November 18, 2023 • 42 mins
Breaking down all the plays for this weekend in NCAAF/NFL, Sixers season to date, Kelly Oubre news, and Mike Trout to the Phillies topic all covered in this episode!
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(00:00):
For national winners. From a localperspective, You're in the right place.
It's balls, Bats and Bets withTim o'kee right here on the Gambler.
So many damn topics we got totalk through tonight. This has been a
wild couple weeks since we last spoke. Welcome in everyone to Balls, Bats
and Bets. As always, I'myour host, Tim O'Keeffe. You can
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follow me at TKO Underscore Picks onTwitter, and man, there's I was
literally I was doing my show preptoday and there are an infinite amount of
topics that we can cover. Somany in the world of college football,
playoff season, getting close, coachesgetting fired, suspensions coming out. We're
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gonna cover all that, the wholething with the Phillies and the off season
with Aaron Nola seemingly getting further andfurther away, and pitchers coming from overseas
potentially as we're looking into that,James Harden having zero success out in LA.
We'll go through that briefly, andjust so many other things. Eagles
Chiefs, Monday Night football. Butwhere I want to start is the news
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story that's been going around revolving yourseventy six ers and Kelly Ubrey. So
if you've been living under a rockand you haven't heard Kelly Ubray off to
a great start this year with theSixers on a very cheap contract, had
a great start to the year forthe first you know, seven eight games,
and then a couple of days ago, he is struck by a car
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and has a couple of broken ribsand he's out indefinitely. Now that's obviously
he's a pedestrian just walking around,he's going through he's hit supposedly by the
rear view or another rearview mirror,a side mirror on the car, and
that broke some ribs and he hasa serious injury. He's gonna be out
for a while. Now. Thestory a couple of days later keeps taking
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I don't know if it turns theright word yet, but we just get
statements being released from Philadelphia police thatthey have no evidence that this happened to
Supposedly, it happened in written housesquare and what was supposedly a very covered
area in terms of cameras. Isuppose I keep you supposedly because again,
none of this, all of thisis still being figured out. So take
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everything with a great assault just repeatingwhat I've seen everyone else talking about.
And it's interesting because, yeah,if you're in that area of written house
square, cameras everywhere. Also,guess what, Kelly you bre A,
he's a big guy like people aregoing to see an accident happen in that
case. Very interesting situation there,and the police have no evidence at this
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point that it happened. Again,they're not to be clear, the police
are not saying that kell You Braveis misleading them or anything. It's just
a weird kind of situation right now. Now, where does this take us?
Where do we go from here?The honest answer is, in my
opinion, again, no legal experiencewhatsoever. So everything you're hearing here is
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from Law and Order and any otherlawyer show on TV. That being said,
I mean, just because there's noevidence that a crime occurred doesn't mean
that Ubray is doing anything wrong.It certainly could have happened, and you
know, there's a misplacement on whereexactly it happened or something, and there's
just not a good camera shot ofit. The idea that hey, he
could be lying about it. Iobviously that rumors being now floated around with
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whether or not being evidence on thevideo. Look, it's something that's gonna
be I think, extremely tough toprove unless Ubray comes out himself or someone
else says something about that. Butas of now, that hasn't occurred.
So just because there isn't evidence ofthe crime committed against him in the hit
and run doesn't mean that there's notany evidence that he was making it up.
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So it's in a very weird spot. I will say, it's very
six er esque to have something likethis happen, you know, with over
the years that he got sim it'shard in Brian Colangelo, fake Twitter accounts,
like so many of these weird thingsthat have happened to this team,
and this is just another one ontop of the list. So we'll see.
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Obviously hoping Uber gets better just forthe team's sake overall, and we'll
continue to follow this story. Butthis is a weird one. This is
absolutely a weird one. I encourageeveryone, Hey, keep posted, We'll
see if anything else comes out ofit. Admittedly, I do think this
is one that weirdly. At somepoint it might just fade away, because
if there's just no new evidence oneway or another, then what are we
gonna keep talking about but obviously thisweek really intriguing topic. We'll keep following
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that one. But with that willstick with the Sixers and off to a
very hot start. Of course,the last couple of nights of not being
good, coming off a couple losses, losing last night to Boston night before
that to Indiana, but overall,six Ers eight and three to start the
year, second best in the East. That's a very solid start against the
way this season began with all theJames Harden nonsense going around and trying to
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figure out what that was. You'rein a pretty good spot. Tyrese Maxi
has been elite. I don't know, you know, pick your incredible word,
A phenomenon like he is an AllStar, he will be an All
Star this year. He is lookinglike an incredibly great running mate for Joel
Embiid, who's also again playing atan MVP level. This team has talent,
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and you know, if you adda couple of pieces, and I
know everyone's talking about go get ZachLavine, go get DeMar Derozen. You
know everyone's picking off the bulls.I don't think that's the answer for this
team. If I'm being honest,I just want more competent, like,
honestly, three in D guys,guys who can shoot the ball and play
solid defense. I if you keepbuilding around that, with Maxi and Embiid
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being your stars, I really thinkthis team could have a ton of success.
You need athleticism to play Boston inthe playoffs. You need athleticism to
play Milwaukee in the playoffs. Idon't need to give up a lot of
depth for a couple of guys thatare really good, like that are streaky
scorers, whereas I can just getsome more complimentary pieces that have that athleticism
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and be great. Honestly, again, not to circle back, but Uber
is a great example. This Uberis a great scorer who is athletic enough
to cover wing guys. It's avery good fit. And I was a
great signing by Darryl Moury, whofor all the hell that that guy caught
in the offseason, and rightfully soto an extent, with the way the
Harden situation panned out, I ama big fan of the way Mory's built
this roster, and he absolutely chosethe right guy in Nick Nurse to run
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it. Because Nick Nurse's offense comparedto Doc Rivers offense. It is night
and day. It is again thecoaching equivalent of single a versus Major leagues.
That's what it is. Nick Nursehas so much movement going that it
opens up Joelle and b to domore in the middle and allows him to
you know, he's not yokish,he never will be is that good a
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pastor, But he is opening upthat area of his game where he's able
to play in and out more,and we have the pieces around him that
excel that. Obviously, Max,he's been thriving in the Nick Nurse system.
This has been It's as good asa start as the Sixers could have.
I know we're coming off two losses. I get it. Hey,
it's a long season. It's along season. But and did you really
think we're gonna win both in Bostonduring the regular season? Maybe maybe he
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did, but I did not,So splitting up there is fine. I
man, I am excited for whatthe rest of the season is gonna bring
with the Philadelphia seventy six ers.And there's a ton of opportunity and it's
it's gonna be really really interesting tosee how this keeps playing out. But
yeah, we'll follow the your Braysituation and hopefully he gets back next time
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I jump over to the Phillies.So obviously the Aaron Nolan rumors keep going.
I'm gonna call it the wrong directionfor anyone who wants to bring him
back, which I look. Ilove Aaron Nola. I have a Nola
jersey. This is a it's abusiness. There's a number that John Middleton's
willing to spend, and Dave Dombrowskihas to try to maximize the roster within
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that number. Aaron Nola is goingto command a ton of money probably on
this free agent market. Second toshow Heyo Tani, I get Bellinger's thig
up there really high, but Ithink Aaron Nola' is getting the second most
the second highest total this offseason aftershow Heotani, and it will be a
huge gap between one and two,just to be clear. But that's the
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that's the price that's gonna take toget Nola. He's getting linked to Atlanta.
He's getting linked to Saint Louis.Atlanta obviously really hurts if he goes
there because it's that division rival,and all of a sudden, it's a
team that already was better than youin the regular season. Just took one
of your best pieces. Would betough to swallow. But we'll see again.
I trust Dombrowski. Hopefully they'll figureit out. If Nola goes somewhere
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else, they're gonna have to replacehim. And the guy that's coming up
in a lot is Yamamoto from Japan. So let me. Let's pull up
some stats here, give you onesecond. Excuse me, Yoshin Nibu Yamamoto.
I might have accidentally butchered a littlepronunciation there, so please forgive me.
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Twenty five year old pitcher coming overfrom Japan had a one two ERA
last season in the Japanese League,won their equivalent of the Say Young.
He has been an absolute elite playerfrom Japan. Now, hey, not
everybody from Japan that comes over worksout, but a lot of guys do.
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Case in point, the number onefree agent this year's Shohotani. Now,
the Yamamoto is not a two wayplayer. He's a strictly a pitcher.
I've heard a couple of people givendifferent opinions on this. Yeah,
and hey, what the hell Igot to show? I'm gonna give you
mine. I am very interested tosee the I want the Phillies to continue
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to do a better job at exploringthe foreign markets, whether that is in
the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic,or over in the Asian market with in
the Korean leagues and Japanese leagues.I think the Phillies need to do a
better job at exploring those different marketsbecause other teams have easily outpaced us there,
like look at the Braves. TheBraves have gotten like Ronald Acunya,
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They've gotten a ton of other players. Ozzie Albi's I believe is maybe no,
I don't quote me on that one, but the other you get my
point. Other teams are stacking theirfarm systems with guys outside of the draft
and doing the international signings, andthe Phillies aren't. The Phillies have been
notoriously poor at it, so Ithink they do need to do a better
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job at it now. Yamamoto ishe's a big fish. He is one,
you know, corny athletic at thebelieve he was ranked as the fourth
best free agent coming in here inthis offseason. And as a guy,
you're gonna pay a lot of moneyto a guy that's never thrown a major
league pitch. I understand the risk. Would I like to see the Phillies
pursue that I am. I amopen to it. What I'd like to
see is them do a better jobat getting the you know, slightly lower
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tier guys from the international market.But if this is how they get their
foot in the water, I'll takeit. Take the stab. He's a
younger arm could potentially take off.I am absolutely open to if that's the
way they go. I would alsothen once still, pull in another pitcher
like a Sunny Gray or a BlakeSnell to compliment it, so that way
you have a little bit of youknow, backdrop, because Aaron Nola is
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going to get paid potentially more thanboth of the two of those guys combined,
Like it's going to be pretty closeto that, And that way you
get to hedge your bets a littlebit. Blake Snell just coming off of
cy Young, I don't how doI put it. I love Blake Snell's
stuff as a pitcher, I don'tknow if I love him for the Phillies.
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He's only pitched over one hundred andthirty in ings twice in his career,
both years that he won the cyYoung. He's very injury prone.
He does not go deep into games. That's kind of the opposite of Nolan
Nola. He goes out there.You know, you're getting about five and
two thirds or six. That's notSnell. Snell. You could easily be
getting four innings on any night,and he'll strike a lot of guys out,
He'll walk a lot of guys.It's he's a very different pitcher than
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Aaron Nola. Hey again, he'sa cy young winner. He's a very
good pitcher. But I think that'sa little bit too much of the opposite
direction that we would be going.So Blake Snell not my ideal signing,
but if he's one of two thatwe're bringing in to help start this rotation
out, then I'll be happy.Let's see, we got a lot of
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other things to get into. ButI'll be honest, I think I'm gonna
take our first break real quick becauseI want to dive into the whole college
football scene as well as then alsobreaking down Eagles and Chiefs because the Super
Bowl rematch is coming up, andobviously everyone's eyes are going to be on
that. But we're gonna take ourfirst break here actually, because we'll take
that pause before we dive into thefootball scene, So stay tuned. Me
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right back on balls, bats andbets right after this the game Philly's Home
for all things sport scams. Okay, I said, we're going to talk
some football. Now, let's talksome football. So many things to go
around. I do want to startoff in the college world with a bunch
of headlines coming out of this week. First off, I want to talk
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about one of the guys I'm nowdeeming in the luckiest man alive category,
Jimbo Fisher just got fired from TexasA and M. Now, obviously I'm
a little sarcastic when I say theluckiest man alive. Obviously I'm sure he'd
still love to have his job.But that being said, the man is
going to get paid over twenty thousanddollars a day for the next seven years
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to not coach. Can you thinkabout how absurd that is? Over twenty
thousand dollars a day, seven milliondollars a year to not coach, Like,
how the hell does that happen?That is absolutely insane and it's wild
to me. Like, I know, like NFL, how about this take.
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Let's sit jump to the NFL forsecond, like, guaranteed contracts like
are such a taboo thing that noone wants to do. Sean Watson got
it now, Obviously that looks likea disaster. It's wild to me how
guaranteed coaches contracts are because ninety fivepercent of the time, the minute things
start going wrong, who's the firstperson they look at, Oh, it's
the coach. So in that case, why in the hell are so many
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of these coaches getting monster guaranteed dealsnow? Jimbo Hey, he won a
championship at Florida State. He's agood college football coach, he is,
but A and M paid out thewazoo for him. And I think he
only got there in like twenty eighteen. We're in twenty twenty three. He
didn't even make it through the season. Like he got like one full recruiting
class in. You needed to thinkthrough that, like that's about maybe one
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I guess two, maybe two fullrecruiting classes in. That's pretty absurd to
give a guy that much money,that much guarantee. And you had all
this hype down in College station likethey were challenging Baman, they were doing
they were getting top recruiting classes.Now to pay him seven million dollars a
year to not coach your team whenyou're gonna have to probably go out now
and spend that type of money toget someone to replace him. Absolutely absurd.
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I man like Matt Rules contract UHwith the Carolina Panthers somewhat similar deal.
Right, He's getting paid a tonby the Panthers not to coach their
team. Now he's at Nebraska.Jimbo will go somewhere else, he'll get
money, but he's still getting allthat text A and m money. Just
absolutely absurd, really just wild wildto me. So I wonder if that's
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something that's gonna shift in the future. I haven't heard anyone talking about,
but the guarantees of coaching contracts.There's got to be something under the microscope
coming shortly. It's just has to, because this is a ridiculous thing that
happens way more frequently than I thinkpeople realize. Sticking with the college game,
I did want to jump into,uh, this is the overall season
and how it's going where this tome is going to be the most unpredicted
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a Bowl college football playoff since theywent to the four teams, which I
think was back in twenty thirteen.Or fourteen. It's wild to me how
many teams I can see actually winningthe national championship this late in the season.
There's eight in my opinion, whichis an absurd number, and there's
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probably eight in most people's opinion.The eight are Georgia, Ohio State,
Michigan, Florida State, Washington,Oregon, Texas, Alabama. Now are
all those teams are They're big schools. Big Actually everyone's a big state school.
And I don't know, it's notlike you're shocked that any of them
are in the conversation like they're theseare powerhouse programs, big funding xyz.
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That being said, the fact thatI legitimately can see eight of these teams
winning, obviously some more than others. Like in my opinion, Georgia still
probably has to be your favorite afterthey look, they haven't lost a game
in two years now, they haveto be your favorite in my opinion.
But I can easily see a scenariowhere Florida State wins. I can see
a scenario where Washington and Oregon wins, especially Oregon. Honestly, you know,
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I'll get to that in a second. Of course, you're never gonna
count out Alabama with one loss it'sit's absurd how good this playoff this season
has been for the ambiguity of who'sgoing to actually win it. College football
has had a little bit of aproblem in the past couple years where it's
been there's two maybe three teams thatyou're like, hey, you can see
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that there'd be two weeks left inthe regular season. And having eight teams,
that's a big improvement. And it'sgoing to make the College Football Playoff
decision game really or the decision game, excuse me, the College Football Playoff
committees decision really difficult, really difficult, because here's some of the things that
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are going to happen over the nextcouple of weeks. So if you want
to count Conference Title Week, there'stechnically three games left for some of these
teams. Georgia and Alabama will meetin the SEC title game. That's locked
in. They are going to meetin the SEC Title Game, so one
of those teams will at least haveone loss. Michigan Ohio State will play
in the final week of the regularseason as always, so one of those
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teams will have one loss if allplays out, If both these teams keep
winning, as to say, Oregonand Washington will meet in the PAC twelve
title game. Now all these gamesand also a Florida State will be in
the ACC title game, but they'renot going up against anyone else in that
list. And same thing with Texas. Texas'll have to win their time their
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conference as well. All this beingsaid, those even aren't elimination games really
for some of these teams. Seriously, if Georgia, let's say, let's
say Alabama beats George in the SECtitle game, who gets in a one
loss Georgia or an undefeated Florida State. What about a one loss Big twelve
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Texas champion. How about let's lookat it. Let's say Ohio State or
Michigan loses. One of them willlose, and then I have to decide
one of them versus a one lossOregon team who's a Pack twelve championship,
which could certainly happen. This isgoing to be an absurd playoff decision.
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You're going to be able to makecases at least for six teams. But
by the way I see it,there's at least going to be six teams
that you're talking through. The reasonthat two of them can be eliminated would
be the Oregon losses. If Oregonloses to Washington in a PAC twelve championship
and Alabama loses to Georgia, thenthose two would have two losses. That's
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it. You're not coming back fromthat. And obviously, yes, I'm
making some assumptions that teams are gonnawin out. Look, Georgia could lose
to Tennessee on Saturday. They could. I don't think they will, but
they could, and different things likethat. But it's really going to be
a very interesting down the stretch hereand the most difficult decision making for the
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committee that they've had to deal with, because you're going to have at least
two powerhouse programs, in my opinion, staring on the outside looking in being
like, what the hell else didyou want me to do? Especially if
you have like a Florida State who'sundefeated get kicked out. I don't think
they would do that. I thinkthey're gonna have the undefeated teams prioritized,
which I frankly do have to agreewith as much as I would think that
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a let's use the most extreme example, a one loss. Let's say Georgia
loses Alabama in the SEC title game. Well, Alabama then has to go
into the playoff, right, theSEC champion one loss, they'd have to
get in. Georgia versus an oneloss, Georgia versus a undefeated Florida State.
You can't. You can't keep themout. You just can't. Like,
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how do I put it, Youare disgracing the ACC at that point
if you're keeping out an undefeated champion. And I don't think the Committee's going
to do that. Now, maybethey find a way to have Georgia in
there too, and then someone elseagain booted. But you see the dilema
that's gonna come up here. It'sgonna be wild. I would pay an
absurd amount of money to be afly on the wall what with those debates
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going on. Obviously a situation willnever come in, but that is what
it is. I'll give you myofficial prediction as of this point, obviously
writes to change. Hey, butthat's the nature of sports, right,
we get new information each week.My final four prediction, I'll say Georgia,
Michigan, Florida State, and Oregonend up getting in. Obviously,
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by that prediction, I am guessingthat Georgia beats Alabama and the SEC title.
I am guessing that Oregon wins thePac twelve title, taking now Washington
a little bit of a revenge scenario, Florida State stays undefeated, and also
assuming Michigan will beat Ohio State.There's there's a lot that can happen there,
but that is my final four prediction. And honestly, the team that
I've been most impressed with this season, weirdly enough, has been Oregon.
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So in that scenario with Oregon beingthe four, I think Oregon could take
down Georgia. I know that Oregondismantled at the start of last season.
I think that game could be closer. Dan Lanning is a damn good coach,
and I think they're figuring some stuffout there, So I would actually,
if you're looking at a futures play, Oregon to win the national championship,
in my opinion, is a valuejust based on what that team's gone
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through and how they've looked throout thisseason. They have one loss on the
road at Washington. There's another undefeatedteam that's harder than any game that anyone
else has played so far this year. It is look at the matchups that
these teams have played until you getMichigan Ohio State and Georgia plays Alabama.
That's the hardest matchup was that.Oregon versus Washington was an incredible game.
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Washington was at home, Oregon lostby three on the road. I am
not going to hold that agains him. I think that team could easily win
the national championship and it is goingto be an exciting, exciting coming down
a stretch here. A lot ofgames this weekend, and I'll get into
those coming up when we do ourpick section on the third segment coming up
shortly. But I didn't want togo into big game around here this weekend.
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Eagles Chiefs Monday Night Football, they'llbe closing out our football weekend.
And the motive. I've heard alot of people talk about the motivation factor,
like, hey, hey, arethe Eagles gonna get extra amped up
for this game? You know,the revenge game off the Super Bowl?
And I think it is gonna bedifferent guy to guy. I think certain
guys come in each week and it'shey, I'm in the NFL, get
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paid to play. I'm doing mydamn best every week. I don't care.
Across from me and other guys,Hey, guess why, It's human
nature. You get a little moreinspired if you have something, some sort
of bulletin board material to post on. I think it's a mix. Obviously,
Siriani is going to try to playit up and get it the most
out of his team like he doesevery week, and the Eagles have the
better team. In my opinion,I don't think it's that close right now.
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The Chiefs receivers are a joke.They're they're picking up Nicole Harmon who
got cut by the Jets, orcut or trade. I guess trade it
technically, but was going to getcut by the Jets. Like the Chiefs.
Outside of traffick guy named Travis Kelcey, who you guys might also notice
Taylor Swist's boyfriend, they don't haveany other weapons on offense. They are
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a defensive team this year. Now. Granted, they still have the best
quarterback in the league and Patrick Mahomeswho can make any offense run. So
I'm not saying disrespect the offense,but this is not the offensive juggernaut that
the Chiefs have been for the pastthree four seasons. This team is built
around defense. So what the Eaglesneed to do is find a way to
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keep up their dominant offense, andI can't believe I'm saying this. It's
better for the Eagles if this turnsinto a shootout. In my opinion,
I think the grinded out, slowgame where if you give Mahomes like the
last drive to get the field goal, that plays more than what the Chiefs
are doing this season compared to ashootout, which the Chiefs is quite frankly,
outside of Travis Kelsey, they don'thave the firepower to do. They
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really don't. Look at the offensivenumbers this year for the Chiefs, they
are not as nearly as explosive they'vebeen in the past. Patrick Mahomes is
having an MVP caliber season, makingso much out of nothing, but that
doesn't mean that they can keep upwith the Eagles offense. When you have
aj Brown, DeVante Smith and obviouslyJalen Hurts clicking on all cylinders, Eagles
will need to get the run gamegoing back. That will be crucial for
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them in this scenario. But Ireally buy in that the Eagles have the
better team. I think they definitelyhave the better offense this year. I
think the defense is right there.That defensive line for US is obviously a
dominant strength and they will need toget pressure on Mahomes all day. Our
secondary while it's been a hole upagainst these receivers. If you can't stop
these receivers, you can't stop anybody. So if we actually get torched by
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these receivers this weekend, it's abigger problem than just one game. This
is the start of that home stretchfor the Birds that we're talking about.
Obviously, the last three games ofthe season. Giants, Cardinals, Giants.
Everyone's running those in as three wins. Unless you know the last week
it doesn't really matter. Then sureyou might throw that one on and just
play the backups. But that beingsaid, this next stretch coming up,
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I believe it's make sure I gotthe order right. Here is Chiefs,
it is Bills. After that,he said, with a question mark in
his voice. Hold up, holdup, hold up, Let's get a
quick check here. So it isChiefs then forty nine ers or no,
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sorry, no, I had aright, Chiefs, Bills, forty nine
ers, Cowboys, Seahawks. Ihad that right the whole time. I
don't know why I was questioning thatorder. Obviously, these are gonna be
it's gonna be a rough, it'sgonna be a tough stretch. In my
opinion, I think the Eagles aregonna come out of this four and one.
I really do. I think they'regonna win on Monday Night. I
know a lot of people go goinginto Kansas City mahomes by three or three
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points or less, like you ought. That's got like an auto rule for
some people. You take it,and I understand that thinking. I think
the Eagles come out on top ofthat one. I think they will lose
one of the games to the Bills, forty nine Ers or Cowboys. And
I'm not that nervous about the Seahawks, if I'm being quite, and maybe
I should be, but I thinkit's a four and one stretch. I
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hear people talking about just go twoand three and you'll be fine. That's
not the way this team's built.It's just not. This team is built
to dominate and win games. Iget that everyone's like looking at our schedule
being like, oh, look atthis gaulllet of all these teams we have
to play, well, guess whatthey have to play? The Philadelphia freaking
Eagles. So good luck to them, especially when Buffalo's showing holes, Dallas
has shown holes. Seattle has shownholes, like look what happened with them
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against the Ravens. Even the fortynine Ers, we're having a three game
louse streak. All those teams haveshown holes. The Eagles really haven't.
We blew a game to the Jets. That's it. I know that we
haven't had the prettiest of wins,but they're still wins. And I'm not
trying to say the Eagles don't haveany holes. Obviously, the secondary can
improve on play, linebackers can improveon play. But this team is the
most complete in the NFL. Sobeing coming into this saying, oh,
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just give me two and three,that's garbage, get that out of here.
We are going to do better thantwo and three. So I think
the Eagles come out of this ontop. I will say it plays into
a little bit of a shootout ishtype of scenario. I'm gonna go twenty
eight, twenty twenty eight, twentyfour birds, That's what I'm going with.
I think the offense is picking upa little bit. We don't see
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as dominant performance out of the defenseas we would like, but the offense
is able to get out and keepit running and turn it into the track
meet that that's the way it's gonnabenefit the Eagles, which is shocking to
say against the Chiefs, but that'sthe type of game they will benefit the
Eagles this weekend. All right,did our football breakdown? Still more football
to come. We're gonna talk picks, picks, picks coming up in our
third segment, So we're gonna takea quick break. Be right back here
(28:32):
on Fox Sports The Gambler after thisspreads totals and all the prop bets in
between. It's The Gambler Final segment. Time on balls, bets and bets
on this beautiful Friday evening. Greatweekend of football coming up. Obviously coming
towards the end of that college footballseason. Like we were just talking about
NFL, we're in the second half. There's football again. We love it.
(28:57):
We still got plenty of it,but it comes and goes so quickly,
just runs out the door. Sowe got to get those picks in
while we can. And that's whatwe're gonna dive into here. First one
I want to start off with,and I'm gonna it's gonna segue into a
slight other topic to start, butstarting off, first, pick Maryland plus
nineteen versus Michigan reason, there's alot of distractions at Michigan right now.
(29:21):
And I know they're still in defeatand they're still a great team, but
a lot of distractions. And also, guess what this is the week before
Ohio State. I don't think it'sthat easy for Michigan to get up for
this game. Like I think it'severyone's looking forward. Maryland, on the
other hand, is a pretty damngood team. Let's look what the Terrapins
have done so far, pulling uptheir recent games. Give me one second,
(29:41):
oh no dose and trace there wego. Maryland six and four in
the year, went over Nebraska lastweek. They did get blown out by
Penn State. I agree that's anugly, ugly loss, but they had
played Ohio State pretty well. Theydid end up losing by twenty before that,
and they've had a little bit ofa rough stretch here. But it's
(30:02):
their last home game of the year. I think they wake up and cover
the nineteen versus Michigan, especially withall the distractions Michigan has going on on
their side, and one of thosedistractions being the Jim Harbaugh suspension, which
I'll just quickly not gonna spend toomuch time on it. But this feels
like the cards are on the wallfor Harbor to leave Michigan, right,
Like, there's so many things it'sgoing against him and against him. I
(30:25):
mean, I think he's done thingsthat are wrong. Again. The first
suspension he wasn't arguing with, right. He started off the year on a
four game suspension, or maybe itwas a three game suspension, and there's
no arguing about that one. Thisone now, the signs stealing. There's
no evidence supposedly that he actually knewabout it, yet they NCAA still suspended
him. NCAA is an awful organization. We all know they've been run very
(30:48):
poorly for a long time. Idon't know if they got this one right
or not. Again, I don'tknow, Like no one knows if Harball
knew right, Like I struggle tosee how he didn't know. But that
being said, if you have noevidence to suspend somebody without evidence is a
very interesting dilemma Michigan and Harball keepssaying the big to the Big ten,
(31:08):
and the Big ten keeps saying theNCAAA, Hey, there is no evidence
of this. I don't know whatyou're why he's being suspended doesn't matter at
least at this point. NCAA isa judge, jury, and executioner,
and for now has made Harball suspended. He will not be active for this
game or, more importantly, theOhio State game next week. I think
Harble's gonna up leaving Michigan over thisat some point, like there's just too
(31:32):
many things building up in that direction. He's done great. He's been a
great coach for Michigan. While theyhaven't won the national title, they've gotten
really close, and he's built thatup into another dominant program once again.
But I don't see Harball staying inMichigan that much longer if all this stuff
keeps coming down on him. Nextplay pure spread read Miami versus Louisville.
(31:55):
Miami unranked at home, my onepoint favorite, Louisville number nine in the
country in the AP poll. Oneloss. This is this is telling you
all you need to know, thespread, that the fact that Miami's favored
in this game, Miami is goingto win this game. Coming down to
it, Mario Cristobal put a signaturewin on his resume for the season.
Miami's building something they've had been alittle bit up and down this year.
(32:17):
Louisville has had a great season.There's no denying that. I think the
wheels fall off just a little bithere where Miami gets that one done.
Next up another game where the unrankedteam is favored. Clemson favored by seven
and a half points over North Carolina. That it took me a second to
see this one. I'm like,you know what, Clemson's building something a
(32:37):
little bit towards the end here.I had that huge win over Notre Dame,
and North Carolina is very much ahow do I put it there?
Drake May is a great quarterback.They're very offensively driven, but there's some
questions that I just don't fully buyin yet to North Carolina coming off a
(32:59):
double ot win over Duke. Iknow Duke beat Clemson earlier in the year,
but that was with Riley Leonard,that Duke that played last weekend.
They didn't have Riley Leonard. That'sa big difference. I think North Carolina's
going to struggle in this game againstClemson, and I think Clemson is trying
to salvage a little bit of thatseason. They're at home, last home
game of the year before they goover to South Carolina to play in that
(33:19):
rivalry. I think they are goingto beat North Carolina this year. I'm
going to lay the seven and ahalf. I can't believe I'm saying that,
but I'm going to lay the sevenand a half with Clemson to build
up that momentum, to keep thatmomentum rolling over North Carolina. Game of
the weekend after that that coming up, Oregon State versus Washington. Oregon State
is one and a half point favorite, Oregon State number twelve in the nation
(33:42):
in most polls. Washington undefeated atnumber five. Oregon State's dominated at home
nine and won their last ten againstthe spread when they're playing out of corrals.
I think I said that right,Corvalist. Let me get them.
Give the Beavers that pronounce the correctpronunciation. Hold, please, that's bad
work by me. Where is thisCorvallis. Corvallis right, that's gotta be
(34:02):
it. And I don't know whyelse I would have that wording in my
head. Let's see, let's getthe official pronunciation here for all those Beaver
fans out there, Corvallis, Wegot it Research Stadium. That's the game
of the year now for Oregon Stateagain. Oregon State, the team that's
right now left behind, and allthe pactal migrations. I think this is
their super Bowl. I'm actually gonnacall for the upset, go Oregon State
(34:24):
over Washington. I know we're justtalking through all those different scenarios in the
prior segment. This would obviously bea wrench in to that. So I
will take the Beavers to take downthe Huskies there. With the Beavers being
at home dominated against the spread.The next playing College Minnesota, I'll take
twenty seven and a half points ofthem. They're playing Ohio State. Similar
(34:44):
reasoning for Michigan. It's a game. It's Ohio State's game before the big,
the big rivalry coming up next week. I don't see them being able
to stay focused enough to dominate andabsolutely destroy Minnesota. I think Minnesota PJ.
Fleck keep it close. Again,twenty eight and a half points is
or sorry, twenty seven and ahalf points is a ton. I can
(35:05):
see a higher state wins game byeasily fourteen to twenty points, but PJ.
Fly will keep the game, makeit ugly. I think they find
a way to get the get thecover and that's it that game. Lastly,
I'm gonna go under forty six inDuke versus Uva. Duke coming off
a big, running gun game againNorth Carolina. That's not the style they're
gonna have to play against Uva.It's gonna be more controlled going under here,
(35:27):
under forty six in Duke Uva inthat acc action matchup. Next going
jumping over the NFL got four playsfor you. I'm on with the Chargers
over the Packers, laying the threepoints. This is the game. The
Chargers are the most up and downteam in the league for the past several
seasons, but this is a gamethey get. They get people buying into
them again. They have enough offensivepot fire power. I think it's gonna
(35:47):
be tough for the Packers to keepup with Packers great second half team.
We'll probably get off to a slowstart. Yeah, now I'm by I
think the Chargers dominate that one.Next under thirty nine and a half in
Bill versus Jets. This number almostcan't be low enough for me. I
think this is a very ugly game. The Jets defense, we know,
(36:07):
is elite. The Bills offense hasbeen a disaster, and while they might
figure some things out over this restof the season, This is an ugly
one. Zach Wilson and company arenot gonna be able to put up much
on that Bill's defense either. Underthirty nine and a half, I think
this game might be under thirty completehonestly, like this is my favorite pick
of the weekend. I'm under thirtynine and a half in Bill's Jets.
(36:28):
Broncos versus Vikings. I can't believeabout to say these words, but I'm
almost starting to trust the Broncos.I am like they've They've really started to
show me something this because I believeour Sunday night football game, Yes it
is. Broncos are four and five, coming off a win against the Bills
like we saw last week, andthey're on a three game win streak where
they beat the Chiefs and Packers beforethat, including a bye week in the
(36:50):
middle. There the Josh Dobbs,it's a fun story. I just don't
see it lasting very long for theVikings. He's a backup, that's what
he is, and they're missing somefirepower there in Minnesota. I expect the
Broncos to get this win on SundayNight. I really do, and I'm
surprised. I can say that confidentlybut I'm going with the Broncos to get
(37:13):
back to five hundred, laying twopoints there. Lastly, low is total
in the NFL I've seen in along time. Thirty three in Pittsburgh versus
Cleveland. It's that low, folks. You know what I'm doing. I'm
taking the under. They're begging youto take the over, and I just
am not falling for it. CannyPickett nothing impressive. The Browns offense without
(37:34):
Deshaun Watson, nothing impressive. Ithink this is going to be a grind
it out, fight it out,maybe like thirteen to ten game like this
is going to be an ugly one. So give me that under all day,
every day in that one o'clock gamefor Pittsburgh versus Cleveland. That's all
the picks I got for you,guys. I did want a couple more
minutes left, So we'll dive intothis, going back all the way to
(37:57):
our Phillies where we started at thetop of the hour. There's a name
that everyone's been talking about in termsof a trade, and that would be
the fish who now lives out west, mister Mike Trout. And there's a
lot of opinions on what the Philliesthey should do in this situation. If
Trout is available, which it soundslike he is, the Angel's gonna lose
show Heo Tani. They're not goinganywhere. If they can get someone to
(38:21):
eat some of that Trout contract,they're absolutely going to go for it.
Tried to seven years over two hundredmillion left on this deal, so the
lot there, and he's been injured, not playing a full season in about
four or five years at this point, discounting the COVID season in twenty twenty.
I there's a lot of reasons notto do it. The injury risk,
how much it locks you in withthis core for so long, and
(38:45):
you're gonna have a couple ugly yearsin about five years. Like that's just
gonna be a known fact all Philliesfans get ready because that's common even without
this trade with Trout, But itjust makes it all the worse. That
being said, if I can getMike Trout for bearly any minimal prospect gain
or prospect cost and the Angels aregonna pick up some of that contract,
(39:07):
I have to do it. MikeTrout when he's healthy, is still one
of the best players in baseball.You add him to this lineup and it's
the best line up in baseball.I know, the Braves are absolutely incredible.
You add Mike Mike Trout to thisand if he can find a way
to stay healthy, it's the bestlineup in baseball by a decent amount in
my opinion. It's just that strong. And you're also like the fanfare and
(39:30):
the story of it. There's obviouslyalready electricity around Cistins Bank Park. No
one's arguing that it's an incredible atmosphere. But if you bring Mike Trout into
this and things actually go well withthis team, it's just it's it's a
it's a World Series winner, itis. If he can stay healthy,
you are going to propel yourself intobeing probably right there as the favorite for
(39:53):
next season. I'm I understand thehesitation by a lot of folks. A
Again, I'm saying, I don'twant to give up much prospect capital for
it because of the risk we're takingon. So if they are asking for
it, like there's no way they'retouching Andrew Painter right, Like they're getting
some B and C level prospects inthis and maybe look, maybe they would
(40:15):
eat some of the Cats. Maybethey take Castianos and that helps you out
with some contract. Wise, I'dbe okay with that obviously. Look,
I just want Middleton to pay outthe wazoo, like, hey, bring
in keep Castillas and bringing Mike Trout. Just have Trout start instead of Rojas.
If we can make that work,all our dreams come true. Not
being said, I'm not saying thatcan happen, but I'm in the I'm
(40:38):
in the do the deal face,like, Hey, if you can get
Mike Trout, you go get MikeTrout. You take on that risk because
Mike Trout is an all time greatplayer should still by his age, I
have several years left right near hisprime. He's just got to stay healthy.
Last season was a little bit ofthe freak injury of what it's he
hasn't had like a recurring injury.It's just keeps getting broken down with freak
(41:00):
little injuries. I buy in theMic Trock can get this done and get
that and get this team over thehump. I fully believe that. So
that's my pick. I that's myplay I would take. If I the
Phillies, I would go in forMike Trout and pull the trigger get in
there with that, I want torecap our picks again. We're gonna go
Maryland plus nineteen, Miami minus one, Clemson minus seven and a half,
(41:24):
Oregon State minus one and a half, Minnesota plus twenty seven and a half
under forty six in Duke versus Virginia. Then going over to our NFL plays,
Chargers minus three over the Packers underthirty nine and a half, Bill's
Jets, Broncos minus two under thirtythree, and Browns Steelers. Those are
(41:44):
your plays for the weekend. Everybody, thank you for tuning in as always,
much appreciated, stay tuned all yearto the Gambler. And we got
another watch party coming up on Novemberthirtieth, off the double check with Sean
on where that location is. Honestlyforgot to tell me, heav but keep
a lookout for that. Listening tothe ticket, the line change, all
the great shows and content that TheGambler has all these airwaves and also online.
(42:06):
Just incredible guys doing a lot ofgreat work for you out there to
give you the best edge across theboard, and none of your sports plays
and just information all right, Andwith that, let's close out Friday Night
Balls Bats and bets is over fortoday. Folks have a great weekend.
For national winners. From a localperspective, You're in the right place.
It's balls, Bats and Bets withTim o'kee right here on the Gambler.
So many damn topics we got totalk through tonight. This has been a
wild couple weeks since we last spoke. Welcome in everyone to Balls, Bats
and Bets. As always, I'myour host, Tim O'Keeffe. You can
(00:22):
follow me at TKO Underscore Picks onTwitter, and man, there's I was
literally I was doing my show preptoday and there are an infinite amount of
topics that we can cover. Somany in the world of college football,
playoff season, getting close, coachesgetting fired, suspensions coming out. We're
(00:44):
gonna cover all that, the wholething with the Phillies and the off season
with Aaron Nola seemingly getting further andfurther away, and pitchers coming from overseas
potentially as we're looking into that,James Harden having zero success out in LA.
We'll go through that briefly, andjust so many other things. Eagles
Chiefs, Monday Night football. Butwhere I want to start is the news
(01:11):
story that's been going around revolving yourseventy six ers and Kelly Ubrey. So
if you've been living under a rockand you haven't heard Kelly Ubray off to
a great start this year with theSixers on a very cheap contract, had
a great start to the year forthe first you know, seven eight games,
and then a couple of days ago, he is struck by a car
(01:32):
and has a couple of broken ribsand he's out indefinitely. Now that's obviously
he's a pedestrian just walking around,he's going through he's hit supposedly by the
rear view or another rearview mirror,a side mirror on the car, and
that broke some ribs and he hasa serious injury. He's gonna be out
for a while. Now. Thestory a couple of days later keeps taking
(01:56):
I don't know if it turns theright word yet, but we just get
statements being released from Philadelphia police thatthey have no evidence that this happened to
Supposedly, it happened in written housesquare and what was supposedly a very covered
area in terms of cameras. Isuppose I keep you supposedly because again,
none of this, all of thisis still being figured out. So take
(02:20):
everything with a great assault just repeatingwhat I've seen everyone else talking about.
And it's interesting because, yeah,if you're in that area of written house
square, cameras everywhere. Also,guess what, Kelly you bre A,
he's a big guy like people aregoing to see an accident happen in that
case. Very interesting situation there,and the police have no evidence at this
(02:44):
point that it happened. Again,they're not to be clear, the police
are not saying that kell You Braveis misleading them or anything. It's just
a weird kind of situation right now. Now, where does this take us?
Where do we go from here?The honest answer is, in my
opinion, again, no legal experiencewhatsoever. So everything you're hearing here is
(03:06):
from Law and Order and any otherlawyer show on TV. That being said,
I mean, just because there's noevidence that a crime occurred doesn't mean
that Ubray is doing anything wrong.It certainly could have happened, and you
know, there's a misplacement on whereexactly it happened or something, and there's
just not a good camera shot ofit. The idea that hey, he
could be lying about it. Iobviously that rumors being now floated around with
(03:30):
whether or not being evidence on thevideo. Look, it's something that's gonna
be I think, extremely tough toprove unless Ubray comes out himself or someone
else says something about that. Butas of now, that hasn't occurred.
So just because there isn't evidence ofthe crime committed against him in the hit
and run doesn't mean that there's notany evidence that he was making it up.
(03:52):
So it's in a very weird spot. I will say, it's very
six er esque to have something likethis happen, you know, with over
the years that he got sim it'shard in Brian Colangelo, fake Twitter accounts,
like so many of these weird thingsthat have happened to this team,
and this is just another one ontop of the list. So we'll see.
(04:14):
Obviously hoping Uber gets better just forthe team's sake overall, and we'll
continue to follow this story. Butthis is a weird one. This is
absolutely a weird one. I encourageeveryone, Hey, keep posted, We'll
see if anything else comes out ofit. Admittedly, I do think this
is one that weirdly. At somepoint it might just fade away, because
if there's just no new evidence oneway or another, then what are we
gonna keep talking about but obviously thisweek really intriguing topic. We'll keep following
(04:40):
that one. But with that willstick with the Sixers and off to a
very hot start. Of course,the last couple of nights of not being
good, coming off a couple losses, losing last night to Boston night before
that to Indiana, but overall,six Ers eight and three to start the
year, second best in the East. That's a very solid start against the
way this season began with all theJames Harden nonsense going around and trying to
(05:02):
figure out what that was. You'rein a pretty good spot. Tyrese Maxi
has been elite. I don't know, you know, pick your incredible word,
A phenomenon like he is an AllStar, he will be an All
Star this year. He is lookinglike an incredibly great running mate for Joel
Embiid, who's also again playing atan MVP level. This team has talent,
(05:26):
and you know, if you adda couple of pieces, and I
know everyone's talking about go get ZachLavine, go get DeMar Derozen. You
know everyone's picking off the bulls.I don't think that's the answer for this
team. If I'm being honest,I just want more competent, like,
honestly, three in D guys,guys who can shoot the ball and play
solid defense. I if you keepbuilding around that, with Maxi and Embiid
(05:47):
being your stars, I really thinkthis team could have a ton of success.
You need athleticism to play Boston inthe playoffs. You need athleticism to
play Milwaukee in the playoffs. Idon't need to give up a lot of
depth for a couple of guys thatare really good, like that are streaky
scorers, whereas I can just getsome more complimentary pieces that have that athleticism
(06:10):
and be great. Honestly, again, not to circle back, but Uber
is a great example. This Uberis a great scorer who is athletic enough
to cover wing guys. It's avery good fit. And I was a
great signing by Darryl Moury, whofor all the hell that that guy caught
in the offseason, and rightfully soto an extent, with the way the
Harden situation panned out, I ama big fan of the way Mory's built
this roster, and he absolutely chosethe right guy in Nick Nurse to run
(06:32):
it. Because Nick Nurse's offense comparedto Doc Rivers offense. It is night
and day. It is again thecoaching equivalent of single a versus Major leagues.
That's what it is. Nick Nursehas so much movement going that it
opens up Joelle and b to domore in the middle and allows him to
you know, he's not yokish,he never will be is that good a
(06:55):
pastor, But he is opening upthat area of his game where he's able
to play in and out more,and we have the pieces around him that
excel that. Obviously, Max,he's been thriving in the Nick Nurse system.
This has been It's as good asa start as the Sixers could have.
I know we're coming off two losses. I get it. Hey,
it's a long season. It's along season. But and did you really
think we're gonna win both in Bostonduring the regular season? Maybe maybe he
(07:17):
did, but I did not,So splitting up there is fine. I
man, I am excited for whatthe rest of the season is gonna bring
with the Philadelphia seventy six ers.And there's a ton of opportunity and it's
it's gonna be really really interesting tosee how this keeps playing out. But
yeah, we'll follow the your Braysituation and hopefully he gets back next time
(07:39):
I jump over to the Phillies.So obviously the Aaron Nolan rumors keep going.
I'm gonna call it the wrong directionfor anyone who wants to bring him
back, which I look. Ilove Aaron Nola. I have a Nola
jersey. This is a it's abusiness. There's a number that John Middleton's
willing to spend, and Dave Dombrowskihas to try to maximize the roster within
(08:01):
that number. Aaron Nola is goingto command a ton of money probably on
this free agent market. Second toshow Heyo Tani, I get Bellinger's thig
up there really high, but Ithink Aaron Nola' is getting the second most
the second highest total this offseason aftershow Heotani, and it will be a
huge gap between one and two,just to be clear. But that's the
(08:24):
that's the price that's gonna take toget Nola. He's getting linked to Atlanta.
He's getting linked to Saint Louis.Atlanta obviously really hurts if he goes
there because it's that division rival,and all of a sudden, it's a
team that already was better than youin the regular season. Just took one
of your best pieces. Would betough to swallow. But we'll see again.
I trust Dombrowski. Hopefully they'll figureit out. If Nola goes somewhere
(08:48):
else, they're gonna have to replacehim. And the guy that's coming up
in a lot is Yamamoto from Japan. So let me. Let's pull up
some stats here, give you onesecond. Excuse me, Yoshin Nibu Yamamoto.
I might have accidentally butchered a littlepronunciation there, so please forgive me.
(09:09):
Twenty five year old pitcher coming overfrom Japan had a one two ERA
last season in the Japanese League,won their equivalent of the Say Young.
He has been an absolute elite playerfrom Japan. Now, hey, not
everybody from Japan that comes over worksout, but a lot of guys do.
(09:31):
Case in point, the number onefree agent this year's Shohotani. Now,
the Yamamoto is not a two wayplayer. He's a strictly a pitcher.
I've heard a couple of people givendifferent opinions on this. Yeah,
and hey, what the hell Igot to show? I'm gonna give you
mine. I am very interested tosee the I want the Phillies to continue
(09:52):
to do a better job at exploringthe foreign markets, whether that is in
the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic,or over in the Asian market with in
the Korean leagues and Japanese leagues.I think the Phillies need to do a
better job at exploring those different marketsbecause other teams have easily outpaced us there,
like look at the Braves. TheBraves have gotten like Ronald Acunya,
(10:15):
They've gotten a ton of other players. Ozzie Albi's I believe is maybe no,
I don't quote me on that one, but the other you get my
point. Other teams are stacking theirfarm systems with guys outside of the draft
and doing the international signings, andthe Phillies aren't. The Phillies have been
notoriously poor at it, so Ithink they do need to do a better
(10:37):
job at it now. Yamamoto ishe's a big fish. He is one,
you know, corny athletic at thebelieve he was ranked as the fourth
best free agent coming in here inthis offseason. And as a guy,
you're gonna pay a lot of moneyto a guy that's never thrown a major
league pitch. I understand the risk. Would I like to see the Phillies
pursue that I am. I amopen to it. What I'd like to
see is them do a better jobat getting the you know, slightly lower
(11:01):
tier guys from the international market.But if this is how they get their
foot in the water, I'll takeit. Take the stab. He's a
younger arm could potentially take off.I am absolutely open to if that's the
way they go. I would alsothen once still, pull in another pitcher
like a Sunny Gray or a BlakeSnell to compliment it, so that way
you have a little bit of youknow, backdrop, because Aaron Nola is
(11:26):
going to get paid potentially more thanboth of the two of those guys combined,
Like it's going to be pretty closeto that, And that way you
get to hedge your bets a littlebit. Blake Snell just coming off of
cy Young, I don't how doI put it. I love Blake Snell's
stuff as a pitcher, I don'tknow if I love him for the Phillies.
(11:48):
He's only pitched over one hundred andthirty in ings twice in his career,
both years that he won the cyYoung. He's very injury prone.
He does not go deep into games. That's kind of the opposite of Nolan
Nola. He goes out there.You know, you're getting about five and
two thirds or six. That's notSnell. Snell. You could easily be
getting four innings on any night,and he'll strike a lot of guys out,
He'll walk a lot of guys.It's he's a very different pitcher than
(12:09):
Aaron Nola. Hey again, he'sa cy young winner. He's a very
good pitcher. But I think that'sa little bit too much of the opposite
direction that we would be going.So Blake Snell not my ideal signing,
but if he's one of two thatwe're bringing in to help start this rotation
out, then I'll be happy.Let's see, we got a lot of
(12:31):
other things to get into. ButI'll be honest, I think I'm gonna
take our first break real quick becauseI want to dive into the whole college
football scene as well as then alsobreaking down Eagles and Chiefs because the Super
Bowl rematch is coming up, andobviously everyone's eyes are going to be on
that. But we're gonna take ourfirst break here actually, because we'll take
that pause before we dive into thefootball scene, So stay tuned. Me
(12:52):
right back on balls, bats andbets right after this the game Philly's Home
for all things sport scams. Okay, I said, we're going to talk
some football. Now, let's talksome football. So many things to go
around. I do want to startoff in the college world with a bunch
of headlines coming out of this week. First off, I want to talk
(13:13):
about one of the guys I'm nowdeeming in the luckiest man alive category,
Jimbo Fisher just got fired from TexasA and M. Now, obviously I'm
a little sarcastic when I say theluckiest man alive. Obviously I'm sure he'd
still love to have his job.But that being said, the man is
going to get paid over twenty thousanddollars a day for the next seven years
(13:37):
to not coach. Can you thinkabout how absurd that is? Over twenty
thousand dollars a day, seven milliondollars a year to not coach, Like,
how the hell does that happen?That is absolutely insane and it's wild
to me. Like, I know, like NFL, how about this take.
(14:01):
Let's sit jump to the NFL forsecond, like, guaranteed contracts like
are such a taboo thing that noone wants to do. Sean Watson got
it now, Obviously that looks likea disaster. It's wild to me how
guaranteed coaches contracts are because ninety fivepercent of the time, the minute things
start going wrong, who's the firstperson they look at, Oh, it's
the coach. So in that case, why in the hell are so many
(14:24):
of these coaches getting monster guaranteed dealsnow? Jimbo Hey, he won a
championship at Florida State. He's agood college football coach, he is,
but A and M paid out thewazoo for him. And I think he
only got there in like twenty eighteen. We're in twenty twenty three. He
didn't even make it through the season. Like he got like one full recruiting
class in. You needed to thinkthrough that, like that's about maybe one
(14:46):
I guess two, maybe two fullrecruiting classes in. That's pretty absurd to
give a guy that much money,that much guarantee. And you had all
this hype down in College station likethey were challenging Baman, they were doing
they were getting top recruiting classes.Now to pay him seven million dollars a
year to not coach your team whenyou're gonna have to probably go out now
and spend that type of money toget someone to replace him. Absolutely absurd.
(15:11):
I man like Matt Rules contract UHwith the Carolina Panthers somewhat similar deal.
Right, He's getting paid a tonby the Panthers not to coach their
team. Now he's at Nebraska.Jimbo will go somewhere else, he'll get
money, but he's still getting allthat text A and m money. Just
absolutely absurd, really just wild wildto me. So I wonder if that's
(15:35):
something that's gonna shift in the future. I haven't heard anyone talking about,
but the guarantees of coaching contracts.There's got to be something under the microscope
coming shortly. It's just has to, because this is a ridiculous thing that
happens way more frequently than I thinkpeople realize. Sticking with the college game,
I did want to jump into,uh, this is the overall season
and how it's going where this tome is going to be the most unpredicted
(16:00):
a Bowl college football playoff since theywent to the four teams, which I
think was back in twenty thirteen.Or fourteen. It's wild to me how
many teams I can see actually winningthe national championship this late in the season.
There's eight in my opinion, whichis an absurd number, and there's
(16:22):
probably eight in most people's opinion.The eight are Georgia, Ohio State,
Michigan, Florida State, Washington,Oregon, Texas, Alabama. Now are
all those teams are They're big schools. Big Actually everyone's a big state school.
And I don't know, it's notlike you're shocked that any of them
are in the conversation like they're theseare powerhouse programs, big funding xyz.
(16:45):
That being said, the fact thatI legitimately can see eight of these teams
winning, obviously some more than others. Like in my opinion, Georgia still
probably has to be your favorite afterthey look, they haven't lost a game
in two years now, they haveto be your favorite in my opinion.
But I can easily see a scenariowhere Florida State wins. I can see
a scenario where Washington and Oregon wins, especially Oregon. Honestly, you know,
(17:08):
I'll get to that in a second. Of course, you're never gonna
count out Alabama with one loss it'sit's absurd how good this playoff this season
has been for the ambiguity of who'sgoing to actually win it. College football
has had a little bit of aproblem in the past couple years where it's
been there's two maybe three teams thatyou're like, hey, you can see
(17:30):
that there'd be two weeks left inthe regular season. And having eight teams,
that's a big improvement. And it'sgoing to make the College Football Playoff
decision game really or the decision game, excuse me, the College Football Playoff
committees decision really difficult, really difficult, because here's some of the things that
(17:51):
are going to happen over the nextcouple of weeks. So if you want
to count Conference Title Week, there'stechnically three games left for some of these
teams. Georgia and Alabama will meetin the SEC title game. That's locked
in. They are going to meetin the SEC Title Game, so one
of those teams will at least haveone loss. Michigan Ohio State will play
in the final week of the regularseason as always, so one of those
(18:12):
teams will have one loss if allplays out, If both these teams keep
winning, as to say, Oregonand Washington will meet in the PAC twelve
title game. Now all these gamesand also a Florida State will be in
the ACC title game, but they'renot going up against anyone else in that
list. And same thing with Texas. Texas'll have to win their time their
(18:33):
conference as well. All this beingsaid, those even aren't elimination games really
for some of these teams. Seriously, if Georgia, let's say, let's
say Alabama beats George in the SECtitle game, who gets in a one
loss Georgia or an undefeated Florida State. What about a one loss Big twelve
(18:56):
Texas champion. How about let's lookat it. Let's say Ohio State or
Michigan loses. One of them willlose, and then I have to decide
one of them versus a one lossOregon team who's a Pack twelve championship,
which could certainly happen. This isgoing to be an absurd playoff decision.
(19:19):
You're going to be able to makecases at least for six teams. But
by the way I see it,there's at least going to be six teams
that you're talking through. The reasonthat two of them can be eliminated would
be the Oregon losses. If Oregonloses to Washington in a PAC twelve championship
and Alabama loses to Georgia, thenthose two would have two losses. That's
(19:40):
it. You're not coming back fromthat. And obviously, yes, I'm
making some assumptions that teams are gonnawin out. Look, Georgia could lose
to Tennessee on Saturday. They could. I don't think they will, but
they could, and different things likethat. But it's really going to be
a very interesting down the stretch hereand the most difficult decision making for the
(20:02):
committee that they've had to deal with, because you're going to have at least
two powerhouse programs, in my opinion, staring on the outside looking in being
like, what the hell else didyou want me to do? Especially if
you have like a Florida State who'sundefeated get kicked out. I don't think
they would do that. I thinkthey're gonna have the undefeated teams prioritized,
which I frankly do have to agreewith as much as I would think that
(20:23):
a let's use the most extreme example, a one loss. Let's say Georgia
loses Alabama in the SEC title game. Well, Alabama then has to go
into the playoff, right, theSEC champion one loss, they'd have to
get in. Georgia versus an oneloss, Georgia versus a undefeated Florida State.
You can't. You can't keep themout. You just can't. Like,
(20:48):
how do I put it, Youare disgracing the ACC at that point
if you're keeping out an undefeated champion. And I don't think the Committee's going
to do that. Now, maybethey find a way to have Georgia in
there too, and then someone elseagain booted. But you see the dilema
that's gonna come up here. It'sgonna be wild. I would pay an
absurd amount of money to be afly on the wall what with those debates
(21:10):
going on. Obviously a situation willnever come in, but that is what
it is. I'll give you myofficial prediction as of this point, obviously
writes to change. Hey, butthat's the nature of sports, right,
we get new information each week.My final four prediction, I'll say Georgia,
Michigan, Florida State, and Oregonend up getting in. Obviously,
(21:32):
by that prediction, I am guessingthat Georgia beats Alabama and the SEC title.
I am guessing that Oregon wins thePac twelve title, taking now Washington
a little bit of a revenge scenario, Florida State stays undefeated, and also
assuming Michigan will beat Ohio State.There's there's a lot that can happen there,
but that is my final four prediction. And honestly, the team that
I've been most impressed with this season, weirdly enough, has been Oregon.
(21:53):
So in that scenario with Oregon beingthe four, I think Oregon could take
down Georgia. I know that Oregondismantled at the start of last season.
I think that game could be closer. Dan Lanning is a damn good coach,
and I think they're figuring some stuffout there, So I would actually,
if you're looking at a futures play, Oregon to win the national championship,
in my opinion, is a valuejust based on what that team's gone
(22:17):
through and how they've looked throout thisseason. They have one loss on the
road at Washington. There's another undefeatedteam that's harder than any game that anyone
else has played so far this year. It is look at the matchups that
these teams have played until you getMichigan Ohio State and Georgia plays Alabama.
That's the hardest matchup was that.Oregon versus Washington was an incredible game.
(22:38):
Washington was at home, Oregon lostby three on the road. I am
not going to hold that agains him. I think that team could easily win
the national championship and it is goingto be an exciting, exciting coming down
a stretch here. A lot ofgames this weekend, and I'll get into
those coming up when we do ourpick section on the third segment coming up
shortly. But I didn't want togo into big game around here this weekend.
(23:02):
Eagles Chiefs Monday Night Football, they'llbe closing out our football weekend.
And the motive. I've heard alot of people talk about the motivation factor,
like, hey, hey, arethe Eagles gonna get extra amped up
for this game? You know,the revenge game off the Super Bowl?
And I think it is gonna bedifferent guy to guy. I think certain
guys come in each week and it'shey, I'm in the NFL, get
(23:26):
paid to play. I'm doing mydamn best every week. I don't care.
Across from me and other guys,Hey, guess why, It's human
nature. You get a little moreinspired if you have something, some sort
of bulletin board material to post on. I think it's a mix. Obviously,
Siriani is going to try to playit up and get it the most
out of his team like he doesevery week, and the Eagles have the
better team. In my opinion,I don't think it's that close right now.
(23:48):
The Chiefs receivers are a joke.They're they're picking up Nicole Harmon who
got cut by the Jets, orcut or trade. I guess trade it
technically, but was going to getcut by the Jets. Like the Chiefs.
Outside of traffick guy named Travis Kelcey, who you guys might also notice
Taylor Swist's boyfriend, they don't haveany other weapons on offense. They are
(24:08):
a defensive team this year. Now. Granted, they still have the best
quarterback in the league and Patrick Mahomeswho can make any offense run. So
I'm not saying disrespect the offense,but this is not the offensive juggernaut that
the Chiefs have been for the pastthree four seasons. This team is built
around defense. So what the Eaglesneed to do is find a way to
(24:29):
keep up their dominant offense, andI can't believe I'm saying this. It's
better for the Eagles if this turnsinto a shootout. In my opinion,
I think the grinded out, slowgame where if you give Mahomes like the
last drive to get the field goal, that plays more than what the Chiefs
are doing this season compared to ashootout, which the Chiefs is quite frankly,
outside of Travis Kelsey, they don'thave the firepower to do. They
(24:51):
really don't. Look at the offensivenumbers this year for the Chiefs, they
are not as nearly as explosive they'vebeen in the past. Patrick Mahomes is
having an MVP caliber season, makingso much out of nothing, but that
doesn't mean that they can keep upwith the Eagles offense. When you have
aj Brown, DeVante Smith and obviouslyJalen Hurts clicking on all cylinders, Eagles
will need to get the run gamegoing back. That will be crucial for
(25:14):
them in this scenario. But Ireally buy in that the Eagles have the
better team. I think they definitelyhave the better offense this year. I
think the defense is right there.That defensive line for US is obviously a
dominant strength and they will need toget pressure on Mahomes all day. Our
secondary while it's been a hole upagainst these receivers. If you can't stop
these receivers, you can't stop anybody. So if we actually get torched by
(25:37):
these receivers this weekend, it's abigger problem than just one game. This
is the start of that home stretchfor the Birds that we're talking about.
Obviously, the last three games ofthe season. Giants, Cardinals, Giants.
Everyone's running those in as three wins. Unless you know the last week
it doesn't really matter. Then sureyou might throw that one on and just
play the backups. But that beingsaid, this next stretch coming up,
(25:57):
I believe it's make sure I gotthe order right. Here is Chiefs,
it is Bills. After that,he said, with a question mark in
his voice. Hold up, holdup, hold up, Let's get a
quick check here. So it isChiefs then forty nine ers or no,
(26:18):
sorry, no, I had aright, Chiefs, Bills, forty nine
ers, Cowboys, Seahawks. Ihad that right the whole time. I
don't know why I was questioning thatorder. Obviously, these are gonna be
it's gonna be a rough, it'sgonna be a tough stretch. In my
opinion, I think the Eagles aregonna come out of this four and one.
I really do. I think they'regonna win on Monday Night. I
know a lot of people go goinginto Kansas City mahomes by three or three
(26:41):
points or less, like you ought. That's got like an auto rule for
some people. You take it,and I understand that thinking. I think
the Eagles come out on top ofthat one. I think they will lose
one of the games to the Bills, forty nine Ers or Cowboys. And
I'm not that nervous about the Seahawks, if I'm being quite, and maybe
I should be, but I thinkit's a four and one stretch. I
(27:02):
hear people talking about just go twoand three and you'll be fine. That's
not the way this team's built.It's just not. This team is built
to dominate and win games. Iget that everyone's like looking at our schedule
being like, oh, look atthis gaulllet of all these teams we have
to play, well, guess whatthey have to play? The Philadelphia freaking
Eagles. So good luck to them, especially when Buffalo's showing holes, Dallas
has shown holes. Seattle has shownholes, like look what happened with them
(27:25):
against the Ravens. Even the fortynine Ers, we're having a three game
louse streak. All those teams haveshown holes. The Eagles really haven't.
We blew a game to the Jets. That's it. I know that we
haven't had the prettiest of wins,but they're still wins. And I'm not
trying to say the Eagles don't haveany holes. Obviously, the secondary can
improve on play, linebackers can improveon play. But this team is the
most complete in the NFL. Sobeing coming into this saying, oh,
(27:47):
just give me two and three,that's garbage, get that out of here.
We are going to do better thantwo and three. So I think
the Eagles come out of this ontop. I will say it plays into
a little bit of a shootout ishtype of scenario. I'm gonna go twenty
eight, twenty twenty eight, twentyfour birds, That's what I'm going with.
I think the offense is picking upa little bit. We don't see
(28:10):
as dominant performance out of the defenseas we would like, but the offense
is able to get out and keepit running and turn it into the track
meet that that's the way it's gonnabenefit the Eagles, which is shocking to
say against the Chiefs, but that'sthe type of game they will benefit the
Eagles this weekend. All right,did our football breakdown? Still more football
to come. We're gonna talk picks, picks, picks coming up in our
third segment, So we're gonna takea quick break. Be right back here
(28:32):
on Fox Sports The Gambler after thisspreads totals and all the prop bets in
between. It's The Gambler Final segment. Time on balls, bets and bets
on this beautiful Friday evening. Greatweekend of football coming up. Obviously coming
towards the end of that college footballseason. Like we were just talking about
NFL, we're in the second half. There's football again. We love it.
(28:57):
We still got plenty of it,but it comes and goes so quickly,
just runs out the door. Sowe got to get those picks in
while we can. And that's whatwe're gonna dive into here. First one
I want to start off with,and I'm gonna it's gonna segue into a
slight other topic to start, butstarting off, first, pick Maryland plus
nineteen versus Michigan reason, there's alot of distractions at Michigan right now.
(29:21):
And I know they're still in defeatand they're still a great team, but
a lot of distractions. And also, guess what this is the week before
Ohio State. I don't think it'sthat easy for Michigan to get up for
this game. Like I think it'severyone's looking forward. Maryland, on the
other hand, is a pretty damngood team. Let's look what the Terrapins
have done so far, pulling uptheir recent games. Give me one second,
(29:41):
oh no dose and trace there wego. Maryland six and four in
the year, went over Nebraska lastweek. They did get blown out by
Penn State. I agree that's anugly, ugly loss, but they had
played Ohio State pretty well. Theydid end up losing by twenty before that,
and they've had a little bit ofa rough stretch here. But it's
(30:02):
their last home game of the year. I think they wake up and cover
the nineteen versus Michigan, especially withall the distractions Michigan has going on on
their side, and one of thosedistractions being the Jim Harbaugh suspension, which
I'll just quickly not gonna spend toomuch time on it. But this feels
like the cards are on the wallfor Harbor to leave Michigan, right,
Like, there's so many things it'sgoing against him and against him. I
(30:25):
mean, I think he's done thingsthat are wrong. Again. The first
suspension he wasn't arguing with, right. He started off the year on a
four game suspension, or maybe itwas a three game suspension, and there's
no arguing about that one. Thisone now, the signs stealing. There's
no evidence supposedly that he actually knewabout it, yet they NCAA still suspended
him. NCAA is an awful organization. We all know they've been run very
(30:48):
poorly for a long time. Idon't know if they got this one right
or not. Again, I don'tknow, Like no one knows if Harball
knew right, Like I struggle tosee how he didn't know. But that
being said, if you have noevidence to suspend somebody without evidence is a
very interesting dilemma Michigan and Harball keepssaying the big to the Big ten,
(31:08):
and the Big ten keeps saying theNCAAA, Hey, there is no evidence
of this. I don't know whatyou're why he's being suspended doesn't matter at
least at this point. NCAA isa judge, jury, and executioner,
and for now has made Harball suspended. He will not be active for this
game or, more importantly, theOhio State game next week. I think
Harble's gonna up leaving Michigan over thisat some point, like there's just too
(31:32):
many things building up in that direction. He's done great. He's been a
great coach for Michigan. While theyhaven't won the national title, they've gotten
really close, and he's built thatup into another dominant program once again.
But I don't see Harball staying inMichigan that much longer if all this stuff
keeps coming down on him. Nextplay pure spread read Miami versus Louisville.
(31:55):
Miami unranked at home, my onepoint favorite, Louisville number nine in the
country in the AP poll. Oneloss. This is this is telling you
all you need to know, thespread, that the fact that Miami's favored
in this game, Miami is goingto win this game. Coming down to
it, Mario Cristobal put a signaturewin on his resume for the season.
Miami's building something they've had been alittle bit up and down this year.
(32:17):
Louisville has had a great season.There's no denying that. I think the
wheels fall off just a little bithere where Miami gets that one done.
Next up another game where the unrankedteam is favored. Clemson favored by seven
and a half points over North Carolina. That it took me a second to
see this one. I'm like,you know what, Clemson's building something a
(32:37):
little bit towards the end here.I had that huge win over Notre Dame,
and North Carolina is very much ahow do I put it there?
Drake May is a great quarterback.They're very offensively driven, but there's some
questions that I just don't fully buyin yet to North Carolina coming off a
(32:59):
double ot win over Duke. Iknow Duke beat Clemson earlier in the year,
but that was with Riley Leonard,that Duke that played last weekend.
They didn't have Riley Leonard. That'sa big difference. I think North Carolina's
going to struggle in this game againstClemson, and I think Clemson is trying
to salvage a little bit of thatseason. They're at home, last home
game of the year before they goover to South Carolina to play in that
(33:19):
rivalry. I think they are goingto beat North Carolina this year. I'm
going to lay the seven and ahalf. I can't believe I'm saying that,
but I'm going to lay the sevenand a half with Clemson to build
up that momentum, to keep thatmomentum rolling over North Carolina. Game of
the weekend after that that coming up, Oregon State versus Washington. Oregon State
is one and a half point favorite, Oregon State number twelve in the nation
(33:42):
in most polls. Washington undefeated atnumber five. Oregon State's dominated at home
nine and won their last ten againstthe spread when they're playing out of corrals.
I think I said that right,Corvalist. Let me get them.
Give the Beavers that pronounce the correctpronunciation. Hold, please, that's bad
work by me. Where is thisCorvallis. Corvallis right, that's gotta be
(34:02):
it. And I don't know whyelse I would have that wording in my
head. Let's see, let's getthe official pronunciation here for all those Beaver
fans out there, Corvallis, Wegot it Research Stadium. That's the game
of the year now for Oregon Stateagain. Oregon State, the team that's
right now left behind, and allthe pactal migrations. I think this is
their super Bowl. I'm actually gonnacall for the upset, go Oregon State
(34:24):
over Washington. I know we're justtalking through all those different scenarios in the
prior segment. This would obviously bea wrench in to that. So I
will take the Beavers to take downthe Huskies there. With the Beavers being
at home dominated against the spread.The next playing College Minnesota, I'll take
twenty seven and a half points ofthem. They're playing Ohio State. Similar
(34:44):
reasoning for Michigan. It's a game. It's Ohio State's game before the big,
the big rivalry coming up next week. I don't see them being able
to stay focused enough to dominate andabsolutely destroy Minnesota. I think Minnesota PJ.
Fleck keep it close. Again,twenty eight and a half points is
or sorry, twenty seven and ahalf points is a ton. I can
(35:05):
see a higher state wins game byeasily fourteen to twenty points, but PJ.
Fly will keep the game, makeit ugly. I think they find
a way to get the get thecover and that's it that game. Lastly,
I'm gonna go under forty six inDuke versus Uva. Duke coming off
a big, running gun game againNorth Carolina. That's not the style they're
gonna have to play against Uva.It's gonna be more controlled going under here,
(35:27):
under forty six in Duke Uva inthat acc action matchup. Next going
jumping over the NFL got four playsfor you. I'm on with the Chargers
over the Packers, laying the threepoints. This is the game. The
Chargers are the most up and downteam in the league for the past several
seasons, but this is a gamethey get. They get people buying into
them again. They have enough offensivepot fire power. I think it's gonna
(35:47):
be tough for the Packers to keepup with Packers great second half team.
We'll probably get off to a slowstart. Yeah, now I'm by I
think the Chargers dominate that one.Next under thirty nine and a half in
Bill versus Jets. This number almostcan't be low enough for me. I
think this is a very ugly game. The Jets defense, we know,
(36:07):
is elite. The Bills offense hasbeen a disaster, and while they might
figure some things out over this restof the season, This is an ugly
one. Zach Wilson and company arenot gonna be able to put up much
on that Bill's defense either. Underthirty nine and a half, I think
this game might be under thirty completehonestly, like this is my favorite pick
of the weekend. I'm under thirtynine and a half in Bill's Jets.
(36:28):
Broncos versus Vikings. I can't believeabout to say these words, but I'm
almost starting to trust the Broncos.I am like they've They've really started to
show me something this because I believeour Sunday night football game, Yes it
is. Broncos are four and five, coming off a win against the Bills
like we saw last week, andthey're on a three game win streak where
they beat the Chiefs and Packers beforethat, including a bye week in the
(36:50):
middle. There the Josh Dobbs,it's a fun story. I just don't
see it lasting very long for theVikings. He's a backup, that's what
he is, and they're missing somefirepower there in Minnesota. I expect the
Broncos to get this win on SundayNight. I really do, and I'm
surprised. I can say that confidentlybut I'm going with the Broncos to get
(37:13):
back to five hundred, laying twopoints there. Lastly, low is total
in the NFL I've seen in along time. Thirty three in Pittsburgh versus
Cleveland. It's that low, folks. You know what I'm doing. I'm
taking the under. They're begging youto take the over, and I just
am not falling for it. CannyPickett nothing impressive. The Browns offense without
(37:34):
Deshaun Watson, nothing impressive. Ithink this is going to be a grind
it out, fight it out,maybe like thirteen to ten game like this
is going to be an ugly one. So give me that under all day,
every day in that one o'clock gamefor Pittsburgh versus Cleveland. That's all
the picks I got for you,guys. I did want a couple more
minutes left, So we'll dive intothis, going back all the way to
(37:57):
our Phillies where we started at thetop of the hour. There's a name
that everyone's been talking about in termsof a trade, and that would be
the fish who now lives out west, mister Mike Trout. And there's a
lot of opinions on what the Philliesthey should do in this situation. If
Trout is available, which it soundslike he is, the Angel's gonna lose
show Heo Tani. They're not goinganywhere. If they can get someone to
(38:21):
eat some of that Trout contract,they're absolutely going to go for it.
Tried to seven years over two hundredmillion left on this deal, so the
lot there, and he's been injured, not playing a full season in about
four or five years at this point, discounting the COVID season in twenty twenty.
I there's a lot of reasons notto do it. The injury risk,
how much it locks you in withthis core for so long, and
(38:45):
you're gonna have a couple ugly yearsin about five years. Like that's just
gonna be a known fact all Philliesfans get ready because that's common even without
this trade with Trout, But itjust makes it all the worse. That
being said, if I can getMike Trout for bearly any minimal prospect gain
or prospect cost and the Angels aregonna pick up some of that contract,
(39:07):
I have to do it. MikeTrout when he's healthy, is still one
of the best players in baseball.You add him to this lineup and it's
the best line up in baseball.I know, the Braves are absolutely incredible.
You add Mike Mike Trout to thisand if he can find a way
to stay healthy, it's the bestlineup in baseball by a decent amount in
my opinion. It's just that strong. And you're also like the fanfare and
(39:30):
the story of it. There's obviouslyalready electricity around Cistins Bank Park. No
one's arguing that it's an incredible atmosphere. But if you bring Mike Trout into
this and things actually go well withthis team, it's just it's it's a
it's a World Series winner, itis. If he can stay healthy,
you are going to propel yourself intobeing probably right there as the favorite for
(39:53):
next season. I'm I understand thehesitation by a lot of folks. A
Again, I'm saying, I don'twant to give up much prospect capital for
it because of the risk we're takingon. So if they are asking for
it, like there's no way they'retouching Andrew Painter right, Like they're getting
some B and C level prospects inthis and maybe look, maybe they would
(40:15):
eat some of the Cats. Maybethey take Castianos and that helps you out
with some contract. Wise, I'dbe okay with that obviously. Look,
I just want Middleton to pay outthe wazoo, like, hey, bring
in keep Castillas and bringing Mike Trout. Just have Trout start instead of Rojas.
If we can make that work,all our dreams come true. Not
being said, I'm not saying thatcan happen, but I'm in the I'm
(40:38):
in the do the deal face,like, Hey, if you can get
Mike Trout, you go get MikeTrout. You take on that risk because
Mike Trout is an all time greatplayer should still by his age, I
have several years left right near hisprime. He's just got to stay healthy.
Last season was a little bit ofthe freak injury of what it's he
hasn't had like a recurring injury.It's just keeps getting broken down with freak
(41:00):
little injuries. I buy in theMic Trock can get this done and get
that and get this team over thehump. I fully believe that. So
that's my pick. I that's myplay I would take. If I the
Phillies, I would go in forMike Trout and pull the trigger get in
there with that, I want torecap our picks again. We're gonna go
Maryland plus nineteen, Miami minus one, Clemson minus seven and a half,
(41:24):
Oregon State minus one and a half, Minnesota plus twenty seven and a half
under forty six in Duke versus Virginia. Then going over to our NFL plays,
Chargers minus three over the Packers underthirty nine and a half, Bill's
Jets, Broncos minus two under thirtythree, and Browns Steelers. Those are
(41:44):
your plays for the weekend. Everybody, thank you for tuning in as always,
much appreciated, stay tuned all yearto the Gambler. And we got
another watch party coming up on Novemberthirtieth, off the double check with Sean
on where that location is. Honestlyforgot to tell me, heav but keep
a lookout for that. Listening tothe ticket, the line change, all
the great shows and content that TheGambler has all these airwaves and also online.
(42:06):
Just incredible guys doing a lot ofgreat work for you out there to
give you the best edge across theboard, and none of your sports plays
and just information all right, Andwith that, let's close out Friday Night
Balls Bats and bets is over fortoday. Folks have a great weekend.
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