2022 WNBA REGULAR SEASON PICKS,NEWS,GOSSIP !

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, July 14

WNBA

Thursday, July 14

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Trend Report
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Las Vegas @ New York
Las Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Las Vegas's last 5 games when playing New York
Las Vegas is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing New York
New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 5 games when playing Las Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New York's last 6 games

Dallas @ Minnesota
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Dallas's last 7 games
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Dallas
Minnesota is 9-1 ATS in its last 10 games

Washington @ Phoenix
Washington
Washington is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Phoenix
Phoenix is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing Washington
Phoenix is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games when playing at home against Washington

Chicago @ Los Angeles
Chicago
Chicago is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 16-3 SU in its last 19 games when playing at home against Chicago
Los Angeles is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Chicago


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
NFL teams that ran ball on 2nd down the most LY, after an incompletion on 1st down:
70%— New Jersey Giants
66%— Detroit Lions
65%— Tennessee Titans
64%— Chicago, Minnesota, Washington
50%— Denver Broncos
47%— Dallas Cowboys

Quote of the Day
“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.”
John Locke

Friday’s quiz
Which major league team, other than the Red Sox, used to call Boston home?

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show The Addams Family, the butler’s name was Lurch.

Wednesday’s quiz
In the classic TV show The Odd Couple, Felix Unger was a photographer (portraits a specialty)

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

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

13) One thing I’ve noticed the last few days; more and more ballplayers slide into home plate head-first, which is a bad idea. Too easy to get hurt.

Back when catchers could block the plate more, you NEVER slid into home head-first, because you might break your neck, but now that catchers have to leave a lane for the runner to slide, it has become more of a thing, but it is a bad thing.

Your fingers/head/neck are more at risk when you slide head-first. Alec Bohm dislocated a finger sliding head-first into second base this week. Sliding feet-first is the better idea.

12) Ten guys on the Kansas City Royals didn’t make the trip to Toronto this weekend; they’re not vaccinated, so they can’t get into Canada. Oy.

Bigger issue is this: one of the players is Andrew Benintendi, who will be a free agent after the season and is being sought after by some contending teams. Royals would probably like to deal him; are AL teams shying away from Benintendi because of this?

If the team that trades for Benintendi has to play Toronto in the playoffs, he still won’t be able to go there, which obviously defeats the purpose of trading for him.

Royals 3, Blue Jays 1— Angel Zerpa, the 22-year old pitcher Kansas City brought up to fill the void by all the absent players, is 2-5, 4.36 in 11 starts in the AA Texas League this year. Against Toronto, he gave up one run in five IP (73 PT). Go figure.

11) Blue Jays fired their manager Wednesday, good/convenient timing with the depleted Royals coming to town, but they still lost Thursday, which isn’t good for them.

10) Washington’s Juan Soto homered in the 9th inning in both games of the Nationals’ twinbill Tuesday; he is the first major leaguer to do that since 2004, when Rob Mackowiak of Pittsburgh did it against the Cubs (game 1 homer was a walk-off tater).

By the way, I get lot of these statistical nuggets from Doug Kern, who is an excellent follow on Twitter.

9) Mariners 6, Rangers 5— Ty France had the game-winning, 2-run single in the 8th inning; Seattle has now won 11 games in a row. Texas led 5-1 in the 7th inning.

8) Interested observer at the Las Vegas Summer League was one of the new owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves. You may have heard of him; Alex Rodriguez, who has been known to play high stakes poker now and then.

7) I’m looking thru the TV shows they have on Paramount+, and I find the Odd Couple, one of the all-time great TV comedies. Loved it when I was a kid; have watched every episode many times over the years.

Paramount+, which costs $$ to sign up for, charges you more to watch Odd Couple episodes, which ran from 1970-75. I am NOT paying money to watch 50-year old re-runs, all of which I’ve seen…….many times. Could you be any more greedy?

6) Indiana Pacers signed C Deandre Ayton to a four-year, $133M offer sheet, but Phoenix Suns matched the offer, so now Ayton can’t be traded before January 15, and he would have the right to veto any trade for one year.

All of this hinders any hopes the Suns had of trading for Kevin Durant.

5) Philadelphia 76ers’ star Joel Embiid recently became a citizen of France, which is very good news for the French national basketball team.

4) NBA star CJ McCollum has been doing some TV work on ESPN during summer league; he said something very interesting the other night.

McCollum is a star player; he said that every 10th game or so, he gets a technical foul on purpose just to make sure the officials are aware the he is on the court. In other words, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Star players generally get the benefit of close calls, anyway.

His broadcast partner pressed him a little bit on it; McCollum says he keeps track of when he gets the technicals, and he sticks to the 10-game schedule.

3) Right now, Miami Dolphins are a 3-point home favorite over New England in Week 1 of the NFL season. This will be only the second time since 2003 that the Patriots are an underdog in Week 1— they were an underdog at Arizona in Week 1 of 2016 season, when Jimmy Garoppolo started in place of the suspended Tom Brady. Patriots won the game, 23-21.

If you care about such things, Arizona’s QB in that 2016 game was Carson Palmer.

2) Pairings for the Jimmy V college basketball twinbill this fall:
Duke vs Iowa…….Texas vs Illinois

1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Mets, Brewers, Dodgers Wild Cards: Atlanta, San Diego, St Louis
AL: New York, Twins, Astros Wild Cards: Tampa Bay, Seattle, Tor/Bos

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, July 15

WNBA

Friday, July 15

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Trend Report
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Minnesota @ Indiana
Minnesota
Minnesota is 9-2 ATS in its last 11 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota's last 5 games when playing on the road against Indiana
Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing at home against Minnesota

Connecticut @ Atlanta
Connecticut
Connecticut is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Connecticut's last 6 games when playing Atlanta
Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games


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[CNOTES]

FRIDAY, JULY 15​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
MIN at IND	07:00 PM	MIN -3.5 U 167.5	+500 +500
CONN at ATL	07:30 PM	CONN -8.5 U 155.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
— Giants 8, Brewers 5— Yastrzemski hit a walk-off grand slam off Josh Hader.
— Rays 5, Orioles 4— Baltimore’s 10-game win streak is over.
— Mariners 8, Rangers 3— Rodriguez hit a ninth inning grand slam.
— Rockies 13, Pirates 2— Brendan Rodgers knocked in four runs.
— Phillies 2, Marlins 1— Realmuto had the game-winning hit in 7th inning.
— Dodgers 9, Angels 1— Kershaw allowed one hit in 8 IP

Quote of the Day
“Listen, Lupus, you didn’t come into this life just to sit around on a dugout bench, did ya? Now get your ass out there and do the best you can.”
Walter Matthau in The Bad News Bears

Saturday’s quiz
When Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly played in the USFL, what team did he play for?

Friday’s quiz
Before moving to Milwaukee, the Braves called Boston home from 1912-1952.

Thursday’s quiz
In the old TV show The Addams Family, the butler’s name was Lurch.

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

Saturday’s Den: Pac-12 football notes…….

Arizona:
— 7 starters back on offense, 8 on defense
— 57 starts back on offensive line; soph QB 15 starts at Washington State
— Last three years, 8-6 ATS as a favorite.
— Last two years, they’re minus-26 in turnovers, going 1-16 SU.
— won four of last five bowls, but their last one was in 2017

Arizona State:
— 3 starters back on offense, 4 on defense
— 62 starts back on offensive line; senior QB 12 starts at Florida
— 9-16 ATS as favorite, 10-4 as underdog under Edwards
— under Edwards, they’re 9-14 ATS coming off a win
— were even in turnovers LY (+32 previous three years)

California:
— 3 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
— 51 starts back on offensive line; senior QB 13 starts at Purdue
— under Wilcox:5-16-1 ATS as favorite, 22-7 as underdog.
— Last four years, Cal is 11-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— under Wilcox: 22-17-1 ATS in Pac-12 tilts; 6-8 non-conference.

Colorado:
— 7 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
— 49 starts back on offensive line; soph QB has 12 starts
— Last five years, are 23-31 SU
— In his career, Dorrell is 10-2 ATS as a home underdog.
— Lost last four bowls; last bowl win was in 2004.

Oregon:
— 8 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 86 starts back on offensive line; senior QB had 34 starts at Auburn
— Last four years, Ducks are 7-12-2 ATS as a home favorite.
— Lanning is Ducks’ 4th coach in seven years; they’re 35-13 SU last four years
— 2-3 SU in last five bowl games (1-4 ATS), with both wins by one point.

Oregon State:
— 6 starters back on offense, 9 on defense
— 76 starts back on offensive line; junior QB 15 starts
— Last year was Beavers’ first bowl since 2013.
— Smith is 6-1 ATS as home favorite, 0-4 as road favorite.
— Last three years, OSU is 11-4 AATS coming off a loss.

USC:
— 8 starters back on offense, 3 on defense
— 109 starts back on offensive line; soph QB started 7 games at Oklahoma
— Last four years, Trojans are 22-21 SU
— USC is 0-5 ATS in last five bowls (1-3 last four SU)
— Riley is 6-11-1 ATS as a road favorite, 3-0 as road underdog.

Stanford:
— 10 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 104 starts back on offensive line (5 starters); soph QB has 9 starts
— 11-19 SU last three years (71-24 the seven years before that)
— 4-12-1 ATS in last 17 games coming off a loss.
— Won four of last five bowls; their last three bowls were decided by total of 5 points.

UCLA:
— 6 starters back on offense, 2 on defense
— 84 starts back on offensive line; senior QB 35 starts
— Under Kelly, 4-9 ATS as home favorite, 10-6 as road underdog.
— Last three years, are 9-5 ATS coming off a win.
— Last bowl was 2017; last bowl win 2014- they made a bowl LY, but it was cancelled.

Utah:
— 8 starters back on offense, 6 on defense
— 73 starts back on offensive line; junior QB started 12 games
— since 2017, , they’re 16-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— under Whittingham, they’re 25-15 ATS as a road underdog.
— Lost last three bowls, giving up 39 ppg.

Washington:
— 8 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
— 82 starts back on offensive line; junior QB started 17 games at Indiana
— Last two years, they’re 3-8 ATS at home
— Last four years, they’re 10-22 ATS in conference games.
— Favorite covered four of their last five bowls.

Washington State:
— 4 starters back on offense, 6 on defense
— 31 starts back on offensive line; new QB was I-AA All-American at Incarnate Word.
— since 2015, they’re 7-3 ATS as a home underdog
— 7-1-1 ATS in Pac-12 games LY; were +11 in turnovers
— Lost last five bowl games (1-4 ATS)

 

[Udog]

WNBA

Saturday, July 16

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Trend Report
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Chicago @ Dallas
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Chicago's last 10 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Chicago is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Dallas's last 10 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Dallas's last 8 games


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[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Saturday, July 16

 

[CNOTES]

SATURDAY, JULY 16​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
CHI at DAL	08:00 PM	CHI -4.5 U 168.5	+500 +500

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 7-pack
NFL teams that ran the ball the least on 2nd down LY, after they threw an incomplete pass on first down:
18%— Cincinnati
21%— Kansas City
22%— Arizona
24%— San Francisco
25%— Rams, Green Bay, New England

Quote of the Day
“My dad taught me that a ‘role player’ isn’t a bad thing. You can make a lot of money being a role player. You can be a starter being a role player. A lot of people don’t embrace that. So that’s going to be an advantage for me.”
Jabari Walker

Sunday’s quiz
Which current major league manager was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks?

Saturday’s quiz
When Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly played in the USFL, he played for the Houston Gamblers.

Friday’s quiz
Before moving to Milwaukee, the Braves called Boston home from 1912-1952.

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

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) All-Star break starts Sunday night; they need to push the All-Star Game back earlier in July; lot of tired players/coaches right now, maybe more mentally tired than physically. Teams have played over 90 games; halfway mark is 81, so moving things back a week makes more sense.

Plus, that would allow the NBA Summer League to fill the four-day sports void, but summer league ends tonight, so this coming week Monday-Wednesday will be a 3-day sports void (there are some make-up baseball games Thursday). Bad planning by baseball.

12) Juan Soto turned down a 15-year. $440M contract this weekend; he can’t be a free agent until after the 2024 season, so Washington has to hold on to him for at least the rest of this season. What will teams be willing to give up to acquire one of the best players in baseball?

11) Minnesota Twins retired Jim Kaat’s number 36 this weekend; Kaat will be inducted into the Hall of Fame next weekend in Cooperstown. A great pitcher who won 283 games; his number 1 achievement in sports might be this:

When he was 75 years old, Kaat shot 75 in two different rounds of golf. Shooting your age in golf is damn impressive, but here’s the thing.

One round he played right-handed, the other one left-handed!!!

Wonder how times that has happened.

10) Clayton Kershaw took a perfect game into the 8th inning Friday, the second time he’s done that this season. Kershaw is the first pitcher since 1961 to take a perfect game into the 8th inning twice in the same season.

9) Mets-Cubs are having issues with the umpires in their series this week; Cubs manager David Ross has been thrown out of two games. Ian Happ got tossed last night.

Ramon DeJesus, who worked the plate in Game 1 Saturday, is a pitchers’ ump, which is putting it mildly. He searches for strikes to call, which obviously annoys hitters. So far this season, the under is 9-5 when DeJesus is behind the plate.

8) Seattle 3, Texas 2— Mariners have won 13 games in a row; they’re 21-12 in one-run games, after going 33-19 in one-run games last year. Scott Servais is a very good manager.

If the playoffs started today, Seattle would be one of the Wild Card teams.

7) Who decides which jersey a baseball team wears for a game? Some teams have 2-3 different jerseys; the A’s used to let that day’s starting pitcher decide which jersey to wear, but not sure if they do that anymore.

If I’m a pitcher and I’m on a roll wearing one jersey, I sure as hell would want to wear that jersey whenever I pitched. Superstitions are a big part of baseball.

6) Unusual stuff in the NBA:
— Nike boss Phil Knight wants to buy the Portland Trail Blazers.
— The NBA wants Phil Knight to buy the Trail Blazers.
— The late owner Paul Allen’s trust requires that the team be sold.
— Portland owner Jody Allen insists the team is not for sale.

Being commissioner of a sports league isn’t as easy as it looks.

5) Young man named Marko Simonovic scored 17 points in nine games for the Chicago Bulls last year, playing mostly in the G-League, where he scored 17 ppg; he is having big summer league this month, as he tries to earn a spot on the Bulls’ roster this coming season. Simonovic had 17 points, 13 rebounds in a game against Charlotte the other day.

Funny how guys who don’t have roster spots locked up play every game, they don’t take games off for load management.

4) Russell Westbrook, entering the final season of a five-year maximum deal; fired his agent this week, a guy who had been his agent for the last 14 years. The agent apparently thinks Westbrook should stay with the Lakers, and Westbrook disagrees.

According to Basketball-Reference.com. Westbrook has earned $291,976,692 in his playing career, not counting this coming season, when he will bank another $47M. The agent’s take, if 5%, would be $14,598,835, so the agent/player helped each other become very wealthy.

Hopefully they parted friends.

3) Had to look this up twice; I knew it was true, but it just seems odd that the Miami Dolphins haven’t won a playoff game since 2000.

2) Only one team that won the Super Bowl gave upon more points than they scored during that regular season; the 2011 New Jersey Giants scored 394 points, gave up 400 points, which does not matter, because they won four playoff games, but it is the only time it has happened.

1) Detroit Lions were an odd team last year; they went 11-6 against the spread, which is pretty good, but the thing is, they were an underdog in all 17 games- they were 3-13-1 SU, which is really bad.

As of a few days ago, Detroit was an underdog in its first three games this season, but is listed at -2 for its Week 4 game with Seattle.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, July 17

WNBA

Sunday, July 17

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Trend Report
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Las Vegas @ Connecticut
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Las Vegas's last 5 games
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Connecticut's last 7 games at home
Connecticut is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games when playing at home against Las Vegas

Minnesota @ Washington
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Minnesota is 10-2 ATS in its last 12 games
Washington
Washington is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games when playing at home against Minnesota

Indiana @ Seattle
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing on the road against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Indiana's last 8 games on the road
Seattle
Seattle is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana

Atlanta @ Phoenix
Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games
Phoenix
Phoenix is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Atlanta
Phoenix is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games when playing Atlanta


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
Las Vegas Westgate’s odds to win this season’s Super Bowl:
6-1— Buffalo, Tampa Bay
9-1— LA Rams, Green Bay
12-1— Kansas City, San Francisco
14-1— Baltimore, LA Chargers
18-1— Dallas
20-1— Cincinnati, Denver

Quote of the Day
“I mean, It’s not like I’m not breaking news here that Mike Zimmer did not like Kirk Cousins. And I think that showed in the way that Kirk behaved and the way that he carried himself. The team was never given to him, or he was never allowed to earn the trust of the team, because the head coach I think just didn’t like him.”
Former Vikings LB Ben Leber

Monday’s quiz
Where did Kirk Cousins play his college football?

Sunday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Saturday’s quiz
When Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly played in the USFL, he played for the Houston Gamblers.

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

Monday’s Den: Baseball thoughts at the All-Star break

13) I’m still amazed that the pitching coach of the Minnesota Twins was making $350,000, so he quit and became the pitching coach at LSU, where he now makes $750,000.

13 pitchers on a team that has 26 players on it; pithing coach is basically the manager for half the team, and he makes half what the minimum wage is for a player ($700,000)? Wow.

12) Can we just give Baltimore skipper Brandon Hyde Manager of the Year right now? Last year, Orioles were 52-110, a dreadful team. This year, they head to the All-Star break 46-46.

Part of the improvement goes to management, which made left/left-center in Camden Yards way bigger, which has to have helped their pitchers’ confidence.

11) Further evidence of the excellent job Hyde is doing:

Baltimore’s total payroll for 2022: $32,918,626
Max Scherzer’s salary for 2022: $43,333,333

10) All five teams in the American League East are .500 or better; last time a division had all of its teams at .500 or better on July 17? Back in 2005, the National League East.

9) Freddie Freeman heads into the All-Star break 16 for his last 24; he is probably sad not to play again until Thursday.

8) Red Sox P Chris Sale has been on the injured list seven times since 2018; he is headed for trip Private Messages A line drive broke the pinky on Sale’s pitching hand Sunday- it didn’t look good.

7) Apparently the business of baseball is doing well:
— Aaron Judge turned down a contract $31M a year.
— Juan Soto turned down a 15-year, $440M deal

Agents for both players obviously think their client will wind up making more $$$.

6) Since June 28, Los Angeles Angels are 3-0 when Shohei Ohtani pitches, 0-13 when anyone else is the starting pitcher.

5) Texas Rangers’ SS Corey Seager has a .976 OPS in his home games, which is really good; his OPS on the road is .634, which is terrible. Weird thing is that Texas has a pitchers’ ballpark, so you figure he would hit better on the road.

OPS is on-base %age plus slugging %age.

4) Boston Red Sox are 12-26 against their division rivals, 36-19 against everyone else. Boston has fallen out of the playoff picture; they’re still really close, but they need to pick it up against their AL East rivals.

3) Philadelphia Phillies are 27-14 since they changed managers, 11-8 since Bruce Harper broke his hand.

2) Colorado is 28-22 at home, 15-27 on the road; do opposing teams struggle playing in Denver, and if so, why? Rockies haven’t gotten much from newly-signed Kris Bryant until recently; will they be a better team after the All-Star break?

1) Trade deadline is August 2nd; with 12 teams making the playoffs now, will be interesting to see which teams sell off players for prospects and which teams try to fortify their roster.

 

[Udog]

No games today.... play resumes tomorrow.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in RBI:
78— Pete Alonso, NYM
75— Jose Ramirez, Clev
70— Paul Goldschmidt StL, Aaron Judge NYY
69— CJ Cron, Colo
68— Trea Turner, LA
66— Francisco Lindor, NYM

Quote of the Day
“It’s like a payroll in baseball. What teams win over a long period of time? Teams that have high payrolls and can pay players a lot. We’re in a situation not any different than that. I’m sure other people said it. I said Day 1, you legalize cheating, so get ready for the people that have the most money to get players.”
Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin

Tuesday’s quiz
Who was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager the last time they made the playoffs?
(Hint: He had previously a different NL team in the World Series)

Monday’s quiz
Kirk Cousins played his college football at Michigan State

Sunday’s quiz
Buck Showalter was the first manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks.


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

Tuesday’s Den: Notes, trends for AFC teams…….

Baltimore Ravens
— Won Super Bowl in 2012; since then, they’re 2-4 SU in playoffs.
— Last three years, they’re 9-0-1 ATS as an underdog.
— Harbaugh is 13-9-1 ATS as a road favorite in division games, 24-29-1 out of division.
— 5-1 ATS in last six series openers.

Buffalo Bills
— Last two years, they’re 3-2 in playoffs; previous 18 years, they were 0-2.
— Last four years, they’re 9-0-1 ATS as an underdog of 3 or less points.
— Under McDermott, Bills are 24-14-2 ATS on the road.
— Last two years, over is 10-4-2 in their road games.

Cincinnati Bengals
— Last year was first time they won a playoff game on the road. Ever.
— Bengals were even in turnovers LY; previous two years, they were minus-21.
— Last two years, they’re 6-3-2 ATS as a home underdog.
— Last seven years, they’re 13-7-1 ATS in AFC North road games (2-0 as road favorite)

Cleveland Browns
— Last 20 years, they’re 1-2 in playoff games; Baker Mayfield was QB for the win.
— Under Stefanski, they’re 7-12-4 ATS as a favorite.
— Last three years, they’re 7-14-2 ATS coming off a loss.
— Last ten years, Browns are 10-19-1 ATS in AFC North home games.

Denver Broncos
— Denver hasn’t been in the playoffs since 2015.
— In his 10-year career, Russell Wilson is 9-7 in playoff games.
— Last five years, Broncos are 6-12-2 ATS as a home favorite.
— Last five years, Denver is 4-10-1 ATS in AFC West road games.

Houston Texans
— Last two years, they’re 8-25 SU; Smith is their third HC in three years.
— Last three years, Texans are 2-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— Since 2016, they’re 1-5-2 ATS as a road favorite.
— Smith went 89-87 as head coach of the Bears (3-3 in playoff games)

Indianapolis Colts
— Ryan will be the Colts’ 6th different starting QB the last six years.
— Last seven years, they’re 1-2 in playoff games.
— Last two years, Colts are +24 in turnovers; they were 9-8 LY with a +14 ratio.
— Last five years, they’re 14-3-1 ATS as a favorite of 3 or less points.

Jacksonville Jaguars
— Last four years, Jags are 15-50 SU; Pederson is their 3rd coach in three years.
— Last three years, they’re 8-15 ATS in Jacksonville.
— Last four years, they’re 3-7-2 ATS in AFC South road games.
— Pederson went 42-37-1 coaching the Eagles, and won a Super Bowl.

Kansas City Chiefs
— Mahomes is 50-13 SU in regular season, 8-3 in playoffs.
— In the 16 years before Mahomes, KC was 1-7 in playoff games.
— Last six years, they’re 13-5 ATS as an underdog.
— Under Reid, Chiefs are 43-26-1 ATS on the road.

Las Vegas Raiders
— Since losing Super Bowl in 2002, Raiders are 0-2 in playoff games.
— Last two years, Raiders are 18-15 SU, despite minus-20 turnover ratio.
— Last five years, they’re 2-7-1 ATS as a road favorite.
— In two years in Las Vegas, over is 11-5-1 in Raider home games.

Los Angeles Chargers
— Chargers made playoffs twice in the last 12 years.
— Last seven years, they’re 12-8-1 ATS in AFC West road games.
— Last 10 years, they’re 22-34-5 ATS in games with spread of 3 or less.
— Last 20 years, their starting QB’s: Brees-Rivers-Herbert. Pretty good QB’s (5-7 in playoffs)

Miami Dolphins
— Last 20 years, Miami is 0-1 in playoff games (game was in 2008)
— Last two years, Dolphins are 19-14 SU, missed playoffs both times.
— Last three years, they’re 20-14 ATS as an underdog.
— Last four years, they’re 11-6-1 ATS as a favorite.
— Week 17 last two years: lost 56-26 at Buffalo/lost 34-3 at Tennessee.

New England Patriots
— 17-16 SU in two years since Brady left town.
— Last seven years, they’re 31-17-3 ATS as a home favorite.
— Last 10 years, they’re 34-16-1 ATS in non-divisional home games.
— Last eight years, under is 35-19-1 in their road games.

New Jersey Jets
— Haven’t made playoffs since 2010, when Rex Ryan was coach.
— Last six years, they’re 27-70 SU (39-54-4 ATS)
— Last five years, Jets are 0-4 ATS as a road favorite.
— Last four years, they’re 2-10 ATS in AFC East home games.

Pittsburgh Steelers
— Last four years, Steelers are 0-2 in playoff games (previous 16 years- 15-8).
— Last four years, they’re 4-0 ATS as a home underdog.
— Last six years, they’re 20-13 ATS in games with spread of 3 or fewer points.
— Last three years, they’re 7-2 ATS in AFC North home games.

Tennessee Titans
— Last two years went 23-10 SU, but were 0-2 in playoffs, both at home.
— Last five years, they’re 9-3 ATS as a home underdog.
— Last three years, over is 17-7 in their road games.
— Last five years, they’re 18-12 ATS in AFC South games.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, July 19

WNBA

Tuesday, July 19

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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New York @ Connecticut
New York
New York is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of New York's last 7 games
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Connecticut's last 8 games at home
Connecticut is 10-2 SU in its last 12 games when playing New York

Atlanta @ Las Vegas
Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Atlanta's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Las Vegas's last 10 games at home

Indiana @ Los Angeles
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Indiana's last 9 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 16 of Indiana's last 24 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Indiana
Los Angeles is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games when playing at home against Indiana


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds for the PGA’s 3M Open this week :
16-1— Finau, Im
18-1— Matsuyama
20-1— McNealy
25-1— Davis, Hadwin, Riley, Theegala
30-1— Steele, Tringale
Over/under on winning score: 265.5

Quote of the Day
“The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.”
Voltaire

Wednesday’s quiz
On the old game show Hollywood Squares, who sat in the center square most of the time?

Tuesday’s quiz
Clint Hurdle was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager the last time they made the playoffs.

Monday’s quiz
Kirk Cousins played his college football at Michigan State

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

Two Lists for Wednesday: the first, Mid-week musings…..

13) My favorite part of the All-Star Game is the player introductions; you see guys who are All-Stars for the first time- has to be a tremendous thrill to hear your name while you stand with the best players in the business.

12) Every team has to be represented in the All-Star Game; this year, the A’s representative is P Paul Blackburn, who was scheduled to fly commercial from Houston to Los Angeles after the A’s series in Texas over the weekend.

Astros heard about it, and offered Blackburn a seat on their team’s charter from Houston to LA, pretty classy move.

11) I felt pretty old Sunday night, when Jackson Holliday was first player taken in the amateur baseball draft. His dad is Matt Holliday, who was a terrific ballplayer for Rockies/Cardinals.

Our fantasy baseball league started in 2005; it is a dynasty league— you keep the same players from year-to-year. Our first draft took 81 days to finish; we started before Christmas, and my first pick was Matt Holliday. Now his son is a pro ballplayer. Time flies.

Later on, I wound up with Rays’ LF Carl Crawford on my team for 3-4 years; his son got drafted in the first round by the Phillies Sunday night. Carl Crawford played in the 2008 World Series, against the Phillies. Go figure.

10) Ironic that Sunday, the day the draft started, Detroit Tigers sent Spencer Torkelson down to AAA.

Torkelson was the first player taken in the 2020 draft; they rushed him to the majors, but he struggled, batting .197 with a .577 OPS. Now he is back in AAA, and has to regroup.

Being a top draft pick is great, but no matter who you are, once you get to The Show, you have to produce to stay there. It is a production-based business, after all.

9) Washington Nationals lost the first game in 16 of their last 20 home series; they have a big star in 23-year old Juan Soto, but it looks like he isn’t going to sign with Washington long-term, so eventually they’ll have to trade him. Tough times.

He turned down a 15-year, $440M offer last week.

Nationals won the World Series in 2019, but when your stars are turning down $30M a year deals, how can you sustain success?

8) I know next-to-nothing about video games, but when I see that Ja’Marr Chase is the vBCms Comments WR in the Madden ratings, it just seems wrong.

81 catches, 1,455 yards, 13 TD’s. There are not 17 WR’s who are better than Chase, whether in video games or real football.

7) I like that Lamar Jackson is serving as his own agent; saves him the 3% agent fee, and from what you read, he is well-versed on what he wants in his next contract. Will be fascinating to see what he winds up making. If Jackson does well with his contract, will more players follow his lead and be their own agent?

6) Circa Casino in Las Vegas advertises a lot on San Diego Padres’ TV games; they have an amazing sportsbook, part of which is outside on the 3rd floor of the casino, with lounge chairs scattered amongst pools, with a lot of distractions walking around.

Video screens take up a wall above the betting windows; it is amazing to see.

You have to be 21 years old to stay at Circa; no kids allowed.

5) Watching the British Open, the person who invented pot bunkers is a sadistic bastard.

4) In case you were wondering, Portland Trailblazers won the Las Vegas Summer League.

3) Poker player from Norway named Espen Jorstad won this year’s Main Event at the World Series of Poker, banking $10M in the process. Total of 8,663 people competed in this year’s Main Event.

2) Pittsburgh Steelers changed the name of their stadium from Heinz Field to Acrisure Stadium. Over the last 20 years, Heinz paid the Steelers $57M for naming rights; Acrisure is going to pay the Steelers $10M a year.

1) Bills/Raiders started their training camps Monday; eight other teams started Tuesday. When is the NFL going to announce their decision on Deshaun Watson? Cleveland Browns start camp July 30; would be nice if they knew who their quarterback was going to be.

If Watson gets suspended, Jacoby Brissett will be their QB; three years ago, Brissett replaced Andrew Luck as the Colts’ QB, when Luck abruptly retired. He also was in New England for a year, and Miami last year, when the coach got fired after a 9-8 season.

Brissett could write a hell of a book someday.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, July 20

WNBA

Wednesday, July 20

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Seattle @ Chicago
Seattle
Seattle is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Seattle's last 9 games on the road
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Chicago is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games


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[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Thursday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in OPS:
1.058— Yordan Alvarez, Hst
1.004— Paul Goldschmidt, StL
.983— Aaron Judge, NYY
.980— Rafael Devers, Bos
.967— Mike Trout, LAA
.944— Jose Ramirez, Clev

Quote of the Day
“I’m competing against guys all across the SEC who host kids at their biggest game. When Auburn plays Alabama, guess where the recruits are. They’re at Auburn. When LSU and Alabama play, guess where the biggest recruits want to go. It’s an opportunity for us to bring these kids who fly in from all over the country. What game do they want to see? They’d like to see Georgia play Florida but they can’t do that.”
Kirby Smart; he wants Florida-Georgia games to be played on campus sites

Thursday’s quiz
Which NFL team did Nick Saban used to coach?

Wednesday’s quiz
On the old game show Hollywood Squares, Paul Lynde sat in the center square most of the time.

Tuesday’s quiz
Clint Hurdle was the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager the last time they made the playoffs.

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

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….

13) Major League Baseball is debating expanding to 32 teams; seems to be one of the few things the owners/Players’ Association agree upon. Only question is when, and which cities?

Two new teams means:
— 52 more major league roster spots
— increased revenue for the owners (entry fee for the new reams will be over $1B each)
— more minor league teams, which is more jobs for players/staff/umpires
— 32 teams means interleague play doesn’t have to happen every day.

12) Seven of the Pirates’ first ten draft picks this week were pitchers, which seems like a good idea for a team that sorely lacks pitching.

11) Houston’s first 11 picks were college players; seven of those were pitchers. It is interesting how some teams prefer high school kids, but college kids are further along, usually get to the majors quicker, and Houston is in a win-now mode.

10) Dodgers drafted Baylor OF Kyle Nevin Tuesday; his dad Phil Nevin is the interim manager of the Angels right now, and his brother plays for Baltimore.

9) Random trivia: Ryan Dempster/Kenny Rogers both allowed 11 grand slams, most of any pitchers in MLB history.

8) Nick Swisher/Mark Teixeira both had 14 games where they hit a home run from both sides of the plate, tied for the most in MLB history.

7) Since 1988, fewest pitches thrown in a 9-inning complete game: 74, by Minnesota’s Carlos Silva in 2005, Colorado’s Aaron Cook in 2007.

6) Oakland A’s/San Diego Padres are only two teams who have never had a second baseman start in the All-Star Game.

5) Jeff McNeil was the first New York Met to start an All-Star Game since 2013; Texas Rangers have the longest such drought- their last All-Star starter was in 2012.

4) Juan Soto banked $1M for winning Home Run Derby; Julio Rodriguez got $750K for his second-place finish. Wonder what their batting practice pitchers got?

3) Since 1988, most swings/misses generated by a pitcher in one game:
38— David Cone, 1991
38— Pedro Martinez, 2000
37— Randy Johnson, 1997

2) SEC football Media Days are this week, as coaches gathered to promote their teams and the upcoming season. Even Nick Saban tries to be pleasant for a little while. It is unclear when Texas and Oklahoma are jumping to the SEC, or if the SEC will add any teams beyond that.

1) American League has now won the last nine All-Star Games, and 21 of last 25. Under is on a 13-2-1 run in All-Star Games.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, July 21

WNBA

Thursday, July 21

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New York @ Washington
New York
New York is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Washington
New York is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Washington
Washington
Washington is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home

Atlanta @ Los Angeles
Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Atlanta's last 7 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Atlanta's last 13 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Atlanta
Los Angeles is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Atlanta

Indiana @ Las Vegas
Indiana
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing Las Vegas
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing on the road against Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
Las Vegas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Indiana


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Friday’s 6-pack
If you bet $100 on every baseball game this year, these would be the six most profitable teams before the All-Star break:

+$1,759— Baltimore
+$1,205— New York (N)
+$1,188— New York (A)
+$1,121— Houston
+$775— Seattle
+$293— San Diego

Quote of the Day
“It’s going to be fun. No one thinks anything of us, and I think that’s what makes it fun is you always have to put the ball down and play the football games.”
Raiders QB Derek Carr

Friday’s quiz
What team did Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run against?

Thursday’s quiz
Nick Saban coached the Miami Dolphins for two seasons, going 15-17, before he went to Alabama.

Wednesday’s quiz
On the old game show Hollywood Squares, Paul Lynde sat in the center square most of the time.

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

Friday’s Den: Big 14 football knowledge

Illinois
— 7 starters back on offense, 6 on defense
— 74 starts return on offensive line; QB started 18 games at Syracuse.
— Last three years, they’re 9-5 ATS as a road underdog.
— Last 10 years, they’re 39-79 SU
— Last bowl win was in 2011.

Indiana
— 5 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 61 starts return on offensive line; QB 20 starts at Missouri
— Since 2016, they’re 5-13 ATS as a road underdog.
— Allen is 11-2 ATS as a home favorite; 4-11 as home underdog.
— Lost last five bowls, last four by total of 12 points.

Iowa
— 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 44 starts return on offensive line; junior QB has 19 starts
— Last four years, they’re 21-13 ATS as a favorite.
— Since 2015, Iowa is +63 in turnovers (88 games)
— won three of last four bowls (4-0 ATS)

Maryland
— 9 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 94 starts return on offensive line; junior QB has 17 starts
— Locksley is 19-30 ATS as an underdog.
— Last year was their first bowl since 2016; they beat Va Tech 54-10.
— Average total in their last five bowls: 63.6.

Michigan
— 9 starters back on offense, 4 on defense
— 85 starts return on offensive line; soph QB has 15 starts
— Last four years, they’re 13-7 ATS as a home favorite.
— Last 10 years, they’re 15-23-1 ATS in non-conference games.
— lost last five bowls; allowed 36.7 ppg in last three

Michigan State
— 5 starters back on offense, 9 on defense
— 90 starts return on offensive line; soph QB has 14 starts
— 11-2 SU LY (16-17 SU previous three years)
— Tucker is 7-2 ATS as a home underdog.
— won three of last four bowls (4-0 ATS)

Minnesota
— 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense
— 64 starts return on offensive line; senior QB has 39 starts
— since 2014, they’re 11-6-1 ATS as a home underdog.
— since 2013, they’re 9-4-1 ATS as a road favorite.
— won last five bowls (were underdog in 3 of 5 games)

Nebraska
— 7 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
— 78 starts return on offensive line; junior QB started 10 games at Texas
— Last five years, they’re 19-37 SU.
— Under Frost, they’re 8-15 ATS when favored, 13-7-1 as an underdog.
— Nebraska’s last bowl was in 2016

Northwestern
— 9 starters back on offense, 5 on defense
— 110 starts return on offensive line; junior QB has 16 starts
— Under Fitzgerald: 32-48-2 ATS as favorite, 37-21 as road underdog.
— Since 2014, they’re 10-16-2 ATS out of conference
— won last four bowls (were underdog in 2 of 4 bowls)

Ohio State
— 6 starters back on offense, 8 on defense
— 45 starts return on offensive line; soph QB has 12 starts
— Day is 20-10-1 ATS as a favorite.
— Last 10 years, Ohio State is 117-13 SU.
— average total in their last three bowls: 82.0.

Penn State
— 7 starters back on offense, 4 on defense
— 36 starts return on offensive line; senior QB has 33 starts
— Under Franklin, they’re 9-12 ATS as an underdog.
— Since 2016, they’re 12-8 ATS as a road favorite.
— Since 2014, they’re 8-23 ATS coming off a loss.

Purdue
— 7 starters back on offense, 7 on defense
— 77 starts return on offensive line; senior QB has 15 starts
— Since 2018: 3-9 ATS as home favorite, 8-4 as home underdog.
— Last year was their second winning season in last decade.
— 3-2 SU last five bowls, despite giving up 46.6 ppg.

Rutgers
— 6 starters back on offense, 6 on defense
— 73 starts return on offensive line; senior QB has 20 starts; another QB is freshman who threw 5 passes LY.
— Last two years: 1-7 ATS as home underdog, 6-1 as road underdog.
— Last two years, they’re +8 in turnovers (previous two years, they were minus-27)
— lost 3 of last 4 bowls (were double digit underdog in 2 of last 3). Last bowl win: 2014

Wisconsin
— 5 starters back on offense, 3 on defense
— 57 starts return on offensive line; soph QB has 20 starts
— 17-24 ATS last 41 games as HF; 19-7 last 26 as road favorite.
— since 2013, they’re 23-13 ATS out of conference
— won four of last five bowl games.

 

[Udog]

WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, July 22

WNBA

Friday, July 22

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dallas @ Chicago
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 6 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Connecticut @ Minnesota
Connecticut
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Connecticut's last 7 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Connecticut's last 5 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Minnesota's last 7 games when playing Connecticut
Minnesota is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against Connecticut

Seattle @ Phoenix
Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Seattle is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Phoenix
Phoenix is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Phoenix's last 6 games when playing at home against Seattle


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