Armadillo Sports
Monday’s 6-pack
USFL standings after seven weeks:
North
Philadelphia Stars 4-3
Michigan Panthers 3-4
New Jersey Generals 2-5
Pittsburgh Maulers 2-5
South
Birmingham Stallions 5-2
Memphis Showboats 4-3
New Orleans Breakers 4-3
Houston Gamblers 4-3
Quote of the Day
“There were things we didn’t like. There were things that were disappointing, on and off the field. There were things that I wish I would have done better, and there were things where we got a chance to see some of the worst in people…….You learn in every situation, the good and the bad. But when you really get tested as we were at Auburn, and it’s the same challenge for your players, your true colors are going to show in how you handle it.”
Former Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in which northeastern city?
Sunday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the starting catcher for the Colorado Rockies in their first-ever game, back in 1993.
Saturday’s quiz
Minnesota Vikings haven’t won a Super Bowl, but they’ve won 19 division titles. Green Bay has won 16 division titles in the same division, but they’ve won four Super Bowls.
**********************************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday……..
— Happy 85th birthday to Jerry West, one of the best basketball players of all time, and also one of the best NBA executives ever.
West was a 14-time All-Star; he won a title with the 1972 Lakers, then won eight more rings as an executive. He is also part of the NBA’s logo, quite an honor.
Happy birthday, sir.
— It turns out Raiders’ new QB Jimmy Garoppolo was slow signing his contract with Las Vegas because he underwent surgery on his injured foot in March. Bottom line is that the Raiders can get out from Garoppolo’s contract if this injury continues to be an issue.
His signing bonus becomes part of his salary, which means if the contract gets voided because of the injury, Garoppolo gets bupkis. He had previously agreed to an $11.25M signing bonus. Now his salary is $22.5M, but he has to stay in one piece to get it.
Right now, the Raiders’ other QB’s are:
Brian Hoyer, Aidan O’Connell, Chase Garbers— Garoppolo’s foot better stay healthy.
— NFL teams with no primetime games this season:
Arizona, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis
— Since 2016, there have been fifteen Week 1 NFL games with a total of 50+
Over in those fifteen games was 9-5-1.
Right now, there are two Week 1 games with a total of 50+:
Lions-Chiefs, and Dolphins-Chargers.
— A’s CF Esteury Ruiz leads the major leagues with 27 stolen bases, so despite how horrible a team Oakland has been so far, they do lead the league in something good.
— Astros 10, A’s 1— Jose Abreu hit his first home run this season, in Houston’s 52nd game.
— Brewers 7, Giants 5— Giants’ OF Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run in Milwaukee Sunday that would’ve been a home run in 29 of 30 major league ballparks; the one park where it would not have been a home run was San Francisco, Yastrzemski’s home park.
— Guardians 4, Cardinals 3— Cleveland is now 11-14 in one-run games this season; no one else in the majors has played more than 20 one-run games (Reds are 8-12).
— Braves 11, Phillies 4— Lousy Sunday night game; Atlanta scored seven runs in the first inning, knocking Dylan Covey out in his first start for the Phillies.
Michael Harris made a great catch in centerfield, robbing Kyle Schwarber of a home run.
— Was watching the White Sox-Tigers game Sunday; Detroit TV guys were explaining how Tigers’ P Michael Lorenzen watches video of opposing hitters in the clubhouse in between innings when he is pitching. Lorenzen is 2-2, 3.50 in eight starts this season.
— Rockies 11, Mets 10— Colorado scored 21 runs the last two days, wins 2 of 3 in series. Ryan McMahon tied a career high with five RBI in this game.
— Tigers 6, White Sox 5 (10)— Detroit has won five of its last seven games, is now only a game out of first place in AL Central, despite its 25-26 record.
— Marlins 2, Angels 0— Miami sweeps the Halos in Anaheim, not a good weekend for a team trying to keep one of its two stars from bolting in free agency.
— Rays 11, Dodgers 10— LA starter Gavin Stone gave up seven runs in two innings; he got 15 whiffs on 40 Tampa Bay swings, which is good, but the Rays put 13 balls in play, and got 10 hits, which is really bad. Dodgers are hurting for starting pitching right now.
— Remember Bob Denver, the star of Gilligan’s Island? Turns out that after Gilligan’s Island was cancelled back in the 60’s, the actor bought a 14-foot sailboat and moved into a house overlooking the water north of Malibu.
Hopefully he didn’t take the sailboat on any three-hour tours.
— Sunday was the halfway point of the NFL’s offseason; the Super Bowl was 15 weeks ago, and Week 1 is 15 weeks ahead of us.
Monday’s 6-pack
USFL standings after seven weeks:
North
Philadelphia Stars 4-3
Michigan Panthers 3-4
New Jersey Generals 2-5
Pittsburgh Maulers 2-5
South
Birmingham Stallions 5-2
Memphis Showboats 4-3
New Orleans Breakers 4-3
Houston Gamblers 4-3
Quote of the Day
“There were things we didn’t like. There were things that were disappointing, on and off the field. There were things that I wish I would have done better, and there were things where we got a chance to see some of the worst in people…….You learn in every situation, the good and the bad. But when you really get tested as we were at Auburn, and it’s the same challenge for your players, your true colors are going to show in how you handle it.”
Former Auburn football coach Bryan Harsin
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in which northeastern city?
Sunday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the starting catcher for the Colorado Rockies in their first-ever game, back in 1993.
Saturday’s quiz
Minnesota Vikings haven’t won a Super Bowl, but they’ve won 19 division titles. Green Bay has won 16 division titles in the same division, but they’ve won four Super Bowls.
**********************************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday……..
— Happy 85th birthday to Jerry West, one of the best basketball players of all time, and also one of the best NBA executives ever.
West was a 14-time All-Star; he won a title with the 1972 Lakers, then won eight more rings as an executive. He is also part of the NBA’s logo, quite an honor.
Happy birthday, sir.
— It turns out Raiders’ new QB Jimmy Garoppolo was slow signing his contract with Las Vegas because he underwent surgery on his injured foot in March. Bottom line is that the Raiders can get out from Garoppolo’s contract if this injury continues to be an issue.
His signing bonus becomes part of his salary, which means if the contract gets voided because of the injury, Garoppolo gets bupkis. He had previously agreed to an $11.25M signing bonus. Now his salary is $22.5M, but he has to stay in one piece to get it.
Right now, the Raiders’ other QB’s are:
Brian Hoyer, Aidan O’Connell, Chase Garbers— Garoppolo’s foot better stay healthy.
— NFL teams with no primetime games this season:
Arizona, Atlanta, Houston, Indianapolis
— Since 2016, there have been fifteen Week 1 NFL games with a total of 50+
Over in those fifteen games was 9-5-1.
Right now, there are two Week 1 games with a total of 50+:
Lions-Chiefs, and Dolphins-Chargers.
— A’s CF Esteury Ruiz leads the major leagues with 27 stolen bases, so despite how horrible a team Oakland has been so far, they do lead the league in something good.
— Astros 10, A’s 1— Jose Abreu hit his first home run this season, in Houston’s 52nd game.
— Brewers 7, Giants 5— Giants’ OF Mike Yastrzemski hit a home run in Milwaukee Sunday that would’ve been a home run in 29 of 30 major league ballparks; the one park where it would not have been a home run was San Francisco, Yastrzemski’s home park.
— Guardians 4, Cardinals 3— Cleveland is now 11-14 in one-run games this season; no one else in the majors has played more than 20 one-run games (Reds are 8-12).
— Braves 11, Phillies 4— Lousy Sunday night game; Atlanta scored seven runs in the first inning, knocking Dylan Covey out in his first start for the Phillies.
Michael Harris made a great catch in centerfield, robbing Kyle Schwarber of a home run.
— Was watching the White Sox-Tigers game Sunday; Detroit TV guys were explaining how Tigers’ P Michael Lorenzen watches video of opposing hitters in the clubhouse in between innings when he is pitching. Lorenzen is 2-2, 3.50 in eight starts this season.
— Rockies 11, Mets 10— Colorado scored 21 runs the last two days, wins 2 of 3 in series. Ryan McMahon tied a career high with five RBI in this game.
— Tigers 6, White Sox 5 (10)— Detroit has won five of its last seven games, is now only a game out of first place in AL Central, despite its 25-26 record.
— Marlins 2, Angels 0— Miami sweeps the Halos in Anaheim, not a good weekend for a team trying to keep one of its two stars from bolting in free agency.
— Rays 11, Dodgers 10— LA starter Gavin Stone gave up seven runs in two innings; he got 15 whiffs on 40 Tampa Bay swings, which is good, but the Rays put 13 balls in play, and got 10 hits, which is really bad. Dodgers are hurting for starting pitching right now.
— Remember Bob Denver, the star of Gilligan’s Island? Turns out that after Gilligan’s Island was cancelled back in the 60’s, the actor bought a 14-foot sailboat and moved into a house overlooking the water north of Malibu.
Hopefully he didn’t take the sailboat on any three-hour tours.
— Sunday was the halfway point of the NFL’s offseason; the Super Bowl was 15 weeks ago, and Week 1 is 15 weeks ahead of us.
MIAMI is 11-2 ATS (8.8 Units) in road games after having lost 3 of their last 4 games over the last 2 seasons.
NBA
Dunkel
Monday, May 29
NBA
Long Sheet
Monday, May 29
MIAMI (56 - 45) at BOSTON (68 - 33) - 5/29/2023, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 43-56 ATS (-18.6 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 54-45 ATS (+4.5 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 228-185 ATS (+24.5 Units) against Southeast division opponents since 1996.
BOSTON is 47-33 ATS (+10.7 Units) after allowing 105 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 33-22 ATS (+8.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
BOSTON is 45-29 ATS (+13.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 41-26 ATS (+12.4 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
MIAMI is 12-11 against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 12-11 straight up against MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
12 of 23 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Monday, May 29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami @ Boston
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Miami's last 12 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami's last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing at home against Miami
Boston is 17-7 SU in its last 24 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBA
Dunkel
Monday, May 29
NBA
Long Sheet
Monday, May 29
MIAMI (56 - 45) at BOSTON (68 - 33) - 5/29/2023, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 43-56 ATS (-18.6 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 54-45 ATS (+4.5 Units) in all games this season.
BOSTON is 228-185 ATS (+24.5 Units) against Southeast division opponents since 1996.
BOSTON is 47-33 ATS (+10.7 Units) after allowing 105 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
BOSTON is 33-22 ATS (+8.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
BOSTON is 45-29 ATS (+13.1 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 41-26 ATS (+12.4 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
MIAMI is 12-11 against the spread versus BOSTON over the last 3 seasons
BOSTON is 12-11 straight up against MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
12 of 23 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Monday, May 29
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami @ Boston
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Miami's last 12 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami's last 6 games when playing on the road against Boston
Boston
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games when playing at home against Miami
Boston is 17-7 SU in its last 24 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Completed Picks
Past Completed Picks| Date | W-L-T | % | Units | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/29/2023 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 05/27/2023 | 0-2-0 | 0.00% | -1100 | Detail |
| 05/25/2023 | 0-2-0 | 0.00% | -1100 | Detail |
| 05/23/2023 | 2-0-0 | 100.00% | +1000 | Detail |
| 05/22/2023 | 2-0-0 | 100.00% | +1000 | Detail |
| 05/21/2023 | 2-0-0 | 100.00% | +1000 | Detail |
| 05/20/2023 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 05/19/2023 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 05/18/2023 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 05/17/2023 | 1-1-0 | 50.00% | -50 | Detail |
| 05/16/2023 | 0-2-0 | 0.00% | -1100 | Detail |
| 05/14/2023 | 0-2-0 | 0.00% | -1100 | Detail |
| 05/12/2023 | 1-3-0 | 25.00% | -1150 | Detail |
| 05/11/2023 | 2-2-0 | 50.00% | -100 | Detail |
| 05/10/2023 | 3-1-0 | 75.00% | +950 | Detail |
| 05/09/2023 | 2-2-0 | 50.00% | -100 | Detail |
| 05/08/2023 | 3-1-0 | 75.00% | +950 | Detail |
| 05/07/2023 | 4-0-0 | 100.00% | +2000 | Detail |
| 05/06/2023 | 2-2-0 | 50.00% | -100 | Detail |
| 05/05/2023 | 3-1-0 | 75.00% | +950 | Detail |
| 05/04/2023 | 1-0-1 | 75.00% | +500 | Detail |
| 05/03/2023 | 0-2-0 | 0.00% | -1100 | Detail |
| 05/02/2023 | 2-2-0 | 50.00% | -100 | Detail |
| 05/01/2023 | 2-2-0 | 50.00% | -100 | Detail |
NBA PLAYOFF BEST BETS
05/29/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%...........................- 0.50
05/26/2023..................................0 - 0.............................00.00%...........................- 11.00
05/25/2023..................................0 - 0.............................00.00%...........................- 11.00
05/23/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%...........................+ 10.00
05/22/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%...........................+ 10.00
05/21/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%............... ...........+ 10.00
05/20/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/19/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/18/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0,50
05/17/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/16/2023..................................0 - 2.............................00.00%.............. ..............- 11.00
05/14/2023..................................0 - 2.............................00.00%.............. ..............- 11.00
05/12/2023..................................1 - 3..............................25,00%............. ...............- 11.50
05/11/2023..................................2 - 2..............................50.00%............. ...............- 1.00
05/10/2023..................................3 - 1.............................75.00%............. ...............+ 9.50
05/09/2023..................................2 - 2.............................50.00%.............. ...............- 1.00
05/08/2023..................................3 - 1.............................75.00%.............. ..............+ 9.50
05/07/2023..................................4 - 0...........................100.00%............... .............+ 20.00
05/06/2023..................................2 - 2.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 1.00
05/05/2023..................................3 - 0...........................100.00%............... ............+ 15.00
05/04/2023............................1 - 0 - 1...........................100.00%............... ............+ 5.00
05/03/2023..................................0 - 2............................00.00%............... ..............- 11.00
05/02/2023..................................2 - 2............................50.00%.............. ..............- 1.00
05/01/2023..................................2 - 2............................50.00%............... .............- 1.00
TOTALS.......................................36 -30...........................54.54%............... ..............+ 16.00
05/29/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%...........................- 0.50
05/26/2023..................................0 - 0.............................00.00%...........................- 11.00
05/25/2023..................................0 - 0.............................00.00%...........................- 11.00
05/23/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%...........................+ 10.00
05/22/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%...........................+ 10.00
05/21/2023..................................2 - 0...........................100.00%............... ...........+ 10.00
05/20/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/19/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/18/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0,50
05/17/2023..................................1 - 1.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 0.50
05/16/2023..................................0 - 2.............................00.00%.............. ..............- 11.00
05/14/2023..................................0 - 2.............................00.00%.............. ..............- 11.00
05/12/2023..................................1 - 3..............................25,00%............. ...............- 11.50
05/11/2023..................................2 - 2..............................50.00%............. ...............- 1.00
05/10/2023..................................3 - 1.............................75.00%............. ...............+ 9.50
05/09/2023..................................2 - 2.............................50.00%.............. ...............- 1.00
05/08/2023..................................3 - 1.............................75.00%.............. ..............+ 9.50
05/07/2023..................................4 - 0...........................100.00%............... .............+ 20.00
05/06/2023..................................2 - 2.............................50.00%.............. ..............- 1.00
05/05/2023..................................3 - 0...........................100.00%............... ............+ 15.00
05/04/2023............................1 - 0 - 1...........................100.00%............... ............+ 5.00
05/03/2023..................................0 - 2............................00.00%............... ..............- 11.00
05/02/2023..................................2 - 2............................50.00%.............. ..............- 1.00
05/01/2023..................................2 - 2............................50.00%............... .............- 1.00
TOTALS.......................................36 -30...........................54.54%............... ..............+ 16.00
Tuesday’s 6-pack
NBA scoring leaders this season:
33.1— Joel Embiid, Phil
32.4— Luka Doncic, Dal
32.2— Damian Lillard, Port
31.4— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC
31.1— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milw
30.1— Jayson Tatum, Bos
Quote of the Day
“I’m going to be gone one day, and I have to accept that tomorrow isn’t promised. Am I OK with how I’m living today? It’s the only thing I can help. If I didn’t have another one, what have I done with all my todays? Am I doing a good job?”
Hayley Williams
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; what two cities did they call home before that?
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in Binghamton, NY
Sunday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the starting catcher for the Colorado Rockies in their first-ever game, back in 1993.
************************************************** *
Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….
— Heat 103, Celtics 84
Miami shot 14-28 on the arc, Boston 9-42.
There were only 19 foul shots taken in this game, total.
Caleb Martin scored 26 points for Miami; on August 7, 2021, the Charlotte Hornets waived Martin, just cut him. No bueno.
Heat was +17 in 20:00 with Duncan Robinson on the floor. Duncan Robinson started his college career at Williams College, a Division III school. Shooting is marketable.
— There have been 151 NBA playoff series where a team led 3 games to none; there have been only four Game 7’s in those 151 series. The team leading 3-0 won all four Game 7’s.
Because of this, I’m suggesting a rule change that will never become a rule, but maybe it should.
New rule suggestion: Any NBA best-of-7 playoff series ends if a team goes ahead three games to none. This would make Game 3’s highly dramatic when a team led 2-0; either they clinch the series or it becomes 2-1 and a highly competitive series.
The new rule would eliminate games, which would reduce revenue which is why it’ll never happen, but it might also increase TV ratings for Game 3’s. Higher TV ratings equal more money.
— Golden Knights 6, Stars 0— Vegas wins this series in six games, makes it to the Stanley Cup finals for second time in their six years of existence.
— So far this baseball season, there have been 75 games in April/May where a starting pitcher gave up 7+ earned runs.
2019— 71 such games
2020— there was no baseball in April/May
2021— 49
2022— 46
2023— 75
Starting pitchers are getting roughed up a lot more this season.
— Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett’s car was stolen from a dealership, with his Steelers’ playbook inside. The genius who stole the car left his own car at the dealership. Not good, except for the cops who arrested the genius.
— Great news tonight in Chicago; White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks pitched Monday, five months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Good to see him pitch again.
— In the Angels-White Sox game, the player who made it to the majors first from every amateur draft from 2019-22 were in uniform:
2019— Andrew Vaughn
2020— Garrett Crochet
2021— Sam Bachman
2022— Zach Neto
— A’s 7, Braves 2— Oakland snaps its 11-game losing skid; Lucas Erceg tossed three scoreless innings in relief, Ryan Noda hit a 3-run homer.
— Cubs 1, Rays 0— Marcus Stroman throws a 105-pitch complete game shutout; he allowed only two baserunners.
— Twins 7, Astros 5 (10)
Altuve’s grand slam gave Houston a 5-4 lead in 7th inning
Royce Lewis tied the game with a 9th inning single.
Ryan Jeffers’ 2-run homer in the 10th inning was the game-winner.
— Random fact: Dave Kingman hit 442 home runs in his career, the most ever of any player from Oregon.
— Philadelphia 76ers named former Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse their new coach. Nurse was 252-179 in five years coaching Toronto, 25-16 in playoff games. Raptors won the NBA title in Nurse’s first year coaching the Raptors, 2018-19.
— 85 college basketball teams are scheduled to take foreign trips this summer; NCAA rules let a team take a foreign trip once every four years. Trips like that help team bonding, give players experience working together, gives teams a head start on the upcoming season.
— One of the advantages of having Amazon Prime on my TV is that it is basically the graveyard for most every movie ever made. Late at night, can find lot of older movies I enjoyed watching, and still like watching.
Stumbled across the 1988 movie Beaches the other night, with Bette Midler/Barbara Hershey. Saw this movie in the theater with my future ex-wife 35 years ago; it was a unique experience.
Very sad movie; Barbara Hershey’s character dies young because of a heart problem. Her best friend, who is a famous singer, tries to care for her and her young daughter. When we saw the movie in the theater, at the end of the movie, everyone in the crowded theater was in tears, it was that sad. You could hear dozens of people openly sobbing.
Never saw/heard anything like that, before or after. 35 years later, the movie still holds up.
NBA scoring leaders this season:
33.1— Joel Embiid, Phil
32.4— Luka Doncic, Dal
32.2— Damian Lillard, Port
31.4— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC
31.1— Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milw
30.1— Jayson Tatum, Bos
Quote of the Day
“I’m going to be gone one day, and I have to accept that tomorrow isn’t promised. Am I OK with how I’m living today? It’s the only thing I can help. If I didn’t have another one, what have I done with all my todays? Am I doing a good job?”
Hayley Williams
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; what two cities did they call home before that?
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in Binghamton, NY
Sunday’s quiz
Joe Girardi was the starting catcher for the Colorado Rockies in their first-ever game, back in 1993.
************************************************** *
Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….
— Heat 103, Celtics 84
Miami shot 14-28 on the arc, Boston 9-42.
There were only 19 foul shots taken in this game, total.
Caleb Martin scored 26 points for Miami; on August 7, 2021, the Charlotte Hornets waived Martin, just cut him. No bueno.
Heat was +17 in 20:00 with Duncan Robinson on the floor. Duncan Robinson started his college career at Williams College, a Division III school. Shooting is marketable.
— There have been 151 NBA playoff series where a team led 3 games to none; there have been only four Game 7’s in those 151 series. The team leading 3-0 won all four Game 7’s.
Because of this, I’m suggesting a rule change that will never become a rule, but maybe it should.
New rule suggestion: Any NBA best-of-7 playoff series ends if a team goes ahead three games to none. This would make Game 3’s highly dramatic when a team led 2-0; either they clinch the series or it becomes 2-1 and a highly competitive series.
The new rule would eliminate games, which would reduce revenue which is why it’ll never happen, but it might also increase TV ratings for Game 3’s. Higher TV ratings equal more money.
— Golden Knights 6, Stars 0— Vegas wins this series in six games, makes it to the Stanley Cup finals for second time in their six years of existence.
— So far this baseball season, there have been 75 games in April/May where a starting pitcher gave up 7+ earned runs.
2019— 71 such games
2020— there was no baseball in April/May
2021— 49
2022— 46
2023— 75
Starting pitchers are getting roughed up a lot more this season.
— Pittsburgh Steelers QB Kenny Pickett’s car was stolen from a dealership, with his Steelers’ playbook inside. The genius who stole the car left his own car at the dealership. Not good, except for the cops who arrested the genius.
— Great news tonight in Chicago; White Sox reliever Liam Hendriks pitched Monday, five months after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Good to see him pitch again.
— In the Angels-White Sox game, the player who made it to the majors first from every amateur draft from 2019-22 were in uniform:
2019— Andrew Vaughn
2020— Garrett Crochet
2021— Sam Bachman
2022— Zach Neto
— A’s 7, Braves 2— Oakland snaps its 11-game losing skid; Lucas Erceg tossed three scoreless innings in relief, Ryan Noda hit a 3-run homer.
— Cubs 1, Rays 0— Marcus Stroman throws a 105-pitch complete game shutout; he allowed only two baserunners.
— Twins 7, Astros 5 (10)
Altuve’s grand slam gave Houston a 5-4 lead in 7th inning
Royce Lewis tied the game with a 9th inning single.
Ryan Jeffers’ 2-run homer in the 10th inning was the game-winner.
— Random fact: Dave Kingman hit 442 home runs in his career, the most ever of any player from Oregon.
— Philadelphia 76ers named former Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse their new coach. Nurse was 252-179 in five years coaching Toronto, 25-16 in playoff games. Raptors won the NBA title in Nurse’s first year coaching the Raptors, 2018-19.
— 85 college basketball teams are scheduled to take foreign trips this summer; NCAA rules let a team take a foreign trip once every four years. Trips like that help team bonding, give players experience working together, gives teams a head start on the upcoming season.
— One of the advantages of having Amazon Prime on my TV is that it is basically the graveyard for most every movie ever made. Late at night, can find lot of older movies I enjoyed watching, and still like watching.
Stumbled across the 1988 movie Beaches the other night, with Bette Midler/Barbara Hershey. Saw this movie in the theater with my future ex-wife 35 years ago; it was a unique experience.
Very sad movie; Barbara Hershey’s character dies young because of a heart problem. Her best friend, who is a famous singer, tries to care for her and her young daughter. When we saw the movie in the theater, at the end of the movie, everyone in the crowded theater was in tears, it was that sad. You could hear dozens of people openly sobbing.
Never saw/heard anything like that, before or after. 35 years later, the movie still holds up.
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Major league leaders in RBI:
49— Garcia, Tex
48— Alvarez, Hst
46— Devers Bos/Alonso NYM
44— Semien, Tex
42— Olson, Atl
41— Gorman, StL
Quote of the Day
“No, look, you ask everybody that was involved and they thought it was really beneficial for our football team. And look, we’re going to look at any avenue that we can to try to improve. So that was one area we thought, just bringing him (Jon Gruden) in and having the opportunity to sit down and visit with him, would help us.”
Saints’ coach Dennis Allen
Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets?
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; they previously called Boston/Milwaukee home.
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in Binghamton, NY
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: USFL trends, and other random stuff……..
— Cardinals/Royals are both scheduled off today/Thursday; can’t remember a major league team having two scheduled off days in a row, other than the All-Star break.
— Mets 2, Phillies 0— Kodai Senga’s home/away splits:
Home: 3-1, 1.20 in five home starts.
Away: 2-2, 6.12 in five road starts
This was the first game in seven years where the Phillies didn’t have a runner reach second base; Brandon Nimmo robbed Castellanos of a home run with a great catch in the 4th inning.
— Padres 9, Marlins 4— Sandy Alcantara is having an off year; he led this game 4-2 after six innings, but walked San Diego’s #8/#9 hitters leading off the 7th- they both scored. All four runs Alcantara gave up reached base via a walk, including the #9 hitter twice.
San Diego scored five runs in the ninth inning for the win.
— Arizona 5, Colorado 1— Zac Gallen tossed six shutout innings against a dreadful Colorado team that is 9-18 on the road.
— Reds 9, Red Sox 8— Cincinnati led 3-0 after six innings; if you bet the under, no bueno. Lively threw 5.2 scoreless IP for the Reds. Barreto hit a 7th inning grand slam.
— Cubs 2, Rays 1— Tampa Bay scored once in its last 19 innings; they’re 13-12 on the road, their lead in the AL East is down to 3 games over Baltimore.
— Odds on NBA Finals: Denver -360, Miami +270.
— Bob Myers is quitting as Golden State Warriors’ president/GM; could this be the beginning of the end of Golden State’s great run? Myers is only 48, surprising to see him leave Golden State.
Warriors are approaching some decisions with a payroll/luxury tax that could approach $500M in 2023-2024- Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, two cornerstones of their great run, have contracts ending soon.
— If you’re a fan of the NBA, I highly recommend a visit to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, which takes place July 7-17 at UNLV. Every team is represented; you can sit there all day and watch 4-5 high-quality games, all in air conditioned comfort.
You’ll see lot of NBA celebrities there; all the coaches/GM’s, some former players who do TV work now. Two games happen at once, one in Cox Pavilion, one in the Thomas & Mack Center- they’re a short walk apart.
The games are highly competitive, because everyone playing is fighting for a job; just be careful betting on the games. Not every team plays its best players every game; they give a look to some of their bench players, so caution is advised when wagering.
— College basketball star Caleb Love is transferring from North Carolina to Arizona; originally he was going to transfer to Michigan, but they wouldn’t accept all his credits from UNC, so now he is off to Tucson, where he will be much warmer.
— Last five College World Series were won by Oregon State and four different SEC teams. In the last five title games in the CWS, seven of the ten teams came from the SEC.
— Eight teams from North Carolina are in this year’s College World Series.
— USFL trends, thru seven weeks:
All four games last week were decided by 6 or less points.
Last three weeks, under is 9-3 in USFL games.
Stallions (5-2)
5-0 allowing 20 or less points; gave up 45-27 in losses.
4-3 ATS (favored in every game)
2-1 in games decided by 7 or less points.
under 5-2
Gamblers (4-3)
won four of last five games, after an 0-2 start
2-2 ATS as a favorite
last three games stayed under.
4-1 if they allow less than 29 points
losses were 29-13/38-31/23-20
Showboats (4-3)
won/covered last four games, after an 0-3 start.
allowed 27-42-30 points in losses; 10-10-0-20 in wins
under five of last six games
4-3 ATS; have been underdog in every game.
Panthers (3-4)
lost four of last four games, after a 2-0 start
scored 13 or fewer points in all four losses.
3-1 ATS as an underdog.
five of last six games stayed under total.
Generals (2-5)
lost last four games, by 3-3-6-3 points.
Allowed 3-13 points in wins; 0-5 giving up more than 13.
1-3 ATS as a favorite.
Five of seven games stayed under total.
Breakers (4-3)
lost last two games (10-17/10-16/20-24) after 4-0 start
last four games stayed under total.
6 of 7 games decided by 7 or less points.
3-2 ATS as a favorite
Stars (4-3)
won/covered last three games, after a 1-3 start.
4-0 in games decided by 6 or less points.
Losses are by 14-8-25 points.
4 of last 6 games stayed under total.
Maulers (2-5)
0-5 if they give up more than 13 points.
Two wins were 21-13/23-7
under 4-3
0-4 if they score less than 21 points.
Major league leaders in RBI:
49— Garcia, Tex
48— Alvarez, Hst
46— Devers Bos/Alonso NYM
44— Semien, Tex
42— Olson, Atl
41— Gorman, StL
Quote of the Day
“No, look, you ask everybody that was involved and they thought it was really beneficial for our football team. And look, we’re going to look at any avenue that we can to try to improve. So that was one area we thought, just bringing him (Jon Gruden) in and having the opportunity to sit down and visit with him, would help us.”
Saints’ coach Dennis Allen
Wednesday’s quiz
Who is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets?
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; they previously called Boston/Milwaukee home.
Monday’s quiz
Hugh Grant’s movie The Rewrite takes place in Binghamton, NY
*********************************************
Wednesday’s Den: USFL trends, and other random stuff……..
— Cardinals/Royals are both scheduled off today/Thursday; can’t remember a major league team having two scheduled off days in a row, other than the All-Star break.
— Mets 2, Phillies 0— Kodai Senga’s home/away splits:
Home: 3-1, 1.20 in five home starts.
Away: 2-2, 6.12 in five road starts
This was the first game in seven years where the Phillies didn’t have a runner reach second base; Brandon Nimmo robbed Castellanos of a home run with a great catch in the 4th inning.
— Padres 9, Marlins 4— Sandy Alcantara is having an off year; he led this game 4-2 after six innings, but walked San Diego’s #8/#9 hitters leading off the 7th- they both scored. All four runs Alcantara gave up reached base via a walk, including the #9 hitter twice.
San Diego scored five runs in the ninth inning for the win.
— Arizona 5, Colorado 1— Zac Gallen tossed six shutout innings against a dreadful Colorado team that is 9-18 on the road.
— Reds 9, Red Sox 8— Cincinnati led 3-0 after six innings; if you bet the under, no bueno. Lively threw 5.2 scoreless IP for the Reds. Barreto hit a 7th inning grand slam.
— Cubs 2, Rays 1— Tampa Bay scored once in its last 19 innings; they’re 13-12 on the road, their lead in the AL East is down to 3 games over Baltimore.
— Odds on NBA Finals: Denver -360, Miami +270.
— Bob Myers is quitting as Golden State Warriors’ president/GM; could this be the beginning of the end of Golden State’s great run? Myers is only 48, surprising to see him leave Golden State.
Warriors are approaching some decisions with a payroll/luxury tax that could approach $500M in 2023-2024- Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, two cornerstones of their great run, have contracts ending soon.
— If you’re a fan of the NBA, I highly recommend a visit to Las Vegas for NBA Summer League, which takes place July 7-17 at UNLV. Every team is represented; you can sit there all day and watch 4-5 high-quality games, all in air conditioned comfort.
You’ll see lot of NBA celebrities there; all the coaches/GM’s, some former players who do TV work now. Two games happen at once, one in Cox Pavilion, one in the Thomas & Mack Center- they’re a short walk apart.
The games are highly competitive, because everyone playing is fighting for a job; just be careful betting on the games. Not every team plays its best players every game; they give a look to some of their bench players, so caution is advised when wagering.
— College basketball star Caleb Love is transferring from North Carolina to Arizona; originally he was going to transfer to Michigan, but they wouldn’t accept all his credits from UNC, so now he is off to Tucson, where he will be much warmer.
— Last five College World Series were won by Oregon State and four different SEC teams. In the last five title games in the CWS, seven of the ten teams came from the SEC.
— Eight teams from North Carolina are in this year’s College World Series.
— USFL trends, thru seven weeks:
All four games last week were decided by 6 or less points.
Last three weeks, under is 9-3 in USFL games.
Stallions (5-2)
5-0 allowing 20 or less points; gave up 45-27 in losses.
4-3 ATS (favored in every game)
2-1 in games decided by 7 or less points.
under 5-2
Gamblers (4-3)
won four of last five games, after an 0-2 start
2-2 ATS as a favorite
last three games stayed under.
4-1 if they allow less than 29 points
losses were 29-13/38-31/23-20
Showboats (4-3)
won/covered last four games, after an 0-3 start.
allowed 27-42-30 points in losses; 10-10-0-20 in wins
under five of last six games
4-3 ATS; have been underdog in every game.
Panthers (3-4)
lost four of last four games, after a 2-0 start
scored 13 or fewer points in all four losses.
3-1 ATS as an underdog.
five of last six games stayed under total.
Generals (2-5)
lost last four games, by 3-3-6-3 points.
Allowed 3-13 points in wins; 0-5 giving up more than 13.
1-3 ATS as a favorite.
Five of seven games stayed under total.
Breakers (4-3)
lost last two games (10-17/10-16/20-24) after 4-0 start
last four games stayed under total.
6 of 7 games decided by 7 or less points.
3-2 ATS as a favorite
Stars (4-3)
won/covered last three games, after a 1-3 start.
4-0 in games decided by 6 or less points.
Losses are by 14-8-25 points.
4 of last 6 games stayed under total.
Maulers (2-5)
0-5 if they give up more than 13 points.
Two wins were 21-13/23-7
under 4-3
0-4 if they score less than 21 points.
Thursday’s 6-pack
All-time leading scorers for the Denver Nuggets:
21,645— Alex English
16,589— Dan Issel
13,970— Carmelo Anthony
12,054— Nikola Jokic
11,992— David Thompson
10,130— Ralph Simpson
Quote of the Day
“This is a special group. This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted it to go. Instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively and give us something to rally around, which was each other.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; what team did he finish his career with?
Wednesday’s quiz
Alex English is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets, with 21,645 points.
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; they previously called Boston/Milwaukee home.
*******************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud………
— We start today with some very good news:
Last weekend, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris saved a kid from drowning in a Las Vegas pool at the Encore Hotel; the boy was three years old and had no pulse when Morris got involved to try and help save his life.
The boy was discharged from the hospital 24 hours later. Very good news.
— Mets 4, Phillies 1
Phillies are 5-11 in their last 16 games; they scored 7 runs in their last four games.
Kyle Schwarber went 10-87 (.115) in May; seven of the 10 hits were home runs.
— Mariners 1, New York 0 (10)
New York scored 10 runs in each of its last three games, before this.
Cal Raleigh had the walk-off single for Seattle.
Mariners improve to 7-12 in one-run games.
— Nationals 10, Dodgers 6
Garcia’s 3-run homer in the 8th inning was the game-winner.
Keibert Ruiz homered twice for Washington.
— Marlins 2, Padres 1
Miami scored twice in ninth inning for the win.
Backup C Fortes had the walk-off single.
Snell pitched six shutout innings for San Diego.
— Arizona 6, Colorado 0
Tommy Henry tossed six shutout IP.
Bryant/Profar didn’t play; Blackmon is away from the team. Rockies looked like a dead team.
— Angels 12, White Sox 5
Ohtani homered twice, knocked in four runs; less than two months until the trade deadline. Will the Angels keep him or deal him at the deadline? He is a free agent this winter.
— Reds 5, Red Sox 4— Cincinnati is 5-0 on this road trip.
— Tampa Bay Rays win a lot despite spending a lot less money, so they obviously know what they’re doing. Just wish I knew the rationale behind the opener, using a lesser pitcher to start a game against the top of your opponent’s batting order.
Basically, the six best pitchers on just about all teams are the five starters and the closer; why would you start a game with someone other than those people?
Lot of teams have toyed with the opener; not many teams have dome it in a playoff game, which tells me they really don’t believe in it. “Hey, Tony LaRussa used to do it, we should, too”
Tampa Bay people don’t broadcast their philosophies, which is smart.
— There is a college football bowl game played in Orlando called the Cheez-It Bowl; apparently, they’re changing the name to the Pop Tarts Bowl, with an ACC team playing a Big 12 team.
I freakin’ love Pop Tarts; best kinds are blueberry and red velvet.
— Houston Astros’ hitting Alex Cintron got tossed from Tuesday’s game in the third inning, after the home plate umpire got into it with Astros’ SS Jeremy Pena; as a result, Cintron was fined $500.
Astros players stepped up and paid the fine for Cintron.
— To me, it is weird when a DH bats 9th; why would the worst hitter in your lineup be a designated hitter?
— Jake Marisnick played for Detroit Wednesday; the man must know how to pack:
2013-14— Marlins
2014-19— Astros
2020— 16 games with the Mets
2021— 65 games with the Cubs
2021— 34 games with San Diego
2022— 31 games with the Pirates
2023— 9 games with the White Sox
2023— One game with Detroit.
— Las Vegas blackjack players lost more than $1B last year, 2nd-highest amount ever. That is billion, with a B.
More casinos have changed payouts on getting dealt 21 from 3-2 to 6-5, which obviously makes it a lot more difficult to turn a profit.
— As of now, Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball team has only seven players; five freshmen and two sophomores. The transfer portal still has some good players in it, but coach Calipari has some work to do this summer if Kentucky is going to have another winning season.
— Purdue’s basketball got great news Wednesday; big man Zach Edey announced he’ll be back with the Boilermakers next season.
— A’s pitcher JP Sears in May:
5 starts— 3.25 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, An excellent month.
All-time leading scorers for the Denver Nuggets:
21,645— Alex English
16,589— Dan Issel
13,970— Carmelo Anthony
12,054— Nikola Jokic
11,992— David Thompson
10,130— Ralph Simpson
Quote of the Day
“This is a special group. This group has been able to overcome a lot of different things, handle a lot of adversity, setbacks, things that have not gone the way we wanted it to go. Instead of having that collapse our spirit, it allowed us to develop some fortitude and grit collectively and give us something to rally around, which was each other.”
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; what team did he finish his career with?
Wednesday’s quiz
Alex English is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets, with 21,645 points.
Tuesday’s quiz
Braves moved to Atlanta in 1966; they previously called Boston/Milwaukee home.
*******************************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud………
— We start today with some very good news:
Last weekend, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris saved a kid from drowning in a Las Vegas pool at the Encore Hotel; the boy was three years old and had no pulse when Morris got involved to try and help save his life.
The boy was discharged from the hospital 24 hours later. Very good news.
— Mets 4, Phillies 1
Phillies are 5-11 in their last 16 games; they scored 7 runs in their last four games.
Kyle Schwarber went 10-87 (.115) in May; seven of the 10 hits were home runs.
— Mariners 1, New York 0 (10)
New York scored 10 runs in each of its last three games, before this.
Cal Raleigh had the walk-off single for Seattle.
Mariners improve to 7-12 in one-run games.
— Nationals 10, Dodgers 6
Garcia’s 3-run homer in the 8th inning was the game-winner.
Keibert Ruiz homered twice for Washington.
— Marlins 2, Padres 1
Miami scored twice in ninth inning for the win.
Backup C Fortes had the walk-off single.
Snell pitched six shutout innings for San Diego.
— Arizona 6, Colorado 0
Tommy Henry tossed six shutout IP.
Bryant/Profar didn’t play; Blackmon is away from the team. Rockies looked like a dead team.
— Angels 12, White Sox 5
Ohtani homered twice, knocked in four runs; less than two months until the trade deadline. Will the Angels keep him or deal him at the deadline? He is a free agent this winter.
— Reds 5, Red Sox 4— Cincinnati is 5-0 on this road trip.
— Tampa Bay Rays win a lot despite spending a lot less money, so they obviously know what they’re doing. Just wish I knew the rationale behind the opener, using a lesser pitcher to start a game against the top of your opponent’s batting order.
Basically, the six best pitchers on just about all teams are the five starters and the closer; why would you start a game with someone other than those people?
Lot of teams have toyed with the opener; not many teams have dome it in a playoff game, which tells me they really don’t believe in it. “Hey, Tony LaRussa used to do it, we should, too”
Tampa Bay people don’t broadcast their philosophies, which is smart.
— There is a college football bowl game played in Orlando called the Cheez-It Bowl; apparently, they’re changing the name to the Pop Tarts Bowl, with an ACC team playing a Big 12 team.
I freakin’ love Pop Tarts; best kinds are blueberry and red velvet.
— Houston Astros’ hitting Alex Cintron got tossed from Tuesday’s game in the third inning, after the home plate umpire got into it with Astros’ SS Jeremy Pena; as a result, Cintron was fined $500.
Astros players stepped up and paid the fine for Cintron.
— To me, it is weird when a DH bats 9th; why would the worst hitter in your lineup be a designated hitter?
— Jake Marisnick played for Detroit Wednesday; the man must know how to pack:
2013-14— Marlins
2014-19— Astros
2020— 16 games with the Mets
2021— 65 games with the Cubs
2021— 34 games with San Diego
2022— 31 games with the Pirates
2023— 9 games with the White Sox
2023— One game with Detroit.
— Las Vegas blackjack players lost more than $1B last year, 2nd-highest amount ever. That is billion, with a B.
More casinos have changed payouts on getting dealt 21 from 3-2 to 6-5, which obviously makes it a lot more difficult to turn a profit.
— As of now, Kentucky Wildcats’ basketball team has only seven players; five freshmen and two sophomores. The transfer portal still has some good players in it, but coach Calipari has some work to do this summer if Kentucky is going to have another winning season.
— Purdue’s basketball got great news Wednesday; big man Zach Edey announced he’ll be back with the Boilermakers next season.
— A’s pitcher JP Sears in May:
5 starts— 3.25 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, An excellent month.
MIAMI is 12-2 ATS (9.8 Units) in road games after having lost 3 of their last 4 games over the last 2 seasons.
NBA
Dunkel
Thursday, June 1
NBA
Long Sheet
Thursday, June 1
MIAMI (57 - 45) at DENVER (65 - 32) - 6/1/2023, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 44-56 ATS (-17.6 Units) in all games this season.
DENVER is 51-43 ATS (+3.7 Units) in all games this season.
DENVER is 29-19 ATS (+8.1 Units) in home games this season.
DENVER is 57-35 ATS (+18.5 Units) in home games against Southeast division opponents since 1996.
DENVER is 37-20 ATS (+15.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
DENVER is 23-11 ATS (+10.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
MIAMI is 42-26 ATS (+13.4 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 91-65 ATS (+19.5 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive unders since 1996.
MIAMI is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) in all playoff games this season.
MIAMI is 33-21 ATS (+9.9 Units) after allowing 100 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 67-53 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DENVER is 6-0 against the spread versus MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
DENVER is 6-0 straight up against MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Thursday, June 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami @ Denver
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami's last 5 games when playing Denver
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Miami's last 5 games
Denver
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NBA
Dunkel
Thursday, June 1
NBA
Long Sheet
Thursday, June 1
MIAMI (57 - 45) at DENVER (65 - 32) - 6/1/2023, 8:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MIAMI is 44-56 ATS (-17.6 Units) in all games this season.
DENVER is 51-43 ATS (+3.7 Units) in all games this season.
DENVER is 29-19 ATS (+8.1 Units) in home games this season.
DENVER is 57-35 ATS (+18.5 Units) in home games against Southeast division opponents since 1996.
DENVER is 37-20 ATS (+15.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
DENVER is 23-11 ATS (+10.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season this season.
MIAMI is 42-26 ATS (+13.4 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 91-65 ATS (+19.5 Units) in road games after 3 or more consecutive unders since 1996.
MIAMI is 14-6 ATS (+7.4 Units) in all playoff games this season.
MIAMI is 33-21 ATS (+9.9 Units) after allowing 100 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 67-53 ATS (+8.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
DENVER is 6-0 against the spread versus MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
DENVER is 6-0 straight up against MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
NBA
Thursday, June 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Miami @ Denver
Miami
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Miami's last 5 games when playing Denver
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Miami's last 5 games
Denver
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Denver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday’s 6-pack
Some of the better college football games on Labor Day weekend:
— Florida @ Utah
— Virginia vs Tennessee (@ Nashville)
— Arkansas State @ Oklahoma
— Boise State @ Washington
— North Carolina vs South Carolina (@ Charlotte)
— LSU vs Florida State (@ Orlando)
Quote of the Day
“You know what? You’ve got spunk…….I hate spunk.”
Lou Grant from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, which first aired 50 years ago this week
Friday’s quiz
Who is the all-time leading scorer for the Miami Heat?
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; he finished his career with the Cleveland Indians.
Wednesday’s quiz
Alex English is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets, with 21,645 points.
*******************************************
Friday’s Den: In a perfect world, where I made all the decisions……..
— Long time ago, the early 70’s, the NBA held a 1-on-1 contest, and aired the games at halftime of regular season NBA telecasts. This was in the early 70’s; I think they had two tournaments, then some of the better players refused to play, and the idea died.
They need to bring back a 1-on-1 tournament; it would be wildly popular.
This should happen in the summer, with each player designating a charity he is playing for. They would make lot of money for various good causes.
64 players; games would be up to 20, have to win by 3 points.
Lot of wagering opportunities, bracket pools, it would be fun.
Each NBA team would have to be represented by one player; the other spots would be determined by fan voting on the Interweb.
— Kids could go right from high school to the NBA. Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, none of them went to college. They should put that rule back in.
— Major League Baseball should have a Hard Knocks-type program during spring training; it would give baseball more exposure, which it needs. Spring training has lot of dead time; would be ideal for a Hard Knocks-type show.
— NFL would have an 18-game regular season, only two preseason games; Super Bowl would be Sunday night of Presidents’ Day weekend.
— College football teams wouldn’t play I-AA opponents; SEC teams do this a lot. This year, Alabama is playing Chattanooga. Seriously? Go play a MAC team or a Sun Belt team, at least.
— Online poker would be made legal so the poker companies would advertise on TV and ESPN would start replaying the World Series of Poker again, like they used to. The stuff ESPN puts on in daytime on weekdays is mostly terrible. Mike Greenberg, Stephen A Smith both make around $6M a year, a tremendous waste of money.
Listening to talking heads in contrived arguments is a waste of electricity. Much rather watch people play cards, or replays of games, actual competition.
— I’d scrap Thursday night NFL games, except for Week 1 and Thanksgiving; I’d replace them with Monday night doubleheaders. Football wasn’t meant to be played on three days’ rest.
— As far as college basketball transfers go, if you poach a transfer from a team, then you have to go play a game in that team’s gym. Most of the teams that poach transfers are way better than the teams they poach from anyway, but they often don’t have the onions to play road games.
VCU has that built into their coaches’ contracts; if the coach leaves for a bigger school, that team has to play a game at VCU.
— I would take the radios out of NFL players’ helmets; coaches have six days to prepare their teams to play. Gameday should be the players’ day; let the QB’s call their own plays, which would make the game lot more exciting. QB’s calling the plays would make the game more fun.
— I’d eliminate the American/National Leagues and go to geographic realignment, which would reduce travel costs and invigorate regional rivalries. Going to 32 teams (which will happen soon) will make scheduling a lot easier.
— NBA playoff series would be best-of-3, with finals best-of-5. Less games, more drama; it is more interesting when the best team has a chance to lose. Would the NCAA tournament be at all interesting if a 16-seed played a #1-seed best-of-3?
Also, there have been 151 NBA best-of-7 playoff series where a team led 3-0; none of them have lost the series, only four of them played a Game 7. With that in mind, if a series gets to 3-0, it is over; it would make Game 3’s fascinating when one team led 2-0.
— I’d get rid of the Electoral College in our presidential election; whoever gets the most votes wins, just like in all the other elections.
— Would definitely move the NBA Draft Lottery back to a half hour before the actual draft; imagine the drama then? Lot of executives would have to think on their feet.
— You want to make baseball’s All-Star Game more interesting? Make it USA vs the World, and it’ll become a serious game fairly quickly. Probably too serious.
— Would like to make people happier; nowadays, there is so much anger in the world. There is a lot less tolerance of others than there used to be. You be you, and let others do what they do. Cheer the bleep up!!!!
Some of the better college football games on Labor Day weekend:
— Florida @ Utah
— Virginia vs Tennessee (@ Nashville)
— Arkansas State @ Oklahoma
— Boise State @ Washington
— North Carolina vs South Carolina (@ Charlotte)
— LSU vs Florida State (@ Orlando)
Quote of the Day
“You know what? You’ve got spunk…….I hate spunk.”
Lou Grant from the Mary Tyler Moore Show, which first aired 50 years ago this week
Friday’s quiz
Who is the all-time leading scorer for the Miami Heat?
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; he finished his career with the Cleveland Indians.
Wednesday’s quiz
Alex English is the all-time leader scorer for the Denver Nuggets, with 21,645 points.
*******************************************
Friday’s Den: In a perfect world, where I made all the decisions……..
— Long time ago, the early 70’s, the NBA held a 1-on-1 contest, and aired the games at halftime of regular season NBA telecasts. This was in the early 70’s; I think they had two tournaments, then some of the better players refused to play, and the idea died.
They need to bring back a 1-on-1 tournament; it would be wildly popular.
This should happen in the summer, with each player designating a charity he is playing for. They would make lot of money for various good causes.
64 players; games would be up to 20, have to win by 3 points.
Lot of wagering opportunities, bracket pools, it would be fun.
Each NBA team would have to be represented by one player; the other spots would be determined by fan voting on the Interweb.
— Kids could go right from high school to the NBA. Lebron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, none of them went to college. They should put that rule back in.
— Major League Baseball should have a Hard Knocks-type program during spring training; it would give baseball more exposure, which it needs. Spring training has lot of dead time; would be ideal for a Hard Knocks-type show.
— NFL would have an 18-game regular season, only two preseason games; Super Bowl would be Sunday night of Presidents’ Day weekend.
— College football teams wouldn’t play I-AA opponents; SEC teams do this a lot. This year, Alabama is playing Chattanooga. Seriously? Go play a MAC team or a Sun Belt team, at least.
— Online poker would be made legal so the poker companies would advertise on TV and ESPN would start replaying the World Series of Poker again, like they used to. The stuff ESPN puts on in daytime on weekdays is mostly terrible. Mike Greenberg, Stephen A Smith both make around $6M a year, a tremendous waste of money.
Listening to talking heads in contrived arguments is a waste of electricity. Much rather watch people play cards, or replays of games, actual competition.
— I’d scrap Thursday night NFL games, except for Week 1 and Thanksgiving; I’d replace them with Monday night doubleheaders. Football wasn’t meant to be played on three days’ rest.
— As far as college basketball transfers go, if you poach a transfer from a team, then you have to go play a game in that team’s gym. Most of the teams that poach transfers are way better than the teams they poach from anyway, but they often don’t have the onions to play road games.
VCU has that built into their coaches’ contracts; if the coach leaves for a bigger school, that team has to play a game at VCU.
— I would take the radios out of NFL players’ helmets; coaches have six days to prepare their teams to play. Gameday should be the players’ day; let the QB’s call their own plays, which would make the game lot more exciting. QB’s calling the plays would make the game more fun.
— I’d eliminate the American/National Leagues and go to geographic realignment, which would reduce travel costs and invigorate regional rivalries. Going to 32 teams (which will happen soon) will make scheduling a lot easier.
— NBA playoff series would be best-of-3, with finals best-of-5. Less games, more drama; it is more interesting when the best team has a chance to lose. Would the NCAA tournament be at all interesting if a 16-seed played a #1-seed best-of-3?
Also, there have been 151 NBA best-of-7 playoff series where a team led 3-0; none of them have lost the series, only four of them played a Game 7. With that in mind, if a series gets to 3-0, it is over; it would make Game 3’s fascinating when one team led 2-0.
— I’d get rid of the Electoral College in our presidential election; whoever gets the most votes wins, just like in all the other elections.
— Would definitely move the NBA Draft Lottery back to a half hour before the actual draft; imagine the drama then? Lot of executives would have to think on their feet.
— You want to make baseball’s All-Star Game more interesting? Make it USA vs the World, and it’ll become a serious game fairly quickly. Probably too serious.
— Would like to make people happier; nowadays, there is so much anger in the world. There is a lot less tolerance of others than there used to be. You be you, and let others do what they do. Cheer the bleep up!!!!
Armadillo Sports
Saturday’s 6-pack
All-time scoring leaders for the Miami Heat:
21,556— Dwyane Wade
9,459— Alonzo Mourning
9,248— Glen Rice
7,919— LeBron James
6,914— Chris Bosh
6,742— Rony Seikaly
Quote of the Day
“As I’ve said all along, we have an appetite to be a national conference in our makeup from coast to coast.”
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark
Saturday’s quiz
Vegas Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup finals five years ago, in their first-ever season in the NHL. What team beat them in the finals that year?
Friday’s quiz
Dwyane Wade is the all-time leading scorer for the Miami Heat, with 21,556 points.
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; he finished his career with the Cleveland Indians.
******************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
— Starting in 2024, SEC will have 16 teams, once they add Texas/Oklahoma; their football teams will play only eight conference games— they won’t have divisions.
— Nuggets 104, Heat 93
Denver led 59-42 at halftime of Thursday’s Game 1.
Jokic was 10-12 on foul line; Miami’s whole team was 2-2 on the line.
Miami has won three NBA titles; they lost Game 1 in the Finals all three times.
Game 2 isn’t until Sunday.
— Mets faced Taijuan Walker Thursday, Chris Bassitt Friday; those two led the Mets in innings pitched last year. This is the first time since 1978 a team faced its IP leaders from the previous season in consecutive games.
In ’78, Red Sox faced Ferguson Jenkins/Reggie Cleveland in a doubleheader against Texas, after they led Boston in innings pitched in 1977.
— 11 years ago this week, Johan Santana threw a no-hitter for the Mets; he threw 134 pitches in the game, an 8-0 Mets win.
That would never happen today; no way a pitcher is allowed to throw 134 pitches in a game, especially an 8-0 game.
Most pitches anyone has thrown in the majors this season? Justin Verlander threw 117 pitches in six IP vs Toronto Friday night; Kevin Gausman has thrown 115 in two starts this season.
— Nationals 8, Phillies 7
Washington blew a 7-1 lead, scored in bottom of 8th to win it.
Phillies are 3-8 in their last eleven games.
— Brewers 5, Reds 4 (11)— Cincinnati was 1-17 with runners in scoring position.
— Pirates 7, Cardinals 5
St Louis led 5-1 in 7th inning.
Ke’Bryan Hayes went 3-4 with four RBI.
— Arizona 3, Atlanta 2— Diamondbacks won six in row, 10 of last 13 games.
— Rockies 7, Royals 2— Kansas City is 0-12 in Jordan Lyles’ starts; he only allowed one run in 5 IP in this game, but they still lost.
— Texas 2, Seattle 0— Gray out dueled Castillo, tossing seven shutout IP.
—- Astros 6, Angels 2— Valdez threw seven shutout innings.
— Baseball injuries:
Red Sox put P Chris Sale (shoulder) on the IL
San Diego put DH Nelson Cruz (hamstring) on the IL.
— Seattle Mariners are bringing up P Bryan Woo to make his MLB debut in Texas Saturday. Woo is 23; he pitched at Cal Poly. He is 3-2, 2.05 in nine AA starts this season. Marco Gonzales is banged up, which is why the Mariners reached into the minors for a replacement.
— Julio Teheran allowed two runs in 11 IP in his first two starts this year, his first starts since 2021. In his last start, Teheran threw 79 pitches, facing 22 batters, with no walks/strikeouts.
Very unusual that a pitcher would throw six innings, with no walks/strikeouts.
— Noah Syndergaard threw 96 pitches in five IP vs Washington Wednesday, giving up five runs. Nationals swung at 40 of his 96 pitches, whiffed only once, not a good sign for Syndergaard going forward.
— Random trivia: Burgess Meredith was the Penguin in 20 episodes of the Batman TV series, the most episodes of any Batman villain.
— In case you were wondering, the winning word in the National Spelling Bee was:
psammophile— an organism that thrives in sandy areas.
— Movie of the Day: While you’re sleeping and I’m writing this, usually have old movies on, once all the ballgames end. Amazon Prime is the graveyard of old movies; I’m going to mention one I’ve watched every day.
Cousins (1989)— Ted Danson, William Peterson both wound up playing the head of the crime lab in CSI, but way before that, they were in this movie, where two couples go to a mutual friend’s wedding and end up swapping partners.
Movie ends with Danson and Isabella Rosellini sailing off into the sunset, which I mention because at the end of the last episode of CSI, 26 years later, William Peterson’s character sails off into the sunset with Sara Sidle, almost the same exact ending, which couldn’t be a coincidence.
Saturday’s 6-pack
All-time scoring leaders for the Miami Heat:
21,556— Dwyane Wade
9,459— Alonzo Mourning
9,248— Glen Rice
7,919— LeBron James
6,914— Chris Bosh
6,742— Rony Seikaly
Quote of the Day
“As I’ve said all along, we have an appetite to be a national conference in our makeup from coast to coast.”
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark
Saturday’s quiz
Vegas Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup finals five years ago, in their first-ever season in the NHL. What team beat them in the finals that year?
Friday’s quiz
Dwyane Wade is the all-time leading scorer for the Miami Heat, with 21,556 points.
Thursday’s quiz
Keith Hernandez is well-known for helping the Cardinals/Mets win World Series; he finished his career with the Cleveland Indians.
******************************************************
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
— Starting in 2024, SEC will have 16 teams, once they add Texas/Oklahoma; their football teams will play only eight conference games— they won’t have divisions.
— Nuggets 104, Heat 93
Denver led 59-42 at halftime of Thursday’s Game 1.
Jokic was 10-12 on foul line; Miami’s whole team was 2-2 on the line.
Miami has won three NBA titles; they lost Game 1 in the Finals all three times.
Game 2 isn’t until Sunday.
— Mets faced Taijuan Walker Thursday, Chris Bassitt Friday; those two led the Mets in innings pitched last year. This is the first time since 1978 a team faced its IP leaders from the previous season in consecutive games.
In ’78, Red Sox faced Ferguson Jenkins/Reggie Cleveland in a doubleheader against Texas, after they led Boston in innings pitched in 1977.
— 11 years ago this week, Johan Santana threw a no-hitter for the Mets; he threw 134 pitches in the game, an 8-0 Mets win.
That would never happen today; no way a pitcher is allowed to throw 134 pitches in a game, especially an 8-0 game.
Most pitches anyone has thrown in the majors this season? Justin Verlander threw 117 pitches in six IP vs Toronto Friday night; Kevin Gausman has thrown 115 in two starts this season.
— Nationals 8, Phillies 7
Washington blew a 7-1 lead, scored in bottom of 8th to win it.
Phillies are 3-8 in their last eleven games.
— Brewers 5, Reds 4 (11)— Cincinnati was 1-17 with runners in scoring position.
— Pirates 7, Cardinals 5
St Louis led 5-1 in 7th inning.
Ke’Bryan Hayes went 3-4 with four RBI.
— Arizona 3, Atlanta 2— Diamondbacks won six in row, 10 of last 13 games.
— Rockies 7, Royals 2— Kansas City is 0-12 in Jordan Lyles’ starts; he only allowed one run in 5 IP in this game, but they still lost.
— Texas 2, Seattle 0— Gray out dueled Castillo, tossing seven shutout IP.
—- Astros 6, Angels 2— Valdez threw seven shutout innings.
— Baseball injuries:
Red Sox put P Chris Sale (shoulder) on the IL
San Diego put DH Nelson Cruz (hamstring) on the IL.
— Seattle Mariners are bringing up P Bryan Woo to make his MLB debut in Texas Saturday. Woo is 23; he pitched at Cal Poly. He is 3-2, 2.05 in nine AA starts this season. Marco Gonzales is banged up, which is why the Mariners reached into the minors for a replacement.
— Julio Teheran allowed two runs in 11 IP in his first two starts this year, his first starts since 2021. In his last start, Teheran threw 79 pitches, facing 22 batters, with no walks/strikeouts.
Very unusual that a pitcher would throw six innings, with no walks/strikeouts.
— Noah Syndergaard threw 96 pitches in five IP vs Washington Wednesday, giving up five runs. Nationals swung at 40 of his 96 pitches, whiffed only once, not a good sign for Syndergaard going forward.
— Random trivia: Burgess Meredith was the Penguin in 20 episodes of the Batman TV series, the most episodes of any Batman villain.
— In case you were wondering, the winning word in the National Spelling Bee was:
psammophile— an organism that thrives in sandy areas.
— Movie of the Day: While you’re sleeping and I’m writing this, usually have old movies on, once all the ballgames end. Amazon Prime is the graveyard of old movies; I’m going to mention one I’ve watched every day.
Cousins (1989)— Ted Danson, William Peterson both wound up playing the head of the crime lab in CSI, but way before that, they were in this movie, where two couples go to a mutual friend’s wedding and end up swapping partners.
Movie ends with Danson and Isabella Rosellini sailing off into the sunset, which I mention because at the end of the last episode of CSI, 26 years later, William Peterson’s character sails off into the sunset with Sara Sidle, almost the same exact ending, which couldn’t be a coincidence.
