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**Udog** · 01-13-2021, 09:16 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

Odds to win the golf tournament in Hawai’i this week:
12-1— Simpson
14-1— Morikawa, English
16-1— Berger
18-1— Im
20-1— Matsuyama, Niemann
25-1— C. Smith

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 379,283
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

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Two lists today: re-running my favorite Batman villains

My 13 favorite Batman (TV) villains

13) Chandell (Liberace)— The gifted piano player was both Chandell (the piano player) and his twin brother Harry who it turns out, was the real villain.

Trivia: Two Batman villains also had roles in Magnum PI; Howard Duff (Cabala) played Magnum’s grandfather. Barbara Rush (Nora Clavicle) played Magnum’s Aunt Phoebe, a playwright who had Alzheimer’s, and was also in another earlier episode.

12) Bookworm (Roddy McDowell)— Appeared in two episodes; Bookworm’s crimes were inspired by literary works, well, because he likes books.

McDowell also appeared in the Batman animated series in the early 90’s.

11) Colonel Gumm (Roger C Carmel)— He loved the color pink and was obsessed with stamps; Colonel Gumm appeared in the two-episode crossover with The Green Hornet, with Bruce Lee as Kato and Van Williams as the Green Hornet.

Trivia: There were three different Mr Freeze’s; Eli Wallach, Otto Preminger, George Sanders.

10) Siren (Joan Collins)— Played a sidekick to The Riddler’s devious plan to take over Gotham City’s boxing industry, but she also wanted to uncover Batman’s true identity.

9) The Archer (Art Carney)— Ed Norton from The Honeymooners was also a Batman villain!!!

Archer’s character was based (loosely) on Robin Hood; his henchmen were Maid Marilyn, Big John, and Crier Tuck.

8) King Tut (Victor Buono)— Appeared in eight episodes; Buono supposedly loved playing the character because it allowed him the chance to overact, one of the aspects of the character that made King Tut so beloved by fans.

7) Marsha, Queen of Diamonds (Carolyn Jones)— Better known for playing Morticia Addams on The Addams Family, Ms Jones was in five episodes of Batman, joining Addams Family cast members John Astin, Ted Cassidy in making Batman appearances.

6) Egghead (Vincent Price)— When I was a kid, would often substitute (eggs-ellent) for excellent when talking to my family. For a little kid, that was eggs-citing. Vincent Price was awesome in this role, an egg-centric guy with a very strangely-shaped head.

5) Mad Hatter (David Wayne)— This villain was obsessed with getting his hands on Batman’s cowl, which of course didn’t happen.

Wayne also appeared in four movies with Marilyn Monroe.

4) Penguin (Burgess Meredith)—Is more famous for playing Rocky Balboa’s trainer Mickey, but Meredith appeared in 20 Batman episodes, most of any villain.

3) Catwoman (Julie Newmar)— Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt also played Catwoman, but Julie Newman was the best of the three; she was 5-11, a prima ballerina for the Los Angeles Opera who graduated high school when she was 15.

in 2004, her next-door neighbor Jim Belushi sued her for $4M alleging harassment and defamation of character, as a result of a dispute over leaf-blowing.

2) Joker (Cesar Romero)— Appeared in 19 episodes, 2nd-most of any villain. Romero refused to shave his mustache and you can see it under his white face paint.

Romero had a long, excellent career; he appeared in the first Oceans Eleven (1960).

1) Riddler (Frank Gorshin)— No one wore the green body suit with the big ???’s on it better than Gorshin, who had a long career as a TV guest star, appearing in CSI, Wonder Woman and the original Hawaii Five-O, among many other shows.

John Astin played The Riddler for two episodes, but of course he was way more famous as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family.

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Armadillo: Wednesday's Den: Mid-week musings…….

13) Being the #1 seed in the NFL playoffs is a big advantage; Chiefs/Packers both got last week off, got to rest their players while everyone else fought like hell to get to this weekend.

Over last seven years, in the divisional round of the playoffs, #1 seeds are 11-3 ATS, 10-3 as the favorite. Three years ago, the Nick Foles-led Eagles were an underdog in all three of their playoff games, as they won an unlikely Super Bowl title.

12) So far in the NBA this season, underdogs are 93-66 against the spread (58.5%).

Home underdogs are 37-32; home favorites are 34-56.

11) When pro/college football teams fall short of their expectations, there are often scapegoats; Seattle Seahawks told offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to take a hike Tuesday. Seattle was 34-18 in his three years as OC, but 1-3 in playoff games.

10) Chiefs play Cleveland this weekend, Patrick Mahomes vs Baker Mayfield.

In 2016, those two played in a college game; Oklahoma outlasted Texas Texas Tech 66-59. Mahomes threw for 734 yards (734!!!), ran for 85 more. Mayfield threw for 545 yards and seven TD’s. Imagine a team gaining 854 yards and LOSING- they converted 20-25 third down plays.

9) After going 0-10 this season, Louisiana-Monroe hired Terry Bowden as its new football coach, which shows a seriousness about moving up in the Sun Belt standings. Tuesday, Bowden hired former Arizona/Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez as the WarHawks’ new offensive coordinator, also a good sign. Now all they need are a lot of good players.

8) Alabama 85, Kentucky 65:
— Crimson Tide is off to its best start in SEC basketball since 1987.
— A 22-year old kid who was a walk-on for Kentucky last year passed away Monday night; he was very popular with his former teammates, which probably contributed to this score.

7) Oklahoma State 75, Kansas 70:
— Cowboys are only 3-3 in Big X, but their three losses are by total of 7 points.
— OSU scored the last eight points in this game.

6) Florida 72, Ole Miss 63:
— Gators ended this game on a 14-0 run, snapping a 2-game skid.
— Ole Miss lost five of its last seven games, after 4-0 start.

5) Michigan 77, Wisconsin 54:
— Wolverines are 11-0, have only one win by less than 10 points.
— Opponents are shooting only 38.3% inside the arc (#1).

4) Virginia Tech 74, Duke 67:
— Duke lost four of its last five visits to Blacksburg.
— Blue Devils are 2-3 in top 100 games, beating Boston College/Notre Dame.

3) USC 67, Cal-Riverside 62 OT:
— Riverside was 12-32 on the arc, Trojans 3-21.
— Riverside ran out to a quick 25-14 lead, damn near pulled a big upset here. USC blew a 65-59 lead with 0:59 left in regulation.

2) Northern Illinois 67, Akron 65:
— Huskies pull a big upset, get their first MAC win.
— NIU played their starting guards 40/38 minutes; they needed this win.

1) Tuesday was the 55th anniversary of the first airing of the classic TV show Batman, with Adam West as the caped crusader. I was six years old at the time; when you’re six years old and your name is Biff, the cartoonish opening credits “WHAP!!! BIFF!!! OOF!!!” were very cool.

Lot of famous people were guest villains; during the pandemic last spring, we ran thru our favorites. I’ll have to re-run that list soon. Anyway, if you can find Batman re-runs on TV, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it. Especially the opening credits.

**Udog** · 01-13-2021, 09:18 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Wednesday, January 13

**Udog** · 01-13-2021, 09:22 AM

43MONTREAL -44 TORONTO
TORONTO is 40-34 ATS (2.6 Units) in home games at home when the total is >=6 in the last 3 seasons.

49ST LOUIS -50 COLORADO
ST LOUIS are 205-201 ATS (-16.1 Units) at home when the total is 5.5 since 1996.

NHL
Long Sheet

Wednesday, January 13

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PITTSBURGH (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) at PHILADELPHIA (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) - 1/13/2021, 5:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
PHILADELPHIA is 51-34 ATS (+1.2 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 19-7 ATS (+11.5 Units) in a home game where the total is 6 or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
PHILADELPHIA is 4-3 (+2.3 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
PHILADELPHIA is 4-3-0 straight up against PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+1.0 Units)

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MONTREAL (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) at TORONTO (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) - 1/13/2021, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 40-34 ATS (-13.7 Units) in a home game where the total is 6 or more over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MONTREAL is 4-3 (+1.3 Units) against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
MONTREAL is 4-3-0 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
5 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+2.6 Units)

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CHICAGO (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) at TAMPA BAY (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) - 1/13/2021, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TAMPA BAY is 123-58 ATS (+201.0 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons.
TAMPA BAY is 23-7 ATS (+7.7 Units) vs. division opponents over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 3-1 (+0.7 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
TAMPA BAY is 3-1-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
2 of 3 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.0 Units)

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VANCOUVER (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) at EDMONTON (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) - 1/13/2021, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
VANCOUVER is 46-40 ATS (+95.5 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
VANCOUVER is 4-4 (+0.0 Units) against the spread versus EDMONTON over the last 3 seasons
EDMONTON is 4-4-0 straight up against VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
4 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+2.9 Units)

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ST LOUIS (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) at COLORADO (0-0-0-0, 0 pts.) - 1/13/2021, 10:35 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
ST LOUIS is 6-3 (+3.4 Units) against the spread versus COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
ST LOUIS is 6-3-0 straight up against COLORADO over the last 3 seasons
5 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.1 Units)

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NHL

Wednesday, January 13

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Trend Report
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Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 6-2 ATS in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Pittsburgh is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Philadelphia
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
Philadelphia is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games

Montreal @ Toronto
Montreal
Montreal is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Montreal's last 6 games when playing Toronto
Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Toronto's last 6 games when playing Montreal

Chicago @ Tampa Bay
Chicago
Chicago is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games
Chicago is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing Chicago
Tampa Bay is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago

Vancouver @ Edmonton
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games
Edmonton
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Edmonton's last 5 games
Edmonton is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games when playing at home against Vancouver

St. Louis @ Colorado
St. Louis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of St. Louis's last 6 games on the road
St. Louis is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games on the road
Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Colorado's last 10 games

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**Udog** · 01-13-2021, 09:25 AM

Best Bets, Score Predictions for Wednesday Jan. 13
Matt Blunt

Montreal Canadiens vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

Money-Line Odds: Montreal +118; Toronto -136
Total (Over-Under): 6.5

Score Prediction: Toronto 4 Montreal 2
Best Bet: Toronto ML

Thanks to the unique bubble format of expanded playoffs, the Montreal Canadiens had their season extended and found some success with their second chance.

As the #12 seed they got by a #5 Pittsburgh team that kind of got hosed in the format and played like they had no interest in making it a long stay inside the bubble. That's not to take anything away from what Montreal did in taking full advantage of their opportunity, but after a couple of beneficial additions in the offseason, it feels like the market is pushing a bit too much on the Canadiens from the start.

The Habs have the second best odds to win the North Division (+400) behind Toronto (+125), meaning there is a nice combination of talent on the ice and respect in the market, but I'm not sure we don't see Montreal play themselves into that role as the weeks go on.

Teams in every sport that add multiple new faces that are expected to be heavy contributors can struggle early on, and even knowing Toronto will be the public side, you know what you're getting with the Leafs.

Toronto's got the offensive talent that's never really out of a game, let alone Game 1 of the year where any notions of “slumping” or “on fire” just don't exist. I'm not sure we get Toronto this cheap in this matchup later on in the year if those +125 and +400 division prices hold true to form either.

It's still Opening Night, and the comfortable route with a known commodity, even in a public role, is sensible enough even if it's just for a baseline to base thoughts upon for Game 2. Win or lose.

St. Louis Blues vs Colorado Avalanche

Money-Line Odds: St. Louis +125; Colorado -148
Total (Over-Under): 5.5

Score Prediction: St. Louis 3 Colorado 2
Best Bet: Blues ML

Colorado enters this shortened season as the favorite to lift the Stanley Cup in the summer, and barring any serious injury issues, Colorado should be in the conversation come the summer. But if the concern with Montreal is playing themselves into their potential, Colorado's concern could be with turning the switch on and off at times.

Colorado knows how good they are, and know that they'll get their fair share of wins this season just by showing up. The market won't be bashful about their Colorado support this year on all shapes and forms, and the contrarian in me would prefer to fade that type of support when we are all guessing the most.

The price is probably right in the end, but it will get more expensive on the Avalanche before it doesn't in all likelihood, but I'll still take the Blues here.

St. Louis was the first team that had to try and defend a Stanley Cup title in the middle of a pandemic since the 1918-19 Toronto Arenas were tasked with that challenge.

Toronto finished with a 5-13 record that for a year that was split into two halves, good enough for last place in a three-team NHL. That was never going to be a good omen for the Blues, and they were the only team that played in the West round robin that got bounced in their playoff series.

With all that's gone on in the world that Blues cup victory feels like forever ago, but this is still basically the same team that went on that run, and the additions of Torey Krug and Mike Hoffman could have some huge returns if everything breaks right.

The Blues had also won six straight against this up-and-coming Avalanche team before this current three-game losing streak against Colorado, and one of those was during the round robin in the bubble. Those games are forgivable for all eight teams involved, and if there ever is a decent time to fade season-long favorites it would be early in the year – when perspective is high and they've yet to hit stride – or late in the year when they are coasting towards a top playoff seed.

Again, early in the season so no need to go wild, but would something like a 5-5 SU start out of Colorado surprise you before they rip off 10 of 14 or something like that?

The Blues are one of the better candidates to be the reason for a loss or two in that type of record (Colorado has LA, Anaheim, San Jose, Minnesota up next), and the heater for the team that's anointed the “next one” isn't always on right out of the gate.

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Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/13

Wednesday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/13

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