10 Piece Nuggets

Ten Piece Nuggets-NFL

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The cartoon character Wimpy would often offer to pay Popeye on Tuesday for a hamburger today.  Well, it’s Tuesday, time for Wimpy to pay up.  And, if it’s Tuesday, it’s time for us to cook up our Ten Piece Nuggets.  Except ours are free of charge and served below.

  1.  The New Orleans Saints said welcome back to the NFL to their prized WR Michael Thomas after a week one holdout late last week.  Thomas rejoined the team and joined the 100 million dollar club.  The contract is for five years and guarantees 61 million.  It’s the highest dollar contract for a WR ever.  Not bad money if you can get it.  He enters his fourth year after entering the league as a second round pick.
  2. Which WR’s went ahead of him in the 2016 draft? In round one it was 15. Corey Coleman, 21. Will Fuller, 22. Josh Doctson, and 23. Laquan Treadwell.  In round two at 40th overall Sterling Shepard was taken.  If you can even name which teams these five play on you play too much fantasy football.   Thomas was taken 47th overall.   In three years he has caught 321 passes, good for 3787 yards, and 23 TD’s.  Shepard, also a second rounder, has caught 190 balls which is good by far for second place in this underwhelming group.
  3. Atlanta wants to keep up with the Joneses though.  Soon, very soon, they will make Julio Jones the highest paid receiver in the NFL.  And, they should.  The now 30 year old is two catches shy of 700 and has over 10k yards receiving.  If Atlanta won more often, or if he played for a higher profile team he would be even more well respected for his abilities.  He is but a few strong seasons away from Hall of Fame type numbers.
  4. Drew Brees was on The Dan Patrick Show late last week.  He finished second on the NFL Network countdown of the 100 best players.  It’s the players who vote for these players making it one of the best lists of “best of” in BBR’s opinion.  Patrick asked Brees his opinion of who should be number one.  Without hesitation, Brees agreed with the voting that placed Aaron Donald, DT Rams, as the very best.  Brees said, in effect, that Donald was special, and really in a league of his own.  Patrick then asked who he thought should be second.  Without hesitation again he said, “Tom Brady.”  “Why?” asked Patrick.  “Six Super Bowl wins,” Brees responded.  “A quarterback is ultimately judged on wins,” he concluded.
  5. Speaking of winning, most every NFL year multiple teams (usually 3 or more) that went 6-10 or worse the year prior go 10-6 or better the next year and make the playoffs.  It’s the parity the NFL covets.  Easier schedules, health, luck, and higher draft picks help.  It’s just rather hard to predict who.
  6. So, who went 6-10 or worse last year?  The Giants, 49ers, Cardinals, Bucs, Lions, and Packers did so in the NFC.  In the AFC it was the Bills, Jets, Broncos, Raiders, Bengals and Jaguars with the dubious distinction.
  7.  The obvious choice from the above is the Green Bay Packers.  Reasons to like them are 1) a healthy Aaron Rodgers, 2) an easier schedule that last year, 3) a bevy of high draft choices, 4) a more aggressive D, and 5) the enthusiasm  and culture change a new head coach brings.
  8.  Guessing who else is just that, guessing.   BBR likes the  San Francisco 49ers as a possibility..  The 49ers D isn’t bad.  We are putting a lot of faith in  the Jimmy Garropolo that went 5-0 in his first five starts at the end of 2017.  And Nick Bosa is a beast coming off of the edge.
  9.  Who else?  Here is a long shot to do so  Da Raidas.  The Raiders bottomed out purposely last year.  They stocked up on some high character hard nose draft picks and are in the midst of changing their culture with Gruden and Mayock running the show that moves to Vegas in 15 months.  They might be more of a 2020 pick in year one in Sin City.
  10.  Watching the Cleveland Browns will be fascinating this year.  They haven’t had this much hype and hope in the Dawg Pound since the team was reborn in Cleveland after it’s prior one bolted to Baltimore.  Mayfield, Landry, OBJ, and a salty D from a year ago might just be the ticket to playoffs.  The division isn’t bad either.  Cincinnati is weak.  Baltimore is down.  Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh, but beatable.  Could the Browns win two v the Bengals and split home and away with the Ravens and Steelers?  Sure.  That’s 4-2.   If you split the other ten 5-5, you finish 9-7.  The Jets, Broncos, 49ers, Dolphins, and Cardinals are opponents that could be five victories.  Ten wins aren’t out of the question.  Or, will they find a way to be the same old Browns?

Wimpy never ate so well.

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Good Monday morning.  It’s hot across the US in late July.  Record high temps were recorded near and far yesterday.  But, have no fear, the nuggets below are just the right temp for you to start off your week.

  1.  Across the pond the 148th Open, held at Royal PortRush in Northern Ireland, concluded yesterday with Ireland’s own Shane Lowery hoisting the Claret Jug.   It was quite the story for him, the region, and his legion of family and friends.  He practically went wire to wire over the 72 holes posting a low 15 under par, six strokes better than Tommy Fleetwood’s second place finish.
  2. The “hometown boy made good” story was a great one, but it also was the only one NBC was able to sell in an otherwise forgettable Open.  Lowery started Sunday up by four and finished up by six.  How did he sleep on the lead Saturday night after he threw darts earlier that day for a 63?  Does “like a big baby” sound appropriate?
  3. Something NBC did sell a lot of was commercials.  If they weren’t going to a full commercial break every five minutes, they were going to a “playing through” split screen commercial break.  Does “we are Farmer’s, dah, tah, dah, dah, DAH” sound familiar?  The contrast of the NBC/Open presentation to how CBS and Augusta National insure how The Masters is viewed has a wider gap than Lowery opened over the field itself.   And, we don’t need a recap coming out of the split screen view.  We just saw it.  Isn’t that the sales pitch of “playing through” to begin with?
  4. And the then there is Paul Azinger who is through playing and trying to fill the golf shoes of lead NBC golf analyst/commentators that have spoken before him.  We marked down a double bogey on his card.  On camera his facial expressions are curious and that’s being kind.  When talking through the golf that is either about to be played or was just played he is Captain Obvious.  His nasal whine on the mic reminds us of our second grade teacher explaining how verbs are conjugated.  Where have you gone Johnny Miller?
  5. One Irish bloke put $150 on Lowery at 105-1 to win before the tournament started.  He won 16 grand.  Pints for all.  Those odds seem high for Lowery.  He entered 2019 ranked 75th in the world golf rankings and rose to 33rd entering The Open.  This morning he finds himself perched at 17th.
  6. The Houston Astros hit back to back to back homeruns Friday night at home v. the Texas Rangers.  We couldn’t find how many back to back to backs have ever been hit in MLB.  But we did see that back to back to back to backs have been jacked only eight times ever.  The last was in 2017 by the Washington Nationals.  Todd Kalas was on the Astros call Friday night.  It was three home runs on four pitches in two magical minutes.  You can see it and hear his great call of the final bomb launched by Yordan Alvarez here.
  7. The Milwaukee Brewers are chasing the Chicago Cubs for the Central Division lead and are very much in the thick of the wild card race as well. Their chances took a hit yesterday.  Their ace, Brandon Woodruff, is headed to the 10 day DL with a strained oblique.  Woodruff has been Milwaukee’s best pitcher this season, earning his first NL All-Star nod. He entered Sunday’s game 11-3 with a 3.53 ERA and had allowed three earned runs in 20 1/3 innings his previous three starts.  Obliques and pitchers mix like oil and water, that is, not so much.
  8. How fitting was it that Mariano Riveria “closed” the MLB Hall of Fame Cooperstown induction ceremonies for six former players yesterday?  He finished his career with a record 652 saves. He pitched 19 seasons in the major leagues, all with the New York Yankees, and retired with 952 games finished — also a record. A 13-time All-Star, Rivera helped the Yankees win five World Series titles and seven American League pennants.
  9.  Another closer who was finally inducted was Lee Smith.  When he hung up the cleats in 1997 he was the career leader in saves at that point with 478.  He brought heat for 17 seasons and was a 7 time allstar.  If you never saw him pitch, think Aroldis Chapman from the right side.  His fastball had purpose and an occasional brush back pitch also had a well placed purpose.
  10.  Are you ready for some football?  The NFL training camps for rookies are mostly underway and all veterans will have reported by this Friday as well.  Guess who has the shortest odds to get to Super Bowl LVI?  New England?  Nope.  They are second.  The Kansas City Chiefs are +600, or six to one.  The Patriots are +650 followed by New Orleans at +850.  The Indianapolis Colts surprise as the fourth lowest odds at +900.  Are you interested in a long shot or five?  The Bengals, Redskins, Giants, Lions, and Dolphins are all +10000, or 100 to one.

Get back to work.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Summer’s in.  Three major U.S. sports (football. basketball, and hockey) are out.  But the pickings are never slim with our nuggets.  Whether you dine in or take out, enjoy the ten below.

  1.  The ugly Americans scored 50 combined runs in the first two London MLB games ever.  The Yankees out scored the defending Word Series champion Boston Red Sox 17-13 on Saturday and 12-8 on Sunday.  If the Brits like scoring, they got scoring.  The teams combined for 65 hits, 16 doubles and 10 homers.  Only one starting pitcher made it out of the first inning.
  2. BoSox manager Alex Cora was impressed with the 60k screaming fans, but not his team.  “It was eye opening, the last two days, from top to bottom,’’ Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “They’re a lot better than us right now.’’ The Yanks are rolling, even in Europe.
  3. MLB took a bow.  They retrofitted a soccer stadium that was more than serviceable.  They saw 60k fans stand and cheer each of the two days.  All in all it was good to great publicity for a game that often struggles to market itself.  “All of the feedback was that it was fantastic,’’ MLB senior vice president Jim Small said. “So, from a U.S. standpoint, the pitching wasn’t very good, the game was too long, but it was such a great fresh start for baseball here.’’
  4. The Yankees scorching 9-1 record in their last ten has pushed their lead over the Devil Rays to 7 games in the AL East.   Five of the six division leaders enjoy leads of 5.5, 6.5,7, 8 and 12 games.  Only the NL central is close where the Cubs and the Brewers are tied for first.   Half of the season is over.  Are five of the six division races over?   Probably not, but maybe so.  Say it ain’t so.  At least a bunch of teams are still very alive for a wild card spot.
  5.  LPGA’s Michelle Wie announced late last week that she was shutting down her 2019 season due to a chronic wrist injury.  There was no word on whether the wrist was injured when she tweeted to express her dismay via Twitter of Hank Haney’s LPGA U.S. Open remarks.  Haney tweeted out Saturday “Know what last name rhymes with Wie?  Lee!”  No, he didn’t.
  6.  How about a golf clap for first time PGA winner Nate Lashley?  On Sunday, the 36-year-old journeyman, ranked 353rd in the world and the last player to get into the Rocket Mortgage Classic, was a winner for the first time with an impressive six-stroke margin at Detroit Golf Club. He now has a job on the game’s biggest stage for the next two years. A spot in next month’s Open Championship awaits, as does an invitation to next year’s Masters among other perks. That is pretty sweet for a guy with just one previous top-10 on the PGA Tour in 32 starts.  Fifteen long and hard years ago his mother, father, and girlfriend crashed and perished in a small plane accident in Wyoming while attempting to return to Nebraska after watching the then 21 year old Nate play in a tournament for Arizona U. in Oregon.  The golf gods said, “enough already.”  Great story.
  7. The NBA free agency period is off and some teams are playing above the rim.   In a whirlwind of conversations, salary dumps, more conversations, max salary offers, and strokes of genius, several franchises saw significant transformations.   No transformation is bigger than where the Brooklyn Nets are headed however.  After years of also ran status the Nets will land Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and DeAndre Jordan.  If (when really) GM Sean Marks completes these FA signings the Nets will have exactly one player left from the 2015-2016 roster Marks had when he started that won only 21 games.
  8. Durant, baring a major medical miracle, will miss all of the 2019-2020 season with his torn achilles.  That didn’t stop the Nets from throwing max or near max money at him.  It did stop the Knicks who worried publicly about his total recovery.  One borough’s loss was another borough’s gain.  Durant at 90% is still an unselfish player who melds well with other stars and would still be an all star level player himself.
  9. The Miami Heat are believed to be very close to completing a deal that would land Jimmy Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers.  Butler was rumored a week ago to be heading to the Houston Rockets to join Chis Paul and The Beard.  Butler was rumored eight months ago to be headed to those same Rockets.  Houston you may or not have a problem with team chemistry.  But, with exactly zero draft picks this past draft and a HUGE Paul four year deal only entering year two now, you clearly have some hurdles to clear to try to hurdle the Golden State Warriors in the West.  GM Daryl Morey can feel the heat coming from one of restaurant magnet and owner Tillman Fertitta’s kitchens.
  10. However, Tillman Fertitta and 31 owners of NBA franchises may not be “owners” for much longer.   In the league office and in some team’s front offices a push is on to remove that term due to it’s “racial insensitivity” in a league whose players are 75% African American.   In Los Angeles, Steve Ballmer ,who was billed as the owner for the first couple of years after he took over the Clippers is now listed as Chairman on the team’s website.  That change occurred in early 2018.   The term “governor” is being used inside of the league office “for years now” per Commissioner Adam Silver.  “Governor,” really?  Hopefully everyone feels better.

We at least know that you’ll feel better having consumed the above.  It’s Monday, and this work week is at most four days long.  Enjoy.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Greetings.  Did you miss us?  We missed you and your comments.  Glad to be back at it.  We have a lot to catch up on.  Some of the below is a bit less timely than others, but we cannot help our selves.   Warm and some fresh, some not as fresh, here are the tender vittles.

  1.  Congrats go to the NBA Raptors and the NHL Blues.   What a parlay that ticket would have been.  We haven’t seen that ticket, but a legit ticket made it’s way around Al Gore’s internet last week that showed a $400 bet, turned winning wager, on the Blues to win the Stanley Cup placed prior to the season.  The odds you ask?  250 to 1.  The payout?  It was 100k.  Kudos.
  2. The Golden St. Warriors loss of Kevin Durant and, in game seven, Klay Thompson should in no way dull the finish on the Raptors’ crown.  Injuries happen in sports.  They happen every day.  Next man up.
  3. A week ago the Lakers had the shortest odds in Vegas at 4-1 to be the 2020 NBA champions.   Yep, it isn’t a misprint, nor a typo, nor a mistake.  It’s the infatuation with the Lakers.  A week later they acquired a dude named Anthony Davis.  The uni brow heads to Tinseltown.  Maybe 4-1 was good money after all.  Maybe not.
  4. LaVar Ball thought it was a bad move.  Shocking.  “I guarantee: Like I say again, it will be the worst move the Lakers ever did in their life and they will never win another championship,” LaVar Ball told ESPN while at the Drew League on Saturday to watch his son LaMelo play. “Guarantee it.”  No word on how good his word is on the guarantee.  Can we get our money back?  And, the Lakers don’t have a life.  The people who run it do.  And, never is a long time.   There are publicity hounds and there is LaVar.
  5. If you never watch golf you might still have watched the US Open this weekend.  Pebble Beach is one of the greatest looking places on the entire planet.  Period.  If you did watch you heard the Fox Sports broadcast.  Hopefully you turned the sound down and enjoyed the visual majesty.  Joe Buck is fine.  He’s no Jim Nance, friends.  But the rest of the team is somewhere between bad and horrendous.  Paul Azinger is very bad with spelled with a capital VERY.  When Joe Buck was chatting with Pebble Beach homeowner Jim Nance briefly on Saturday Azinger wondered aloud what he was doing on the set with two legends.  We wondered the same.  Also, Zinger needs to find a new barber.  Any one of them will be way better than his current one.
  6. The only one that is worse than Azinger is Curtis Strange.  His facial expressions could be on pharmaceutical commercials for sufferers that need anti depressants or anti constipation medicine.  He said on Saturday about a Brooks Koepka pending approach shot, “this is a hard shot.”  He said no more.  Riveting and ground breaking aren’t words that come to mind with Fox Sports decision to have these two wall flowers on air.  They have the US Open broadcast locked up for 12 years.  It’s never too soon to make changes.  Never.
  7. In the MLB AL West the Astros own a 9.5 game lead over the Rangers.  In the NL West the Dodgers own a 10.5 game lead over the Rockies.  The season isn’t half over.  It’s about 45 percent over, actually.  But, these two division races are over.  It’s not that the teams within the two western divisions are that bad.  It’s that the Astros and the Dodgers are that good.  And, we add, the Astros have played the last three weeks without Altuve, Springer, and Correa.  Wowza.
  8. Don’t sleep on the Twins either.  Their lead is 10 games over the Cleveland Indians.  Their win percentage is .671, best in all of baseball.  Their run differential is 116 runs, best in all of baseball.  Relax Yankees fans.  The Yankees are good as well.  They lead their division by a half of a game over the very pesky Tampa Bay Rays.  Everyone on the Yankees team has spent time on the DL except Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra.  When they get healthy they”ll be tough to beat.
  9. The NFL Houston Texans will no longer pursue New England Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio for their GM position, the team announced Friday.  As a result, the Patriots dropped the tampering charges they filed last week against the Texans for attempting to hire him.  This is according to ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports coverage and anything Lakers or LeBron related.  On Wednesday, sources said the Texans had requested permission to interview Caserio for their GM job, but had not been granted permission.  Owner Robert Kraft still faces charges as well.  He hopes that they will get dropped (like his pants) as well.
  10. Way too much has been made of the ugly American’s Women’s World Cup 13-0 romp over Thailand.  “They should have stopped scoring.”  “They should have passed the ball more.”  “They should have subbed more.”  “They should have called off the dogs.”  It’s the World Cup.  How in the world did Thailand qualify?  Sunday’s three nil (as they say) win over Chile is shutout no. 2 for the ugly Americans.  Will anyone score on them?  Probably.  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Like Kotter, welcome back.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s another Tuesday morning serving of the normally Monday Ten Piece Nuggets.  We aim to please and wanted to serve you yesterday, but people named Jeoungeun, Hank, and Tiger keep cutting the buffet line.  Enjoy as we cover multiple sports in ten quick bites.

  1.  MLB held the first two rounds of their 2019 draft last evening.  Baseball fever.  Did you catch it?  Probably not.  It was on the MLB network.  No Nashville.  No music.  No street parties.  No trades.  No green room.  It’s just one big room with 32 tables, one for each team that take turns picking from pitchers and position players.  You can get drafted right out of high school.  Or, you can get drafted after three eligible college years.   The contrast between the NFL and MLB is arguably never more on display than on their respective draft nights.
  2. Adley Rutschman went first overall to the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.  Rutschman is a catcher.  His batting and defense combined to make him irresistible as the first pick.  At Oregon St. he stood out on a standout team for his three years there.  He’s a “can’t miss” the scouts say.
  3.  Can’t miss?  Before they start pushing statues around to make room for him in Cooperstown, know that the road to the majors and success therein isn’t a given.  Since 1965 when MLB began holding the draft as it is known today seven catchers have been selected first overall.  Rutschman is the seventh.  Mostly forgettable names are the first six (actually five as Danny Goodwin was picked first in two separate drafts after he refused to report to the first team) selections.  B.J. Surhoff and Joe Mauer are the best of the five names.  But, there are no Hall of Fame names to be found.
  4.  Bobby Witt Jr. was selected second overall.  The 19 year-old high school shortstop went to the Kansas City Royals.  He may be the most famous name in this year’s class.  Witt’s father was the No. 3 overall pick in the 1985 draft, making the Witts the first father-son combination to both be selected as top-five picks.
  5. The NCAA baseball playoffs began last weekend.  Sixteen regionals in sixteen cities had sixteen number one seeds hosting a four team double elimination tournament.  Obviously, only sixteen survive to participate in the Super Regionals this coming weekend.  Of the sixteen no. one seeds, 12 advanced to the Supers.  Eight teams will advance to the CWS in Omaha.  Because several top seeds square off against one another as few as four, or as many as eight no. one’s could get there.  The SEC with six and the ACC with four dominate the Supers.  The Pac 12 and the Big 12 have two each.  They play great hockey in the north.  Baseball not so much as the Big 10 has but one survivor.
  6.  FSU head coach Mike Martin is coaching the Seminoles in the Supers this weekend.  When their season ends, his career ends. He’s retiring.  He’s been their head coach for 40 years.  40 years.  His teams have won over 2000 games. 2000.  They have never missed the postseason under his watch.  Never.  They have won 40 or more games every year of his 40 years.  Every year except one, that is.   This year they sit at 35 wins.  They need to get past LSU at LSU to pick up two more wins and get three more in Omaha to get to the magical forty wins in all forty years.
  7. It’s 21 months before the NFL and it’s player’s association current labor agreement expires.  But, it’s never to early to start negotiating in public.  Commish Roger Goodell said yesterday that four preseason games were no longer necessary to get players ready for the season.  “I feel what we should be doing is always to the highest quality, and I’m not sure preseason games meet that level right now,” Goodell said.  What he really is saying is he wants two more regular season games.  This would generate more TV ratings and therefore more revenue.  No word on the always safety conscious NFL’s position on if these two games would further endanger the player’s health.  Heck, they even have a concussion protocol in place now.
  8. It’s under three months until the NCAA football season begins.  Find us a website or a printed magazine that doesn’t brazenly pick Alabama or Clemson to win it all.  Good luck.  As a matter of fact USA Today, CBS SportsLine, and The Sporting News all have at 5. THE Ohio St., 4. Oklahoma, 3. Georgia, 2. Alabama or Clemson, and 1. Clemson or Alabama.  Should we just fast forward to January?  Lee Corso sez, “not so fast my friend.”
  9. The resilient St. Louis Blues shook off a seven goal by seven different players shellacking on the weekend and bounced back with a 4-2 win to even the Stanley Cup Finals at two games a piece with the Boston Bruins.  Six games are assured and seven is quite likely in the this bruising, black and blue(s) final matchup.  The seven goal barrage by the visiting Bruins happened on the Blues first home ice Stanley Cup Final in 49 long years. What a statement by Boston. The Blues bounce back last evening was a statement unto itself.  Drop the puck.
  10. Two weeks ago after Kevin Durant’s injury, Sir Charles Barkley predicted that the Golden State Warriors would not win another game v. the Houston Rockets.  After knocking out the Rockets and the Trailblazers in the next round sans KD ,Golden St. stands tied with the Toronto Raptors 1-1 in the NBA Finals.  Yesterday Stephen A. Smith predicted that the Finals are over if KD comes back for the Warriors.  Toronto need not show up apparently.  If Stephen A. gets it wrong like Sir Charles did, should Stephen A. Smith change his name to Stephen Eh. Smith in honor of the Canadians?  Eh?

Use SPF of 50 or more. Apply frequently.  It’s sunny and hot out there.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s time for your Tuesday edition of the Monday tradition of the Ten Piece Nuggets.  Enough of  baseball (never), hot dogs, apple pie, and sitting poolside.  Try some tasty ones below.

  1.  The Indianapolis 500 was Sunday.  Did you watch?  No you didn’t.  Pole sitter Simon Pagenaud held off Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato to win his first career Indianapolis 500 on Sunday. The 2016 IndyCar Series champion finished just two-tenths of a second ahead of Rossi in a very exciting run for the checkered flag.  And, the pair traded the lead several times in the final 10 laps.
  2. Quick Indy quiz for you.  Part one.  Is there part of a golf course located inside the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway?  Yes.  Four holes of the Brickyard Crossing Golf Course are situated inside of the track.  It’s voted time and again as a top 100 American public course.  Careful.  You are responsible for broken car windshields.  They aren’t cheap.  Part two.  Is Bobby Rahal still driving Indy cars for a living?  Nope.  His son Graham Rahal is.  Graham finished 27 after crashing.  Bobby is a smooth 66 already.
  3. Super Bowl two time MVP and winning quarterback of the first two Super Bowls, Bart Starr, is dead at 85.  Green Bay Packer Starr has the highest postseason passer rating (104.8) of any quarterback in NFL history and a postseason record of 9–1. His career completion percentage of 57.4 was an NFL best when he retired in 1972.   It was a different game back then.
  4. Quick Bart Starr quiz for you.   Part one.  Bart Starr played QB in college for what school?  Roll Tide Roll.   Alabama.  Part two.  What round did the Packers take Starr way back in 1956?  It was the seventeen round and he was the 200th player taken.
  5.  Quick Super Bowl MVP quiz for you.  Part one.  Five players have won more than one Super Bowl MVP.  Starr is one.   You get no credit for guessing Tom Brady who is two as he is the only one to have won four.  Who are the other three?  Joe Montana has won three.   Terry Bradshaw and Eli Manning have won the award twice.   Part two.  Who are the only two to have won it in back to back years?  Starr and Bradshaw are the only ones to have won it in back-to-back years.
  6. Quick MLB quiz for you.  Part One.   America’s pastime has completed roughly three innings of their nine inning regular season.  Which team has the best record?  It’s the Minnesota Twins.  They have a gaudy 36-17 record, a very gaudy 10 game lead over second place Cleveland in their division, and have hit a seriously gaudy 105 home runs.  Part two.  Who is the hottest team of all?  It’s the Oakland A’s.  Quickly and quietly they’ve won ten in a row.  Despite a very modest payroll they wouldn’t go away last year winning an impressive 97 games.  It looks like they want in again this year.  Their pitching staff has an MLB fourth best 3.35 ERA.  Real estate is about location, location, and location.  Baseball is about pitching, pitching, and pitching.
  7.  When a minor leaguer makes his major league debut it’s a special moment no matter his pedigree.   Hundreds of thousands have tried and come up short.  When a “journeyman” finally gets a chance it’s very special.  Twenty eight year old, and seven season minor leaguer, Jack Mayfield got his chance yesterday.  Multiple injuries to the Houston Astros left virtually no one to play second base.  Up from Round Rock AAA came Jack.  Yesterday, Memorial Day, before a sellout home field crowd of 42,000 fans, Mayfield roped a stand up double off of the left field wall in his very first at bat.  An astute cameramen and director had a camera on his wife and mom of his seventeen month toddler in the stands.  Want to see what unbridled joy looks like?  You can see it right here.  MasterCard used to call moments like this “priceless.”
  8. Bill Buckner died yesterday at the way too young age of 69. His “ball through the legs” moment v. the New York Mets in game six of the 1986 World Series unfortunately dominates most people’s memory of him.  Too bad. Loved by teammates, he was one of the good ones on and off of the field.  On the field Buckner slugged over 2,700 hits in his career that spanned 22 seasons with five teams.  He won the batting title in 1980.  And he had a mustache, eye brows, and coif of hair for the ages.
  9. The Boston Bruins scored two unanswered goals in the third period and won game one of the Stanley Cup finals 4-2 over the St. Louis Blues.  It’s only game one, but it might have Blues fans singing the blues.  In 77.6 percent of all Stanley Cup Finals the team who skated to victory in game one has taken home the Cup.  But, this is no ordinary St. Louis Blues team.  Stay tuned.
  10. The Golden State Warriors are heavy favorites to win yet another NBA Championship.  They get after the Toronto Raptors in their own game one on Thursday night.  The Warriors are -300.  What does that mean?  It means you have to bet $300 to win $100 on Golden St.  However, game one is in Toronto and the Raptors are favored in that game by one.

It’s already Tuesday.  It’s just 24 hours to Hump Day.  You got this.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Back in the day, Monday was known as “wash day” in New Orleans.  It became popular to slow cook red beans, lots of seasonings, and rice that day while moms cleaned the house and washed the clothes.  Yum.   Monday on BBR is becoming known as Ten Piece Nuggets day as multiple sports in the late Spring season gives us plenty to season ourselves.  Help yourself below.

  1.  Brooks Koepka owned the largest 54 hole lead in PGA history after three rounds.  After four consecutive back nine bogeys, and a three under (at the time) round going for Dustin Johnson, the lead shriveled to two.   Was Koepka on the verge of a Greg Norman 1996 Master’s meltdown?  Perhaps.  But the brutal Bethpage Black course and gusts to 35 mph late in the afternoon didn’t discriminate.  It  handed out bogeys to all from punishing places the course over.  Koepka held on, as DJ faltered, to win his fourth major in his last eight starts.
  2.  Koepka boldly spoke before the PGA about winning ten or more majors.  He has openly told coaches and players that he’s better than Tiger was and he might win 18 or more.  Koepka doesn’t rhyme with confidence, but it may be a synonym for it.  At the current pace of winning every other one he’ll have ten down in early 2022.  “Not so fast my friend,” Lee Corso just said.  Regardless, with the win Koepka moved to the number one ranking in the world.  He becomes the first golfer ever to hold two back to back major titles simultaneously.
  3.  Koepka’s former coach at Florida St. weighs in like a heavyweight.   Doug Malloy, now the head coach at his alma mater, Ole Miss, believes Koepka is upset nobody is taking him seriously as a threat to Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.  “It pisses him off that he isn’t asked that question,” said Malloy. “That will make him feel great if you ask him about Jack. I promise you he absolutely thinks of both Tiger’s 15 majors and Jack’s as targets. That’s not 99 percent, it’s 100 percent. Guaranteed.”  We need to order some of whatever supplements he is taking.  The US Open starts 6/15 at Pebble Beach.
  4.  From good golf we turn to good baseball.  Good baseball is exactly what the Yankees have been playing for the past month. Since April 19, they are 20-7, earning the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Yankees have notched that record while a bevy of key players have spent time on the injured list. In all, 17 Yankees have landed on the IL this season.  They took two of three from the AL East’s division leader Tampa Bay over the weekend and also took over the division lead.
  5.  More good baseball was on tap this weekend as the Houston Astros took two of three from the once slumping, suddenly hot, defending 2018 World Series champs, the Boston Red Sox.  Until yesterday’s loss the Stros had won ten in a row for the second time this season.  Houston’s month of May to date, winning 13 of 14 starts, is the best record in the big leagues across that span.  The Astros own the best record in the AL at 31-16.
  6. Good baseball wasn’t limited to the East either. Hyun-Jin Ryu, pitcher extraordinaire for the LA Dodgers, pitched seven shutout innings to lower his season ERA to 1.52, or half of his career ERA of 3.03. In his nine 2019 starts spanning 59 innings he has given up a stingy ten earned runs.  They have scored game by game as follows, 1,2,2,2,2,1,0,0, and 0.  He extended his scoreless streak to 31 innings.  Hyun-Jin Ryu doesn’t rhyme with Cy Young Award, but it may be a synonym for it.  The Dodgers own the best record in the NL at 31-17.
  7. The Dodgers lead the NL West by 5.5 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks.  It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?  The Astros lead the AL West by 8.5 games over the Angels of LA.   It’s early, way early, but will they even look back at the division want to be’s?
  8.  We think that run differential in MLB is a telling stat.  It’s simply how many total runs have you scored season to date minus how many runs have you given up.  If the difference is in the black, you likely have a winning record.  If it’s in the red, you likely have a losing record.  The MLB leader at plus 92 is Houston.  The surprisingly good, and in first in the AL Central, Minnesota Twins are second at plus 74.  The LA Dodgers are third at plus 65.  Somehow Pittsburgh has a 24-20 record with a minus 39 runs scored.  We guess they win close games and lose blowouts.  That doesn’t sound too good for the long summer nights ahead.
  9. A week ago we liked Golden St. in six or less over Portland in the NBA West Conference Championship.  A week ago we liked Milwaukee in six or less over Toronto in the East Conference Championship.  A week later we like what we liked.  Golden St. is going to close out Portland in four tonight.  Milwaukee will take Toronto in five, or six at the max, by week’s end.
  10. We don’t follow boxing.  We think fewer and fewer do.  Therefore we wouldn’t recognize Deontay Wilder or Dominic Breazeale if they were walking down the street next to us.  That said Deontay introduced himself to Dominic in their bout in round one Saturday night in Brooklyn.  It’s as vicious of a one punch TKO as you’ll ever see.  Want to see it?  Click here.  Be forewarned.  It’s brutal.  Want to see it in slow motion?  You can in that same link.  Be forewarned.  It’s even more brutal in slow mo.

That was a lot to chew on.  Be sure to brush regularly.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Happy Mother’s Day a day late to all of the moms out there.  Did you go to the local buffet yesterday to celebrate?  If so, it’s time to get back to a healthier lifestyle.  The Ten Piece Nuggets below will get you your Monday start of the week nutritional balance you are searching for.

  1. When Kawhi Leonard’s heave from the corner sent Toronto to Milwaukee and Philadelphia home for the summer it was, believe it or not, the first ever game winning shot at the buzzer in NBA history in a game seven regulation win.  None other than Michael Jordan with “the shot” sunk the Cleveland Cavaliers in the last second of their winner take all game in 1989.  But.  Air Jordan’s shot ended a then five game first round playoff series. Kawhi poured in 41 points in all.
  2. There should be no shame in the land of cheese steak sammies, but there are questions.  Philadelphia’s starting five is very talented. But they actually  only started 21 games together this season.  That said, three of the five starters including Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Redick are headed toward free agency. The Sixers’ coach, Brett Brown will have to answer to the high expectations laid out by Sixers co-owner Josh Harris in March.
  3. For the first time since 2000, the Portland Trailblazers are heading to the Western Conference finals.  They got there by completing the largest comeback in a Game 7 in the past 20 years.  The Blazers overcame a 39-22 deficit with 7:26 remaining in the second quarter.  It was the largest deficit erased in a Game 7 since the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal, came back from 16 down against the Trailblazers, of all teams, in the 2000 conference finals. C.J. McCollum poured in 37 points and had an epic run down from behind block down the stretch.  Too bad for Denver as we love their nickname-Nuggets, of course.
  4.  So the conference finals are set.  And, the NBA hopes that you will turn on your TV set.  It’s the seventh largest TV market (SF/Oak) hosting the 22nd (Portland) in the west.  In the east it’s the 38th (Milwaukee) biggest market hosting a team (Toronto) from north of the border.  Eh!  If the two series are as entertaining as the two that finished yesterday in seven games perhaps the ratings will be ok.
  5. Ratings that should not be ok are the ones that measure the ESPN NBA show.  The five headed monster lead by Michelle Beadle on ESPN is a real downer after enjoying the insight and antics of Ernie, Shaq, Kenny, and the Chuckster on TNT.  Do you know what the ESPN broadcast has in common with the TNT one?  Absolutely nothing.
  6.  Paul Pierce predicted on ESPN, after Boston battered Milwaukee in game one, that the Celtics would sweep the Bucks out of the playoffs 4-0.  He got the 4-0 right as Milwaukee won the next four in a row to win the series 4-1.  Yesterday prognosticator Paul Pierce predicted that the Trailblazers would win game seven v. Denver.   They did.  This proves that you can guess a coin flip right 1/2 of the time.
  7.  Portland is an early eight point underdog in game one v. Golden St. and almost a 4 to 1 underdog to win the west.  Meanwhile Toronto is a 6.5 point underdog in game one v. Milwaukee and about a 2 1/2 to 1 underdog to win the east.  Give us Golden St. in six or less and Milwaukee in six or less.
  8. Did you know that the PGA Tour stopped in Dallas this week for the Byron Nelson Classic?  Did you know that Sung Kang won his first PGA tournament?  Do you even know who he is?  We understand.  It’s likely that the PGA has sung the ratings blues since Tiger took Augusta by storm.    Sung sang like a birdie or ten on Friday though as he shot a low low 61 (par there is 71) to get to the lofty perch.
  9. Don’t look now, but the suddenly red hot Houston Astros have jumped to a 6.5 games lead in the MLB AL West.  Two weeks in they trailed the Seattle Mariners by 5 games.  Seattle has put it in reverse since then. In winning eight of their last nine games, the Astros are averaging 8.2 runs per game.  This includes a strong 2.9 home runs per game. They reached double-digit hits six times in those nine games. In the four game just completed sweep of the Texas Rangers they won by a combined score of 33-11.  Baseball is only near the first quarter pole, but in a weak AL West the Stros might not look back.
  10.  The answer is $1,691,008 and 22.  What is  “James Holtzhauer’s winnings to date on Jeopardy and how many shows in a row has he won.”  “Correct, Alex says.  “Select again.”   He’s chasing 2.5 million and 74 wins in a row to unseat the best ever, Ken Jennings.   He’ll get past the money way before the win total given how much he bets on every daily double.  He’s rewritten the strategy for the game.   Several MLB teams have taken note of him given the surge towards analytics and risk analysis in the strategy of the game as it is played today.   And, no, we aren’t kidding.

It’s Monday.  It’s just five working days till the weekend.  You’ll get through it.  You got your day off to a good start with a healthy crunch above.

 

Ten (Actually Eight) Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Judging by our inbox your hunger for Ten Piece Nuggets is insatiable.  We aim to please.  Your Monday AM serving of facts and opinions over multiple sporting profession are waiting below.

  1.  We stated last week that the NBA semifinals of Toronto v. Philadelphia  and Denver v. Portland, then both tied at 1-1, smelled like seven game throwdowns.  With road wins yesterday Denver and Toronto evened up each series at two games apiece.  Game sevens feel even more likely.  It effectively makes these two matchups a best two of three from here.
  2.  We stated last week that game two for Milwaukee was critical already as Boston owned them in game one.  Milwaukee responded resoundingly and now lead that series 2-1.  Game four is tonight.  A week later t’s a must win now for Boston.  It says here that this is done in six and quite possibly five games.  Milwaukee has too many weapons.   We’ll bet you five Milwaukee Bucks that it is.
  3. We stated last week that game two for Houston was critical already as Golden State was up one.  Houston tried valiantly but fell down two games to none.  Saturday they needed overtime on their own floor after leading by 13 late in third quarter to snatch their first win on their own home court.   Game four is tonight.  It says here that this is done in six and quite possibly five games.  Golden State has too many weapons. We’ll bet you five Gold(en State) coins.
  4.  As the story goes as the weather warms the further the baseball goes.  On the weekend both college and the pros provided some long balls in thrill of victory, agony of defeat, and walk off games.  The Padres trailing in the bottom of the ninth 5-4 at home got a walk off grand slam from Hunter Renfroe to beat Dodger closer Kenley Jansen (he of the five year $80 million contract) 8-5.
  5. Not to be outdone, in a wild one in Baton Rouge Sunday, the LSU Tigers overcame 7-0, 10-1, and 15-9 deficits to tie their game v the Ole Miss Rebels in the bottom of the ninth.  Trailing 15-9 with two outs the Tigers got back to back to back three run then solo then solo homeruns to force extra innings.  The Rebels were unfazed and scored four in the top of the tenth to secure the game 19-15 and the series 2-1. Ole Miss outhit LSU 23-22 in that game alone.  In college, late in a series, when you are out of pitching, you are very out of pitching.
  6. Not to be outdone by college, the Cincinnati Reds went back to back to back yesterday against Jeff Samardzija and the SF Giants.  But these were no ordinary back to back to backs.  These were accomplished on three straight pitches.  It was the second time this season that the Reds went yard in three consecutive at bats.  The Giants were unfazed however and battled back to beat the Reds 6-5.  A quick check of the Elias Sports Bureau shows that it was the first back to back to back on three straight pitches in twelve years.
  7.  The World Series Champion Boston Red Sox are headed to the White House soon to visit President Donald Trump.  Their leader, Manager Joey Cora, won’t be meeting the nation’s leader, Donald Trump, though.  After months of thought Cora, who hails from Puerto Rico, says that he doesn’t feel comfortable to do so after the way Trump’s administration handled the hurricane relief to his native land.  Last April Cora blasted Trump’s tweets about the relief saying “I hate that people make it a political issue.”  We assume that him skipping the trip to the White House isn’t making it a political issue.
  8. The Donald, no stranger to the political correctness (or not( struggles facing America weighed in on the very controversial decision at the finish of the Kentucky Derby.  The decision to DQ Maximum Security for interference and put the roses on Country House Trump thought was not a good one.  He tweeted that “It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track , actually, a beautiful thing to watch.” “Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur, ” he concluded.  We assume that the rough and tumble race on the wet and sloppy track reminded him of his run against one Hillary Clinton.

Two nuggets fell off of the plate.  Sorry.  The five second rule applies, but we didn’t get there in time to save them.  We owe you.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Leftovers from the NFL Draft, a few appetizers from the NBA, MLB is cooking, and even a bite from a game show highlight today’s ten piece nuggets.  Commence consuming if you wish.

  1. The  NFL threw an NFL Draft party and everyone was invited.  Quite a few showed up too.  It’s TV ratings were the highest ever as 47.5 million watched.  Over 600k attended in Nashville.  Crazy.  Nashville knows how to do it.   Remember when the NFL TV ratings were down and out and never to return because of Kaepernick, kneeling during the anthem, and disrespecting the flag?
  2. Tampa Bay drafted kicker Matt Gay in the fifth round.  This comes just a couple of years after they drafted their current kicker Cairo Santos.  Apparently they lost confidence in Santos.  Gay said that he was surprised that TB took him so early in the draft.    The one thing you need in a kicker is confidence.  Apparently Gay isn’t too confident either.
  3. The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Toronto Raptors last night in Toronto, taking the home court advantage away.   That evened the series at one game a piece.  Doesn’t this one already smell like a game seven will be needed?
  4. The Portland Trailblazers got worked over by the Denver Nuggets as well.  Damian Lillard complained in-game about the officiating.  After the game he commented that his team complained too much during the game about the officiating.  The Trailblazers trail in the series one game to none.  Doesn’t this one smell already like a game seven will be needed?
  5. Boston shocked and rocked Milwaukee Sunday.  Game two is tonight.  Isn’t this already a must win for Milwaukee?  You bet it is.
  6. Golden State slid by Houston, and all of their complaining about the refereeing, Sunday.  Isn’t this a must win for Houston?  You bet it is.
  7. Suspended and reinstated LSU head basketball coach Will Wade might be in the proverbial soup again.  Late yesterday a video surfaced (which he was not in) that had former Arizona assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson discussing Wade having made a $300k offer to lure incoming freshman Naz Reid to LSU for his now one and done season.  Whether he did, or did not, we don’t know.  If he did, however, we think he grossly overpaid.  Reid has declared for the NBA draft.  He might get his passport stamped for Europe instead.
  8. Who has the best record in baseball one month in?  It’s the Tampa Bay Rays of course at 19-9.  Second?  It’s the Minnesota Twins of course at 17-9.  Third?  It’s the St. Louis Cardinals of course at 18-10.  Who did ESPN broadcast for their national game last night?  It was the 14-17 Oakland A’s at the 12-17 Boston Red Sox of course.
  9. If you like 3 point bombs, watch the NBA these days. If you like home runs, watch MLB these days.  In 2017 a season record 6105 home runs were smashed.  One month in, 2019’s pace is 1.33 dingers a game v. the 2017 pace of 1.26.  Keep up this pace and they shatter 6105 by an additional 358 taters.  Sure, it’s only one month in.  But, the “new” swing that’s being taught through the minor leagues for the last five years is to lift the ball.  Lift it they have so far.
  10. Alex Trebek has never seen anything like this. James Holzhauer’s 18th appearance on Jeopardy was  a rather close call.  But, it was another winning one with $54,017, or $18 dollars more than Adam Levin who amassed $53,999.  This brings Holzhauer’s total take to $1,329,604.  He’s the fastest ever to one cool million in the show’s history.  The per game rake is unlike any previous.  All time money winner Ken Jennings needed 74 wins to get to $2.5 million way back in 2004.

Remember to stay out of the pool for 30 minutes after you eat.