Oh my gosh, back at it again (back at it)
In the kitchen whippin’, I’m podcastin’ again (whippin’)
Zion Can Dunk – Catching Bodies
Zion’s first preseason dunk went well. He Coming!!
Browns at 49ers Preview
69-58-5Â on the NFL last season (2018/19)Â up 26.36 units
15-25 on the NFL this season down 20.49 units
49ers -4Â at -115 for 4 units. Chubb went off against the Ravens. The 49ers have given up the 3rd fewest rushing yards per game this season and are the only team to not allow a rushing TD. Ravens got full-Chubbed. I expect the 49ers to only get about quarter-Chubb. San Francisco are coming off of a BYE and are at home. Denzel Ward, Greedy Williams, and Redwine are out in Cleveland’s secondary. Ahkello Witherspoon, San Francisco’s best corner this season, is out. OBJ had 3 targets and no catches last year against Witherspoon. OBJ should do well tonight, but so should San Francisco’s offense.
The 49ers have a big enough advantage on the defensive line to control the game. Staley is out for San Francisco and Myles Garrett could cause problems, but I expect Shanahan to scheme away from him. Jimmy G is 9-2 as the 49ers starter. Kyle Juszczyk and George Kittle bring their lunchpail to work everyday. 49ers have the better playing QB, a better defense, and the rest/home-field advantage.
Messi is the GOAT – Manchester City, Manchester United, and Tottenham Continue to Stumble
Barcelona beat my beloved Seville 4-0 over the weekend. Messi and Barcelona are now only two points behind Real Madrid though 8 games. Real Madrid haven’t lost in La Liga this season.
Sevilla “won” the first 25 minutes, but the score was still 0-0. Then Suarez did this..
Messi was not to be outdone by Suarez. A. Vidal and Dembele put in goals before Messi went on this amazing run..
He makes the near impossible look easy. Below is his free-kick goal to put Barcelona up 4-0. Messi makes free-kicks at a higher rate than some penalty takers make penalties. Messi has 37 goals in 38 games against Sevilla. This next stat is not from a trusted source, but until proven otherwise.. Messi has made 29 free-kicks since the 15/16 season. That is easily the most. I know he has made the most in soccer’s top-10 leagues, but I am not convinced it is only 29 haha. It seems like he makes one every month.
Manchester City lost again to a team at the bottom-half of the table. Norwich did it the first time, now it was Wolverhampton’s turn. Hand up, I was wrong in thinking Adama Traore only had a massive upper-body and pace. He showed some lethal finishing as seen in the video below.
Manchester United lost 1-0 to Newcastle. United have failed to score in their past two matches. They have not scored more than one goal in any of their last 10 matches. Manchester United opened the season with a 4-0 win over Chelsea, they have not scored more than 1 in a match since then. The commentators said this during the Newcastle/Manchester United game, “United will get desperate now, you never know, Fred might actually pass the ball forward”. Fred has had one assist for Manchester. It cost 52 million to sign him. Not a good ROI.
Tottenham lost to Brighton 3-0 and Lloris is now out for the rest of the decade (2 months). Tottenham are still only 3 points out of the Champions League spots, but their weak bench may begin to show. Manchester United are only 5 points away from Champions League, but Ole may be fired before he can fix anything.
City are 8 points back of Liverpool. Liverpool had an 8-point lead later in the season than this last year and Manchester City still won the Premier League. The early returns for Liverpool are outstanding, but they can’t let-up. 8-0-0 is amazing for Klopp’s side. Liverpool are the best club in the World right now. Sorry Bayern, Real, Barcelona, Man City, PSG, Juve, Atletico, and Swansea City.
The NBA’s China Problem
Morey shared his view on China’s Hong Kong situation. China let the NBA know they wouldn’t allow his tweet and will not televise Houston’s games. China pulled sponsors from the Rockets. Yao Ming is the best Chinese NBA player ever. He played for the Houston Rockets. Yao suspended any cooperation with the Houston Rockets as head of the Chinese Basketball Association. The NBA cares more about money than human rights it appears. Morey’s tweet that got all this started is below.
Morey failed to realize that you can’t “Stand with Hong Kong” if you want the Chinese government to televise your team’s games. China is a massive market for the NBA with billions of dollars in untapped potential. That does mean the NBA should have their tail in between their legs when dealing with China. The NBA is bowing down to a inhumane country for those dirty dollar bills. Some things are bigger than basketball. The league stood behind Kanter. Turkey won’t play NBA games with Enes Kanter in them.. Now China won’t play NBA games with the Rockets in them. The differences between China and Turkey are numerous, but the one that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver cares about the most is money.
The league said Morey’s tweet “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China, which is regrettable.” Translation: We are losing money because of your tweet. Apologize now or be fired.
Morey has since apologized for his tweet. He shouldn’t have to apologize for standing for freedom. James Harden has apologized. This is ridiculous. Charlotte didn’t have the all-star game because of a bathroom law, yet a country that has “mass arbitrary detention, tortion, and mistreament” of citizens can hold all the power. From Harvesting Organs to falsely imprisoning citizens.. China seems to have a long-list of human rights issues. Over 20 million Chinese people watched game 6 of the NBA Finals last year. Tencent, a Chinese conglomerate, has a reported 500$ million deal with the NBA to televise games. The Rockets will no longer be televised in China. Sponsors have been pulled from the Rockets. Nike has pulled all Rockets related products off of their Chinese store. It goes on and on..
South Park was right again. China has banned South Park as well. Matt Stone and Trey Parker did acid at the Academy Awards, so I am sure they don’t care about this censorship. The NBA obviously cares. The NBA’s image has been tainted in China and America for two opposite reasons. Will Americans really care once Ben Simmons tries to shoot a 3 and Harden throws an alley-oop to Westbrook? Prolly not. The Chinese government and Rockets fans certainly care. The NBA has gone too far in trying to affect their bottom-line.
Astros at Rays Preview
92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units
44-41 on MLB this season down 5.80 units
2-2Â on playoffs down 0.37Â units
Rays at +135 for 3 units. Charlie Morton gave up 1 run in 5 innings in the Rays’ wildcard win against the A’s. Morton hasn’t lost in his last 5 postseason games. 4 of those were when he played for the Astros, the team he is pitching against today. Greinke gave up 5 runs the last time he played the Rays. Greinke is 0-4 with a 4.45 ERA at the Trop all-time. Morton is 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA in his last 3 starts. Tampa has to win this game to stay alive. Morton is clutch.. Tampa need to get a couple runs early for me to feel even more confident. Morton can hold a lead. Flap Flap!
Ray/Astros over 7.5Â at -120 for 3 units. Austin Meadows and Travis D’Arnaud had homers off of Greinke the last time he pitched against the Rays. I don’t trust the Rays bullpen to be perfect today, and Tampa may need them as I don’t see Morton going more than 6 innings. I could see a 5-4 Rays win type game.
NFL Sunday
Already started drinking. No write-up. Panthers -180 for 6 units.
No Jalen Ramsey. Panthers are 2-0 with Kyle Allen and have the best passing defense in the league. Sorry Minshew.
College Football Saturday
10-10Â on College Football in 2019Â up 6.53 units
Penn State -28Â for 5 units. Penn State has a huge scoring defense/turnover advantage. Purdue is playing backup QB Jack Plummer who has thrown 4 interceptions in limited playing time. KJ Hamler and Sean Clifford will do enough on offense for the Nittany Lions. Penn State has won the last 8 meetings. Kyle Orton was the Purdue QB last time they beat Penn State.
Boise State -22Â for 3 units. Can’t quit a good thing. Boise young QB Bachmeier and the defense get the job done. UNLV’s strength on offense is running the ball, but Boise State excels at stopping the run. Air Force has a better rushing attack than UNLV and Boise State covered against them. I expect a 38-10 type game.
West Virginia +11Â for 1 unit. Texas has a few injuries on defense. Look-ahead game with Oklahoma next week. WVU is a tough place to have your first true road game. Texas wins by a touchdown or less. The Mountaineers rushing attack keeps them in the game.
Playoff Baseball Friday
92-83 on MLB last season and went up 34.31 units
44-40 on MLB this season down 1.80 units
2-1 on playoffs up 3.63 units
Acuna didn’t hustle. Melancon got the loss for the Braves last night. Melancon now has a 36.00 Playoff ERA this season. Dodgers easily beat the Nationals.
Cardinals at -125 for 4 units. Flaherty vs Folty. Flaherty was NL pitcher of the month in August and September. Folty is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA against the Cards this season. Keeping it simple today.
I don’t have a good feeling about Rays/Astros or Yankees/Twins, but Dodgers/Nats tonight should be a fun pitcher’s duel with Kershaw and Strasburg on the mound.
Cooper Kupp is a Quarterbacks Dream
Seahawks beat the Rams 30-29. Russell Wilson had 4 Tds. Greg Zuerlein missing the 44 yarder sealed LA’s fate.
I’ve been going to sleep peacefully every night knowing that Christian McCaffrey, of my Panthers, is the best pale skill position player in the NFL. CMC is still the best, but Kupp has been putting up numbers post-ACL recovery that make me worry about this made up award in my head. Kupp is averaging 8.2 catches, 101.8 yards, and 0.8 touchdowns a game. CMC is maintaining 157 yards and a touchdown a game. I mean, when you consider that Christian has thicccer thighs than Cooper.. It is amazing Kupp is so close in the stats department. Christian is the more talented player, but Cooper’s team is 1-0 against the Panthers this season. That game was played with an immobile Cam though.
Speaking of thiccc thighs. Saquon was seen warming up today at Giants practice with Young M.A playing in the background. Barkley is a freak. Either the ankle sprain wasn’t as bad as reported or he can heal freakishly fast.. or a little bit of both.