Da Bum's 2021 Major League Baseball Transactions, News, Notes, Picks Etc. !!

[StarDust Bum]

SATURDAY, MARCH 6
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

MIN at BOS 01:05 PM
MIN -105
+500

NYY at PIT 01:05 PM
NYY -150
+500

WAS at MIA 01:05 PM
MIA -110
+500

ATL at TB 01:05 PM
ATL +110
+500

PHI at TOR 01:07 PM
PHI +115
+500

CHW at CLE 03:05 PM
CHW -105
+500

KC at SF 03:05 PM
SF -130
+500

SD at LAD 03:05 PM
SD +110
+500

CHC at MIL 03:10 PM
MIL -130
+500

TEX at ARI 03:10 PM
ARI -130
+500

COL at LAA 03:10 PM
COL +105
+500

OAK at SEA 03:10 PM
OAK -110
+500

NYM at HOU 06:05 PM
NYM +100
+500

DET at BAL 06:05 PM
BAL -125
+500



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

Sunday’s 6-pack
Six best college basketball teams, at 2-point FG% (W-L record)

41.2%— Saint Peter’s (13-10)
41.7%— Michigan (19-2)
42.1%— USC (21-6)
42.4%— Jackson State (11-5)
42.6%— Houston (20-3)
42.9%— Cal-Irvine (16-8)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 520,518
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“There are no ongoing discussions. The (NBA’s) logo is iconic. … It doesn’t feel to me that this is the appropriate moment (to change it).”
NBA commish Adam Silver

Sunday’s quiz
What actor who was a star in Animal House also played the Vice President in the old TV series, The West Wing?

Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Little Big League, Ken Griffey Jr makes a game-saving catch to end the Minnesota Twins’ season.

Friday’s quiz
Terry Francona has managed three major league teams; the Indians, Red Sox and the Phillies.

************************

Sunday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Saturday

13) OVC tournament: Morehead State 86, Belmont 71
This game started at 8:00pm ET; these players had their COVID tests at 8:30 or 9:30am, 11 or so hours before the game, then had shootarounds, then went back to their hotels for the rest of the day. Not the ideal way to prepare for the biggest game of the year.

Last six years, Belmont is 91-15 regular season OVC games; they’ve only won the OVC tourney once in those six seasons, going 6-5 in OVC tournament games.

Morehead State is in the NCAA’s for the first time in ten years.

12) Tough day for #1-seeds in low/mid major tournaments: Texas State, Wagner, Navy, UMBC all got beat Saturday. Play-in games in Dayton in 10 days are going to have some odd teams playing. NCAA Tournament is more fun when higher seeds win the smaller leagues.

11) Oklahoma State 85, West Virginia 80:
— Cowboys won even though their star player (Cunningham) didn’t play (ankle).
— Oklahoma State won six of its last seven games.
— ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla may be campaigning to be the agent for OSU coach Mike Boynton; the last couple times he worked Cowboy games, he made Boynton sound like a combination of Dean Smith/John Wooden.
— Seeing how Boynton hired Cunningham’s brother as an assistant coach, paying him a reported $200,000/year, comparing him to Larry Brown would be more accurate.
— 30+ years ago, Kansas hired Danny Manning’s dad as an assistant coach; couple years later, Brown’s Jayhawks won the national title, led by Danny Manning. It is legal, and it happens a decent amount, but it doesn’t make you Dean Smith.

10) St John’s 81, Seton Hall 71:
— Pirates led this game, 18-0. Eighteen to nothing.
— Seton Hall lost its last four games (hello NIT??)
— St John’s won nine of its last 12 games.

9) Purdue 67, Indiana 58— Boilermakers have beaten Indiana nine times in a row; Archie Miller’s seat keeps getting hotter.

People on social media scoffed at me (imagine that???) for suggesting that Steve Alford would be a good coach for Indiana. He obviously played there; he’s been a good coach at five other D-I schools. He’d energize the fanbase, then all he’d have to do is win. A lot.

8) Notre Dame 83, Florida State 73— This score clinches the ACC regular season title for Virginia. Couple weeks ago, I was prepared to declare the Seminoles as my dark horse choice to win the national title, now I’m queasy. Florida State doesn’t have a star, that one guy who is a 100% cinch to get a basket/free throws, anytime they need one.

7) Upsets of the Day:
— Morehead State (+7) 86, Belmont 71
— Oklahoma State (+7) 85, West Virginia 80
— Appalachian State (+5) 76, Texas State 73, OT
— UAB (+4.5) 65, North Texas 61
— Providence (+4) 54, Villanova 52

6) MVC tournament:
— Loyola 65, Indiana State 49— Ramblers won 16 of their last 17 games.
— Drake 71, Missouri State 69— Drake is down two starters to injury; they split a pair of games with Loyola three weeks ago. Bulldogs didn’t have to play Friday because Northern Iowa had COVID issues, and that helped them in this difficult game against Missouri State.

5) Southern Conference tournament:
— #2/#3-seeds both got upset Saturday, leaving NC-Greensboro a clear path to their 2nd NCAA bid over the last 20 years.
— Either VMI/Mercer is going to be in the SoCon final; neither finished over .500 in conference games during the regular season.

4) Summit League tournament:
— South Dakota State 84, Omaha 71—
— South Dakota 86, Western Illinois 69— Finally, a league where the better teams win.

3) Sun Belt tournament:
— Appalachian State 76, Texas State 73 OT— Last September, Texas State fired Danny Kaspar, because of he was accused of using racially insensitive language toward his players. Kaspar had been at Texas State for seven years, going 45-22 the last two years.

This season, assistant Terrence Johnson led the Bobcats to an 18-7 record, 12-3 and top seed in the Sun Belt, but they stumbled in this game and now appear headed to the NIT.

2) WCC tournament:
— Saint Mary’s 52, LMU 47— James Naismith was turning over in his grave during this game; not a very good exhibition of offense.
— Pepperdine 78, Santa Clara 70— Waves play BYU Monday night; WCC smartly takes Sunday off, but mostly it is because BYU isn’t allowed to play games on Sundays.

1) America East tournament:
— UMBC/Vermont tied for the regular season title; they both lost Saturday, leaving Hartford and Mass-Lowell to play for the conference title next Saturday. Hartford is ranked #199, Lowell #217; winner will obviously go to Dayton for a play-in game. This is only second time in last six years the regular season champ didn’t win the conference tournament.

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, MARCH 7
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TB at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -120

TOR at DET 01:05 PM
TOR -125

PHI at NYY 01:05 PM
NYY -160

BAL at PIT 01:05 PM
BAL -110

HOU at STL 01:05 PM
HOU +105

BOS at ATL 01:05 PM
BOS +120

MIA at NYM 01:10 PM
NYM -160

CLE at OAK 03:05 PM
CLE +105

SF at CIN 03:05 PM
SF +105

LAD at TEX 03:05 PM
LAD -145

COL at CHW 03:05 PM
CHW -150

CHC at ARI 03:10 PM
CHC +105

SEA at LAA 03:10 PM
SEA +110

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, MARCH 7
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

TB at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -120

TOR at DET 01:05 PM
TOR -125

PHI at NYY 01:05 PM
NYY -160

BAL at PIT 01:05 PM
BAL -110

HOU at STL 01:05 PM
HOU +105

BOS at ATL 01:05 PM
BOS +120

MIA at NYM 01:10 PM
NYM -160

CLE at OAK 03:05 PM
CLE +105

SF at CIN 03:05 PM
SF +105

LAD at TEX 03:05 PM
LAD -145

COL at CHW 03:05 PM
CHW -150

CHC at ARI 03:10 PM
CHC +105

SEA at LAA 03:10 PM
SEA +110



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

Monday’s 6-pack
Six best college basketball teams, at 2-point FG% offense (W-L record)

64.4%— Gonzaga (24-0)
60.8%—Furman (16-9)
59.4%—Belmont (26-4)
58.0%— Loyola, Chi (24-4)
57.6%— Weber State (17-5)
57.4%— Colorado State (17-5)

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 523,430
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Fact of the Day
This is the first time since 1996 where no ACC team is ranked in the nation’s top 10, heading into the ACC tournament. Only 5th time it has ever happened.

Monday’s quiz
What was the name of the domed stadium where the Mariners/Seahawks used to play?

Sunday’s quiz
Tim Matheson was a star in Animal House and also played Vice President Hoynes in the old TV series, The West Wing.

Saturday’s quiz
In the movie Little Big League, Ken Griffey Jr makes a game-saving catch to end the Minnesota Twins’ season.

*****************************

Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports weekend……

13) An underrated aspect of this college basketball season is that EVERY SENIOR in the country can come back and play in college again next season. The better seniors will take their talents and try to make money playing pro ball, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Will be curious to see what I think will be a huge amount of player movement this spring/summer.

12) Liberty 79, North Alabama 75— Liberty won the Atlantic Sun title here; they had already clinched the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, because North Alabama just moved to D-I and isn’t eligible yet to play in March Madness.

Liberty has been in the A-Sun three years; they’ve won the league title all three years.

11) Michigan State 70, Michigan 64— This win makes the next week a little easier for fans, players and coaches in East Lansing. Would appear that this win gets the Spartans into the field of 68, but the more they do this coming week the better- playing Maryland Thursday afternoon in the Big 14 tournament is next on Michigan State’s calendar.

10) NCAA Tournament, like everything else, will be different this year; the second weekend of the tournament, usually Thursday-Sunday, will now be Saturday-Tuesday, with the regional finals being played Monday/Tuesday night, March 29-30.

9) USC 64, UCLA 63— Trojans swept their crosstown rivals this year; they’ll be the #2-seed in the Pac-12 tournament. UCLA lost its last three games and is 5-6 in its last 11 games, after a 12-2 start.

8) From 2006-08, under coach Ben Howland, UCLA made the Final Four three years in a row, going 97-17 those three years, but five years later, Howland got fired after a 25-10 season, saying his style of play wasn’t exciting enough. When a team wins seven national titles in a row, like UCLA did under John Wooden, the fanbase has unrealistic expectations.

In those three Final Four years, UCLA ranked #298-251-209 in tempo, but they went 97-17, so no one said anything. Howland’s last year, the 25-10 season, they were #35 in tempo, but they lost in the first round of the NCAA’s, and a change was made. They played faster, like people wanted, but they didn’t make the Final Four.. Some people are never happy.

7) My point is this: Mick Cronin is now UCLA’s coach; he is 36-20 at UCLA, 25-12 in Pac-12 games, solid numbers. But this is a fanbase who didn’t like Ben Howland’s style; here are the tempos that Mick Cronin’s teams have played the last eight years:

2021: #333 17-8 record (13-6 Pac-12)
2020: #325 19-12, 12-6 (no NCAAs)
2019: #338 28-7, 14-4 AAC (0-1 NCAA)
2018: $330 31-5, 16-2 (1-1)
2017: #330 30-6, 16-2 (1-1)
2016: #333 22-11, 12-6 (0-1)
2015: #339 23-11, 13-5 (1-1)
2014: #328 27-7, 15-3 (1-1)

Cronin went 6-9 in NCAA tourney games at Cincinnati, made one Sweet 16. At this time next year, the UCLA fanbase is going to start mumbling, if they aren’t already. Cronin wins a lot, his teams defend well, but fact of the matter is, he is no Ben Howland.

6) St Bonaventure-VCU are going to play in the A-14 championship game, but that game isn’t until Sunday in Dayton. Both teams are expected to make the NCAA Tournament, which will be held entirely in Indiana, and Dayton is close to Indiana, so the teams can get on a bus and go right from Dayton to their hotel where they’ll hunker down for the NCAA Tournament.

5) Florida basketball coach Mike White played college basketball at Ole Miss, where his roommate was teammate Keith Carter, who is now the athletic director at Ole Miss. Athletic director is a nice way of saying “lead fundraiser”; Carter raised a record $45.6M in cash contributions for the Rebels, in 2015-16.

Couple of very successful friends there; you wonder how many college roommates are both making six-figure salaries these days (White makes seven figures).

4) Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit Foxboro next season, which obviously is Tom Brady going back home to face his former employers. Would love to see the backroom negotiating with the TV networks who want to televise that game; it won’t be in Week 1- the Super Bowl champ opens the next season at home. But you know NBC/ESPN/FOX all want that game.

3) Speaking of which, apparently the NFL schedule will be released in May this year, a little later than usual. Schedule usually comes out before the draft, but with the COVID situation still developing, it makes sense to release the schedule a little later.

2) 31-year old Blake Griffin signed on with the Brooklyn Nets, after accepting a buyout from Detroit; Griffin has already earned $255M in his playing career and is due another $29.5M next year, so he is joining Brooklyn for the rest of this year, to try and win a championship.

1) Astros have injury issues in their pitching rotation; they signed Jake Odorizzi this weekend to a 2-year deal. Odorizzi has a 62-56 career record, was 15-7 for Minnesota in 2019- he started only four games LY, because of bruised ribs and a blister.

[StarDust Bum]

MONDAY, MARCH 8
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

NYM at WAS 01:05 PM
NYM +100

MIA at STL 01:05 PM
MIA +115

SEA at CLE 03:05 PM
SEA +115

ARI at SF 03:05 PM
SF -130

CHW at LAD 03:05 PM
LAD -155

TEX at CHC 03:05 PM
CHC -130

OAK at KC 03:05 PM
OAK +100

CIN at COL 03:10 PM
CIN +100

LAA at MIL 03:10 PM
MIL -130



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

MONDAY, MARCH 8
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

NYM at WAS 01:05 PM
NYM +100............5 - 9.......LOSER

MIA at STL 01:05 PM
MIA +115............7 - 7..........PUSH

SEA at CLE 03:05 PM
SEA +115................0 - 10......LOSER

ARI at SF 03:05 PM
SF -130.................2 - 2.......PUSH

CHW at LAD 03:05 PM
LAD -155..................0 - 8....WINNER

TEX at CHC 03:05 PM
CHC -130..............0 - 9..........WINNER

OAK at KC 03:05 PM
OAK +100............... 3 - 10......LOSER

CIN at COL 03:10 PM
CIN +100.................6 - 4.....WINNER

LAA at MIL 03:10 PM
MIL -130................9 - 10.....WINNER



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/08/20214-3-2 55.56% +500 Detail
03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

Tuesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Pac-12 tournament this week:
+150- USC
+200- Colorado
+350- Oregon
+400- UCLA
+2000- Stanford
+2500- Arizona State
+3300- Utah
+8000- Washington State
+10000- Oregon State
+20000- California, Washington

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 523,430
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“I might have to get into that space … it’s very humbling. I mean, it’s a great honor to have one of my cards sell for that much.”
Lakers star Anthony Davis, after his rookie card sold for $1.045M last month

Tuesday’s quiz
Where did Dak Prescott play his college football?

Monday’s quiz
Mariners/Seahawks used to play home games in the Kingdome.

Sunday’s quiz
Tim Matheson was a star in Animal House and also played Vice President Hoynes in the old TV series, The West Wing.

*******************

Tuesday’s Den: NBA trends at the halfway mark…….

Miami
— Won seven of last eight games SU.
— 5-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 6-3 ATS in last nine road games.
— Last three games stayed under the total.

Milwaukee:
— Won six of last seven games SU.
— 10-8-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 6-10 ATS as a road favorite.
— Under is 6-4 in their last ten games.

Minnesota:
— 0-5 SU/ATS since they changed coaches.
— Lost 13 of last 14 games SU, are 0-9 ATS in last nine.
— 6-9 ATS as a home underdog.
— Four of their last five games went over.

New Orleans:
— Lost three of their last four games SU.
— 2-8 ATS as a home favorite.
— 3-7 ATS in last ten road games.
— 12 of their last 14 games went over.

New York
— Won eight of last ten games SU.
— 6-1 ATS as a home favorite.
— 7-5 ATS in last dozen road games.
— Under is 7-0-1 in their last eight road games.

Oklahoma City
— 4-6 SU in their last ten games.
— 5-10 ATS as a home underdog.
— 8-3 ATS in last eleven road games.
— Under is 6-2 in their last eight games.

Orlando
— Lost their last five games SU.
— 5-7-1 ATS as a home underdog.
— 2-6 ATS in last eight road games.
— Last four road games stayed under total.

Philadelphia
— Won six of their last eight games SU.
— 13-6 ATS at home.
— 0-3-1 ATS as a road underdog.
— Over is 7-3 in their last ten road games.

Phoenix
— Won/covered 16 oof their last 19 games.
— 11-4 ATS as a home favorite.
— Covered eight of last nine road games.
— Over is 6-2 in their last eight home games.

Portland
— Won their last four games.
— 6-2 ATS in last eight home games.
— 12-6 ATS on the road this season.
— Over is 5-2 in their last seven home games.

Sacramento
— Lost 11 of their last 13 games SU/ATS.
— 2-6 ATS as a home favorite.
— 9-7 ATS on the road this season.
— 11 of their last 12 games went over.

San Antonio
— Spurs split their last eight games SU.
— They’re 3-6 ATS in last nine home games.
— Covered nine of their 13 road games.
— Under is 6-1-1 in their last eight home games.

Toronto
— Raptors lost four of their last five games.
— 6-10 ATS in Tampa, their temporary home.
— 8-3 ATS in their last 11 road games.
— Last four Toronto games went over.

Utah
— Jazz finished with a 1-3 road trip, after a 21-2 run.
— Utah is 13-0-1 ATS in its last 14 home games.
— Covered only one of last five road tilts.
— Over is 9-3 in their last twelve games.

Washington
— Won eight of their last eleven games SU.
— Covered five of last six home games.
— Covered five of last six road games.
— Four of last five series games stayed under.

[StarDust Bum]

TUESDAY, MARCH 9
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

BAL at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -140
+500

PIT at ATL 01:05 PM
ATL -155
+500

NYY at DET 01:05 PM
DET +140
+500

BOS at TB 01:05 PM
BOS +120
+500

PHI at TOR 01:07 PM
PHI +110
+500

STL at NYM 01:10 PM
STL +115
+500

CLE at TEX 03:05 PM
CLE -110
+500

SD at CHW 03:05 PM
SD +100
+500

OAK at CHC 03:05 PM
CHC -120
+500

SF at MIL 03:10 PM
SF +105
+500

COL at ARI 03:10 PM
COL +105
+500

KC at SEA 03:10 PM
KC +105
+500

WAS at HOU 06:05 PM
HOU -125
+500

LAD at CIN 08:05 PM
CIN +110
+500



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/08/20214-3-2 55.56% +500 Detail
03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

[SIZE=2]TUESDAY, MARCH 9
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

BAL at MIN 01:05 PM
MIN -140
+500

PIT at ATL 01:05 PM
ATL -155
+500

NYY at DET 01:05 PM
DET +140
+500

BOS at TB 01:05 PM
BOS +120
+500

PHI at TOR 01:07 PM
PHI +110
+500

STL at NYM 01:10 PM
STL +115
+500

CLE at TEX 03:05 PM
CLE -110
+500

SD at CHW 03:05 PM
SD +100
+500

OAK at CHC 03:05 PM
CHC -120
+500

SF at MIL 03:10 PM
SF +105
+500

COL at ARI 03:10 PM
COL +105
+500

KC at SEA 03:10 PM
KC +105
+500

WAS at HOU 06:05 PM
HOU -125
+500

LAD at CIN 08:05 PM
CIN +110
+500



DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/09/2021 6-7-1 46.43% -550 Detail
03/08/2021 4-3-2 55.56% +500 Detail
03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail
02/28/2021 4-9-0 30.77% -3270 Detail[

[StarDust Bum]

Wednesday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the Big 14 tournament this week:
+150- Michigan
+350- Illinois, Iowa, Ohio State
+1000- Purdue
+1500- Wisconsin
+2500- Rutgers
+3500- Michigan State
+5000- Maryland, Minnesota
+6600- Indiana
+20000- Northwestern
+30000- Nebraska

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 525,117
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“I don’t really like stats. Exit velocity. I’m more of, exit hits……I dropped out as a sophomore, Look where I am now. I’m OK.”
Bryce Harper

Wednesday’s quiz
Before becoming head coach at Duke, where was Mike Krzyzewski the head coach?

Tuesday’s quiz
Dak Prescott played his college football at Mississippi State

Monday’s quiz
Mariners/Seahawks used to play home games in the Kingdome.

********************

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….

13) Gonzaga 88, BYU 78:
— BYU led this game 53-41 at halftime.
— Gonzaga outscored BYU 18-5 on foul line.
— Gonzaga made 12-26 on arc, BYU 11-28.

One of the first questions I’ll be asking myself Sunday night, after the NCAA brackets come out, is whether Gonzaga has been tested enough this season. They haven’t won a game by single digits since December 2 vs West Virginia. The WCC isn’t as good as it usually is, and the Zags have breezed thru this season, while other leagues are way more competitive.

Baylor-Michigan-Illinois have had lot of tough games; it has to make you a better team.

12) Dallas Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott signed a 4-year, $160M deal, $123M guaranteed. By way of comparison, and without any editorial comment, here are some facts:

Prescott: 42-27 regular season record, 1-2 in playoffs
Jared Goff: 42-27 regular season record, 2-3 in playoffs, which doesn’t include his win in relief at Seattle in this year’s playoffs.

11) Interesting discussion on Mets’ TV the other day about whether a team can improve a lot on defense, without changing the players who are in the field.

Was reminiscent of Troy Aikman saying on NFL broadcasts how quarterbacks cannot learn to become more accurate passers. Aikman believes that once you get to the NFL level, you are what you are, though Buffalo Bill fans would bring up Josh Allen and dispute that.

Bottom line is, Keith Hernandez/Ron Darling didn’t paint an optimistic picture of the Mets’ defense for this season.

10) Last Friday, Troy State upset Texas-Arlington 91-86 in the Sun Belt tournament, which on the surface is no big deal, but there is an interesting back story.

From 2007-18, Scott Cross was Tex-Arlington’s coach; the last three years he was there, UTA went 72-33 overall, 37-15 in Sun Belt games. Damn good record, but they fired Cross because he didn’t win make the NCAA tournament— he made it once, in 2008, Cross’ second year there.

Since they told Cross to take a hike, Tex-Arlington is 44-47 overall, 31-26 in Sun Belt games. Not exactly an upgrade.

I’m guessing when Troy State beat UTA last week, their coach took special satisfaction in the win, seeing how that coach was Scott Cross.

9) I watched Hoosiers for the 50th or so time the other day; watching the credits at the end, they thanked the governor of Indiana, who at the time was a guy named Robert Orr.

Bobby Orr was the governor of Indiana? I thought he was a Canadian!!! (Its a joke)

8) Miami Marlins used 61 players in 60 games last year, 37 of them pitchers; their spring training must be a mess this year, trying to whittle down those 61 guys down to a roster of 26 players. Don Mattingly did a great job in a weird season last year; choosing the right guys for a 162-game season is a much different dilemma.

7) Angels’ broadcaster Jose Mota played one of the Detroit Tigers in the 1999 baseball movie, For Love of the Game, with Kevin Costner. Mota’s character makes a great play to preserve Billy Chapel’s perfect game; he and Mark Gubicza were talking about it on the Angels’ broadcast the other night. Mota said it was an easier play to make, since he read the script and knew where the ball was going to be hit.

Looking at the Angels’ website, they haven’t filled Victor Rojas’ play-by-play slot yet; they should choose Mota. He and Gubicza have a good chemistry.

6) Last season, 12 major league umpires opted out of working, because of COVID; at least three of them are back this year. The Athletic did an interesting article, talking to Phil Cuzzi, Gerry Davis and Brian Gorman about coming back to work and sitting out last year.

Davis has umpired 4.957 major league games; only three umps have gotten to 5,000 games, so that’ll be a big deal when Davis gets to 5,000.

Umpire Brian Gorman’s late wife was a Los Angeles Times staff photographer and picture editor who was a two-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize.

5) Today is Wednesday of Championship Week, and there are already 300+ names in the college basketball transfer portal. People who sell game programs are going to clean up next year. Guys who write Blue Ribbon Yearbook are going to get headaches. Lot of kids jumping from team-to-team.

4) Colorado Rockies’ 1B CJ Cron is playing for his fifth time in the last five years; he started his career playing four years for the Angels, then went to Tampa Bay in 2018, Minnesota the next year, Detroit last year, and now Colorado.

He hit 55 homers in 2018-19; curious to see how many at-bats he gets this season.

3) NHL will be back on ESPN starting next season; curious to see if the league gets its own daily half-hour show, like the NBA has now. ESPN had forgotten about hockey since they last showed games in 2004. Good news for Steve Levy and Berry Melrose.

2) Turned on the TV when I woke up the other day, and all they’re talking about it is the royal family in England. I don’t give a rat’s ass about the royal family. Seriously, don’t want to hear one word about them, and I was an avid fan of Suits on USA Network, so I’m familiar with Meghan Markle’s work. She married a prince, good for her. Don’t want to hear about it.

Only Royals I care about are Whit Merrifield and Carlos Santana, Kansas City Royals.

1) I was fiddling around on the Interweb at 4am the other night when it dawned on me that in most years, this is my favorite two weeks of the whole year, conference tournaments this week, the NCAA’s next week. Watching basketball and eating pizza, good times.

The last year has seemed 10 years long; things are slowly getting better— several of my friends have gotten their vaccines and that’s a good thing. Watching basketball all week will also be a good thing— we didn’t get to do that last year. Getting back to normal will be the best thing.

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

MIN at TB 01:05 PM
MIN +115
+500

TOR at BAL 01:05 PM
TOR -130
+500

DET at PHI 01:05 PM
DET +120
+500

STL at WAS 01:05 PM
STL +110
+500

ATL at BOS 01:05 PM
ATL -110
+500

LAA at CLE 03:05 PM
LAA +115
+500

CHC at SF 03:05 PM
SF -120
+500

CIN at KC 03:05 PM
CIN +100
+500

MIL at OAK 03:05 PM
MIL +110
+500

TEX at SEA 03:10 PM
SEA -130
+500

SD at COL 03:10 PM
SD -130
+500

HOU at MIA 06:05 PM
MIA -110
+500

PIT at NYY 06:35 PM
PIT +175
+500

ARI at LAD 08:05 PM
LAD -210
+500

[StarDust Bum]

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

MIN at TB 01:05 PM
MIN +115
+500

TOR at BAL 01:05 PM
TOR -130
+500

DET at PHI 01:05 PM
DET +120
+500

STL at WAS 01:05 PM
STL +110
+500

ATL at BOS 01:05 PM
ATL -110
+500

LAA at CLE 03:05 PM
LAA +115
+500

CHC at SF 03:05 PM
SF -120
+500

CIN at KC 03:05 PM
CIN +100
+500

MIL at OAK 03:05 PM
MIL +110
+500

TEX at SEA 03:10 PM
SEA -130
+500

SD at COL 03:10 PM
SD -130
+500

HOU at MIA 06:05 PM
MIA -110
+500

PIT at NYY 06:35 PM
PIT +175
+500

ARI at LAD 08:05 PM
LAD -210
+500


DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

03/10/2021 4-9-1 32.14% -2850 Detail
03/09/2021 6-7-1 46.43% -550 Detail
03/08/2021 4-3-2 55.56% +500 Detail
03/07/2021 3-9-1 26.92% -3625 Detail
03/06/2021 4-7-1 37.50% -2300 Detail
03/05/2021 7-5-2 57.14% +900 Detail
03/04/2021 7-6-1 53.57% +225 Detail
03/03/2021 5-7-2 42.86% -1775 Detail
03/02/2021 7-4-3 60.71% +1575 Detail
03/01/2021 1-4-2 28.57% -1850 Detail

[StarDust Bum]

Thursday’s 6-pack
Odds to win the PLAYERS Championship this week:
12-1— Dustin Johnson
13-1— Bryson Dechambeau, Rory McIlroy
15-1— Jon Rahm
16-1— Justin Thomas
20-1— Morikawa, Schauffele, Simpson
24-1— Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland

Americans who have died from COVID-19: 527,950
PLEASE wear a mask (over your nose/mouth) when you go out.

Quote of the Day
“……..fear and desperation are running neck and neck as the prevailing sentiment within the Bears’ front office right now, as its criminal mismanagement of the quarterback position has come to a crest with few easy ways out.”
Jason LaCanfora, CBS Sports

Thursday’s quiz
Who was manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks when they won their only World Series title?

Wednesday’s quiz
Before becoming head coach at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski was the head coach at West Point.

Tuesday’s quiz
Dak Prescott played his college football at Mississippi State

**********************

Thursday’s Den: Nobody asked me, but…….

13) Butler-Xavier, tied 59-all with 0:24 left at the Big East tournament. FS1 shows how Xavier is on the NCAA bubble and needs to win this game.

FS1 announcer: “This would be a bad loss for Xavier. Not to speak disparagingly of Butler, but this would be a bad loss.”

Hahaha. Can’t have it both ways, chief. If you say losing to Team A is a bad loss, then you’re speaking disparangly of Team A. No way around it.

Butler 70, Xavier 69 OT— Bad loss for Xavier, which lost six of its last eight games.

12) ACC tournament:
— Syracuse 89, NC State 68— Syracuse was 3-0 against the Wolfpack this season.
— Miami 67, Clemson 64— Hurricanes played seven guys yesterday. Seven.
— North Carolina 101, Notre Dame 59— UNC-Virginia Tech is a good game today.

11) Big X tournament:
— Kansas State 71, TCU 50— Wildcats won four of last five games, after an 0-13 skid.
— Oklahoma 79, Iowa State 73— Cyclones didn’t win a conference game this year.

10) Big 14 tournament:
— Minnesota 51, Northwestern 46— Gophers snap a 7-game skid here; they say Richard Pitino’s job is in jeopardy, and San Diego State’s Brian Dutcher would be their target to take Pitino’s place. Dutcher’s dad coached Minnesota in the early 80’s.

Here’s my proposal, and I’ve said this before: Louisville has an assistant coach named Luke Murray, who is Bill Murray’s son. If you’ve ever seen the movie Caddyshack, you remember the tense relationship Bill Murray’s character had with gophers on the golf course.

Having Bill Murray’s son being head coach of the Minnesota Gophers would open up a huge pool of possibilities for great TV commercials. Just an idea.

9) MAAC tournament:
— Iona 55, Siena 52— Rick Pitino gets his Gaels into the MAAC semi-finals, upsetting the top-seeded Saints.
— Fairfield 79, Monmouth 60— Pretty big upset, but Stags have won four of last five games.

8) Mountain West tournament had some sanity; all three favorites won Wednesday and two of them covered the spread. 2-seed Utah State gets to play UNLV on the Rebels’ home court Thursday.

7) Upsets of the Day:
— Rice (+9.5) 72, Marshall 68
— California (+8) 76, Stanford 58
— Miami (+8) 67, Clemson 64
— Fairfield (+8) 79, Monmouth 60
— Butler (+6) 70, Xavier 69 OT
— Northern Arizona (+6) 77, Portland State 66

6) Pac-12 tournament:
— Utah 98, Washington 95— Utes led by 19 with 5:08 left, hung on for dear life. Utah made 14-26 on the arc, shot 66.7% inside arc and only won by 3 points. Yikes.
— Cal 76, Stanford 58— Wheels fell off down the stretch for Stanford; they lost their last five games, finishing 14-13 after an 8-3 start.

5) LaMarcus Aldridge will be leaving the San Antonio Spurs; Gregg Popovich had nice things to say about Aldridge the person, but the team had been faring better when Aldridge was off the floor, so they’re going to trade him, and he’ll be away from the team until that happens.

Aldridge is a free agent this summer; he is averaging only 13.7 ppg, the fewest he’s scored since his rookie season, and only 4.5 rebounds/game, a career-low.

4) NFL salary cap is going down 8% next season, first time in a decade the cap hasn’t gone up.

Free agency starts March 17; NFL will be fighting for headlines with the NCAA Tournament.

3) Kansas Jayhawks fired their football coach the other day; they fired their athletic director yesterday. When you hire a new coach and the team goes 3-18 over two years, the wealthy boosters get queasy about coughing up more money. Rich people aren’t patient.

2) Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw will be using a new baseball glove this season for the first time since 2009. Dodgers won the World Series, Kershaw retired his glove. Guess that means he isn’t superstitious.

1) To me, today (Thursday) is the best college basketball day of the year; 15 hours full of games from all over the country. A good to day to relax, eat pizza and watch a lot of ball. Enjoy.

[StarDust Bum]

THURSDAY, MARCH 11
GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

BOS at MIN 01:05 PM
BOS -115
O 8.0

NYY at PHI 01:05 PM
NYY +105

BAL at PIT 01:05 PM
BAL +130
O 9.0

WAS at MIA 01:05 PM
MIA +135

TB at ATL 01:05 PM
TB +135

DET at TOR 01:07 PM
TOR -175

OAK at TEX 03:05 PM
OAK -120

CLE at SD 03:10 PM
CLE +140

SF at LAA 03:10 PM
SF +140

CHC at COL 03:10 PM
COL +115

KC at MIL 03:10 PM
KC +110
O 8.0

NYM at HOU 06:05 PM
NYM -140

SEA at LAD 08:05 PM
LAD -200

CHW at CIN 08:05 PM
CHW -105