Monday’s 6-pack
Teams shooting best %age on 3-point shots:
41.2%— Tulsa
41.1%— Colorado State
40.7%— Yale
40.4%— Iowa State
40.3%— Penn
39.9%— Akron
Quote of the Day
“I know how he was coached in New England. I know exactly how he was coached in New England, and then I know how (Josh] McDaniels felt about him … but ultimately … it’s our three years here, our three years watching him day in and day out. He will be ready to go.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton, talking about QB Jarrett Stidham
Monday’s quiz
Who was head coach of the New England Patriots last year?
Sunday’s quiz
Houston Texans made the playoffs for the first time in 2011; they won their first playoff game that year, beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
Saturday’s quiz
Matt Hasselbeck was the Seahawks’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
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Rams drove 54 yards, Mevis kicked 42-yard walk-off FG in OT.
Bears scored a TD with 0:18 left to force overtime.
Rams are 9-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
Rams advance to the NFC title game in Seattle next week.
Bears converted 9-19 on third down, LA 5-16, on a cold night
Chicago ran ball for 160 yards, but were minus-3 in turnovers.
In two playoff games, Bears converted only 5-12 fourth down plays.
Rams’ two TD drives were 91-85 yards, lasted 6:33/6:02.
— Patriots 28, Texans 16
Houston turned ball over on 4 of their first 8 drives.
Patriots scored on a pick-6 to take a 14-10 lead.
In their history, Texans are 0-7 in this round of the playoffs.
Patriots move on to AFC title game in Denver next week.
Texans ran ball 22 times for only 48 yards.
Houston scored only one TD; that was on a short 27-yard drive.
QB Maye threw for 179 yards, 3 TD’s on a snowy/sleet day.
Texans completed only 20 of 47 passes, with four INTs.
— Atlanta Falcons hired former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski as their new coach, the first hire for new Falcons boss Matt Ryan. Stefanski was 46-58 in six years in Cleveland, 1-2 in playoff games.
— Famous birthdays, January 19th:
Dolly Parton, 80
Terry Hanratty, 78
Jon Matlack, 76
Katy Segal, 72
Steve DeBerg, 72
Paul McCrane, 65
Chris Sabo, 64
Michael Adams, 63
Luc Longley, 57
Phil Nevin, 55
— Was laughing the other day when the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker for four years at $60M a year; hearing New York fans complain how the Dodgers are ruining baseball by spending too much $$$ and I’m like, “Hey, I root for the A’s. Welcome to my world for the last 50 years”
That said, $60M/year for Tucker seems comically excessive; he isn’t Aaron Judge or Juan Soto but he is really good. At first, I thought it said $240 for six years; $40M/year seemed OK, but then I realized he’ll be making $60M/year. Yikes.
— Atlanta Braves made a $46M profit last year, which makes you wonder how high these teams are willing to go to sign stars. $46M is one superstar player or two really good ones. I’m not a big finance guy; this time next year, we’ll probably be hearing a lot more about the finances of major league teams, when the lockout is looming.
— Minnesota Twins signed C Victor Caratini for two years, $14M; with the new appeal system for ball/strike challenges, not sure if good pitch framers are as valuable as they have been, but the Twins think Caratini is. He’s had an OPS of .711+ the last three years.
— When actor Charlie Sheen was a kid, apparently he was really good at baseball; U of Kansas offered him a baseball scholarship, but then he got tossed out of high school for not going to this classes, so college was out of the question.
— Been watching a lot of fantasy baseball mock drafts on the Interweb, watched one the other day where Mike Trout was a 19th round pick. Jeez, how quickly they forget.
— Movie of the Day: Major League (1989)- Woman inherits the Cleveland Indians from her dead husband; she wants to move the team to Miami, so she puts together a roster that is really bad, so fans in Cleveland won’t come to see them play.
Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Corbin Bernsen are some of the players; former Dodger catcher Steve Yeager is Cleveland’s third base coach. James Gammon is the manager of the team; Rene Russo is also in this, but the late Bob Uecker steals the show as the announcer of the team.
Very funny movie, but moving a baseball team to Miami turned out to be a very bad idea.
— In college basketball, Florida Gators won consecutive national titles in 2007, 2008; since then, only one defending national champ made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAAs the next year, and that was UConn won their consecutive titles in 2023, 2024.
Florida is the defending champ this year; they’re 13-5 right now, 4-1 in the SEC, experience team #65. We’ll see how it goes for them.
— Florida Atlantic 79, Temple 73
Fast-paced game (79 possessions), was fun to watch.
Both teams are the Owls, by the way.
Brickfest for a high-scoring game; teams shot 9-41 on the arc.
FAU won its last four games, scoring 82.3 ppg.
— Wichita State 86, South Florida 85 OT
USF led by 13 early in the second half.
Both teams shot under 40% inside the arc.
Teams combined to shoot 24-51 (47.1%) outside the arc.
— Houston 103, Arizona State 73
Cougars led 56-29 at halftime.
Arizona State has lost six of its last seven games.
Houston has won 11 games in a row (only loss 76-73 to Tennessee)
— San Francisco 85, Washington State 80
Wazzu led by 7 with 6:06 left in the game.
USF was 15-18 on foul line, Wazzu 2-3.
Coogs lost last three games (Zags, St Mary’s, USF)
Dons made 12-22 shots on the arc.
— North Texas 71, Tulane 63
North Texas out-rebounded Tulane, 47-30.
Green Wave shot only 31.3% from the floor.
North Texas is 11-7; they have the #325 eFG% in the country.
Teams shooting best %age on 3-point shots:
41.2%— Tulsa
41.1%— Colorado State
40.7%— Yale
40.4%— Iowa State
40.3%— Penn
39.9%— Akron
Quote of the Day
“I know how he was coached in New England. I know exactly how he was coached in New England, and then I know how (Josh] McDaniels felt about him … but ultimately … it’s our three years here, our three years watching him day in and day out. He will be ready to go.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton, talking about QB Jarrett Stidham
Monday’s quiz
Who was head coach of the New England Patriots last year?
Sunday’s quiz
Houston Texans made the playoffs for the first time in 2011; they won their first playoff game that year, beating the Cincinnati Bengals.
Saturday’s quiz
Matt Hasselbeck was the Seahawks’ QB, the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
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Monday’s Den: Wrapping up a sports Sunday…….
— Rams 20, Bears 17 OTRams drove 54 yards, Mevis kicked 42-yard walk-off FG in OT.
Bears scored a TD with 0:18 left to force overtime.
Rams are 9-0 when they allow less than 26 points.
Rams advance to the NFC title game in Seattle next week.
Bears converted 9-19 on third down, LA 5-16, on a cold night
Chicago ran ball for 160 yards, but were minus-3 in turnovers.
In two playoff games, Bears converted only 5-12 fourth down plays.
Rams’ two TD drives were 91-85 yards, lasted 6:33/6:02.
— Patriots 28, Texans 16
Houston turned ball over on 4 of their first 8 drives.
Patriots scored on a pick-6 to take a 14-10 lead.
In their history, Texans are 0-7 in this round of the playoffs.
Patriots move on to AFC title game in Denver next week.
Texans ran ball 22 times for only 48 yards.
Houston scored only one TD; that was on a short 27-yard drive.
QB Maye threw for 179 yards, 3 TD’s on a snowy/sleet day.
Texans completed only 20 of 47 passes, with four INTs.
— Atlanta Falcons hired former Browns coach Kevin Stefanski as their new coach, the first hire for new Falcons boss Matt Ryan. Stefanski was 46-58 in six years in Cleveland, 1-2 in playoff games.
— Famous birthdays, January 19th:
Dolly Parton, 80
Terry Hanratty, 78
Jon Matlack, 76
Katy Segal, 72
Steve DeBerg, 72
Paul McCrane, 65
Chris Sabo, 64
Michael Adams, 63
Luc Longley, 57
Phil Nevin, 55
— Was laughing the other day when the Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker for four years at $60M a year; hearing New York fans complain how the Dodgers are ruining baseball by spending too much $$$ and I’m like, “Hey, I root for the A’s. Welcome to my world for the last 50 years”
That said, $60M/year for Tucker seems comically excessive; he isn’t Aaron Judge or Juan Soto but he is really good. At first, I thought it said $240 for six years; $40M/year seemed OK, but then I realized he’ll be making $60M/year. Yikes.
— Atlanta Braves made a $46M profit last year, which makes you wonder how high these teams are willing to go to sign stars. $46M is one superstar player or two really good ones. I’m not a big finance guy; this time next year, we’ll probably be hearing a lot more about the finances of major league teams, when the lockout is looming.
— Minnesota Twins signed C Victor Caratini for two years, $14M; with the new appeal system for ball/strike challenges, not sure if good pitch framers are as valuable as they have been, but the Twins think Caratini is. He’s had an OPS of .711+ the last three years.
— When actor Charlie Sheen was a kid, apparently he was really good at baseball; U of Kansas offered him a baseball scholarship, but then he got tossed out of high school for not going to this classes, so college was out of the question.
— Been watching a lot of fantasy baseball mock drafts on the Interweb, watched one the other day where Mike Trout was a 19th round pick. Jeez, how quickly they forget.
— Movie of the Day: Major League (1989)- Woman inherits the Cleveland Indians from her dead husband; she wants to move the team to Miami, so she puts together a roster that is really bad, so fans in Cleveland won’t come to see them play.
Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Corbin Bernsen are some of the players; former Dodger catcher Steve Yeager is Cleveland’s third base coach. James Gammon is the manager of the team; Rene Russo is also in this, but the late Bob Uecker steals the show as the announcer of the team.
Very funny movie, but moving a baseball team to Miami turned out to be a very bad idea.
— In college basketball, Florida Gators won consecutive national titles in 2007, 2008; since then, only one defending national champ made it to the Elite 8 in the NCAAs the next year, and that was UConn won their consecutive titles in 2023, 2024.
Florida is the defending champ this year; they’re 13-5 right now, 4-1 in the SEC, experience team #65. We’ll see how it goes for them.
— Florida Atlantic 79, Temple 73
Fast-paced game (79 possessions), was fun to watch.
Both teams are the Owls, by the way.
Brickfest for a high-scoring game; teams shot 9-41 on the arc.
FAU won its last four games, scoring 82.3 ppg.
— Wichita State 86, South Florida 85 OT
USF led by 13 early in the second half.
Both teams shot under 40% inside the arc.
Teams combined to shoot 24-51 (47.1%) outside the arc.
— Houston 103, Arizona State 73
Cougars led 56-29 at halftime.
Arizona State has lost six of its last seven games.
Houston has won 11 games in a row (only loss 76-73 to Tennessee)
— San Francisco 85, Washington State 80
Wazzu led by 7 with 6:06 left in the game.
USF was 15-18 on foul line, Wazzu 2-3.
Coogs lost last three games (Zags, St Mary’s, USF)
Dons made 12-22 shots on the arc.
— North Texas 71, Tulane 63
North Texas out-rebounded Tulane, 47-30.
Green Wave shot only 31.3% from the floor.
North Texas is 11-7; they have the #325 eFG% in the country.
