Some Brady banter
The speculation has been everywhere this offseason about Patriots QB Tom Brady.
For the most part, I choose to ignore it. But two stories that caught my eye this morning deserve a brief mention.
First, a story in the Boston Herald quoted unnamed sources that the first conversation between Bill Belichick and Brady about a new contract "didn't go well."
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Then, there's this.
The folks who make their living setting numbers on things like this still believe that Brady returning to the Patriots is the favorite. DraftKings has New England at minus-150 (bet $150 to win $100) with the Raiders (+500), the Titans (+700), the Colts (+1000) and the Chargers and Dolphins (+1600) next in line.
Those numbers were released earlier this week.
OddsShark released a reset list of odds this morning with the Patriots (-120) as the favorites followed by the Titans (+500) the Raiders and Chargers (+600), the Colts (+900), the 49ers (+1000), and the Bucs (+1200).
The odds at FoxBet.com view Brady as more likely to move with the Pats at -118 but the Titans (+200), the Raiders (+350) and the Chargers (+500) all have lower odds.
And because there's always the next prop bet, SportsBetting.ag offers these odds on the Patriots starting QB in Week 1 of 2020 if Brady does hit the road: Teddy Bridgewater +300; Ryan Tannehill +350; Marcus Mariota +500; Andy Dalton +600; Jarrett Stidham +700; Derek Carr +800; Jimmy Garoppolo +1000; Philip Rivers +1400; Nick Foles +1400; Dak Prescott +2000; Jameis Winston +2000; Joe Flacco +2500; Cody Kessler +3300.
Some spring scariness
Cover your eyes, Braves fans. It's not pretty.
Yes, let's review the mandatory "It's spring, yada, yada, yada" caveats. No, these games do not count. Yes, the entire deal is to get ready and healthy for the season.
But baseball more than any other sport is based on numbers, and the Braves' numbers through 12 spring training games are less than good. In fact, that's mild. (Hey, it's spring, and if you can't be optimistic in spring, then you are a Scrooge.)
The Braves are 4-8 through 12 games, which is the second-worst record among Grapefruit League teams. (Only Pittsburgh at 2-10 is worse, and Pittsburgh stinks on ice.)
Granted, Freddie Freeman missed most of the first week, and maybe that's where we start.
Remember all that talk about the importance of Josh Donaldson, not only because of JD's 38 homers last year but also because of the 4-hole protection he offered Freeman?
Well, even to the most indifferent spring training observers among us, that formula is playing into reality before our eyes. Please note:
Freeman is 2-for-4 with three walks in obviously limited action. Three walks in seven plate appearances.
And you want to know why?
Hello, Marcel Ozuna, the one-year free agent rental who was signed to play left and hit fourth.
Ozuna brings bona fides - he hit 112 homers in the last four seasons - but the importance of his role has been made even more crystal clear.
Freeman has been walked three times in seven trips because Ozuna is 0-for-13 with seven Ks this spring. (Ozuna and Ronald Acuña Jr. are a combined 2-for-32 this spring. No es bueno.)
Some golf
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is this weekend. The Players is next weekend. It generally has one of, if not the best, fields in golf.
But zip that "fifth major" mumbo jumbo.
In fact, Golf Digest's annual survey of the players revealed they think that way, too. Of the PGA players in the anonymous survey, 78 said "No" when asked if The Players Championship should be considered a major.
As always, there are a slew of interesting questions in the survey, including which Tour player would they want as help in a bar fight (Ernie Els the runaway winner), the funniest player on Tour (Tim Heron) and which player has the best-looking significant other (way to go, Aaron Baddeley).
Of course there are a slew of Tiger Woods questions, including will he win a major in 2020 (60 percent said yes), will he be competitive at Augusta National until he's 60 (46 percent said yes), if Tiger had an 8-footer to win the Masters would he make it (100 percent said yes, which is crazy), and who is the best golfer ever (70 percent said Tiger; 30 percent said Jack).
Speaking of that, this weekend also has the biggest slam dunk in golf history. Tiger is on the ballot for the Golf Hall of Fame for the class of 2021. If he's not unanimous, then they have to take someone's ballot away, right?
This and that
- OK, this fellow "Parlay" Patz needs some help. Or some time behind bars. The guy who hit two monster parlays last year that netted more than $600,000 total has made some awful threats to pro athletes. Here's more, and seriously, this guy sounds unhinged.
- We hit FSU (minus-1.5 and a 73-71 winner at Notre Dame) and Indiana (minus-3.5 and a 72-67 winner over Minnesota) and pushed on Oklahoma State (minus-6 and a 69-63 winner over a bad Kansas State bunch). That and Tuesday night's 1-2 mark moves us to 44-31-1 against the number on college hoops this season. That's 58.7 percent, which is somewhat entertaining. And it's crazy that we made 75 college hoops picks before our first push.
- Dude going to get his. Terrence Ross had 35 points last night for the Orlando Magic and absolutely nothing else. Seriously, nothing. Ross' final stat line was 35 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals and 0 blocks. How can you play 30-plus minutes and not get a single rebound? (Side question: If you played 30 minutes in an NBA game, would you get at least a random rebound? I'd lean toward yes on that.)
- Bad loss for an Auburn team that is leaking lots of oil heading to the finish line. Bruce's Bunch is 2-4 in its last six after going 22-2 to start the season.
- Some more betting news: According to our friends at SportsBettingDime.com Bernie Sanders was even money to get the Democratic nomination before Tuesday. Today, he's a +600 long shot and Joe Biden is minus-275 (which means you have to bet $275 to win $100). And here's one of the SportsBettingDime.com writer's picks on betting angles and prop bets on the impacts of the coronavirus.
- Speaking of the coronavirus, I am still unfazed by it and believe it is being overhyped. Hey, that's me. Now, if it hurts the Masters, then we're really going to have an issue, gang.
- Wow, I did not realize it was this bad for Elizabeth Warren, did you? Did you know that she did not finish in the top two in any of the elections on Super Tuesday? Wow, Liz. Time to reassess. Shame, too, because Kate McKinnon's Warren impersonation on SNL is pretty strong. Granted, Larry David's Bernie Sanders is up there with Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush and Tina Fey's Sarah Palin for all-timers, but it's still been a strong political season for SNL. Side note: This cast is better than most of the last decade, and Colin Jost and Michael Che are great together on Weekend Update. (Man, SNL, I've tried to quit you so many times, and each time I keep coming back. Why? I have no clue.)
Today's question
OK, we'll start with this: Is it too soon to be a little concerned about the Braves? I think so, but man, Marcel, let's get a hit or three soon, OK.
I'll ask two again from above: If someone does not vote for Tiger to be in the Golf Hall of Fame, they lose their voting rights, right? Also, if you played 30 minutes in an NBA game - granted the guy you are trying to cover would go all Wilt and score 100 - but in said 30 minutes would you get one rebound?
As for this day in history, let's review.
Did you know "The Osbournes" debuted on this day on MTV all the way back in 2002? Nuts, right?
Patsy Cline died on this day in 1963. She was 31.
Also, today is March 5, which made me think of the Mach 5, which was Speed Racer's car in those old-school and underrated cartoons from my childhood.
If I asked for the Rushmore of cartoon cars, whatcha got?
Go, and remember the mailbag.