Aroldis Chapman either has already been traded or is about to be traded, depending on the sources you read. Either way, it’s sad to see such a dominant player go. It’s sadder to have wasted such a dominant pitcher in the bullpen for 5 seasons (300ish innings over 5 seasons when a starter would pitch 200ish per season). Farewell.
Not that I’m a big fan of Kobe, but this video is outstanding.
Kobe seems to be in slightly higher definition, but maybe that’s just me.
Austin Davis will be the 15th different Browns quarterback to start against Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, who has an 17-8 mark in 25 career matchups vs. Cleveland.
Updated 12/4/15 with the lines for the Bengals and Colts games.
Overall Against the Spread: 82-71
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 10-5
Week 5: 5-6 (2 pushes, 1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 6: 8-6
Week 7: 6-7 (1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 8: 6-6 (2 pushes)
Week 9: 6-7
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 6-7 (1 push)
Week 12: 11-5
This Week’s Predictions (line in parentheses):
Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions (+3.0): Predicting 23.5-22.1. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
Houston Texans at Buffalo Bills (-3.0): Predicting 19.8-24.0. Bet on the Buffalo Bills.
San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears (-7.5): Predicting 16.5-24.3. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns (+10.5): Predicting 26.4-19.3. Bet on the Cleveland Browns.
Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins (-4.0): Predicting 23.4-24.6. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Seattle Seahawks at Minnesota Vikings (even): Predicting 19.8-22.3. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints (+7.5): Predicting 29.8-22.9. Bet on the New Orleans Saints.
New York Jets at New York Giants (+1.0): Predicting 23.3-25.0. Bet on the New York Giants.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans (-2.5): Predicting 20.8-23.3. Line is correct; do not bet.
Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams (+7.0): Predicting 25.2-20.6. Bet on the St. Louis Rams.
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1.0): Predicting 22.5-23.8. Bet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders (+2.5): Predicting 25.5-23.2. Bet on the Oakland Raiders.
Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers (+4.0): Predicting 24.4-21.2. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Philadelphia Eagles at New England Patriots (-10.5): Predicting 18.6-30.5. Bet on the New England Patriots.
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers (-7.5): Predicting 20.0-25.3. Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins (-4.5): Predicting 18.8-23.5. Bet on the Washington Redskins.
Good write-up on Kevin Garnett’s transition to a mentor for Karl-Anthony Towns.
Just remember, anything is possible:
Bills at Chiefs line is not out yet. Recall that the model does not use injury information, so for the Monday night game between the Ravens and Browns, the model does not know that Flacco and Forsett are out for the season.
Overall Against the Spread: 71-66
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 10-5
Week 5: 5-6 (2 pushes, 1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 6: 8-6
Week 7: 6-7 (1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 8: 6-6 (2 pushes)
Week 9: 6-7
Week 10: 10-4
Week 11: 6-7 (1 push)
This Week’s Predictions (line in parentheses):
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions (even): Predicting 23.2-22.3. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Carolina Panthers at Dallas Cowboys (even): Predicting 24.2-20.1. Bet on the Carolina Panthers.
Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-10.0): Predicting 19.6-26.6. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Minnesota Vikings at Atlanta Falcons (-1.0): Predicting 19.9-22.9. Bet on the Atlanta Falcons.
St. Louis Rams at Cincinnati Bengals (-10.0): Predicting 15.9-24.6. Bet on the St. Louis Rams.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Indianapolis Colts (-3.0): Predicting 22.3-25.6. Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
New Orleans Saints at Houston Texans (-3.0): Predicting 22.4-28.0. Bet on the Houston Texans.
San Diego Chargers at Jacksonville Jaguars (-4.0): Predicting 22.1-26.7. Bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs (even): Predicting 20.3-26.0. Bet on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets (-3.5): Predicting 19.4-25.4. Bet on the New York Jets.
Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans (+1.0): Predicting 22.1-23.0. Bet on the Tennessee Titans.
New York Giants at Washington Redskins (+1.0): Predicting 24.7-25.5. Bet on the Washington Redskins.
Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers (+11.5): Predicting 28.0-19.7. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Seattle Seahawks (-4.5): Predicting 19.8-22.4. Bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
New England Patriots at Denver Broncos (+3.0): Predicting 23.5-21.5. Bet on the Denver Broncos.
Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns (-2.5): Predicting 23.5-23.6. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
The jump ball between two 7’6″ centers. Fail.
Epstein Flip with Bronson Arroyo? (speculative)
And two College Humor videos for fun:
Jets at Texans line is not out yet.
Overall Against the Spread: 65-59
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 10-5
Week 5: 5-6 (2 pushes, 1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 6: 8-6
Week 7: 6-7 (1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 8: 6-6 (2 pushes)
Week 9: 6-7
Week 10: 10-4
This Week’s Predictions (line in parentheses):
Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars (-2.5): Predicting 20.9-24.3. Bet on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Indianapolis Colts at Atlanta Falcons (-7.0): Predicting 20.5-26.3. Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
Washington Redskins at Carolina Panthers (-8.5): Predicting 19.9-26.8. Bet on the Washington Redskins.
Denver Broncos at Chicago Bears (even): Predicting 22.3-22.0. Bet on the Denver Broncos.
Oakland Raiders at Detroit Lions (+1.0): Predicting 25.8-25.0. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
New York Jets at Houston Texans (even): Predicting 21.7-21.8. Bet on the Houston Texans.
Dallas Cowboys at Miami Dolphins (even): Predicting 19.4-23.8. Bet on the Miami Dolphins.
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (even): Predicting 19.2-22.9. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Philadelphia Eagles (-5.5): Predicting 18.6-26.5. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
St. Louis Rams at Baltimore Ravens (-1.0): Predicting 20.8-23.4. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Cincinnati Bengals at Arizona Cardinals (-3.0): Predicting 21.9-26.4. Bet on the Arizona Cardinals.
San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks (-13.5): Predicting 15.4-25.0. Bet on the San Francisco 49ers.
Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers (+3.0): Predicting 25.9-23.7. Bet on the San Diego Chargers.
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots (-7.5): Predicting 20.6-29.8. Bet on the New England Patriots.
Updated 11/12/15, 11am.
Overall Against the Spread: 55-55
Week 2: 9-7
Week 3: 5-11
Week 4: 10-5
Week 5: 5-6 (2 pushes, 1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 6: 8-6
Week 7: 6-7 (1 not bet due to correct line)
Week 8: 6-6 (2 pushes)
Week 9: 6-7
This Week’s Predictions (line in parentheses):
Buffalo Bills at New York Jets (-2.5): Predicting 21.4-25.6. Bet on the New York Jets.
Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers (-13.0): Predicting 19.1-29.9. Bet on the Detroit Lions.
Carolina Panthers at Tennessee Titans (+5.5): Predicting 24.1-21.2. Bet on the Tennessee Titans.
Miami Dolphins at Philadelphia Eagles (-7.0): Predicting 19.2-26.3. Bet on the Philadelphia Eagles.
Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers (-4.5): Predicting 18.2-26.5. Bet on the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Chicago Bears at St. Louis Rams (-7.5): Predicting 17.9-25.0. Bet on the Chicago Bears.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens (-5.5): Predicting 22.2-28.1. Bet on the Baltimore Ravens.
Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1.0): Predicting 22.9-24.6. Bet on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
New Orleans Saints at Washington Redskins (even): Predicting 23.9-26.7. Bet on the Washington Redskins.
Minnesota Vikings at Oakland Raiders (-3.0): Predicting 21.8-24.5. Bet on the Minnesota Vikings.
Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos (-5.5): Predicting 19.5-24.7. Bet on the Kansas City Chiefs.
New England Patriots at New York Giants (+8.5): Predicting 28.4-24.4. Bet on the New York Giants.
Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks (-3.0): Predicting 23.1-22.1. Bet on the Arizona Cardinals.
Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals (-12.0): Predicting 17.7-28.6. Bet on the Houston Texans.
You Can’t Make This Up
by Al Michaels, with L. Jon Wertheim, 2014
Al Michaels, self-proclaimed rascal, writes a cool book about all the great events he had the fortune of announcing over the years. He did Sunday/Monday Night Football, World Series, Super Bowls, Stanley Cups, NBA Finals, Olympics, and the Miracle on Ice. Al got his first real major-league break with the Reds in the early 70’s; he was replaced by Marty Brennaman after he left for the Giants after a contract dispute. Al gets most animated in his writing during the section about the racehorse he owned, hearkening back to the time when his mother would pull him out of school to go to the racetrack (also called “the dentist”). I listened to this book on tape.
As an aside, the Sunday Night Football intro is Maria’s favorite song. If you go back and watch old intros, it’s funny how the song has been tweaked over the years.
You can even co-opt the song for Super Bowl broadcasts