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Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds for the Byron Nelson golf tournament this week:
13-2— Brooks Koepka
16-1— Hideki Matsuyama
18-1— Jordan Spieth
20-1— Aaron Wise, Henrik Stenson
25-1— Marc Leishman
30-1— Patrick Reed, Keith Mitchell, Branden Grace
Quote of the Day
“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”
Margaret Mead
Wednesday’s quiz
What was the nickname of the old ABA team that played home games in Virginia, and had Julius Erving/George Gervin on it?
Tuesday’s quiz
2016 was the last time the NBA Finals went to a 7th game, when Cleveland beat Golden State.
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bulls (24-11, .686) have the best W-L %age in NBA Finals games. San Antonio (23-11, .676) have the next-best record.
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Wednesday’s List of 13: Mid-week musings……
13) PJ Tucker plays for the Rockets; he is 34 now. He is an important player for them, but only scored 7.3 ppg this season, shooting 37.7% on arc. He started every game, playing 34.2 mpg.
Winning teams have role players who flourish in that role; Tucker makes $8M a year, so he is obviously well compensated for that role.
For five years, from 2007-13, Tucker played pro ball in Israel, Ukraine, Germany and Italy. This is a guy who has paid his dues and probably could write a hell of a book.
12) When Jacob deGrom was playing shortstop in college for Stetson, he hit one home run; off of Chris Sale, who pitched for Florida Gulf Coast.
11) Quote of the Day, part II, from Kyrie Irving after shooting 7-22 in Monday’s loss:
“For me, I had 22 shots, I should’ve shot 30 … just the consistency of going at it, staying aggressive is always going to put us in a great position……”
10) Best over teams in baseball:
— Mariners 25-10-2, +13.57 units
— With Sox 19-12-2, +6.59
— Royals 21-14-1, +6.23
— Rangers 19-12-1, +5.04
— Cubs 19-13, +5.04
Best under teams:
— Reds 23-11-1, +10.69 units
— Blue Jays 21-14, +5.92
— Brewers 21-15-1, +5.22
— Tigers 18-13, +4.34
— Rays 19-14-1, +4.17
9) There are 65 Power Five college football teams; CBSSports.com ranked them #1-65 this week, with Rutgers coach Chris Ash #65, Colorado coach Mel Tucker #64. Tucker was interim coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, but hasn’t coached a game in Boulder yet.
I’m assuming Nick Saban is #1 and Dabo Swinney #2, but they haven’t released their top 25 yet. Thats sportswriting in May; stretch things out as much as possible.
Herm Edwards is ranked #54, which is interesting; the guy went 54-74 in the NFL. Lasting eight years as an NFL head coach should get him higher than #54 on the college list.
8) This will be the first time since 1996 that the Kentucky Derby winner won’t be running in the Preakness; Grindstone won the ’96 Derby, then never raced again because of injury.
7) Over last two years, San Diego’s Hunter Renfroe has pinch-hit with bases loaded three times; he has nine RBI in those AB’s, with two of the three hits walk-offs.
6) When Maximum Security was DQ’d at the Kentucky Derby Saturday, a woman from Ohio lost out on a $186,000 prize she would’ve won via a promotion through Rocket Mortgage.
5) Georgia Bulldogs have five top 100 recruits coming to Athens in the fall, so they figure to be a vastly improved team next season.
4) Start of Monday’s Giants-Reds game was delayed 18 minutes because of a swarm of bees that gathered near the seats behind home plate.
Giants-Reds split the four-game series, despite Cincinnati outscoring the Giants 24-2 in the first three innings of the four games.
3) College basketball transfer portal:
— James Bolden jumps from West Virginia to Alabama.
— Nevada poached Desmond Cambridge (15.7 ppg) from Brown.
— Marquette poached grad transfer Jayce Johnson (7.1 ppg) from Utah.
2) Get well soon to Mets’ broadcaster/former pitcher Ron Darling, who was diagnosed with treatable thyroid cancer recently. He is expected to return to TV sometime next month.
1) 51 years ago tonight, May 8, 1968, Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game for the A’s against Minnesota; he also knocked in three of the A’s runs in their 4-0 win.
Odds for the Byron Nelson golf tournament this week:
13-2— Brooks Koepka
16-1— Hideki Matsuyama
18-1— Jordan Spieth
20-1— Aaron Wise, Henrik Stenson
25-1— Marc Leishman
30-1— Patrick Reed, Keith Mitchell, Branden Grace
Quote of the Day
“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”
Margaret Mead
Wednesday’s quiz
What was the nickname of the old ABA team that played home games in Virginia, and had Julius Erving/George Gervin on it?
Tuesday’s quiz
2016 was the last time the NBA Finals went to a 7th game, when Cleveland beat Golden State.
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bulls (24-11, .686) have the best W-L %age in NBA Finals games. San Antonio (23-11, .676) have the next-best record.
*****************************
Wednesday’s List of 13: Mid-week musings……
13) PJ Tucker plays for the Rockets; he is 34 now. He is an important player for them, but only scored 7.3 ppg this season, shooting 37.7% on arc. He started every game, playing 34.2 mpg.
Winning teams have role players who flourish in that role; Tucker makes $8M a year, so he is obviously well compensated for that role.
For five years, from 2007-13, Tucker played pro ball in Israel, Ukraine, Germany and Italy. This is a guy who has paid his dues and probably could write a hell of a book.
12) When Jacob deGrom was playing shortstop in college for Stetson, he hit one home run; off of Chris Sale, who pitched for Florida Gulf Coast.
11) Quote of the Day, part II, from Kyrie Irving after shooting 7-22 in Monday’s loss:
“For me, I had 22 shots, I should’ve shot 30 … just the consistency of going at it, staying aggressive is always going to put us in a great position……”
10) Best over teams in baseball:
— Mariners 25-10-2, +13.57 units
— With Sox 19-12-2, +6.59
— Royals 21-14-1, +6.23
— Rangers 19-12-1, +5.04
— Cubs 19-13, +5.04
Best under teams:
— Reds 23-11-1, +10.69 units
— Blue Jays 21-14, +5.92
— Brewers 21-15-1, +5.22
— Tigers 18-13, +4.34
— Rays 19-14-1, +4.17
9) There are 65 Power Five college football teams; CBSSports.com ranked them #1-65 this week, with Rutgers coach Chris Ash #65, Colorado coach Mel Tucker #64. Tucker was interim coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011, but hasn’t coached a game in Boulder yet.
I’m assuming Nick Saban is #1 and Dabo Swinney #2, but they haven’t released their top 25 yet. Thats sportswriting in May; stretch things out as much as possible.
Herm Edwards is ranked #54, which is interesting; the guy went 54-74 in the NFL. Lasting eight years as an NFL head coach should get him higher than #54 on the college list.
8) This will be the first time since 1996 that the Kentucky Derby winner won’t be running in the Preakness; Grindstone won the ’96 Derby, then never raced again because of injury.
7) Over last two years, San Diego’s Hunter Renfroe has pinch-hit with bases loaded three times; he has nine RBI in those AB’s, with two of the three hits walk-offs.
6) When Maximum Security was DQ’d at the Kentucky Derby Saturday, a woman from Ohio lost out on a $186,000 prize she would’ve won via a promotion through Rocket Mortgage.
5) Georgia Bulldogs have five top 100 recruits coming to Athens in the fall, so they figure to be a vastly improved team next season.
4) Start of Monday’s Giants-Reds game was delayed 18 minutes because of a swarm of bees that gathered near the seats behind home plate.
Giants-Reds split the four-game series, despite Cincinnati outscoring the Giants 24-2 in the first three innings of the four games.
3) College basketball transfer portal:
— James Bolden jumps from West Virginia to Alabama.
— Nevada poached Desmond Cambridge (15.7 ppg) from Brown.
— Marquette poached grad transfer Jayce Johnson (7.1 ppg) from Utah.
2) Get well soon to Mets’ broadcaster/former pitcher Ron Darling, who was diagnosed with treatable thyroid cancer recently. He is expected to return to TV sometime next month.
1) 51 years ago tonight, May 8, 1968, Catfish Hunter threw a perfect game for the A’s against Minnesota; he also knocked in three of the A’s runs in their 4-0 win.
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