19 years ago, I started this blog, not knowing where it would lead. Lot of stuff has changed in the world since then, mostly good, but also some not so good. Thanks for reading every day (you DO read every day, right?), hope it makes you think some, and smile some.
Also, if it is Armadillo Day, that means it is my friend Gary’s birthday; he is a very good NFL handicapper (winning record on this site over the last nine years) and he is a funny guy. So we wish a happy 29th birthday (kind of) to the Big Dawg.
13) Christmas Eve 2016, I’m sitting in the sports book in the Aria casino in Las Vegas, a great place to spend an NFL Sunday. I had been there for a few days already, had struck up some conversations with a pro bettor who was sitting to my left that day. The seat to the right of me was empty.
Early games are winding up; the 4:30ET games are about ten minutes away; this Asian lady, 40-ish, sits in the seat to my right. She has an overcoat on; it was cold out (30’s) that day.
This lady takes out a very thick wad of $100 bills and begins counting, right out in the open, so I count along— she has $7,700. I say, “You must be having a very good day”; she shows me two tickets on the two early games that were still going on, one for $1,500, one for $2,000. Both of those were going to be winners.
So this lady is sitting on $11,200 and has a looseleaf page ripped out of a notebook with her bets for the late games. Lot of bets, teasers and straight bets. I have my Rams wind shirt on that I wear every Sunday; she points at the Rams’ logo and says “They better not play like crap today” with a thick Asian accent.
I laugh and say, “You haven’t been paying attention; they play like crap every week”; this was the year Jeff Fisher had been fired, and John Fassel was the interim coach. Despite being a really bad team, the Rams were favored over an even worse 49ers team.
I ask who her favorite team is and she leaves with these parting words: “I no have favorite team. You have favorite team, you bet with heart. I bet to win.” And with that, she got up and left, and I never saw her again.
Rams led 21-7 in 4th quarter, blew the game 22-21, the last NFL game Colin Kaepernick won.
12) If you had your choice, which quarterback would you choose?
Quarterback A: 31 years old. Career record: 44-42-2 Playoff record: 1-2
155 TD, 71 INT
Quarterback B: 32 years old. Career record: 28-30 Playoff record: 4-2 (0-1 Super Bowl)
72 TD’s, 30 INT
Quarterback C: 27 years old. Career record: 32-24 Playoff record: 0-1
97 TD, 35 INT
Quarterback D: 25 years old. Career record: 33-21 Playoff record: 2-2 (0-1 Super Bowl)
87 TD, 42 INT
Look thru those four resumes, and pick which guy you would want. I’ll let you know later on which guy is which
11) Lamar Jackson lost his first two playoff games with the Ravens; only two QB’s have gone on to win a Super Bowl after losing his first two playoff games- Peyton and Eli Manning.
10) Week 3 of the NFL this season is weird; no divisional games, not one.
9) Random stat of the Day: November 18, 2012; Texans beat Jacksonville 43-37 in OT; Houston QB Matt Schaub was 43-55 for 527 yards, five TD’s. Amdre Johnson caught 14 passes for 273 yards.
Saw a boxscore of this game the other day; Texans scored two TD’s in last 6:00 to tie the game. Both teams scored in OT. You wouldn’t think of Schaub as a guy to throw for 527 yards.
8) Was watching an old Seahawks game from couple years ago and their kicker got hurt, so when they kicked off, their Australian punter drop-kicked the ball, rather than kick it off a tee. Not something you see very often; he did a good job with it.
7) When Willie Mays became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 1979, he got voted in the first year, but 23 people didn’t vote for him- he got 409 of 432 votes. How the bleep do you not vote for Willie Mays to get into the Hall of Fame?
6) The MLB Draft is an odd event; Rickey Henderson, Jeff Bagwell were both 4th round picks. Mike Trout was the 25th guy taken when he was drafted. Mike Piazza only got drafted because his dad was friends with Tommy Lasorda. Strange way to run a billion dollar industry.
5) Wednesday was the first time in their last 17 games that the NC Dinos didn’t score a run in the first four innings; they’ve had a potent lineup, but now their best hitter Roberto Ramos is hurt, so we’ll see how much that hurts them.
4) Doosan Bears are doing pretty well in the KBO this year; there is some urgency for them, since nine of their players are free agents this winter, so they figure to regress next season.
3) Saw a picture of the huge demonstrations in Los Angeles last weekend; lot of people. At one big intersection, there is a huge Pepsi ad on the side of a building, takes up most of the building. Wonder how much that costs?
2) Quarterback A: Kirk Cousins
Quarterback B: Colin Kaepernick
Quarterback A: Carson Wentz
Quarterback A: Jared Goff
1) Good news in Las Vegas; Top Golf is opening next Thursday the 18th, as everything on the Strip slowly begins to re-open. Hopefully people will wear masks and stay healthy.
TV highlight of the day: Good college football day, they show lot of old SEC and ACC games. College football has changed a lot over the last 25 years.
