NFL

Ten Piece Nuggets- Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

NCAA, NFL, and MLB dominate the menu today.   There is much to chew on.  The Ten Piece Nuggets are served.

  1. The new AP Top 25 poll is out following Week 2 action.   LSU has moved into the top five after beating Texas 45-38 in a thrilling affair in Austin on Saturday night. With LSU jumping Oklahoma to take the No. 4 spot, the SEC now has three of the top four teams in the country, as the Tigers join No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia.
  2. It’s very early in the season and these things sort themselves out when conference play starts in earnest.   The Big 10 might have plenty to say about it as well.  They check in at spots 6,10,13,14,18,19, and 21.  So, that’s seven spots for the Big 10 conference that actually has 14 teams.  Got it?
  3. Big 10 Maryland’s got it.  They are #21 in the poll after a 63-20 pounding of Syracuse Saturday.  This follows up a 79-0 blasting of Howard.  The combined 142 points are the fourth most in NCAA history in the first two games of any season.  It was but a few years ago that the Terrapins were lower than a turtle’s belly.  Kudos to former New Mexico HC and Bama OC Mike Locksley.  This is year one for him in the Maryland HC role after a 1-5 interim record when he took over for fired Randy Edsall from the Maryland staff in 2015.
  4. The Big 10 is scoring big time too.  Penn State has scored 124 points, Wisconsin 110, Ohio St 87, and even Indiana has 86, all in two games.  Maybe the rust belt has rolled out some shiny new offense models off of the assembly lines.   It’s on to conference play for them mostly as well.  Though Maryland goes to Temple, and curiously is only a 7 point favorite.
  5.  It wasn’t the best weekend for the great state of Texas in football.  The Longhorns played well, especially on offense,  but lost to LSU as mentioned.  Texas A&M played pretty good defense, but Clemson played better defense and won 24-10.  BBR thinks both teams are on the rise and wonder when the regular season is done if Texas might be 10-2 or even better and A&M around 9-3.  Texas dropped three spots to 12th, while A&M slid only four to 16th.
  6. Washington lost at home to a California team that actually plays decent defense, 20-19.  That leaves Utah at 11th, Oregon at 15th, and Washington St. at 20th.  The PAC 12 continues to disappoint on the national stage.  Other disappointments have to be Florida St., winners over Louisiana Monroe 45-44 thanks to a missed extra point in extra time.  At least they seem hydrated this week.  Syracuse forgot to play defense against Maryland and surrendered 63.  Two AP writers actually voted for Syracuse to still be in the top 25.  Lots of sportswriters and sportscasters go to Syracuse’s fine journalism school.  This might have been two of them.  Tennessee is now 0-2 with a second non conference loss at home.  This time BYU beat them which was an upgrade from a Georgia Southern debacle a week ago.  Note to the Volunteers, the SEC schedule is way tougher than that.  Pruitt needs to prove it, and soon.
  7.  Swinging over to baseball, we ask, ‘where are the pennant races?’  The closest division has the Cubs trailing the Cardinals by 4 games.  That one isn’t over, but with only about 18 games to go, it isn’t terribly close either.  The race for the best record in baseball is on though.  With it comes playoff home field advantage throughout.  The Yankess and the Astros are tied at a sizzling 95-50, while the Dodgers are two back at 93-52.
  8. Even the wild card races aren’t dealing aces.  While the Indians and A’s are only a half game apart for the last spot in the AL, the Rays look like they are in.  In the NL, Washington is two ahead of Chicago who is two ahead of Arizona for those two wild card spots.  Yawn.
  9. The NFL kicked off season 100.  We refuse to read too much into week one.  Or do we?  New England looked like New England.  Miami is roster purging and lost 59-10 to Baltimore.  If you live in Miami you can always enjoy the beaches, especially South Beach.  Speaking of south, The NFC South is 1-3 and the AFC South is 1-3 after one week.   Do the Falcons make it through the year without a coaching change?  Dan Quinn looked like a rising star four years ago.  Now, it looks like Arthur Blank has a DIY project to fix them.  Luckily he’s a Home Depot kind of guy.
  10. Is Antonio Brown fixable?  Master craftsman Bill Belicheck starts the remodel this week.  It’s a project.   BBR wishes the entire mess would get far less air time.  Brown makes yesteryear guys like Keyshawn Johnson ( “just throw me the damn ball”) look like choir boys.  Less talented players who disrupt like this would be out of the league by now.  This is the last whistle stop for Antonio.  We hope.

Sports has it all in fall.

You may be excused.

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

We’re one short week away from NCAA college football.  Our hunger is at it’s peak.  The Ten Nuggets on various sports below will have to tide you over.  And, tide you over they will.  Yum.

  1.  Speaking of the tides, the Alabama crimson one remains the betting favorite for the NCAA Championship. One unnamed analyst that we trust told us that he believes that 9 of the expected 22 starters this year for Bama will eventually be first round NFL draft picks.  Combine that talent with Saban’s high work ethic, coaching staff, knowledge and experience and it’s an uphill climb for others.
  2. Their season win total bet is 11.  So Vegas is not willing to offer you a loss by them and let you collect. Well, at least you would push.  It’s a high bar, but see point one above.  We don’t like high overs, and this one is -160.  But would you really bet the other side?  Will Bama lose twice?  If they do, they won’t be in the playoffs for the first time since, well, ever.  “Ever” is all five years since the current playoff format began, and Bama is five for five in appearances.
  3. Maybe you like Clemson even more?  That bar is even higher.  Their season win total is set at 11 and 1/2.  One loss there and you lose. No pushes occur when lines are on halves.  This over bet is -125.  Steep!  Sheesh.  The smart bet here is under at -105.  But, it’s only smart if Clemson stumbles or someone rises up in the ACC.  Could Texas A and M out of conference and on the road beat them?  Doubtful.  But what a signature win it would be for Jimbo Fisher.
  4. Someone either named Ed Orgeron or Tom Herman will get a signature win of their own in week two.  LSU travels to play Texas in an early season matchup of two AP preseason top ten ranked teams.  LSU is ranked 6th while the resurgent Longhorns are 10th.  The winner gets a strong pelt on the resume wall for down the road playoff consideration.  Both teams have to run through their conference gauntlet as well of course.  Would a one loss to Alabama team named LSU get in?  Would a one loss to Oklahoma team named Texas get in?  It’s WAY too early to wonder?  But, why not wonder?  The NCAA football season is too short to begin with.  Let the party begin.
  5.  The SEC dominates the upper part of the first AP poll.  Alabama is 2, Georgia 3, LSU 6, Florida 8, A&M 12, and Auburn 16.  But the Big 10 actually has seven teams to the six in the SEC.  The Ohio St and Michigan are in the top ten while Penn St., Michigan St., Iowa, Wisconsin, and Nebraska are all in it starting at 15 and below.  Let they party begin we said.
  6. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went just 1-for-6 for zero yards and an interception on Monday night in his first game since suffering a season-ending knee injury last September.  Garoppolo finished the night, which ended with a 24-15 victory over the Denver Broncos, with a 0.0 passer rating.  You probably can only go up from there.
  7.  Oakland Raiders GM Mike Mayock and Head Coach Jon Gruden beamed on while being interviewed during the NFL Draft last April.  They repeatedly told us that they drafted “football guys who had high character and wanted to play.”  Seems like they didn’t use the same template for their big trade in the offseason.  New Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has filed a new grievance against the NFL over his not having a full calendar year grace period to find a helmet that works for him.  It’s the third time since camp started that Brown has either left a practice or filed a grievance over what all other NFL payers have already moved forward from.  Mayock said Sunday that Brown had left camp over the helmet issue, and it was “time for him to be all-in or all-out.”  We think that it’s time for him to grow up.
  8. Meanwhile Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, who is nearly five weeks into a holdout over his contract, is training rigorously in California he says and is staying ready to play football while he waits to see if the Chargers will succumb to his new contract demands.  Gordon has told the Chargers through his representation that if he does not receive a new deal, he will sit out.
  9. What do Garrappolo, Brown, and Gordon have in common?  They all play for California based teams.  Garappolo is dreaming of better performances, Brown of better helmets, and Gordon of better money.  California dreaming.
  10. On to the MLB injury front we go.  Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa left after one inning against the Detroit Tigers on Monday because of back discomfort, the team said.  he is day to day.  Let’s hope he doesn’t call a masseuse to work out his issues again.  Meanwhile Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale will miss the remainder of the regular season with a left elbow injury but is expected to avoid Tommy John surgery after a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews confirmed a previous diagnosis of inflammation, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.  Sale’s season ending injury to the wind out of any sails that the 2018 Champion Red Sox had for 2019.  They are now 16 games behind the eventual division winner NY Yankees and 6 games behind the second of two wild card teams.

Yes, now you can be excused from the table.

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-Sports

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s a new week and the key to it’s success is getting it off to a good start.  The key to getting Monday off to a good start lies below.  A sports Ten Piece Nuggets is served.

  1. The Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 last Friday night and 23-2 on Saturday.  The “23” is no typo.  It is, though, the most runs ever scored by the 52 year old franchise.  Houston shortstop Carlos Correa, hit a 474 foot home run during the obliteration.  It’s the longest ever hit in the 27 year history of Camden Yards.
  2. So, Sunday, Las Vegas made the Astros a huge favorite to win the third and final game of the series and sweep the lowly 39-77 Orioles.  Cy Young former winner and possibly this year’s favorite, Justin Verlander, was on the bump for the 77-40 Astros.  A $100 bet on the lowly Orioles would pay you $420.  And a walk off, two out, two strike homerun by Rio Ruiz gave Baltimore the win.  It was the largest MLB single game upset v. the betting odds in 15 years.
  3. Despite the loss the Astros have a quite comfortable 10 game lead over the Oakland A’s in the AL West with about 44 regular season games left to play for most teams.   The NY Yankees have a quite comfortable 8.5 game lead over the second place Tampa Bay Rays in the East.  But the Central Division is shaping up as a “down to wire” two team horse race.  Cleveland and Minnesota are tied for first there with identical 71-47 records.  The playoffs only have room for three of Minnesota, Cleveland, Oakland, and Tampa Bay.  The Central winner sits home while the runner up falls to a one game wild card playoff situation as it stands today.   That’s huge for both teams.
  4.  Meanwhile in the NL the Los Angeles Dodgers can start printing home field advantage playoff tickets.  Their 79 wins are nine more than East Division leading Atlanta.  And, it’s a ridiculous 19 games over 59-59 Arizona, second in the West Division.  The Braves are clear of Washington by 6.5 games.  Like the AL, the NL horse race is in the Central where only 2.5 games separate the division leading Chicago Cubs over Saint Louis and Milwaukee.  And from the back of the pack comes the hard charging NY Mets.
  5. Do you know what happened on this August 12th date in MLB in 1994, 25 years ago today?  Nothing.   Players, under the threat of a salary cap, went on strike.  A month later Commissioner Bud Selig announced that the owners voted to cancel the season.  The dark ballparks were symbolic of some of the darkest days of “America’s Game” history.
  6. NCAA football stadiums won’t be dark for much longer.  It’s under two weeks and counting until teams the country over kickoff.  Twenty coaches enter year two with their teams.  It’s usually the year that programs under new coaches make the biggest leap if they are going to turn around the direction for which they were hired to begin with.  Turnover, transfers in and out, philosophy, culture, and two recruiting years take hold.  Or, they don’t.  Last year Ed Orgeron went from a too soon hot seat in year two to a ten win, top ten finish in year two.  Tom Herman guided Texas back into the final top ten standings for the first time in nine long(horn) years.
  7. Who might make that leap this year?  Let’s look west.  How about Herm Edwards at Arizona St?  BBR says meh.   Kevin Sumlin at Arizona perhaps?  No.  Chip Kelly is in year two at UCLA.  We doubt it.  But in Eugene, Oregon we like Mario Cristobal to get his Ducks in a top ten row.
  8. The SEC is brutal, but teams that go 8-4 or a tad better can get to the top ten with a an impressive bowl win to conclude 2019.  Five choices are available.  Joe Moorhead leads Miss St into year two.  We think they regress actually.  Chad Morris at Arkansas is rebuilding in his image from the ground up and has zero chance.  Jeremy Pruitt volunteered to engineer a turnaround at Tennessee.  They’ll be better, but Florida, Georgia, and Alabama and  one or two others will visit the orange and white checkerboard end zone too often still.  Dan Mullen is a rather underrated coach.  Florida could make that leap.  They return an improving Felipe Franks at QB as well.   But, we like Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M the most.  They return an improving Kellon Mond at QB, and Jimbo is a QB Whisperer.  The schedule is brutal.  They tangle with Alabama, LSU, and Auburn in the west and Georgia in the east.  Oh, and out of conference they have the Tigers from Clemson.  Brutal.  It says here that they will go 9-3 or better.
  9. Peyton Manning is doing 100 short feature stories for ESPN+ to celebrate the first 100 years of the NFL.  Peyton’s Place.  If you haven’t seen any, you must catch up.  They are a trip down memory lane, some obscure, all interesting, and quite humorous.  We think Peyton had a great past and we think Peyton has a great future wherever that takes him.  Meanwhile he has a great feature story run.
  10. Another great quarterback is on the move as well.  Tom Brady and his family listed their Brookline, Massachusetts home for a cool $39.5 million last week.  Keeping it under $40 million is quite the value pricing move.   Meanwhile, most of New England area went into full meltdown as to what this meant to his future and the future of the Patriots.  Brady’s restructured deal has team opt outs for 2020 and 2021.  Is this the final season of the longest running hit show in NFL history?  Calm down says Tom.  “You shouldn’t ready into anything.  My house is a little bit of an expensive one, so it doesn’t fly off of the shelf in a couple of weeks,” he advised.  Ya think?  “I love playing for the Patriots.  This is where I want to be.”  Sounds like he might become a commuter.

Hang in there, Tuesday is but a day away.

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

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.

Roger, Roger, Roger

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

This week NFL teams hold their “voluntary” Organized Team Activities(OTA’s).  The NFLPA’s bargaining agreement with the NFL insisted that the three day non cntact camps be voluntary.   Don’t miss one though like Antonio Brown is choosing to do in Oakland where his new team hoped his controversial self wouldn’t follow him from the right to the left coast.  If you do, you’re big news for at least 48 hours being labeled anything from a disruption to a malcontent.

At least you wouldn’t be labeled as a convicted spousal abuser, convicted and imprisoned aggravated robber, and acquitted as a suspect in a double homicide.  That honor belongs to Orenthal James Simpson, aka OJ, aka The Juice.

There were no OTA’s the last time OJ wore number 32 on his Buffalo Bills jersey way back in 1977.  Then again, there has been no one to wear number 32 in Buffalo since 1977 either.  That is until yesterday when Senorise Perry, one of seven running backs attempting to make the roster, wore it at the Bills’ day one OTA.

The Bills decided to retire number 34 in honor of running back Thurman Thomas and did so last October.  Number 32?  They decided to put it into moth balls from 1977 to 2019.  OJ’s name remains on their office walls as inducted into the Bills’ Hall of Fame.  His jersey number was never retired.  And now,  42 years after it was last worn, it’s being worn again.

Why now?  Why not?  It’s anyone’s guess we suppose.  It’s really a no win for Buffalo.  Or is it a loss?

With the very image conscious NFL taking hits left and right for stumbling through the mishandling of domestic abuse and outright assault, subsequenst penalties, suspensions, or bans why now?  Why ever?

In the early nineties OJ was arrested, tried, and acquitted of double murder.  In the early nineties the Bills went to four straight Super Bowls and lost all four.  The only time either OJ or the Bills have been in the news since, the news has been about a bad actor or a bad team.

There is no upside to bringing back number 32.  No one on the field wearing 32 will ever be as good as Juice on the field.  No one off of the field will ever be as bad.  The number should have been retired, without being retired, forever.

Can you picture a pink 32 Bills jersey in October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month?

Roger, if your officials couldn’t throw a pass interference flag on the Rams in the NFC Championship game, maybe at least your public relations team could have thrown one on the stupidity of the Bills’ front office.

 

 

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.