Author: Armadillo Sports

Lot of stuff going on, with seasons overlapping……..
— Tuesday was the NFL’s trade deadline; Jets dumped DT Quinnen Williams, CB Ahmad (Sauce) Gardner, got three first round draft picks in return.

Next two drafts, Jets now own five first round picks. Which quarterback will they draft?

— Teams with two first round picks in the 2026 Draft: Rams, Browns, Jets

— Cardinals 27, Cowboys 17
Arizona snaps a five-game losing skid, all close losses.
Arizona’s first six drives: 52 plays, 312 yards, 27 points.
Last four games, Cardinals converted 36-72 third down plays.
Cardinals are 9-1 ATS last ten games as a road underdog. 

Cowboys in first half: 28 plays, 98 yards, no points.
Cowboys’ only first half score came on a blocked punt for TD.
Cowboys were minus-3 in turnovers.
Dallas is 0-5 when they score less than 37 points.

— In their last two games, Houston Texans scored on 9 of their 23 drives, which isn’t bad, but unfortunately for the Texans, those nine scores were 7 field goals, only 2 touchdowns.

In Sunday’s 18-15 loss to Denver, Texans went 5-for-6 kicking field goals, but you don’t win much when you don’t score a touchdown.

— Famous birthdays, November 5th:
Elke Sommer, 85
Art Garfunkel, 84
Tatum O’Neal, 62
Famke Janssen, 61

Javy Lopez, 55
Johnny Damon, 52
Jason Kelce, 38
Odell Backham Jr, 33

— NFL divisional trends:

AFC East
14-10 ATS non-divisional games

AFC North
Home teams 4-0 ATS divisional games
9-17 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
12-12 ATS non-divisional games

AFC West
8-5 ATS non-divisional home games.
4-9 ATS non-divisional road games.

NFC East
Home teams 4-2 ATS divisional games
10-13 ATS non-divisional games

NFC North
5-2 ATS non-divisional home favorite

NFC South
13-15 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
16-7 ATS non-divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:
American
Home favorites 10-6 ATS
Road favorites 11-6 ATS

ACC
Home favorites 11-14 ATS
Road favorites 11-9 ATS

Big 18
Home favorites 12-17 ATS
Road favorites 10-10 ATS

Big X
Home favorites 10-6 ATS
Road favorites 11-6 ATS

Conference USA
Home favorites 8-6 ATS
Home underdogs 7-4 ATS

Mid-American
Home favorites 12-5 ATS
Home underdogs 9-3 ATS

Mountain West
Home favorites 9-8 ATS
Home underdogs 4-4 ATS

SEC
Home favorites 15-13 ATS
Home underdogs 7-6 ATS

Sun Belt
Home favorites 10-8 ATS
Home underdogs 9-6 ATS

— Movie of the Day: The Fugitive (1993)- A doctor is wrongly accused of murdering his wife; he has to find the real killer while being pursued by a veteran US Marshal.

Harrison Ford is the doctor, Tommy Lee Jones is the marshal, Sela Ward is the doctor’s wife, Joe Pantoliano is one of the other policemen.

Excellent movie, lot of drama.

— UConn’s football is 6-3 and bowl eligible under coach Jim Mora Jr; all three of their losses came in overtime. Huskies won the Fenway Bowl LY, their first bowl win since 2009.

— Auburn fired football coach Hugh Freeze, who went 15-19 in 2+ years with the Tigers; he gets a $15.8M buyout to take a hike. Auburn has lost five of its last six games.

— South Carolina is 3-6, lost its last four games; they fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula, who was in his first season as Carolina’s OC. Gamecocks rank last in the SEC in both points (19.7) and yards per game (294.1).

Mike Shula is the answer to a good trivia question: he was the head coach at Alabama just before Nick Saban took over the Crimson Tide.

— With coaching jobs coming open, other coaches get big raises to stay where they are:

Nebraska signed Matt Rhule to a two-year contract extension that will take him through the 2032 season; Nebraska is 6-2 this year; Rhule led the program to its first bowl game since 2016 last year.

SMU signed coach Rhett Lashlee to a new seven-year deal that keeps him with the Mustangs thru 2032; $$$ details weren’t provided, but apparently the deal will make him one of the 10 highest-paid coaches in college football.

College/minor league basketball tipped off Monday; here’s a recap:
Remember in school, on the first day, when the white board in class was clean? This is what the first night of college hoop has become; no one knows ANYTHING, and that includes coaches.

So many teams are total rebuilds; it is like junior college ball, teams constantly starting over, so we pay attention and try to learn quickly.

— Arizona 93, Florida 87
Gators led 32-20 midway thru first half.
6-8 freshman Peat had 30 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists.
His brother/father are/were offensive linemen in the NFL.
Arizona was 31-38 on foul line, Florida 20-30.

— BYU 71, Villanova 66
Villanova was 10-35 on the arc; they had a 49-43 edge on the boards.
BYU had only four turnovers the whole game (+7)
BYU’s star freshman AJ Dybanta scored 21 points. 

I thought they said on TV that Dybanta is getting paid $7M this year; SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS!!!!

— “Winning helps, and losing doesn’t”

Hawaii Pacific 79, Boise State 78
Hawaii Pacific is a D-2 team; this is a horrific loss for a team that was 99-40 over the last four seasons. The Sharks shot 60% inside the arc. Boise was 10-33 behind the arc.

— New Orleans 78, TCU 74
Horned Frogs were a 21-point favorite.
TCU shot 3-27 on the arc, were out-rebounded 38-28.

Great win for the Privateers, who were 26-70 the last three years. 

— Close wins can be red flags:

Auburn 95, Bethune-Cookman 90
Wildcats are coached by former NBA star Reggie Theus; they were 12-22 on the arc.
Auburn started a freshman, two sophs; they were 27-38 on foul line, visitors were 8-9.

Georgia Tech 56, Maryland-Eastern Shore 52 OT
UMES led by nine with 14:31 left in the game.
Tech shot 5-26 on the arc, 9-18 on the foul line.
Only seven players scored for the Yellow Jackets.

Xavier 66, Marist 62
Marist led by a point with 2:11 left in the game.
Red Foxes shot 52.9% inside the arc, out-rebounded Xavier 33-31.
Xavier started four seniors; they were 7-26 behind the arc.

Baylor 96, Texas-Rio Grande 81
Baylor only played eight guys the whole game (78 possessions)
Vaqueros led 26-12 midway thru the first half.
Baylor shot 60% inside the arc, had a 42-26 edge on the glass.

Famous birthdays, November 4th:
Ralph Macchio, 64
Eric Karros, 57
Carlos Baerga, 57
Matthew McConaughey, 56
Orlando Pace, 50
Lorenzen Wright, 50
Tyrese Maxey, 25

— Ohio State 118, IU-Indianapolis 102
IUI has a new head coach after going 24-101 the last four years; they brought in a D-2 coach from West Liberty College who loves to press and play fast- they went 217-37 in his tenure there. 

How will the Jaguars fare in the Horizon League?
They scored 102 points on Ohio State, at least a little impressive.
Game had 86 possessions; a normal game has around 70 possessions. Very fast pace.
IU-Indy shot 68.4% inside the arc, 12-38 outside the arc.

Problem with this  game for IU-Indy?
Ohio State was 42-53 on the foul line, Jaguars were 14-20.

They’re a team worth watching.

— MAC/Sun Belt held a 13-game challenge Monday; home teams went 9-4 SU, with all the MAC teams at home. All the teams that won also covered the spread.

Buffalo 85, Southern Miss 79
Golden Eagles led 26-11 early on.
Southern Miss shot 65.6% inside the arc, Buffalo 52.2%
Buffalo was 12-30 on the arc, 12-23 inside the arc.

— Florida Atlantic 83, Boston College 78 OT
BC led by five points with 1:03 left in regulation.
Owls shot 12-24 on the arc, only 13-25 on the foul line.

ACC teams shouldn’t lose to Florida Atlantic, who went 18-16 LY after Dusty May went 60-13 his last two years at FAU, before bolting to Michigan. But if you’re an ACC team that has hopes for a good season, you can’t lose to Florida Atlantic.

— Drake 77, Northern Arizona 71
NAU led by nine with 9:26 left in the game.
Drake is on its third coach in three years; they had five guys score in double figures.

— Again, today was the first step on a very long journey thru this season; it’ll be fun to follow. 

Bills 28, Chiefs 21
Buffalo scored 41-30-31-31-28 points in its wins.
Bills were held to 20-14 points in their losses.
Buffalo was 7-12 on third down, Chiefs 3-13.
Bills are 13-4-1 ATS in last 18 games with spread of 3 or less points.

Buffalo led 21-13 at halftime.
Chiefs in 2nd half: 29 plays, 111 yards, 7 points.
Chiefs ran the ball 20 times for 79 yards.
Kansas City is 4-1 when it scores 28+ points, 1-3 when it doesn’t. 

Panthers 16, Packers 13
Fitzgerald made a 49-yard FG at the gun to post a big upset.
RB Dowdle ran ball 25 times for 130 yards, two TD’s.
Packers gained 211 yards in 1st half, but were only 2-3 on FG’s.
Green Bay is 0-2 when they score less than 27 points.

Carolina won four of its last five games.
Packers outgained Carolina 369-265, scored only one TD.
Green Bay lost star TE Kraft (knee) in the third quarter.
Tough loss for Packers on QB Love’s 27th birthday. 

Bears 47, Bengals 42
Williams threw a 58-yard TD pass to rookie Loveland with 0:17 left.
Bengals had scored two TD’s in 0:49 span to grab a 42-41 lead.
Cincinnati ran the opening kickoff back for a TD.
Total yardage in game: Bears, 576-495

Last three games, Bears allowed 31-39-47 points.
Rookie TE Loveland caught six passes for 118 yards, two TD’s.
Chicago won five of its last six games.
In wins, Chicago is +16 in turnovers; minus-3 in losses.

Broncos 18, Texans 15
Denver drove 48 yards, kicked a 34-yard walk-off field goal at the gun.
Broncos won their last six games, four by 4 or less points.
Denver’s first 8 drives: 35 plays, 126 yards, 7 points.
Denver’s last 5 drives: 28 plays, 145 yards, 11 points. 

Houston’s first 8 drives: 57 plays, 207 yards, 15 points.
Going 5-6 on field goals with no TD’s makes it hard to win.
Texans are 0-5 when they score less than 26 points.
Houston is 0-5 in games decided by 8 or less points.

Seahawks 38, Commanders 14
Washington QB Daniels dislocated his left elbow late in the game.
Darnold was 16-16/282 on his first 16 passes.
Seattle scored two TD’s in an 0:11 span in the second quarter.
Seahawks won/covered six of last seven games.

Seattle outgained the Commanders, 418-290.
Washington lost its last four games, giving up 25-44-28-38 points. 
Commanders allowed 354+ yards in seven of last eight games.
Commanders are 1-5-1 ATS last seven games as a home underdog.

Vikings 27, Lions 24
Vikings won in Detroit for first time in five years.
Vikings’ first two drives: 12 plays, 100 yards, 14 points.
Minnesota is 5-2-1 ATS in last eight NFC North road games.
Last six Minnesota games went over the total.

Detroit scored 37 points/game in its wins, 13-17-24 in losses.
Lions converted 5-17 third down plays, but 3-3 on 4th down.
Detroit ran the ball 20 times for only 65 yards.
Lions committed 10 penalties for 76 yards. 

Famous birthdays, November 3rd:
Dwight Evans, 74
Phil Simms, 70
Dolph Lundgren, 68

Paul Quantrill, 57
Darren Sharper, 49
Damien Woody, 4t

Tyler Hansbrough, 40
Kyle Seager, 38
Jake LaRavia, 24

Patriots 24, Falcons 23
Falcons scored TD with 4:40 left, but missed the PAT.
Patriots won their last six games (5-1 ATS).
Patriots’ first three drives: 30 plays, 217 yards, 21 points.
Patriots rest of game: 38 plays, 125 yards, 3 points. 

Last three games, Falcons ran ball 53 times for only 178 yards.
Atlanta is 2-0 if its scores 24+ points, 1-5 if it doesn’t.
Falcons’ first five drives: 36 plays, 114 yards, 7 points.
Atlanta is 0-5 when Bijan Robinson runs for less than 75 yards.

Chargers 27, Titans 20
Titans scored on a pick-6 on Chargers’ 2nd offensive play of the game.
Later in 1st quarter, Titans ran a punt back 67 yards for another TD.
Tennessee’s offense: 44 plays, 206 yards, 1-9 on 3rd down, 2 FG’s/9 drives.
Titans were held under 300 TY in seven of nine games.

Last four games, Chargers scored 29-24-37-27 points.
Chargers were 7-13 on third down, Tennessee 1-9.
Bolts outgained Tennessee, 343-206.
QB Herbert threw for 250 yards, ran nine times for 57 more. 

Steelers 27, Colts 20
Colts turned ball over six times (3 fumbles, 3 INTs)
Steelers are 4-0 when they allow less than 31 points.
Steelers are 14-5-1 ATS last 20 games as a home underdog.
Pittsburgh is 11-6 ATS last 17 games coming off a loss.

Indy scored 29+ points in its wins, 20-20 in losses.
Steelers’ first three drives: 10 plays, 9 yards, no points.
Steelers’ next three drives: 26 plays, 145 yards, 17 points.
Colts converted 6-14 third down plays, 5-5 on fourth down.

49ers 34, Giants 24
49ers ran for 159 yards, only 2nd time in last eight games they had 100+ YR.
McCaffrey ran ball for 106 yards and TD, had 67 receiving yards and TD
49ers’ first four drives: 30 plays, 191 yards, 17 points.
49ers are 10-6-1 ATS last 17 games as a road favorite.

Last three games, Giants gave up 33-38-34 points.
Giants allowed 18-17 points in wins, 21+ points in losses.
Giants went over their team total in five of Dart’s six starts.
Giants drove 64 yards for a TD on their first drive.
Next five drives: 18 plays, 29 yards, no points.

Rams 34, Saints 10
Rams are 6-0 when they give up less than 26 points.
Last three games, Rams allowed one TD, one FG on 19 drives.
Rams first four drives: 29 plays, 219 yards, 20 points.
Rams first two drives of 2nd half: 26 plays, 132 yards, 14 points.

QB Stafford threw for 281 yards, four TD’s.
LA ran the ball 43 times for 171 yards, a big improvement.
Rams are 15-7 ATS in last 22 games as a favorite.
Rams outgained New Orleans, 438-224

 Jaguars 30, Raiders 29 OT
Raiders scored TD with 0:16 left in OT, failed on 2-point conversion.
Raiders had a 95-yard TD drive in first half, missed the PAT.
Jaguars’ first three drives: 29 plays, 102 yards, no points.
Jaguars rest of game: 51 plays, 265 yards, 30 points.

Jags’ K Little kicked a 68-yard FG, an NFL record.
Raiders allowed 13-10 points in wins, 20-41-25-40-31-30 in losses.
Raiders ran for 106 or fewer yards in seven of eight games.
QB Geno Smith is 42-50 as an NFL starter.

— Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 4 (11)
Dodgers win World Series for second year in a row.
Tremendous World Series; lot of excellent action.

Toronto led this game 4-2 after the 7th inning.
Max Muncy homered in the 8th inning.
Miguel Rojas tied the game with a 9th inning homer.
Will Smith hit the game-winner, in the 11th.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw 96 pitches, won Friday’s game.
Yamamoto threw 34 pitches in this game, and won it, too.

— By the way, interviewing managers in the dugout during Game 7 of the World Series is BS. They never say anything interesting, it is just annoying.

— Georgia 24, Florida 20
Dawgs drove 82 yards, scoring winning TD with 4:36 left.
Georgia outgained Florida, 361-281
Dawgs were 7-15 on third down, Florida 2-11

— SMU 26, Miami 20 OT
SMU drove 69 yards, kicked game-tying FG with 0:25 left to force OT.
Miami had 12 penalties for 96 yards, SMU 4 for 40.
Since joining the league, Mustangs are 13-1 in ACC regular season games.

— West Virginia 45, Houston 35
WVU was +4 in turnovers, ran ball 53 times for 246 yards.
QB Fox threw for 157 yards and a TD, ran for 65 yards, two TD’s.
Mountaineers snapped a five-game losing skid.

— Duke 46, Clemson 45
Duke scored TD with 0:40 left, went for 2 points, got a road win.
Duke converted two 4th down plays on the game-winning drive.
Blue Devils hadn’t won at Clemson since 1980.

— Upsets of the Week:
Fresno State (+17.5) 30, Boise State 7
West Virginia (+13.5) 45, Houston 35
SMU (+12.5) 26, Miami 20 OT
Kentucky (+10.5) 10, Auburn 3

Arizona State (+7.5) 24, Iowa State 19
Arkansas State (+7.5) 23, Troy 10
NC State (+5.5) 48, Georgia Tech 36
Coastal Carolina (+5.5) 44, Marshall 27

— Mississippi State 38, Arkansas 35
Arkansas led 35-21 with 11:00 left in the game.
Miss State drove 69 yards, scored game-winning TD with 0:48 left.
Arkansas had 18 penalties for 193 yards. Lot of penalties.

— Minnesota 23, Michigan State 20 OT
Gophers led 10-0 at halftime.
Gophers drove 65 yards, scored TD to force OT with 0:29 left.
Both teams played a freshman QB.

— Arizona State 24, Iowa State 19
Backup QB Sims ran for 228 yards, 2 TD’s, threw for 177 yards and a TD.
Sun Devils outgained Iowa State, 467-336.
ASU won despite committing 11 penalties for 119 yards.

— New Mexico 40, UNLV 35
Lobos drove 75 yards, scored winning TD with 2:54 left.
QB Layne threw for 342 yards, 3 TD’s.
New Mexico is bowl eligible for first time since 2016.

— Famous birthdays, November 2nd:
Ron Reed, 83
Tom Paciorek, 79
Willie McGee, 67

David Schwimmer, 59
Orlando Cabrera, 51
Danny Amendola, 40

Jimmy Garoppolo, 34
Jordan Love, 27
Parker Meadows, 26

— USC 21, Nebraska 17
Nebraska led 14-6 at halftime.
USC completed only 9-23 passes, but ran for 202 yards.
Nebraska QB Raiola (ankle) was hurt in the third quarter.

— NC State 48, Georgia Tech 36
Tech had been 7-0 for the first time since 1966.
Wolfpack scored six TD’s, two FG’s on 10 drives.
Total yardage in this game: State 583, Tech 559;

— Oklahoma 33, Tennessee 27
Sooners’ QB Matter threw for 159 yards, ran for 80 more.
Tennessee outgained Sooners 456-351, but had 3 turnovers.
Oklahoma overcame 11 penalties for 104 yards.

— Kentucky 10, Auburn 3
Kentucky’s defense had seven sacks.
Total yardage: 241-240, Auburn.
Just 2nd win for Kentucky in their last 21 games vs Auburn. 

So this happened the last couple of days………YouTubeTV and Disney are at war, so if you have YouTubeTV, for the time being you don’t have ESPN, ABC, Hulu. No bueno.

I have YouTubeTV because of the NFL Sunday Ticket; it is really good. They’ve set up a library of my favorite movies/TV shows. It is an excellent service.

I pay $120/year for ESPN+ because I love college basketball and they have most of the college basketball games on ESPN+, especially the more obscure leagues. Spend most of my winter on ESPN+, but maybe not this winter.

My thoughts are these:
— Hopefully, they’ll compromise soon and things will return to normal. College basketball starts on Monday; would like to watch the games.
— That said, I am BLEEPING sick and tired of corporate greed, where these networks try and weasel more $$$ out of every nook and cranny. I’ve paid you $120 and I still can’t use your service? Seriously???? Bleep you.
— FOX/DirecTV went thru this three years ago; not sure if they’ve ever resolved their issues, because I dumped DirecTV when they lost the Sunday Ticket.
— We’ll see what happens, but I’m not happy with the Disney people. 

— Dodgers 3, Blue Jays 1
Dodgers only had four hits, three of them in the 3rd inning.
Blue Jays had runners on 2nd/3rd, none out in 9th, but didn’t score.
Toronto was 1-9 with runners in scoring position.
Game 7 is Saturday night in Toronto.

Toronto 3B Ernie Clement said Friday that he’s using a glove he bought on EBay a couple of months ago. Seriously.

— Memphis 38, Rice 14
Memphis led 31-7 at halftime.
QB Lewis was 18-22/225 passing; he also ran for 87 yards.
Memphis is 8-1; Rice is 4-5.

— North Carolina 27, Syracuse 10
Syracuse led 10-6 at halftime.
QB Lopez was 15-19/216 passing, with two TD’s.
Tar Heels outgained Syracuse, 425-147.

— Louisiana Tech 55, Sam Houston 14
RB Thevenin ran 11 times for 143 yards, three TD’s.
Tech led 27-0 at halftime.
Only six of Tech’s 60 plays were on third down.

— Famous birthdays, November 1st
Robert Foxworth, 84
Ted Hendricks, 78
Jenny McCarthy, 53
Coco Crisp, 46

Stephen Vogt, 41
Anthony Ramos, 34
Brent Rooker, 31
Trent Grisham, 29

— UCLA’s football team has a lease to play its home games at the Rose Bowl thru 2044; apparently, UCLA wants to move its home games to SoFi Stadium, starting as early as next season.

The city of Pasadena has filed a lawsuit that is meant to hold UCLA to its lease agreement at the Rose Bowl. The contract was originally signed in 2010. As usual, there will be lawyers involved.

— Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt has a foot injury, is out for the year; Jeff Sims is the backup; he’s thrown 49 passes for ASU this season.

— Miami Dolphins fired GM Chris Grier Friday; he had been with the Dolphins since 2000, been the GM since 2016, but Miami hasn’t won a playoff game since 2000 and now the team is overhauling their front office.

Coach Mike McDaniel will finish this season, but its hard to believe that the new GM won’t bring in a new coach this winter.

— Los Angeles Angels hired Mike Maddux as their new pitching coach; Maddux has been a pitching coach for four different teams over the last 23 years- he was with the Rangers when they won the World Series two years ago.

— Nine of the last 11 World Series ended with the visiting team winning the last game.

— Belmont has a basketball player, Tyler Lundblade, who shot 47.2% on the arc last year, going 100-212 on 3-pointers. He previously walked on at SMU and TCU but found his stride with Belmont last year.

There is a video of Lundblade making 10 or so 3-pointers in a row at a practice; apparently, he made 60+ in a row behind the arc that day. Shooting is marketable. 

— Just watched Jeopardy! for the first time in years; I felt pretty freakin’ stupid 🙂

Luckily they had a football category in the early part, so I got those questions right, but most of the other questions, no chance.

When I was a kid, loved game shows, but I preferred Hollywood Squares to Jeopardy!

Gambit, Concentration, Wheel of Fortune were also on my game show list.

— Ravens 28, Dolphins 6
Miami in first half: 42 plays, 211 yards, only 6 points.
Dolphins converted 2-12 third down plays.
Miami in 2nd half: 23 plays, 120 yards, 2 turnovers, no points.
Dolphins missed a 35-yard FG, lost a fumble on their 4-yard line.

Baltimore led 14-6 at halftime.
Jackson threw for 204 yards, 4 TD’s in his return from injury.
Ravens are 14-8 ATS last 22 games as a road favorite.
Last three games, Baltimore held opponent to 74-96-87 rushing yards.

— Detroit Lions gave star DE Aidan Hutchinson a 4-year contract extension worth $180M, with $141M guaranteed, a record for any non-quarterback.

— Coastal Carolina 44, Marshall 27
Marshall led 27-17 at early in third quarter.
Marshall turned ball over on four straight drives after that.
Herd ran ball for 279 yards, but five turnovers is a killer.

— Texas-San Antonio 48, Tulane 26
McCown was 31-33/370 passing, with four TD’s.
Roadrunners led 31-12 at halftime.
UTSA had 116 penalty yards, but was +4 in turnovers.

— Jacksonville State 24, Middle Tennessee 21
Jax State outscored the Blue Raiders 14-7 in third quarter.
WR Johnson caught four passes for 131 yards, two TD’s.
Gamecocks are 4-0 in C-USA, tied for first with Kennesaw State

— Missouri State 28, FIU 21
RB Lawrence ran for 104 yards, two TD’s against his old team.
Overall, Bears ran the ball 37 times for 206 yards.
Missouri State converted 8-16 third down plays.

— Famous birthdays, October 31st:
Lee Grant, 100
John Lucas, 72
Mike Gallego, 65
Fred McGriff, 62
Blue Edwards, 60

Antonio Davis, 57
Steve Trachsel, 55
Piper Perabo, 49
Mike Napoli, 44
Tony Kemp, 34

Friday would’ve been John Candy’s 75th birthday

— Washington Nationals are hiring 33-year old Blake Butera as their new manager; he will be the youngest manager in the major leagues since 1972. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, 39, was the youngest MLB manager in 2025.

Butera comes from the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization; he played parts of two minor league seasons. 

Nationals won the 2019 World Series, but haven’t won more than 71 games in a season since then.

— Minnesota Twins hired former Pirates manager Derek Shelton as their new skipper; Shelton managed Pittsburgh for 5+ seasons, getting fired after a 12-26 start this past season.

Twins have missed the playoffs four of last five years; they were 70-92 this year.

— College basketball starts Monday; West Virginia has its fourth head coach in four years, with former North Texas coach Ross Hodge the newest coach. He went 46-24 in two years with the Mean Green, going 24-12 in AAC games. 

Last three years, West Virginia is 47-51, 21-35 in conference games.

— Michael Jordan criticized NBA players taking games off (load management); in his great career, Jordan played in all 82 games nine times. NBA had more physical games when he was playing, too.

— Blue Jays lead the World Series 3-2, after taking two of three games in Los Angeles

a) the 18-inning game Monday was epic, just a fun game to watch.
b) Shohei Ohtani batted nine times Monday and didn’t make an out.
c) Teams that won Game 5 of World Series when it was tied 2-2 have gone on to win the series 67.4% of the time.
d) Blue Jays rookie Trey Yesavage started this season pitching for Class A Dunedin in the Florida State League.
e) Blake Snell threw 116 pitches in Game 5, third-most in his career. 

NHL trends
(thru Tuesday’s games)
Anaheim (5-3-1)
Won three of last four games.
Over 3-1 last four games.

Boston (5-7)
Lost their last four road games.
Over 4-1 last five games.

Buffalo (4-4-2)
Won four of last five home games.
Last three games went over the total.

Calgary (2-8-1)
Lost nine of first 11 games.
Over 5-1 road games.

Carolina (6-3)
Lost three of last four games.
Over 3-0 home games. 

Chicago (5-3-2)
Won five of last seven games.
Under 6-2 last eight games.

Colorado (6-1-4)
Lost four of last five games.
Over four of last five games.

Columbus (5-4)
Won four of last five games.
Under 4-0 home games.

Dallas (6-3-1)
Won last three games, allowing 2-2-0 goals.
Last six games stayed under.

Detroit (7-3)
Won seven of last nine games.
Over 4-1 last five games.

Edmonton (5-4-2)
Lost five of last six road games.
Over 5-2 last seven games.

Florida (5-5-1)
4-2 at home, 1-4 on the road.
Under 5-2 last seven games.

Los Angeles (5-3-3)
Won four of last five games.
4-4 in OT/SO games.

Minnesota (3-5-3)
Lost seven of last eight games.
Over 5-0 home games.

Montreal (8-3)
Won eight of last 10 games.
Over 3-0 last three games.

Famous birthdays, October 30th:
Henry Winkler, 80
Phil Chenier, 75
Harry Hamlin, 74

Kevin Pollak, 68
Danny Tartabull, 63
Marco Scutaro, 50

Marcus Mariota, 32
Devin Booker, 29
Wenceel Perez, 26

Nashville (4-5-2)
Lost six of last eight games.
Under 3-1 road games.

New Jersey (8-2)
Won eight of last nine games.
Over 4-1 road games.

NY Islanders (4-4-1)
Won last three home games.
Over 8-1

NY Rangers (4-5-2)
Lost all five home games.
Under 4-1 home games.

Ottawa (5-5-1)
Won three of last four games.
Over 5-0 road games.

Philadelphia (5-3-1)
5- 1 at home, 0-3 on road.
Over 4-2 home games.

Pittsburgh (7-2-2)
Won five of last seven games.
Over 4-1 home games.

St Louis (3-6-1)
Lost last five games, outscored 26-14
Over last four games.

San Jose (2-6-2)
0-5 at home, outscored, 23-13
Over 4-1 last five games.

Seattle (5-2-3)
3-1 at home
Under 3-1 home games.

Tampa Bay (4-4-2)
Won last three games, allowing six goals.
Under 5-2 last seven games.

Toronto (5-4-1)
Lost both road games, 6-3/5-3
Over 5-0 last five games.

Utah (8-3)
Won seven of last eight games.
Over 4-1 last five games. 

Vancouver (5-6)
Lost four of last five games.
Over 4-1 home games. 

Vegas (6-1-3)
Won five of last seven games.
Over 3-1 home games.

Washington (6-4)
Lost last two games, scoring one goal.
Under 3-1 last four games.

Winnipeg (7-3)
Won all four road games.
Over 3-1 road games. 

College basketball games start Monday; here are some story lines I’ll be following as the games get underway:

— Over the last four NCAA Tournaments:
SEC teams have had 36 teams in the tournament; 12 made the Sweet 16 (2nd weekend)
Big 18 teams have had 31 teams in the tournament; nine made the Sweet 16.

Big X teams have had 28 teams in the tournament; ten made the Sweet 16
ACC teams have had 19 teams in the tournament; nine made the Sweet 16

Big East teams have had 19 teams in the tournament; eight made the Sweet 16
Mountain West teams have had 28 teams in the tournament; two made the Sweet 16

— 14 of the 16 SEC teams made it into the tournament last year; LSU, South Carolina didn’t.

Last three years, LSU is 14-40 in SEC games.
South Carolina has made made only two of last 20 NCAA Tournaments, though they did get to the Final Four in 2017.

— Florida won the national title LY; four of their six wins in the tournament were by 6 or fewer points. In three years under Todd Golden, Gators are 34-20 in SEC games. 

— Last Big 18 team to win a national title? Michigan State, in 2000.

Indiana fired alum, ex-NBA coach Mike Woodson last spring; in four years, Woodson was 82-53 with the Hoosiers, 41-39 in Big 18 games, but they missed the NCAA’s the last two years.. 

Darian DeVries comes in after coaching West Virginia for a year; he had previously gotten Drake to the tournament three times in four years.

— Last four years, Purdue is 116-31; last five years, they’re 72-27 in league games. Under Matt Painter, Boilermakers are 23-14 in NCAA Tourney games, but only made the Elite 8 twice in 14 tries- they lost the national title game two years ago. Purdue has high expectations this year.

— Nebraska finished 7-13 in the league LY, missed the conference tournament, then they went to Las Vegas and won the 16-team Crown tournament, an NIT-like event.

This year, the Cornhuskers have seven seniors, making them one of the older teams in the whole country, but only two of those seven guys played for Nebraska LY. Chemistry could be an issue.

— Josh Pastner is UNLV’s sixth coach in 12 years; he was 82-36 in league games at Memphis, only 53-78 at Georgia Tech. UNLV hasn’t made the NCAA’s since 2013; their last win in the tournament was 2008; they’ll be an interesting team to follow.

— Famous birthdays, October 29th:
Richard Dreyfuss, 78
Kate Jackson, 77
Danny Vranes, 67

Jesse Barfield, 66
Winona Ryder, 54
RA Dickey, 51

Keenan Burton, 41
Andy Dalton, 38
Ender Inciarte, 35

— Houston is one of the favorites to win the national title; over the last five years, they’re 160-24, 80-11 in conference games, 16-5 in NCAA Tourney games, getting to the last six Sweet 16’s, and two of last five Final Fours- they lost the national title game 65-63 last year.

Cougars have three starters back this year; a lot, in this day and age. They also brought in five new players.

— BYU brought in the country’s best recruiting class; last five years, they’re 112-54, 50-26 in conference games. BYU has won 20+ games 18 of last 20 years, but since 2012, they’re only 2-6 in the NCAA’s, going WWL in last year’s event.

— Big East has two head coaches named Pitino; Rick Pitino is 51-18 in two years at St John’s- they were a #2-seed LY. Richard Pitino moves from New Mexico to Xavier; he was 75-30 with the Lobos the last three seasons, making the NCAA’s the last two.

January 24/February 9 are the two meetings this year

— Last three years, UConn is 92-22, 45-15 in league games, winning two national titles; this year, Huskies have 62% of their scoring back from LY, plus they poached a couple of point guards in the transfer portal. 

Last year, UConn committed 76 more fouls than their opponents, going 24-11 and getting an #8-seed; they need to even out that number this season.

— Will Wade is NC State’s new coach; he’s having an interesting career:

40-25 @ Chattanooga
51-20 @ VCU
108-54 @ LSU
58-11 @ McNeese State

Wolfpack was in the Final Four two years ago, under Kevin Keatts, but the world has gone crazy so Keatts got fired last spring. We’ll see how Wade does in the shadow of Duke/North Carolina.

— This is Gonzaga’s last season in the WCC; they missed the Sweet 16 last year, the first time since 2014 they missed the Sweet 16. Tyon Grant-Foster just became eligible to play for Gonzaga this year, which makes the Zags’ roster loaded- he was WAC Player of the Year at Grand Canyon last year.

Gonzaga is 28-10 in its last 38 NCAA Tournament games.

— Last four years, Saint Mary’s is 58-7 in conference games, but only 3-4 in NCAA Tourney tilts, despite being a #7 or better seed all four years. 

— Dodgers 6, Blue Jays  5 (18)
It is 2:52am right now; Freddie Freeman just hit a walk-off homer in the 18th inning.
Tied for the longest game in World Series history.

Dodgers lead series, 2-1; Game 3 starts in like……17 hours.

Shohei Ohtani homered twice, hit two doubles, then was walked intentionally four times and kind of intentionally a fifth time

Ohtani is in Barry Bonds territory now; never pitch to him in a big situation, unless you absolutely have to. Never.

When Bo Bichette played 2B for Toronto in Game 1, it was the first time in his then-755 major league games that he played second base. 

— Chiefs 28, Commanders 7
Mahomes threw for 299 yards, three TD’s.
For first time in his career, he threw INT’s on KC’s first two drives.
Chiefs’ next five drives: 43 plays, 336 yards, four TD’s.
Chiefs won/covered four of their last five games.

Washington lost four of its last five games. 
Commanders in 2nd half: 20 plays, 81 yards, no points.
Under Quinn, Commanders are 2-6 ATS as a road underdog.
Commanders allowed 354+ yards in six of last seven games.

— In Week 8, AFC teams were 7-1 SU against NFC teams, but for the season, NFC teams still lead, 26-18.

— Vikings’ QB Carson Wentz had a shoulder operation, is out for the year; he had been playing through a dislocated shoulder that included a torn labrum and fractured socket, all of which apparently happened October 5th.

— NFL divisional trends:
AFC East
Home teams 2-4 ATS divisional games
13-9 ATS non-divisional games

AFC North
Home teams 4-0 ATS divisional games
7-15 ATS non-divisional games

AFC South
4-2 ATS non-divisional favorite
7-8 ATS non-divisional underdog.

AFC West
8-5 ATS non-divisional home games
3-7 ATS non-divisional road games

NFC East
6-5 ATS non-divisional favorite
4-5 ATS non-divisional underdog

NFC North
5-2 ATS non-divisional home favorite
2-4 ATS non-divisional road favorite

NFC South
12-14 ATS non-divisional games

NFC West
13-7 non-divisional games

— College football trends, conference games:

American
Favorites 19-11 ATS

ACC
Road teams 22-17 ATS
Home favorites 10-12 ATS

Big 18
Underdogs 24-19 ATS

Big X
Home teams 23-15 ATS
Favorites 24-15 ATS

Conference USA
Home teams 12-7 ATS

Mid-American
Home teams 21-6 ATS

Mountain West
Home teams 11-10 ATS

SEC
Home teams 20-16 ATS
Home favorites 13-10 ATS

Sun Belt
Home teams 18-10 ATS

Famous birthdays, October 28th:
Lenny Wilkens, 88
Dennis Franz, 81
Annie Potts, 73
Randy Wittman, 66
Bob Melvin, 64

Jami Gertz, 60
Steve Atwater, 59
Julia Roberts, 58
Terrell Davis, 53
Jarrett Jack, 42

— New Mexico Lobos are 4-0 at home for the first time since 1962.

— Good news: Vanderbilt’s football team is in the top 10 for the first time since 1941.

Bad news: big $$$ teams are going to be coming after coach Clark Lea, much like they did for James Franklin back when he was winning at Vanderbilt.

— Lakers’ start Luka Doncic is out at least a week; he has a left finger sprain and a lower left leg contusion. He scored 92 points in his first two games this season, but now he is hurt.

— Baltimore Orioles hired Craig Albernaz as their new manager; he was associate manager for the Cleveland Guardians the last couple years. Albernaz managed two years in the low minor leagues, after a nine-year career as a minor league catcher, mostly with Tampa Bay.

— Los Angeles Angels only gave their new manager Kurt Suzuki a one-year contract; there is speculation that there may not be a 2027 season because of labor issues, so if that happens, will be interesting to see if they take care of Suzuki for 2027, or let him go elsewhere. 

— RIP to the great actress June Lockhart, who passed away over the weekend, at age 100.

Best known for starring roles in Lassie and Lost In Space, she also appeared in one of the better episodes of Magnum PI in that show’s first season, with Jose Ferrer. Overall, she had 179 acting credits.

RIP, ma’am.

Jets 39, Bengals 38
Bengals led 31-16 after the third quarter.
Jets in 4th quarter: 20 plays, 184 yards, 23 points.
RB Hall ran for 133 yards, 2 TD’s, also threw the game-winning TD.
Six of Jets’ eight games were decided by 7 or fewer points.

Bengals lost five of their last six games.
Cincinnati scored 29.7 ppg in Flacco’s three starts.
Bengals converted 17-38 3rd down plays with Flacco at QB.
Over is 4-0 in Cincinnati home games.

Ravens 30, Bears 16
Ravens ran the ball 35 times for 177 yards.
Ravens’ 1st 5 drives: 45 plays, 256 yards, but only 16 points.
Baltimore led 10-6 at the half, 16-6 after three quarters.
Ravens in 4th quarter: 16 plays, 87 yards, 14 points. 

Chicago had their 4-game winning streak snapped.
Chicago is 8-14-1 ATS in last 23 games coming off a win.
Bears committed 11 penalties for 79 yards
Chicago is 13-23-2 ATS last 37 games as a road underdog.

Dolphins 34, Falcons 10
Dolphins outgained Atlanta, 338-213.
Tagovailoa threw 4 TD’s, to four different receivers.
Dolphins were 6-13 on third down, Atlanta 2-11.
Miami is 11-7-1 ATS in last 19 games coming off a loss.

Dolphins led 24-3 after the third quarter.
Falcons ran ball only 17 times for 45 yards.
Atlanta is 3-0 if its scores 22+ points, 0-4 if it doesn’t.
Atlanta is 7-17-1 ATS last 25 games as a home favorite.

Bills 40, Panthers 9
James Cook ran for 216 yards, most by Buffalo RB since OJ Simpson in 1976.
Bills’ first eight drives: 51 plays, 374 yards, 5 TD’s, 2 FG’s.
Buffalo scored 41-30-31-31-40 points in its four wins.
Bills are +6 in turnovers in their wins, minus-4 in losses.

Bills coach McDermott is 9-0 coming off a bye.
Buffalo outgained Carolina, 410-244.
Panthers’ first six drives: 36 plays, 164 yards, 3 points.
Carolina had won three in a row overall, was 3-0 at home. 

Texans 26, 49ers 15
QB Stroud threw for 318 yards, two TD’s.
Houston outgained the 49ers, 475-223.
Texans gained 353-417-475 yards in wins, 271 or fewer yards in losses.
Texans in first half: 48 plays, 271 yards, only 16 points. 

49ers’ first five drives: 17 plays, 57 yards, 7 points.
SF ran ball for less than 85 yards in six of last seven games.
Houston was 9-16 on third down, 49ers 3-9.
49ers are 1-11 ATS last 12 games coming off a win.

Eagles 38, Giants 20
Barkley ran 65 yards for a TD on second play of the game.
Philly ran for 276 yards, 1st time in six games they ran for more than 88 yards.
Eagles led 17-10 at halftime.
Eagles’ first three drives in 2nd half: 24 plays, 199 yards, 17 points. 

Eagles outgained the Giants, 427-247.
Giants lost RB Skattebo (dislocated ankle)
Giants are 8-12 ATS last 20 games as a road underdog
Giants are 0-13 SU/6-7 ATS last 13 visits to Philadelphia.

Famous birthdays, October 27th:
John Cleese, 86
Pete Vuckovich, 73
Matt Cavanaugh, 69
Rick Carlisle, 66
Timm Rosenbach, 59

Brad Radke, 53
Brady Quinn, 41
Jon Niese, 39
Mark Barron, 36
Lonzo Ball, 28

Patriots 32, Browns 13
Patriots won/covered their last five games.
New England led 9-7 at halftime.
Patriots in third quarter: 15 plays, 164 yards, 21 points.
New England is 5-0 when it scores more than 14 points. 

Browns in 3rd quarter: 11 plays, 15 yards, 2 INT’s, a punt.
Browns are 0-4 on road, losing by 24-24-14-19 points.
Cleveland is 8-19-1 ATS last 28 games as a road underdog.
Browns have scored 17 or fewer points in seven of eight games.

Buccaneers 23, Saints 3
Buccaneers led 7-3 at halftime; only TD was a pick-6.
Tampa Bay’s 1st four 2nd half drives: 28 plays, 115 yards, 16 points.
Buccaneers are 12-3-1 ATS in last 16 games coming off a loss.
Buccaneers won/covered last four visits to Bourbon Street.

Saints outgained Tampa 275-212, but had 4 turnovers (minus-3)
Saints’ first five drives: 23 plays, 113 yards, no points, 3 turnovers.
Rookie QB Shough was 17-30/128 passing in relief of benched starter Rattler.
Saints are 6-16 ATS last 22 games as a home underdog.

Colts 38, Titans 14
RB Taylor ran for 153 yards, 2 TD’s, including an 80-yard run.
Under Steichen, Indy is 9-2 ATS as a home favorite.
Colts are 5-0 SU/4-1 ATS at home this season.
Colts’ team total: over 7-1

Tennessee is 1-7 SU/ATS, with six losses by 10+ points.
WR Dike caught seven passes for 93 yards.
Titans are 4-15 ATS in last 19 games as an underdog.
Johnny Hekker had his 1,000th career punt in this game. 

Broncos 44, Cowboys 24
Denver won its fifth game in a row.
QB Nix threw for 247 yards, four TD’s.
Broncos led 27-10 at halftime.
Only 8 of Denver’s 57 plays came on third down.

Dallas is 1-3 on the road; only win was over the 0-7 Jets.
Dallas is 0-4 when they score less than 37 points.
Cowboys are 3-6 ATS last nine games coming off a win.
Over is 4-1 in last five Dallas games.

Packers 35, Steelers 25
Pittsburgh led 16-7 at halftime.
Packers in second half: 36 plays, 279 yards, 28 points.
Steelers in 2nd half: 27 plays, 102 yards, nine points.
At one point, Jordan Love completed 20 consecutive passes. 

Green Bay is 5-0-1 when it scores 27+ points.
Steelers allowed 32-31-35 points in their three losses.
Green Bay was 5-12 on third down, Pittsburgh 1-10.
Packers outgained the Steelers, 454-295. 

— LSU fired football coach Brian Kelly, because college/minor league sports is off its rocker; Kelly was 34-14 at LSU, but lost three of his last four games. LSU expected to compete for a national title this season; now they’re a complete train wreck.

Kelly is owed just more than $54M in buyout money. million, with an M

Frank Wilson, LSU’s associate head coach and running backs coach, will take over the team as interim head coach. LSU’s next game is against Alabama November 8th; that should go well.

Couple weeks ago, Penn State paid coach James Franklin $49M to take a hike, and now this; who the hell has $100M laying around to give away? Franklin was 104-45 at Penn State and he got fired.

Yikes. 

— Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1
Smith, Muncy hit solo homers in 7th inning.
Yamamoto got his second consecutive complete game win.
World Series is tied, 1-1.
Game 3 is in Los Angeles Monday night.

— Ole Miss 34, Oklahoma 26
Ole Miss outscored Oklahoma 9-0 in fourth quarter.
QB Chambliss threw for 315 yards and a TD, also ran for 53 yards.
Rebels were 9-21 on third down, Oklahoma 4-14.

— Alabama 29, South Carolina 22
Alabama scored 15 points in the last 2:16 for the win.
Crimson Tide drove 38 yards, scored winning TD with 0:34 left.
Gamecocks led 15-14 after the third quarter.
South Carolina has lost five of its last six games.

— Texas 45, Mississippi State 38 OT
Miss State led 38-21 with 10:00 left in the game.
Texas returned a punt 79 yards for a TD with 1:47 left to force OT.
Miss State outgained Texas, 445-428.
Bulldogs have now lost their last 16 SEC games.

— Memphis 34, South Florida 31
Tigers outscored USF 17-0 in the 4th quarter.
Memphis drove 70 yards, scored winning TD with 1:07 left.
USF lost, even though they ran ball 38 times for 295 yards.
Memphis QB Lewis threw for 307 yards, two TD’s. 

— Upsets of the Week:
Rice (+9.5) 37, UConn 34 OT
Akron (+8.5) 24, Buffalo 16
Kent State (+8.5) 24, Bowling Green 21
Houston (+7.5) 24, Arizona State 16
Memphis (+4.5) 34, South Florida 31
Ole Miss (+4.5) 34, Oklahoma 26
Kansas State (+3.5) 42, Kansas 17

— Vanderbilt 17, Missouri 10
Vanderbilt is 7-1 for the first time since 1941.
Game was tied 3-3 at halftime.
Vandy scored winning TD with 1:52 left.
Mizzou caught Hail Mary pass on last play, was half-yard short of a TD.

— Virginia 17, North Carolina 16 OT
Tar Heels scored TD in OT, but went for 2 points and failed.
Virginia has won six in a row, last three by total of six points.
In 1st quarter, North Carolina lost fumble on Virginia’s one-yard line.
North Carolina has lost four in a row, is 2-5 this year.

— BYU 41, Iowa State 27
BYU outscored the Cyclones 24-3 in the second half.
BYU’s 40-yard pick-6 with 13:40 left broke the game open.
BYU is 8-0 for the second year in a row.
Iowa State has lost three in row, for first time since 2022. 

— Famous birthdays, October 26th:
Mike Hargrove, 76
Chuck Foreman, 75
Rita Wilson, 69
Dylan McDermott, 64

Tony Casillas, 62
Mark Sweeney, 56
Bert Emanuel, 55
Antonio Pierce, 47

Nick Collison, 45
Francisco Liriano, 42
Parker Messick, 25
Chase Dollander, 24

— Rice 37, UConn 34 OT
Owls ran ball 56 times for 300 yards.
UConn QB Fagnano threw for 344 yards, three TD’s.
Quinton Jackson had a 73-yard TD run, caught a 75-yard TD pass.

— Temple 38, Tulsa 37 OT
Temple QB Simon has thrown 21 TD’s this year, no INTs
Tulsa scored TD in OT, went for 2 points/win, but failed.
In this game, Simon threw for 267 yards, five TD’s.

— Wake Forest 13, SMU 12
Deacons kicked a 50-yard FG on last play for a walk-off win.
SMU had won its previous 20 regular season conference games.
Wake Forest won despite turning ball over five times (minus-2)

— Rutgers 27, Purdue 24
Rutgers kicked a 30-yard FG on last play for a walk-off win.
Scarlet Knights were 4-14 on third down, Purdue 1-9.
Rutgers QB Kaliakmanis threw for 359 yards (13.3 yards/attempt)

— Texas A&M 49, LSU 25
LSU led this game 18-14 at halftime.
A&M QB Reed threw for 202 yards, 2 TD’s, ran for 108 yards, 2 more TD’s
A&M outgained the Tigers, 426-278
LSU is 5-3; the natives have to be restless, but coach Kelly’s buyout is $53M. Not sure the natives are THAT restless. 

— Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4
Game was tied 2-2 after five innings.
Toronto scored nine runs in the bottom of the 6th.
Addison Barger hit a pinch-hit grand slam.
Game 2: Yamamoto vs Gausman Saturday night.

— Kind of cool that Toronto bench coach Don Mattingly is in his first World Series. Mattingly was a really good player who hit .307 in his 14-year career with 222 home runs, but he never played in a World Series. He also managed the Dodgers and Marlins.

— Virginia Tech 42, California 34 OT
Golden Bears led 20-10 at halftime.
Tech ran ball 58 times for 357 yards (6.2 yards/carry)
Hokies improve to 3-5; California is 5-3.

— North Texas 54, Charlotte 20
QB Mestemaker threw for 608 yards, four TD’s. 608 yards!!!!
Game was tied 17-17 at halftime.
North Texas was minus-2 in turnovers, but they gained 754 yards.

— Chargers 37, Vikings 10
Chargers outgained Minnesota, 419-164.
Chargers in first half: 38 plays, 282 yards, 24 points
Vikings in first half: 26 plays, 83 yards, 3 points
Minnesota only ran the ball 11 times, for 34 yards.

— So far this season, NFC teams are 25-12 SU against AFC teams.

— NFL replay challenges, thru seven games, the last five years:
2021- 46 challenges, 16 overturns 34.9%
2022- 51 challenges, 18 overturns 35.3%
2023- 55 challenges, 24 overturns 42.9%
2024- 53 challenges, 21 overturns 39.6%
2025- 60 challenges, 36 overturns 60%

Coaches have access to better technology in the booth this year, which is allowing them to make better challenges..

— Vikings’ QB Carson Wentz has had an unusual career:
2016-20- Eagles 35-33-1
2021- Colts 9-8
2022- Redskins 2-5
2023- Rams 1-0
2024- Chiefs 0-1
2025- Vikings 2-3

Six different teams the last six years.

— Famous birthdays, October 25:
Marion Ross, 97
Dan Issel, 77
Gifford Nielsen, 71
Danny Darwin, 70

Marc Vlasic, 62
Pat Swilling, 61
Mike Harkey, 59
Terrell Lowery, 55

Pedro Martinez, 54
Katy Perry, 41
Chandler Parsons, 37
Juan Soto, 27

— Oklahoma City Thunder is the first NBA team EVER whose first two games of a season both went to double overtime. Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played 92:00 in those two games, scoring a total of 90 points.

— Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat G Terry Rozier were indicted this week on charges that involved illegal sports betting and rigged poker games. Two separate cases that have some overlap, but they are separate cases.

I don’t want to say a whole lot about this; I’m not a lawyer and this process is likely to drag out a while, but I’ll say this:

Rozier has earned $135,085,373 in his career, was scheduled to earn another $26,643,031 this season.

Billups earned $107,227,720 in a playing career that ended 12 years ago; he’s been coaching since then, which is still good money.

Why the BLEEP would these guys be involved in a mess like this?

— Tiago Splitter is the interim coach in Portland; he was the coach of Paris Basketball Club during the 2024-25 season, where he led the team to a French Basketball Cup championship.

Four of Portland’s six assistant coaches this season are new to the team.

Splitter played seven years in the NBA, most of which came with the Spurs after being drafted 28th overall in the 2007 Draft. He was a key player in San Antonio’s 2014 championship run and also had a long international basketball career.

— Have been reading thru college basketball stuff, getting ready for the season; reading up on the WCC, I was getting a headache. Just about every team has a mostly-new roster, think one team had as many as two starters back. Players don’t stay anywhere anymore. 

On teams that do well, players get bought up by bigger $$$ teams; on teams that do poorly, teams clean house and poach players from other schools, as well as add freshmen.

Used to be fun handicapping games in November; the teams with more continuity usually did pretty well. These days, no one has continuity; we have to learn on the fly.

— Louisville, Santa Clara have recently signed players who have played in the G League, which seems to defy the NCAA’s previous amateurism/eligibility rules, which barred any players who had previously competed for money at a professional level from playing Division I basketball.

Coaches around the country are confused by this. Does the NCAA know what its doing? 

— Was surprised to see that Mike Trout wound up this season as the #56 outfielder in fantasy baseball, then you read that he testified in court this week in a civil trial brought by the family of former Angels P Tyler Skaggs, who died in 2019 of an accidental drug overdose- the family is suing the Angels for $118M.

Messy situation, has to be a huge distraction to people who were with the Angels back then.

— Watching YouTube late at night this week, I found an 11-minute clip about the old TV show The White Shadow, about a retired NBA player who gets a job coaching basketball in urban Los Angeles. It was a really good show that was on when I was in college (late 70’s); the guy who wrote it was Bruce Paltrow, Gwyneth Paltrow’s father.

We used to joke that one of the characters, Salami was a hacker; he fouled a lot. They said in this show that Timothy Van Patten, who played Salami, had been a high school wrestler in real life and was the only player on the Carver High team who had no actual basketball experience, so at least we were right about that.

— Gonzaga
Gonzaga is bolting to the Pac-12 next season.
Zags haven’t missed the NCAA’s since 1998.
LY, Zags lost in 2nd round of NCAA’s, earliest exit since 2014.
Gonzaga was a #8 seed LY, its lowest seed since 2016.
Senior G Miller is playing at his 4th school (Illinois, LSU, Arizona State)

— Loyola Marymount
Lions haven’t been in the NCAA’s since their great run in 1990.
In five years under coach Johnson, LMU is 32-45 in the WCC.
LMU is deeper this year, but not as experienced.

— Oregon State
Beavers head back to the Pac-12 next year, which will help, but that’s next year.
Oregon State last made NCAA’s in 2021; they went to the Elite 8.
Last year’s starters have bolted for greener pa$ture$ ($4M worth)
Beavers are rebuilding (again); LY, they had #49 eFG% in country.

— Pacific
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2013.
Last four years, they’re 14-50 in the WCC.
Their point guard was a sub at national champ Florida LY.
Coach Smart used to coach at Carleton in Canada; Pacific has six Canadians.
Tigers are expected to be much deeper this year.

— Pepperdine
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2002.
Last four years, they’re 12-54 in the WCC.
LY, Waves won three games in WCC tourney, lost in semi-finals.
Waves lost 91.7% of LY’s scoring; they added seven D-I transfers.

— Portland
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1996.
Last three years, they’re 17-33 in the WCC.
Brought in 8 new players, should be deeper this year.
Timo George Jr is a promising 6-8 forward.

— Famous birthdays, October 24th:
Kevin Kline, 78
Chester Marcol, 76
Ron Gardenhire, 68
Mark Grant, 62
Corey Dillon, 51

Eric Hosmer, 36
Jalen Ramsey, 31
Rafael Devers, 29
Jaylen Brown, 29
Amon-Ra St. Brown, 26

Wednesday would’ve been the great Johnny Carson’s 100th birthday.

— Saint Mary’s
Made the NCAA’s last four years, going 3-4 in tournament.
Last four years, Gaels are 56-7 in WCC play.
Lost three seniors from LY, two of whom were 5-year players.
Gaels have only one senior this season.
Coach Bennett is unclear who the new point guard will be.

— San Diego
School opened a $35M basketball performance center last spring.
Toreros haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 2008.
Three years under Steve Lavin, they’re 13-37 in the WCC.
PG Johnson has played at Louisville, Wake Forest.
San Diego’s backcourt appears to be improved this year.

— San Francisco
Last time they were in the NCAA’s: 2022.
Last four years, they’re 41-25 in the WCC.
Last two years, Dons are 25-3 in WCC, other than Zags/St Mary’s.
Have 2 starters back TY, which in this day/age, is a lot.
Have high expectations; the pre-conference schedule is hard. 

— Santa Clara
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1996 (Steve Nash was there).
Last four years, they’re 43-22 in the WCC.
64.4% of LY’s scoring, 49.8% of rebounding, 58.7% of assists are gone.
Five players transferred last spring, including two starters.
Broncos added three transfers, four freshmen this year.

— Seattle
First year in WCC; last four years, they were 44-28 in the WAC.
Haven’t been to the NCAA’s since 1969.
Redhawks have pretty good guards; they need to shoot better.
Big guy Junseok Yeo is a transfer from Gonzaga.

— Washington State
Coogs head back to the Pac-12 next year; they were 8-10 in WCC LY.
3 starters from LY’s team bolted to greener pa$ture$.
Riley can coach; Wazzu was #6 in country LY in 2-point FG%.
Wazzu could help its power rating with a good showing at Maui Classic. 

— San Francisco Giants hired former Tennessee Vols coach Tony Vitelloas their new skipper, the first time a big league team has hired a manager directly from a college program without any experience as a professional coach. Vitello won the College World Series with the Vols in 2024.

Giants have missed the playoffs the last four years; they went 81-81 this past season.

— Sounds like there will be two Japanese sluggers moving to the major leagues next year.

Munetaka Murakami is a 3B/1B who has hit 246 home runs in 892 games for the Yakult Swallows, including a 56-homer season in 2022.

1B/3B Kazuma Okamoto has hit 248 home runs for the Yomiuri Giants, hitting 30+ homers six years in a row, from 2018-23. Okamoto hit two homers, had 7 RBI when Japan won the World Baseball Classic in 2023.

— Freddie Freeman has homered in six of his last seven World Series games.

— Baseball is expected to expand by two teams in the next four years; MLB hasn’t expanded since 1998 (Arizona/Tampa Bay). When the expansion happens, will realignment happen too?

Geographic realignment would cut down on travel costs, and probably raise attendance with more games between regional rivals.

— Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels (hamstring) won’t play when the Commanders play in Kansas City Monday night. Backup Marcus Mariota will start his third game this year.

— NFL coaches’ instant replay challenges have succeeded 60% of time this year, compared to 39.6% at this time last year.

This season, coaches and club staffers in the coaching booth can watch the same camera feed as the replay official at the game, which has helped them make better decisions. 

— Miami Dolphins won consecutive Super Bowls in the early 70’s; when they beat the Vikings 24-7 in the Super Bowl after the 1973 season, their QB, Bob Greise, threw only seven passes the whole game. Griese was 6-7/73 passing. Total yardage in the game was 259-238, Miami.

Football sure has changed a lot.

— Famous birthdays, October 23rd:
Weird Al Yankovic, 66
Doug Flutie, 63
Mike Tomczak, 63

Keith Van Horn, 50
Ryan Reynolds, 49
John Lackey, 47

Kyle Gibson, 38
Jordan Crawford, 37
Dylan Carlson, 27

— Delaware 31, Middle Tennessee 28
QB Minicucci threw for 276 yards, four TD’s.
Blue Hens led 24-14 at halftime.
Delaware improves to 4-3 in its first year as a I-A team.

— Missouri State 24, New Mexico State 17 OT
NM State scored TD with 1:49 left to force overtime.
Missouri State outgained Aggies, 409-289.
Bears won despite committing 12 penalties for 110 yards..

— 76ers 117, Celtics 116
VJ Edgecombe scored 34 points in his debut, the most points anyone scored in his first NBA game since Wilt Chamberlain scored 43, in 1959.

Tyrese Maxey scored 40 points to lead the 76ers.
76ers were +18 in the 32:00 Quentin Grimes played.

— Spurs 125, Mavericks 92
Victor Wembanyama scored 40 points, had 15 rebounds.
Spurs outscored Dallas 65-41 in the second half.
Dallas was minus-29 with rookie Cooper Flagg on the floor.

ESPN’s announcers wouldn’t shut up about Flagg, who shot 4-13 “He’s done nothing but win”; the kid played one year in college and Duke didn’t win the national title. Let him play some before you induct him into the Hall of Fame.

— Knicks 119, Cavaliers 111
OG Anunoby had 24 points, 14 rebounds.
Knicks led 65-50 at halftime.
Knicks were 31-36 on the foul line, Cleveland 12-18.

— Jazz 129, Clippers 108
10-point underdog Utah led 43-19 after first quarter, 78-47 at half.
Walker Kessler had 22 points, nine rebounds.
Jazz made 17 of 44 3-point shots.

— Timberwolves 118, Trail Blazers 114
Minnesota outscored Portland 30-19 in the fourth quarter.
Anthony Edwards scored 41 points, had one assist (his job is to score points)
Timberwolves made 15 of 30 shots on the arc. 

October 22 has been a memorable day for me:

Flash back to October 22, 1972; I was 12 years old, the A’s were playing Game 7 of the World Series in Cincinnati. Big day; when Joe Rudi caught a fly ball in left field for the last out, the A’s had won their first of three consecutive World Series. 12-year old me was very happy.

Some stuff about that game:

— Game 7 of that World Series started at 1:00 on a Sunday afternoon; things have changed. All seven games in this year’s World Series will start at 8:00- none of the games are on a Sunday. 

— Rollie Fingers got the last six outs for the save; back then, closers often got more than three outs to get a save. So when you hear people describe Mariano Rivera as “the best closer ever” remember that he almost always got three outs per game. Guys like Fingers and Bruce Sutter did more than that.

— Hall of Famer Catfish Hunter got eight outs and the win in Game 7, two days after he started Game 5; he was 7-2, 2.55 in 14 playoff games with the A’s. He threw a perfect game in May 1968.

So the A’s won the World Series, then the 4:00 NFL games came on TV; Rams wound up beating the Bengals 15-12 on a last-second field goal. All in all, October 22, 1972 was a very good day.

12-year old me was really, really happy.

Flash forward to October 22, 2019; on October 12, the retina in my right eye detached while I was in Las Vegas. I knew it was bad, but I had no idea what the problem was; I saw a few doctors when I got home, and on October 22, Dr Mallick fixed my retina.

Thanks for my cousins for driving me to the hospital that day.

I am forever grateful to Dr Mallick and Dr Lemanski (she did my cataract surgery 10 months later) for fixing my eye. Must be a cool job, helping people to see again.

Anyway, that is why October 22 stands out on the calendar for me.

— Famous birthdays, October 22nd:
Christopher Lloyd, 87
Wilbur Wood, 84
Jeff Goldblum, 73
Jamie Quirk, 71

Bob Odenkirk, 63
Carmen Ejogo, 52
Ichiro Suzuki, 52
Jeff McInnis, 51

Leonard Marshall, 44
Robinson Cano, 43
Corbin Burnes, 31
Geraldo Perdomo, 26

— Thunder 125, Rockets 124, 2 OTs
Gilgeous-Alexander had 5 points at halftime, wound up with 35.
Thunder shot 13-52 on the src, 33-52 inside the arc.
Houston had 21 turnovers, Thunder only 11.
Alperen Sengun scored 39 points for Houston

— Kennesaw State 45, Florida International 26
Owls led 24-14 at half, snapped a 13-game road losing streak.
Both teams ran ball for 200+ yards.
Kennesaw played two QB’s, averaged 16.7 yards/pass attempt
QB Jenkins threw for 296 yards and a TD for FIU

— Western Kentucky 28, Louisiana Tech 27 OT
WKU scored TD, then scored on a 2-point conversion for the OT win.
Hilltoppers led 20-7 at halftime.
Tech outgained WKU 449-340; they were 10-19 on third down.
WKU is 6-2 and is now bowl eligible. 

— Los Angeles Angels hired Kurt Suzuki as their new manager; Suzuki hit .255 in his 16-year career as a catcher, for five different teams. He was with the Washington Nationals when they won the 2019 World Series.

Suzuki has no professional coaching experience; the Angels have the longest playoff drought in the major leagues- they last made the postseason in 2014. Suzuki is the Angels’ fifth manager in eight years.

— Dodgers are -210 to win the World Series; Blue Jays are +175.

— Toronto P Trey Yesavage started this season in Class A ball; he threw 98 IP for four different minor league teams this year, then pitched 14 innings for Toronto in the regular season and has now thrown 15 more innings in the playoffs. Impressive season for the 21-year old.

— Blue Jays OF Vladimir Guerrero Jr is hitting .442 in this year’s playoffs, with 12 RBI in 11 games.