Month: June 2024

— NFL teams that have started the most QB’s since 2000:
37- Cleveland
29- Chicago
27- Washington
26- LA Rams
25- Arizona, Miami
23- Dallas, Minnesota

— NFL teams that have started the fewest QB’s since 2000:
7- Green Bay
9- New England, LA Chargers
11- Seattle
12- NJ Giants
13- Atlanta, Denver, New Orleans, Pittsburgh
14- Philadelphia

— San Jose Sharks took Macklin Celebrini with the first pick in this weekend’s NHL Draft; his dad is the VP of Player Health and Performance for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

— LA Clippers’ star Paul George has declined his $48.7M option for next year, and will enter free agency; the 34-year old George is expected to meet with three teams- 76ers, Magic and his old team, the Clippers.

George will be a free agent for first time since 2018; apparently he is looking for a 4-year, $221M contract, lot of bank for a guy who is 34. George scored 22.6 ppg this past year, grabbing 5.2 rebounds, dishing out 3.5 assists/game.

— Sounds like Klay Thompson/Golden State will be parting ways; Thompson has been a Warrior since 2011, will be weird to see him wearing another uniform.

— Phrase that popped up this week that I wish I had wrote:

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.”

Long time ago, September 1973, I was in 9th grade; it was my first day ever in a public school, and it was culture shock.

First time I rode in a school bus.
First time I didn’t wear a uniform to school.
First time I took an industrial arts (shop) class.

Anyway, the shop teacher was Mr Brunn, he was talking but so was one of the kids in the class. Mr Brunn interrupted the kid and says “Billy, you need to stop talking; you have diarrhea of the mouth!!!”

My eyes got wide; this is how teachers talk in public schools?

“…..torrential flood of word vomit.” reminded me of that day; good stuff.

— RIP to the great comedian Martin Mull, who passed away at age 80; he was very funny, he was in a lot of stuff, but I remember him best on Fernwood Tonight, a spoof of talk shows that he shared with the equally funny Fred Willard. What a team they were.

These days, I sometimes watch replays of old gameshows late at night; Martin Mull was often the center square on the 1990’s version of Hollywood Squares.

Very funny man. RIP, sir. 

— Famous birthdays, June 30th:
Mitch Richmond, 59
Mike Tyson, 58
Garret Anderson, 52
Trevor Ariza, 39

Michael Phelps, 39
Trea Turner, 31
Josh Rojas, 30
AJ Brown, 27

— Minnesota utility guy Willie Castro is only third player ever (Tony Phillips, Zach McKinstry are the others) to play 20+ games at five different positions in the same season.

— Most home runs in 1-0 games, among active players:
4- Kyle Schwarber
3- Ronald Acuna, Luis Robert

— Astros 9, Mets 6
Mets led 6-1 after three innings.
Alex Bregman had the game-winning hit in the 8th inning.

— Braves 2, Pirates 1 (10)
Adam Duvall had the walk-off single for Atlanta.
Pittsburgh rookie P Skenes has a 2.06 ERA in nine starts.

— Arizona 3, A’s 0
Zac Gallen allowed one hit in six shutout IP.
A’s used same lineup in consecutive games for first time this season.

— Dodgers 14, Giants 7 (11)
Dodgers led 6-5 after the 4th inning.
Dodgers are 6-2 vs San Francisco this season.

— Padres 11, Red Sox 1
Manny Machado homered twice for San Diego.
Padres have won nine of their last ten games. 

Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 13-7 in one-run games.
Over is 11-2 in their last 13 home games.

— Braves ware 4-8 in their last 12 road games.
Atlanta is 15-15 since Ronald Acuna went on the IL.

— Cubs are 9-18 vs NL Central rivals, 29-27 vs everyone else.
Under is 15-5 in their last 20 games.

— Cincinnati is 4-9 in its last 13 games.
Under is 13-4 in their last 17 home games.

— Rockies are 3-11 in their last 14 games.
Over is 11-5 in their last 16 home games.

— Dodgers won eight of their last 11 games.
Dodgers are 22-8 vs lefty starters, 29-24 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-25 against lefty starting pitchers, 26-28 vs righties.
Under is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Brewers are 16-3 in their last 19 home games.
Milwaukee is 19-9 against its NL Central rivals.

— Mets are 16-4 in their last 20 games.
Mets are 16-9 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 28-6 in their last 34 home games.
Phillies are 21-5 in their last 26 series openers.

— Pittsburgh is 9-5 in its last 13 series openers.
Under is 14-5 in Pirates’ last 19 games.

— St Louis is 16-6 in its last 22 home games.
Cardinals are 25-19 in night games, 17-20 in day games.

— Padres lost nine of their last 11 road games.
Padres won 11 of their last 13 home games.

— San Francisco is 31-27 vs righty pitchers, 9-16 vs lefties.
Over is 6-1 in their last seven road games.

— Over is 5-2 in Washington’s last seven road games.
Nationals are 14-10 vs NL East rivals, 24-33 vs everyone else.

— Famous birthdays, June 29th:
John Boccabella, 83
Gary Busey, 80
Fred Grandy, 76

Dan Dierdorf, 75
Rick Honeycutt, 70
Joe Johnson, 43

Kawhi Leonard, 33
Tanner Houck, 28
Gunnar Henderson, 23

— Orioles are 5-2 in their last seven home games.
Baltimore is 19-7 vs its AL East rivals.

— Red Sox are 10-13 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 2-12 in home series openers.

— White Sox are 6-13 in their last 19 games.
Chicago is 5-24 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 18-4 in their last 22 home games.
Cleveland is 17-6 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 1-8 in their last nine road games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 games.

— Houston won seven of its last eight games.
Under is 13-6 in Astros’ last 19 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 10-15.

— Royals are 4-12 in their last 16 road games.
Under is 8-2 in their last ten games. 

— Over is 10-4 in Angels’ last 14 road games.
Under is 14-3 in their last 17 home games.

— Minnesota is 12-6 in its last 18 games.
Over is 12-4 in their last 16 games.

— New York lost nine of its last 12 games.
Over is 8-1 in their last nine games.

— A’s lost 11 of their last 12 road games.
Under is 10-4 in their last 14 home games.

— Mariners are 12-1 in home series openers, 5-9 in road series openers.
Seattle is 24-6 in its last 30 home games.

— Rays are 13-7 vs lefty starters, 28-34 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 6-9 in home series openers.

— Texas is 3-14 in its last 17 series openers.
Under is 23-9 in Rangers’ last 32 home games.

— Toronto lost five of its last six road games.
Blue Jays are 8-14 in one-run games.

— Second day of the NBA Draft went from 4:00-6:30, an odd time to have it, but at least ESPN put former Warriors GM Bob Myers on their broadcast, so we learned some things. Also had to put up with Stephen A Smith, but that is why God invented the mute button.

Seemed like most of the 2nd round picks got traded, but the Lakers didn’t trade their 2nd round pick- to no one’s surprise, they took Bronny James.

— Before they went to SportsCenter, ESPN was already promoting a July 12 summer league game with the Lakers-Rockets, Bronny’s professional debut.

— Looked like the second day of the draft was held in the back room of a Brooklyn diner, not a big room at all.

— Since 1989, Kentucky has had 48 first round draft picks, Duke 47.

— During John Calipari’s time at Kentucky, Wildcats had 25 NBA lottery picks; no other team had more than 15 lottery picks during those years.

— Before the Knicks acquired Mikal Bridges, they had an 8.2% chance to win the NBA title next year; since the trade was announced, that number has gone up to 12.3%.

— Knicks dealt a 2031 draft pick in that trade, which means that if they keep the pick, Brooklyn will have acquired a young man who just graduated from………6th grade.

— Famous birthdays, June 28th:
Mel Brooks, 98
Raymond Chester, 76
Jim Spanarkel, 67

John Elway, 64
Jay Schroeder, 63
Mark Grace, 60

John Cusack, 58
Brandon Phillips, 43
Bradley Beal, 31

— Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice just won his first Stanley Cup title, in his 26th year as a head coach; he’s been a coach so long, his first head coaching gig was with the Hartford Whalers, who later became the Carolina Hurricanes.

— If you have HBO or whatever they call it now, Hard Knocks starts up next week, with the focus on the off-season of the New Jersey Giants. 

— Angels 5, Tigers 0
Rookie Davis Daniel allowed 4 hits in 8 shutout IP, in his first MLB start.
Last time a rookie threw 8+ shutout IP with 8+ strikeouts in his first career start was Jason Jennings of Colorado, back in 2001.

— Marlins 7, Phillies 4
Phillies led 2-0 after six innings.
Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper both got hurt in this game.

— Toronto 9, New York 2
George Springer hit a couple three-run homers.
Last three nights, New York starting pitchers gave up 19 runs in 13.1 IP.

— White Sox 1, Braves 0
Luis Robert’s first inning homer was the game’s only run.
Five Chicago pitchers combined on the shutout win.

— Cubs 5, Giants 3 (10)
Ian Happ homered in the 10th inning.
Cubs broke a 4-game losing streak. 

— Word of the Day– Confounded- to be confused or perplexed

I am constantly confounded by the direction ESPN has taken; they’re covering the NBA Draft, they love promoting the NBA, but then they have a draft and don’t have a former coach or a former general manager on their panel. Why?!?!?!?!

Richard Jefferson played in the NBA for 17 years, he is very good on TV.
Jay Bilas is their college basketball expert; he is good on TV.
The host does a good job in her job, moving the broadcast around the arena. 

But if you have to have a 4th person on set, it damn sure needs to be someone who has been in the room, scouting/drafting players on nights like this one, or someone who has coached in the NBA, so they can tell us what it is like to be behind the curtain on draft night.

We don’t need a 30-year old person who never played pro basketball talking more than either Jefferson or Bilas. I watch the broadcast to learn stuff, not to hear people talking about players’ handshakes, suit jackets or hair styles.

Bob Myers works for ESPN: he was the freakin’ GM of the great Warrior teams. Would be nice if they put him with the first team on TV.

— Three of the first six players drafted Thursday are from France, which is unusual.

— From 2025-31, Utah Jazz will have 18 first round draft picks,

Utah took USC guard Isaiah Collier with the 29th pick Thursday; it can be dicey to read body language, but he and his mom didn’t seem overly excited with being selected by the Jazz.

Jazz also took Cody Williams from Colorado; Buffs had two players taken in the first 18 picks, which helps explain why they were 26-11 this past season.

— Tristian da Silva was the other Colorado player drafted, by Orlando; the kid’s father was a pro boxer, so you can’t doubt his toughness, plus the young man speaks five languages, so he is smart and he can curse at officials in different languages and not get technical fouls.

— Kentucky has now had a player taken in the last 17 NBA Drafts; it is difficult to process that they ran John Calipari out of town, but they did, and Arkansas is glad they did.

— When you hear a basketball analyst use the team “motor” he is talking about a player’s effort, so if you hear a negative comment about a player’s motor, that is about as big an indictment as you can give to a player, that they don’t always try hard.

“Yeah, we’re going to pay this guy million$ to play, except he doesn’t always try that hard”

No bueno.

— Oklahoma City took a point guard from Serbia who has already partially torn his ACL, then re-injured the knee; they said on TV that the earliest we can expect to see him play is in next year’s summer league, 13 months from now.

— Someone was saying how the Washington Wizards are going into a total rebuild, as in, they fully expect the Wizards to miss the playoffs the next two seasons.

— By the way, if you like the NBA, you should head to Las Vegas in mid-July and watch the NBA Summer League at UNLV. It is affordable, lot of famous people around, they have really good air conditioning and you get to see all the rookies competing for invites to training camp. Plus, at the end of the day, you’re in Las Vegas, never a bad thing.

— Famous birthdays, June 27th:
Kevin Joyce, 73
Craig Hodges, 64
Chuck Person, 60

Tobey Maguire, 49
Jordan Hicks, 32
Jonah Heim, 29

Monte Morris, 29
Yordan Alvarez, 27
Will Levis, 25

— Dodgers 4, White Sox 0
Shohei Ohtani knocked in a run for the 10th game in a row, the first Dodger ever to do that; the last Dodger to get an RBI in nine straight games was Roy Campanella, in 1955.

— Toronto-Boston was suspended by rain in the second inning; the game will be finished as part of a doubleheader on August 26.

— Orioles 4, Guardians 2
Cedric Mullins had the tie-breaking homer in the 7th inning.
Baltimore snaps its 5-game losing skid.
Loss ends Cleveland’s 7-game winning streak.

— Mets 12, Bronx 2
Metropolitans are 15-4 in last 19 games, are back to .500 at 39-39.
Mets are only 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.
Bronx has lost eight of its last ten games.

— Royals 5, Marlins 1
Struggling Kansas City improves to 3-7 in rubber game of a series.
Marlins led 1-0 in 8th inning, but Royals scored five times in the 8th.

— Mariners 5, Rays 2
Tampa Bay led 1-0 after five innings.
Cal Raleigh’s 3-run homer was the big hit in the game.

— If the baseball playoffs started today (they do not):
NL: Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers. Wild Cards: Braves, Cardinals, Padres
AL: New York, Guardians, Mariners. Wild Cards: Orioles, Twins, Red Sox

There are now 18 teams in the Big 10, so from now on, we’re calling it the Big 18. Here are some quick notes for each team:

— In his coach, Illinois coach Bret Bielema 28-16-1 ATS as a road dog.
At Illinois, Bielema is 4-10 ATS as a home favorite.

— Indiana lost its last six bowls, but covered the last three, losing by 2-1-6 points.
Hoosiers’ last win in a bowl game was the 1991 Copper Bowl.

— Since 2018, Iowa is 10-4 ATS as a road favorite.
Hawkeyes were minus-9 in turnovers LY; the previous six years, they were +52.

— In his career, Maryland coach Mike Locksley is 22-34 ATS as an underdog.
Since 2018, Maryland is 3-14 ATS as a road underdog.

— Michigan has only 7 starters back this year; 2 on offense, 5 on defense, plus a new coach.
Since 2014, Michigan is 16-22 ATS in non-conference games.

— Michigan State coach Jonathan Smith was 2-8 ATS as a road favorite, 13-7 as a road underdog, during his time at Oregon State (his alma mater).
Under Smith, Beavers were 15-3 ATS as a home favorite.

— In his career, Minnesota coach PJ Fleck is 37-22-2 ATS in road games.
Minnesota won its last seven bowl games.

— In his college career, Nebraska coach Rhule is 33-17 ATS as an underdog.
Nebraska hasn’t played in a bowl game since 2016.

— Famous birthdays, June 26th:
Shannon Sharpe, 56
Chris O’Donnell, 54
Derek Jeter, 50

Chad Pennington, 48
Michael Vick, 44
Deron Williams, 40

Iman Shumpert, 34
Rudy Gobert, 32
Ariana Grande, 31

— Northwestern won its last five bowls; they were underdog in 3 of the 5 games.
Since 2015, Wildcats are 49-31 ATS in conference games.

— Ohio State lost three games in a row vs Michigan, giving up 39 ppg.
Under Ryan Day, Buckeyes are 21-12 ATS as a home favorite.

— Last two years, Penn State is 21-5 SU, with a +27 turnover margin.
Last two years, Nittany Lions are 15-3-1 ATS as a favorite.

— Since 2018, Purdue is 4-15 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Boilermakers are 23-49 ATS in all home games.

— Since 2018, Rutgers is 10-2 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Rutgers is 21-11 ATS in non-conference games.

— Since 2018, UCLA is 8-16 ATS as a home favorite.
Since 2014, Bruins are 10-21-1 ATS in non-conference games.

— Washington is 25-3 SU the last two years, but their coach bolted to Alabama, and they only have 6 starters back, 2 on offense, 4 on defense. 

While at Arizona, new Washington coach Jedd Fisch was 16-9 ATS as an underdog.

— In his career, Wisconsin coach Fickell is 15-8 ATS as an underdog.
Badgers are 10-5 ATS in last 15 games coming off a loss. 

— Las Vegas hotels:
MGM, Vdara, Westgate, SouthPoint

— TV shows:
Law & Order
Magnum PI
CSI
Odd Couple

— Sports movies:
American Underdog
Moneyball
Blue Chips
Any Given Sunday

— Non-sports movies:
Rounders
A Star is Born
Leap of Faith
Begin Again

— Food:
Pizza, spaghetti/meatballs, scrambled eggs/sausage, chicken parm

— Current college basketball coaches:
John Calipari
Mark Few
Danny Hurley
Tom Izzo

— All-time college basketball coaches:
John Wooden
Dean Smith
Mike Krzyzewski
Jerry Tarkanian

— Actresses:
Gina Gershon, Diane Lane, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sela Ward

— Musicians:
Bob Seger, Billy Joel, Pat Benatar, Van Morrison

— best NFL coaches:
Chuck Noll, Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick, Tom Landry

— In-person events:
2000 NFC title game: Rams 11, Buccaneers 6
2008 World Series game: Rays @ Phillies
Frank Sinatra concert in Albany, 1990
2008 Tennessee @ South Carolina football game

—Bucket List:
Spring training game, preferably in Arizona
LSU home football game, on a Saturday night
A’s home game in Oakland Coliseum
Rams’ home game in SoFi Stadium

— best quarterbacks, in Super Bowl era:
John Elway, Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Patrick Mahomes

— best MLB starting pitchers (since 1960):
Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Tom Seaver, Greg Maddux

— Best-ever NBA players:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, Lebron James 

— favorite television characters:
Oscar Madison, Odd Couple
Jonathan Higgins, Magnum PI
Ray Donovan
Henry Blake, M*A*S*H

— Major league managers:
Bruce Bochy, Dick Williams, Sparky Anderson, Terry Francona

— My favorite sodas:
Dr Brown’s cream soda
Cherry Coke
Orange Crush
Dr Pepper

— Batman villains:
Riddler, Joker, Catwoman (Julie Newmar), Penguin

— Famous birthdays, June 24th:
Michele Lee, 82Joe Penny, 68
Chris Barnes, 59 (Tanner in Bad News Bears)
Alaa Abdelnaby, 56
JJ Redick, 40

Taj Gibson, 39
Tremayne Anchrum, 26
Wilyer Abreu, 25
Christopher Morel, 25

— Al Pacino movies:
Any Given Sunday
Heat
Danny Collins
Sea of Love

— Baseball movies:
Moneyball
For Love of the Game
Bull Durham
Major League

— Denzel Washington movies:
He Got Game
Pelican Brief
Remember the Titans
Out of Time

— Gene Hackman movies:
Hoosiers
Runaway Jury
The Replacements
Class Action

— Basketball movies:
Blue Chips
One on One
Fast Break
The Way Back
(He Got Game gets an honorable mention here)

— Steve Martin movies:
Leap of Faith
Shopgirl
Roxanne
Grand Canyon

— Gambling-related movies:
Rounders
Let It Ride
The Gambler (Mark Wahlberg version)
Lucky You

— Gina Gershon movies:
Bound
PS I Love You
Showgirls
Pretty In Pink

— Bill Murray movies:
Lost In Translation
Caddyshack
Meatballs
St Vincent

— Marisa Tomei movies:
My Cousin Vinny
The Rewrite
The Big Short
Lincoln Lawyer

— Robert DeNiro movies:
Last Vegas
Heat
Jackie Brown
Midnight Run

— Kevin Costner movies:
For Love of the Game
The Bodyguard
Bull Durham
Draft Day

 Trends for all 30 MLB teams…….

— Arizona is 4-0-2 in its last six series, 12-6 in last 18 games.
Diamondbacks are 3-9 in road series openers.

— Braves won six of their last seven games.
Atlanta is 12-11 vs NL East rivals, 20-10 vs American League teams.

— Cubs are 9-17 vs NL Central rivals, 27-22 vs everyone else.
10 of Cubs’ last 12 games stayed under the total.

— Cincinnati lost four of its last five games.
Under is 10-1 in their last 11 games.

— Rockies are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Over is 6-3 in their last nine games.

— Dodgers won five of their last seven games.
Dodgers are 21-7 vs lefty starters, 26-23 vs righties.

— Marlins are 3-23 against lefty starting pitchers, 22-26 vs righties.
Under is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— Brewers are 12-3 in their last 15 home games.
Milwaukee is 18-9 against its NL Central rivals.

— Mets are 11-3 in their last 14 games.
Mets are 16-9 in one-run games; last year, they were 25-28.

— Phillies are 25-4 in their last 29 home games.
Phillies are 20-3 in their last 23 series openers.

— Rookie P Skenes is 4-0, 2.29 in seven starts, with 53 strikeouts in 39.1 IP.
Under is 10-2 in Pirates’ last 12 games.

— St Louis is 9-3 in its last 12 home games.
Cardinals are 12-9 vs lefty starters, 25-28 vs righties.

— Padres lost nine of their last 10 road games.
San Diego is 12-16 vs lefty starters; last year, they were 28-13.

— Giants are 3-7 in their last 10 home games.
San Francisco is 20-14 in day games, 16-26 in night games.

— Washington is 9-3 in its last 12 games.
Nationals are 14-10 vs NL East rivals, 22-28 vs everyone else.

— Famous birthdays, June 21st:
Bernie Kopell, 91
Monte Markham, 89
Rick Sutcliffe, 68

Tom Chambers, 65
Derrick Coleman, 57
Maggie Siff, 50

Chris Pratt, 45
Richard Jefferson, 44
Garrett Crochet, 25

— Orioles are 15-6 in their last 21 games.
Baltimore is 19-7 vs its AL East rivals.

— Red Sox are 9-12 vs lefty starters; last two years, they were 47-31.
Boston is 1-11 in home series openers.

— White Sox are 4-17 in their last 21 road games.
Chicago is 5-23 in games where winning run scored from 7th inning on.

— Guardians are 15-4 in their last 19 home games.
Cleveland is 14-6 vs lefty starting pitchers; LY, they were 24-35.

— Tigers are 3-10 in their last 13 games.
Over is 8-0 in their last eight home games.

— Under is 10-3 in Astros’ last 13 games.
Last 2 years, Houston was 70-33 vs lefty starters; this year, they’re 9-14.

— Royals are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
Kansas City is 25-14 at home, 17-20 on road.

— Over is 9-3 in Angels’ last 12 road games.
Under is 10-2 in their last 12 home games.

— Minnesota is 8-3 in its last 11 games.
Over is 7-2 in their last nine games.

— New York lost five of its last seven games.
NY scored in first inning in 6 of its last 10 games.

— A’s lost 10 of their last 12 games.
Under is 9-2 in their last 11 home games.

— Mariners are 11-1 in home series openers, 5-7 in road series openers.
Seattle is 23-6 in its last 29 home games.

— Rays are 12-7 vs lefty starters, 24-32 vs righty starters.
Tampa Bay is 4-9 in home series openers.

— Texas is 2-12 in its last 14 series openers.
Under is 21-8 in Rangers’ last 29 home games.

— Toronto lost five of its last seven games.
Blue Jays are 8-12 in one-run games. 

— Happy Armadillo Day!!!!

23 years ago this week, I started writing this blog. Despite the protests of some, I’m still doing it. Hopefully you enjoy reading it.

In those 23 years, I’ve taken two short breaks; in September 2001, took a week off after 9/11, because there wasn’t anything good to write about, then in 2019 I had retina surgery so I laid on my couch for a week, then started writing again.

(I’d like to thank my two surgeons, Dr Mallick and Dr Lemanski, for fixing my eye).

Hopefully over the next year we’ll all be nicer to each other, more tolerant of each other. I’ll still be here typing late into the night; hopefully you’ll still be reading.

— If you like the NFL and you have the Roku channel on your TV, there is a show on there that you will like, about the NFL Draft this past April.

NFL Films documentary crews are embedded in the draft rooms of five teams, plus on stage and behind the scenes of the actual draft in Detroit. Watched it last night; it was high quality stuff that we’ve come to expect from NFL Films.

— Detroit Lions signed UFL kicker Jake Bates to a 2-year deal. Bates has made three field goals of 60+ yards for the Michigan Panthers this spring; he was a kickoff specialist in college for Texas State (2020-21) and Arkansas (2022).

— Edmonton 8, Florida 1
Oilers led 3-1 in first period; their first goal was shorthanded.
Last time NHL finals ended in a sweep was 1998, when the Red Wings swept Washington.

Even with this game going over the total, if you bet the under in every game Florida goalie Sergei  Bobrovsky started this year, you’d be 47-26-3, good for a $1,789 profit to a $100 bettor.

Last time an NHL goalie finished +$2,000 to the under was Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames, way back in 2005.

— Cubs’ rookie lefty P Shota Imanaga has a 1.31 ERA in seven starts at Wrigley Field.

— Famous birthdays for June 16th:
Rick Adelman, 78
Al Cowlings, 77
Frank Corral, 69

Laurie Metcalf, 69
Darrell Griffith, 66
Wally Joyner, 62

Kerry Wood, 47
Austin Blythe, 32
Justin Jefferson, 25 

— Orioles 6, Phillies 2
Anthony Santander homered twice, drove in four runs.

— Nationals 5, Marlins 0
Rookie P Herz struck out 13 batters, allowed one hit in 6 IP
Washington is 7-1 in its last eight games.

— Marlins are 3-22 vs lefty starters this year, 20-25 vs righties.

— Chicago White Sox are 2-21 in series openers this year, 0-12 on the road.

— Rockies 16, Pirates 4
Hunter Goodman homered twice, knocked in five runs.
Pirates had won their previous five games at Coors Field.

— Mariners 7, Rangers 5
Seattle has won six of its last seven games.

— AL Wild Card race:
Orioles, Royals, Twins, followed by…….
2.5 games behind- Boston
4- Detroit, Toronto
5- Texas

— NL Wild Card race:
Braves, Padres, Cardinals, followed by……
half-game behind- Reds, Nationals
1 game behind- Cubs, Diamondbacks, Giants
1.5- Pittsburgh

Much ado about nothing.

Danny Hurley turned down the Lakers Monday; apparently they offered him a $70M, six-year contract, but he is staying at UConn. His accountant might not be happy, but staying at a place where he is the king is probably a good thing.

Here is how college coaches have fared in the NBA:
— Rick Pitino was the first coach to lead three different schools — Providence, Kentucky, and Louisville — to the Final Four- he is 854-306 as a college coach.

He was 94-74 coaching the Knicks, but his tenure with the Celtics (98-144) wasn’t good.

— Larry Brown was 262-100 as a college coach, winning the 1988 national title with Kansas.

He was 1,098-904 as an NBA coach, winning the 2004 title with the Pistons. He is the only coach to win a title in college and in the NBA.

— Brad Stevens was 166-49 as a college coach; he got Butler to a Final Four, when they were in the freakin’ Horizon League.

He was 354-282 in the NBA, then stopped coaching and started running the Celtics’ franchise; they’re two wins away from the NBA title.

— Billy Donovan was 502-206 as a college coach, winning consecutive national titles at Florida.

He is 399-319 as an NBA head coach, with Thunder/Bulls.

— Quin Snyder went 128-96 in seven years at Missouri.
He is 418-321 as an NBA coach, mostly with the Utah Jazz.

— John Calipari is 855-262 as a college coach.
He was 72-112 in 2+ years coaching the Nets.

— Fred Hoiberg is 178-150 as a college coach.
In between his Iowa State/Nebraska gigs, he was 115-155 with Chicago.

— Mike Montgomery was 676-318 in college, getting Stanford to a Final Four.
He was 68-96 in two years coaching the Warriors.

— John Beilein was 571-325 as a college coach.
He went 14-40 in one unfortunate season with Cleveland.

— Tim Floyd was 465-280 as a college coach.
He replaced Phil Jackson with the Bulls; it didn’t go well (93-235)

— Jerry Tarkanian was one of the best college hoop coaches ever, but he lasted only 20 games with the San Antonio Spurs, going 9-11 before he walked away from it.

Winning is more fun than losing; besides, the NBA is a player-run thing; college basketball was always a coach-driven thing, 

— Famous birthdays for June 11th:
Adrienne Barbeau, 79
Gary Fencik, 70
Joe Montana, 68
Hugh Laurie, 65
Jose Reyes, 41
Brock Holt, 36

— If you’re scoring at home, so far this season, American League leads National League 138-128 in interleague games.

— Orioles 5, Rays 2
Baltimore is 15-0-6 in their last 21 series against divisional rivals.
Gunnar Henderson was 3-5 with three runs scored.

— Mariners 8, White Sox 4
Cal Raleigh hit a walk-off grand slam.
White Sox are 17-50, a terrible team, but if you bet them in the first five innings every game, the White Sox are 28-30-9, which is respectable- they’ve been awful in the late innings.

— Baseball injuries:
Seattle 1B Ty France has a hairline fracture in his right heel.

Royals OF Hunter Renfroe had a 12-pitch at bat Monday, fouling two balls off his left foot. Turns over he broke the big toe on his left foot, is headed to the IL.

— Pittsburgh Steelers signed coach Mike Tomlin to a 3-year contract extension that will keep him in the Steel City thru 2027.

Tomlin is 181-110 as Steelers’ coach, winning a Super Bowl in his 2nd year; he’s never had a losing season in 17 years, but the last seven years, Pittsburgh is 0-4 in playoff games.

— Former Maryland QB Taulia Tagovailoa, younger brother of Dolphins’ QB Tua Tagovailoa, signed with the  CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats practice squad.

Hamilton lost their opener 32-24 to Calgary last week; Tagovailoa wasn’t drafted by the NFL, despite being tied for Maryland’s single-season touchdown mark with current Hamilton head coach Scott Milanovich.

— Back in 1991, Washington Redskins started the season 5-0, shutting out three of their first five opponents- they went on to win the Super Bowl. Since then, Washington doesn’t have a shutout; they’re the only NFL team without a shutout in the last 30 years.