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**Udog** · 05-29-2017, 09:32 AM

Armadillo: Monday's six-pack

Baseball broadcast teams I enjoy listening to:

— Brian Anderson/Bill Schroeder, Brewers— Anderson is network TV material; he’s done some basketball last few years. Schroeder is terrific as the friendly analyst.

— Drew Goodman/Jeff Huson/Ryan Spilborghs, Rockies— Huson is very good as an analyst; understated. Spilborghs was a player fairly recently and is slow to criticize.

— Jason Benetti/Steve Stone, White Sox— Benetti only works Sox home games, which is sad. Stone is excellent.

— Don Orsillo/Mark Grant, Padres— Red Sox stupidly canned Orsillo couple years ago; he is really good, but hard to work for a team as bad as the Padres.

— Victor Rojas/Mark Gubicza, Angels— Gubicza is always upbeat; they’ll give subtle criticisms, sometimes even criticizing the home team. Not everyone does that.

— Least favorite baseball announcer: Len Kasper, Cubs— I like his analyst Jim Deshaies, but I just don’t like Kasper. He seems to intentionally aggravate the anti-jinx crowd. Cubs are kind of a national team; think they should have a better play-by-play guy.

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Armadillo: Monday's List of 13: Happy Memorial Day, everyone……..

13) Major league announcers don’t like people bugging them on Twitter about “jinxing” things.

For instance, I have Mike Foltynewicz on my fantasy team; he pitched Saturday and Chip Caray is saying early in the game how “….the Giants haven’t been hitting the ball well lately”, so of course the Giants hit three homers, score five runs fairly early and people are killing Caray on social media for jinxing the squad, at which point he blocks them from following him.

I think there is a middle ground; obviously what Caray says has zero impact on the game, but it still bugs me when announcers come out and say stuff, like he is trying to annoy the anti-jinx faction. There is a way of communicating things without actually saying them.

12) Cardinals’ Paul DeJong homered in his first big league AB Sunday in Denver; he is the 118th major leaguer to homer in his first career at-bat.

11) Mike Trout jammed his left thumb sliding head-first into second base Sunday and left the game. He played a couple innings in the field after the slide but when his turn to bat came he opted out. X-rays were negative; apparently it is a sprained thumb.

10) Any Miami Heat player who puts their hands on their knees for a breather during a practice or game gets fined $100; not surprisingly, this is unique in the NBA.

9) Chris Sale pitches against his old team, the White Sox in Chicago Tuesday. Last year Sale revolted when the White Sox were going to wear throwback dark blue jerseys when he pitched— he took scissors and cut the jerseys up so they couldn’t be worn.

If I owned the White Sox, we would definitely be wearing dark blue jerseys Tuesday night.

8) I bitched and moaned about the home plate umpire in the Bronx Saturday, but there is also this: Jed Lowrie has been a major leaguer for ten years- Saturday was his first ejection, so not like he is chronic complainer. If he was that upset, there was a good reason for it.

I’m upset that the A’s have allowed 34 unearned runs, the most in MLB. There are no sports where you can be good if your defense sucks.

7) In Miami Sunday, a batter let go of the bat with one hand after he swung and his backswing clipped the umpire on the side of his mask— never saw that before. Umps don’t wear helmets under their mask like catchers do; maybe they should.

6) Golfer Zach Johnson got put on the clock by Tour officials Sunday for slow play and got a little upset about it; he dumped all the clubs out of his bag, on the course.

5) 16 games Saturday and no team scored more than six runs, first time in baseball history that has happened. Elias Sports says that Saturday was the 703rd day in MLB history with 16+ games and that goes back to 1876.

4) ABC is bringing The Gong Show back to TV on June 22; in the early 80’s, NBC ran this classic show on daytime TV, with the great Chuck Barris as its madcap, sometimes bizarre host. Gong Show is really a parody of American Idol; people go onstage and try to impress celebrity judges, but most of the acts were mediocre-to-terrible.

Mr Barris passed away earlier this year; the host makes/breaks this show, since the acts aren’t very good, the host damn well better be funny. Never heard of the guy they have hosting this version, but we’ll find out in a few weeks.

Go on Youtube and check out The Gong Show from back in the day; they had a comedian who was a regular who told jokes with a bag over his head (Unknown Comic) and Gene, Gene the Dancing Machine, a stagehand who occasionally would just pop onstage and start dancing as the show went to commercial.

3) The most fun I’ve had as a baseball fan was the 2012 A’s making the playoffs; watched every game on the dish, as they rallied from 13 games behind in an unlikely stretch run. I mention this because it occurs to me that even though big league teams have 25-man rosters, most of the time it takes 32-35 guys, over the course of a season, for a team to make the playoffs.

In 2012, the A’s got two walk-off homers from Brandon Hicks, an infielder who wasn’t even on their playoff roster, but the two games he won with HR’s were the deciding factor in Oakland being division champs. Small contributions from a variety of people made a huge difference.

As far as 2012 being more fun than the 1972-74 A’s who won three straight World Series, I was an obnoxious kid back then and didn’t appreciate it as much as I should’ve. Plus, didn’t see too many games on TV back in the day. Nowadays, it is fun to fun watch all the games.

2) White Sox rookie pitcher Tyler Danish won his first big league start Saturday; when he went to the White Sox FanFest in Chicago last winter, he told someone it was the first time he had ever seen snow in person. Lucky him; wish I had never seen snow.

1) Today is Memorial Day, an important day in our country. Lot of people have risked their lives to protect the freedoms we have in this country. Today is the day we pause to remember these courageous humans who protect us, both now and in the past. Thank you!!!

**Udog** · 05-29-2017, 09:40 AM

Monday's NHL Stanley Cup Final Game 1 Betting Preview: Predators at Penguins

Pittsburgh is the first team to reach the Cup Final in back-to-back seasons since the Penguins in 2008 and 2009.

Nashville Predators at Pittsburgh Penguins (-165, 5.5)

Series tied 0-0

No team has won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles since 1998, a drought the Pittsburgh Penguins can end when they open the best-of-seven series against the visiting Nashville Predators on Monday night. The Penguins are the prohibitive favorites to hoist Lord Stanley's trophy at the expense of the upstart Predators, who are appearing in their first Stanley Cup Final.

Pittsburgh features the top three scorers in the postseason in Evgeni Malkin, captain Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel, and is the first team to reach the Cup Final in back-to-back seasons since the Penguins in 2008 and 2009, but the players are trying to push aside that historical narrative. "We don't want to worry too much about whether it's repeating or going back-to-back," forward Conor Sheary said. "I think we just want to come into this series and win another round. I think it's important to just worry about the next game, have a short memory and the first to four wins." Nashville was the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference and posted the fewest points of any of the 16th playoff participants, but swept Chicago in the opening round before dispatching St. Louis and Anaheim in a pair of six-game series. "When the puck drops, we'll be ready to play. The guys are excited to reach this point," said the Predators' Peter Laviolette, who along with Penguins counterpart Mike Sullivan are the first American coaches to square off for hockey's top prize.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBC, Sportsnet, CBC, TVAS

LINE HISTORY: The Penguins opened the betting as -140 home favorites and by Sunday night were bet all of the way up to -165. The total opened at 5.5 and has yet to move.

GOALIE MATCHUP: Pekka Rinne (NAS) vs. Matt Murray (PIT)

Rinne - GP: 16, W/L: 12-4, 1.70 GAA, .941 SAVE %, 2 SO
Murray - GP: 5, W/L: 3-1, 1.35 GAA, .946 SAVE %, 1 SO

INJURY REPORT:

Predators - RW C. Smith (Probable, lower body), C M. Fisher (Probable, eye), C R. Johansen (Out For Season, thigh), LW K. Fiala (Out For Season, leg).

Penguins - RW P. Hornqvist (Questionable, upper body), RW T. Kuhnhackl (Questionable, lower body), D C. Ruhwedel (Probable, concussion), D K. Letang (Out for season, neck).

ABOUT THE PREDATORS (53-32-9-4, 44-42 O/U): The daunting challenge of trying to match up against Crosby and Malkin is exacerbated by the absence of top-line center Ryan Johansen (thigh), lost for the rest of the playoffs after Game 4 against Anaheim. Colton Sissons stepped in for Johansen and supplied a hat trick in the series clincher against the Ducks, but the Predators will continue to rely heavily on Filip Forsberg, a 31-goal scorer during the regular season who scored five times against Anaheim and is riding a seven-game point streak. While No. 2 center Mike Fisher appears poised to return from injury, Nashville's strength is at the other end of the ice, with its top four defensemen -- Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm -- combining for a staggering 39 points in 16 playoff games. Still, the Predators' hopes likely hinge on 34-year-old Pekka Rinne, who is 12-4 with a 1.70 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage in the postseason.

ABOUT THE PENGUINS (62-26-8-5, 55-39 O/U): Malkin (24 points) and Crosby (20) are running 1-2 in the playoff scoring race and seemingly shine when the lights are brightest -- each has won a Conn Smythe Trophy -- but Malkin observed that Nashville's defense will provide the "toughest challenge of my life." Kessel notched six points in the seven-game series against Ottawa, but fellow 23-goal scorer Sheary has yet to tally in the playoffs while Jake Guentzel is mired in an eight-game goal drought after scoring nine times in the first 11 games of the postseason. Matt Murray, who backstopped Pittsburgh to a championship a year ago following a late-season injury to Marc-Andre Fleury, reclaimed the starting job from Fleury in the Ottawa series and went 3-1 with six goals allowed in his four starts. Forward Patric Hornqvist, acquired from Nashville in exchange for forward James Neal in June 2014, is a game-time decision after sitting out the final six contests against the Senators.

TRENDS:

* Predators are 6-1 in their last 7 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
* Penguins are 5-0 in their last 5 games playing on 3 or more days rest.
* Under is 11-2-4 in Predators last 17 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game.
* Under is 8-1 in Penguins last 9 Stanley Cup Finals games.
* Predators are 2-8 in the last 10 meetings.

CONSENSUS: 60 percent of users are siding with the home favorite Penguins and 60 percent of the totals wagers are on the Under.

**Udog** · 05-29-2017, 09:48 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Monday, May 29

Nashville @ Pittsburgh

Game 1-2
May 29, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Nashville
13.754
Pittsburgh
12.235
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Nashville
by 1 1/2
3
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Pittsburgh
-170
5 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Pittsburgh
(+150); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, May 29

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NASHVILLE (53-32-0-13, 119 pts.) at PITTSBURGH (62-26-0-13, 137 pts.) - 5/29/2017, 8:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
PITTSBURGH is 4-2 (+1.5 Units) against the spread versus NASHVILLE over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 4-2-0 straight up against NASHVILLE over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.2 Units, Under=-0.3 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, May 29

Nashville is in its first Stanley Cup final; they won five of last seven games overall, splitting last four road games. Under is 6-2-2 in their last ten games- they haven’t played in a week. Penguins won Game 7 Thursday; they won last three home games by combined score of 11-2. Under is 4-2-2 in their last eight games. Pittsburgh is 8-2 in its last ten games with the Predators; last three series games went over total. Nashville lost four of last five visits here. Penguins won Cup LY and in 2009; they’re 4-1 overall in Stanley Cup final series.

Stanley Cup final
Nashville-Pittsburgh

NHL

Monday, May 29

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
NASHVILLE vs. PITTSBURGH
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Nashville's last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Nashville is 12-4 SU in its last 16 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing at home against Nashville
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Nashville

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Monday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/29

Monday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 5/29

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