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Friday’s Den: Random stuff with weekend here……..
— Started my college football research this week; last couple of football seasons have been weird for me, with the pandemic last year making it unusual for everyone, after my retina detached in October 2019, which screwed up the rest of that season for me.
I’ll be posting some notes on college football from now until Labor Day; we start today with some stuff from the SEC. I’m told they really like college football in the south.
— LSU went 5-5 LY, despite a +9 turnover ratio. They overhauled their coaching staff over the winter. Problem is, Joe Burrow lives in Cincinnati now. Ed Orgeron is a way better recruiter than he is a tactician; his new coordinators will need to be sharp guys.
— Kentucky had a +10 turnover ratio; they went 4-6 in the regular season, but somehow made it to a bowl game, where they beat NC State 23-21.
— Alabama also had a +10 turnover ratio; they won the national championship. Crimson Tide has only three starters back on offense this year.
Four new head coaches in the SEC this year:
Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
— Bad news for Ole Miss: they only have four starters back on defense.
— Good news for Ole Miss: their defense sucked LY; it’ll be better with new starters.
As the better college football magazines come out later this month, I’ll post better info, but we’re starting slow, which is fine, since we have a lot of time until the season starts.
One quick Pac-12 note; Stanford started last year 0-2, then won its last four games, by a total of 10 points:
— won 24-23 @ California
— won 31-26 @ Washington
— won 27-24 @ Oregon State
— won 48-47 @ UCLA, in OT
They lost their only home game LY, 35-32 to Colorado.
— Willie Adames was hitting .197 when Tampa Bay traded him to Milwaukee; in his first 18 games for the Brewers, he’s hitting .308, and has been an offensive spark.
— In 2015, Matt Harvey was 13-8, 2.71 in 29 starts for the Mets, when they lost the World Series to Kansas City. He was a big deal in New York City, the Dark Knight. Long time ago.
Since then, Harvey is 29-50 in the major leagues; his ERA the last three years: 7.09, 11.57, 7.41 In his last seven starts this year, he’s allowed 36 runs in 23.2 innings pitched. Why is he still in the major leagues?
— Minnesota 7, New York 5— Josh Donaldson tied it with a 9th inning homer, Hector Cruz walked it off two batters later with another one. Aroldis Chapman faced four hitters; they all scored.
— Arizona Diamondbacks fired their hitting coaches; you lose 19 road games in a row, and heads are going to roll. Doubtful that Arizona’s pitching is the hitting coaches’ fault, but you never know.
— ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian, on base running in the big leagues these days: “……..bad baserunning, the worst I can remember in the 41 years that I have covered the game.”
Kurkjian isn’t an overly critical guy; those words carry some weight.
Dusty Baker agrees: “Baserunning is terrible today. The two things we need the most work on is outfielders throwing and baserunning. Baserunning is just horrible.”
— White Sox 2B Nick Madrigal tore his right hamstring, could be out for the year.
— Bucks 86, Nets 83— NBA offices had to be relieved with this score; they need some series to be interesting, especially one with a New York City team in it. Nets still lead series 2-1.
— Jazz 117, Clippers 111– Donovan Mitchell has scored 82 points in first two games of this series, which Utah won despite PG Mike Conley being out with an injury.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Mil or Cubs, Giants. Wild Card: Padres @ Dodgers
AL— Rays, White Sox, A’s Wild Card: Astros @ Red Sox
— Started my college football research this week; last couple of football seasons have been weird for me, with the pandemic last year making it unusual for everyone, after my retina detached in October 2019, which screwed up the rest of that season for me.
I’ll be posting some notes on college football from now until Labor Day; we start today with some stuff from the SEC. I’m told they really like college football in the south.
— LSU went 5-5 LY, despite a +9 turnover ratio. They overhauled their coaching staff over the winter. Problem is, Joe Burrow lives in Cincinnati now. Ed Orgeron is a way better recruiter than he is a tactician; his new coordinators will need to be sharp guys.
— Kentucky had a +10 turnover ratio; they went 4-6 in the regular season, but somehow made it to a bowl game, where they beat NC State 23-21.
— Alabama also had a +10 turnover ratio; they won the national championship. Crimson Tide has only three starters back on offense this year.
Four new head coaches in the SEC this year:
Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
— Bad news for Ole Miss: they only have four starters back on defense.
— Good news for Ole Miss: their defense sucked LY; it’ll be better with new starters.
As the better college football magazines come out later this month, I’ll post better info, but we’re starting slow, which is fine, since we have a lot of time until the season starts.
One quick Pac-12 note; Stanford started last year 0-2, then won its last four games, by a total of 10 points:
— won 24-23 @ California
— won 31-26 @ Washington
— won 27-24 @ Oregon State
— won 48-47 @ UCLA, in OT
They lost their only home game LY, 35-32 to Colorado.
— Willie Adames was hitting .197 when Tampa Bay traded him to Milwaukee; in his first 18 games for the Brewers, he’s hitting .308, and has been an offensive spark.
— In 2015, Matt Harvey was 13-8, 2.71 in 29 starts for the Mets, when they lost the World Series to Kansas City. He was a big deal in New York City, the Dark Knight. Long time ago.
Since then, Harvey is 29-50 in the major leagues; his ERA the last three years: 7.09, 11.57, 7.41 In his last seven starts this year, he’s allowed 36 runs in 23.2 innings pitched. Why is he still in the major leagues?
— Minnesota 7, New York 5— Josh Donaldson tied it with a 9th inning homer, Hector Cruz walked it off two batters later with another one. Aroldis Chapman faced four hitters; they all scored.
— Arizona Diamondbacks fired their hitting coaches; you lose 19 road games in a row, and heads are going to roll. Doubtful that Arizona’s pitching is the hitting coaches’ fault, but you never know.
— ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian, on base running in the big leagues these days: “……..bad baserunning, the worst I can remember in the 41 years that I have covered the game.”
Kurkjian isn’t an overly critical guy; those words carry some weight.
Dusty Baker agrees: “Baserunning is terrible today. The two things we need the most work on is outfielders throwing and baserunning. Baserunning is just horrible.”
— White Sox 2B Nick Madrigal tore his right hamstring, could be out for the year.
— Bucks 86, Nets 83— NBA offices had to be relieved with this score; they need some series to be interesting, especially one with a New York City team in it. Nets still lead series 2-1.
— Jazz 117, Clippers 111– Donovan Mitchell has scored 82 points in first two games of this series, which Utah won despite PG Mike Conley being out with an injury.
— If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t):
NL— Mets, Mil or Cubs, Giants. Wild Card: Padres @ Dodgers
AL— Rays, White Sox, A’s Wild Card: Astros @ Red Sox
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