Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Pac-12’s pre-season basketball poll:
— UCLA
— Arizona
— Oregon
— USC
— Stanford
— Colorado
— Arizona State
— Washington State
— Washington
— Utah
— California
— Oregon State
Quote of the Day
“I am not in favor of UCLA’s recent announced decision to leave the Pac-12 Conference of Champions, nor their desire to join the Big 10[.] I don’t like this attempted move, I don’t support it, I hope it does not happen[.] I don’t believe that joining the Big 10 is in the best interest of UCLA, its students, its athletes, its alumni, its fans, the rest of the UC system, the State of California, or the world at large.”
Bill Walton
Wednesday’s quiz
Which NFL team has been playing in its current stadium the longest?
Tuesday’s quiz
When the Cleveland Browns re-joined the NFL in 1999 after a 3-year absence, Tim Couch was the Browns’ QB.
Monday’s quiz
Buffalo QB Josh Allen played his college football at Wyoming.
****************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings………
Busy day for a Tuesday……..
— Phillies 7, Astros 0
Phillies hit five home runs off of McCullers.
Suarez tossed five shutout innings.
Phillies lead series, 2-1.
— I called DirecTV to complain that I can’t watch the World Series; the local FOX station and DirecTV are at war over $$$$, so the FOX channel isn’t available this week. Not exactly a great business plan.
Was hoping they’d take some $$$ off my bill at least; instead, they suggested I switch my entire system from English to Spanish, then they would give me a station that shows the World Series in Spanish. When the World Series is over, they would switch me back to an English-speaking system.
No, gracias. No bueno. Once college basketball is over next spring, I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.
— Last two years, 3.616 college basketball players entered the transfer portal; lot of teams are totally rebuilding. There are 363 D-I college basketball teams; over a 2-year period, that works out to 9.96 players per team entering the transfer portal.
November-December have become a period where we have to figure out which teams have chemistry, talent. November-December used to be a time where you can earn some cabbage going with experienced teams. No such thing anymore.
— Indianapolis Colts fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, a week after they switched QB’s. Brady wasn’t calling plays; he was involved with game-planning and play design.
So 2nd-year QB Sam Ehlinger started his first NFL game Sunday and two days later, his OC gets fired. Perfectly normal. Colts are 3-4-1; they’ve trailed all eight games after three quarters.
— Detroit Lions traded TE TJ Hockenson to division rival Minnesota; they also gave the Vikings two 4th-round picks- they get 2nd/3rd round draft picks back in return. Hockenson has 26 receptions for 395 yards, 3 TD’s in seven games this year; it is unclear why Detroit would help out a division rival. That usually doesn’t happen.
This summer, when Detroit cut backup QB David Blough, the Vikings scooped him up.
— Denver traded LB Bradley Chubb to Miami; they get a package that includes a 1st-round pick.
— Major League Baseball’s sponsorship revenues reached roughly $1.2B this year, up 5.6% from last year. Next year, MLB will start with uniforms patches; San Diego Padres supposedly have a deal with Motorola, worth $10M a year.
— Kansas City Royals hired Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro as their new manager; Royals have had six straight losing seasons- they’re going to lean more heavily on advanced analytics going forward, which is why they hired someone with a Tampa Bay background.
Tampa Bay has had five straight winning seasons with a small budget.
— Royals bypassed their own bench coach, Pedro Grifol to become their new manager, but the White Sox are going to name Grifol their next manager. Grifol is probably going to hire former Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo as his bench coach.
— Surprising stat: When Houston’s Framber Valdez pitched 6.1 innings Saturday, it was the longest start in a World Series game in three years.
— Brooklyn Nets fired coach Steve Nash Tuesday, after their 2-5 start; the person who should be fired is the person who assembled a roster with Ben Simmons/Kyrie Irving on it. Bad chemistry.
Kevin Durant wasn’t happy playing for Golden State; Warriors seem like the one team everyone would want to play for. If you’re not happy there, when will you be happy?
I’d suggest naming Durant player/coach; it used to happen in the NBA long time ago, think Bill Russell, Dave DeBusschere, Lenny Wilkens.
— Seems like Brooklyn is interested in hiring Ime Udoka as Nash’s replacement; Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as head coach there last season, then got suspended for a year over an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics staff member.
— Dallas star Luka Doncic is first NBA player to score 30+ points in his first six games of a season, since Michael Jordan in 1986.
— Zion Williamson’s NBA career
2019-20— played in 24 of 72 games
2020-21— played in 61 of 82 games
2021-22— didn’t play in any games
2022-23— has played in 4 of 6 games
That is 89 out of 242 games he’s played in— 36.8%.
It is said that the best ability is avail-ability. Zion doesn’t have that yet; he is productive when he plays, but he doesn’t play nearly enough.
— Surprising fact; of the 32 current head coaches in the NFL, only four of them were QB’s in the NFL: O’Connell, Reich, Pederson, Kingsbury. Quarterbacks, especially star QB’s, make a ton of money. No need to work 18-hour days once your playing days are over.
Quarterbacks are way more likely to go into TV after their playing days are over. Romo, Aikman, Warner, Simms, Esiason, RGIII, Gannon, Young, Green, Alex Smith, Bradshaw are all still on TV. Good money, lot less work than coaching.
— Ball State 27, Kent State 20
Cardinals drove 75 yards, scored winning TD with 3:21 left.
Kent State led 13-0 after the first quarter.
Total yards: Ball State, 450-408
— Ohio U 45, Buffalo 24
Bobcats led 17-0 after the first quarter.
Ohio outgained Buffalo, 474-260.
Bulls ran ball 28 times for 22 yards.
Loss snaps Buffalo’s 5-game winning streak.
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Pac-12’s pre-season basketball poll:
— UCLA
— Arizona
— Oregon
— USC
— Stanford
— Colorado
— Arizona State
— Washington State
— Washington
— Utah
— California
— Oregon State
Quote of the Day
“I am not in favor of UCLA’s recent announced decision to leave the Pac-12 Conference of Champions, nor their desire to join the Big 10[.] I don’t like this attempted move, I don’t support it, I hope it does not happen[.] I don’t believe that joining the Big 10 is in the best interest of UCLA, its students, its athletes, its alumni, its fans, the rest of the UC system, the State of California, or the world at large.”
Bill Walton
Wednesday’s quiz
Which NFL team has been playing in its current stadium the longest?
Tuesday’s quiz
When the Cleveland Browns re-joined the NFL in 1999 after a 3-year absence, Tim Couch was the Browns’ QB.
Monday’s quiz
Buffalo QB Josh Allen played his college football at Wyoming.
****************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings………
Busy day for a Tuesday……..
— Phillies 7, Astros 0
Phillies hit five home runs off of McCullers.
Suarez tossed five shutout innings.
Phillies lead series, 2-1.
— I called DirecTV to complain that I can’t watch the World Series; the local FOX station and DirecTV are at war over $$$$, so the FOX channel isn’t available this week. Not exactly a great business plan.
Was hoping they’d take some $$$ off my bill at least; instead, they suggested I switch my entire system from English to Spanish, then they would give me a station that shows the World Series in Spanish. When the World Series is over, they would switch me back to an English-speaking system.
No, gracias. No bueno. Once college basketball is over next spring, I’ll be taking my business elsewhere.
— Last two years, 3.616 college basketball players entered the transfer portal; lot of teams are totally rebuilding. There are 363 D-I college basketball teams; over a 2-year period, that works out to 9.96 players per team entering the transfer portal.
November-December have become a period where we have to figure out which teams have chemistry, talent. November-December used to be a time where you can earn some cabbage going with experienced teams. No such thing anymore.
— Indianapolis Colts fired offensive coordinator Marcus Brady, a week after they switched QB’s. Brady wasn’t calling plays; he was involved with game-planning and play design.
So 2nd-year QB Sam Ehlinger started his first NFL game Sunday and two days later, his OC gets fired. Perfectly normal. Colts are 3-4-1; they’ve trailed all eight games after three quarters.
— Detroit Lions traded TE TJ Hockenson to division rival Minnesota; they also gave the Vikings two 4th-round picks- they get 2nd/3rd round draft picks back in return. Hockenson has 26 receptions for 395 yards, 3 TD’s in seven games this year; it is unclear why Detroit would help out a division rival. That usually doesn’t happen.
This summer, when Detroit cut backup QB David Blough, the Vikings scooped him up.
— Denver traded LB Bradley Chubb to Miami; they get a package that includes a 1st-round pick.
— Major League Baseball’s sponsorship revenues reached roughly $1.2B this year, up 5.6% from last year. Next year, MLB will start with uniforms patches; San Diego Padres supposedly have a deal with Motorola, worth $10M a year.
— Kansas City Royals hired Tampa Bay bench coach Matt Quatraro as their new manager; Royals have had six straight losing seasons- they’re going to lean more heavily on advanced analytics going forward, which is why they hired someone with a Tampa Bay background.
Tampa Bay has had five straight winning seasons with a small budget.
— Royals bypassed their own bench coach, Pedro Grifol to become their new manager, but the White Sox are going to name Grifol their next manager. Grifol is probably going to hire former Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo as his bench coach.
— Surprising stat: When Houston’s Framber Valdez pitched 6.1 innings Saturday, it was the longest start in a World Series game in three years.
— Brooklyn Nets fired coach Steve Nash Tuesday, after their 2-5 start; the person who should be fired is the person who assembled a roster with Ben Simmons/Kyrie Irving on it. Bad chemistry.
Kevin Durant wasn’t happy playing for Golden State; Warriors seem like the one team everyone would want to play for. If you’re not happy there, when will you be happy?
I’d suggest naming Durant player/coach; it used to happen in the NBA long time ago, think Bill Russell, Dave DeBusschere, Lenny Wilkens.
— Seems like Brooklyn is interested in hiring Ime Udoka as Nash’s replacement; Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first year as head coach there last season, then got suspended for a year over an inappropriate relationship with a Celtics staff member.
— Dallas star Luka Doncic is first NBA player to score 30+ points in his first six games of a season, since Michael Jordan in 1986.
— Zion Williamson’s NBA career
2019-20— played in 24 of 72 games
2020-21— played in 61 of 82 games
2021-22— didn’t play in any games
2022-23— has played in 4 of 6 games
That is 89 out of 242 games he’s played in— 36.8%.
It is said that the best ability is avail-ability. Zion doesn’t have that yet; he is productive when he plays, but he doesn’t play nearly enough.
— Surprising fact; of the 32 current head coaches in the NFL, only four of them were QB’s in the NFL: O’Connell, Reich, Pederson, Kingsbury. Quarterbacks, especially star QB’s, make a ton of money. No need to work 18-hour days once your playing days are over.
Quarterbacks are way more likely to go into TV after their playing days are over. Romo, Aikman, Warner, Simms, Esiason, RGIII, Gannon, Young, Green, Alex Smith, Bradshaw are all still on TV. Good money, lot less work than coaching.
— Ball State 27, Kent State 20
Cardinals drove 75 yards, scored winning TD with 3:21 left.
Kent State led 13-0 after the first quarter.
Total yards: Ball State, 450-408
— Ohio U 45, Buffalo 24
Bobcats led 17-0 after the first quarter.
Ohio outgained Buffalo, 474-260.
Bulls ran ball 28 times for 22 yards.
Loss snaps Buffalo’s 5-game winning streak.
