Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the PGA Championship:
11-1— Rory McIlroy
14-1— Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm
16-1— Bryson DeChambeau
18-1— Dustin Johnson
22-1— Xander Schauffele
25-1— Viktor Hovland
Quote of the Day
“I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, natural, wholesome things that money can buy.”
Steve Martin
Tuesday’s quiz
From 1975-84, Biff Pocoroba was a catcher for which major league team?
(Hint: He played in the 1978 All-Star Game)
Monday’s quiz
Lou Piniella was Seattle Mariners’ manager last time they made the playoffs, in 2002.
Sunday’s quiz
Philip Seymour Hoffman played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball.
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Tuesday’s Den: Schedule notes for AFC teams
Ravens:
— Three of their first four games are on the road.
— They play in Denver October 3; their next road game isn’t til November 11.
— Weeks 10-14, they play four road games in five weeks.
Bills:
— Four primetime games; three of them are on the road.
— Play in New Orleans Thanksgiving night.
— Two games with New England are late, in weeks 13/16.
Bengals:
— Only primetime game is Week 4 vs Jacksonville.
— Weeks 6-8; three straight road games.
— Four of their first six games are against NFC North teams.
Browns:
— Go to Baltimore in Week 12, have Week 13 bye, host Ravens in Week 14
— Have three primetime games, including January 3 in Pittsburgh.
— Christmas Day at Lambeau Field should be nice and toasty.
Broncos:
— Four of their first seven games are in Eastern time zone.
— Only primetime game: Week 7 in Cleveland.
— Play Chargers/Chiefs in Weeks 12-13, then again in Weeks 17-18.
Texans:
— 13 games at 1:00 Sunday; not a lot of faith from the NFL.
— Only primetime game: Week 3 vs Carolina.
— From October 11-November 27, have only one home game.
Colts:
— Weeks 3-5: three straight road games.
— Three of their four primetime games are on the road.
— Week 14 bye; latest possible bye.
Jaguars:
— Only primetime game: Week 4 at Cincinnati.
— Weeks 16-17 at Jets/Patriots, cold weather games.
— Week 6, they play the Dolphins over in England.
Chiefs:
— From October 25-December 15, have only one road game.
— Three of their last four games are on the road.
— Week 16 Thursday game at Chargers is long trip on short week.
Raiders:
— First Allegiant Stadium game with fans; Week 1 Monday nighter vs Ravens.
— Play the Cowboys in Dallas Thanksgiving Day.
— Weeks 14-15, have consecutive trips east, to Kansas City/Cleveland.
Chargers:
— First SoFi Stadium game with fans: Week 2 vs Dallas.
— Have three primetime games, all at home.
— Play Chiefs in Week 3, then not again until Week 15.
Dolphins:
— Play New England in Week 1, then not again until Week 18
— In Week 6, play Jaguars over in England.
— Have only two 4:00 games, none after Week 3.
Patriots:
— Host Tom Brady/Buccaneers in Week 4 Sunday night game.
— Patriots’ other two primetime games are on road.
— Four of their eight road games are in domes.
Jets:
— Visit Sam Darnold/Panthers in season opener.
— In Week 5, play Falcons over in England.
— Only night game: Week 9 Thursday game at Indianapolis.
Steelers:
— Play the normal five primetime games, three of them at home.
— Play rival Ravens in Weeks 13/18.
— Host Las Vegas in Week 2, after Raiders played on Monday nite in Week 1.
Titans:
— Week 16 Thursday game vs 49ers is tough spot for the visitors.
— Play 13 games at 1:00 Sunday; not lot of faith from the NFL.
— Week 2 at Seattle is their only 4:00 game all season.
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1BOSTON -2 WASHINGTON
BOSTON is 231-220 ATS (45.6 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - scoring 2.85+ goals/game since 1996.
3NASHVILLE -4 CAROLINA
CAROLINA is 10-2 ATS (8.4 Units) in home games vs. winning teams in the current season.
5ST LOUIS -6 COLORADO
ST LOUIS are 6-16 ATS (-13.7 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - >=29 shots on goal, convert >=17% pp - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
NHL
Dunkel
Monday, May 17
NHL
Monday, May 17
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Trend Report
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Boston @ Washington
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Boston's last 6 games on the road
Boston is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Washington
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games at home
Washington is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Nashville @ Carolina
Nashville
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Nashville's last 6 games when playing Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Nashville's last 5 games when playing on the road against Carolina
Carolina
Carolina is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Nashville
Carolina is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
St. Louis @ Colorado
St. Louis
St. Louis is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Colorado
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
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Monday’s 6-pack
NFL over/under win totals for 2021:
— Arizona Cardinals 8.5, +100
— Atlanta Falcons 7.5, -105
— Baltimore Ravens 10.5, -150
— Buffalo Bills 10.5, -155
— Carolina Panthers 7.5, +100
— Chicago Bears 7.5, -115
Quote of the Day
“He’s never been better, I can say that. He’s been great for a long time, though, so it’s hard to say he’s at his best now because he’s been like this for years.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, talking about Steph Curry
Monday’s quiz
Who was the Seattle Mariners’ manager last time they made the playoffs? (Hint: He won a World Series managing a different team)
Sunday’s quiz
Philip Seymour Hoffman played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball.
Saturday’s quiz
Mark Jackson was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr.
*************************************************
Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend
13) Knicks 96, Celtics 92:
— Knicks finish 41-31, the #4 seed in the East
— Last time they made the playoffs? Eight years ago.
— Last year, Knicks ranked 27th in opponents’ field goal %age. This year? They rank #1
— Tom Thibodeau is an excellent coach.
12) Matchups for the NBA play-in tournament this week:
East:
— 7-8 game: Washington @ Boston
— 9-10 game: Charlotte @ Indiana
West:
— 7-8 game: Golden State @ LA Lakers
— 9-10 game: San Antonio @ Memphis
— Winner of the 7-8 games make the playoffs
— Loser of the 9-10 games is eliminated
— Winner of the 9-10 games play the loser of the 7-8 games, for the last spots.
11) Gambling can be stressful:
If you bet on the Brewers Sunday, they led Atlanta 8-0 after six innings- they took starter Freddy Peralta out of the game, figuring they’d coast home.
Then the Braves scored 7 runs in the top of the 7th, but Milwaukee held on to win, 10-9, not before inducing some heartburn in Brewer backers.
10) Gambling can be traumatic:
If you bet on Colorado Sunday, they led the Reds 6-0 after seven innings; they took starter Antonio Senzatela out after the first batter of the 8th inning reached base. Cincinnati went on to rally for an unlikely 7-6 win, avoiding a series sweep.
9) A’s 7, Minnesota 6— Can’t remember the last time I saw a team do less to score the winning run in the last inning.
— Batter reaches base on catcher’s interference.
— Next batter hits a tapper to the mound; pitcher throws to second, but the guy there is the 3B because of the shift— he isn’t used to turning double plays, and he misses the throw, which goes into centerfield. Runner goes to third base.
— Next pitch is a wild pitch, and the go-ahead run scores.
8) San Diego Padres are 14-1 when they score 5+ runs, 10-16 if they do not.
Arizona Diamondbacks are 17-6 when they score 5+ runs, 1-17 if they do not.
7) Since 2017, most home runs against one team:
26— Mike Trout, vs Seattle
24— Aaron Judge, vs Baltimore
23— JD Martinez, vs Baltimore
6) White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal is only 10-76 (.132) at the plate this season, but he’s also walked 29 times- his on-base %age is .388, which is really good.
5) Cubs’ pitching has been shaky on the road; they’re 1-4 in road games where they’ve scored 6 or more runs. Overall, Chicago is 6-12 away from Wrigley.
4) Jeremy Hefner is the Mets’ pitching coach; he pitched in 50 games for the Mets in 2012-13, starting 36 of them.
Odd Fact of the Day: At the plate, Hefner was only 2 for 52, but one of the hits was a home run, off Joe Blanton of the Phillies.
3) Washington State’s football program has a guy whose job title is: Director of Transfer Recruiting. This is the new wave in college recruiting, poaching kids from other schools, because teams are sure as hell trying to poach your players.
2) Other NBA playoff matchups:
— East: Miami-Milwaukee, Atlanta-New York
— West: Portland-Denver, Dallas-LA Clippers
1) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL: Mets, Cardinals, Giants Wild Card: Los Angeles @ San Diego
AL: Red Sox, White Sox, A’s Wild Card: Toronto @ HoustonLeave a comment:
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SUNDAY, MAY 16
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS
NYI at PIT 12:00 PM
NYI +110
U 5.0
+500 +500
MIN at VEG 03:00 PM
VEG -170
O 5.5
+500 +500
TB at FLA 07:30 PM
TB -125
O 5.5
+500 +500Leave a comment:
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61CALGARY -62 VANCOUVER
CALGARY is 8-14 ATS (-11.9 Units) against terrible defensive teams - allowing 3+ goals/game in the current season.
63NY ISLANDERS -64 PITTSBURGH
PITTSBURGH is 12-1 ATS (10.9 Units) in home games after playing 2 consecutive home games in the current season.
65TAMPA BAY -66 FLORIDA
FLORIDA is 34-17 ATS (13.8 Units) against mistake free teams - opponents average <=4 power plays/game in the current season.
67MINNESOTA -68 VEGAS
VEGAS are 26-4 ATS (19 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Sunday, May 16
NHL
Sunday, May 16
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Trend Report
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NY Islanders @ Pittsburgh
NY Islanders
NY Islanders is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 7 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing NY Islanders
Minnesota @ Vegas
Minnesota
Minnesota is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Vegas
Minnesota is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Vegas
Vegas
Vegas is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
Vegas is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games
Tampa Bay @ Florida
Tampa Bay
The total has gone OVER in 15 of Tampa Bay's last 20 games when playing Florida
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Tampa Bay's last 10 games when playing on the road against Florida
Florida
Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Florida is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games at home
Calgary @ Vancouver
Calgary
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games on the road
Calgary is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Vancouver
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Vancouver's last 9 games when playing at home against Calgary
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
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Sunday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in RBI:
33— JD Martinez Bos, Jose Abreu CWS
32— Jesus Aguilar, Mia
31— Trey Mancini Blt, Rafael Devers Bos
30— Mitch Haniger Sea, Yuli Gurriel Hst
29— Jared Walsh, LAA
28— Guerrero, Grichuk, Peralta
Quote of the Day
“Sometimes you have to go through the worst in order to get to the best.”
Anonymous
Sunday’s quiz
What well-known actor (now deceased) played A’s manager Art Howe in Moneyball?
Saturday’s quiz
Mark Jackson was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr.
Friday’s quiz
Roy Hobbs played for the New York Knights in Robert Redford’s baseball movie, The Natural.
************************************************** **
Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday
13) Tough day physically for some baseball stars:
— Bryce Harper has a bad shoulder, is day-to-day.
— JT Realmuto has a left wrist issue, is day-to-day.
— Corey Seager broke his right hand, is done for a while.
In a related issue, we’re all day-to-day.
12) Phillies have scored at least one first inning run 10 of their last 13 games, but with their two biggest stars banged up, that seems less likely to happen for a while.
11) Takes a lot of players for a team to make the playoffs in baseball, more than the 26 on a roster at one time. The 2012 A’s made an unlikely run to the playoffs with a lot of late-inning wins, one of which was when a guy named Brandon Hicks hit a walk-off homer vs Texas.
Hicks hit one of the biggest homers of that season for the A’s, but he only batted for them 70 times that whole season— a very unlikely hero.
10) Underrated TV channel is AMC, #254 on DirecTV. Did my writing tonight while watching Moneyball and A Few Good Men, two excellent movies.
9) Eagles-Cowboys have played on Sunday Night Football once every year since 2010, but this year they won’t, they’ll meet on Monday Night Football instead, in Week 3.
Sunday night games have become higher profile than the Monday night matchups; both those teams had losing records last year, which is probably why they got shuffled to Monday.
8) Albert Pujols is going to sign a deal with the Dodgers, to provide a bat off the bench; will he be their DH next year, when the universal DH probably kicks in for every team?
7) Last six times I’ve been to a McDonald’s (two different ones) the milkshake machine only worked once. This is a problem; their milkshakes are very good.
6) The Jimmy John’s commercials with Brad Garrett have become annoying; they’re on a lot, and they’re not funny.
5) I’ve been a big Bill James fan since I was in college; have always bought his books and read them. Don’t always agree with what he says, but he’s had a great impact on baseball, which is pretty awesome for a guy who was a security guard at a pork and beans company when he started writing those books.
In 1983, I wrote Bill James a letter and he answered me back, a hand-written note that is still around here somewhere. I’m wondering if/when things in baseball will start swinging back towards more traditional baseball thinking.
Will bullpens get worn out later this summer? Do starting pitchers need to be trained to go deeper into games? Is so much shifting a good idea? (Hopefully, shifting will be banned or greatly reduced soon).
4) Pirates 8, Giants 6— San Francisco led 6-2 in 7th inning, but Jacob Stallings hit a walk-off homer to send everyone home happy. Stallings’ father Kevin used to be the basketball coach at Vanderbilt and Pitt.
3) Tigers 9, Cubs 8— Chicago is 5-12 on the road; they’re going to be an interesting team to follow in July. Will they have a fire sale? Bryant/Rizzo would bring back a pretty good haul.
2) Astros 6, Rangers 5— Houston has won eight of its last ten games.
1) Six years ago today, we lost my dad, a very sad night. He was a great friend, an honest guy who loved to play golf and root for the Mets. I miss him every day.Leave a comment:
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SATURDAY, MAY 15
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS
VAN at EDM 03:30 PM
EDM -185
O 6.0
+500 +500
BOS at WAS 07:15 PM
BOS -125
U 5.5
+500 +500Leave a comment:
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45VANCOUVER -46 EDMONTON
EDMONTON is 26-6 ATS (17.5 Units) against poor defensive teams - opponents average 29.5+ shots on goal in the current season.
47BOSTON -48 WASHINGTON
BOSTON is 231-219 ATS (46.9 Units) in road games against good offensive teams - scoring 2.85+ goals/game since 1996.
NHL
Dunkel
Saturday, May 15
NHL
Saturday, May 15
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Trend Report
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Vancouver @ Edmonton
Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing on the road against Edmonton
Vancouver is 8-1 ATS in its last 9 games when playing on the road against Edmonton
Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Edmonton's last 5 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Edmonton is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games
Boston @ Washington
Boston
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Boston's last 5 games on the road
Boston is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Washington
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games at home
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
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Saturday’s 6-pack
MLB leaders in runs scored:
33— Ronald Acuna, Atl
32— JD Martinez, Bos
31— Chris Taylor LA/Bo Bichette Tor
29— Mark Canha, A’s
28— Kris Bryant, Cubs
27— Hampton, Kiner-Falefa, Ohtani, Rojas, Solak
Americans who have died from COVID-19: 583,938
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.
Quote of the Day
“The thought of playing for my dad was too good to pass up.”
5-star recruit Patrick Baldwin Jr., who chose to play basketball for his father at Milwaukee, instead of playing for Duke. Pat Baldwin Sr is 47-70 in four years as coach at Milwaukee; his son may save his job.
Saturday’s quiz
Who was coach of the Golden State Warriors before Steve Kerr?
Friday’s quiz
Roy Hobbs played for the New York Knights in Robert Redford’s baseball movie, The Natural.
Thursday’s quiz
Before moving to Tennessee Titans moved to Memphis and then Nashville, the Titans were the Houston Oilers.
************************************************** *
Saturday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….
13) We start today with good news; got my second vaccine shot Friday, and all is well. My left arm is a little sore; hell, some lady stuck a needle in it, but everything else is good.
The whole vaccine thing is a VERY efficient, simple operation; if you haven’t gotten yours, please do, so all of us can get our lives back to normal.
12) Since start of last season, Chicago White Sox are 23-1 vs lefty starting pitchers.
11) Cleveland hurler Zach Plesac has already been on the losing end of two no-hitters this season, but Thursday night in Seattle, Plesac took a no-hitter of his own into the 8th inning.
He didn’t get the no-hitter or a shutout, but he did get a 4-2 road win.
10) Modern baseball: Thursday night in Pittsburgh, Giants led the Pirates 3-0 in top of the 6th; their pitcher Anthony DeSclafani, was throwing a one-hit shutout, but when his time to bat came up with a couple of men on, Giants pinch-hit for him, despite his dominant pitcher to that point in the game.
DeSclafani faced 17 batters; more and more, teams don’t want their pitchers facing hitters three times in a game. It is a little weird to me, puts too much strain on the bullpen over the course of a six-month season.
9) Royals’ star Whit Merrifield has played in 344 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the major leagues.
8) Umpire Bill Miller is a pitcher’s best friend; he did the plate in a 1-0 game at Tampa Bay this week, and had batters on both sides mumbling. One walk, 23 strikeouts in the game.
7) On July 31, 2017, A’s traded Sonny Gray to New York for three prospects, two of whom have long since left Oakland; the third guy is P James Kaprelian, who made his first MLB start this week in Boston.
Kaprelian struggled out of the game, but gave up only one run in five IP, throwing 95 pitches in Oakland’s 4-1 win. It took almost four years, but the A’s finally got something out of that trade.
6) On December 3, 2018, this trade was made:
— Mets got 36-year old Robinson Cano, closer Edwin Diaz
— Mariners got OF prospect Jarred Kelenic, Jay Bruce, Justin Dunn and a couple journeyman pitchers.
Advantage, Mariners.
Kelenic debuted in the major leagues Thursday; last night, he homered and hit two doubles in Seattle’s 7-3 win over Cleveland. He looked really good, which could wind up making the Mets look really bad.
5) More and more, teams are starting to walk the leadoff hitter in the 10th inning, to create a force play, making it harder to bunt the go-ahead run to third base. Not sure if the new extra innings rule will survive after this year, but it is making people think.
4) Milwaukee P Corbin Burnes set a new MLB record when he struck out 52 batters before he walked someone this year.
Problem for Burnes, is, he’s started four games at home, and the Brewers were shut out in three of them. Go figure.
3) I’m wondering when a player disputes balls/strikes with an umpire, do they taunt the ump about robots taking their place someday? It is going to happen; there was a time when the umpires’ union was very powerful- for a long time, you couldn’t show instant replays of close calls on the scoreboards, but those days are long gone.
2) If the playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL- Mets, Cardinals, Giants. Wild Card: Dodgers @ Padres
AL- Red Sox, White Sox, A’s. Wild Card: Astros @ Indians
1) Owners at the Talladega NASCAR track in Alabama are offering people a free ride around the track in a race car, if they get the COVID vaccine; they’re offering free beer in Buffalo, savings bonds in West Virginia, entry into a lottery in Ohio.
It is pretty sad when people have to bribe you to get a shot that could save YOUR life.Leave a comment:
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FRIDAY, MAY 14
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS
TOR at WIN 08:00 PM
TOR -160
O 6.0
+500 +500
DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD
05/14/2021 0-0-0 0.00% +0 Detail
05/13/2021 2-4-0 33.33% -1200 DetailLeave a comment:
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43TORONTO -44 WINNIPEG
TORONTO is 11-0 ATS (11 Units) in road games vs. winning teams in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Friday, May 14
NHL
Friday, May 14
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Trend Report
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Toronto @ Winnipeg
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Toronto is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Winnipeg's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 18 of Winnipeg's last 25 games when playing Toronto
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leave a comment:
Leave a comment: