Armadillo Sports
Sunday’s 6-pack
Over/under win totals for college football:
— Air Force 8.5
— Alabama 11.5 (under -150)
— Arizona 3 (over -120)
— Arizona State 5.5 (over -120)
— Arkansas 7 (over -130)
— Auburn 6 (over -120)
Quote of the Day
“I feel like the game has changed. I feel like the people have changed in a sense. Maybe it’s because I got spoiled when I came in. The team was so important. It was all about the team. Now, it’s about me and this, that and the other. I might be standing on a soapbox a little bit, but that’s my biggest takeaway from when I started to the end. It turned from a team-first to a me-type attitude. It was hard. It’s hard for these young guys, too. Social media. They’re treated so well in college. Now, this new NIL stuff, which is unbelievable. They’re treated so special. They’re coddled at a young age because college coaches need them to win, too. ”
Ben Roethlisberger
Sunday’s quiz
What team did Drew Brees began his NFL career with?
Saturday’s quiz
Barry Larkin has the most career hits (2,340), of all the players who played their entire career for the Cincinnati Reds.
Friday’s quiz
Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run against Al Downing of the Dodgers.
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Sunday’s Den: Random thoughts on a hot summer day
13) Last year, all 32 NFL teams got $347.2M each in revenue sharing from the league; the salary cap last year was $182.5M per team. NFL is a thriving business.
12) Cleveland Browns signed QB Josh Rosen this week; Rosen was the 10th player taken in the 2018 draft, but lasted only one year in Arizona, going 3-10 as a starter. He went 0-3 as a starter in Miami the next year, then re-surfaced as a backup in Atlanta LY.
Rosen started for three years at UCLA; after his third season, they fired the coach; Arizona also fired their coach after Rosen’s rookie season.
With Deshaun Watson expected to be suspended soon, Cleveland’s QB’s figure to be Jacoby Brissett, Joshua Dobbs and Rosen. They’re only NFL team with no QB’s back from last season.
11) Eight NFL teams are expected to have new starting QB’s this season; if the 49ers start Trey Lance, that’ll be nine new starters this season.
10) Last 19 years, defending Super Bowl champ is 11-5-3 ATS in their first game the next season. Rams open this season at home against Buffalo. Matthew Stafford’s brother-in-law is the WR coach for the Bills.
9) Was watching a replay of the 2018 Rams-Chiefs game the other night; interesting how many players from that team are no longer with the Rams. Players/coaches come and go quickly from year to year; sometimes change is good. With the salary cap, not everyone can get paid what they want, so they have to switch teams to maximize their value.
8) Mempbis Tigers have a QB named Ryan Glover who is on his fourth college:
— He played for the Penn Quakers from 2017-19
— He played at Western Carolina in 2020
— He was with the Cal Bears LY, starting one game, a 10-3 loss to Arizona that was the Wildcats’ only win last season.
7) Toronto Blue Jays won 28-5 in Boston Friday night, scoring 11 runs in the 5th inning— their first two guys that inning both made out, then 12 straight guys reached base.
6) Baltimore Orioles signed high school SS Jackson Holliday to a contract worth $8.19M; he was the first pick in the MLB Draft last week.
5) Houston Astros are scoring only 3.1 runs/game when Jordan Alvarez is out of the lineup; they’re scoring 4.7 runs/game when he plays.
4) Los Angeles Angels are 5-17 this season in games where the winning run scores from the 7th inning on. Teams have called the Angels to see if Shohei Ohtani is available for a trade, but word is, the Angels aren’t interested in dealing him.
3) Mets acquired lefty slugger Daniel Vogelbach from Pittsburgh Friday, in exchange for rookie reliever Colin Holderman.
Vogelbach is a platoon player; he is 9-64 (.141) this season against lefties, .137 for his career, but he does have good pop against righties (.896 OPS this year)
2) Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell scored 25.9 ppg last year; he is also a big baseball fan— his dad works in the New York Mets’ front office, as director of public relations and community engagement. The elder Mitchell played minor league ball, getting as high as the AAA level, and has also managed in the minor leagues.
1) July 20, 1973, Chicago White Sox played a doubleheader in the Bronx, Knuckleballer Wilbur Wood started the first game for Chicago, but gave up six runs without getting anyone out. For some reason, White Sox also started Wood in the nightcap; he gave up seven runs in 4.1 IP.
Wood was a very good pitcher; he went 24-20, 3.46 in 48 starts that year, going on short rest a lot because he threw the knuckleball. A full work load in modern times is 32 starts and he had 48, making the bullpen’s job a lot easier.
He is the last major league pitcher to start both games of a doubleheader.