Cnotes WNBA 2024 Season Best Bets And Opinions !

[CNOTES]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
Early season college football spreads:
— Florida State (-13) vs Georgia Tech (@ Ireland)
— SMU (-24.5) @ Nevada
— North Carolina @ Minnesota (-2)
— Florida Atlantic @ Michigan State (-11.5)
— TCU @ Stanford (-8)
— Clemson vs Georgia (-13.5) (@ Atlanta)

Quote of the Day
“Getting an impact starter was a very high priority for us, and Jack (Flaherty) is definitely that. His command, his stuff, the swing-and-miss — we feel like that’s a real power option come October.”
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes

Wednesday’s quiz
Where did Hall of Fane QB Kurt Warner play his college football?

Tuesday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, beating the Chiefs/Raiders.

Monday’s quiz
2004 was last time Team USA didn’t win the gold medal in Olympic basketball; Argentina won the gold medal that year.

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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..​

— Padres 6, Dodgers 5 (10)
Dodgers scored five runs in top of the first, but that was it.
Manny Machado hit two homers for San Diego.

— Reds 6, Cubs 3
Santiago Espinal was 4-4 hitting out of the #9 slot in order.
Nick Martinez pitched four scoreless IP as the bulk reliever.

— Braves 5, Brewers 1
Braves’ OF Jarred Kelenic, who is from Wisconsin, hit a double and a home run.
Atlanta 3B Austin Riley went 4-5 with an RBI and run scored.

— Diamondbacks 17, Nationals 0
Eugenio Suarez hit three homers, knocked in five runs.
Rough week for Washington; they blew a 8-4 lead in 9th inning Monday.

— Movie of the Day: The Rainmaker (1997)- An underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent insurance company. Great cast: Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Danny Glover, Mickey Rourke.
John Grisham has written some great books; this one, Pelican Brief and Runaway Jury are my favorites that got made into movies.

— Royals 4, White Sox 3
White Sox have now lost 16 games in a row.
Royals scored three runs in 8th inning, after trailing 2-1.

— Guardians 5, Tigers 0
Jose Ramirez hit his 243rd home run, 2nd-most in Cleveland history.
Gavin Williams tossed five scoreless IP, got his first win this year.

— Mariners 10, Red Sox 6
Half of Seattle’s ten runs were unearned, thanks to three Boston errors.
Seattle has won four of its last five games.

— Orioles 6, Blue Jays 2
Orioles are 6-6 since All-Star break; they added P Trevor Rogers from Miami.
Anthony Santander hit his 31st home run for Baltimore.

— Famous birthdays, July 31st:
Leon Durham, 67
Mark Cuban, 66
Wesley Snipes, 62
Scott Brooks, 59
Andre Ware, 56
Gus Frerotte, 53
Gabe Kapler, 49
Tim Couch, 47
AJ Green, 36

— Mets 2, Twins 0
Sean Manaea struck out 11, allowed only 3 baserunners in 7 IP.
Mets are 15-6 in their last 21 games.

— Pirates 6, Astros 2
Pirates added Bryan De La Cruz, Isiah Kiner-Falefa at the trade deadline; go figure.
#9 hitter Michael Taylor homered for the second game in a row.

— A’s 5, Giants 2
JP Sears tossed seven shutout IP for Oakland.
A’s are 15-8 in their last 23 games.

— New York 7, Phillies 6 (12)
Jazz Chisholm has four home runs in his last two games.
Phillies are 4-10 in their last fourteen games.

— Rays 9, Marlins 3
Marlins traded away nine players in last week; no bueno, at least not for this year.
Christopher Morel homered in his first game with Tampa Bay.

— Cardinals 8, Rangers 1
Tommy Pham hit a pinch-hit grand slam in his first game back with St Louis.
Rangers have lost four of last five games.

— Angels 10, Rockies 7
Colorado led this game 6-2 in second inning.
Matt Theiss drove in a career-high five runs for the Halos.

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
— Orioles 10, Toronto 4- Jackson Holliday’s first MLB homer was a grand slam.
— Royals 10, White Sox 3- White Sox have now lost 17 games in a row.
— Cardinals 10, Rangers 1- Tommy Pham had three hits, knocked in two runs.
— Rockies 2, Angels 1- Brenton Doyle had game-winning HR in 8th inning.
— New York 6, Phillies 5- DJ LeMahieu had a career-high six RBI.
— Padres 8, Dodgers 1- San Diego wins season series with LA for first time since 2010.

Quote of the Day
“News to me. I don’t have any restrictions. I am doing [QB] keepers and roll-outs.”
Aaron Rodgers, when told Jets may hold him out of pre-season games

Thursday’s quiz
What was the last major league baseball team to lose 20+ games in a row?

Wednesday’s quiz
Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner played his college football at Northern Iowa.

Tuesday’s quiz
Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, beating the Chiefs/Raiders.

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Thursday’s Den: NFL trends for the first day of August…….​

— Las Vegas Raiders
Raiders made the playoffs once in the last seven years.
Last two years, Las Vegas is 11-5 ATS at home.
Last four years, Raiders are 1-10 ATS as a road favorite.

— Los Angeles Chargers
Last year, Bolts were 5-12, 0-7 in games decided by 3 or fewer points.
Chargers are #30 in salaries spent on offense, #8 on defense.
New OC Roman was Ravens’ OC; Chargers-Ravens meet November 25.
Jim Harbaugh was 49-22-1 as 49ers’ coach, 5-3 in playoffs.

— Los Angeles Rams
Hall of Famer DT Aaron Donald retired; DC Morris is new head coach in Atlanta.
Rams are #1 in salaries spent on offense, #32 on defense.
Last three years, Rams are 5-2 ATS as a home underdog.

— Miami Dolphins
Last four years, Dolphins are 15-6 ATS as a home favorite.
Miami hasn’t won a playoff game (0-6) since 2000.
McDaniel is 20-14 as Dolphins’ HC, 0-2 in playoffs (34-31/26-7).

— Minnesota Vikings
In 2022, Vikings were 11-1 in games decided by 8 or less points; last year? 6-8.
Minnesota was minus-12 in turnovers LY; now Kirk Cousins is in Atlanta.
Last four years, Vikings are 7-16 ATS as a home favorite.

— New England Patriots
Last two years, NE was 12-22, now Bill Belichick is a TV analyst. Go figure.
New coach, new QB, new GM; Patriots are #28 in $$$ spent on offense.
Patriots were minus-11 in turnovers LY, 4-8 in one-score games.

— New Jersey Jets
Jets haven’t made the playoffs since 2010.
Aaron Rodgers played 4 plays LY, threw one (incomplete) pass, tore his Achilles.
Jets committed 31 more penalties than their opponents last year.

— New Jersey Giants
Giants have had one winning season the last seven years.
Giants were 4-4 SU at home LY; they were underdog in all eight games.
Giants were 6-11 LY, even though they were +12 in turnovers.

— Famous birthdays, August 1st:
Kiki Vandeweghe, 66
Greg Bell, 62
Gregg Jefferies, 57
Stacey Augmon, 56
Edgerrin James, 46
Adam Jones, 39
Madison Bumgarner, 35
Ezequiel Tovar, 23

— New Orleans Saints
Last three years, Saints are 25-26, missing playoffs all three years.
New Orleans was 3-6 last year in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Not a good sign when you’re +11 in turnovers and still miss playoffs.

— Philadelphia Eagles
Eagles started 10-1 LY, lost six of last seven games, canned both coordinators.
Philly was 8-3 in games decided by 8 or less points; they were minus-10 in turnovers.
Last three years, Eagles are 12-6 ATS as a home favorite.

— Pittsburgh Steelers
Last six years, Steelers made playoffs three times (0-3 in playoffs)
Former Falcons’ HC Arthur Smith is Pittsburgh’s new OC.
Steelers visit Atlanta in Week 1.
Steelers are #32 in salaries spent on offense, #1 on defense.

— San Francisco 49ers
49ers were 12-5 LY, 1-3 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Last 3 years, 49ers went 35-16, lost two NFC title games and a Super Bowl.
Last four years, San Francisco is 11-5 ATS as an underdog.

— Seattle Seahawks
Pete Carroll was 147-98-1 as Seattle’s coach; why exactly is he gone?
Seahawks were 9-8 LY, 6-4 in games decided by 8 or fewer points.
Last three years, Seattle is 8-15 ATS as a favorite.

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers
LY, Bucs were 1-5 vs teams that made playoffs, 8-3 vs teams that missed playoffs.
Tampa Bay went 9-8 last year, with a +8 turnover ratio.
Last two years, Buccaneers are 7-12 ATS as a favorite.

— Tennessee Titans
Titans went 7-10/6-11 last two years, canned Mike Vrabel (56-48 as Titans’ coach)
Lot of close games LY; Tennessee was 5-7 in games decided by 8 or less points.
Tennessee was minus-19 in sacks LY, giving up 64 sacks in 17 games.

— Washington Commanders
Washington hasn’t won a playoff game since 2005 (0-5 last five)
Former Cardinals’ HC Kingsbury is Washington’s new OC.
Commanders visit Arizona in Week 4.
New owner, new GM, new coach, new QB.
New coach Quinn was Atlanta’s HC; Washington-Atlanta play in Week 17.

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
— Bears 21, Texans 17- Lightning storm ended this game in third quarter.
— Cubs 5, Cardinals 4- Chicago scored three runs in ninth inning.
— Rockies 5, Angels 4 (10)- Colorado tied game with two runs in 9th inning.
— Guardians 10, Orioles 3- Jose Ramirez hit his 28th home run.
— Royals 7, Tigers 1- Seth Lugo got his 13th win for the Royals.
— Braves 4, Marlins 2- Riley, Austin both homered in first inning.

Quote of the Day
“Listen, I’m still happy we gave him that contract because I felt he played really well for us in ’22. Last year he got hurt and, let’s be honest, when he was playing, we weren’t blocking anybody. So let’s give him a chance with a better offensive line and some weapons around him and see what he can do.”
Giants owner John Mara, talking about QB Daniel Jones making $40M a year

Friday’s quiz
In the movie The Rainmaker, what famous actor played the losing lawyer in the climactic trial scenes?

Thursday’s quiz
1988 Baltimore Orioles were the last major league team to lose 20+ games in a row.

Wednesday’s quiz
Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner played his college football at Northern Iowa.

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Friday’s Den: Trends for all 30 major league teams……​

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 7-1 in last eight games; they’re holding last NL Wild Card slot.
Over is 10-2 in Diamondbacks’ last 12 home games.

— Atlanta is 39-37 vs righty starters, 20-12 vs lefties.
Braves are 11-14 in one-run games.

— Cubs are 17-9 vs AL teams, 36-49 vs National League teams.
Under is 9-1 in their last ten home games.

— Under is 7-2 in Cincinnati’s last seven games.
Reds are 9-20 in one-run games.

— Colorado is terrible 40-70, but they’re 19-15 in one-run games.
Over is 10-3 in Rockies’ last 13 road games.

— Dodgers are 2-10 in their last 12 road games.
Dodgers are 26-12 vs lefty starters, 37-34 vs righties.

— Miami is 8-6 in its last 14 games.
Marlins are 6-30 against lefty starting pitchers, 34-38 vs righties.

— Brewers are 3-7 in their last ten home games.
Milwaukee is 14-15 against lefty starting pitchers, 47-32 vs righties.

— Mets are 15-7 in their last 22 games.
Mets are 21-10 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 65-43, lead NL East by six games.
Phillies are 4-11 in their last 15 games.

— Pittsburgh is 13-6 in its last 19 games.
Rookie P Skenes is 6-1, 1.90 in his first 13 MLB starts.

— Cardinals are 18-14 vs lefty starters, 38-39 vs righties.
Over is 15-6 in their last 21 home games.

— San Diego is 9-1 in its last ten games; right now, they’re NL’s #2 Wild Card.
San Diego won its season series with Dodgers for first time since 2010.

— San Francisco won five of its last six home games.
Giants are 40-35 vs righty pitchers, 14-21 vs lefties.

— Washington lost four in row, seven of last nine games.
Over is 7-1 in their last eight road games.

— Famous birthdays, August 2nd:
Joanna Cassidy, 79
Butch Patrick, 71
Perry Tuttle, 65
Cedric Ceballos, 55
Grady Sizemore, 42
Huston Street, 41
Paul DeJong, 31
Laremy Tunsil, 30
Kristaps Porziņģis, 29

— Orioles scored in first inning in each of their last five games.
Over is 12-2 in their last 14 games.

— Red Sox are 4-8 since All-Star break.
Boston is 43-31 vs righty starters, 14-19 vs lefties; last two years, they were 47-31 vs lefties.

— White Sox are 0-13 since All-Star break; their last win was July 10th.
Chicago is 6-34 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 66-42, lead AL Central by 6.5 games.
Cleveland is 25-9 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Detroit is 2-7 in its last nine games.
Over is 11-4 in their last 15 road games.

— Houston is 56-52, 4-6 in last 10 games; they’re tied for lead in AL West.
Last two years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 15-17.

— Royals are 12-6 in last 18 games, are #3 AL Wild Card team right now.
Last year, Kansas City was 56-106; Matt Quatraro is your AL Manager of the Year.

— Angels are 2-6 in their last eight series openers.
Under is 8-3 in their last eleven road games.

— Over is 16-4 in Minnesota’s last 20 home games.
Twins are 3-9 in their last 12 road series openers.

— New York won its last five games, scoring 46 runs.
Over is 9-1 in their last 10 games.

— A’s are 9-4 in their last 13 games.
Over is 7-1 in their last eight home games.

— Since June 20, Mariners are 1-10 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.
Over is 7-3 in their last ten road games.

— Tampa Bay is 6-0-1 in last seven home series (13-7).
Over is 5-1 in their last six road games.

— Texas won its last five home games.
Over is 6-0 in their last six road games.

— Toronto is 26-26 in day games, 24-33 in night tilts.
Over is 10-2 in their last 12 road games.

 

[CNOTES]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
Most home runs leading off the first inning:
81— Rickey Henderson
58— George Springer
54— Alfonso Soriano
53— Craig Biggio
52— Mookie Betts
48— Ian Kinsler

Quote of the Day
“The important thing is to keep the important thing, the important thing.”
Albert Einstein

Saturday’s quiz
Toronto Blue Jays won back/back World Series in 1992-93; who was their manager?

Friday’s quiz
In the movie The Rainmaker, Jon Voight played the losing lawyer in the climactic trial scenes.

Thursday’s quiz
1988 Baltimore Orioles were the last major league team to lose 20+ games in a row.

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Saturday’s Den: Clearing out a cluttered mind…….​

— Giants 3, Reds 0
Blake Snell threw a 114-pitch no-hitter, giving up only three walks.
Snell induced 21 whiffs on 51 Cincinnati swings.
It was Snell’s first complete game in 202 major league starts.

— Something to think about when Caleb Williams starts at QB for the Bears against the Titans in Week 1: since 2003, QB’s drafted #1 overall are 0-14-1 SU/1-14 ATS in their first NFL start.
Listening to the ESPN broadcast Thursday night, I was wondering if Williams was going to get inducted into the Hall of Fame before he left Canton this weekend.
USC went 1-5 in Williams’ last six games LY, with a minus-5 turnover ratio; when he skipped the Trojans’ bowl game, they won 42-28 without him.

— Future Hall of Fame coach Tom Coughlin was on the field this week with the Las Vegas Raiders, as they went thru training camp. 77-year old Coughlin was Raider coach Antonio Pierce’s head coach when Pierce played with the Giants during his NFL career.

— NFL teams with the biggest dead salary cap charges this year:
$68M- Broncos
$61M- Bills
$57M- Vikings
$55M- Buccaneers
$54M- Chargers

— Promising news for the Houston Texans: Five of the last seven rookie QB’s who won a playoff game also won a playoff game the next year.

— Active NFL head coaches who’ve won 60%+ of their games, and a Super Bowl:
Andy Reid
Sean Payton
Sean McVay
Mike Tomlin
John Harbaugh

— Right now, it appears that the Missouri Tigers have one of the easiest schedules in the country this college football season. Mizzou is a double digit favorite in eight of their 12 games; they’re favored by 14+ points in seven games.

— Reasons for the new kickoff rule in the NFL:
Last year, only 22% of kickoffs were returned.
Kickoffs resulted in a lot of injuries; having players start the plays closer together figures to lessen that number.

— Famous birthdays, August 3rd:
Martin Sheen, 84
Lance Alworth, 84
Mike Gminski, 65
Kevin Elster, 60
Todd Christensen, 58
Tom Brady, 47
Matt Joyce, 40
Todd Gurley, 30
Zac Gallen, 29

— No major league teams are on pace to win 100 games this season; the last time (other than 2020) that no MLB teams won 100+ games in a season was 2014.

— Cubs 6, Cardinals 3
Erick Fedde gave up five runs in 5 IP, in his Cardinal debut.
Weird Stat of the Day: If you bet on baseball, you can bet on the score after 5 innings; Fedde started 22 games for the White Sox, who are a uniquely bad team this year, but when Fedde was on the hill. Chicago was 11-7-4 in the first five innings.

— When the Cubs scored three runs in the 9th inning to beat St Louis 5-4 Thursday night, it ended a streak where the Cubs had lost 53 straight games when they trailed by 2+ runs in the 9th inning or in extra innings.

— This is the first time ever that two rookies have hit for the cycle in the same season; Wyatt Langford of Texas, Xavier Edwards of the Marlins.

— Diamondbacks 9, Pirates 8
Josh Bell homered twice in his Arizona debut.
Oneil Cruz went 5-5 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored in a losing cause.

— Red Sox 11, Rangers 6
Wilyer Abreu went 3-5 with 3 RBI; he homered and doubled.
Corey Seager went 3-3 with two home runs for Texas.

— Baseball injuries:
Orioles’ 2B Jordan Westburg broke his hand, is on the IL.
Angels’ CF Mike Trout (knee) is out for the year.
Trout’s games played the last few years:
2021- 36 games
2022- 119 games
2023- 82 games
2024- 29 games…….not ideal. Trout will be 33 Wednesday.

— When you think about the baseball draft, remember that great players come from all over:
Andre Dawson was an 11th round pick
Ryne Sandberg was a 20th round pick
Jim Thome was a 13th round pick
Albert Pujols was a 13th round pick……all four of those guys are in the Hall of Fame.

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
Week 2 NFL spreads:
— Browns @ Jacksonville (-1, 44.5)
— Raiders @ Baltimore (-8, 44)
— Steelers (-3, 40.5) @ Denver
— Bengals @ Kansas City (-3.5, 48.5)
— Bears @ Houston (-3.5, 46.5)
— Falcons @ Philadelphia (-3.5, 48.5)

Tweet of the Day
“Always dig your well before you’re thirsty.”
Harvey Mackay

Thursday’s quiz
Who was the first San Diego Padre to be inducted into the Hall of Fame?

Wednesday’s quiz
In the great movie Leap of Faith, where Steve Martin plays a traveling preacher, Meat Loaf plays the keyboard during the preacher’s shows.

Tuesday’s quiz
In the movie A Time to Kill, Kevin Spacey plays the losing lawyer in the climactic trial scene.

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

Thursday’s Den: Part 2 of our ACC football preview…….​

Part 2 of our ACC football preview……..
— Clemson
Clemson was 9-4 LY, their worst season since going 6-7 in 2010.
Tigers have 9 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Tigers have 106 returning starts on offensive line.
Junior QB Klubnik has 14 career starts.
Last four years, Clemson is 11-13 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2016, Clemson is 51-40-2 ATS coming off a loss.
Since 2018, Tigers are 11-18 ATS outside the ACC.
Cougars are 4-2 SU/3-3 ATS in their last six bowl games.

— Florida State
Florida State was 23-4 SU last two years (19-27 from 2018-21)
FSU has 5 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Seminoles have 190 returning starts on offensive line.
Senior QB Uiagalelei has 41 career starts, 28 of them at Clemson.
Under Norvell, FSU is 8-11 ATS as home favorite, 6-2 as road faves.
Last two years, Florida State was 11-6 ATS in conference games.
In his career, Norvell is 6-4 ATS as a home underdog, 5-9-2 as a road dog.
Seminoles are 3-2 SU/2-3 ATS in their last five bowl games.

— Miami
Last two years, Miami was 5-7/7-6 SU, a combined 8-17 ATS
Miami has 10 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Hurricanes have 121 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Ward has 25 career starts; he bolted from Washington State.
Since 2020, Hurricanes are 6-14 ATS as an home favorite.
In his career, Cristobal is 15-29-2 ATS as home favorite (15-11-2 as road fave).
Since 2016, Miami 14-21 ATS coming off a loss.
Miami lost five in a row, and 11 of last 12 bowl games.

— SMU
SMU was 11-3 last year, their fifth straight winning season.
Mustangs have 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Mustangs have 120 returning starts on the offensive line.
Both QB’s who started last year are back this year.
Under Lashlee, SMU is 11-6 ATS as favorite, 2-6 as underdog.
Since 2015, Mustangs are 24-12 ATS as a home favorite.
Under Lashlee, SMU is 3-7 ATS in non-league games.
SMU lost its last four bowl games, giving up 37.5 ppg.

Virginia Tech
Hokies were 7-6 LY, their first winning season since 2019.
Tech has all 11 starters back on offense, 10 on defense.
Hokies have 122 returning starts on offensive line.
Junior QB Drones started 11 games last year.
Under Coach Pry, Hokies are 3-6 ATS as a road underdog.
Since 2016, Tech is 7-14 ATS as a home underdog.
Last five years, Tech was 5-15 ATS in non-conference games.
Hokies are 1-4 SU/2-3 ATS in last five bowl games.

— Louisville
Cardinals were 10-4 LY, in alum Brohm’s first season as HC.
Louisville has 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Cardinals have 172 returning starts on offensive line.
Senior QB Shough has 20 career starts, at Oregon/Texas Tech.
Last five years, Louisville is 16-7 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Brohm is 26-16-1 ATS as an underdog.
Last seven years, Cardinals are 18-25 ATS coming off a win.
Louisville is 2-3 SU/ATS in its last five bowl games.

— NC State
Wolfpack was 9-4 LY, their 9th winning season in ten years.
NC State has 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense.
Wolfpack has 95 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB McCall started 41 games at Coastal Carolina.
Under Doeren, Wolfpack is 10-18-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Last five years, NC State is 3-8 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2019, Wolfpack is 7-13 ATS in non-league games.
NC State lost its last four bowl games, scoring only 16.3 ppg.

— North Carolina
North Carolina was 9-5/8-5 SU the last two years.
Tar Heels have 6 starters back on offense, 7 on defense.
Tar Heels have 59 returning starts on OL, 49 from one guy.
Junior QB Johnson started 22 games, at LSU/Texas A&M.
Last four years, UNC is 2-9-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Since 2018, Tar Heels are 5-2 ATS as a home underdog.
Last three years, Carolina is 10-15 ATS in ACC games.
Carolina lost its last five bowl games; their last bowl win was in 2019.

— California
Last four years, California is 16-25 SU/22-19 ATS
Bears have 7 starters back on offense, 8 on defense.
Bears have 112 returning starts on offensive line.
Senior QB Rogers started 28 games at UL-Monroe, North Texas.
Under Wilcox, California is 29-14 ATS as an underdog.
Under Wilcox, California is 12-19-1 ATS as a favorite.
Last three years, Cal was 15-12 ATS in conference games.
Golden Bears are 2-3 SU/ATS in their last five bowls.

Famous birthdays, August 15th:
Kenny Carr, 69
Gary Kubiak, 63
Bubby Brister, 62
Jeff Huson, 60
Scott Brosius, 58
Eric Biemiemy, 55
Anthony Anderson, 54
Ben Affleck, 52
Oliver Perez, 43

— Rangers 9, Red Sox 7 (10)
Wyatt Langford hit a 3-run HR to tie game in 9th inning.
Jonah Heim hit a 2-run homer in the 10th inning.

— Astros 2, Rays 1 (10)
Houston has won eight in a row, leads AL West by 2.5 games.
Both teams had only two hits each in this game.

— New York 10, White Sox 2
Aaron Judge hit his 300th career home run.
For some reason, the White Sox walked Juan Soto intentionally to face Judge, before he hit that home run. Who walks a hitter in order to pitch to Judge?

— Brewers 5, Dodgers 4
Milwaukee is only MLB team that hasn’t lost four in a row this year.
Brewers had only four hits, but Dodgers made three errors.

— Diamondbacks 11, Rockies 4
Arizona has won six games in a row.
Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam for the Diamondbacks

— Padres 8, Pirates 2
San Diego is 19-3 in its last 22 games.
Martin Perez beat the Pirates, who traded him to San Diego two weeks ago.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards- Arizona, San Diego, Atlanta
AL: New York, Guardians, Astros. Wild Cards- Baltimore, Minnesota, Kansas City

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, August 15

 

[CNOTES]

THURSDAY, AUGUST 15​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
PHO at CHI	08:00 PM	CHI +2.5 U 165.0	+500 +500
WAS at MIN	08:00 PM	WAS +8.5 U 157.5	+500 +500
NY at LA	09:00 PM	NY -11.5 U 163.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
— Tigers 2, Mariners 1- Seattle got swept in Detroit, scoring 1-2-1 runs.
— Phillies 13, Nationals 3- Weston Wilson hit for the cycle.
— Orioles 5, Red Sox 1- Zach Eflin is 4-0, 2.13 since joining Baltimore.
— Giants 6, Braves 0- Logan Webb allowed 5 baserunners in 7.2 IP.
— Brewers OF Christian Yelich (back) is out for the year.
— A’s 7, Mets 6- Spunky A’s are 22-14 in their last 36 games.

Tweet of the Day
“I want to vomit every time I hear ‘No. 1 receiver,’ to be honest with you. It drives me crazy. That’s something that you guys talk about. I feel like we’ve got a bunch of ’em.”
Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur

Friday’s quiz
Of all the players would played their entire career for only one team, who hit the most career home runs?

Thursday’s quiz
Dave Winfield was the first San Diego Padre to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Wednesday’s quiz
In the great movie Leap of Faith, where Steve Martin plays a traveling preacher, Meat Loaf plays the keyboard during the preacher’s shows.

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

Friday’s Den: NFC trends to ponder……..​

— Arizona
Last nine years, Cardinals are 7-19-1 ATS in NFC West home games.
Last eight years, Arizona is 5-13 as a favorite of 3 or fewer points.
Arizona opens in Buffalo; Cardinals are 3-2 SU/5-0 ATS in last five road openers.
Cardinals have Week 7 Monday night home game, then Week 8 they’ve got a cross-country trip to play the Dolphins in Miami.
Arizona’s two games with Seattle are in Weeks 12/14.

— Atlanta
Kirk Cousins visits his old team, the Vikings, in Week 14 (December 8).
Last four years, Falcons are 4-16-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last nine years, Atlanta is 27-42-1 ATS coming off a loss.
Falcons are 5-12 ATS in their last 17 road openers, 5-2 ATS in last seven home openers.
Four of their first five games are at home (3 in row at home, weeks 3-5)

— Carolina
Rookie coach Caneles faces Tampa Bay, his old team, in Weeks 13/17.
Since 2016, Panthers are 1-8 ATS as a home favorite vs NFC South rivals.
Last three years, under is 16-8 in Carolina home games.
Panthers lost four of last five home openers SU (1-3-1 ATS)
Carolina visits Denver in Week 8; Panthers’ DC Ejiro Evero was Denver’s DC two years ago.

— Chicago
Bears open their season at home vs Tennessee; since 2003, QB’s drafted first in a draft are 0-14-1 SU/1-14 ATS in their first start.
Since 2018, Chicago is 1-7 ATS as a home underdog vs NFC North rivals.
Since 2015, Bears are 0-8 ATS as a double digit underdog.
Weeks 13-15, Chicago has three straight road games (Lions-49ers-Vikings)
Last 20 years, under is 15-5 in Bears’ road openers. Last seven years, under is 6-1 in Chicago’s home openers.

— Dallas
Last three years, Cowboys are +32 in turnovers (+14/+10/+8).
Last three years, Dallas is 11-4 ATS as a road favorite.
Three of their first four road games (Giants-Steelers-49ers) are night games.
Over is 4-1 in their last five home openers.
Washington coach Dan Quinn was Dallas’ DC the last three years; Cowboy-Commander games are in Weeks 12/18.

— Detroit
Detroit doesn’t play a game outdoors until Week 9 at Green Bay.
Under Campbell, Lions are 14-6 ATS as a favorite, 9-4 at home.
Last five years, over is 28-12-1 in Detroit home games.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine road openers.
Lions lost NFC title game 34-31 to San Francisco LY, blowing a 24-7 third quarter lead; they visit the 49ers on Monday night in Week 17.

— Green Bay
Packers open season against the Eagles in Brazil; Green Bay hasn’t started a season at Lambeau since 2018, but they’ve also won their last 11 home openers (8-3 ATS)
Last three years, Green Bay is 2-9-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last five years, Packers are 10-3-1 ATS as a home favorite vs NFC North opponents.
Over is 8-3 in their last 11 road openers.
Play consecutive Thursday games in Weeks 13-14: they host Miami on Thanksgiving night, then visit Detroit the next Thursday.

Famous birthdays, August 16th:
Julie Newmar, 91
Lesley Ann Warren, 78
James Donaldson, 67
Angela Bassett, 66
Madonna Louise Ciccone, 66 (Madonna)
Timothy Hutton, 64
Steve Carell, 62
Yu Darvish, 38
Tyler Stephenson, 28

— LA Rams
Last three years, Rams are 7-2 ATS in NFC West road games.
Since 2018, over is 32-17 in Rams’ home games.
Rams lost in playoffs at Detroit LY; they open this year on Sunday night, also at Detroit, which will revive the Stafford-Goff trade drama.
Rams are in Chicago in Week 4; their next road game isn’t until Week 9, at Seattle.
Under Sean McVay, Rams are 7-0 SU/5-2 ATS in road openers.

— Minnesota
In 2022, Vikings were 11-1 in games decided by 8 or fewer points (+2 in turnovers)
Last year, Vikings were 6-8 in games decided by 8 or fewer points (-12 in turnovers)
Weeks 10-12, Vikings have 3 straight road games (Jaguars-Titans-Bears)
Under is 9-1 in Minnesota’s last ten home openers.
Vikings are 0-6-1 SU/0-7 ATS in their last seven road openers.

— NJ Giants
Last 12 years, Giants are 1-11 ATS in their home opener.
Giants were 6-11 last year, despite a +12 turnover ratio.
Last six years, Giants are 13-5 ATS in NFC East road games.
Both their games with Dallas are on Thursdays, including a Thanksgiving game.
Eagles’ new RB Saquon Barkley plays against his old team in Weeks 7/18.

— New Orleans
Saints missed playoffs the last three years (9-8/7-10/9-8).
Last ten years, New Orleans is 26-12-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Visit Giants/Packers in December, two cold-weather games for a dome team.
Last nine years, Saints are 3-6 SU/1-8 ATS in home openers.
Dennis Allen/Derek Carr’s old team (Raiders) visit New Orleans in Week 17.

— Philadelphia
Open season against the Packers in Brazil; in Week 3, they go to Tampa, Week 4, they go to New Orleans, then they have an early bye in Week 5.
Eagles started last year 10-1, then lost six of their last seven games.
Last four years, Philly is 7-13-1 ATS as a road favorite.
Last 15 years, Eagles are 4-10-1 ATS in their last 15 home openers.
New OC Kellen Moore got run out of Dallas couple years ago; Eagles’ games with the Cowboys are in Weeks 10/17.

— San Francisco
Over last 21 years, teams that lost Super Bowl are 5-16 ATS in Week 1 the next year; 49ers host the Jets in Week 1.
Last two years, San Francisco was +14/+12 in turnovers.
Last ten years, underdogs are 20-9-1 ATS in 49ers’ NFC West home games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten home openers.
Weeks 12-13, they visit Packers/Bills, two cold weather games; the game in Buffalo is at night.

— Seattle
Last seven years, Seattle is 1-4 in playoff games, which is why they fired Pete Carroll.
Last ten years, underdogs are 21-7-1 ATS in their NFC West road games.
Seahawks won four of their last five road openers.
Week 17 Thursday night road game is long travel/short week, plus a cold weather game.
Their two games with the Cardinals are in Weeks 12/14.

— Tampa Bay
Last two years, Tampa Bay is 4-10-2 ATS coming off a loss.
Five of their eight road games this season are in domes.
Buccaneers made playoffs the last four years (6-3 in playoff games)
Last ten years, Bucs are 20-31-6 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Last nine years, Tampa Bay is 11-15-1 ATS in NFC South home games.

— Washington
Dan Quinn was 46-44 SU in 5+ years coaching Atlanta, winning NFC in 2016.
Last ten years, Washington is 10-19-1 ATS in NFC East home games.
Commanders play three of first four games on the road.
Washington is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 home openers.
Kliff Kingsbury is the new OC; Washington visits his old team (Arizona) in Week 4.

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, August 16

 

[CNOTES]

FRIDAY, AUGUST 16​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
PHO at IND	07:30 PM	IND -4.0 O 174.0	+500 +500
SEA at ATL	07:30 PM	SEA -7.0 U 159.0	+500 +500
CON at DAL	09:30 PM	CON -5.5 U 161.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Saturday’s 6-pack:
— Red Sox 12, Orioles 10- Masataka Yoshida homered, had four RBI
— Twins 4, Rangers 3- Ryan Jeffers homered with a bat painted like a pencil.
— White Sox 5, Astros 4- Loss snaps Houston’s 8-game win streak.
— Cubs 6, Toronto 5 (10)- Seiya Suzuki had the walk-off single.
— Mets 7, Marlins 3- Brandon Nimmo hit a 3-run homer.
— Brewers 5, Guardians 3- Aaron Civale blanked his old team for 6 IP.

Quote of the Day
“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard……is what makes it great.”
Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own

Saturday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Seattle Seahawks, the first time they played in a Super Bowl?

Friday’s quiz
Of all the players would played their entire career for only one team, Mike Schmidt hit the most home runs (548).

Thursday’s quiz
Dave Winfield was the first San Diego Padre to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

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

Saturday’s Den: AFC trends………​

AFC
— Baltimore
Ravens visit Arrowhead in Week 1; they lost AFC title game at home to the Chiefs last year.
Last six years, over is 34-16 in Baltimore home games.
Since 2016, Ravens are 8-2 ATS as a home underdog.
Harbaugh brothers face each other in Week 12, on a Monday night at SoFi.
Baltimore won/covered seven of last eight Week 1 games.

— Buffalo
Last ten years, Buffalo is 26-15-4 ATS as a road underdog.
Last eight years, Bills are 21-12-1 ATS vs NFC teams.
Bills visit old friend, WR Stefon Diggs, in Week 5 at Houston.
Last five years, over is 58-24 in Buffalo games, but under is 6-2 in their last eight road openers.
Bills’ games with Dolphins are early in season; they visit Miami on a Thursday nite in Week 2; Dolphins come to Buffalo in Week 9.

— Cincinnati
Last two years, Cincinnati is 9-3-2 ATS as a home favorite.
Bengals are 8-1-2 ATS in their last 11 games vs NFC opponents,
Bengals’ games with Baltimore are fairly early (weeks 5/10); their games with Pittsburgh are later on (weeks 13/18)
Cincinnati is 2-6 ATS in its last eight home openers.
Bengals play a Thursday game in Week 10, have a bye in Week 12, so from November 8-30, they have only one game, Week 11 at the Chargers.
But in Week 14, Bengals have a Monday night game in Dallas, a short week game at Tennessee, then a Thursday home game, another short week game, against the Browns.

— Cleveland
Browns were 6-0 ATS as a home favorite LY; from 2020-22, they were 7-12-1
Last five years, Cleveland is 9-14-1 ATS as a road underdog.
Four of their first six games are against NFC East opponents.
Since 2010, Browns are 5-1 ATS as an underdog in their home opener.
Browns visit Philadelphia in Week 6; Cleveland DC Schwartz was DC of the Eagles from 2016-20.

— Denver
Sean Payton’s Broncos visit Payton’s old team in New Orleans in Week 7.
Since 2017, Denver is 9-20-3 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2017, under is 41-16 in Bronco road games.
Week 4, Broncos visit the Jets; will Zach Wilson be playing QB against his old team? At what point does rookie QB Bo Nix get the nod?
Denver’s last five home openers stayed under the total.

— Houston
They don’t play an outdoor game until Week 6 at New England.
Texans were 10-7 LY (+12 in turnovers) making playoffs for first time since 2019.
Since 2018, Houston is 6-14-3 ATS against NFC opponents.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine road openers.
Texans play in Kansas City in Week 16, then host the Ravens on Christmas Day, which is on a Wednesday this year.

— Indianapolis
Last nine years, Colts are 7-15-1 ATS in home games vs AFC South opponents.
QB Gardner Minshew started Indy’s last 12 games LY; they were 6-6, but Colts let him walk. Now Joe Flacco backs up young QB Richardson.
Three of their first four games are at home; four of their next five games are on road.
Colts are 2-6-1 ATS in last nine road openers.
Their two games with Houston are before Halloween (weeks 1/8).

— Jacksonville
Jaguars visit Philadelphia in Week 9; Doug Pederson won a Super Bowl coaching the Eagles.
Jaguars were 9-8/9-8 the last two years; they were 15-50 the four years before Pederson came to Jacksonville.
Last ten years, Jaguars are 24-32-2 ATS as a road underdog.
Jacksonville is 5-2 ATS in last seven road openers, last four of which went over the total.
Jaguars are playing Bears/Patriots in England in Weeks 6-7; the games are in different stadiums.

— Famous birthdays, August 17:
Robert DeNiro, 81
Ed McCaffrey, 56
Christian Laettner, 55
Jorge Posada, 54
Antwaan Randle El, 45
Dustin Pedroia, 41
Rudy Gay, 38
Jesse Winker, 31
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 26
On the TV show CSI, Gil Grissom’s birthday was August 17, but William Petersen’s birthday is in February.

— Kansas City
Over last 21 seasons, Super Bowl champs are 11-7-3 ATS in Week 1 the next year, although they’re 0-3 ATS the last three years.
Last five years, over is 33-8 in Kansas City’s road games.
Last ten years, Kansas City is 20-10-1 ATS in games where spread was 3 or fewer points.
Last 7 years, Chiefs are 6-1 SU/5-2 ATS in road openers.
Chiefs have cold weather games in Cleveland (Week 15), Pittsburgh (Week 17), Denver (Week 18).

— Las Vegas
Last two years, Raiders are 9-3 ATS as a home favorite, 0-5 as a road favorite.
Last nine years, Raiders are 7-16 ATS on artificial turf.
Weeks 11-14, Raiders have three games in four weeks east of the Mississippi, visiting Miami, Chiefs and Tampa Bay.
Two of their first seven games are on road at SoFi: Week 1 @ Chargers, Week 7 @ Rams.
Raiders are 7-2 ATS in last nine road openers.

— LA Chargers
Jim Harbaugh was 49-22-1 in four years coaching the 49ers, 5-3 in playoffs, winning the NFC title in 2012, before losing Super Bowl to his brother’s team.
Chargers host John Harbaugh and the Ravens in a Week 12 Monday night game.
Host the Raiders in Week 1; the rematch is in the season finale at Las Vegas.
Chargers are 8-3-1 ATS in last dozen road openers.
Chargers have an early (Week 5) bye, which isn’t ideal.

— Miami
Dolphins made playoffs the last two years (lost 34-31/26-7) but they haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.
Since 2017, Miami is 19-7-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Thanksgiving night in Green Bay should be fun, then they finish the season with a couple more cold weather games in Cleveland, New Jersey (Jets) in Weeks 17-18.
Dolphins are 6-2 ATS in last eight road openers.
Play three of first four games at home, with two of the home games at night.

— New England
Patriots won Super Bowl after 2018 season; since then, they’re 41-42 in regular season, 0-2 in playoffs, and they just told Bill Belichick to take a hike. Go figure.
Last two years, New England is 1-8 ATS as a home underdog.
Three of their first four games are on the road.
Games with Buffalo are very late in season, Weeks 16/18.
Their over/under win total is 4.5 wins, tied with Carolina for lowest in league.

— NJ Jets
First seven weeks, they have four night games, and a morning game from England.
Since 2017, Jets are 4-15-1 ATS as a favorite.
Last four years, under is 24-11 in Jet home games.
Jets are 1-5 SU/ATS in last six home openers.
TV people like Aaron Rodgers; Jets have six night games scheduled, which is a lot for a team that hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2010.

— Pittsburgh
Last six years, Steelers are 57-40-2 in regular season games, 0-3 in playoffs.
Last ten years, Pittsburgh is 39-23-2 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Weeks 12-16, they play 4 road games in 5 weeks; 3 of the 4 games are divisional games.
Russell Wilson visits his old team/coach in Denver in Week 2. Broncos are paying Wilson $37.8M of his $39M salary this season.
Visit the Ravens in Week 16 on a Saturday, host Chiefs on Christmas four days later.

— Tennessee
Last two years, Tennessee went 6-11/7-10; they told coach Vrabel to take a hike (he was 41-24 the four years before that).
Last ten years, Titans are 28-39-4 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
Titans host Cincinnati in Week 15; Tennessee coach Callahan was the Bengals’ OC the last five years (head coach Zac Taylor is really the OC).
Titans are 3-9 ATS in last 12 home openers.
Play only one divisional game in first 11 weeks of the season; 5 of their last 7 games are against AFC South rivals.

 

[Udog]

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Saturday, August 17

 

[CNOTES]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 17​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
MIN at WAS	02:00 PM	WAS +5.0 U 157.0	+500 +500
NY at LV	04:00 PM	LV -3.5 O 175.0	+500 +500
CHI at LA	05:00 PM	CHI -2.0 U 159.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack:
— Phillies 6, Nationals 1- Cristopher Sanchez tossed a complete game.
— Mets 4, Marlins 0- Luis Severino also threw a complete game.
— Astros 6, White Sox 1- Jose Altuve knocked in 2 runs, scored 2 more.
— Brewers 2, Guardians 1- Milwaukee has won four games in a row.
— A’s 2, Giants 0- Oakland is 16-9 since the All-Star break.
— Cardinals 5, Dodgers 2- St Louis breaks a 5-game skid.

Quote of the Day
“I think everybody wants to see a player just take it and say, ‘Hey, I’m your guy.’ Obviously, probably not the case, so we’re going to have to make a decision and we’re going to live with it and we’re going to support whoever that quarterback is for the Raiders going forward.”
Raiders coach Antonio Pierce

Sunday’s quiz
Who was the Raiders’ QB, the last time they played in a Super Bowl?

Saturday’s quiz
Matt Hasselbeck played QB for the Seattle Seahawks, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

Friday’s quiz
Of all the players would played their entire career for only one team, Mike Schmidt hit the most home runs (548).

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

Sunday’s Den: Football notes……..

— There are 32 teams in the NFL; on Rams-Chiefs-49ers-Packers, the head coach is really the offensive coordinator, so that leaves 28 OC’s in the league right now. Of those 28 OC’s, 16 of them are in their current job for the first season in 2024.

That makes handicapping early season games a lot harder, with so much turnover in the coaching ranks. 17 of 32 defensive coordinators are also in their first year in this job.

Notes from NFL preseason games:
— Rams 13, Chargers 9
Game-winning TD was caught by rookie WR JJ Laap, who won a national title last year playing Division III football at Cortland State in central New York.

Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts was the TV analyst for this game; he was not complimentary when analyzing Rams’ backup Stetson Bennett, who has taken every snap every center for the Rams so far this summer.

— Cowboys 27, Raiders 12
Raiders have a QB dilemma, as in, neither guy has played very well this summer.
Kicker on Dallas made a 66-yard field goal at the end of the first half.

— Ravens 13, Falcons 12
Atlanta failed on a 2-point conversion in the last minute.
Not sure why, but rookie QB Michael Penix didn’t play for the Falcons.

— Texans 28, Giants 10
Daniel Jones threw a God-awful pick-6 for the first score of the game.
Giants turned ball over five times on 11 drives, were outgained 369-279.

— Lions 24, Chiefs 23
Detroit kicked a 43-yard FG as time expired for the win.
Carson Wentz is the Chiefs’ backup QB now, his 5th NFL team in nine years.

— Famous birthdays, August 18th:
Robert Redford, 88
Greg Pruitt, 73
Denis Leary, 67

Lafayette Lever, 64
Jim Les, 61
Edward Norton, 55

Christian Slater, 55
Bogdan Bogdanović, 32
Seiya Suzuki, 30

— Vikings 27, Browns 12
Part of the reason starters play less now in preseason games is that they get lot of work in during the week, when the teams practice against each other. I’ve read where coaches say they just get more reps in during those practices, which makes them more beneficial.

Browns QB Deshaun Watson is scheduled to play against Seattle next week.

— Bears 27, Bengals 3
Rookie QB Williams was 6-13 for 75 yards passing.
Backup QB Bagent was 7-8 for 87 yards passing, but the media only talks about Williams.

— Bills 9, Steelers 3
Russell Wilson played five series, during which the Steelers didn’t score.
Buffalo scored total of 15 points in splitting two games this month.

— Colts 21, Cardinals 13
Gus Bradley is the Colts’ defensive coordinator; right now his son Carter is the 4th string QB for the Las Vegas Raiders- he is fighting for a job on an NFL roster.

Colts backup QB Kedon Slovis was 8-11/79 passing; he played for three different colleges- the offensive coordinator for his high school team was Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner, whose son was a receiver on that team.

— Dolphins 13, Commanders 6
Tua Tagovailoa led Miami to a TD on the only series he played.
Rookie QB Jayden Daniels played two series for Washington- they drove 46-52 yards on the two drives, splitting pair of field goal tries.

— Titans 16, Seahawks 15
Rookie kicker who wasn’t expected to make Tennessee’s roster kicked three FG’s in the 4th quarter, including a 59-yarder. If he doesn’t wind up in Tennessee, he’ll be on somebody’s roster.

Former Commanders QB Sam Howell was 11-14 for 153 yards passing for Seattle.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, August 18

 

[Udog]

 

[CNOTES]

Monday’s 6-pack:
Games with a home run, stolen base in the same game:
102— Barry Bonds
87— Rickey Henderson
65— Alex Rodriguez
61— Bobby Bonds
60— Joe Morgan
58— Willie Mays

Quote of the Day
“It was all about that. Last week we wanted to get him out there and get a feel for what he was in a live game, which we kind of already knew. We wanted to see him be able to answer questions, talk about it on the sideline, go out there and execute, make mistakes and know what to do. We saw enough last week of Michael Penix in the live stuff.”
Falcons coach Raheem Morris, explaining why the rookie QB didn’t play this week

Monday’s quiz
Arizona Diamondbaacks made the playoffs in their second year of existence, in 1999; who was their manager back then?

Sunday’s quiz
Terry Gannon was the Raiders’ QB, the last time they played in a Super Bowl.

Saturday’s quiz
Matt Hasselbeck played QB for the Seattle Seahawks, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.

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

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

— If you insist on wagering on preseason NFL games, you should know that under is 26-6 in NFL games so far this summer. Underdogs are 20-11 ATS.

— Las Vegas Raiders named Gardner Minshew their starting QB; he was 7-6 as starting QB for the Colts last year, is 15-22 overall as an NFL starter. Raiders are Minshew’s fourth team in his sixth NFL season.

— Miami Hurricanes are 1-11 in their last dozen bowl games, losing their last five in a row. Has to be a decent amount of heat on coach Mario Cristobal, who is 12-13 SU in his first two years with the Hurricanes.

— Florida Gators’ football schedule this fall is daunting; their five games in November, as of right now, are all against teams ranked in the top 13 in the country. Tough stretch.

— New England Patriots traded pass-rushed Matthew Judon to Atlanta, in exchange for a 3rd round draft pick. Judon has played in four Pro Bowls in his eight years, but played in only four games last season.

— Cincinnati Bengals paid kicker Evan McPherson, giving him a 3-year, $16.5M extension to his contract. McPherson has made 78 of 93 field goals in his 3-year NFL career.

— With rookie QB JJ McCarthy out for the year, Minnesota Vikings added QB Matt Corral to their roster; Corral was a 3-year starter at Ole Miss, but got hurt in the Rebels’ bowl game his last year, and has bounced around since then, winning all three of his starts for Birmingham in the UFL this post spring.

— Famous birthdays, August 19th:
Gerald McRaney, 77
Gary Gaetti, 66
Rickey Pierce, 65
Ron Darling, 64
Bobby Hebert, 64
Nate Burleson, 43
JJ Hardy, 42
Kirk Cousins, 36
Darrell Henderson, 27

— OF Monte Harrison hit .176 in 50 games with Marlins/Angels from 2020-22; he was part of the package the Marlins from Milwaukee in the Christian Yelich trade.
Harrison is out of baseball now; this fall, he’ll be a 29-year old freshman WR for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team in the SEC.

— There is a hotel in Milwaukee, the Pfister Hotel, where major league teams stay when they’re visiting the Brewers. Problem is, there are people who believe that the Pfister Hotel is haunted; Mookie Betts, for one, refuses to stay at the Pfister when the Dodgers are in Milwaukee.

— Rangers 6, Twins 5 (10)
Minnesota led 4-0 in 7th inning.
Carlos Santana tied the game with a 9th inning home run
Josh Hung’s single, followed by a throwing error, allowed the winning run to score.

— Giants 4, A’s 2 (10)
Last Giants-A’s game ever played in Oakland drew 32,727 fans.
Jerar Encarnacion’s 2-run homer was the game-winner.
Final tally in Bay Bridge Series: Oakland 76 wins, Giants 73.

— Marlins 3, Mets 2
Marlins are first team since 1991 to win a game when they had three base runners picked off in that game.

— Orioles 4, Red Sox 2
Albert Suarez has now thrown 17.2 consecutive scoreless IP.
Orioles won this game despite being out-hit, 11-3.

— MLB divisional races:
AL East: New York/Orioles are tied for first, at 73-52, seven games ahead of Boston.
AL Central: Cleveland leads the Twins by two games, Guardians by three.
AL West: Astros lead Seattle by four games.
NL East: Phillies lead Atlanta by 7 games, the Mets by 9.
NL Central: Milwaukee leads this division by 11 games. Wow.
NL West: Dodgers lead San Diego by three games, Arizona by four.

— Wild Card teams (as of now):
AL: New York, Twins, Royals……3.5 games ahead of Boston.
NL: Padres, Diamondbacks, Braves…….two games ahead of the Mets.

 

[Udog]

No games today. Season play resumes tomorrow.