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**Udog** · 09-07-2016, 08:41 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

— Penn State is 0-8 vs spread on the road under James Franklin.

— Since Eagles traded Sam Bradford, they went from -7.5 to -4 this weekend against the Browns. Total dropped from 45 to 41.5.

— Detroit’s Justin Upton has 8 homers in his last fifteen games.

— Astros’ Marwin Gonzalez has 36 career HRs; 32 have come with the bases empty.

— Giants were 57-33 at the All-Star break; they’re 17-31 since.

— As a Rams fan, when I see them cut players who immediately get picked up by other teams, I smile. Our talent base has improved.

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Mid-week musings……..

13) Showtime has a reality show on Florida State football this season; FSU trailed 28-13 at halftime of their opener Monday nite, and alumnus Jameis Winston let loose in the locker room at halftime, reaming out the offensive line. Showtime’s cameras captured the whole thing.

Winston is 22 years old, the Tampa Bay Bucs’ starting QB; surprising that in a halftime that doesn’t allow that much time for adjustments, he felt free enough to lash out at his former teammates. No cursing that I remember (I saw the clip on Twitter); it was emotional and actually it was a decent coach’s speech and obviously, it worked.

12) Speaking of Florida State, reminds me of Winston’s last year with the Seminoles two years ago. I’m in Las Vegas the weekend FSU is playing Miami; I’m sitting in the sportsbook with a buddy and he knew I liked Florida State to win.

“Aren’t you going to bet on Florida State?” he asked.
“No, I’m waiting until they fall behind by 10 points, then I’ll bet them.”

Florida State had a weird habit that year of falling behind early, then rallying from behind to win, much like they did against Ole Miss Monday.

Sure enough once Miami got ahead (17-7, I think) I went up to the window and bet on Florida State and they won, I collected and looked smart for a few minutes (even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then).

In-game wagering is great fun; if you’re out in Las Vegas, it gives you a chance to put money on your opinion, even after the game has started.

11) NFL players who get put on the practice squad (I think it is 10 per team) make $7,000 a week, $119,000 if they last the whole year there.

10) Twins’ 2B Brian Dozier is on fire; he has 22 HRs since July 31; no one else in the big leagues has more than 12.

9) When Arizona Diamondbacks fire GM Dave Stewart after this season, keep in mind he traded Dansby Swanson, the first pick in LY’s draft, for pitcher Shelby Miller, who is 2-11, 6.59 this year. Arizona also sent OF Ender Inciarte to Atlanta and he’s having a good year for the Braves.

Just an awful trade, the Diamondbacks are having a depressing season and it is hard to imagine Stewart getting a new contract, which is too bad, as Stewart was a really good pitcher who helped the Oakland A’s win the ’89 World Series. But good lord, he has had a terrible time as Arizona’s GM.

8) Tennessee-Virginia Tech play football at Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend; 150,000 fans are expected. Bristol is 122 miles from Blacksburg, 113 miles from Knoxville. Someone’s making a boatload of money on this deal.

7) Astros’ OF George Springer was a 48th-round draft pick of the Twins as a high school senior, so he went to college at UConn instead. Three years later, he was the 11th pick in the whole draft.

First pick of the 48th round would be the 1,411th player taken, so Springer did an amazing job of improving his stock over a three-year period.

6) We talked last weekend about Houston Cougars coach Tom Herman and the $5M bonus he gets if Houston joins a Power 5 league. Herman’s agent is former NFL player Trace Armstrong, who was a defensive end for 15 years in the NFL. Pretty interesting career change there, player to agent.

5) Back to Florida State football for a second; coach Jimbo Fisher makes $5.1M a year!!!! LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron took a pay cut this year, from $1.5M to $1.2M and he’s not even the head coach.

4) Random college football thoughts, as far as college teams developing talent for the NFL:

— College coach’s job is to win games, to justify his $1M+ salary, not to develop pro players.
— That said, if Jameis Winston is an NFL star, it sure as hell helps Jimbo Fisher’s recruiting efforts.
— Players who play well on winning teams will get drafted; hell, guys who play well on lousy teams will get drafted.
— Not that long ago, Gus Malzahn, Art Briles, Hugh Freeze were high school coaches. Their heads have to be spinning at how much cash they are making.

3) Major league games and minor league games use different baseballs; this is completely stupid. I get that our big leagues and Japanese leagues use different baseballs (their baseballs are smaller) but for minor leaguers to have to adjust to a different (smoother surface, pitchers say) baseball is just plain dumb.

2) Topic of discussion on Mets’ games at various times this year has been whether or not modern players work too hard BEFORE THE GAME, which is why they get fatigued (mentally?) and need to be given “recovery days”, as the Marlins call them, during the season.

They watch film of that night’s pitcher, they lift weights, they hit in the indoor cage during the day. Keith Hernandez is adamant that players get to the ballpark too early each day and work too hard before the game

1– Monday night, I watched the Jon Gruden coaching session with Jared Goff for the first time on ESPN– it was done before the NFL Draft. Half hour show; Gruden was impressed with Goff, but he KILLED THE CAL OFFENSE and how many times they allowed the quarterback to get whacked by pass rushers.

Cal coaches couldn’t have been too excited by the show. Bears have several plays that are designed runs, but the QB has the option, if he sees LBs playing the run too aggressively, to keep the ball and throw a pass.

Problem is linemen are blocking for a running play and the QB is left open to getting his butt kicked if he decides to throw the ball. They showed some big plays Goff hit LY but he was on his back at the end of all of them.

**Udog** · 09-07-2016, 08:44 AM

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, September 7

Seattle @ New York

Game 651-652
September 7, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Seattle
111.200
New York
114.795
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
New York
by 3 1/2
164
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
New York
by 7 1/2
158 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Seattle
(+7 1/2); Over

Chicago @ Washington

Game 653-654
September 7, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago
114.246
Washington
109.716
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Chicago
by 4 1/2
170
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Chicago
by 2
166 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Chicago
(-2); Over

WNBA

Wednesday, September 7

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
SEATTLE vs. NEW YORK
Seattle is 5-20 SU in its last 25 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing on the road against New York
New York is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New York's last 5 games when playing at home against Seattle

7:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games on the road
Chicago is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games
Washington is 2-9 SU in its last 11 games

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**Udog** · 09-07-2016, 09:24 AM

WNBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, September 7

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SEATTLE (12 - 17) at NEW YORK (20 - 9) - 9/7/2016, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SEATTLE is 8-23 ATS (-17.3 Units) in road games on Wednesday since 1997.
SEATTLE is 34-57 ATS (-28.7 Units) off an upset win as an underdog since 1997.
SEATTLE is 109-80 ATS (+21.0 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game since 1997.
NEW YORK is 1-7 ATS (-6.7 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
NEW YORK is 3-2 against the spread versus SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
NEW YORK is 6-0 straight up against SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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CHICAGO (15 - 13) at WASHINGTON (11 - 17) - 9/7/2016, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 9-18 ATS (-10.8 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 19-30 ATS (-14.0 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 26-13 ATS (+11.7 Units) after a non-conference game over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 6-0 ATS (+6.0 Units) as a road favorite of 3 points or less over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 293-347 ATS (-88.7 Units) in all games since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 55-78 ATS (-30.8 Units) when playing with 2 days rest since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 182-224 ATS (-64.4 Units) vs. division opponents since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 1-7 ATS (-6.7 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent this season.
WASHINGTON is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) in home games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game after 15+ games over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 6-5 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 9-3 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
7 of 12 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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Wednesday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 9/7

Wednesday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 9/7

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