OUR LATEST SHOW” – now featuring on ChabDog Sports Talk ®
See things others don’t!
Join ChabDog, Well Read, Abe, Dorothy & Aaron for sports talk Saturdays 4:00 PM Pac to 5 PM LIVE HERE!
LAW OFFICE OF
BRANDON S. CHABNER
News Feed
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final was pretty darn exciting with the Edmonton Oilers coming back from two goals down and winning on a Leon Draisaitl power play goal with 31 seconds left to go in overtime. However, Game 2 blew it out of the water with five first-period goals, a last-minute equalizer, and a breakaway winner in double overtime. My favorite part of the game was the Panthers and Oilers exchanging gorgeous goals midway through the first period. It started with Edmonton holding a 2-1 lead and Euto Luostarinen threading the needle to Seth Jones, who shot the puck into a net so wide open that I could have scored it.
Some pretty passing from the @FlaPanthers! 😱 #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/4TuyIATi3T
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctFTeam Players presented by @Budweiser pic.twitter.com/BVqp3DnzY5
— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025
That was nothing compared to Edmonton’s response, though. Connor McDavid put all of his world-class moves on display in one play and found Draisaitl to put his team back on top.
MCDAVID IS NOT FROM THIS PLANET 🔥🤯 pic.twitter.com/uvYbxLJPgH
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 7, 2025
The greatest player in the world right now completely undressed one defender, then hit the toe drag on the next before finding Draisaitl for the easy finish. Not all assists are created equal. We need a separate category for that work of art. Maybe that goal should have been worth two, because it would be a while until Edmonton scored again. Florida lit the lamp twice in the second period to take the lead, including Brad Marchand’s first breakaway goal of the evening. The score remained 4-3 until the final minute of regulation, when Corey Perry made history by scoring the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history.
COREY PERRY TIES IT WITH 17 SECONDS LEFT 🪱 pic.twitter.com/sKhNQORt2l
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 7, 2025
That is how you send a Canadian city into a frenzy. I don’t know how Perry pulled that off while he was wrapped about a Florida player, but it made for some spectacular drama. That excitement would continue for another period and a half until Marchand scored on a breakaway again, this time finishing with a backhand finish through Stuart Skinner’s legs.
BRAD MARCHAND WINS GAME 2 IN @ENERGIZER DOUBLE OVERTIME 🙌 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/gJPpH215U4
— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025
It’s still unclear if Marchand touched the puck with the backhand, but I don’t know how it gets by Skinner without coming off of Marchand’s stick. Just like that, the Final was even at one game a piece. Since the NBA pushed its Game 2 to Sunday night, we have to wait until Monday for more puck action. Well, they could have done a matinee on Sunday, but that would be way too much fun.
While the first four periods of hockey were going on, the Mets somehow pulled out a 4-2 win in Colorado despite the Rockies loading the bases against Ryne Stanek with the scored tied in the eighth inning and no outs. Ryan McMahon hit a line drive that could have won the game for Colorado, but instead Brett Baty snagged it and fell on third base for a double play that the Mets desperately needed. Francisco Lindor followed up with his best Willis Reed impression, pinch-hitting with a broken toe and hitting a two-RBI double in the ninth to give New York the decisive runs.
Finally, we got some crazy news on Saturday with Penn State being expected to sign the top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft. I might have to buy a B1G+ subscription package if that happens.
I really can’t stand Tyrese Haliburton. On Thursday night in Oklahoma City he came up with ANOTHER super clutch, last-second bucket to steal ANOTHER playoff game in which Indiana trailed in the final minute. This time, it happened to be Game 1 of the NBA Finals. I thought the Thunder were better than this, but they fell victim to Haliburton’s heroics, just like all the Eastern Conference teams before them. At least Oklahoma City only led by three points in the last minute of the fourth quarter before falling to the Pacers 111-110. In the three rounds prior, the Bucks, Cavaliers, and Knicks all blew games against Indiana in which they were lead by seven or more with less than 60 seconds to play.
Still, Oklahoma City led by 15 with less than 10 minutes to go, so this is still a big time collapse by a squad that had dominated the NBA all season and appeared ready to be coronated as champions. Some hot three-point shooting by Obi Toppin and Myles Turner helped Indiana get the deficit down to single digits, but NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept the Pacers at bay and pushed the lead back to nine points with three minutes left. However, consecutive three-point makes by Aaron Nesmith and Andrew “Nimrod” Nembhard made it a one-possession game at the two-minute mark. After Pascal Siakam scored by luckily rebounding an air ball chucked up by Nimrod, SGA had a chance to make it a three-point game with an open 15-footer, but he missed the jumper to set up Haliburton’s 20-foot winner over Cason Wallace.
New stage… same result.
ANOTHER game-winner for Tyrese Haliburton in his Finals debut 🤯🤯🤯pic.twitter.com/22QbhQNqyf
— NBA (@NBA) June 6, 2025
What really bothers me about Haliburton is that he thinks he’s proving the doubters wrong by hitting these clutch shots, but he’s really proving them right by not consistently performing like the hero he thinks he is. The man had 12 points before his last-second jumper in Game 1. “But he’s so unstoppable, he can pull up from anywhere!” Then maybe he should do so before his team falls into a big hole. Some more impulsive shots would have helped the Pacers avoid a few of their 24 turnovers.
I guess it’s cool that the Pacers are finding a way to win big without being a major market or tanking. That takes some serious coaching, management, and heart. Still, Indiana winning the Finals would be way more painful to take as a Knicks fan than if the Thunder come back and stomp them in five games. The Knicks could have and should have been in this spot if not for Haliburton’s jumper from Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals that bounces higher off the rim every time I imagine it. I think it went through the roof of Madison Square Garden and into outer space last time. If the Pacers win the NBA title, I’ll just think that the Knicks would have won if that ball had just fallen anywhere else but straight back down through the bucket.
The NBA’s ridiculous schedule means we have to wait until Sunday night for Game 2. The Pacers have gone up 2-0 in every series during this run, so it will be interesting to see if they can do it one more time. If OKC responds well, it might be a sign that this series can be different. While we are waiting for the NBA to return, the Edmonton Oilers have a chance to take a 2-0 lead over the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final on Friday night. As you might have heard, a Canadian club has not hoisted the Cup since 1993 and Edmonton is in Alberta, which is a province of Canada. The Panthers looked to be on their way to smashing Edmonton’s Stanley Cup dreams when Sam Bennett scored his second goal of the game to put his team up 3-1 early in the second period, but the Oilers answered a minute later to make it a one-goal game and found the equalizer off of Mattias Ekholm’s stick early in the third.
Edmonton controlled the action and had the best scoring chances throughout the third and deep into the overtime, but they were turned away by Sergei Bobrovsky until Leon Draisaitl buried a Connor McDavid pass into the net with 31 seconds to play. The game-winning goal sent Edmonton into a frenzy and brought McDavid one step closer to claiming the Cup for the first time in his career. We’ll find out tonight if the Oilers can build on the momentum or if the reigning champs will strike back!
You have to give me a lot of credit for continuing to pay attention to the Mets on the day that the Nintendo Switch 2 launches. We got the first new Nintendo console in eight years and the first new Mario Kart game in 11 years, and they were both released on the same day! It is a pretty exciting time to be a Nintendo fan, but the Mets are pretty exciting as well, especially when Pete Alonso is smashing the ball out of the park like he was on Wednesday night. His two-run home run in the first inning put the Mets ahead 3-0, and after Griffin Canning finished up one of his best starts of the season, Polar Bear put the game away with a three-run blast in the eighth. The Mets ended up with a dominant 6-1 win over the defending World Series champs thanks to Alonso’s powerful offense and Canning’s masterful six innings.
The victory clinched the season series for the Mets over the Dodgers, and that could come into play down the line since these teams are two of the National League’s top World Series contenders. The Mets could have done one better by winning on Thursday to take three of four in Los Angeles, but they decided to kill the good vibes instead. New York jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to solo shots off of Landon Knack by Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Starling Marte, but the Dodgers answered back with three runs in the bottom of the third. Right there it felt like the Mets would lose this game, but as usual they hooked us back in to believing in a possible victory. David Peterson settled down and ended up lasting seven innings without giving up another run. The former first-round draft pick is finally pitching a lot of innings this season and appears to be on his way to a career year. The amount of pleasant surprises on this New York pitching staff is really something.
Anyway, the Mets had several chances to add to their lead while Peterson was mowing down Dodgers, but they failed all of them until Alonso came up with a two-out RBI single in the eighth to make the score 5-3. Just when it looked like the Mets had found separation, though, Reed Garrett showed up with some not-so-great news. He threw six straight balls to Mookie Betts and Will Smith, and the next pitch was ripped into left field by Smith for an RBI double. After Smith reached third on Teoscar Hernandez’s fly out, Andy Pages hit a ground ball that gave the Mets a golden opportunity to throw Smith out at home. Smith even made it easy on the Mets by stopping between third and home even though it was too late to head back. However, instead of getting an easy out, Brett Baty double clutched and spiked the throw to the plate, allowing Smith to sneak in with the tying run. All that was left was for Michael Conforto to break an 0-for-30 RISP slump and drive in the go-ahead run.
Michael for the lead! pic.twitter.com/fzobYeUkGl
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 5, 2025
Unbelievable. The Mets blew late leads in both of their losses at Chavez Ravine, but at least Juan Soto is happily flipping water bottles in the dugout. Of course he was the only one in the top four of the Mets’ lineup that didn’t have a hit today. Maybe Soto is so happy because he remembered that he doesn’t have to do anything to collect money.
The Mets now head to Colorado to take on the Rockies, who are suddenly red hot from sweeping the Marlins. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if the Mets can pull off another sweep like they did last weekend.
The Mets love to tease and Wednesday night was no exception. They could have just gone down quietly after Tylor Megill allowed four runs in the bottom of the first inning, with the last two coming home on a Max Muncy monster bomb to right field. Instead, Megill not only saved the bullpen from disaster by lasting six innings, but he kept the Mets alive for the win by keeping Los Angeles off the scoreboard for the remainder of his time on the mound.
The Mets rallied while Megill settled in. Juan Soto took Clayton Kershaw deep in the third with a two-run shot that drew the Mets to within a run. In the fifth, Pete Alonso tied the game by lacing a two-out RBI double to center field and Brandon Nimmo followed up by beating Kershaw to first base for an RBI infield single that gave New York the lead.
Now that we had our hopes up that the Mets had a chance to take two straight from the Dodgers, it was time for the offense to go to bed while the bullpen imploded. However, the bullpen took its time with the implosion part. Brandon Waddell followed up Megill’s effort with a scoreless seventh before Reed Garrett took us on a ride in the eighth. The Dodgers were poised to take the lead when Shohei Ohtani led off with a walk, Mookie Betts followed up with a single, and both runners advanced on a passed ball by Francisco Alvarez. But as he has to often this season, Garrett came through with some GREAT NEWS and struck out Freddie Freeman before Teoscar Hernandez hit a ground ball to third that Ronnie Mauricio used to cut down Ohtani at the plate. All it took after that was a strikeout of Will Smith to complete Garrett’s escape.
It would have been cool for the Mets to take advantage of Garrett’s magic act and add on a run or two, but Luis Torrens’ bid for a two-out RBI double in the ninth was run down by Andy Pages in center field. Now it was up to Huascar Brazoban to save the game with Edwin Diaz unavailable.
I thought Brazoban would unavailable as well since he threw over 30 pitches the night before, but Carlos Mendoza works in mysterious ways. Brazoban would reward his manager’s faith by striking out the side… but only after Muncy led off the frame with his second home run of the night to tie the game 5-5.
FREDDIE! FREDDIE! FREDDIE! pic.twitter.com/nVC0ZFNbTr
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 4, 2025
The Mets went down feebly against Tanner Scott in the 10th without even advancing the ghost runner to third base. That left Jose Butto to deal with the top of the order with the winning run already in scoring position. Freeman made up for his failure in the eighth by launching a fly ball deep to left field. If the usually reliable Brandon Nimmo caught that ball we might have had a happier ending, but he turned and twisted and lost the ball so badly in the night that he was surprised when it landed a foot away from him on the warning track. Game over.
It would be great if tonight’s game against the Dodgers only went nine innings or maybe ended before 1:00 AM. We’ve got some quality entertainment in the earlier evening with the Stanley Cup Final beginning and the Women’s College World Series starting its championship series that I thought started last night. With Matthew Tkachuk and Connor McDavid playing for the Cup, there could be some rivalry juice left over from the 4 Nations Face-Off that captivated North America for a minute this winter. I know I’m rooting for Canada’s Cup drought to continue after the DISRESPECT its fans showed the good ole USA in February.
The Mets picked up one of their biggest wins of the season on Monday night when they beat the Dodgers 4-3 in the opener of a four-game series at Chavez Ravine. Francisco Lindor set the pace with his sixth leadoff home run of the year and later came up big with a game-winning RBI single in the 10th, but the real star of the night was Paul Blackburn. In his first start for the Mets since last August, the 2024 Trade Deadline acquisition shut down the Dodgers for five innings while striking out Shohei Ohtani twice and allowing just one runner to reach scoring position. Blackburn certainly could have gone deeper into the game since he only threw 77 pitches compared to more than 80 in his last minor league rehab start, but Carlos Mendoza once again decided to treat his players like babies, and it almost cost the Mets.
We knew the bullpen was thin because Chris Devenski was sent to the minors to make room for Blackburn while both Garrett Reed and Edwin Diaz had worked in two of the three games against Colorado. That made Mendoza’s decision to pull Blackburn early all the more puzzling. It looked like the Mets were headed for a meltdown when Huascar Brazoban walked both Max Muncy and Michael Conforto to load the bases in the sixth, but he came up with a huge strikeout of Tommy Edman to escape the jam. Max Kranick allowed a monster home run to Ohtani an inning later, but fortunately it came with two outs and the bases empty, allowing the Mets to enter the ninth with a 2-1 edge.
Nimmo adds on! 🙌@You_Found_Nimmo | #LGM pic.twitter.com/QAVPUpIMya
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 3, 2025
The lead could have been bigger, but the Mets’ rally in the fifth inning yielded only one run despite Brandon Nimmo hitting a two-out double with both Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez on base. Nimmo’s blast to the gap bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double, allowing just one run to score when a garden-variety double would have surely scored both runners. Not only that, but one batter earlier Lindor appeared to have an extra-base hit to the opposite field, only to have Conforto run it down in left field.
Those two plays combined to make it seem very unlucky that the Mets had only two runs in the ninth, and the Dodgers took advantage when Edman hit a leadoff single off of Diaz. I have to give credit to Mendoza for breaking the “in case of emergency” glass on Diaz even though he usually doesn’t use a reliever in three out of four games. Unfortunately, Mendoza probably won’t do it again because Edman stole second base and scored on an Ohtani sac fly to blow the save. Diaz might have been dominant lately, but his inability to control the run game continues to be a major problem that will haunt the Mets if they make it to the Postseason.
It won’t haunt the Mets today, though. New York showed great resilience in the 10th when Alvarez led off with an opposite-field double that scored the ghost runner and set Alvarez himself up to score on Lindor’s clutch single. The bottom of the frame got ugly with Jose Castillo trying to pick up his first career save. He immediately walked Freddie Freeman to set the stage for heartbreak, but Castillo buckled down and struck out Max Muncy following a single by Andy Pages. Dave Roberts then lifted Conforto for the right-handed Will Smith, so Mendoza countered with Jose Butto out of the pen, and he responded by retiring both Smith and Edman to close out the game.
Elsewhere in baseball, the Rockies finally got their 10th win of the season thanks to two home run by catcher Hunter Goodman in Miami. In Boston, the Angels defeated the Red Sox 7-6 on the strength of three first-inning home runs, including one by Mike Trout that traveled more than 450 feet. No visiting team at Fenway Park had ever hit three home runs in the top of the first, which is pretty amazing considering how long Fenway has been around. Out west, the Padres beat the Giants 1-0 despite eight shutout innings from Logan Webb. The winning run was driven in on a sac fly from none other than our old friend Candelita in the top of the 10th.
The college ball continued to be wild with Murray State upsetting Ole Miss to head to its first ever super regional. The Racers led 12-3 in the middle of the seventh, but Ole Miss stormed back with five runs in the bottom of the inning and three more in the eighth to make it a one-run game in the ninth. It looked like Murray State was destined to let the opportunity slip away, but Graham Kelham set the Rebels down in order to end the game. Little Rock appeared headed for a similar upset win, but it failed to hold onto its early 5-1 lead over LSU. The Tigers locked in and only allowed one more run for the rest of the game while scoring in each of the final four innings to vanquish Cinderella.
The super regionals don’t start until Friday, but we do have the championship series of the Women’s College World Series starting tonight with Texas Tech taking on Texas. It has been fun to watch Red Raiders pitcher NiJaree Canady dominate the competition and take Tech farther than anyone thought they would go.
Before the 2025 MLB season started and Mets fans were blessed by the surprising success of their pitching staff, the strength of the team was supposed to be the top of the order. Juan Soto was billed as a top-three hitter in the game, Francisco Lindor was coming off his best campaign as a Met, and Pete Alonso had just rejoined New York following his iconic season-saving home run in Milwaukee. Overall, the three stars have combined for great production, but they haven’t all clicked at the same time very often. Soto went through a super slump in the middle of May and Alonso’s production slipped with a big home run drought after he started the season on fire.
On Sunday, though, all three guys hits home runs in the same game for the first time in 2025. It was a good thing, too, because no one else on offense did much of anything. Colorado starter Carson Palmquist appeared on pace for a stellar performance before walking Starling Marte to lead off the fourth inning. He then hit Soto with a pitch and Alonso took advantage to a massive oppo taco to give New York a 3-1 lead. You have to give the horrible Rockies some credit, though. They might be on pace for a historically inept season, but they showed some fight in the fifth after Alonso ruined Palmquist’s day. Tyler Freeman hasn’t hit for much of anything in his big league career, but he took advantage of Clay Holmes hitting Keston Hiura with a pitch and slammed a breaking ball over the right-center field wall for a game-tying home run.
Oppo shot for the Polar Bear! 🐻❄️ pic.twitter.com/yXI8tfknfI
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 1, 2025
Suddenly it seemed like the Mets might blow a crucial game to Colorado at home, but Lindor clutch gene returned at the right time and he answered Freeman’s blast with a solo shot in the bottom of the frame. Holmes then settled down with six straight outs before Reed Garrett and Edwin Diaz locked down the win for the Mets while Juan Soto added his own solo shot to create some separation. The Mets won 5-3 to complete the sweep and head into Los Angeles with some momentum. However, momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher, and that one is a big unknown for the Mets since Paul Blackburn will be making his 2025 debut. He has missed the first two months of the season with right knee inflammation, but he pitched decently last year between being acquired at the trade deadline and hitting the injured list with a right hand contusion.
Hopefully the top of the order will keep hitting and give Blackburn some support. The Dodgers will be starting Dustin May, and he’s allowed a home run in each of his last five starts after allowing just one home run in five April starts. The Mets could use some length out of Blackburn since Garrett and Diaz have both been used in two of the last three days. Carlos Mendoza won’t use a reliever in three out of four days because he believes all pitchers are babies, so it could be up to Huascar Brazoban and Ryne Stanek to lead the relief effort tonight. The good news is that Garrett and Diaz are forming a solid tandem at the back of the bullpen that will serve the Mets well if they can continue pitching as efficiently as they have been.
Reed. 😤 pic.twitter.com/KRbXu2dFu1
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 1, 2025
Before the National League clash, though, there is plenty of exciting baseball on the slate. Not only will the Padres and Giants be facing off in an important division and Wild Card battle, but there are six super regional bids on the line in college baseball. It all starts this afternoon with North Carolina trying to win its rubber game against Oklahoma. However, action will really heat up at night with super Cinderella teams Murray State and Little Rock trying to get by SEC powerhouses Ole Miss and LSU. You don’t have to know much about college ball to realize that the Racers or Trojans reaching a super regional would be a tremendous story and also a total nightmare for either of the favorites whose fan bases are looking forward to slurping down massive amounts of Jell-O shots in Omaha later this month. Think of all the Jell-O lives that will be saved if Little Rock upsets the Tigers tonight. There is a lot at stake.
Imagine if there was another sport for which we could recreate the magic of March Madness. That sport is already out there, but it is played in the spring and uses a ball that is not as bouncy. It’s college baseball, baby! And the only thing holding it back from captivating America is millions of fans filling out brackets while acting like they know more ball than they actually do. Why don’t we have college baseball brackets? ESPN has the right for the whole tournament including the College World Series, but it won’t offer a bracket on its website that we can print out and gamble on. This is a company that offers women’s fantasy basketball for crying out loud!
Maybe in years past you could say that the NCAA Baseball Tournament was too predictable to be an entertaining gambling product, but that is not the case this year. While upsets were hard to come by during March Madness, baseball has been a different story with Vanderbilt failing to advance to the super regionals as the overall number one seed. The Commodores didn’t even reach their regional final played on their home field because they lost to Louisville 3-2 on Saturday and then to Wright State of the Horizon League 5-4 on Sunday. Wright State’s Cinderella run might be ending before the super regionals as the Raiders trail Louisville right now, but they are not the only plucky underdog that is making this tournament very exciting.
Just look at UTSA beating Texas for the second time in two days on Sunday to send the overall number two seed home early. After clobbering Kansas State 10-2 in its opening game, UTSA rallied from a 6-1 deficit to stun the Longhorns on Saturday and clinch a spot in the regional final. Texas bounced back by eliminating Kansas State on Sunday and earned a rematch with the Roadrunners, but this time UTSA jumped out to a 7-0 lead and held on for a 7-4 victory.
It’s already very exciting that Vanderbilt and Texas were upset in the regionals, but think about how much cooler it would be if you could laugh at someone who picked one of those teams to win the championship. That’s why we need college baseball brackets! I need to feel like my life is ruined while watching those sad players walk off the field for a final time with their College World Series dreams unrealized.
Murray State was another great Cinderella story, as it won its first two games of the tournament as the fourth seed in the Oxford Region. However, the host Ole Miss is getting some revenge right now, and that could force a third and decisive game between the Rebels and Racers on Monday. Little Rock is another team to watch, as it came in with one of the worst records in the field at 26-33. The Trojans seemed destined for an early exit after being shut out by LSU 7-0 in the opener, but since then they sent Rhode Island home with a 22-10 win and bounced Dallas Baptist with an 8-6 victory. Currently, Little Rock is leading LSU 6-4 in the 6th inning. If the Trojans hold on, they have a rematch with LSU on Monday with a trip to the super regionals on the line. It’s hard enough for a powerhouse program to make supers after losing its opener in the regional, but for Little Rock? That would take a miracle.
With five regional hosts already eliminated and the chance to lose more on Monday, you can’t say that the NCAA Baseball Tournament has been too predictable. Instead, it’s been a wild ride that more casual fans need to get involved in. The emotions are too high, the action is too hot, and the bats make too sweet of a sound for college baseball to not be more popular. We just need someone to push a bracket on the masses since ESPN has started to hate money.
Much like Steph Curry, The Joker always is a threat to get that last laugh, and OKc found that out the hard way tonight. At times tonight, he looked off, distracted and a bit out of sorts. The Thunder induced their share of turnovers, frustration fouls and scowls, but even as he played the tired villain you could sense the amazing determination, perserverance and fierce fortitude. He was the coach, the superstar on the court and the engine that would not let the Nuggets knuckle under. And in the end, spindly Chet couldn’t get those last two charity stripe offerings to drop, followed by Commissioner Gordon’s definitive three, and it was a back breaker of a road win for Denver.
Denver knows it can win this… but I’m not sure the same thing can be said about the #1 seeds.
Our Sponsors
Move Over MLB
football time
Join The Fun!
Frank The Tank
Law Offices of Brandon S. Chabner
Brandon’s Posts
Getting hungry for more ChabDog Sports Talk?…..
Getting hungry for more ChabDog Sports Talk?
We know you are, so we’re obliging with the sinfully delicious “2nd Annual, Sinner, Sinner, Pollo Parm Dinner” Show.
Yeah, we’ll cover the potentialities presented by Sunday’s Conference Championships…
Sure, it looks like we could have the usual red and yellow representatives as the “Refs’ Prefs” host
hard luck Buffalo at home. But weirder things have happened, and the Bills look as qualified as ever to move on
to their god-given destination. And speaking of red and yellow, what about those cardiac Commanders, who recently fed
the Lions to the lions, and know are in prime position to mount and stuff the favored Eagles. Is the 5 and then something spread
really justified, or is that proposition purely for the birds.
But our show goes much farther than a down and dirty playdate in the pigskin mosh pit. There’s also the first tennis major to be decided,
as an overgrown Carrot Top, with unusually big sneaks and a bit of a bowlegged gait, looks to repeat as Men’s winner… time to throw another title on the barbie mate?
For the Women, a first Major title for US’s favorite daughter Madison Keys, please?
Tune in tomorrow, with ChabDog, Well-read, Abe, A-ron and any comedic clips we can borrow (I think we’ve got some film noir and “W” from Oliver Stone on tap).
Buckeye Nation Hits the Bullseye in the BCS …
Well Read’s Posts
Abe’s Posts
Week 2: Abe’s Scrumdidilyumptious NFL Picks (ATS)
Hey everyone, it’s week 2 and so happy to hauk tuah all over this NFL thang once again!!!!! As always, here are my scrumdidilyumptious NFL picks based on very flawed science, numbies based solely on Taylor Swift’s game attendance, and a spidey sense that may or may not be functioning well based on the amount and quality of tacos I ate today. As for week 1, I got 62.5% (10/16) of my picks right which means you have a better shot with my picks below than literally flipping a quarter. So if you’re stuck on a particular game to pick, just know you got better odds right fucking here!!! LFGoooooo!
WEEK 1: 10/16 (62.5%)
| | @gawdbrudder
Week 1: Abe’s Scrumdidilyumptious NFL Picks (ATS)
THANK FUCKING GAWD FOOTBALL IS BACK! And with that, I will continue my annual 18-week tradition of giving you all my scrumdidilyumptious NFL picks based on very flawed science, numbies based solely on Taylor Swift’s game attendance, and a spidey sense that may or may not be functioning well based on the amount and quality of tacos I ate today. Fortunately for me, this is Week 1 and I’m already starting the season at 100%…so I can only go down from here! However, TO BE FAIR, I did get 50% of my Against-The-Spread picks right last season (see below) which isn’t too bad considering our highest Chabdog Sports expert got 54.51%. Lastly, regardless of who you cheer for, I hope you have a great season & are just as excited as I am to have football back! LETS FUCKING GO….
| | @gawdbrudder
Dorothy’s Posts
Aaron’s Posts
Ohio State fires Chris Holtmann and Maryland wins a bubble battle
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.
Chucky Hepburn creates so much offense with his defense. 💥@ChuckyHepburn x @BadgerMBB
💻: Peacock pic.twitter.com/Pdu8gNTINj
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 14, 2024
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.
Michigan State gets a big win and Bruce Thornton rescues Ohio State in double overtime
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.
A.J. HOGGARD TIES IT UP AT 72 😤 pic.twitter.com/T1HYktWnb9
— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 10, 2024
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.
Penn State might be a wagon and Wisconsin stumbles at Michigan
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.
Ace Baldwin dishing dimes out like he’s a bank teller pic.twitter.com/uoVEWV4dw2
— Barstool Penn State (@PSUBarstool) February 9, 2024
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.
Purdue asserts Big Ten dominance and Nebraska teases road competence
How is Purdue going to blow it this year? That question is getting tougher and tougher to figure out as the Boilermakers keep winning big games in the Big Ten. Their latest triumph came on Sunday with a 75-69 victory over second-place Wisconsin in Madison. Turns out it is really dumb to bet against the projected number one overall NCAA Tournament seed when it is getting points, even in a tough road environment. Purdue had its chances to wilt in this one, but Lance Jones came up big whenever the Badgers got close, and the Boilers were able to hold onto the lead for the entire second half. If Purdue makes the Final Four like it should, we’ll point to Jones as the key difference between this year’s team and last year’s team that flopped in the first round. Jones hit a huge three-point shot to double Purdue’s lead when Wisconsin got within 52-49 with 9:20 to play.
The Badgers got within two at the 4:50 mark when Tyler Wahl grabbed his own rebound and turned it into a layup. It looked like Wisconsin might stage a late rally when Zach Edey missed a free throw, but Mason Gillis picked up the rebound and kicked the ball out to Jones, who drove to the bucket for a layup that put Purdue up by multiple scores for the rest of the game. Wahl almost turned it into a one-score game with a minute to play, but after grabbing yet another offensive rebound (he had six in the game), he got trapped under the basket and his pass was intercepted by Jones, who put the game away with a breakaway layup.
Lance Jones is strong. 😤@LanceBUckets x @BoilerBall
📺: CBS pic.twitter.com/YXrH5RbjEK
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) February 4, 2024
Not only did Jones lead the Boilers with 20 points, but his defense was important to locking down the Wisconsin backcourt. AJ Storr shot just 4-for-15 from the field and Chucky Hepburn was 1-for-6. Wahl might have been more impressive than Jones with all those offensive rebounds to go with 20 points, five assists, three steals, and two blocks. This guy went straight at Edey for much of the afternoon and still shot 10-for-16 from the field. It’s too bad for the Badgers that none of their other players stepped up in a big way, while Jones had plenty of help from Edey (18 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) and Braden Smith (19 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals).
The win moves Purdue to one game above Wisconsin and Illinois in the loss column with eight games left on the Boilers’ Big Ten slate. They’re in great position to win a second straight regular season title, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them end February at 15-2 with a relatively light schedule ahead.
Nebraska comes oh so close to a big road win
Nebraska would already be a lock for the NCAA Tournament if only it could pull out one of these road games. Alas, the Huskers stand at 6-6 in the conference with six wins at home and six losses on the road. Champaign usually isn’t a great place to go for road wins, but Nebraska stormed back from a 10-point deficit in the final three and a half minutes to take the lead on a Rienk Mast hook shot with nine seconds left. Marcus Domask drew a foul on the other end for Illinois, and he split the foul shots to send the game to overtime.
This is a Ty Rodgers appreciation post. 🙌@Ty_rodgers20 x @IlliniMBB pic.twitter.com/6WBMjQcfIE
— Illinois on BTN (@IllinoisOnBTN) February 5, 2024
The extra period got off to a good start for the Illini, as Coleman Hawkins found Quincy Guerrier on the wing for a three-point shot that put them up 79-75 with 3:40 on the clock. Keisei Tominaga struck back with perhaps his most beautiful three-point jumper of the night, and there were a lot of them. The Japanese sharpshooter has been dormant lately with just 14 combined points in his last three games, but against Illinois he erupted for 31 points on 5-for-7 shooting from deep. Tominaga’s heroics led the Huskers having a 43 percent to 27 percent advantage in three-point shooting, but Illinois made up for it by winning the offensive rebounding battle 17-5. The biggest factor in that category was Ty Rodgers, who grabbed five offensive rebounds and 14 overall to go with eight points, three assists, and three steals. Rodgers is a weird guard-forward hybrid who is the only member of Illinois’ starting five who can’t shoot the three, but he’s also a great defensive player and classic glue guy who does what his team needs to achieve victory.
Purdue and Nebraska pull off dramatic wins at home and Penn State wins ugly
It does not get any more exciting than this in the Big Ten! On Wednesday night and again on Thursday night, we watched epic overtime battles play out between teams at the top of the conference and teams that are battling to earn NCAA Tournament bids. On Wednesday, Purdue narrowly avoided being swept by Northwestern thanks to some overtime heroics by the unstoppable Zach Edey. On Thursday, Nebraska engineered a massive comeback to defeat Wisconsin in overtime for the second season in a row. Winning in Lincoln these days is a seemingly impossible task for road teams.
Let’s start with the game in West Lafayette, though. Boo Buie was on a massive heater and it did not look like he was going to let Northwestern leave Mackey Arena without a win. He went 7-for-11 from beyond the arc and is playing like one of the top guards in the country. Buie also handed out eight assists to go with his 25 points and five rebounds. However, Buie was not the only one scorching the nets, as Lance Jones went 5-for-7 from distance and was responsible for answering Buie’s bombs with three huge triples in the final seven minutes. As well as Buie played, he fell one shot short of winning the game for Northwestern, as his buzzer-beating runner fell short, resulting in overtime.
And overtime is where Edey took over. College basketball’s top player scored the first 10 Purdue points of the extra period with Matthew Nicholson and Luke Hunger having already fouled out for Northwestern. The seldomly used forward Blake Preston did not have much of a chance on defense. With 30 or more points in four of his last six games, Edey is overwhelming for most opponents. Between his post game, the pick-and-roll with Braden Smith, and his ridiculous offensive rebound ability, there is just too much of Edey to deal with.
Braden Smith is really good. Broke down the whole defense to set up wide open Loyer. 16 assists for Smith in this game. pic.twitter.com/SRYebTDugv
— Aaron Yorke (@AaronPYorke) February 1, 2024
Speaking of Smith, he made a couple of huge plays down the stretch of overtime to keep the Wildcats at bay. First, Smith made a driving layup when Edey got tired of dominating. Then, with Purdue clinging to a three-point lead in the final minute, Smith drove under the basket and drew the entire Northwestern defense to him before kicking the ball out to Fletcher Loyer, who crushed a wide-open three and put the Boilers up 96-90. They hung on to win 105-96 and added to their number one overall resume. Northwestern is still looking like a solid bet for the NCAA Tournament, but a second victory over Purdue could have made the Wildcats close to a lock.