— Night after the All-Star Game is one of the worst TV nights of the year; NBA Summer League is OK to watch, but that’s almost over and the good announcers have gone home. Jeremy Lin is a new TV analyst; he is actually pretty good, but the guy who was his play-by-play partner isn’t good.
I found a good TV show on Netflix, an NFL Films things about quarterbacks; Baker Mayfield, Joe Flacco, Jayden Daniels, Cam Ward. NFL Films stuff is always good.
— Flacco got a Corvette for winning Super Bowl MVP for the Ravens in 2013; that car is sitting in a barn now, looks like Flacco hasn’t driven it in years. He said on the show he does’t know where the keys are.
— Flacco’s wife plays fantasy football; she was miked for a game- she said she benched her husband for that week. So did one of his kids.
— Cam Ward is explaining how he never really played QB until he was in college, so even though he is in the NFL, he’s learning a lot of basic things, like the right way to study game film.
Brian Daboll is Tennessee’s new offensive coordinator; he has his work cut out for him.
— Positive things about the All-Star week:
Home Run Derby was a good show.
Players wore their own team’s uniforms in the All-Star Game.
The result of the game DID NOT determine home field in the World Series.
— I’ve got a bad feeling about baseball’s labor issues, as far as next season goes; MLB is running commercials pushing the salary cap, which has aggravated the players’ union, which isn’t very surprising. Next summer has the potential to be kind of boring.
— Jim Boeheim’s son Buddy is playing for Oklahoma City in the NBA Summer League; he’s scored 56 points in 24 NBA games, for the Pistons/Thunder. Coach Boeheim was on the TV broadcast for a little while.
— Famous birthdays, July 16th:
Ron Yary, 80
Ron Brewer, 71
Terry Pendleton, 66
Phoebe Cates, 63
Will Ferrell, 59
Barry Sanders, 58
Zach Randolph, 45
Ildemaro Vargas, 35
Notes for Sun Belt East football teams:
Appalachian State
Last two years, App State was 5-6/5-8 SU.
HC Loggains was an assistant coach for 5 NFL teams.
App State has 2 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
App State has 25 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Singleton threw 64 passes at Purdue.
Last six years, App State is 10-21-1 ATS as a home favorite.
Last 10 years, App East is 11-5 ATS as an underdog.
App State is 7-16-1 ATS last 24 games coming off a win.
App State is 11-21-1 ATS in their last 33 conference games.
App State is 3-2 SU/1-4 ATS in its last five bowl games.
Coastal Carolina
New HC Beard was coach at Missouri State last three years.
Coastal was 6-7/6-7 last two years, after 4 straight winning seasons.
Coastal has 5 starters back on offense, 4 on defense.
Chanticleers have 42 returning starts on the offensive line.
Junior QB Guerra started 12 junior college games LY.
Last three years, Coastal is 5-3 ATS as a home favorite.
Coastal is 4-7 ATS in last 11 games as a road favorite.
Bobby Petrino’s son is Coastal’s offensive coordinator.
Last six years, Chanticleers are +28 in turnovers.
Chanticleers lost three of their last four bowl games.
Georgia Southern
In four years under Helton, Eagles are 27-25 SU/29-23 ATS .
Last two years, Eagles are 9-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Georgia Southern has 3 starters back on offense, 6 on defense.
Eagles have 45 returning starts on OL, from various places.
Senior QB Johnson started 23 games in 7 years (LSU, UNC, Texas A&M)
Under Helton, Eagles are 12-3 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Helton is 27-18 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Helton is 10-21 ATS as a road underdog.
Coach Helton is 3-5 SU in bowl games.
Eagles lost three of last four bowl games (favored in all four).
Georgia State
Last two years, Panthers are 4-20 SU/5-18-1 ATS.
Last two years, GSU is 3-12-1 ATS in conference games.
Georgia State has 6 starters back on offense, 2 on defense.
Panthers have 59 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Brown started four games last year.
Under McGee, Panthers are 0-7 ATS as a favorite.
Under McGee, Panthers are 4-13-1 ATS in games coming off a loss.
Under McGee, Panthers are 3-7-1 ATS as a road underdog.
OC is former NFL head coach Hue Jackson
Panthers won last three bowl games, scoring 39-51-45 points.
James Madison
Former Florida coach Napier is JMU’s new head coach.
Last 10 years, Dukes are 110-22 SU.
JMU has 3 starters back on offense, 2 on defense.
Dukes have 49 returning starts on OL, at various places.
All the QB’s on this roster are inexperienced.
In his career, Napier is 13-20-1 ATS as a home favorite.
In his career, Napier is 24-13-1 ATS as an underdog.
4 years in Sun Belt, JMU is 18-14-1 ATS in conference games.
Last five years, Dukes are +50 in turnovers.
JMU lost two of its three bowl games.
Marshall
Last three years, Marshall was 6-7/10-3/5-7 SU.
Last two years, Marshall was +6/+10 in turnovers.
Thundering Herd has 6 starters back on offense, 3 on defense.
Marshall has 41 returning starts on the offensive line.
Senior QB Del Rio-Wilson started 10 games LY.
Marshall covered six of last seven games as a home underdog.
Marshall is 9-4 ATS in last 13 games as a road underdog.
Thundering Herd is 13-8 ATS last 21 games as a road favorite.
Thundering Herd covered 7 of their last 8 non-conference games.
Marshall lost four of its last five bowl games.
Old Dominion
Monarchs were 10-3 LY, their first winning season since 2016.
ODU is 12-7 ATS in last 19 games coming off a win.
ODU has one starter back on offense, 6 on defense.
Monarchs have no returning starts on the offensive line.
Soph QB Henicle has started two games.
Coach Rahne is 24-14-1 ATS as an underdog.
Coach Rahne is 9-11 ATS as a favorite.
ODU is 14-9-1 ATS in last 21 Sun Belt games.
Monarchs are 12-7 ATS in last 19 games coming off a win.
Old Dominion is 2-2 SU/1-3 ATS in bowl games.
