets of the Week:
New Mexico State (+12.5) 33, Louisiana Tech 30 OT
NC State (+10) 24, California 23
Old Dominion (+10) 24, Texas State 10
Georgia Southern (+9.5) 28, James Madison 14
Texas-El Paso (+7) 30, Florida International 21
Maryland (+7) 29, USC 28
Baylor (+6.5) 59, Texas Tech 35
Michigan State (+6.5) 32, Iowa 20
— Eastern Michigan 38, Central Michigan 34
Chippewas led 34-16 with 12:00 left in game.
EMU scored game-winning TD with 1:42 left.
Central lost despite running ball 45 times for 285 yards.
— SMU 40, Stanford 10
SMU threw TD passes of 87-45-38 yards in first quarter.
Bowl-eligible Mustangs have won eight straight road games.
Stanford has lost 11 home games in a row to I-A teams.
— South Carolina 35, Oklahoma 9
Gamecocks scored two defensive TD’s in the first quarter.
South Carolina had nine sacks, four takeaways (+4 TO’s)
Oklahoma is 4-3, 1-3 in its first season in the SEC.
— Maryland 29, USC 28
USC led this game 21-7 at halftime, 28-14 with 11:00 left.
Maryland scored game-winning TD with 0:53 left.
Terps were only 2-13 on third down; they were 3-6 on 4th down.
Trojans have lost four of last five games; they’re 5-9 in last 14 games.
— Cincinnati 24, Arizona State 14
Down by 10 points, ASU missed field goals of 48-41 yards in 4th quarter.
Sun Devils have having open tryouts for kicker on campus Monday.
Both teams are now 5-2.
Last six NBA champions:
2024— Boston Celtics
2023— Denver Nuggets
2022— Golden State Warriors
2021— Milwaukee Bucks
2020— Los Angeles Lakers
2019— Toronto Raptors
Quote of the Day
“Our kicking game is atrocious. If you can kick and you’re at Arizona State, e-mail me. We’re going to have kicking tryouts on Monday … I’m dead serious.”
Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. How many did he have that year?
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
Friday’s quiz
Of all the active major league players, Jose Altuve (27) has hit the most postseason home runs.
*********************************************
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a college football Saturday…….
— Georgia 30, Texas 15Dawgs led #1-ranked Texas 23-0 at halftime.
Longhorns benched QB Ewers in first half, put him back in later
Texas ran ball 27 times for only 29 times.
Georgia turned ball over three times, Longhorns four times.
— Tennessee 24, Alabama 17
Vols ran ball 43 times for 214 yards (5.0 yards/carry).
Alabama has lost two of its last three games.
Last three games, Tennessee has been outscored 13-0 in first half.
Alabama had 15 penalties for 115 yards, Tennessee 11 for 95.
— Iowa State 38, Central Florida 35
UCF led 28-14 with 9:00 left in third quarter.
Cyclones scored game-winning TD with 0:30 left.
Iowa State is 7-0 for the first time since 1938.
UCF lost despite running ball 39 times for 354 yards.
— Miami 52, Louisville 45
Miami QB Ward threw for 319 yards, four TD’s.
Hurricanes are 7-0 for first time since 2017.
Louisville ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a TD.
Miami scored a defensive TD to make score 24-14 in 2nd quarter.
— Indiana 56, Nebraska 7
7-0 Hoosiers have yet to trail in a game this season.
Indiana QB Rourke hurt his thumb, didn’t play in 2nd half.
Hoosiers are off to their best start since 1967.
Only 9 of Indiana’s 63 plays came on third down.
— Famous birthdays, October 20th:
Juan Marichal, 87
Noland Smith, 81
Isaac Curtis, 74
Dave Collins, 72
Keith Hernandez, 71
Dave Krieg, 66
Herman Moore, 55
Calvin Broadus, 53 (better known as Snoop Dogg)
— Military schools kept on rolling:
Navy 51, Charlotte 17- Middies had pick-6’s of 61, 84 yards.
Army 45, East Carolina 28- QB Daily ran ball 31 times for 171 yards, 5 TDs
Army is 7-0, Navy is 6-0; they play each other December 14th.
— Duke 23, Florida State 16
Duke had been 0-22 against the Seminoles.
This was first time Duke was favored over Florida State.
Duke was +4 in turnovers; they were outgained 291-180.
— Missouri 21, Auburn 17
Auburn led 17-6 after the third quarter.
Mizzou QB Cook went to hospital for an MRI on his ankle, came back to lead two 4th quarter TD drives.
6-1 Mizzou scored game-winning TD with 0:46 left.
— Illinois 21, Michigan 7
Illini ended a 6-game losing skid against Michigan.
Wolverines outgained Illinois 322-267, but were minus-3 in turnovers.
4-3 Michigan is off to its worst start in ten years.
— UNLV 33, Oregon State 25
Beavers led this game 17-16 at halftime.
Oregon State was on UNLV’s 6-yard line when game ended.
UNLV is 6-1 and bowl eligible for second year in a row.
Rebels ran ball 40 times for 188 yards.
— Upsets of the Week:
New Mexico State (+12.5) 33, Louisiana Tech 30 OT
NC State (+10) 24, California 23
Old Dominion (+10) 24, Texas State 10
Georgia Southern (+9.5) 28, James Madison 14
Texas-El Paso (+7) 30, Florida International 21
Maryland (+7) 29, USC 28
Baylor (+6.5) 59, Texas Tech 35
Michigan State (+6.5) 32, Iowa 20
— Eastern Michigan 38, Central Michigan 34
Chippewas led 34-16 with 12:00 left in game.
EMU scored game-winning TD with 1:42 left.
Central lost despite running ball 45 times for 285 yards.
— SMU 40, Stanford 10
SMU threw TD passes of 87-45-38 yards in first quarter.
Bowl-eligible Mustangs have won eight straight road games.
Stanford has lost 11 home games in a row to I-A teams.
— South Carolina 35, Oklahoma 9
Gamecocks scored two defensive TD’s in the first quarter.
South Carolina had nine sacks, four takeaways (+4 TO’s)
Oklahoma is 4-3, 1-3 in its first season in the SEC.
— Maryland 29, USC 28
USC led this game 21-7 at halftime, 28-14 with 11:00 left.
Maryland scored game-winning TD with 0:53 left.
Terps were only 2-13 on third down; they were 3-6 on 4th down.
Trojans have lost four of last five games; they’re 5-9 in last 14 games.
— Cincinnati 24, Arizona State 14
Down by 10 points, ASU missed field goals of 48-41 yards in 4th quarter.
Sun Devils have having open tryouts for kicker on campus Monday.
Both teams are now 5-2.
MLB
Weather Report
Sunday, October 20
MLB
Dunkel
Sunday, October 20
MLB
Sunday, October 20
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Trend Report
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NY Mets vs LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing NY Mets
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Weather Report
Sunday, October 20
MLB
Dunkel
Sunday, October 20
MLB
Sunday, October 20
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Trend Report
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NY Mets vs LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Mets's last 5 games when playing LA Dodgers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games when playing NY Mets
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Monday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Eagles @ Cincinnati (-2.5)
— Packers (-4.5) @ Jacksonville
— Titans @ Detroit (-11.5)
— Falcons @ Tampa Bay (-3)
— Cardinals @ Miami (-3.5)
— Ravens (-9.5) @ Cleveland
Quote of the Day
“We’ve been good enough to have the lead to win them all — we just haven’t been good enough to separate. So we’ve put ourselves in that position. … There’s not a magic remedy, right? You go back to work, you keep identifying the things we’re not doing well, keep trying to emphasize and maximize the things that we are, and trying to be 1-0 next week.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley. Trojans are 6-9 in their last 15 games.
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, who is least wealthy of the group?
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
******************************************
Kansas City is 6-0, last unbeaten team in the NFL.
Chiefs ran ball for 184 yards on 39 carries (4.7/carry)
Chiefs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2017, Kansas City is 13-4 ATS as an underdog.
Chiefs were 8-14 on third down, San Francisco 2-11.
49ers scored 32-30-36 points in wins, 17-24-23-18 in losses.
49ers are 0-3 when they gain less than 400 total yards (310 this game)
Chiefs have won five in a row vs 49ers, including two Super Bowls.
Lions 31, Vikings 29
Lions’ first three drives: 10 plays, 30 yards, no points.
Lions’ next four drives: 28 plays, 299 yards, 28 points.
WR St Brown caught 8 passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Detroit scored 42-47-31 points last three games (15 TDs on 30 drives).
Lions drove 44 yards, kicked game-winning 44-yard FG with 0:19 left.
Vikings had taken 29-28 lead on a defensive TD with 5:50 left.
Minnesota is 1-6 ATS in last seven NFC North home games
Over is 8-1-1 in last their last ten games with Detroit.
Packers 24, Texans 22
Green Bay drove 39 yards, kicked 45-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Packers are 5-0 when they allow less than 30 points.
Green Bay outscored last five opponents 66-22 in second half.
Packers survived being minus-3 in turnovers (+9 first six games).
Texans led 19-14 at halftime.
Houston in 2nd half: 30 plays, 76 yards, 3 points.
Stroud was only 10-21/86 passing (2.2 yards/attempt)
Texans are 10-4-1 ATS in last 15 games as a road underdog
Eagles 28, Giants 3
RB Barkley ran ball 17 times for 176 yards against his old team.
Philly led 14-3 at half, outgained the Giants, 339-119.
Overall, Eagles ran ball 45 times for 269 yards.
Eagles are 14-3 in last 17 games against the Giants.
Giants’ first six drives: 23 plays, 32 yards, six punts.
Giants’ QB’s threw for 105 yards, were sacked 8 times for 62 yards.
In four home games TY, Giants have one TD on 41 drives.
Under is 6-1 in Big Blue games this season.
Jaguars 32, Patriots 16
New England lost its last six games, outscored 90-43 in first half.
Last three weeks, Patriots gave up 193-192-171 rushing yards.
Patriots are 30-45 since Tom Brady left town.
NE is 7-20-1 ATS in last 28 games as an underdog.
Patriots led 10-0 early in 2nd quarter; Jaguars led 22-10 at half.
Washington ran a punt back 96 yards for a Jaguar TD.
Jaguars outgained New England 364-295.
Jacksonville is 4-2 in their last six games in England.
Bills 34, Titans 10
Buffalo in first half: 20 plays, 90 yards, 5 punts, 7 points.
Tennessee led 10-7 at halftime.
Buffalo in second half: 36 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Bills averaged 9.3 yards/pass attempt (Cooper 4 catches, 66 yards)
1-5 Titans scored 17 or fewer points in their losses; their win was 31-12.
Tennessee is minus-9 in turnovers, has had two punts blocked.
Tennessee is 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a road underdog.
Titans has trailed in only one of their six games at halftime.
Famous birthdays, October 21st
Manfred Mann, 84
Zack Grienke, 41
Shelden Williams, 41
Ricky Rubio, 34
Greg Robinson, 32
Davis Mills, 26
— New York 5, Cleveland 2 (10)
Juan Soto hit a 3-run homer in 10th inning.
Stanton hit 2-run HR to tie game 2-2 in 6th inning.
New York advances to World Series for first time since 2009
Dodgers 10, Mets 5
Tommy Edman batted cleanup, drove in four runs.
Dodgers led this game 6-1 in third inning.
World Series starts Friday; the #2 and #3 payroll teams in baseball.
Someone needs to tell the FOX TV guys that the Mets were #1 payroll team in the major leagues this season, not exactly a Cinderella story.
Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
Seahawks threw 31-yard TD pass with 0:04 left in first half to go up, 17-7
Up 24-14, Seattle salted game way with a defensive TD with 12:46 left.
Seahawks are 17-10-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Seattle’s team total: over 7-0
Atlanta is 5-15-1 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Atlanta was 8-15 on third down, but turned ball over three times.
Falcons were held to 10-17-14 points in their three losses.
Falcons are 5-14 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Bengals 21, Browns 14
Bengals ran opening kick of game back 100 yards for a TD.
Bengals rest of first half: 24 plays, 86 yards, no points.
Cincinnati led 7-6 at half; Browns missed PAT after a TD.
Bengals first three drives of second half: 12 plays, 113 yards, 14 points.
Browns had 2 of their 3 QB’s knocked out of this game.
Looked like QB Watson tore his achilles; he is out for the year,
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16-14 points in its 1-6 start.
Browns were 8-19 on third down, Cincinnati 2-13.
Colts 16, Dolphins 10
Miami scored a TD on its second drive (11 plays, 58 yards)
Dolphins rest of game: 56 plays, 280 yards, 3 points.
Down 13-10, Miami clanked 54-yard FG off upright with 5:14 left.
Last four games, Dolphins have four touchdowns on 55 drives.
Dolphins’ team total: under 6-0
Colts QB Richardson completed only 10-24 passes for 129 yards.
Indy won four of its last five games (4-0-1 ATS)
All seven Colts games (4-3) were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Under Steichen, Colts are 4-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Commanders 40, Panthers 7
Carolina’s six losses are by 37-23-10-26-18-33 points.
Carolina is 2-10-1 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog.
Panthers gave up 20+ points in first half in six of seven games.
Carolina is 4-14-2 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Rookie QB Daniels (ribs) left early in game, after a 46-yard run.
Veteran backup Mariota was 18-23/205 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Washington’s first score was a 67-yard pick-6 by Fowler.
Commanders won/covered five of their last six games.
Last six games, Commanders scored 19 TD’s, kicked 20 FG’s on 51 drives.
Rams 20, Raiders 15
LA allowed 17 TD’s in first five games; Raiders had no TD’s, 5 FG’s.
Rams had 4 takeaways (+3); their TD drives were 47-26 yards.
Rams are +4 in turnovers in their wins, minus-3 in losses.
RB Williams ran ball 21 times for 76 yards, two TD’s.
First time this season Rams led after the three quarters.
QB O’Connell hurt his thumb; Minshew was 15-34/154 passing (3 INTs)
Raiders have 16 turnovers in seven games (minus-13).
Since 2019, Raiders are 20-13 ATS as a road underdog.
Opponents have converted only 24 of 83 third down plays.
Rookie TE Bowers caught 10 passes for 93 yards.
Steelers 30, Jets 15
Jets led 15-6 with 5:00 left in first half.
Jets lost last four games, by 1-6-3-15 points.
Jets scored 24-24 points in wins, 19-9-17-20-15 in losses.
Jets are 5-12-1 ATS in last 18 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 4 drives- 36 plays, 227 yards, 24 points.
QB Wilson was 16-29/264 passing, 2 TDs in his first Pittsburgh start.
Steelers are 13-5-2 ATS last 20 games as a home underdog.
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13-15 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Steelers are 16-8-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Eagles @ Cincinnati (-2.5)
— Packers (-4.5) @ Jacksonville
— Titans @ Detroit (-11.5)
— Falcons @ Tampa Bay (-3)
— Cardinals @ Miami (-3.5)
— Ravens (-9.5) @ Cleveland
Quote of the Day
“We’ve been good enough to have the lead to win them all — we just haven’t been good enough to separate. So we’ve put ourselves in that position. … There’s not a magic remedy, right? You go back to work, you keep identifying the things we’re not doing well, keep trying to emphasize and maximize the things that we are, and trying to be 1-0 next week.”
USC coach Lincoln Riley. Trojans are 6-9 in their last 15 games.
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, who is least wealthy of the group?
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
Saturday’s quiz
John Adams was the first Vice President of the United States.
******************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….
Chiefs 28, 49ers 18Kansas City is 6-0, last unbeaten team in the NFL.
Chiefs ran ball for 184 yards on 39 carries (4.7/carry)
Chiefs are 11-5 ATS in last 16 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Since 2017, Kansas City is 13-4 ATS as an underdog.
Chiefs were 8-14 on third down, San Francisco 2-11.
49ers scored 32-30-36 points in wins, 17-24-23-18 in losses.
49ers are 0-3 when they gain less than 400 total yards (310 this game)
Chiefs have won five in a row vs 49ers, including two Super Bowls.
Lions 31, Vikings 29
Lions’ first three drives: 10 plays, 30 yards, no points.
Lions’ next four drives: 28 plays, 299 yards, 28 points.
WR St Brown caught 8 passes for 112 yards and a TD.
Detroit scored 42-47-31 points last three games (15 TDs on 30 drives).
Lions drove 44 yards, kicked game-winning 44-yard FG with 0:19 left.
Vikings had taken 29-28 lead on a defensive TD with 5:50 left.
Minnesota is 1-6 ATS in last seven NFC North home games
Over is 8-1-1 in last their last ten games with Detroit.
Packers 24, Texans 22
Green Bay drove 39 yards, kicked 45-yard FG at the gun for the win.
Packers are 5-0 when they allow less than 30 points.
Green Bay outscored last five opponents 66-22 in second half.
Packers survived being minus-3 in turnovers (+9 first six games).
Texans led 19-14 at halftime.
Houston in 2nd half: 30 plays, 76 yards, 3 points.
Stroud was only 10-21/86 passing (2.2 yards/attempt)
Texans are 10-4-1 ATS in last 15 games as a road underdog
Eagles 28, Giants 3
RB Barkley ran ball 17 times for 176 yards against his old team.
Philly led 14-3 at half, outgained the Giants, 339-119.
Overall, Eagles ran ball 45 times for 269 yards.
Eagles are 14-3 in last 17 games against the Giants.
Giants’ first six drives: 23 plays, 32 yards, six punts.
Giants’ QB’s threw for 105 yards, were sacked 8 times for 62 yards.
In four home games TY, Giants have one TD on 41 drives.
Under is 6-1 in Big Blue games this season.
Jaguars 32, Patriots 16
New England lost its last six games, outscored 90-43 in first half.
Last three weeks, Patriots gave up 193-192-171 rushing yards.
Patriots are 30-45 since Tom Brady left town.
NE is 7-20-1 ATS in last 28 games as an underdog.
Patriots led 10-0 early in 2nd quarter; Jaguars led 22-10 at half.
Washington ran a punt back 96 yards for a Jaguar TD.
Jaguars outgained New England 364-295.
Jacksonville is 4-2 in their last six games in England.
Bills 34, Titans 10
Buffalo in first half: 20 plays, 90 yards, 5 punts, 7 points.
Tennessee led 10-7 at halftime.
Buffalo in second half: 36 plays, 299 yards, 27 points.
Bills averaged 9.3 yards/pass attempt (Cooper 4 catches, 66 yards)
1-5 Titans scored 17 or fewer points in their losses; their win was 31-12.
Tennessee is minus-9 in turnovers, has had two punts blocked.
Tennessee is 3-7 ATS in last ten games as a road underdog.
Titans has trailed in only one of their six games at halftime.
Famous birthdays, October 21st
Manfred Mann, 84
Zack Grienke, 41
Shelden Williams, 41
Ricky Rubio, 34
Greg Robinson, 32
Davis Mills, 26
— New York 5, Cleveland 2 (10)
Juan Soto hit a 3-run homer in 10th inning.
Stanton hit 2-run HR to tie game 2-2 in 6th inning.
New York advances to World Series for first time since 2009
Dodgers 10, Mets 5
Tommy Edman batted cleanup, drove in four runs.
Dodgers led this game 6-1 in third inning.
World Series starts Friday; the #2 and #3 payroll teams in baseball.
Someone needs to tell the FOX TV guys that the Mets were #1 payroll team in the major leagues this season, not exactly a Cinderella story.
Seahawks 34, Falcons 14
Seahawks threw 31-yard TD pass with 0:04 left in first half to go up, 17-7
Up 24-14, Seattle salted game way with a defensive TD with 12:46 left.
Seahawks are 17-10-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Seattle’s team total: over 7-0
Atlanta is 5-15-1 ATS last 21 games as a home favorite.
Atlanta was 8-15 on third down, but turned ball over three times.
Falcons were held to 10-17-14 points in their three losses.
Falcons are 5-14 ATS in last 19 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Bengals 21, Browns 14
Bengals ran opening kick of game back 100 yards for a TD.
Bengals rest of first half: 24 plays, 86 yards, no points.
Cincinnati led 7-6 at half; Browns missed PAT after a TD.
Bengals first three drives of second half: 12 plays, 113 yards, 14 points.
Browns had 2 of their 3 QB’s knocked out of this game.
Looked like QB Watson tore his achilles; he is out for the year,
Cleveland scored 17-18-15-16-13-16-14 points in its 1-6 start.
Browns were 8-19 on third down, Cincinnati 2-13.
Colts 16, Dolphins 10
Miami scored a TD on its second drive (11 plays, 58 yards)
Dolphins rest of game: 56 plays, 280 yards, 3 points.
Down 13-10, Miami clanked 54-yard FG off upright with 5:14 left.
Last four games, Dolphins have four touchdowns on 55 drives.
Dolphins’ team total: under 6-0
Colts QB Richardson completed only 10-24 passes for 129 yards.
Indy won four of its last five games (4-0-1 ATS)
All seven Colts games (4-3) were decided by 6 or fewer points.
Under Steichen, Colts are 4-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Commanders 40, Panthers 7
Carolina’s six losses are by 37-23-10-26-18-33 points.
Carolina is 2-10-1 ATS last 13 games as a road underdog.
Panthers gave up 20+ points in first half in six of seven games.
Carolina is 4-14-2 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.
Rookie QB Daniels (ribs) left early in game, after a 46-yard run.
Veteran backup Mariota was 18-23/205 passing, with 2 TD’s.
Washington’s first score was a 67-yard pick-6 by Fowler.
Commanders won/covered five of their last six games.
Last six games, Commanders scored 19 TD’s, kicked 20 FG’s on 51 drives.
Rams 20, Raiders 15
LA allowed 17 TD’s in first five games; Raiders had no TD’s, 5 FG’s.
Rams had 4 takeaways (+3); their TD drives were 47-26 yards.
Rams are +4 in turnovers in their wins, minus-3 in losses.
RB Williams ran ball 21 times for 76 yards, two TD’s.
First time this season Rams led after the three quarters.
QB O’Connell hurt his thumb; Minshew was 15-34/154 passing (3 INTs)
Raiders have 16 turnovers in seven games (minus-13).
Since 2019, Raiders are 20-13 ATS as a road underdog.
Opponents have converted only 24 of 83 third down plays.
Rookie TE Bowers caught 10 passes for 93 yards.
Steelers 30, Jets 15
Jets led 15-6 with 5:00 left in first half.
Jets lost last four games, by 1-6-3-15 points.
Jets scored 24-24 points in wins, 19-9-17-20-15 in losses.
Jets are 5-12-1 ATS in last 18 games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 4 drives- 36 plays, 227 yards, 24 points.
QB Wilson was 16-29/264 passing, 2 TDs in his first Pittsburgh start.
Steelers are 13-5-2 ATS last 20 games as a home underdog.
Steelers allowed 10-6-10-13-15 points in wins, 27-20 in losses.
Steelers are 16-8-1 ATS in last 25 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Tuesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Bills (-3) @ Seattle
— Bears (-3) @ Washington
— Panthers @ Denver (-7.5)
— Chiefs (-10) @ Las Vegas
— Cowboys @ San Francisco (-4.5)
— Giants @ Pittsburgh (-6)
Quote of the Day
“We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter anymore. So there’s zero pressure. You have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and history of what this organization has. And what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time?”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, talking about Boston repeating as NBA champs
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; who was their QB in that game?
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
******************************************
Baltimore won/covered last five games, scoring 28-35-41-30-41 points.
First seven drives, Ravens ran 40 plays for 379 yards, 34 points.
RB Henry carried ball 15 times for 169 yards.
Ravens are 10-4 ATS in last 14 games as a road favorite.
Over is 6-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Both of Buccaneers’ star WR’s (Evans/Godwin) left with injuries.
Tampa Bay led 10-0 after the first quarter.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51-31 points in last four games.
Tampa Bay is 2-5 ATS last seven games as a home underdog.
Buccaneers are 4-9 ATS in last 13 games vs AFC teams.
— Cardinals 17, Chargers 15
On their first drive, Chargers fumbled on Arizona’s 2-yard line.
Chargers wound up kicking five field goals on their eight drives.
Last four games, on 17 2nd half drives, Chargers have no TD’s, 4 FG’s.
Chargers scored 22-26-23 points in wins, 10-10-15 in losses.
Chargers are 3-12 ATS in last 15 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Arizona drove 56 yards, kicked game-winning FG at the gun.
Cardinals are 17-12 ATS last 29 games coming off a loss.
Chargers were 6-14 on third down, Arizona 2-7
Murray’s 44-yard TD run put Cardinals ahead 14-9.
Cardinals are 8-5 ATS last 13 games as a home underdog.
— OK, let’s say you’re voting for who gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at the blind resume for two candidates (both QB’s):
Player A: 117-117 regular season W-L, 8-4 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Player B: 72-72 regular season W-L, 8-2 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Who gets in? Both? Neither? Just Player A? Just Player B?
Both won two Super Bowls, with a .500 regular season record. Seems logical that both of them should get in, or neither one, right?
— Cleveland Browns are planning on building a domed stadium in suburban Brook Park, which apparently will be privately funded.
— Giants’ QB Daniel Jones is the only starting QB since 2000 with no passing TD’s in six consecutive home games.
— When the Lions play in Green Bay on November 3rd, it’ll be their first game outdoors this season, their eighth game this year.
— Famous birthdays, October 22:
Christopher Lloyd, 86
Wilbur Wood, 83
Jeff Goldblum, 72
Jamie Quirk, 70
Luis Zendejas, 63
Ichiro Suzuki, 51
Carmen Ejogo, 50
Robinson Cano, 42
Corbin Burnes, 30
There will be scapegoats:
— Oklahoma has lost three of its last four games, is 132nd in the country in offense; they fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell Sunday.
Littrell was North Texas’ head coach from 2016-22; he was an analyst at Oklahoma last year, was promoted to OC this year when Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach.
— Oklahoma is an underdog of 20.5 points vs Ole Miss this week; it would be the first time since 1997 that the Sooners were an underdog of 20+ points- 348 games ago.
— Utah Utes offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned (was fired) Sunday; Utah lost its last three games, scoring a total of 36 points. Mike Bajakian was promoted to QB coach/offensive coordinator (on an interim basis).
Bajakian joined Utah this year as an analyst after spending four seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Northwestern, a school exactly known for offense, but he was also a QB coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2015-18.
— East Carolina fired football coach Mike Houston after their 3-4 start; Houston was 27-38 in 5+ seasons coaching the Pirates, getting to bowl games in 2021, 2022, but ECU lost its last two games, giving up 100 points to Charlotte/Army. Not good.
— USC has led in the 4th quarter of all their games this season, but they’re 3-4; over the last 20 years, only one other team has led in the 4th quarter of their first seven games, and been under .500 (Utah State in 2011).
— Movie of the Day: One on One (1977)- A small-town basketball star goes to college and tries to impress his tutor, teammates, and coach.
Robby Benson is the star; lot has changed since this movie was made (I was in high school, for example) but some of it still holds up. Annette O’Toole is his tutor and a very young Melanie Griffith has a cameo at the start of the movie.
One on One was filmed at Colorado State; I think they still use that arena.
— In September, parlays accounted for 32.3% of sports bets in New Jersey, 72.5% of their gross revenue. Parlays are a casino’s very good friend.
— Do NFL coaches get drug tested? I’m wondering this because Detroit coach Dan Campbell does some weird stuff— he takes chances, reckless chances at times.
First possession Sunday, Lions tried a fake punt in Minnesota; it failed badly, but the Lions were good enough to win anyway, kicking a field goal at the end. Couple of years ago against the Rams, Detroit tried an onside kick/fake punt in the first half….of the same game!!!
— 2016 Atlanta Falcons had five coaches on their staff who are currently NFL head coaches:
Dan Quinn, Washington
Raheem Morris, Atlanta
Mike McDaniel, Miami
Jeff Ulbrich, Jets
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco
— Oh, by the way, the two quarterbacks up above?
Player B is Jim Plunkett
Player A in Eli Manning
Interesting spreads, Week 8
— Bills (-3) @ Seattle
— Bears (-3) @ Washington
— Panthers @ Denver (-7.5)
— Chiefs (-10) @ Las Vegas
— Cowboys @ San Francisco (-4.5)
— Giants @ Pittsburgh (-6)
Quote of the Day
“We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter anymore. So there’s zero pressure. You have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and history of what this organization has. And what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time?”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, talking about Boston repeating as NBA champs
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; who was their QB in that game?
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.
Sunday’s quiz
Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 120 times in 2004, the most of any player ever; other than Bonds, Willie McCovey (1969) has received the most intentional walks in a season. He had 45 intentional walks that year.
******************************************
Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but……..
— Ravens 41, Buccaneers 31Baltimore won/covered last five games, scoring 28-35-41-30-41 points.
First seven drives, Ravens ran 40 plays for 379 yards, 34 points.
RB Henry carried ball 15 times for 169 yards.
Ravens are 10-4 ATS in last 14 games as a road favorite.
Over is 6-1 in Baltimore’s games this year.
Both of Buccaneers’ star WR’s (Evans/Godwin) left with injuries.
Tampa Bay led 10-0 after the first quarter.
Buccaneers scored 33-30-51-31 points in last four games.
Tampa Bay is 2-5 ATS last seven games as a home underdog.
Buccaneers are 4-9 ATS in last 13 games vs AFC teams.
— Cardinals 17, Chargers 15
On their first drive, Chargers fumbled on Arizona’s 2-yard line.
Chargers wound up kicking five field goals on their eight drives.
Last four games, on 17 2nd half drives, Chargers have no TD’s, 4 FG’s.
Chargers scored 22-26-23 points in wins, 10-10-15 in losses.
Chargers are 3-12 ATS in last 15 games with spread of 3 or less points.
Arizona drove 56 yards, kicked game-winning FG at the gun.
Cardinals are 17-12 ATS last 29 games coming off a loss.
Chargers were 6-14 on third down, Arizona 2-7
Murray’s 44-yard TD run put Cardinals ahead 14-9.
Cardinals are 8-5 ATS last 13 games as a home underdog.
— OK, let’s say you’re voting for who gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Let’s take a look at the blind resume for two candidates (both QB’s):
Player A: 117-117 regular season W-L, 8-4 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Player B: 72-72 regular season W-L, 8-2 playoffs.
Won two Super Bowls
Who gets in? Both? Neither? Just Player A? Just Player B?
Both won two Super Bowls, with a .500 regular season record. Seems logical that both of them should get in, or neither one, right?
— Cleveland Browns are planning on building a domed stadium in suburban Brook Park, which apparently will be privately funded.
— Giants’ QB Daniel Jones is the only starting QB since 2000 with no passing TD’s in six consecutive home games.
— When the Lions play in Green Bay on November 3rd, it’ll be their first game outdoors this season, their eighth game this year.
— Famous birthdays, October 22:
Christopher Lloyd, 86
Wilbur Wood, 83
Jeff Goldblum, 72
Jamie Quirk, 70
Luis Zendejas, 63
Ichiro Suzuki, 51
Carmen Ejogo, 50
Robinson Cano, 42
Corbin Burnes, 30
There will be scapegoats:
— Oklahoma has lost three of its last four games, is 132nd in the country in offense; they fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell Sunday.
Littrell was North Texas’ head coach from 2016-22; he was an analyst at Oklahoma last year, was promoted to OC this year when Jeff Lebby left to become Mississippi State’s head coach.
— Oklahoma is an underdog of 20.5 points vs Ole Miss this week; it would be the first time since 1997 that the Sooners were an underdog of 20+ points- 348 games ago.
— Utah Utes offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig resigned (was fired) Sunday; Utah lost its last three games, scoring a total of 36 points. Mike Bajakian was promoted to QB coach/offensive coordinator (on an interim basis).
Bajakian joined Utah this year as an analyst after spending four seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Northwestern, a school exactly known for offense, but he was also a QB coach for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2015-18.
— East Carolina fired football coach Mike Houston after their 3-4 start; Houston was 27-38 in 5+ seasons coaching the Pirates, getting to bowl games in 2021, 2022, but ECU lost its last two games, giving up 100 points to Charlotte/Army. Not good.
— USC has led in the 4th quarter of all their games this season, but they’re 3-4; over the last 20 years, only one other team has led in the 4th quarter of their first seven games, and been under .500 (Utah State in 2011).
— Movie of the Day: One on One (1977)- A small-town basketball star goes to college and tries to impress his tutor, teammates, and coach.
Robby Benson is the star; lot has changed since this movie was made (I was in high school, for example) but some of it still holds up. Annette O’Toole is his tutor and a very young Melanie Griffith has a cameo at the start of the movie.
One on One was filmed at Colorado State; I think they still use that arena.
— In September, parlays accounted for 32.3% of sports bets in New Jersey, 72.5% of their gross revenue. Parlays are a casino’s very good friend.
— Do NFL coaches get drug tested? I’m wondering this because Detroit coach Dan Campbell does some weird stuff— he takes chances, reckless chances at times.
First possession Sunday, Lions tried a fake punt in Minnesota; it failed badly, but the Lions were good enough to win anyway, kicking a field goal at the end. Couple of years ago against the Rams, Detroit tried an onside kick/fake punt in the first half….of the same game!!!
— 2016 Atlanta Falcons had five coaches on their staff who are currently NFL head coaches:
Dan Quinn, Washington
Raheem Morris, Atlanta
Mike McDaniel, Miami
Jeff Ulbrich, Jets
Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco
— Oh, by the way, the two quarterbacks up above?
Player B is Jim Plunkett
Player A in Eli Manning
Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Interesting college football spreads, Week 8
— Boise State (-3) @ UNLV
— Notre Dame (-12.5) vs Navy (@ Meadowlands)
— Washington @ Indiana (-6.5)
— Illinois @ Oregon (-21.5)
— BYU @ Central Florida (-1.5)
— Texas Tech @ TCU (-6.5)
Quote of the Day
“If a guy is going to cheat you on the golf course, he’s going to cheat you in business.”
Arnold Palmer, as told to Rick Reilly
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, which team did they beat in the Finals both times?
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.
***********************************
Celtics led 74-55 at halftime.
Boston shot 29-61 on the arc, and they missed their last 14.
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points.
— Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
Anthony Davis scored 36 points, grabbed 16 rebounds.
Lebron/Bronny James are first father/son to play in same NBA game.
Lakers had lost their last six season openers.
— Sam Houston 10, Florida International 7
Game was scoreless at halftime.
Sam Houston kicked a 20-yard FG with 1:57 left for the road win.
Bearkats are bowl eligible for the first time as a I-A team.
— Louisiana Tech 14, Texas-El Paso 10
Tech was 6-17 on third down, Miners 1-14.
Bulldogs ran ball 30 times for 7 yards, UTEP 47 times for 166 yards.
Tech has won 11 of its last 12 games against UTEP.
— All 32 NHL teams played Tuesday; the over/under on goals scored for all 32 teams was 101.5. Night ended with 98 goals being scored.
— American League teams won last two World Series; leagues split the last 12 Fall Classics.
— When the Rams won Sunday, Sean McVay tied John Robinson for the most wins (79) by a coach in franchise history.
— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 65
Doug Flutie, 62
Mike Tomczak, 62
Keith Van Horn, 49
Ryan Reynolds, 48
Kyle Gibson, 37
Nick Bosa, 27
Dylan Carlson, 26
— Random fact that is kind of amazing; Pittsburgh Steelers have had only three head coaches since 1969- Chick Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin.
Steelers are only NFL team that hasn’t played a divisional game yet.
— Indiana Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke had surgery on his right (passing) thumb, is out for a while. Indiana, off to its best start since 1967, hosts Washington Saturday.
— Hawai’i is joining the Mountain West on a full-time basis in two years, which figures to hurt their basketball program. Hawaii is 34-21 in Big West games the last three years, but moving up to the Mountain West is a big step up, just ask UNLV.
— If you have a son who is athletic and kind of tall, get him a basketball and send him outside to practice……..a lot
Denver Nuggets signed Aaron Gordon to a 4-year, $133M contract extension.
Washington Wizards signed Corey Kispert to a 4-year, $54M contract extension.
Atlanta Hawks signed Jalen Johnson to a 5-year, $150M contract extension.
Golden State Warriors signed Moses Moody to a 3-year, $39M contract extension.
Houston Rockets signed Alperen Sengun to a 5-year, $185M contract extension.
Minnesota Timberwolves signed Rudy Gobert to a 3-year, $110M contract extension.
It is really, really hard to make it to the NBA, but if you do, it pays off handsomely.
— Fernando Valenzuela, the great Dodger pitcher, passed away Tuesday at age 63.
In 1981, Valenzuela won the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards as a 20-year-old by going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA.
Valenzuela went to six consecutive All-Star Games from 1981-86 and also finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting in 1982, 1985, and 1986.
June 19, 1990, Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against St Louis, the same night Dave Stewart also threw a no-hitter, the only time two no-hitters happened on the same day.
Valenzuela had a 173-153 record in the majors, then was 5-1, 1.98 in eight playoff games.
RIP, sir.
Interesting college football spreads, Week 8
— Boise State (-3) @ UNLV
— Notre Dame (-12.5) vs Navy (@ Meadowlands)
— Washington @ Indiana (-6.5)
— Illinois @ Oregon (-21.5)
— BYU @ Central Florida (-1.5)
— Texas Tech @ TCU (-6.5)
Quote of the Day
“If a guy is going to cheat you on the golf course, he’s going to cheat you in business.”
Arnold Palmer, as told to Rick Reilly
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, which team did they beat in the Finals both times?
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.
Monday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers are a publicly-owned team; of the other 31 NFL owners, Bengals owner Mike Brown is the least wealthy.
***********************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….
— Celtics 132, Knicks 109Celtics led 74-55 at halftime.
Boston shot 29-61 on the arc, and they missed their last 14.
Jayson Tatum scored 37 points.
— Lakers 110, Timberwolves 103
Anthony Davis scored 36 points, grabbed 16 rebounds.
Lebron/Bronny James are first father/son to play in same NBA game.
Lakers had lost their last six season openers.
— Sam Houston 10, Florida International 7
Game was scoreless at halftime.
Sam Houston kicked a 20-yard FG with 1:57 left for the road win.
Bearkats are bowl eligible for the first time as a I-A team.
— Louisiana Tech 14, Texas-El Paso 10
Tech was 6-17 on third down, Miners 1-14.
Bulldogs ran ball 30 times for 7 yards, UTEP 47 times for 166 yards.
Tech has won 11 of its last 12 games against UTEP.
— All 32 NHL teams played Tuesday; the over/under on goals scored for all 32 teams was 101.5. Night ended with 98 goals being scored.
— American League teams won last two World Series; leagues split the last 12 Fall Classics.
— When the Rams won Sunday, Sean McVay tied John Robinson for the most wins (79) by a coach in franchise history.
— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 65
Doug Flutie, 62
Mike Tomczak, 62
Keith Van Horn, 49
Ryan Reynolds, 48
Kyle Gibson, 37
Nick Bosa, 27
Dylan Carlson, 26
— Random fact that is kind of amazing; Pittsburgh Steelers have had only three head coaches since 1969- Chick Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin.
Steelers are only NFL team that hasn’t played a divisional game yet.
— Indiana Hoosiers QB Kurtis Rourke had surgery on his right (passing) thumb, is out for a while. Indiana, off to its best start since 1967, hosts Washington Saturday.
— Hawai’i is joining the Mountain West on a full-time basis in two years, which figures to hurt their basketball program. Hawaii is 34-21 in Big West games the last three years, but moving up to the Mountain West is a big step up, just ask UNLV.
— If you have a son who is athletic and kind of tall, get him a basketball and send him outside to practice……..a lot
Denver Nuggets signed Aaron Gordon to a 4-year, $133M contract extension.
Washington Wizards signed Corey Kispert to a 4-year, $54M contract extension.
Atlanta Hawks signed Jalen Johnson to a 5-year, $150M contract extension.
Golden State Warriors signed Moses Moody to a 3-year, $39M contract extension.
Houston Rockets signed Alperen Sengun to a 5-year, $185M contract extension.
Minnesota Timberwolves signed Rudy Gobert to a 3-year, $110M contract extension.
It is really, really hard to make it to the NBA, but if you do, it pays off handsomely.
— Fernando Valenzuela, the great Dodger pitcher, passed away Tuesday at age 63.
In 1981, Valenzuela won the NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards as a 20-year-old by going 13-7 with a 2.48 ERA.
Valenzuela went to six consecutive All-Star Games from 1981-86 and also finished in the top five of the Cy Young voting in 1982, 1985, and 1986.
June 19, 1990, Valenzuela pitched a no-hitter against St Louis, the same night Dave Stewart also threw a no-hitter, the only time two no-hitters happened on the same day.
Valenzuela had a 173-153 record in the majors, then was 5-1, 1.98 in eight playoff games.
RIP, sir.
Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24- Liberty was favored by 27.5 points.
— Jacksonville State 42, MTSU 20- Gamecocks outscored MT 21-3 in 3rd quarter.
— Suns 116, Clippers 113 OT- Suns were +14 in 24:00 Royce O’Neale played.
— Grizzlies 126, Jazz 124- Ja Morant had 22 points,, ten assists.
— Pacers 115, Pistons 109- Indiana outscored Pistons 33-19 in 4th quarter.
— Hawks 120, Nets 116- Onyeka Okongwu scored a career-high 28 points.
Quote of the Day
“We are not making any changes.”
New Jersey Giants owner John Mara
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, what holiday did Magnum always spend by himself?
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.
******************************************
— UConn won the last two national titles; last team to win three in a row was UCLA, way back from 1971-73. Last spring, Danny Hurley turned down a chance to coach the Lakers; he lost four starters from last year, but his Huskies are still a preseason top 10 team.
— TV/radio personality Doug Gottlieb is the new coach at Green Bay; he’s making $215,000 this year coaching, as well as continuing as host of his national radio show during the week. He was a really good TV analyst on game broadcasts.
Gottlieb played point guard at Notre Dame/Oklahoma State; his late father was a coach, and his brother is still coaching. This should be interesting to follow.
— 6-3 guard PJ Haggerty scored 21.2 ppg last year for Tulsa, more than any freshman in the country; he then bolted to Memphi$, because that’s what happens in college sports now. Rooting for smaller college teams is like rooting for the A’s or the Pirates- your best players are bolting for $$$.
— No Pac-12 this year; it’ll be back down the road, but there is one less automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this year, and one more at-large bid. Oregon State, Washington State are playing in the WCC this year, Gonzaga’s league.
— 15 of the 18 ACC teams will be in the ACC Tournament……10 of the 13 teams in the MAAC will be in their tournament. In the past, the whole league played in their conference tournaments.
— Since 2015, six ACC teams have made it to a Final Four:
Duke, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia
— College sports has gone mad; realignment of leagues has been to maximize $$$ from football, and basketball (and other sports) are suffering as a result.
Stanford/Cal are in the ATLANTIC Coast Conference; they’ll take two-game road trips this winter. January 15, 18th Stanford plays at Wake Forest/North Carolina; this makes no sense, and must cost schools a ton of dollar$.
— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 77
Chester Marcol, 75
Omar Moreno, 72
Jay Novacek, 62
Corey Dillon, 50
Eric Hosmer, 35
Jalen Ramsey, 30
Rafael Devers, 28
Jaylen Brown, 28
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 25
— David Patrick is a coach who has now quit as a head coach twice, to become an assistant coach somewhere else, an unusual career move.
From 2018-20, Patrick was coach at Cal-Riverside; they went 10-23/17-15 at UCR, improving from 4-12 to 7-9 in the Big West in his second year, but then he bolted to Arkansas, where he was an assistant for Eric Musselman.
The last two years, Patrick was an assistant at Sacramento State in the Big Sky, where he went 14-18/10-24 in two years. Last spring, Patrick moved on and is now an assistant at LSU.
— Only three Big East teams made the NCAA Tournament last year, the fewest amount of teams since the league re-booted in 2014. One of those teams won the national title, but St John’s and Seton Hall getting squeezed out of at-large bids was surprising.
— Eric Musselman is going to win big (eventually) at USC; he’s added 10 transfers this season, eight of them seniors. There is only one kid on USC’s team who was a Trojan last year, and he only scored 2.3 ppg last year.
— Last seven years, seven different teams have won the C0nference USA conference tournament; last 11 years, eight different teams have won the Big West tournament.
— Steve Lutz is the new coach at Oklahoma State; he was 22-12 in his one year at Western Kentucky last year, after he was 47-23, 21-11 in two years at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Oklahoma State was 21-9 in the one year Cade Cunningham played for them, but in the three years since, Cowboys went 8-10, 4-14. 4-14 in Big X games.
— Utah State is on its sixth head coach in 11 years, which is weird because during that time, they’ve had only one losing season.
— Since 2010, Ivy League teams are a surprisingly good 8-14 in the NCAA Tournament.
— Coaching carousel was in full gear this past spring:
Rob Lanier went from SMU to Rice
Andy Enfield went from USC to SMU
Eric Musselman went from Arkansas to USC
John Calipari went from Kentucky to Arkansas
Mark Pope went from BYU to Kentucky.
Kyle Smith went from Washington State to Stanford
Danny Sprinkle went from Utah State to Washington
Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan
Pat Kelsey went from Charleston to Louisville
Former Louisville coach Chris Mack went to Charleston.
Should be a very interesting season; enjoy!!!
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24- Liberty was favored by 27.5 points.
— Jacksonville State 42, MTSU 20- Gamecocks outscored MT 21-3 in 3rd quarter.
— Suns 116, Clippers 113 OT- Suns were +14 in 24:00 Royce O’Neale played.
— Grizzlies 126, Jazz 124- Ja Morant had 22 points,, ten assists.
— Pacers 115, Pistons 109- Indiana outscored Pistons 33-19 in 4th quarter.
— Hawks 120, Nets 116- Onyeka Okongwu scored a career-high 28 points.
Quote of the Day
“We are not making any changes.”
New Jersey Giants owner John Mara
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, what holiday did Magnum always spend by himself?
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
Tuesday’s quiz
Arizona Cardinals have played in one Super Bowl; Hall of Famer Kurt Warner was their QB in that game.
******************************************
Thursday’s Den: Very early college basketball information…….
College basketball starts in 10 days…..some stuff to think about— UConn won the last two national titles; last team to win three in a row was UCLA, way back from 1971-73. Last spring, Danny Hurley turned down a chance to coach the Lakers; he lost four starters from last year, but his Huskies are still a preseason top 10 team.
— TV/radio personality Doug Gottlieb is the new coach at Green Bay; he’s making $215,000 this year coaching, as well as continuing as host of his national radio show during the week. He was a really good TV analyst on game broadcasts.
Gottlieb played point guard at Notre Dame/Oklahoma State; his late father was a coach, and his brother is still coaching. This should be interesting to follow.
— 6-3 guard PJ Haggerty scored 21.2 ppg last year for Tulsa, more than any freshman in the country; he then bolted to Memphi$, because that’s what happens in college sports now. Rooting for smaller college teams is like rooting for the A’s or the Pirates- your best players are bolting for $$$.
— No Pac-12 this year; it’ll be back down the road, but there is one less automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament this year, and one more at-large bid. Oregon State, Washington State are playing in the WCC this year, Gonzaga’s league.
— 15 of the 18 ACC teams will be in the ACC Tournament……10 of the 13 teams in the MAAC will be in their tournament. In the past, the whole league played in their conference tournaments.
— Since 2015, six ACC teams have made it to a Final Four:
Duke, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Syracuse, Virginia
— College sports has gone mad; realignment of leagues has been to maximize $$$ from football, and basketball (and other sports) are suffering as a result.
Stanford/Cal are in the ATLANTIC Coast Conference; they’ll take two-game road trips this winter. January 15, 18th Stanford plays at Wake Forest/North Carolina; this makes no sense, and must cost schools a ton of dollar$.
— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 77
Chester Marcol, 75
Omar Moreno, 72
Jay Novacek, 62
Corey Dillon, 50
Eric Hosmer, 35
Jalen Ramsey, 30
Rafael Devers, 28
Jaylen Brown, 28
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 25
— David Patrick is a coach who has now quit as a head coach twice, to become an assistant coach somewhere else, an unusual career move.
From 2018-20, Patrick was coach at Cal-Riverside; they went 10-23/17-15 at UCR, improving from 4-12 to 7-9 in the Big West in his second year, but then he bolted to Arkansas, where he was an assistant for Eric Musselman.
The last two years, Patrick was an assistant at Sacramento State in the Big Sky, where he went 14-18/10-24 in two years. Last spring, Patrick moved on and is now an assistant at LSU.
— Only three Big East teams made the NCAA Tournament last year, the fewest amount of teams since the league re-booted in 2014. One of those teams won the national title, but St John’s and Seton Hall getting squeezed out of at-large bids was surprising.
— Eric Musselman is going to win big (eventually) at USC; he’s added 10 transfers this season, eight of them seniors. There is only one kid on USC’s team who was a Trojan last year, and he only scored 2.3 ppg last year.
— Last seven years, seven different teams have won the C0nference USA conference tournament; last 11 years, eight different teams have won the Big West tournament.
— Steve Lutz is the new coach at Oklahoma State; he was 22-12 in his one year at Western Kentucky last year, after he was 47-23, 21-11 in two years at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Oklahoma State was 21-9 in the one year Cade Cunningham played for them, but in the three years since, Cowboys went 8-10, 4-14. 4-14 in Big X games.
— Utah State is on its sixth head coach in 11 years, which is weird because during that time, they’ve had only one losing season.
— Since 2010, Ivy League teams are a surprisingly good 8-14 in the NCAA Tournament.
— Coaching carousel was in full gear this past spring:
Rob Lanier went from SMU to Rice
Andy Enfield went from USC to SMU
Eric Musselman went from Arkansas to USC
John Calipari went from Kentucky to Arkansas
Mark Pope went from BYU to Kentucky.
Kyle Smith went from Washington State to Stanford
Danny Sprinkle went from Utah State to Washington
Dusty May went from Florida Atlantic to Michigan
Pat Kelsey went from Charleston to Louisville
Former Louisville coach Chris Mack went to Charleston.
Should be a very interesting season; enjoy!!!
Friday’s 6-pack:
Best ERA’s for starting pitchers with 20+ career playoff starts:
2.51— Jon Lester (22 starts)
2.67— John Smoltz (27)
2.71— Whitey Ford (22)
2.98— Gerrit Cole (20)
3.27— Greg Maddux (30)
3.30— Tom Glavine (35)
Quote of the Day
“All of these kids that move around in the portal, none of them are pros. There are no pros in the portal. If they were pros, they wouldn’t be in the portal. They’re all college guys looking to improve.”
Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, where did the team call home?
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
*****************************************
Riley is 1,381-805 as an NBA coach, winning five NBA titles (4 with Lakers, one with the Heat, in 2006). He also led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994.
Miami has won two NBA titles with Riley as team president and Erik Spoelstra as coach; Riley was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coach Riley is from Schenectady, NY; he went to Linton High School, in 1992, Linton merged with Mont Pleasant HS to form Schenectady High School, which is located in the former Linton facility. Coach Riley gave the school a lot of money to help refurbish the gym/locker room. The gym at Schenectady is named after him.
Long time ago (1993-2001), I spent eight years as an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High; I was the analytics/numbers guy, the geeky coach/scout. This was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life, and one of the most fun.
I was lucky to work for great people and we had really, really good players; we won state titles in 1998 and 2001. When we won the state titles, coach Riley sent us all gifts to commemorate our efforts- I’m looking at them in my living room as I type this.
Congratulations to you Coach Riley, on one of the best careers anyone has ever had. It was an honor to spend eight years working in your gym.
— Rams 30, Vikings 20
Stafford was 25-34/279 passing, with four TD’s. (helps to have Kupp/Nacua healthy)
Rams outgained Minnesota, 386-276.
LA was 4-10 on third down, Vikings 2-7.
Rams scored 27-20-30 points in their wins, 20-10-18-19 in losses.
Rams are 6-3-1 ATS last ten games as a home underdog.
Vikings’ first two drives: 18 plays, 140 yards, 14 points.
Vikings’ last six drives: 30 plays, 125 yards, 2 FGs and a safety
Minnesota ran for only 64 yards; they were 2-7 on 3rd down.
WR Jefferson caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Minnesota is 4-8-1 ATS in last 13 games coming off a loss.
— Pitt 41, Syracuse 13
Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982.
Pitt scored three defensive TD’s in the first half, led 31-0 at halftime.
Syracuse ran ball for only six yards on 29 carries; they threw 5 INTs in all.
— Old Dominion 47, Georgia Southern 19
Monarchs led 30-7 at half; QB Jospeh threw 4 first half TD passes.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern, 560-416.
Monarchs ran ball 41 times for 256 yards.
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
1-6 Owls were a 27-point underdog; Liberty came into the game 5-0.
This is Kennesaw State’s first-ever win as a I-A program.
Liberty had nine penalties for 100 yards.
— Jacksonville State 42, Middle Tennessee 20
QB Huff threw for 137 yards and TD, ran for 151 yards and 2 TD’s.
Gamecocks have won four games in a row for first time since 2020.
Jax State outgained the Blue Raiders, 577-365
— There was very sad news Thursday; South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away at age 43.
Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died due to complications that arose during the procedure. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in coaching; he built the Kennesaw State program from the ground up, going 26-9 two years ago, making the NCAAs as a 14-seed.
He then moved on to South Florida last year, went 25-8, 16-2 in the AAC.
Very sad news. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Dan Issel, 76
Dave Cowens, 76
Gifford Nielsen, 70
Mark Vlasic, 61
Pat Swilling, 60
Mike Harkey, 58
Terrell Lowery, 54
Pedro Martinez, 53
Juan Soto, 26
— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice Wednesday for jury duty; he got a letter from the court and was selected as a juror for a felony case. In order to be removed from the jury, both sides and the judge would have to sign off and install an alternate juror.
Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday afternoon for their game against the 49ers; they return to Dallas early Monday morning.
— NBA has an in-season tournament starting November 12, kind of an admission that interest in the league is weak before Christmas.
Last year, the Lakers won the tournament; they raised a banner in their arena, but showed their true colors when they fired coach Davin Ham after a 47-35 season and a first-round exit from the playoffs.
If the in-season tournament had any meaning at all, no way does the coach get fired.
— Speaking of the Lakers, the G-League starts November 8; hopefully they’ll send Bronny James to play there, so the young man can play a lot and get the experience he needs.
Lebron/Bronny played a few minutes together the other night, becoming the first father/son to play on same team, but Bronny only played one year at USC— he isn’t as good as his dad, and likely never will be (who is???). He needs to play a lot to progress into an NBA-level player.
— Watching the Phoenix Suns should be fun this winter; 22 of their first 32 shots the other night were 3-pointers. Coach Mike Budenholzer likes a wide-open style, for to watch.
— Congrats to Atlanta Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman, who recently broadcast his 3,000th consecutive game for the Hawks.
— NC State QB Grayson McCall is retiring from football, after he had a concussion in a game earlier this month. He is 23 years old, played six years of college football. We wish him well.
— Carolina Panthers’ QB Andy Dalton got banged up in a car accident this week; he won’t start this week, when the 1-6 Panthers visit Denver.
2nd-year QB Bryce Young will start this week; Carolina lost 47-10/26-3 in the two games he started earlier this season, in Weeks 1-2.
— There are 134 I-A college football teams; Florida State is the only one that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
Best ERA’s for starting pitchers with 20+ career playoff starts:
2.51— Jon Lester (22 starts)
2.67— John Smoltz (27)
2.71— Whitey Ford (22)
2.98— Gerrit Cole (20)
3.27— Greg Maddux (30)
3.30— Tom Glavine (35)
Quote of the Day
“All of these kids that move around in the portal, none of them are pros. There are no pros in the portal. If they were pros, they wouldn’t be in the portal. They’re all college guys looking to improve.”
Houston basketball coach Kelvin Sampson
Friday’s quiz
Oklahoma City Thunder starting playing in Oklahoma in 2008-09; before that, where did the team call home?
Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show Magnum PI, Magnum always spent the 4th of July by himself; that was the day his father passed away, when Magnum was five years old.
Wednesday’s quiz
Last two times the New York Knicks won the NBA title, they beat the Lakers in the Finals both times.
*****************************************
Friday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
— Wednesday night, Miami Heat named their home court after longtime coach/team president Pat Riley; this is his 30th year with the Miami franchise.Riley is 1,381-805 as an NBA coach, winning five NBA titles (4 with Lakers, one with the Heat, in 2006). He also led the Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1994.
Miami has won two NBA titles with Riley as team president and Erik Spoelstra as coach; Riley was inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
Coach Riley is from Schenectady, NY; he went to Linton High School, in 1992, Linton merged with Mont Pleasant HS to form Schenectady High School, which is located in the former Linton facility. Coach Riley gave the school a lot of money to help refurbish the gym/locker room. The gym at Schenectady is named after him.
Long time ago (1993-2001), I spent eight years as an assistant basketball coach at Schenectady High; I was the analytics/numbers guy, the geeky coach/scout. This was the most interesting thing I’ve ever done in my life, and one of the most fun.
I was lucky to work for great people and we had really, really good players; we won state titles in 1998 and 2001. When we won the state titles, coach Riley sent us all gifts to commemorate our efforts- I’m looking at them in my living room as I type this.
Congratulations to you Coach Riley, on one of the best careers anyone has ever had. It was an honor to spend eight years working in your gym.
— Rams 30, Vikings 20
Stafford was 25-34/279 passing, with four TD’s. (helps to have Kupp/Nacua healthy)
Rams outgained Minnesota, 386-276.
LA was 4-10 on third down, Vikings 2-7.
Rams scored 27-20-30 points in their wins, 20-10-18-19 in losses.
Rams are 6-3-1 ATS last ten games as a home underdog.
Vikings’ first two drives: 18 plays, 140 yards, 14 points.
Vikings’ last six drives: 30 plays, 125 yards, 2 FGs and a safety
Minnesota ran for only 64 yards; they were 2-7 on 3rd down.
WR Jefferson caught eight passes for 115 yards.
Minnesota is 4-8-1 ATS in last 13 games coming off a loss.
— Pitt 41, Syracuse 13
Panthers are 7-0 for the first time since 1982.
Pitt scored three defensive TD’s in the first half, led 31-0 at halftime.
Syracuse ran ball for only six yards on 29 carries; they threw 5 INTs in all.
— Old Dominion 47, Georgia Southern 19
Monarchs led 30-7 at half; QB Jospeh threw 4 first half TD passes.
ODU outgained Georgia Southern, 560-416.
Monarchs ran ball 41 times for 256 yards.
— Kennesaw State 27, Liberty 24
1-6 Owls were a 27-point underdog; Liberty came into the game 5-0.
This is Kennesaw State’s first-ever win as a I-A program.
Liberty had nine penalties for 100 yards.
— Jacksonville State 42, Middle Tennessee 20
QB Huff threw for 137 yards and TD, ran for 151 yards and 2 TD’s.
Gamecocks have won four games in a row for first time since 2020.
Jax State outgained the Blue Raiders, 577-365
— There was very sad news Thursday; South Florida basketball coach Amir Abdur-Rahim passed away at age 43.
Abdur-Rahim was undergoing a medical procedure at a Tampa-area hospital when he died due to complications that arose during the procedure. He is survived by his wife and three children.
Abdur-Rahim was a rising star in coaching; he built the Kennesaw State program from the ground up, going 26-9 two years ago, making the NCAAs as a 14-seed.
He then moved on to South Florida last year, went 25-8, 16-2 in the AAC.
Very sad news. RIP, sir.
— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Dan Issel, 76
Dave Cowens, 76
Gifford Nielsen, 70
Mark Vlasic, 61
Pat Swilling, 60
Mike Harkey, 58
Terrell Lowery, 54
Pedro Martinez, 53
Juan Soto, 26
— Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey missed practice Wednesday for jury duty; he got a letter from the court and was selected as a juror for a felony case. In order to be removed from the jury, both sides and the judge would have to sign off and install an alternate juror.
Cowboys travel to San Francisco Saturday afternoon for their game against the 49ers; they return to Dallas early Monday morning.
— NBA has an in-season tournament starting November 12, kind of an admission that interest in the league is weak before Christmas.
Last year, the Lakers won the tournament; they raised a banner in their arena, but showed their true colors when they fired coach Davin Ham after a 47-35 season and a first-round exit from the playoffs.
If the in-season tournament had any meaning at all, no way does the coach get fired.
— Speaking of the Lakers, the G-League starts November 8; hopefully they’ll send Bronny James to play there, so the young man can play a lot and get the experience he needs.
Lebron/Bronny played a few minutes together the other night, becoming the first father/son to play on same team, but Bronny only played one year at USC— he isn’t as good as his dad, and likely never will be (who is???). He needs to play a lot to progress into an NBA-level player.
— Watching the Phoenix Suns should be fun this winter; 22 of their first 32 shots the other night were 3-pointers. Coach Mike Budenholzer likes a wide-open style, for to watch.
— Congrats to Atlanta Hawks radio announcer Steve Holman, who recently broadcast his 3,000th consecutive game for the Hawks.
— NC State QB Grayson McCall is retiring from football, after he had a concussion in a game earlier this month. He is 23 years old, played six years of college football. We wish him well.
— Carolina Panthers’ QB Andy Dalton got banged up in a car accident this week; he won’t start this week, when the 1-6 Panthers visit Denver.
2nd-year QB Bryce Young will start this week; Carolina lost 47-10/26-3 in the two games he started earlier this season, in Weeks 1-2.
— There are 134 I-A college football teams; Florida State is the only one that hasn’t scored more than 21 points in a game this season.
MLB
Weather Report
Friday, October 25
MLB
Dunkel
Friday, October 25
MLB
Friday, October 25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Yankees vs LA Dodgers
NY Yankees is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Dodgers's last 7 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Weather Report
Friday, October 25
MLB
Dunkel
Friday, October 25
MLB
Friday, October 25
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NY Yankees vs LA Dodgers
NY Yankees is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
NY Yankees is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Dodgers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of LA Dodgers's last 7 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024 MLB PLAYOFF BEST BETS TO THE WORLD SERIES !
10/25/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.00
10/15/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.00
10/14/2024.............................2 - 2 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.05
10/13/2024.............................0 - 2 - 0...........................00.00%..........................- 10.50
10/11/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................- 0.50
10/10/2024.............................1 - 3 - 0...........................25.00%..........................- 11.00
10/09.2024..............................4 - 3 - 1 ..........................57.14%...........................+ 3.30
10/08/2024.............................4 - 0 - 0.........................100.00%...........................+ 20.00
10/07/2024.............................3 - 1- 0...........................75.00%...........................+ 10.95
10/06/2024.............................3 - 1 - 0...........................75.00%...........................+ 11.10
10/05/2024.............................4 - 3 - 1...........................57.14%...........................+ 7.60
10/03/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%...........................+ 0.35
10/02/2024.............................5 - 2 - 0...........................71.42%...........................+ 12.65
10/01/2024.............................5 - 2 - 0...........................71.42%...........................+ 19.15
TOTALS................................38 - 22 - 2...........................63.33%...........................+ 63.15
10/25/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.00
10/15/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.00
10/14/2024.............................2 - 2 - 0...........................50.00%..........................+ 0.05
10/13/2024.............................0 - 2 - 0...........................00.00%..........................- 10.50
10/11/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%..........................- 0.50
10/10/2024.............................1 - 3 - 0...........................25.00%..........................- 11.00
10/09.2024..............................4 - 3 - 1 ..........................57.14%...........................+ 3.30
10/08/2024.............................4 - 0 - 0.........................100.00%...........................+ 20.00
10/07/2024.............................3 - 1- 0...........................75.00%...........................+ 10.95
10/06/2024.............................3 - 1 - 0...........................75.00%...........................+ 11.10
10/05/2024.............................4 - 3 - 1...........................57.14%...........................+ 7.60
10/03/2024.............................1 - 1 - 0...........................50.00%...........................+ 0.35
10/02/2024.............................5 - 2 - 0...........................71.42%...........................+ 12.65
10/01/2024.............................5 - 2 - 0...........................71.42%...........................+ 19.15
TOTALS................................38 - 22 - 2...........................63.33%...........................+ 63.15
