Cnotes 2022-2023 nhl trends, news, best bets and opinions thru the playoffs !

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Saturday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in pitching on-base %age:

.444— Luis Arraez, Minn
.437— LaMonte Wade, SF
.434— Ronald Acuna, Atl
.430— Ian Happ, Chi
.428— Brent Rooker, A’s
.425— Anthony Rendon, LAA

Quote of the Day
“To be fair I think this team ultimately maxed out. We were barely in the playoff picture most of this year … This is not a championship team.”
Golden State coach Steve Kerr

Saturday’s quiz
Who was the Lakers’ coach, last time they won an NBA title?

Friday’s quiz
When Atlanta Braves’ owner Ted Turner managed his team briefly in 1977 during a bad slump, he wore uniform number 27.

Thursday’s quiz
Weeb Ewbank was the first head coach, other than Vince Lombardi, to win the Super Bowl. He coached the Jets in Super Bowl III.

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

Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Friday…….

— Lakers 122, Warriors 101
Lebron James gets to his 12th conference final; his team was 10-1 in first 11.
Curry/Thompson shot a combined 6-26 on the arc.
Lakers outscored Golden State 31-10 on foul line.

— Heat 96, Knicks 92
Knicks were minus-7 in the 3:00 Jalen Brunson sat out.
Teams combined to shoot 17-62 on the arc.
Heat plays the Philly-Boston winner in East final.

— Celtics beat Philly by 9 Thursday night; they were +10 in the 8:00 Tyrese Maxey was off the floor. 76ers need another shooter to step up Sunday, while Maxey is on the bench.

— When the media votes for NBA MVP, they pick their top five choices; ESPN TV analyst Mark Jackson left Nikola Jokic completely off his list, which is hard to believe. He claimed that he completely forgot about Jokic and he apologized.

— Good night of baseball Friday; in 9 of the 15 games, the game-winning run scored from the 7th inning on.

— New York 6, Tampa Bay 5
Rays lost 3 of last 4 games, and put P Rasmussen on 60-day IL.

— Orioles 6, Pirates 3— Cedric Mullins hit for the cycle.

— A’s 9, Texas 7— Brent Rooker hit a walk-off, 3-run homer as Oakland improves to 9-31; the weird thing is, despite being 9-31, they’ve won Ken Waldichuk’s last four starts.

— Cardinals 8, Boston 6— Nolan Gorman hit the game-winning homer in the ninth inning.

— Dodgers 4, Padres 2— Betts/Freeman hit back/back taters in the 7th inning.

— Angels 5, Guardians 4— Halos scored twice in the ninth inning for the win.

— Blue Jays 1, Braves 0— Chris Bassitt with the rare complete game shutout.

— In college basketball, Western Illinois jumps from the Summit League to the Ohio Valley; it is an easier league and the travel will be a lot less.

— New Mexico gave coach Richard Pitino a contract extension thru 2028, worth $1.2M a year.

— Pitino’s father, Hall of Famer Rick Pitino signed former Penn guard Jordan Dingle, the Ivy League Player of the Year. Dingle scored 23.4 ppg this past season, 2nd in the country.

— Denver Broncos have had six straight losing seasons, their worst stretch since 1963-72; that is why they signed coach Sean Payton to right the ship.

— Kansas City Chiefs are favored in all their games this season, the only team that is right now; Arizona Cardinals are only team that is an underdog in all their games.

 

[Udog]

DALLAS are 9-19 ATS (-11.9 Units) in road games after a blowout win by 3 goals or more in the last 3 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Saturday, May 13

NHL
Long Sheet

Saturday, May 13

DALLAS (53-24-1-15, 122 pts.) at SEATTLE (52-34-0-8, 112 pts.) - 5/13/2023, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SEATTLE is 52-42 ATS (-4.4 Units) in all games this season.
SEATTLE is 26-18 ATS (+49.4 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
DALLAS is 89-68 ATS (+19.4 Units) in a road game where where the total is 6 or more since 1996.
DALLAS is 273-304 ATS (+639.3 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1996.
SEATTLE is 7-18 ATS (-19.5 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
SEATTLE is 3-12 ATS (+15.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 7-4 (+0.5 Units) against the spread versus SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 7-4-0 straight up against SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
9 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+7.2 Units)




NHL

Saturday, May 13

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

Dallas @ Seattle
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing Seattle
Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Dallas


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

 

[CNOTES]

SATURDAY, MAY 13​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
DAL at SEA	07:00 PM	DAL -160 O 5.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Completed Picks​

Past Completed Picks

Date	W-L-T	%	Units	Record
05/13/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-300	Detail
05/12/2023	3-1-0	75.00%	+725	Detail
05/11/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-100	Detail
05/10/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1075	Detail
05/09/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-325	Detail
05/08/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-400	Detail
05/07/2023	5-1-0	83.33%	+2175	Detail
05/06/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail
05/05/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1075	Detail
05/04/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-750	Detail
05/03/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-125	Detail
05/02/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1175	Detail
05/01/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail

 

[CNOTES]

NHL PLAYOFF BEST BETS !

05/13/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%.............................- 3.00
05/12/2023............................1 - 2............................33 .33%...........................- 9.00
05/11/2023............................2 - 0..........................100.00%................ ............+ 10.00
05/10/2023............................1 - 3............................25.00%............... ..............- 10.75
05/09/2023............................2 - 1............................66.66%............... .............+ 5.00
05/08/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%............... .............- 4.00
05/07/2023............................4 - 0..........................100.00%................ ...........+ 20.50
05/06/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/05/2023............................0 - 2...........................00.00%................ .............- 10.75
05/04/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 7.50
05/03/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/02/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 11.75
05/01/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50

TOTALS..............................17 - 19............................47.22%.............. . .............- 22.75

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Sunday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in RBI:
37— Adolis Garcia, Tex
36— Rafael Devers, Bos
35— Yordan Alvarez, Hst
34— Randy Arozarena, TB
33— Marcus Semien, Tex
32— Sean Murphy, Atl

Quote of the Day
“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Ferris Bueller

Sunday’s quiz
How many current NHL franchises are based in Canada?

Saturday’s quiz
Frank Vogel was the Lakers’ coach, last time they won an NBA title, three years ago.

Friday’s quiz
When Atlanta Braves’ owner Ted Turner managed his team briefly in 1977 during a bad slump, he wore uniform number 27.

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

Sunday’s Den: Odds for NFL’s divisions this fall:

AFC East
Buffalo +125
NJ Jets +250
Miami +300
New England +825

AFC North
Cincinnati +120
Baltimore +230
Cleveland +425
Pittsburgh +615— Patriots/Steelers both the longshot in their division.

AFC South
Jacksonville -160
Tennessee +375
Indianapolis +550
Houston +825— Before season ends, this division could have 3 rookie starting QB’s

AFC West
Kansas City -160
LA Chargers +330
Denver +500
Las Vegas +1250

NFC East
Philadelphia even
Dallas +175
NJ Giants +625
Washington +1050

NFC North
Detroit +135
Minnesota +325
Chicago +325
Green Bay +420

NFC South
New Orleans +125
Atlanta +275
Carolina +325
Tampa Bay +600

NFC West
San Francisco -175
Seattle +275
LA Rams +550
Arizona +3000

 

[Udog]

VEGAS are 43-21 ATS (19.9 Units) in road games after covering 4 or 5 of their last 6 against the spread in the last 3 seasons.




NHL
Dunkel

Sunday, May 14

NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, May 14

VEGAS (58-25-0-9, 125 pts.) at EDMONTON (56-27-0-10, 122 pts.) - 5/14/2023, 12:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
EDMONTON is 54-21 ATS (+20.9 Units) vs. division opponents over the last 2 seasons.
EDMONTON is 25-9 ATS (+8.7 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
VEGAS is 58-34 ATS (+9.2 Units) in all games this season.
VEGAS is 25-15 ATS (+6.6 Units) in a road game where where the total is 6 or more this season.
VEGAS is 33-20 ATS (+8.5 Units) second half of the season this season.
VEGAS is 29-18 ATS (+10.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
VEGAS is 20-11 ATS (+31.7 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
EDMONTON is 8-5 (+0.9 Units) against the spread versus VEGAS over the last 3 seasons
EDMONTON is 8-5-0 straight up against VEGAS over the last 3 seasons
7 of 13 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.6 Units, Under=-0.6 Units)




NHL

Sunday, May 14

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

Vegas @ Edmonton
Vegas
Vegas is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Vegas is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Edmonton
Edmonton is 12-3 SU in its last 15 games at home
Edmonton is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games


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

 

[CNOTES]

SUNDAY, MAY 14​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
VEG at EDM	10:00 PM	EDM -185 U 6.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Completed Picks​

Past Completed Picks

Date	W-L-T	%	Units	Record
05/14/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1475	Detail
05/13/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-300	Detail
05/12/2023	3-1-0	75.00%	+725	Detail
05/11/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-100	Detail
05/10/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1075	Detail
05/09/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-325	Detail
05/08/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-400	Detail
05/07/2023	5-1-0	83.33%	+2175	Detail
05/06/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail
05/05/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1075	Detail
05/04/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-750	Detail
05/03/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-125	Detail
05/02/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1175	Detail
05/01/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail

 

[CNOTES]

NHL PLAYOFF BEST BETS !

05/14/2023............................0 - 2............................00.00%.............................- 14.75
05/13/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%.............................- 3.00
05/12/2023............................1 - 2............................33 .33%...........................- 9.00
05/11/2023............................2 - 0..........................100.00%................ ............+ 10.00
05/10/2023............................1 - 3............................25.00%............... ..............- 10.75
05/09/2023............................2 - 1............................66.66%............... .............+ 5.00
05/08/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%............... .............- 4.00
05/07/2023............................4 - 0..........................100.00%................ ...........+ 20.50
05/06/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/05/2023............................0 - 2...........................00.00%................ .............- 10.75
05/04/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 7.50
05/03/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/02/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 11.75
05/01/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50

TOTALS..............................17 - 21............................44.73%.............. . .............- 37.50

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Monday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in on-base %age:
.437— Ronald Acuna, Atl/Luis Arraez, Mia
.429— Yandy Diaz, TB
.427— LaMonte Wade, SF
.425— Ian Happ, Cubs
.420— Brent Rooker, A’s
.415— Anthony Rendon, LAA

Quote of the Day
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein

Monday’s quiz
This year, Willson Contreras was the Cardinals’ first Opening Day catcher other than Yadier Molina since 2005.

Which former major league manager was the Cardinals’ catcher before Molina?

Sunday’s quiz
Seven current NHL franchises are based in Canada:
Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg.

Saturday’s quiz
Frank Vogel was the Lakers’ coach, last time they won an NBA title, three years ago.

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

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….

— Celtics 112, 76ers 88
Jayson Tatum scored 51 points; Boston outscored Philly 33-10 in third quarter.
Rough day for Philadelphia sports fans; Phillies got shut out…….at Coors Field.

— Re-visiting the first five picks of the 2017 NBA Draft:
#1— 76ers— Markelle Fultz— played only 33 games for Philly
#2— Lakers— Lonzo Ball— played two years for the Lakers, didn’t play (knee) this year
#3— Celtics— Jayson Tatum
#4— Suns— Josh Jackson— played two years for the Suns, didn’t play this year
#5— Kings— De’Aaron Fox— Led Sacramento to the playoffs this year.

— Phoenix Suns fired coach Monty Williams this weekend, despite his 194-115 record in four regular seasons, 27-19 in playoff games for Phoenix. Suns made the NBA Finals two years ago.

Mat Ishbia paid $4B to buy the Suns during this season; really, really rich people have very little patience. Ishbia was a scrub on Michigan State’s national title team in 2000; we’ll see who he hires to replace Williams.

— Denver Nuggets play the Lakers in the Western Conference final; Nuggets are owned by Stan Kroenke, who also owns the Los Angeles Rams.

Nuggets have never been to the NBA Finals; they lost the ABA Finals in 1976, the last year the ABA existed.

— Golden State Warriors finished 14-34 ATS on the road this season, the worst-such record since at least 1995.

— Memphis Grizzlies suspended PG Ja Morant again, this time after he was seen flashing a gun on an Instagram Live video Saturday. This is a PR disaster for the team/NBA; this suspension could be very long.

— Most at-bats without a home run this season:
154— Jose Abreu, Hst
146— Andrew Benintendi, CWS
141— Mauricio Dubon, Hst

— Dodgers 4, Padres 0— San Diego has lost 7 of its last 8 games, scored total of 10 runs in its last five games. Padres are 19-22, despite having a payroll of $249,100,745 this season, one of the three biggest payrolls in baseball.

— Pirates 5, Orioles 0— First time in 13 games Pittsburgh scored more than 3 runs. Mitch Keller tossed seven innings, struck out 13 Orioles.

— Cleveland 1B Josh Naylor has been struggling this season, but he had a good weekend:
Friday— Go-ahead home run in 8th inning
Saturday— Go-ahead home run in 8th inning
Sunday— Go-ahead home run in 8th inning

Naylor is first player since at least 1961 to hit a go-ahead home run in the 8th inning or later three games in a row,

— Arizona rookie OF Dominic Fletcher knocked in 11 runs in three games from Thursday-Saturday; he had a homer, triple and 5 RBI in Saturday’s game.

— 25% of the way thru this season, Seattle Mariners are only 20-20 after making playoffs last year for first time since 2001. Star OF Julio Rodriguez is batting only .215; they had him batting 6th the other night— he hit 3rd in Sunday’s loss at Detroit.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Braves, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Pirates, Arizona, Phillies
AL— Rays, Twins, Rangers. Wild Cards: Orioles, Blue Jays, New York

 

[Udog]

SEATTLE is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games after allowing 3 goals or more 3 straight games in the current season.




NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, May 15

SEATTLE (53-34-0-8, 114 pts.) at DALLAS (53-25-1-15, 122 pts.) - 5/15/2023, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 304-205 ATS (+41.2 Units) after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game since 1996.
SEATTLE is 53-42 ATS (+6.3 Units) in all games this season.
SEATTLE is 26-13 ATS (+39.4 Units) in a road game where where the total is 6 or more this season.
SEATTLE is 21-12 ATS (+33.4 Units) in road games second half of the season this season.
SEATTLE is 14-7 ATS (+6.7 Units) in road games after a win by 2 goals or more this season.
SEATTLE is 18-8 ATS (+26.3 Units) in road games after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.
DALLAS is 18-16 ATS (-7.7 Units) in a home game where the total is 6 or more this season.
DALLAS is 7-13 ATS (-14.8 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 5-7 (+0.1 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 7-5-0 straight up against SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
10 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+8.2 Units)




NHL

Monday, May 15

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

Seattle @ Dallas
Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games when playing Seattle


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

 

[Udog]

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, May 15

 

[CNOTES]

MONDAY, MAY 15

SEA at DAL	08:00 PM	SEA +180 O 6.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Completed Picks​

Past Completed Picks

Date	W-L-T	%	Units	Record
05/15/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1050	Detail
05/14/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1475	Detail
05/13/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-300	Detail
05/12/2023	3-1-0	75.00%	+725	Detail
05/11/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-100	Detail
05/10/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1075	Detail
05/09/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-325	Detail
05/08/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-400	Detail
05/07/2023	5-1-0	83.33%	+2175	Detail
05/06/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail
05/05/2023	0-2-0	0.00%	-1075	Detail
05/04/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-750	Detail
05/03/2023	2-2-0	50.00%	-125	Detail
05/02/2023	1-3-0	25.00%	-1175	Detail
05/01/2023	1-1-0	50.00%	-50	Detail

 

[CNOTES]

NHL PLAYOFF BEST BETS !

05/15/2023............................0 - 2............................00.00%.............................- 10.50
05/14/2023............................0 - 2............................00.00%.............................- 14.75
05/13/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%.............................- 3.00
05/12/2023............................1 - 2............................33 .33%...........................- 9.00
05/11/2023............................2 - 0..........................100.00%................ ............+ 10.00
05/10/2023............................1 - 3............................25.00%............... ..............- 10.75
05/09/2023............................2 - 1............................66.66%............... .............+ 5.00
05/08/2023............................1 - 1............................50.00%............... .............- 4.00
05/07/2023............................4 - 0..........................100.00%................ ...........+ 20.50
05/06/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/05/2023............................0 - 2...........................00.00%................ .............- 10.75
05/04/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 7.50
05/03/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50
05/02/2023............................1 - 3...........................25.00%................ .............- 11.75
05/01/2023............................1 - 1...........................50.00%................ .............- 0.50

TOTALS..............................17 - 23............................42.50%.............. . .............- 48.00

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win this week’s PGA golf championship:
15-2— Jon Rahm
9-1— Scottie Scheffler
12-1— Rory McIlroy
20-1— Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka
25-1— Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau
30-1— Jordan Spieth, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Young

Quote of the Day
“Why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways?”
Steven Wright

Tuesday’s quiz
Which Las Vegas hotel/casino is shaped like a pyramid?

Monday’s quiz
This year, Willson Contreras was the Cardinals’ first Opening Day catcher other than Yadier Molina since 2005.

Mike Matheny was the Cardinals’ catcher before Molina.

Sunday’s quiz
Seven current NHL franchises are based in Canada:
Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg.

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

Tuesday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but……..

You learn new stuff every week: apparently youth boxing is a thing, as in 8 and 9-year old kids being involved in national boxing tournaments.

There were a million kids here at the Westgate Hotel this weekend, most all of them for a boxing tournament in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Apparently some of the tournaments never got finished; some of the parents got involved in their own pugilism, and that ended that.

Go figure.

I was talking to one of the parents Sunday night; he had boxed as a kid and now his two sons do it too. Interesting hobby for a kid.

— Canada’s Stanley Cup title drought extends by another, with Edmonton Oilers the last team from Canada eliminated from the playoffs. 1993 Montreal Canadiens are the last Canadian team to hoist the Stanley Cup.

— NHL’s Final Four is loaded with hockey hotbeds:
Miami, Raleigh, Dallas, Las Vegas.

Odds for the semi-finals:
Carolina -130 vs Florida +110
Las Vegas -140 vs Dallas +120

— NFL QB Matt Ryan has joined CBS Sports as an NFL analyst; he turns 38 years old Wednesday— he will work as both a studio and game analyst.

He also posted this: “P.S. — this is not a retirement post” so he could pull a Jay Cutler and bolt the broadcast booth if a lucrative offer comes around, like it did for Cutler in 2017.

— One of the NFL’s playoff games next December is going to stream exclusively on Peacock, which is horrendous news; I don’t get Peacock, I’m not going to get Peacock, I’m just tired of being extorted for money by every TV network in the country. There is no limit to the NFL’s greed; they apparently banked $100M with this deal.

— Braves 12, Rangers 0— Atlanta tied an all-time record, hitting five two-run homers in this game. Last time it happened was Oakland in 2019, back when the A’s had major league-caliber players. Matt Olson/Sean Murphy both homered in that game; neither homered on Monday,

— Arizona 5, A’s 2— I’m sitting in the sports book watching this game when it dawned on me; I’ve been watching baseball for as long as I can remember, almost 60 years and it is likely that this Oakland team will be the worst team I’ve ever seen. They have no hope; they’re like the Washington Generals, the basketball team that always lost to the Harlem Globetrotters.

How does a team that is this bad get better? They’re moving to Las Vegas soon; people here ain’t going to be happy when the new team in town is dreadful.

— Cardinals 18, Brewers 1— Nolan Arenado has homered four games in a row.

— Blake Snell has started eight games for San Diego; Padres scored 2 or fewer runs in six of those eight games.

— Arlington Renegades won the XFL title this weekend, but it was a bad look for the league. Arlington was 4-6 in the regular season, but they finished 2nd in their division. A team in the other division had a much better record, but didn’t even make the playoffs.

Seattle Sea Dragons’ QB Ben DiNucci is getting a tryout with the Denver Broncos; he played three games for the Cowboys a few years ago. I’d like to see Arlington QB Luis Perez get a look somewhere too; the guy has played in a lot of different leagues.

— Rick Pitino has added 10 transfers this spring; they have two returning players. Four of their transfers came with Pitino from Iona.

Tobin Anderson replaced Pitino at Iona; he’s added 13 new players this spring.

— NBA Draft Lottery is tonight; we’ll find out who is going to draft Victor Wembanyama, the consensus #1 pick this year.

— RIP to poker icon Doyle Brunson, the Babe Ruth of poker, who passed away at age 89, He won World Series of Poker bracelets, won over $6M in live tournament earnings.

More importantly, he once saved me a lot of money. Back when poker was on TV all the time, I got the brilliant idea that I would study poker, learn it inside and out, then get into tournaments and win a boatload of money. Uh-huh.

I bought two of Brunson’s books, got halfway thru one of them, then realized there was no freakin’ way I was ever going to make a lot of money playing poker, or any money.

Zero chance. Nil. Bupkis.

Thank you Mr Brunson. May you rest in peace.

 

[Udog]

No games today.... playoffs resume Thursday.

 

[Udog]

Armadillo Sports

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Casinos have posted NFL spreads for the whole season; here are some spreads for Week 17, a long, long time from now:
— Jets -1 @ Cleveland
— Lions @ Dallas -2.5
— Raiders -2 @ Indianapolis
— Cardinals @ Philadelphia -10
— 49ers -3 @ Washington
— Bengals @ Chiefs -3.5

Quote of the Day
“[The front office] think this is the best bet for us right now to put us in a position to be urgent. We don’t see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now.”
Raiders’ WR Davante Adams

Wednesday’s quiz
Denver Nuggets have always called Denver home, but they became the Nuggets in 1975, their 8th year in existence. What was the team called their first seven years in the ABA?

Tuesday’s quiz
Luxor hotel/casino in Las Vegas is shaped like a pyramid.

Monday’s quiz
This year, Willson Contreras was the Cardinals’ first Opening Day catcher other than Yadier Molina since 2005.

Mike Matheny was the Cardinals’ catcher before Molina.

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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..

— ESPN got just about a half-hour out of the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night, and for some reason, the Westgate Superbook had the audio up the whole time.

I’m totally convinced that ESPN coaches its people to say “(insert name) is the greatest (insert position) ever”

They said Victor Wembanyama is the greatest draft prospect ever; any of those geniuses ever hear of a guy named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?

Milwaukee Bucks went 27-55 in their first NBA season; they won a coin flip and drafted Kareem and for the next five seasons, they went:

56-26
66-16
63-19
60-22
59-23

Milwaukee made the Final Four of the NBA in its 2nd, 3rd, 4th year in existence; they won the NBA title in their third year of existence.

No doubt about it, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the best draft pick ever.

— San Antonio Spurs won the draft lottery; they’ll get Victor Wembanyama. Last time the Spurs had the #1 pick was 1997, when they took Tim Duncan- I felt old typing that.

— Over the last three seasons, NBA teams that have won the most games are the Bucks, the Suns and the 76ers. All three of them have fired their coach in the last few weeks. Go figure.

— By the way, talking about the NBA Draft, remember that nine years ago, the Denver Nuggets picked a guy from Europe with the 41st pick. No one at ESPN called him the greatest anything anywhere, but these days, they might.

Nikola Jokic has turned into a huge star.

— Nuggets 132, Lakers 126

Denver led 74-56 at halftime.
At one point, Nuggets were outrebounding LA, 20-3.
Lakers’ three subs were a combined +18, Denver’s were minus-31.

— This is the 27th NBA season where the Celtics/Lakers are both in the Final Four:
They met in the Finals 12 times
Lakers won, Celtics lost 9 times.
Celtics won, Lakers lost 4 times
They both lost……..once.

— One more quick thing about ESPN’s NBA studio show: If you insist on four people on a panel, how about more than one of them being a former player? A former coach wouldn’t hurt, either.

— A’s 9, Arizona 8 (12)— Oakland trailed 8-4 in 7th inning; Ryan Noda tied the game with a grand slam, and their bullpen did a great job. Arizona didn’t score after the 7th inning.

A’s finally got their 10th win this season; their starting pitchers still have only two wins, but they’ve been spunky, albeit not very talented.

— Marlins 5, Nationals 4— Both bullpens blew a late-inning lead; Jorge Soler walked it off with a 2-run homer in the ninth inning.

— Rays 8, Mets 5— Rays, with a payroll of $76,955,301, are now 32-11.
Mets, with a payroll of $358,404,946, are 20-23.

— Baltimore Orioles are 27-15, looking like a playoff team, but they’ve been shut out in Kyle Gibson’s last three starts.

— Quick NFL stat: The last 18 times there was a divisional home underdog in Week 1 of an NFL season, the home dog went 15-1-2 against the spread.

Another one; Jacksonville Jaguars are 13-2-1 ATS in their last 16 games against the Colts.

— I’m enjoying my trip to Las Vegas, but I’m not going to miss hearing the person in the next room snore while this is being typed up. Every freakin’ night.

 

[Udog]

No games today.... conference finals begin tomorrow.