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Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack
— Northwestern 67, Michigan 65— Wildcats win on length-of-court OB pass for a layup with 0:01.3 left. Is that the win that gets Northwestern in the NCAA’s for the first time?
— SE Missouri 78, Tennessee St 75 OT— Overtime drama in the OVC tourney.
— Murray State 85, Tennessee Tech 84, 2OT— Racers’ PG took 40 shots (15-40), scored 41 points, but hit a 28-footer to win the game in double overtime. Fun game to watch.
— Florida 78, Arkansas 65— Underrated Gators are 24-6.
— Kansas State 75, TCU 74— Battle for 6th place and a bye in Big X tournament.
— Looks like Kevin Durant will miss the rest of the regular season; playoffs are roughly seven weeks away.
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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud……
13) Why would anyone buy tickets to watch the Philadelphia 76ers play? They stink every year (103-284 the last five years) and then they draft young players who rarely play.
— Ben Simmons, zero NBA games (of a possible 59)
— Joel Embiid (31 games, of a possible 223)
— Jahlil Okafor (94 games, of a possible 141)
Karl-Anthony Towns has played in all 142 of Minnesota’s games since he’s been there. Is it that difficult to identify healthy players?
Sacramento’s TV guys actually referred to Towns playing in every game the other night, as if it were an unusual gift.
12) White Sox 1B Jose Abreu had to leave Sox camp this week to go to Miami and testify in a smuggling/conspiracy trial against his old agent. Abreu testified that he disposed of a phony passport by eating it on an airplane while en route to America. Oy.
Abreu is also the first baseman on my fantasy team, so hopefully this distraction is behind him.
11) Speaking of my fantasy baseball team, I added Phillies catching prospect Jorge Alfaro last week, so now I’ll have to watch Colombia’s games in the World Baseball Classic, since he is on their squad. Alfaro will start this year in AAA, is supposed to be a quality hitter.
10) As for the 4:30am game Monday between Israel and Korea, um…..no thanks. Even I have to sleep sometime.
9) Love having spring training games on in the house during the day; Padres were on Tuesday with Don Orsillo/Mark Grant on the call. Always good to hear laughter on your TV.
8) Redskins’ QB Kirk Cousins will be paid $1,408,447 PER GAME next season.
7) This is my annual reminder that it must suck to have a birthday on February 29; you get a birthday once every four years. When do people celebrate their birthday the other three years?
The most famous people I can find with this birthday are motivational speaker Tony Robbins, hockey player Cam Ward and rapper Ja Rule. Deceased stars Dennis Farina and Dinah Shore were also born on February 29.
6) Best of luck today to Angels’ SS Yunel Escobar, who is taking his US Citizenship Test today in Miami. It is GOOD that people from other countries WANT TO LIVE HERE.
5) Speaking of the Angels, their radio guys (simulcast on TV) were killing the Padres’ roster the other day; San Diego was 68-94 LY. Angels’ guys came out and said it is doubtful the Padres would win that many this year. Unusual to hear teams get ripped on TV.
4) Saturday, Colorado State visits Nevada in what is a showdown for the regular season title in the Mountain West. Teams haven’t met yet this season.
There isn’t any tangible advantage to winning the regular season title; conference tourney is at UNLV no matter what, but neither CSU or Nevada has won that many hoop titles so it is a big deal to them, which makes the game Saturday a good one to watch.
3) What are the three best free-throw shooting leagues in America?
1- Summit League, 74.2%
2— Southern Conference, 73.4%
3— Ohio Valley Conference, 73.3%
Worst free-throw shooting league? Sun Belt, at 68.1%
2) What are the three best 3-point shooting leagues in America?
1— Summit League, 39.6%
2— ACC, 37.2%
3— Pac-12, 37.0%
Worst 3-point shooting league? WAC, at 32.3%
Pretty clear that the Summit League is the league with the best shooters.
1— This is from former Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, talking about when Nick Saban came to his house to recruit him:
“Coach Saban isn’t going to sit there, and put on a big smile, and promise you this and that. He isn’t going to tell you that you’re a surefire starter, or an All-SEC shoo-in, or a first-round NFL pick. He isn’t going tell your mom, “Wow … this has to be the best pot roast I’ve ever had.”
Actually — you know how I know that? Because Nick Saban turned down my mom’s food. Straight up: Coach came over to our house for a recruiting visit. And my mom, knowing we were having company over, had done some home cooking. So, of course, when Coach walked in the door, my mom offered him some dinner. And wanna know what coach said to Mom?
“I already ate.”
He said thank you, but no thank you, he already ate. He hit her with the already ate. And all joking aside — Coach was incredibly polite, and I share that story purely out of love — it was a pretty telling moment for me. In this weird way, it told me everything that I needed to know about about Coach Saban’s intentions.
And what I mean by that is: Coach Saban hadn’t come over to put on a show, or to flatter us, or to tell us what he thought we wanted to hear. He didn’t make some big sales pitch, or promise the moon. He didn’t promise a starting spot, or SEC dominance, or national titles, or NFL riches — none of that. Truthfully, Coach didn’t promise me a thing. But what he did do was sit across from me … and answer every single one of my questions … and treat me like an adult.”
— Northwestern 67, Michigan 65— Wildcats win on length-of-court OB pass for a layup with 0:01.3 left. Is that the win that gets Northwestern in the NCAA’s for the first time?
— SE Missouri 78, Tennessee St 75 OT— Overtime drama in the OVC tourney.
— Murray State 85, Tennessee Tech 84, 2OT— Racers’ PG took 40 shots (15-40), scored 41 points, but hit a 28-footer to win the game in double overtime. Fun game to watch.
— Florida 78, Arkansas 65— Underrated Gators are 24-6.
— Kansas State 75, TCU 74— Battle for 6th place and a bye in Big X tournament.
— Looks like Kevin Durant will miss the rest of the regular season; playoffs are roughly seven weeks away.
**********
Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud……
13) Why would anyone buy tickets to watch the Philadelphia 76ers play? They stink every year (103-284 the last five years) and then they draft young players who rarely play.
— Ben Simmons, zero NBA games (of a possible 59)
— Joel Embiid (31 games, of a possible 223)
— Jahlil Okafor (94 games, of a possible 141)
Karl-Anthony Towns has played in all 142 of Minnesota’s games since he’s been there. Is it that difficult to identify healthy players?
Sacramento’s TV guys actually referred to Towns playing in every game the other night, as if it were an unusual gift.
12) White Sox 1B Jose Abreu had to leave Sox camp this week to go to Miami and testify in a smuggling/conspiracy trial against his old agent. Abreu testified that he disposed of a phony passport by eating it on an airplane while en route to America. Oy.
Abreu is also the first baseman on my fantasy team, so hopefully this distraction is behind him.
11) Speaking of my fantasy baseball team, I added Phillies catching prospect Jorge Alfaro last week, so now I’ll have to watch Colombia’s games in the World Baseball Classic, since he is on their squad. Alfaro will start this year in AAA, is supposed to be a quality hitter.
10) As for the 4:30am game Monday between Israel and Korea, um…..no thanks. Even I have to sleep sometime.
9) Love having spring training games on in the house during the day; Padres were on Tuesday with Don Orsillo/Mark Grant on the call. Always good to hear laughter on your TV.
8) Redskins’ QB Kirk Cousins will be paid $1,408,447 PER GAME next season.
7) This is my annual reminder that it must suck to have a birthday on February 29; you get a birthday once every four years. When do people celebrate their birthday the other three years?
The most famous people I can find with this birthday are motivational speaker Tony Robbins, hockey player Cam Ward and rapper Ja Rule. Deceased stars Dennis Farina and Dinah Shore were also born on February 29.
6) Best of luck today to Angels’ SS Yunel Escobar, who is taking his US Citizenship Test today in Miami. It is GOOD that people from other countries WANT TO LIVE HERE.
5) Speaking of the Angels, their radio guys (simulcast on TV) were killing the Padres’ roster the other day; San Diego was 68-94 LY. Angels’ guys came out and said it is doubtful the Padres would win that many this year. Unusual to hear teams get ripped on TV.
4) Saturday, Colorado State visits Nevada in what is a showdown for the regular season title in the Mountain West. Teams haven’t met yet this season.
There isn’t any tangible advantage to winning the regular season title; conference tourney is at UNLV no matter what, but neither CSU or Nevada has won that many hoop titles so it is a big deal to them, which makes the game Saturday a good one to watch.
3) What are the three best free-throw shooting leagues in America?
1- Summit League, 74.2%
2— Southern Conference, 73.4%
3— Ohio Valley Conference, 73.3%
Worst free-throw shooting league? Sun Belt, at 68.1%
2) What are the three best 3-point shooting leagues in America?
1— Summit League, 39.6%
2— ACC, 37.2%
3— Pac-12, 37.0%
Worst 3-point shooting league? WAC, at 32.3%
Pretty clear that the Summit League is the league with the best shooters.
1— This is from former Alabama defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, talking about when Nick Saban came to his house to recruit him:
“Coach Saban isn’t going to sit there, and put on a big smile, and promise you this and that. He isn’t going to tell you that you’re a surefire starter, or an All-SEC shoo-in, or a first-round NFL pick. He isn’t going tell your mom, “Wow … this has to be the best pot roast I’ve ever had.”
Actually — you know how I know that? Because Nick Saban turned down my mom’s food. Straight up: Coach came over to our house for a recruiting visit. And my mom, knowing we were having company over, had done some home cooking. So, of course, when Coach walked in the door, my mom offered him some dinner. And wanna know what coach said to Mom?
“I already ate.”
He said thank you, but no thank you, he already ate. He hit her with the already ate. And all joking aside — Coach was incredibly polite, and I share that story purely out of love — it was a pretty telling moment for me. In this weird way, it told me everything that I needed to know about about Coach Saban’s intentions.
And what I mean by that is: Coach Saban hadn’t come over to put on a show, or to flatter us, or to tell us what he thought we wanted to hear. He didn’t make some big sales pitch, or promise the moon. He didn’t promise a starting spot, or SEC dominance, or national titles, or NFL riches — none of that. Truthfully, Coach didn’t promise me a thing. But what he did do was sit across from me … and answer every single one of my questions … and treat me like an adult.”
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