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Board up the back doors ala Borat, batten down the hatches, and get your @#$#$ together and wired tight. Crazy Week 8 is upon us, and it's going to be a real smasher. Not to fear, the "Good, Great, and ... Wow! CDST NFL Preview Show" is finally here. With the usual all-star rotation, plus a word or two from a couple of Brits you've been dying to meet, .... Archie Rice, from The Entertainer, and Beech Boy Andy the Dandy, who's all stoked up about his Lucky Cat. Yeah, there should be plenty of the usual blowouts....what with the Titans playing hospitable host with the most against the Chargers (no banana stretch pants pppplease), the Vikings getting the carbon monoxide treatment at Ford's Field, and the so terrible Aints at Sofi. But here's a few that may blow the tops offa your boiled eggs in the morning boys: San Fran fighting for its life in the vicinity of the Meadowlands, Denver slugging it out with Houston at NRG, the Steelers trying to look coordinated against the Colts and of course, it's yet another opportunity for the Bills to miss opportunity against the Thiefs (yes, it's in Buffalo, but we know who has the Mahomes field advantage). Tune in this Sunday at 9 am... chabdog.com 🎙️ New to streaming or looking to level up? Check out StreamYard and get $10 discount! 😍 https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5092204863160320
11/2/2025 | "Good, Great, and...WOW! CDST #NFL Preview Show"

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Dodgers have the dollars, but their heart paved the way for World Series victory

by Aaron | November 4, 2025 | 0 Comments

I got busy over the weekend and didn’t have a chance to talk about the insane ending to the World Series. I really thought the Blue Jays were going to finish the job, but despite all of their money bags, the Dodgers maintain the grit of a desperate underdog looking to defy the odds. That’s how Los Angeles was able to escape the ninth inning of Game 7 after Toronto loaded the bases with one out. Dalton Varsho hit a sharp ground ball to second base that Miguel Rojas, who had just tied the game with an unlikely home run in the top of the inning, had to back up on. It should have been enough to score the run from third, but Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had just been inserted as a pinch-runner for Bo Bichette, didn’t get a great jump off of third base and was forced out when Rojas threw home to catcher Will Smith.

That is a run that the gritty underdog is supposed to score to get an edge over the powerhouse filled with superstars. Instead, it was Rojas with the nerves of steel and Kiner-Falefa not being desperate enough to score. The mistake of inserting Kiner-Falefa compounded itself for Toronto skipper John Schneider when the infielder came to the plate in the bottom of the 11th. Will Smith had homered for the Dodgers in the top of the frame to put Los Angeles on top, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got the Blue Jays going with a double. With Kiner-Falefa at the plate instead of Bichette, Schneider opted for a bunt to get Guerrero Jr. to third. The play was executed correctly, but it proved to be the wrong strategy as after Addison Barger walked, Yoshinobu Yamamoto got Alejandro Kirk to ground into a season-ending double play.

Poor running of the bases also doomed Toronto in Game 6 when Barger was doubled off second base following Andres Gimenez’s line drive to left field. Barger had just hit a double that somehow got stuck against the center field wall. I thought that Los Angeles outfielder Justin Dean took a huge risk by putting his hands in the air and claiming that the ball was lodged, but fortunately for him, the umpires agreed and forced Barger to stop at second base. If they said that the ball wasn’t lodged, Barger could have run all the way home thanks to Dean not playing the ball.

Anyway, without that lodged ball call, Barger might not have been at second base and he might not have run into a double play on Gimenez’s drive that was caught by Enrique Hernandez. The Blue Jays might have caught a bad break, but they also ran themselves out of the game. There’s also the possibility that Barger would have stopped at second base if the ball had just bounced off the wall, so maybe it’s not too bad of a break.

Despite Shohei Ohtani’s unbelievable Game 3 performance, the World Series MVP went to Yamamoto, and it’s hard to say that he didn’t deserve it. The man pitched a complete game to lead the Dodgers to victory in Game 2 and then pitched six innings with one run allowed in Game 6 to earn a second World Series win. We already knew Yamamoto was built different when he started warming up during the 18th inning of Game 3, but then he proved it by entering Game 7 in the ninth inning and keeping Toronto off the scoreboard until the game was over two and two thirds innings later. Yamamoto was hyped up a lot when he signed a massive deal with the Dodgers before the 2024 campaign, but he has lived up to it and then some with his heroic postseason performances.

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Blue Jays are one win away and 2025 Week 9 NFL picks

by Aaron | October 31, 2025 | 0 Comments

We got some bad news on Wednesday night, as the Blue Jays are now one win away from bringing the Commissioner’s Trophy to Canada. They cruised to a 6-1 victory in Game 5 of the World Series after Davis Schneider and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit back-to-back home runs to lead off the game. Trey Yesavage took it from there with just four batters reaching base against him (three hits and a hit by pitch) in seven innings. He struck out 12 Dodgers during the incredible performance.

Toronto now has two chances to clinch the championship in its home ballpark. The good news for the Dodgers is that Yoshinobu Yamamoto is slated to start Game 6, and he is coming off of two straight complete games. Kevin Gausman will take the mound for the Blue Jays after being outdueled by Yamamoto in Game 2.

We got a little football action during the World Series’ off day, and I’m happy to say that I started the week 1-0 with my picks, but these standings remained the same because everyone picked Baltimore to crush Miami.

Here are the rest of my Week 9 picks as I try to escape the Isle of Mid.

Ravens -7.5 at Dolphins

Miami surprisingly blew out Atlanta on the road last week, but Baltimore was also impressive. I think Lamar Jackson’s return gets the Ravens the points they need to cover the spread.

Bears -2.5 at Bengals

The Bengals have scored more than 30 points in each of the past two weeks with Joe Flacco under center, but the defense still stinks. I think Caleb Williams has a day.

Vikings at Lions -8.5

Detroit is great at covering big spreads like this one because they can keep scoring even when trying to kill the clock.

Panthers +12.5 at Packers

Last week was a big return to form for Green Bay, but Carolina isn’t a pushover.

Chargers -9.5 at Titans

I’m done picking the Titans to cover anything.

Falcons +5.5 at Patriots

The Falcons are Jekyll and Hyde. I think they play well on the road after everyone wrote them off.

49ers at Giants +2.5

Maybe this isn’t Kyle Shanahan’s masterpiece after all? The win over the Rams is looking like a fluke.

Colts at Steelers +3.5

I am going back to the Pittsburgh home underdog well. Indianapolis has been a juggernaut, but its schedule has been very soft.

Broncos at Texans -1.5

Texans have now won three of four, but they played terribly in the one game of those I watched. That was at Seattle, and Houston has been better at home.

Jaguars at Raiders +3.5

Just when I was starting to believe that the Jaguars weren’t frauds, they go out and lose two in a row.

Chiefs at Bills +1.5

Chiefs have been unstoppable since the Jacksonville loss, but Buffalo appears rejuvenated after the bye week.

Seahawks -3.5 at Commanders

Washington might just be bad.

Cardinals at Cowboys -2.5

Cowboys at home is the easiest pick every time they play at home.

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The World Series reached levels of epic not seen before in Los Angeles

by Aaron | October 29, 2025 | 0 Comments

Since the World Series shifted to Los Angeles on Monday night, the Dodgers won a game that will be considered one of the greatest in the history of the Fall Classic. The next day, the Blue Jays won a very boring game by comparison, but they both count the same and we are tied 2-2 heading into a pivotal Game 5 on Wednesday night.

So how did we get here? It has a lot to do with Shohei Ohtani cementing his legacy as an all-time baseball legend and setting a Postseason record by reaching base nine times during the Game 3 marathon that ended on Freddie Freeman’s walk-off home run off of Brendon Little to lead off the bottom of the 18th. If nine times on base with no outs made wasn’t amazing enough, Ohtani’s first four plate appearances resulted in extra-base hits, and the last two led to the Dodgers coming back and tying the game. His double in the fifth inning drove in Enrique Hernandez to make the score 4-3 before Freeman singled to get Ohtani home with the equalizing run.

Then, after Bo Bichette’s single down the right field line got Vladimir Guerrero all the way from first to home with the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh, Ohtani answered with his second home run of the game to tie the score at 5-5, where it would stay for the next 11 innings. Part of the reason the game stayed tied for so long was that Toronto intentionally walked Ohtani during his next four plate appearances and then walked him conventionally in his final plate appearance to mix things up. That last walk by Little in the 17th inning was so noncompetitive that it looked like an old intentional walk from back when you had to throw the ball to the catcher. The craziest part of the five Ohtani walks was that only one of them came in a typical intentional walk scenario with first base open and a runner on second or third. On the other four occasions, Blue Jays manager John Schneider either put Ohtani on as the winning run or to push the winning run into scoring position. The strategy worked.

We also wouldn’t have made it to the 18th inning without a couple of relief pitcher heroes in Eric Lauer for Toronto and Will Klein for Los Angeles. Lauer is a former Padres and Brewers southpaw who split his time between starting and relief pitching this season with the Blue Jays. He threw four and two thirds scoreless innings after entering the game with one out in the 12th. Klein’s four shutout frames were even more surprising because he had never started a game before in his two-year big league career. In his 22 regular season appearances, he never went longer than two innings before, and yet here was Stein taking the Dodgers deep into the night when they didn’t know if they even had another pitcher available.

If Little had retired Freeman in the 18th, we might have seen something as incredible as Stein’s great outing. That’s because Yoshinobu Yamamoto was warming up in the bullpen after throwing his second straight complete game of the Postseason just two days before! Just when I thought I would never see a pitcher save his team on short rest again, Yamamoto was willing to come back on one day of rest! It’s kind of a shame that Freeman ended the game when he did, because that would have been something to see. It REALLY would have been a shame if Toronto won, but at least that didn’t happen.

Monday night’s cathartic Game 3 victory made it seem like Los Angeles had all the momentum, especially with Ohtani on the mound to start Game 4. Could he possibly grow his legend even more? It turns out that no, he could not. The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second inning when a Max Muncy walk and a Tommy Edman single led to a sac fly by Hernandez, but Shane Bieber would keep Los Angeles off the scoreboard for the rest of his five and a third innings. Toronto struck back and took the lead in the third when Guerrero Jr. launched a two-run home run off of Ohtani.

The Dodgers’ best chance to retake the lead came in the sixth when Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez singled to set the table with one out, but Mason Fluharty came on for Bieber and got Max Muncy to fly out before striking out Edman to end the threat. The Blue Jays started the seventh with two straight hits to chase Ohtani and went on to rally for four runs with RBI hits coming from Andres Gimenez, Bichette, and Addison Barger. That was more than enough for Toronto, and it went on to win 6-2.

It feels like we’ve already had enough dramatic events to fill a whole series (probably because the Dodgers and Blue Jays have played five games’ worth of innings in four games), but there are still at least two more games left to play in the 2025 season. I can’t wait to see what happens in Game 5 tonight with Blake Snell on the bump for Los Angeles against Trey Yesavage for Toronto.

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Referees don’t help Giants on very bad sports Sunday

by Aaron | October 26, 2025 | 0 Comments

Boy, did I have a bad sports day on Sunday. It was bad enough when the Giants got whomped by the Eagles so badly that it made New York’s home win over Philly two weeks ago seem like a total fluke. Then I had to watch the Knicks fall behind the Heat by 18 points in the fourth quarter and tease with a comeback before falling 115-107. The cap off the evening, the Rangers lost a second straight game to one of the worst teams in hockey.

At least the 38-20 defeat suffered by the Giants might have been closer in an alternate universe where the referees called the game fairly. I’m not a big blame-the-refs guy, and the Giants might have lost this game anyway due to some horrendous run defense that allowed Saquon Barkley to take off on a 65-yard touchdown run on Philly’s first possession, but a few calls in this game were very frustrating.

After the Giants tied the score 7-7 on a touchdown pass from Jaxson Dart to Cameron Skattebo, the Eagles answered with a drive of their own that hit a snag when Jalen Hurts scrambled for eight yards on 3rd and 9. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem for Philly because of its famous Tush Push that it uses whenever there is one yard to go. However, this time Giants defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux ripped the ball away from Hurts as he reached for the first down. This looked like a huge momentum shift as the Tush Push was not supposed to be beatable. It was a huge play early in the game, until the refs explained that Hurts’ forward momentum had stopped after he achieved the first down but before he lost the football. How convenient!

I don’t understand how forward progress is stopped when the ball carrier is still moving forward. Since the call of forward progress being stopped isn’t able to be overturned by replay, the Giants couldn’t challenge the ruling (although they did anyway). Barkley caught a touchdown pass from Hurts two plays later to make the score 14-7 Eagles, and they would lead for the rest of the game.

To make matters worse for the Giants, Skattebo suffered a gruesome ankle injury on the ensuring possession, and he is presumed lost for the season. New York continued to battle, but it blew a huge chance to get off the field early in the fourth quarter when a Brian Burns sack for a massive 21-yard loss was immediately undone by a handoff to Tank Bigsby.

That play led to a Hurt touchdown pass to Dallas Goedert, but the Giants appeared to bounce right back with Dart throwing a 68-yard touchdown pass to Darius Slayton on 4th and 11. Alas, the incredible play was overturned by a dubious offensive pass interference call, and that was pretty much it for the competitive part of the game. The Giants are now 2-6 and without Skattebo as well as Malik Nabers. They will take on the 49ers in New Jersey next Sunday.

As if the Giants game wasn’t sad enough, I got to watch the Knicks shoot 39 percent from the field at Miami and the Rangers lose 5-1 to the 1-7-1 Flames. We’ve got to do better this week.

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Yoshinobu Yamamoto is an American hero and the Dodgers get out of Canada with a win

by Aaron | October 25, 2025 | 0 Comments

The Dodgers needed a hero after the Blue Jays crushed them in Game 1 with a nine-run rally in the sixth inning that led to an 11-4 Toronto win. Los Angeles took an early 2-0 lead with an RBI single by Enrique Hernandez in the second inning and one by Will Smith in the third, but it both frames, the Dodgers could have had so much more. In the second, Andy Pages was struck out by Trey Yesavage with the bases loaded before Shohei Ohtani grounded out feebly to end the threat with just one run scored. In the third, Freddie Freeman was thrown out trying to reach third base on Smith’s RBI hit, and that helped Yesavage escape another jam without giving up a crooked number.

Blake Snell was shaky during his five innings. He gave up a two-run home run by Dalton Varsho in the fourth that tied the game and then loaded the bases in the sixth with a walk, a single by Alejandro Kirk, and a hit by pitch. That set the stage for Toronto’s massive rally with October gas can Emmet Sheehan allowing RBI singles to Ernie Clement and Andres Gimenez before Anthony Banda got taken deep by Addison Barger for the first pinch-hit grand slam in World Series history.

If we didn’t want to see a Canadian team take a 2-0 lead in the World Series and get halfway towards breaking the nation’s Commissioner’s Trophy and Stanley Cup drought, we needed someone to step up and take a stand. That man was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who in his last start pitched a complete game against the Brewers in Game 2 of the NLCS. No way he could repeat the feat in the year 2025, could he?

Unbelievably, in the era of pitch counts and babying of pitchers, Yamamoto made it through all nine innings again with just one run allowed and zero walks. He struck out eight Blue Jays, including three in a row during the eighth inning, and retired the last 20 batters that he faced. After Kirk hit a sac fly to tie the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the third inning, not one Toronto batter reached base. After Los Angeles rallied for two runs each in the seventh and eighth innings, it came away with a 5-1 victory to tie the World Series at one game apiece. What a heroic performance by Yamamoto, not just for the Dodgers, but for America. If not for Yamamoto’s gem, we could be two games away from Canadian sports fans saying “Who cares about the Stanley Cup drought? We won the World Series!”

And nobody wants that.

 

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Let’s rally behind the Dodgers and defeat Canada

by Aaron | October 24, 2025 | 0 Comments

I was so happy to get off to a winning start in the Week 8 NFL picks. The Chargers destroyed the Vikings 37-10 on Thursday night to easily cover three and a half points. I even got some fantasy football help from Ladd McConkey, Kimani Vidal, and the Los Angeles defense that beat up Carson Wentz all game. In fact, the defense played a little too well because my only Minnesota fantasy start was Jordan Mason and he had more carries than rushing yards on the night. But that was okay because I was 1-0 to start the week thanks to my brilliant Chargers pick…

Nooooooooooo! Why? Why couldn’t one person pick the Vikings. They aren’t that bad! You rendered my victory meaningless! As if that wasn’t disappointing enough, the Rangers lost 6-5 in overtime to the previously winless Sharks and I am starting to think that New York will be stuck in misery for a long time. The Rangers are now 0-4-1 on home ice, and while it was nice to see the boys light the lamps a few times against horrible San Jose, it happened on the same night that Igor Shesterkin turned into a sieve between the pipes. Goal prevention was the one thing we were doing well, and when the offense breaks through, the goal prevention fails. That is poor complimentary hockey.

New York is 3-4-2 overall and starts a four-game west coast swing on Sunday. The season could be over by the time the Blueshirts return to Madison Square Garden a week from Tuesday. The Knicks thankfully have already won at game at MSG with their victory in the opener, and they’ll try to make it two in a row with Boston in town tonight.

The World Series gets started tonight as well with Blake Snell looking to build on a tremendous postseason run for the Dodgers against Trey Yesavage and the Blue Jays. A lot of people, even in these United States of America, are pulling for Toronto because they hate the Dodgers, but not me. I still remember how our national anthem was booed by the Canadians during last winter’s 4 Nations Face-Off. What good is Canada’s Stanley Cup drought if the country can claim a World Series? I don’t think it will be as fun to taunt Canada if it has a title in America’s Pastime, so the Dodgers must win!

Interestingly enough, Canada’s World Series drought goes back to 1993, the same year that the Stanley Cup drought began. Could this be the year of Canada? It better not be! I don’t even understand the Dodgers hatred so much. First of all, they beat the Phillies, so that makes them heroes. Second, they haven’t won consecutive World Series yet. When I was a boy, the Yankees were one inning away from winning four in a row! Now that was a dynasty. At least wait to hate the Dodgers until they win back-to-back titles.

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The NBA has a gambling problem and NFL picks for 2025 Week 8

by Aaron | October 23, 2025 | 0 Comments

It is a crazy time to be a sports fan with Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups being arrested on gambling-related charges this morning.

Rozier, who was arrested Thursday morning at a hotel in Orlando, Florida, is accused of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using insider NBA information. As part of the scheme, gamblers used nonpublic information to bet on at least seven NBA games between March 2023 and March 2024 involving the Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors, according to the indictment. In three of the seven games, players intentionally removed themselves from contests to benefit the gamblers’ bets, according to the indictment.

Billups, who was arrested in Oregon, is charged in a separate indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games that were backed by Mafia families, authorities said. The defendants are accused of using technology to steal millions from victims in the New York area, Nocella said.

I used to think that the introduction of online sports betting wouldn’t lead to an increase in scandals like this one since betting was already available illegally. I was wrong because I failed to take into account how easy it would be to rig player props. It’s way easier than shaving points off a spread since that is something that a whole team might need to cooperate on. With these player props, you can just fake an injury and make your under hit, which is allegedly what Rozier did. If stuff like this isn’t cleaned up, the NBA could be ruined.

Stephen A. Smith seems to think that the gambling arrests are due to Donald Trump wanting revenge on the NBA. This would be a wild leap to make even if the FBI investigation wasn’t initiated before Trump took office. I don’t know if Smith feels the need to defend ESPN and its investment in sports betting, but he should be more worried about the integrity of the NBA and its players than the intentions of the FBI.

It’s a bad day to be Adam Silver, but it’s a great day to be a Knicks fan. They won their opener against Cleveland last night 119-111. That’s a big deal because the Cavaliers are considered by many to be New York’s top competitor for Eastern Conference supremacy. The Knicks saw their 15-point halftime lead disappear in the third quarter, but they bounced back with a 14-2 run to start the fourth that set them on the path to victory.

The game got a little dicey when Dean Wade and Sam Merrill hit back-to-back three-point shots to cut the Knicks’ lead to five with two minutes left, but OG Anunoby answered with a three of his own and Cleveland never got that close again. Anunoby ended up leading New York in scoring with 24 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds. The Knicks won this game despite a shooting disadvantage thanks to their dominance at the free throw line and on the offensive boards.

Here are my Week 8 NFL picks.

Vikings at Chargers -3.5

This game is going great for me and would be going even better if I had benched Jordan Mason in fantasy.

Dolphins +7.5 at Falcons

Many fans will write the Dolphins off after their terrible performance in Cleveland this week. I think they are much better suited to playing indoors.

Jets +6.5 at Bengals

Do we know who is playing quarterback for the Jets yet? Whoever it is will look good against a Cincinnati defense that is still lousy.

Browns at Patriots -7.5

The Patriots have covered twice in a row as favorites since upsetting Buffalo. They are for real.

Giants +7.5 at Eagles

This is a letdown spot for the Giants, but I’m taking them anyway because I’m too much of a fan.

Bills at Panthers +7.5

Buffalo ain’t beaten nobody and has only covered one spread all season.

Bears at Ravens -6.5

Chicago has won four in a row and is getting a touchdown against the most disappointing team in the NFL? Of course I’m taking Baltimore.

49ers -1.5 at Texans

This is a square play, but I’m back on the San Francisco bandwagon and it probably only has to win outright.

Buccaneers at Saints +5.5

The Saints have lost outright and against the spread in their two games since beating my Giants. Hopefully a home dog spot against a rival will change the trend.

Cowboys at Broncos -3.5

Cowboys at home was an easy win last week. Cowboys on the road should be an easy fade this week.

Titans +14.5 at Colts

I can’t stop picking Tennessee no matter how horrible it is.

Packers at Steelers +3.5

Home dog Mike Tomlin against a Green Bay team that still hasn’t covered since the first two weeks of the season when everyone thought it was going to the Super Bowl.

Commanders +10.5 at Chiefs

Marcus Mariota isn’t a huge downgrade from Jayden Daniels.

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The NBA is back and there’s a lot of pressure on the Knicks to win the East

by Aaron | October 22, 2025 | 0 Comments

The NBA returned to NBC for the start of the regular season on Tuesday night, and while everyone on the internet was jacked up for the iconic theme music, we also got a pair of pretty good basketball games with the defending champion Thunder needing double overtime to defeat the Rockets 125-124. In the late game, the Warriors overcame a great game from Luka Doncic to defeat the Lakers in Los Angeles 119-109.

Doncic had 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists on 17-for-27 shooting, but Austin Reaves was the only other Laker to score more than 10 points. He contributed 26 points and nine dimes, but Reaves and Doncic combined to shoot just 3-for-15 from beyond the arc while the Warriors shot 17-for-40 from deep despite Steph Curry only going 3-for-9 from there. Instead, it was Jonathan Kuminga (4-for-6) and Buddy Hield (5-for-10) setting the pace for Golden State from three-point range.

The Lakers trailed by double digits for most of the fourth quarter, but Reaves brought them within six with four minutes left by feeding Deandre Ayton for a fast break layup and then driving for a reverse layup himself after a Curry misfire to cap a 9-0 run. Jimmy Butler made sure that was as close as Los Angeles would get, as he fed Draymond Green for a clutch three from the corner and later drove past Doncic for a layup to push the lead back up to 10. Butler ruled the inside of the arc last night with 31 points and 16 coming on free throws.

The thriller in Oklahoma City came to an anticlimactic ending when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drew a shooting foul on Kevin Durant to set up the go-ahead free throws with just two seconds left. Houston had a chance to respond for the win, but Jabari Smith Jr. found nothing but air on his baseline jumper attempt. The Thunder lead by four with a minute to play back in the first overtime, but after two Josh Okogie free throws for Houston, Alperen Sengun rejected Alex Caruso at the rim and then jammed home a rebound on his own miss to tie the score at 115-115. The 23-year-old Sengun isn’t the biggest name on this Houston team, but he may be its most important player. He looked like the best player on the floor last night for either squad with 39 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists.

Sengun might have had the game-winning bucket in the fourth quarter when his runner in the paint gave Houston a one-point lead, but after Durant hit one of two free throws, SGA pulled up and hit the game-tying jumper in front of Amen Thompson. Sengun had a chance to win the game when he caught the ensuing inbounds pass on the elbow, but his jumper over Lu Dort missed wildly off the glass.

The West is loaded with competitors who plan on derailing OKC’s quest to repeat as champion, but the Rockets looked like one of the fiercest on opening night. It’s important to note, though, that the Thunder are not at full strength yet with Jalen Williams still on the mend from offseason wrist surgery.

The second night of the NBA regular season brings the debut of my Knicks, who are looking at their best chance to return to the NBA Finals since they last made it there in 1999. Both the Celtics and the Pacers are missing key players due to Achilles injuries suffered in last season’s Playoffs. That leaves Cleveland as the Knicks’ top competition, and it is Cleveland that New York is starting the campaign against tonight. A win would establish the Knicks as the top dogs in the East right off the bat. On the other hand, a loss will have fans questioning if the Knicks will ever break through during the window that was opened when Jalen Brunson arrived.

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Defense runs Monday Night Football and Blue Jays clinch AL pennant

by Aaron | October 21, 2025 | 0 Comments

The Houston vs. Seattle NFL game last night devolved into a rock fight that was painful to watch, but staying up late was worth it because I won my fantasy match despite Jahmyr Gibbs going off for 222 total yards and two touchdowns in the early game. The other player that my fantasy opponent had in Tampa Bay vs. Detroit was Jameson Williams, and he was held to a big ole goose egg on two targets. When the action shifted to Seattle, Ka’imi Fairbairn kept my opponent closer with a pair of field goals in the second quarter, but the Seahawks defense came through for me by holding Nico Collins to 27 receiving yards before he exited in the fourth quarter due to a concussion.

Seattle led 27-12 at that point, but Houston would get plenty of chances to come back thanks to two late turnovers on a fumble by Elijah Arroyo and an interception by Sam Darnold. The Texans turned the ball over on downs following both Seattle mistakes thanks to their inability to break through at the goal line. A 21-yard strike from C.J. Stroud to Jaylin Noel set Houston up with 1st and goal from the three-yard line, but the Texans failed four straight times to score a touchdown, with the last three plays coming after Woody Marks carried the ball down to the one-yard line.

Just like the Giants on Sunday afternoon, the Seahawks did everything you’re not supposed to do when holding a multi-score lead on offense. It’s amazing what a difference a competent defense makes. Seattle’s bailed the offense out of turnovers while New York’s collapsed and blew the game even after Jaxson Dart scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final 40 seconds.

The early game also featured a great defensive performance with the Lions holding Baker Mayfield and the explosive Tampa Bay attack to just nine points. It didn’t help the Buccaneers that Mike Evans suffered a broken collarbone in the second quarter and is expected to miss most of the remainder of the regular season, but Tez Johnson continued to emerge as a star with 58 receiving yards, including 22 on a catch-and-run touchdown midway through the third quarter that made the score 14-9. Johnson is proving to be a steal in the seventh round of this year’s NFL Draft and could terrorize opposing secondaries alongside fellow rookie Emeka Egbuka for years to come.

The Johnson touchdown gave Tampa Bay some momentum, but Detroit took it right back with Jahmyr Gibbs touching the ball four straight times to cover 49 yards on the way to the end zone and put the Lions back up by 12. Aidan Hutchinson and the Detroit defense would turn the Bucs over on downs three times in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

While all of this football was going on, the Toronto Blue Jays were busy clinching their first American League pennant since 1993. The Mariners were in control of the game through six innings thanks to a go-ahead solo shot by Julio Rodriguez in the third and another from Cal Raleigh in the fifth to make the score 3-1.

Seattle manager Dan Wilson made an interesting decision to take George Kirby out of the game at four innings and 65 pitches even though he had settled down nicely after allowing a run in the first inning. The decision played out well for the Mariners when Bryan Woo cruised through the fifth and the sixth, but then he walked Addison Barger to lead off the seventh and Isiah Kiner-Falefa followed with a single up the middle. Wilson brought in Eduard Bazardo to face George Springer at the top of the order, and Springer blasted Bazardo’s 1-0 fastball into the seats in left field to send all of Canada into a frenzy.

The home run was another heroic postseason moment for Springer and another painful memory for Mariners fans, who watched their team blow a two-game advantage to Toronto and a golden opportunity to finally win the pennant. Seattle has only taken six trips to the Postseason in franchise history, so who knows when its next shot will be?

Hey, you know who used to play in Seattle? The NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder! They won the NBA championship last season and open the new season tonight against the new-look Houston Rockets. Oklahoma City is favored to repeat as champs, but no NBA team has done that since the Warriors in 2018. Maybe my Knicks will be a serious challenger again this season after their disappointing loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals last spring. New York opens its campaign on Wednesday against the Cavaliers, who are expected to be the Knicks’ top competition in the Eastern Conference.

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We are in for a wild sports night with Game 7 of the ALCS and an NFL doubleheader

by Aaron | October 20, 2025 | 0 Comments

Tonight is going to be wild. We’ve got two Monday Night Football games on and I’m leading my fantasy football match by 54 points. My opponent has Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, Nico Collins, and Ka’imi Fairbairn. I’m in the clubhouse with all my players having played already. Can I pull it out?! It’s a good thing there’s a Rangers hockey game and Game 7 of the ALCS to distract me from my huge fantasy lead slipping away like the Giants’ 19-point advantage in the fourth quarter yesterday.

The Mariners had a chance to clinch their first American League pennant in franchise history on Sunday night, but Cal Raleigh and J.P. Crawford hit into inning-ending double plays with the bases loaded in consecutive innings. Meanwhile, Toronto jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to Addison Barger hitting an RBI single in the second inning and a two-run tater in the third. Seattle finally broke through against Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage in the sixth inning with a solo shot from Josh Naylor and an RBI single by Eugenio Suarez, but it wasn’t enough and the Mariners were shut down by Louis Varland and Jeff Hoffman the rest of the way.

There’s a lot on the line tonight with the Mariners looking for that first World Series appearance and the Blue Jays trying to return to the Fall Classic for the first time since winning it on Joe Carter’s walk-off home run in 1993. George Kirby will start on the mound for Seattle against Shane Bieber for Toronto. Kirby had two solid outings against Detroit in October before getting lit up by the Blue Jays for eight runs in four innings during Game 3. Bieber that night allowed a two-run homer to Julio Rodriguez in the first but then shut out the Mariners for the next five innings. Based on how Game 3 went down, I have to give Toronto the edge, and the bookmakers have made the home team a -135 favorite.

Hopefully by the time Game 7 begins at 8:10 PM, the Rangers will have finally scored a goal on their home ice. That’s right, despite playing at Madison Square Garden three times this year, New York is yet to light the lamp at home. If the scoreless streak goes on for one more night, I might go insane. Puck drop vs. Minnesota is a little after 7:00 PM.

The NFL games might drive me crazy anyway because I need to get both picks right in order to return to a .500 record, but the fantasy players I’m up against are on the same teams that I picked. The game plan is for Amon-Ra St. Brown to horde all the touchdowns for Detroit in a relatively low-scoring game. The key part is low-scoring, because I think there could easily be 70 total points in this game despite Tampa Bay being banged up at wide receiver. In the late game, we will rely on a strong rushing attack from Houston in the red zone so that the Texans get in the end zone and Fairbairn doesn’t get many field goal attempts.

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ChabDog’s Tenuous Attempt To Tackle the Week 10 Spreads:

by | Nov 8, 2024

 

Hold onto to that rope, or let go if you want, …. maybe the freedom from the shackles of common sense will set you free…

After Baltimore’s Thursday night betrayal I really don’t know what to think, other than sometimes my instincts on the marginal advantage one team has really doesn’t stink…. that being said, in the immortal words of Maggie from Caddyshack, “Tanks for nothin, ChabDog” —

— Going G-men over Carolina (giving four and half to the Panthers) — Yes, the Giants should win this game…. I don’t care where it is being played, and it’s time they started living large… at the expense of the Stink Panthers, as part of the NFL’s endless foreign exchange program.

— I like the Bears in this game…. but I don’t like them by 6.5… the Patriots should hang in there and make this interesting

— Here we go again,…. taking issue with the Dolts’ duller than dull offfense… who cares where they are playing, they still totally suck in terms of scoring aptitude… look for the Bills to regain their attitude iwth a big win

— Denver’s offense looks dead once again, and the Chiefs continue to swindle me whenver I think of them as their former high octane selves…..but c’mon KC is a simple 10 point victory at home too much to ask… like last week, I’m taking the bait for the Chiefs, because I can’t countenace drawing any kind of line with Diggs

— I’m feelin it for the Falcons, who have a good coach, a good QB (I can’t believe I’m saying that), some tasty Rijon at running back, some fairly good receivers, and a decent-to-better than avg defense… and that’s a lot more than the “Aints have going for them

— Kudos to the SF Niners, who may have found some of their lost swagger, and was last week’s loss by the Bucs a total dagger? Yes and no to those two question, but I think the defending NFC champs have too many weapons … give TB the 6.5 and take your chances.

— Steelers had two weeks to recharge those batteries, and the battery of Wison Pickets  will be rocking and rolling at the 10 am pacific hour.  The Commies will lose, and Vegas will rue the day they made them the favs.

— Yes, Minny covered last week, but their offense production has been nothing less than spotty.  The Jags, meanwhile, continue to score in decent quantities, and at home, I think 4.5 is just a little too rich for my blood.  Going Jags, even if it means I should have my head examined.

— Like Stella, the Chargers are really starting to find their grrove backM  Though the Ti-tans showed me something last week, I think the bots can turn the screws on TN to the tune of at least an 8-point victory.

— ,  More home humliation for the Cowboys?  Eagles should win but I’m going out on a bit of limb in saying that Micah Parson comes limping in and gives that beaten to hell defense a bit of a lift.  Boys to beat that insulting Philly spread of +6.5.

—   I’m officially on the AZ bandwagon, and personally buying the car seat for fun-sized Kyler, who no kidding, is filling some pretty big shoes these days.It should be a pretty entertaining game with the Jets, but the Cards should slip by in the late Arizona afternoon … by at least 2.

— Don’t care who is coming back for the Texans…. they’ll feel beseiged and bereft of alternatives or viable options when the Lions come to down.  Detroit giving only 3.5…. are you kidding?

— Rams slam the door shut on the Dolphins, who came to Sofi looking for a break, and get swallowed up in an eqrthquake of a statement game for Stafford.

 

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Thursday Night Featuring the Bangles Rears Its Frightful Head… just to spite me

by | Nov 7, 2024

3 yards too far for Ja’Marr, Joe and the snake-bitten Bangles…. who were angling for a huge upset victory in Ballmer but end up just another team that stepped in No. 2 when it took the greedy option and went for 2.
Give the Ravens credit for coming out of that extended coma just in time for another ridiculous run-up of instant gratification TDs, and thank you very little for playing with the notion of covering that 6.5, only to give nearly all of it away in a final 90 seconds or so that played like “Here to Eternity”….heaven help me for changing my pick in favor of the Purple Rush ruffians covering that plush spread.

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Chabdog Racing Segment Fantasy Pick’em Game (exclusive game)

by | Sep 17, 2023

Prior to Chabdog Sports going full blog mode (literally a couple of weeks ago), and the show being trimmed down to an hour, I used to discuss on the show our previous NASCAR race, or upcoming NASCAR race, and our own Fantasy NASCAR Pick’em game that I came up with to make the segment fun and competitive (just as we do with our NFL picks every week). With that, let me break down our exclusive Chabdog Sports NASCAR fantasy game.

Every week the Chabdog Sports Team makes on-air picks on the show for the upcoming NASCAR race and earns points based on the following criteria:

: Anyone who picks the winning driver gets 3 points.

: Anyone who picks the 2nd place driver gets 2 points.

: Anyone who picks the 3rd place driver gets 1 point.

Lastly, if no one picks a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place driver then 1 point is awarded to the picked driver that is closest to the podium. Therefore, in our fantasy game, someone from the team always walks away with a point.

Sometimes our co-hosts are not available to make a pick, so we default our “chalk” pick to the pole position driver using the official line-up from NASCAR prior to the start of the race.

One last thing, when we finally get down to the Final Four Championship Race we end up making two picks for that race.  The first pick is, “Who will win the Final Four and be our Champion?”, which is a do-or-die pick that is worth 4 points.  The second pick is, “Who will actually win the race?”, which is scored exactly like any other race. So we can potentially win up to 7 points in the last race of the season.  Some Co-hosts pick two different drivers here, and others go all in with one Final Four driver (win the season & the race).

To date, our co-host Dorothy is leading our group with 30 points and is the heavy favorite to ultimately win our fantasy game this year. If you look at today’s Bristol race (September 16, 2023) you’ll notice that everyone has Christopher Bell because it’s a Saturday race, our show is on Sunday, and I gave everyone (including myself) the “chalk” based on pole position (Christopher Bell).  Fortunately for us, he came in 3rd place so everyone gets a point.  However, had we all picked Ryan Newman who came in 36th place, we’d all still get a point since no one else had a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place pick, and Ryan Newman is the closest driver to the podium amongst the Chabdog Sports Team, even though he’s in last place.

Below is our current NASCAR Matrix that I maintain for the show. Here you can see how we’ve scored in each race, and the drivers each of us picked.  Aaron didn’t join our team until July so he had to start with a slight disadvantage. In the future, we will award any new member of the team with all the “chalk” points rather than starting at zero.  However, Aaron has done a commendable job catching up to the rest of us in the short time he has been with us (except for Dorothy who has lapped us all).

Final Thoughts

My NASCAR game is really cool and fun.  Yes, there’s a lot of bias here because I came up with it, however, my co-hosts really have fun playing this little NASCAR game so if you have a group of friends who love NASCAR and want to make it competitive and fun, maybe this game will work for you like it did for us. Try it out and comment below if you find this game fun and cool, or have any questions.

| @darthvaber99

 

 

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NFL – Week 2 – Against The Spread Picks

by | Sep 14, 2023

Another week, another blog about my shitty NFL picks.  Especially since I went 6 & 16, but come on, the Chiefs taking an L, the Bills taking an L against the Zach Wilson Jets, and the Chargers taking an L to a hurt Dolphins team at home is nothing I could predict in my shitty crystal ball. I know that doesn’t sound like my Week 2 picks will be amazing, but at least I now have some perspective of the teams in their regular season form (less shitty crystal ball).  So let’s try this again.

NFL WEEK 1 RESULTS

NFL week 1 results

OFFICIAL CHABDOG SPORTS NFL WEEK 2 SPREAD

NFL Week 2 Spreads

VIKINGS: The Vikings may lose this game but not by 7 points.  Show some damn heart Vikings, especially since Kirk Cousins, a Justin Jefferson had better Week 1 numbies than their counterparts.PACKERS: I got this pick right last week, and are favored to win against the Falcons. Packers either lose this gamer or beat the Falcons by more than 2 points.  My money is on beating the Falcons. Hold up boys and let Jordan Love cook (my proven Packers motto).

RAIDERS: The Bills are pissed, but the Raiders are not the New York Jets.  That means that the Bills are not going to slaughter the Raiders, especially after last week’s performance against Zach Wilson.  I expect the game to run a little tighter than 9 1/2 points.

BENGALS: The Ravens played Houston (an easy team) and the Bengals played a much tougher opponent.  So looking at Week 1’s number the Ravens look better on paper.  But again we find ourselves with Lamar Jackson playing QB/RB with the Bengals having Joe Mixon (RB) and Ja’marr Chase (WR) to mix it up at home.  Also, let’s add that Joe Burrow is pissed off from losing against the Browns and needs to come out strong here in front of the homestand.

LIONS: The Seahawks played like shit last week and are coming up against the Lions who have the offensive numbies to beat the Seahawks.  Additionally, the Seahawks are also defensively bad which could mean the Lions destroy the Hawks at home.  If you’re a Seahawks fan, I suggest you start looking forward to the Seattle Kraken season, because that will be far less disappointing than what is to come.  Although you may get Shohei Ohtani in Mariners uni…may.

JAGUARS:  I don’t know what is going on with the Chiefs but most people I know are picking them simply because it’s the Chiefs, they’re pissed for taking an L, and they’re the former Superbowl Champs.  But the Jags put up some really good numbies last week (way better than the Chiefs) and have a chance of actually beating them if they repeat the performance. the math says that the Jags are not bad team, and should be able to keep pace with the Chiefs…if so, all I can say is that it’s a great time to be a Jags fan.

BUCS:  The Bears lost

to the Jordan Love Packers at home.  Hard to see the Bears beating the Bucs, especially in the Bucs pirate ship (and at their home port).

CHARGERS: The Chargers losing to a hurt Dolphins team is just sad.  The Titans not being able to produce against the Saints is also bad.  Tannehill having a few interceptions in his last game is also bad. I feel like these two teams can make enough mistakes for either team to ultimately win in this game, but the maths says that the Titans will make more.

CARDINALS:  The Giants are an absolute disaster.  Considering the Giants haven’t actually scored a touchdown or field goal this season, it is hard for me to say that they’ll beat the Cardinals (or anybody) by 5 1/2 points.

RAMS:  The Rams are back and the 49rs are good.  I expect the Rams to keep it closer than 8 points here. If this was a moneyline pick I would place that bet on the 49rs.

COWBOYS: The heavily favored Cowboys are favored because they slaughtered the Giants 40 to 0.  I am going to say that the Zach Wilson Jets are better than the Giants, but are probably going to get plowed by the Cowboys (but not as bad as the Giants).

COMMANDERS:  The Broncos have proven that they can be beaten at home. Both of these teams look pretty even on paper and is a game that could have multiple lead changes. Ultimately it will come down to Russel Wilson playing like shit (hopefully) and the Commanders beating them out slightly to cover the spread.

DOLPHINS: If a hurt Dolphins team can beat the Chargers, a less hurt Dolphins team can beat the Patriots.

SAINTS: I like the Derek Carr Saints.  I also like that he’s a slightly better QB than Bryce Young. The “numbies” show that the Saints are slightly better than the Panthers, and my internal pendulum is swinging for the Saints to beat the Panthers by 3 points.

BROWNS: I was the only one who picked the Browns last week, and I was the only one who won that pick. The Browns have a lot of offensive “numbies” and the Steelers have really bad defensive “numbies”.  The Browns have all the better stats and a great running back.  Everything is SCREAMING Browns for Monday night.

THE SHIT GAME OF THE WEEK

COLTS: How nice we get to see two shitty teams play each other with a one-point spread. I am picking the Colts simply because they actually did something offensively (even though they lost) than the Texans. If you’re a fan of either team, sorry

| | @darthvaber99

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Penn State’s thrilling win in Rec Hall and Indiana gets cooked

by | Feb 24, 2024

We’ve been saying for years that Penn State Basketball would be a more impressive television product if the home arena wasn’t the Bryce Jordan Center. The giant arena is way too big for a program that strives to be in the middle of the Big Ten standings in a good year. When Penn State plays in the Palestra or at Rec Hall, it looks like a proper basketball program, and sometimes it even plays like one. Wednesday night was one of those nights with Illinois in town. However, for most of the night, it looked like a typical 2024 Penn State loss. The Lions got off to a hot start on offense, but then fizzled and struggled to keep pace with the talented Illini because of their failure to grab a rebound on defense. Illinois often doesn’t need second chances, especially with Terrence Shannon Jr. playing like he did, but it got 19 of them, with the Swiss Army Knife Ty Rodgers grabbing five offensive boards. That helped make up for 18 Illinois turnovers that Penn State needed just to keep the game respectable while Shannon was going off for a career-high 35 points on 10-for-18 shooting.

Another reason why Penn State only trailed by 10 points with two and a half minutes left was Nick Kern Jr. He has shown some upside with his athleticism this season, but again Illinois he got to the basket at will. At one point in the second half, Kern scored 13 straight Penn State points, and he finished with a season-high 22. Now that Kanye Clary is out of the picture, I’m hoping that Kern can stick around for one or two more seasons and develop into a star, but to do that he needs to expand his range past 10 feet from the basket.

Anyway, Zach Hicks hit a mid-range shot to cut the deficit to eight points, and then the Illinois collapse began. Shannon drove into the paint and kicked the ball to the corner to set up Luke Goode with a wide-open dagger three. With the way Goode shoots the ball, that should be a layup for him, but he missed, and Hicks answered with a triple for Penn State to cut the lead to five. However, Illinois was still in great shape after two free throws from Marcus Domask and a missed three by Ace Baldwin Jr. Now the Illini were up by seven points with less than a minute left. Shannon tried a runner in the paint, but it bounced out and Jameel Brown took advantage by crushing a three-point shot in transition. Brown’s next play was even bigger, though, because Penn State needed a turnover to make it a one-possession game. Brown came through by stripping Shannon of the ball, which led to an easy layup for Puff Johnson. All of a sudden, the Lions trailed by just two with 30 seconds left.

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Purdue upset by Ohio State and Penn State loses Kanye Clary

by | Feb 21, 2024

I almost feel bad for Purdue fans even though they have a tremendous basketball team that will probably make the Final Four. No matter what the Boilers do in the regular season, there is nothing they can do to change their reputation as a team that collapses in the big moment. The only way to do that is to win in the NCAA Tournament. Whenever Purdue slips up this season, the doubters and haters (Indiana fans) come out of the woodwork to say “this is what will happen in March.”

I have said since November when Purdue won the Maui Invitational that this team reminds me of the 2019 Virginia team that bounced back and won the national championship after losing to a 16 seed the year before. Maybe Purdue will fulfill that prophecy, or maybe it will hilariously disappoint its rabid fans once again. On Sunday in Columbus, Matt Painter’s team gave us a preview of March or a blip on the radar, depending on your perspective. Despite shooting 20-for-20 from the free throw line and dominating the offensive glass like they always do, the Boilers lost 73-69 to an Ohio State team that was playing its first game since head coach Chris Holtmann was fired.

It didn’t help that Purdue turned the ball over 14 times, most notably when Zed Key poked the ball away from Zach Edey with less than a minute to play and the Boilers needing two points to tie the score. Purdue ended up fouling Jamison Battle, who helped put the game away at the charity stripe.

Just moments before, Purdue rallied to overcome a seven-point deficit and tied the game 65-65 on Lance Jones’ clutch three-point jumper, but Battle answered with a 15-foot jumper to ensure that Ohio State would not fall behind. The Buckeyes were boosted by Battle’s 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting as well as 26 points from a bench effort led by Key and Dale Bonner. Purdue, meanwhile, got its usual great effort from Edey (22 points, 7-for-11 shooting, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks) but only four points from the bench. I still have no clue how Ethan Morton gets more than 10 minutes a game on team as talented as Purdue.

Ohio State interim head coach Jake Diebler made a great impression and he’ll have a case to keep the job full time with a few more wins down the stretch. I will feel very smart for talking about the potential of Ohio State’s young core if the team can upset Minnesota or Michigan State on the road.

Indiana blew a chance to join the bubble

Speaking of upsets, only one other Big Ten underdog won outright over the weekend. That was Northwestern defeating Indiana, but we can probably have a long argument over whether or not the Wildcats should have been considered the underdog in Bloomington. While they have been way more successful than Indiana this year and are projected to make the NCAA Tournament, Northwestern hasn’t impressed on the road. That’s why I saw this game as a great opportunity for Indiana to get a quality win and get into the bubble conversation. I should have known that the Hoosiers would waste it since they have shown so little heart and fight this season.

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Ohio State fires Chris Holtmann and Maryland wins a bubble battle

by | Feb 16, 2024

Wisconsin finally broke its four-game losing streak in very Wisconsin-like fashion on Tuesday night. It used solid defense and three-point shooting by Max Klesmit to close the first half on a 16-3 run that turned an 18-18 tie into a 34-21 advantage. Ohio State got within five points in the second half, but Chucky Hepburn answered with a three-point shot followed by a steal and a breakaway layup while the Buckeyes failed to score for seven straight minutes. When Bruce Thornton finally got his team back on the scoreboard with 1:36 to play, Hepburn responded with another triple to put the game away. Perhaps the most thrilling part of the game was Jamison Battle not scoring all game until he hit a three with 16 seconds left to cover the 9.5-point spread for Ohio State. Klesmit had a chance to expand the lead back to 10 points, but he missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Badgers settled for a 62-54 victory.

It wasn’t the most impressive win for Wisconsin since it came at home against Ohio State, but Greg Gard’s team will take what it can get after dropping games to Rutgers and Michigan on the road. The real excitement came on Wednesday when reports came out about Ohio State firing Chris Holtmann after six and a half seasons with the program. Holtmann made the NCAA Tournament four times (would have been five if not for the pandemic) in a row since taking over for Thad Matta in 2017. However, he never made the Sweet 16 and his highest seeded NCAA Tournament team was upset by Oral Roberts in the first round in 2021. 2023 was a disaster for Holtmann, as his team lost 14 of 15 games in the middle of conference play and finished 16-19 overall. It looked like everything would change this season, as Ohio State beat Alabama in November and improved to 12-2 when it defeated Rutgers on January 3. The Buckeyes have won just two games since, though, and athletic director Gene Smith has had enough of the losing.

I don’t blame Ohio State for expecting to make the NCAA Tournament every year. but I’m surprised Holtmann got fired when he has such a young and intriguing group of sophomores at the core of his team. Keeping a group of starters together for more than one season in today’s college basketball environment is rare, but I think Holtmann had something with Bruce Thornton, Roddy Gayle Jr., Felix Okpara, and Evan Mahaffey. They have not been winning much lately, but they are also playing in a league that’s full of fourth- and fifth-year players in the starting lineup. With the way they are all improving together as first-year starters, I wouldn’t be surprised if the group returned next season as juniors and finished in the top third of the Big Ten. With Holtmann gone, it’s more likely that the program will be reset under a new head coach who wants to bring in his own players.

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Michigan State gets a big win and Bruce Thornton rescues Ohio State in double overtime

by | Feb 13, 2024

I thought Michigan State had a chance to be a home underdog against Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The Illini might be ranked 10th in the AP Poll, but Michigan State is not far behind in terms of talent and it was playing at home. I was ready to jump all over the Spartans if the line was close to zero. It’s hard to fool the books, though. Michigan State was favored by three and a half when I checked in on Saturday morning. I said “screw it” and took Sparty anyway. Tom Izzo’s team was rounding into form and needed this win for its NCAA Tournament resume.

Laying the points didn’t look like a great decision for much of the afternoon, especially when Marcus Domask knocked down a three-point shot to put Illinois ahead 72-64 with less than eight minutes to play. The Spartans owned the rest of the game, though. A.J. Hoggard stepped up with a three of his own in transition and then scored three the old fashioned way with a great head fake on Coleman Hawkins in the paint. The “and one” free throw tied the score at 72-72, but Michigan State wasn’t done. Malik Hall hit a big driving layup plus the foul to put Sparty ahead, and Tyson Walker stole the ball and put in a breakaway layup to help his team pull away and win 88-80. Great teams cover.

It was a rare performance by Michigan State that saw the Big Three of Walker, Hoggard, and Hall all play like a Big Three at the same time. Hoggard and Hall combined for 45 points with Hall going 7-for-9 from the field and Hoggard adding five assists. That meant that Walker didn’t have to break his back carrying the offense. The effort by Sparty was enough to overcome a 28-point, 7-rebound effort from Terrence Shannon Jr. Illinois might have been a little too perimeter-oriented in this one with half of its field goal attempts coming from three-point range. While the Illini shot 11-for-30 from beyond the arc, Michigan State got work done in the paint while going 5-for-8 from downtown. Efficiency!

The only other exciting game on Saturday came from a surprising place: Columbus, Ohio! Maryland had a chance to pick up an impressive road win against an Ohio State squad that is every bubble team’s dream. That’s because the Buckeyes are a lousy team that for some reason has a strong NET rating. Beating them will look good to the nerds on the NCAA Tournament selection committee even though it’s not that hard to do so. Even my Nittany Lions beat Ohio State (although we also lost to them on the road). Sounds like a great opportunity for the Terps, right! That is correct, but Maryland blew it anyway even though Ohio State only led for five minutes during the game that ended up going into double overtime.

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Penn State might be a wagon and Wisconsin stumbles at Michigan

by | Feb 9, 2024

I’m still not entertaining any NCAA Tournament talk with regards to my Penn State Nittany Lions. Too much damage has been done to the resume from inexplicably losing a buy game to Bucknell to going winless in Disney World to dropping overtime games against Maryland and Georgia Tech. It’s going to take way more than a Big Ten record that is one or two games above .500, even though that would be an impressive accomplishment for Mike Rhoades in his first season as head coach.

That said, the three-game winning streak that Penn State is on has been an awesome ride, and it was a lot of fun to watch it continue as the Lions pulled away from Iowa during the final four minutes on Thursday night. Ace Baldwin Jr. took over the game with 13 points and a pair of huge steals during the stretch and Penn State outscored Iowa 18-8 to finish with an 89-79 victory. I don’t expect seniors like Baldwin to take massive leaps with their game, but Baldwin looks like a different player than he was at the start of the season. He’s in control of the offense and red hot from three-point range. What’s crazy is that Baldwin was 0-for-13 from beyond the arc from the win against Rider on December 29 to the blowout loss at Purdue on January 13. Since then, he’s gone 16-for-26 in six games. It makes a big difference when opponents have to respect a point guard’s three-point shot. Opportunities for other players have opened up, and Baldwin has no problem sharing the rock when he needs to.

One of those players with more opportunities has been Qudus Wahab. He’s averaging 13 points per game over his last four games after a three-game stretch in which he scored exactly four points in each one. With Zach Hicks living on the perimeter and Nick Kern operating with the dribble drive, Wahab is the only Penn State big man who is a post threat, but he’s been an excellent one lately with 13 of his 16 field goals going in. Thanks to Baldwin finding some range and Wahab executing down low, the Lions have a pretty deep and versatile offense that will hopefully continue giving opponents problems down the stretch.

The defense is a different story, though. I was pleasantly surprised by Penn State’s rebounding against Iowa, but the Hawkeyes still shot 56 percent from the field with Ben Krikke going 10-for-18 on his way to 22 points. Iowa might have won if not for Payton Sandfort getting banged up and going 2-for-7 from deep. Iowa as a team only shot 27 percent from three-point range compared to 52 percent for Penn State, and it’s safe to say that was a difference maker. We saw from the Indiana game that defending big centers is an issue for Penn State that probably won’t be going away, but the Lions have shot the three so well lately that it hasn’t mattered. It also helps when you win the turnover battle as often as Penn State has this season.

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