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Friday’s 6-pack
Pitchers who allowed lowest on-base %age against them last year:
.219— Justin Verlander
.236— Gerrit Cole
.256— Jack Flaherty
.257— Jacob deGrom
.263— Hyun-Jin Ryu
.266— Max Scherzer
Quote of the Day:
“Because it’s Australia or New Zealand, and not China or Europe, it’s going to be a much more attractive avenue for kids. This generation of kids is looking for any opportunity to avoid school. If this works, you’ll definitely see more.”
An unnamed NBA scout, on HS kids skipping college to play pro ball down under
Saturday’s quiz
Vince Young led the Texas Longhorns to the 2005 national title; which team did he play most of his NFL career with? (He played 54 of 60 NFL games for this team)
Friday’s quiz
Retired tennis star Billie Jean King played a judge in an episode of Law and Order.
Thursday’s quiz
Lovie Smih was the Chicago Bears’ coach the last time they played in a Super Bowl.
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Saturday’s List of 13: Clearing out a cluttered mind……
13) Oregon 37, Utah 15— This score makes the Oklahoma-Baylor game a play-in game for the 4-team national playoff, unless Georgia upsets LSU tomorrow night. Ducks led this game 23-0, Utes got back within 23-15 but that was it.
How do you handicap a disappointed Utah team when they play in their bowl game?
12) There have been 18 conference games in college basketball so far this season; home favorites are 5-5 ATS, home underdogs are 3-5. Home teams are 8-10 ATS, underdogs 8-10.
11) Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement ends after the 2021 season; lot of people think that when 2022 starts, both leagues will have the DH, so look for NL teams to add a sluggish defensive player who can hit in the next year or so, with 2022 in mind.
Some teams will probably use the DH to give guys a day off from playing in the field, while keeping their bat in the lineup. Will be curious to see how each team handles the change.
10) San Diego Padres added OF Tommy Pham in a deal with Tampa Bay; Rays get OF Hunter Renfroe, SS prospect Xavier Edwards and a prospect to be named later. Pham hit .273 with an .819 OPS LY, with 33 doubles, 21 homers, 68 RBI, 77 runs and 25 steals LY for the Rays
9) Four college football coaches used the job opening at Florida State to get contract extensions at their current job: Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Penn State’s James Franklin, Washington State’s Mike Leach and Indiana coach Tom Allen.
Ole Miss is set to hire Lane Kiffin as their new football coach; Kiffin could write a hell of a book, with some of the jobs he’s had— Tennessee, USC, the Raider- he was an assistant coach at Alabama, too.
8) New York Knicks fired head coach David Fizdale Friday after the team’s 4-18 start. It isn’t Fizdale’s fault; the Knicks have a terrible owner, a mediocre front office- their roster isn’t a winning one. The bigger question is this: Why did they hire Fizdale in the first place?
7) Get well soon to Jeff Tedford, who resigned as football coach at Fresno State due to health concerns; Tedford had heart problems five years ago, when he had to step down as OC with the Tampa Bay Bucs in the NFL. No word whether his health issues now are heart related.
6) A few days after Georgetown’s off-court problems resulted in two of their starters entering the transfer portal, the Hoyas also lost a top 100 recruit for next year. Not good.
Terrance Williams is a 6-6 F from Gonzaga College HS in Washington DC who originally chose the Hoyas over Michigan and Notre Dame.
5) Florida Gators will name its basketball court after former coach Billy Donovan on February 15, during the NBA All-Star break; Donovan led the Gators to two national championships and four Final Four appearances during his 19 seasons in Gainesville.
4) Duke 77, Virginia Tech 63– Blue Devils outscored Tech 39-22 after trailing by 3 at the half; they win their ACC opener.
3) Michigan 103, Iowa 91— Wolverines scored 1.39 points/possession- there won’t be many figures higher than that anywhere all season long. Not often a team scores 103 points but no one on that team scores 20+. Iowa’s Garza scored 44 of their 91 points.
2) Patriots will re-sign Nick Folk to kick for them Sunday; he had an appendectomy couple weeks ago, so they cut him and brought in another guy last week, but that guy missed a PAT in Houston so they told him to take a hike. New England has used four kickers this year.
1) Interesting article in The Athletic about RJ Hampton, a young man who skipped college to play pro ball for the New Zealand Breakers of Australia’s National Basketball League- he hopes to be in the NBA at this time next year.
Hampton will make around $500,000 this season; he also signed a five-year shoe deal with Li-Ning. He averaged 10.5 ppg in his first six games of a 28-game season- in the short time he’s been in New Zealand, the Breakers’ general manager quit, and an assistant coach walked out at an airport- the team also lost four of its first six games.
Hampton had the grades to go to college and play there, but chose this route instead. Lot of other people are watching to see how he does.
Pitchers who allowed lowest on-base %age against them last year:
.219— Justin Verlander
.236— Gerrit Cole
.256— Jack Flaherty
.257— Jacob deGrom
.263— Hyun-Jin Ryu
.266— Max Scherzer
Quote of the Day:
“Because it’s Australia or New Zealand, and not China or Europe, it’s going to be a much more attractive avenue for kids. This generation of kids is looking for any opportunity to avoid school. If this works, you’ll definitely see more.”
An unnamed NBA scout, on HS kids skipping college to play pro ball down under
Saturday’s quiz
Vince Young led the Texas Longhorns to the 2005 national title; which team did he play most of his NFL career with? (He played 54 of 60 NFL games for this team)
Friday’s quiz
Retired tennis star Billie Jean King played a judge in an episode of Law and Order.
Thursday’s quiz
Lovie Smih was the Chicago Bears’ coach the last time they played in a Super Bowl.
************************
Saturday’s List of 13: Clearing out a cluttered mind……
13) Oregon 37, Utah 15— This score makes the Oklahoma-Baylor game a play-in game for the 4-team national playoff, unless Georgia upsets LSU tomorrow night. Ducks led this game 23-0, Utes got back within 23-15 but that was it.
How do you handicap a disappointed Utah team when they play in their bowl game?
12) There have been 18 conference games in college basketball so far this season; home favorites are 5-5 ATS, home underdogs are 3-5. Home teams are 8-10 ATS, underdogs 8-10.
11) Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement ends after the 2021 season; lot of people think that when 2022 starts, both leagues will have the DH, so look for NL teams to add a sluggish defensive player who can hit in the next year or so, with 2022 in mind.
Some teams will probably use the DH to give guys a day off from playing in the field, while keeping their bat in the lineup. Will be curious to see how each team handles the change.
10) San Diego Padres added OF Tommy Pham in a deal with Tampa Bay; Rays get OF Hunter Renfroe, SS prospect Xavier Edwards and a prospect to be named later. Pham hit .273 with an .819 OPS LY, with 33 doubles, 21 homers, 68 RBI, 77 runs and 25 steals LY for the Rays
9) Four college football coaches used the job opening at Florida State to get contract extensions at their current job: Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Penn State’s James Franklin, Washington State’s Mike Leach and Indiana coach Tom Allen.
Ole Miss is set to hire Lane Kiffin as their new football coach; Kiffin could write a hell of a book, with some of the jobs he’s had— Tennessee, USC, the Raider- he was an assistant coach at Alabama, too.
8) New York Knicks fired head coach David Fizdale Friday after the team’s 4-18 start. It isn’t Fizdale’s fault; the Knicks have a terrible owner, a mediocre front office- their roster isn’t a winning one. The bigger question is this: Why did they hire Fizdale in the first place?
7) Get well soon to Jeff Tedford, who resigned as football coach at Fresno State due to health concerns; Tedford had heart problems five years ago, when he had to step down as OC with the Tampa Bay Bucs in the NFL. No word whether his health issues now are heart related.
6) A few days after Georgetown’s off-court problems resulted in two of their starters entering the transfer portal, the Hoyas also lost a top 100 recruit for next year. Not good.
Terrance Williams is a 6-6 F from Gonzaga College HS in Washington DC who originally chose the Hoyas over Michigan and Notre Dame.
5) Florida Gators will name its basketball court after former coach Billy Donovan on February 15, during the NBA All-Star break; Donovan led the Gators to two national championships and four Final Four appearances during his 19 seasons in Gainesville.
4) Duke 77, Virginia Tech 63– Blue Devils outscored Tech 39-22 after trailing by 3 at the half; they win their ACC opener.
3) Michigan 103, Iowa 91— Wolverines scored 1.39 points/possession- there won’t be many figures higher than that anywhere all season long. Not often a team scores 103 points but no one on that team scores 20+. Iowa’s Garza scored 44 of their 91 points.
2) Patriots will re-sign Nick Folk to kick for them Sunday; he had an appendectomy couple weeks ago, so they cut him and brought in another guy last week, but that guy missed a PAT in Houston so they told him to take a hike. New England has used four kickers this year.
1) Interesting article in The Athletic about RJ Hampton, a young man who skipped college to play pro ball for the New Zealand Breakers of Australia’s National Basketball League- he hopes to be in the NBA at this time next year.
Hampton will make around $500,000 this season; he also signed a five-year shoe deal with Li-Ning. He averaged 10.5 ppg in his first six games of a 28-game season- in the short time he’s been in New Zealand, the Breakers’ general manager quit, and an assistant coach walked out at an airport- the team also lost four of its first six games.
Hampton had the grades to go to college and play there, but chose this route instead. Lot of other people are watching to see how he does.
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