Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack
-- Peyton Manning banks an extra $2M Sunday if the Broncos win and he plays 70% of the offensive snaps; same thing goes for the Super Bowl.
-- If you care about such things, Australia is 16 hours ahead of us here in the east.
-- Cal Bears' primary ballhandler Tyrone Wallace is out 4-6 weeks with a broken hand. That gets him back in time for the Pac-12 tournament.
-- Over the last 12 years, Gonzaga is 22-3 in the WCC tournament, winning it nine times. It is tough to be that dominant for that long a period.
-- Providence 71, Butler 68-- Friars sweep Butler, kind of surprising.
-- Chicago Blackhawks beat Nashville Tuesday, have won 12 games in a row.
**********
Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Random thoughts on a winter day.....
13) Tuesday was the worst kind of winter day here in upstate NY; temps in 20s, but with a vicious, cutting wind that would cut thru any number of layers of clothes, and make you question your intelligence for choosing to live here. The good part is the wind will be gone today and a normal 25 degree day will feel like springtime.
12) Maryland 62, Northwestern 56 OT-- Wildcats are 15-5, 2-4 in last six games; on Selection Sunday, if Northwestern doesn't make the tournament (again), they can look at this game as a big reason why. Winning at Maryland would've been huge- they have a #264 strength of schedule (#346 non-conference) and badly need quality wins. Right now, their best wins are at home over Wisconsin/Nebraska- no bueno.
11) How on God's green earth does getting an endorsement from Sarah Palin help someone become President of the United States? I'd rather get an endorsement from Julianne Moore, who played Ms Palin in a movie called Game Change. Ms Palin is a walking, talking Saturday Night Live skit; Tina Fey had to be delighted yesterday.
10) Oklahoma State 86, Kansas 67-- Cowboys had lost four in row coming into this game, third straight loss for Jayhawks in Stillwater. It is January 20 and I have zero freakin' idea who the best team in the country is. An interesting season.
9) South Carolina 77, Ole Miss 74 OT-- Gamecocks scored the last 11 points of regulation, handing Ole Miss a bitter loss. Gamecocks are an underappreciated 17-1, with only loss at Alabama- they don't play A&M or Kentucky until next month.
8) When Duke lost to Syracuse Monday, they were 13-25 inside arc, 10-37 outside the arc, only 6-9 on foul line, very un-Duke-like numbers. If you do not attack the basket, you're not going to get calls from refs. Duke doesn't play great great defense because they have no depth; now they're not getting the ball inside on offense.
7) RIP coach Johnny Bach, one of Phil Jackson's assistants with the Jordan-era Bulls. Coach Bach grew up in NYC at the same time as my dad, who would tell stories about his high school playing Bach's high school. Coach Bach and Tex Winter teamed to give Phil Jackson a pair of experienced voices to lean on, when he needed it. RIP, sir.
6) Eagles introduced Doug Pederson as their new coach, where he was grilled over the Chiefs' play-calling late in their loss at New England Saturday. Didn't take long for the honeymoon to end there.
5) UNLV 80, Utah State 68-- Ten days, UNLV changed basketball coaches; they are 3-0 since then, winning all three games fairly easily, begging the question:
a) UNLV changed basketball coaches ten days ago..........they were 0-3 in league.
b) Since then, UNLV is 3-0, winning by 12-36-12 points.
c) Did a) cause b)? If the Rebels keep winning, the powers-that-be in the desert are going to have a very interesting decision to make- promote the (much cheaper to hire) interim coach to permanent coach, or go national and hire a big name? .
4) There have been 22 OT games in the NFL this season; five of the 22 ended with a TD being scored by the team having the ball first.
3) San Diego State 73, Fresno State 67 OT-- For team with such great experience, Fresno plays too willy-nilly for me. Bulldogs are #12 in experience in country, but in last 0:10 down 3, Marvelle Harris (4-20 from floor) jacks up a hideous 3-pointer with 0:06 left and its an airball, which is rebounded by the shortest player on the court under the hoop, who races out to the corner and knocks down a ridiculous fadeaway 3 to tie the game at the buzzer. Fresno was right for the wrong reason.
If you bet Fresno +7.5, you needed a 3-pointer in last 0:20 of OT to cover. Aztecs are on a winning streak now, but they're still offensively-challenged.
2) Pacers 97, Suns 94-- Phoenix is 13-30; they should bring Mike D'Antoni back.
A story to close out today.........
1) Long time ago, I coached Little League in a wealthy suburb; one year, a doctor was one of my assistant coaches. Smart guy, but he hated the way I coached and we did not interact that much (hard to believe, huh?). Anyway, the doctor loved to play golf-- that year, Arnold Palmer came to the area in a charity event, and the doctor did volunteer work that day and met Mr Palmer.
So the next day at our Little League practice, I asked the doctor how the golf outing was. He was not prone to praise or overstatement, but he looked at me and said, "It was the greatest day of my life." That is the effect Arnold Palmer has on people.