Announcement

**Udog** · 10-04-2017, 08:36 AM

Armadillo: Wednesday's six-pack

— To football/TV guys: Please show number of plays run instead of time of possession– that is the better stat.

— NFL reduced Chicago LB Danny Trevathan’s suspension from 2 games to 1, for his hit on a Packers’ WR last Thursday.

— Indy QB Andrew Luck is back at practice with the Colts this week; not full-tilt, but his return to game action might not be too far away.

— Big 14 hasn’t won a national title in basketball since Michigan State in 2000.

— Buffalo Sabres signed star Jack Eichel to an 8-year, $80M contract extension.

— NBA All-Star Game this winter will have teams chosen by the two players who get the most votes. NFL tried that with the Pro Bowl; it didn’t go well.

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

13) I’ll apologize up front if the first part of today’s Den is preachy or overly political, but I’m pretty sad about all the shootings in our country recently. This shouldn’t be happening.

The 2nd Amendment was written in 1791, 226 years ago. Bicycles hadn’t been invented yet, so some of the laws passed then are obsolete now.

Our gun laws are outdated; we need to ban automatic weapons and assault rifles and any guns that are only useful in wars. 58 people died for no reason Sunday night; little kids died a few years ago in a school shooting. This isn’t acceptable.

If you’re a hunter, you’re not killing a deer or a rabbit with a freakin’ assault rifle- they are used by people who are involved in a war. They should be illegal in our country.

12) The National Rifle Association (NRA) is really powerful; they’ve got lot of politicians in their pockets, which is why our gun laws are stupid.

At some point when the mourning is over in Las Vegas, our politicians have to do their jobs and put a lid on the horrible weapons that are killing our own citizens. Please?!?!?!?

11) It takes onions to be a policeman or a fireman, seriously. You have to have a lot of guts to to walk into the line of fire when everyone else is running away from it, so credit to the police in Las Vegas who saved a lot of people Sunday night.

No one is perfect; not all cops are perfect, but dammit, they do a hell of a job protecting us and deserve our thanks. So….thank you!!!

10) Something I learned this week; When you donate blood, it expires after 42 days. So many people donated blood in Las Vegas this week, but six weeks from now, they’re going to need more. Giving blood doesn’t cost us anything and it is badly needed, so we should do that.

On to some of the fun things in life…….
9) Los Angeles Rams are first NFL team since the 1954 Giants to lead the NFL in scoring thru four games, when they finished last in scoring the year before.

8) JD Martinez is the first big leaguer since Johnny Bench in 1970 to hit 45+ homers in a season and not get hit by a pitch that season.

7) Detroit Lions are +9 in turnovers already, with 11 takeaways in four games; thats a lot.

6) San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard will sit out the whole preseason as he recovers from a quad injury. Regular season starts in two weeks.

5) NFL stashes a lot of its less attractive games in Weeks 5-7, during the baseball playoffs. Wth 256 games in an NFL season, they’re all not great games. How they make the schedule is a very interesting subject- their marquee games are in primetime or later on in the season.

4) Kermit Davis is the basketball coach at Middle Tennessee State, a very good mid-major team but not like they’re Gonzaga or VCU. Coach Davis makes $750,000 a year— that surprised me. MTSU must have some very well-heeled boosters who love basketball.

3) I enjoyed watching the Miami Marlins this season; with Stanton-Ozuna-Urena on my fantasy team, I watched just about all their games. Not the best team, but they seemed like a bunch of good guys who genuinely like each other and enjoyed playing ball together. Was fun to see.

2) One thing about baseball on TV; if you want to learn about your team, watch the first game of a series, with the OTHER TEAM’s ANNOUNCERS. TV/radio people talk before each series, to clue each other in on their teams, so all the broadcasts are more informed.

If Team B’s announcers say something that is critical of a player on Team A, chances are 95% it came from one of Team A’s announcers. Team B’s TV guys are slow to criticize the home team, but not so much when it comes to criticizing Team A and as a viewer, you can learn that way.

1) Russell Westbrook and Stephen Curry both signed 5-year, $205M contracts; with an 82-game regular season, that means those two are both making $500,000 a game!!!!

**Udog** · 10-04-2017, 08:42 AM

Cheat Sheet - WNBA Finals

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Los Angeles

Best-of-Five (2-2-1 Format)

Game 1 – Sunday, Sept. 24
Game 2 – Tuesday, Sept. 26
Game 3 – Friday, Sept. 29
Game 4 – Sunday, Oct. 1
Game 5 – Wednesday, Oct. 4

Series Price – per BookMaker.eu

Minnesota -160
Los Angeles +140

Betting Notes - Minnesota

-- Minnesota swept Washington 3-0 in the semifinals, winning all three games by double digits. The Lynx went 2-1 against the spread in the series.

-- Including the playoffs, the Lynx have won six straight games by 10-plus points and they’ve covered the number in four of those games.

-- The ‘over’ went 2-1 in the semifinals.

-- Minnesota has gone 17-2 SU and 9-10 ATS at the Xcel Energy Center this season while the ‘under’ produced a 10-9 record.

-- The Lynx were 13-5 SU and 11-7 ATS on the road this season.

-- The ‘under’ has gone 6-1 in the last seven away games for Minnesota.

Betting Notes – Los Angeles

-- Los Angeles advanced to the WNBA Finals with a three-game sweep over Phoenix in the semifinals.

-- The Sparks went 2-1 versus the number and only failed to cover Game 3 as they nipped the Mercury 89-87 as 4 ½-point road favorites.

-- Los Angeles will bring a 10-game winning streak into the finals and the club has gone 9-1 ATS during this run while the ‘under’ is 7-3 over this span.

-- The Sparks went 18-1 SU and 14-5 ATS at home this season.

-- Los Angeles went 11-9 SU and 10-8 ATS away from home this season.

-- Similar to Minnesota, the ‘under’ has been a solid wager for L.A. on the road lately with a 5-2 mark in its last seven.

2017 Regular Season Encounters

July 6 – Minnesota 88 (-6.5) vs. Los Angeles 77 (Under 166.5)

August 11 - Los Angeles 70 (+5.5) at Minnesota 64 (Under 161.5)

August 27 – Los Angeles 78 (-2.5) vs. Minnesota 67 (Under 155.5)

2016 WNBA Finals

Game 1 – Los Angeles 78 (+6.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 161)

Game 2 – Minnesota 79 (-7) vs. Los Angeles 60 (Under 159)

Game 3 – Los Angeles 92 (+1) vs. Minnesota 75 (Over 159.5)

Game 4 – Minnesota 85 (+1) at Los Angeles 79 (Over 160)

Game 5 – Los Angeles 77 (+5.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 156.5)

WNBA Finals History – 1997-2016

-- The league went to a best-of-five format during the 2005 season. In the 12 series, we’ve seen five sweeps (3-0), four matchups go to a decisive Game 7 and three series end in four games (3-1).

-- The Sparks have won the WNBA Championship three times, including last year’s victory over Minnesota.

-- The previous title for the Sparks came in 20012 when the franchise pulled off the rare repeat.

-- Los Angeles failed to three-peat in 2003 as it was defeated by the now defunct Detroit Shock.

-- Since the 2011 season, Minnesota has won three championships and finished runner-up twice. The victories included two sweeps.

-- The Lynx have alternated titles the last six years and if that trend continues, they’ll be champions this seasons.

**Udog** · 10-04-2017, 08:46 AM

WNBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, October 4

Los Angeles @ Minnesota

Game 671-672
October 4, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Los Angeles
119.042
Minnesota
124.867
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 6
155
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 4 1/2
152
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(-4 1/2); Over

WNBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, October 4

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LOS ANGELES (31 - 10) at MINNESOTA (32 - 9) - 10/4/2017, 8:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 13-9 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 12-10 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
15 of 22 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Wednesday, October 4

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. MINNESOTA
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Los Angeles's last 7 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Los Angeles is 6-16 SU in its last 22 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Minnesota's last 8 games at home
Minnesota is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games

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Announcement

Wednesday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 10/4

Wednesday's WNBA Trends and Indexes - 10/4

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