Tag: Houston

Tulane Pulled Out the Old Fake Kneel Play to Beat Houston

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LOVE IT! Give me all the trick plays. Tulane pulled the old fake kneel out of their playbook in a tie game with 18 seconds to go. Naturally they immediately followed this up with a 60 yard hail mary TD to win the game in walkoff fashion.

I am an absolute schill for trick plays. I still remember the fake spike Brady connected with Randy Moss on for on a TD against the Washington R-Words in 2007.

Or what about the Ravens pulling out the fake punt direct snap running play against the goddamn Dolphins?

I’ll never forget the double pass the Patriots pulled off against the Ravens in the playoffs in 2014 with Edelman launching a bomb to Danny Amendola for a TD.

Hell in that same game the Patriots were confusing the shit out of the Ravens with their ineligible/eligible lineman formations. So much so that the league immediately changed the rule to prevent this.

Give me all the trick plays, hook and ladders, reverses, you name it; if you have some trickery in your playbook dump em out.

I completely forgot the Patriots also ran this fake kneel play in the Falcons Super Bowl trying to pop a walk off TD at the end of regulation.

When they finally started including trick plays in Madden is when things got real fun. I would bust out a HB toss to a downfield pass at least 5 times a game because if you connect on even one it would cause your buddy to spike his PS4 clicker. Not to mention the fake punt pass play, its just too bad every punter not named Adam Vinatieri has a worse arm than Johnny Damon.

TLDR; major props to Tulane for busting out a ridiculous fake play to help them steal a win. Need more of that in sports.

NBA Conference Finals Preview and Betting Lines

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Here we go guys, this is where the fun really starts. Two of these teams are just four W’s away from the NBA Finals and thank god we won’t be subjected to Golden State vs Cleveland V. No mas. Just look at Rocky as the best example of this. Rocky 1-4 were all awesome and exciting flicks with Rocky 5 being one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. So I’m psyched for some fresh blood this year. But I digress, lets take a look at the Conference Finals matchups.

Golden State Warriors (1) vs Portland Trail Blazers (3)
(Game 1 – Tuesday at 9 pm)

In what ultimately made little difference for the Rockets, Kevin Durant will be out yet again for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday night. Durant is one of the top 3 players in the entire league, but lets not forget just how stacked this Warriors team still is with Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Thats a 2x MVP, a 5x All-Star, and a 3x All-Star/Defensive Player of the Year. Soo yea the Warriors are still in good shape.

It doesn’t sound like Durant is particularly close to returning either though and if he misses multiple games in this series then it starts to become a legitimate threat to the Warriors’ NBA Finals streak.

Unless you’re watching a ton of NBA games, I don’t think many casual fans realized just how good the Portland Trail Blazers are. Everyone knows how good Damian Lillard is 25.8/4.6/6.9 with a ridiculous 28.4 in the playoffs, but his shot just was not falling in Game 7 (13 pts).

Enter CJ McCollum, who is a bad, bad man. After averaging “just” 21 points per game in the regular season, McCollum has jacked that up to 25.6 in the playoffs, including 37 points in a ridiculous Game 7 performance against Denver.

Don’t forget about the brother on brother battle we’ll see with Steph Curry vs Seth Curry. Okay so maybe its not that big of a matchup with Seth only averaging 7.9 ppg to Steph’s 27.3 in the regular season but hey it’s still pretty cool to see two brothers playing against each other in the Western Conference Finals. Man, genetics are a trip.

While I can’t pick against the defending champs until I see them stumble, I really really like this Portland team. I just don’t know if they’ll be able to defend all of the Warriors elite shooters. If Durant misses a couple of games and Lillard and McCollum can keep scoring in the 25-30 points range each night, then I think they’ve got a real shot to dethrone the Warriors.

 

Milwaukee Bucks (1) vs Toronto Raptors (2)
(Game 1 – Wednesday at 8:30 pm)

The Kings in the North now turn their gaze towards conquering the East, which won’t be easy if you saw Giannis Antetokounmpo dropping 30 and 40 point games on the Celtics in the second round. There’s a reason the Bucks were the No. 1 seed in the East and why Giannis was my pick for MVP.

Kawhi Leonard is what Kyrie Irving wants to be when he grows up. Kawhi has singlehandedly willed this Toronto team from an annual playoff disappointment into one on the brink of the NBA Finals. He also produced the biggest shot in Raptors history with the immediately iconic Game 7 buzzer beater three over Joel Embiid.

After being acquired by the Raptors in a risky one year rental he’s proving exactly why it was worth the risk for Toronto. He’s averaging 31.8 points per game in the playoffs, up from 26.6 in the regular season, while also leading the team in rebounds per game at 8.5. This guy is getting it done all over the court.

He literally made Joel Embiid cry for christs sake. And I love Embiid so thats not a knock, but do you know how badly you have to rip a guy’s heart out to make him cry on the court?

Giannis showed just how borderline unstoppable he can be though after personally breaking the Celtics’ will to live. Now do I think the Celtics played garbage defense and failed to adjust to Giannis (and his goddamn spin move)? Yes. Does that mean I think any less of Giannis’ dominance? Hell no.

The Bucks destroyed the Celtics in games 2-5 in a gentleman’s sweep, but had huge performances from guys that aren’t exactly household names like George Hill, Pat Connaughton (did you know he’s from Massachusetts?!), and Ersan Ilyasova. Thats not exactly a second unit I would bet my mortgage on, but the Bucks moved like a well oiled machine with everyone playing a specific role, so what do I know? They were the No. 1 seed after all.

We’ll also get more of Mallory Edens on national TV too and thats never a bad thing.

Ultimately, the 2019 Finals could very well be the long-predicted battle between the Warriors and Bucks, who are -550 and -300 favorites to oust the Trail Blazers (+375) and Raptors (+250), respectively. Any bettors out there looking for a great mobile betting experience prior to betting should check out this site. In terms of valued odds, you could definitely do a lot worse than Portland at +275 to win Game 1 vs Golden State. The Blazers have been road warriors in the playoffs and won’t be at a size disadvantage with Kevin Durant out. Golden State is susceptible when opponents beat them on the offensive glass, and Portland is the third-best offensive rebounding team in the league (regular season and playoffs).

While I’m bummed the Celtics bowed out like absolute dogs, we’ve got some awesome storylines to keep an eye on in the Conference Finals regardless. Who ya got? Tweet me @The300sBoston and let me hear it.

With Ryan Fitzpatrick Joining His Third AFC East Team, I Have Found the Perfect Group Halloween Costume

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I remember seeing this idea a few years back when Jaromir Jagr was playing for the Bruins en route to finishing his NHL career having played for 9 teams over 24 years.

Well I would say we’ve officially reached that point with Ryan Fitzpatrick. Everyone’s favorite gigantic bearded, wedding ring wearing, smart as hell, bridge quarterback will join his 8th NFL team in Miami this season. It also will mark him playing for 3/4ths of the AFC East. So who knows, maybe if he kicks around for a couple of more years he could complete the rounds and be a veteran backup QB to the next great Patriots signal caller? We can only hope.

So if 7 of my other friends want to create the greatest Halloween costume of the season, the Ryan Fitzpatrick group costume is the way to go boys.

James Harden Took 18 Three Pointers Last Night and No One Batted An Eye

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Okay, granted he hit half of them, but James Harden took EIGHTEEN threes last night and no one even batted an eye. No one except my man, Chuck.

Eighteen three pointers is absolutely insane. It was more than double the amount anyone else on either team took last night. Again, yes he hit 9 of them so he shot .500 from behind the arc and scored 45 points but holy hell what a stat line. He only made TWO shots inside the three point line all night. The reigning MVP scored 4 points inside the arc. Analytics will probably say he was taking the best available shots based on his shooting percentage, but thats still mind boggling to think about. Getting 17 foul shots and hitting 14 of them helps alleviate that a bit, but damn. It’s not like he’s JJ Reddick who can only score when he’s out deep away from lockdown defenders either.

Harden leads the league in 3 point attempts and 3 pointers made despite not even being in the Top 100 in 3 Point % among players with at least 50 3 point attempts. Daniel Theis has a better 3 point % than Harden!

But hey, 45 points is 45 points. If it’s such a crime against humanity the Celtics should have, ya know, guarded the 3 point line a little better.

I touched on this phenomenon a little bit when I blogged about how, unfortunately, Kendrick Perkins saw the game pass him by as everyone became a three point shooter. You could blame Steph Curry, but the game had been trending this way for a while.

“[From] 2010-11 the average 3 point attempts per game around the league have nearly doubled from 18 attempts per game to 31.3 per game this season. In the previous 8 seasons before that, average 3 point attempts per game had only increased about three from a low of 14.7 in 2002-03. So no one could have predicted the game completely changing the way it has.”

Somewhere Charles Barkley just shakes his head in disbelief.

 

 

The Patriots Back Door Their Way Into the No. 2 Seed and a First Round Bye!

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This is why you play the game people! Are the Bills and the Jets a mere formality for the Patriots to close out the season? I hope. Of course. But the Patriots needed some outside help for the first time in a long time and old friend Nick Foles did just that as the Eagles knocked off the Texans behind his 400+ yard day. This was not a regular back door cover though as the Texans were doing everything they could to steal a W. Seriously, just look at this play from Deshaun Watson that set up the Texans TD to take the lead with less than 2 minutes to go.

Naturally I was shouting at my TV cussing out the Eagles like it was February all over again, but the enigma that is Nick Foles wasn’t ready to go home yet. Despite nearly getting his sternum broken in half by Jadeveon Clowney, he missed 1 play, came back and led the Eagles to a game winning FG.

The Patriots win coupled with the Texans loss moves New England back into the No. 2 seed and back into the driver seat as they, somehow, once again control their own destiny. LETS. GO.

Now just don’t implode against Sam Darnold and the Jets next Sunday and we’ll all be resting our ailing MCLs on Wild Card Weekend.

Lets get to a few rapid reactions from this Patriots Bills game that, despite a slow start and a less than ideal game from Tom Brady, ended up being a 24-12 blowout.

-Tom Brady did not look great. He finished the day 13/24 for 126 yards 1 TD and 2 INT, which gives him 11 on the year, his most since 2013. One of those picks came on a deflection off Gronk’s banana hands that should have been an easy catch and the other came on a miscommunication with Rex Burkhead zigging when Brady thought he was going to zag. But, he still had a lot of missed throws and generally seemed out of sync all day aside from the Edelman TD.

-Two reasons for concern moving forward though.

-I take little joy in this win in of itself because Josh Allen is AWFUL. Yes, the guy can scramble and has an absolute cannon for an arm, but the guy has worse accuracy than Tebow.

-Rob Gronkowski looked straight up old in this game. He was on the sidelines in favor of Dwayne Allen on a lot of early downs as the Pats ran the ball almost exclusively to open the game. Gronk used to be one of, if not the, best blocking tight ends in the NFL though so this is concerning. He couldn’t really get open and even when he did he was dropping bunnies.

-Josh McDaniels continues to mystify me with his shitty play calling in big spots. It obviously didn’t seriously jeopardize the Patriots’ chances of winning the game, but some of McDaniel’s play calls were real head scratchers.

A win is a win is a win though and the Patriots improve to 10-5 on the season with one game to go. Mattes will break down this game a little bit further later this week and preview next Sunday’s regular season finale against the Jets!

Is Kyrie Irving Courting Carmelo Anthony?

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Reports came out over the weekend that the Houston Rockets are about to part ways with Carmelo Anthony after just 12 games. Then we get this vague quote from Kyrie Irving alluding to the Celtics needing a 15 year vet (like Carmelo) to help out? Kyrie, lets not mess up a good thing here. Sure the Celtics are currently tanking on a roadtrip of their own losing 4 of their last 5, but for a team that puts a premium on defense, moving the ball, and everyone being multi-faceted, adding a 33-year-old iso guy is not the solution.

I remember we all had delusions of grandeur when there were rumors of a Rajon Rondo-Carmelo-Kevin Love Big Three. And I was all in on that. Mostly because I was an impatient fan looking for anything to jump start a post KG/Pierce/Allen Celtics team that had fallen on hard times.

Thats why I’m not a GM.

Danny Ainge instead opted to play the long game and put this team in arguably the most enviable position in the NBA with the current collection of players and draft capital.

So I’m not saying I’ve never wanted Carmelo, but just look at recent history and you’ll see this is not a guy the Celtics want to add. If he were a through and through 3 point guy, then I could see adding the veteran, similar to how the Heat brought on Ray Allen in 2012 just to drain wide open corner threes. But Melo is a career 34% shooter from three. That would be good enough for 168th in the NBA this season.

While it is tempting to add another elite ball handler, shooter, playmaker — this isn’t 2010. This isn’t the “I’m Coming Home” Knicks Melo. This is 2018 Melo who has averaged 22.4, 16.3, and 13.4 points per game the past 3 seasons on 3 different teams. Thats not a coincidence.

Hoodie Melo though? Give me Hoodie Melo and we can talk…

Did Eric Gagne Save the Red Sox Season?

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WEEI – Eleven years after leaving town, Gagne finally got his save for the Sox. It was locked up while sitting in the living room of his Arizona home, but it was a save nonetheless. A big one.  The story started just about 18 years ago when the kid from Montreal befriended an infielder who came from Puerto Rico. Gagne was a relief pitcher. Alex Cora was a utility player. Both had plenty of time on their hands while living life as Dodgers. They started a hobby: Identifying pitchers who were tipping their pitches…

The pitcher he witnessed Tuesday night, Craig Kimbrel, wasn’t one of the more difficult ones. For Gagne, it was pretty clear what was going on. As far as the former pitcher was concerned, the Red Sox closer’s high-wire act against the Astros in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series was no accident.

It was enough evidence that Gagne felt obligated to reach out to his old friend, and the new manager of the Red Sox…“Nowadays you don’t even need to talk to people, it’s perfect,” he said. “I just sent him a message saying, ‘Hey Craig, I’m not sure if you care about these things but I’m friends with Alex and I’ve been seeing this or that. I think you should sit down to look at it. It’s an easy fix. It’s not that difficult. You might change your set-up, but that’s not that big of a deal.’ It was a pretty easy fix once he knew what he was doing.”

What a wild story from an unlikely source. Remember our old friend Eric Gagne? The guy who at one point in time was the most dominant closer in all of baseball. The guy who once converted 84 save opportunities straight. The guy who Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox traded for as a “luxury, not a necessity” on a stacked 2007 team. As we all know, Gagne was absolutely abysmal for the Sox, finishing with a 6.75 ERA in 20 games. He fell so far that the Sox big trade deadline acquisition only pitched 4.1 innings in the 07 playoffs. Well, THAT guy might have just saved the 2018 Red Sox season.

Gagne spoke with Rob Bradford and told him how, from his couch, he was able to pick up that Craig Kimbrel was apparently tipping his pitches. Does that explain Kimbrel’s complete inability to find the plate in the playoffs thus far? No, but it does explain how basically everyone he’s faced has had more plate discipline than a monk and was pretty much ready for whatever he did get over the plate.

This is why you never burn any bridges. Gagne and Cora were two guys that came up together in the Dodgers minor league system and bonded over watching film and figuring out who was tipping pitches. Pretty obscure hobby for a super utility player and a 30th Round Draft pick turned stud closer. Moral of the story, ya just never know who’s going to come out of left field and throw you a bone. If Gagne doesn’t reach out to his old friend with some advice on why his all-star closer is suddenly a disaster on the mound, then maybe they don’t fix anything and we’re looking at another disappointing Red Sox postseason performance.

Kudos to Cora for accepting and welcoming the constructive criticism from an old teammate. How many managers would have just scoffed at a player that is “out of baseball” offering up criticism of his All-Star closer while watching at home on TV?

Was Gagne a bum for the Sox? Absolutely. But any time a guy with 187 career saves wants to throw out some advice for a struggling Boston bullpen then I am all ears. If Kimbrel is back to his 1-2-3 ways in the 9th inning then I think we all owe Gagne a beer, preferably one brewed by his 2007 Red Sox teammate Kevin Youkilis.

Editorial: How Many Games Should Tom Brady Be Suspended For The Astros “Spy Phone” Scandal

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So in case you have not heard the biggest non-baseball story coming out of the ALCS, the Houston Astros basically planted a spy who had a camera in his phone (??!!!!) in the credentialed media area near the Sox dug out at Fenway and he was snapping pictures of signs or something for Houston’s use. (Editor’s note: Red gave his take on the allegations the other day.)

You can read about it here , courtesy of Sb Nation, if you like. It is truly a despicable, unethical, borderline treasonous case of a baseball team sullying the great game of baseball, our national past time. But that is not why we are here. We are here to ask the obvious question: what should Tom Brady’s penalty for this heinous atrocity be?

First there was Spy Gate. Which was a Belichick story but probably masterminded by Brady. Then there was Deflate-Gate, what we THOUGHT was Brady’s Magnum Opus, where he actually mutilated official game equipment to attain a competitive edge. But now this. Now the Astros have placed a spy next to their opponent’s, the home team no less, dugout in order to steal signs and warn their batter that a 1000mph fastball might be rocketed in their general direction. What a Godless man Tom Brady is.

If I know Roger Goodell? At least a season suspension. Possibly two. If he wants to timidly limp back onto the football field after that, disgraced and old, then fine. But there is no way Tom Brady cannot pay for what the Houston Astros have done. There’s just no way.

If only there were an attorney good enough to get Brady out of this, but alas. Our QB is doomed by his own behavior. Maybe next time he will think before the ”Stros put a man with a spy phone camera thing in the credentialed media area.

I weep for the next generation.

Yours truly,
-Joey B.

 

 

Red Sox Look to Close Out Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS Tonight

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Everything has gone the Red Sox way this postseason. Everything. From Nathan Eovaldi looking like Curt Schilling, to Brock Holt hitting for the cycle, to hitting the instant replay jackpot last night and Andrew Benintendi making that catch, I mean everything. Alex Cora has been good, but he has to have a horseshoe in his back pocket. It’s better to be lucky than good, the old expression goes, but so far this month Alex Cora has been both.

The Red Sox now have a commanding 3-1 lead over the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series. In baseball history, teams with a 3-1 lead in a best-of-seven series have won the series 71 out of 84 times (84.5%). Here’s a quick look at what’s on tap for Game 5:

  • Location: Minute Maid Park (Houston, Texas)
  • First Pitch: Thursday, October 18, 8:09 PM EDT
  • TV: TBS
  • Odds (via Odds Shark): Astros -1.5 (runline) / Astros -200 (moneyline) / 8 (total)

Justin Verlander and the Astros have their backs against the wall, but are big favorites in Game 5. It’s not hard to see why, as the Astros ace pitched very well in Houston’s only win so far in this series. In two starts this postseason Verlander is 2-0, allowing four runs on just four hits in 11.1 innings of work. The Red Sox will counter with David Price.

awkward michael scott GIF

There are two ways to look at this if you are a Red Sox fan. On the one hand, Price’s playoff struggles are well documented and he’ll be going on short rest against one of the best pitchers of this era. On the other hand, the Red Sox are up 3-1 in the series and even if they get dusted in Game 5 they’ll still have two more chances to close out the Astros at home this weekend. Could that allow Price to pitch without the weight of the world on his left shoulder?

chris farley idk GIF

Your guess is as good as mine. But if Price does get shelled and the the Red Sox are down five or six runs early, he might just have to wear it. There’s no sense in emptying out the bullpen if the game’s not even close. That’s why last night’s win was so huge. It allows the Red Sox to punt on Game 5 if it goes sideways and focus on getting their house in order for Game 6.

The Astros would appear to be the easy bet tonight but at +170 the Red Sox may offer some good value, especially when you consider that everything has gone their way this postseason. So who knows. Maybe just bet the over and crack a Lone Star Beer? If these games are going too late for you, at least the over should hit before you call it a night.

Red Sox Are One Win Away from the World Series After an All-Time Classic ALCS Game

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This is why it’s impossible to beat the drama of playoff baseball. No other sport’s intensity kicks up as much as MLB in the postseason. I mean aside from the 9 pm start time and the 1:30 am finish, that game was incredible. Unforgettable. Classic. It wasn’t without it’s controversy though.

So with the 8:39 pm start time I already knew I was in trouble because I am old and #washed. I started fading in the 7th inning. Luckily I have a Cosmo Kramer-like internal alarm clock that woke me up in time for the 9th inning.

Boy am I glad I saw that shit show. I almost threw up in my bed watching Craig Kimbrel nearly give the game away. Seriously this guy has been the only member of the Boston bullpen fans have felt somewhat confident in all year. Ever since the playoffs hit he’s been a wild, erratic, mess of a closer. Kimbrel threw 35 pitches over 2 IP last night, with only 19 for strikes.

In case you missed this tightrope walk, let me give you a quick summary of how the bottom of the 9th went with the Sox up 2 and their $13 Million closer on the mound.

  • Yuli Gurriel pops out. 1 out.
  • 5 pitch walk to Josh Reddick.
  • 5 pitch walk to Carlos Correa. Winning run is now at the plate.
  • Brian McCann flies out. 2 outs.
  • Alex Cora mound visit. I legit thought he was going to bring David Price into the game here.
  • 6 pitch walk to Tony Kemp, the NUMBER NINE HITTER. Bases loaded.
  • Alex Bregman (.286/31 HR/103 RBI/51 Doubles) steps to the plate with the bases chucked. He’s also hitting .350 in the postseason this year.
  • Bregman hits a sinking liner to LF that had me standing up in my bed. Andrew Benintendi is sprinting in with the game on the line and LAYS OUT TO MAKE THE DIVING CATCH.

Holy shit, what a game. Even Sox radio play by play announcer Joe Castiglione nearly had a heart attack watching that final play.

But Kimbrel, what the hell man? Now I gotta worry about you imploding at every opportunity? You shall henceforth be referred to as Byung-hyun Kim-brel

Now lets get to the catch everyone is talking about. Mookie Betts made an all-time classic play that will be played at his Hall of Fame induction and Astros fans will be analyzing that play for years to come like it’s the Zapruder film.

Back. And to the Left.

Hey, Adult Jeffrey Maier, keep your hands to yourself. Mookie makes that catch 100 times out of 100 if unimpeded. Cowboy Joe West got it right.

Mookie’s absolute hose of a throw in the bottom of the 8th will be forgotten because of how much went on last night but that was another series altering play for Betts in a week full of them.

It also makes me laugh hysterically that this is the hill Evan Drellich will die on. He must have tweeted no less than a dozen times about the play and how awful of a call it was. Just a quick reminder that Drellich was the Astros beat writer for nearly three years.

But moving on to more important matters. Assuming the Red Sox don’t blow this whole series now do you realize something?

JACKIE BRADLEY JR IS YOUR ALCS MVP!

I feel bad for Adam Jones’ mentions on twitter, but holy hell when Jackie gets hot he gets HOT.

JBJ must feel like this right now:

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the disaster that nearly was. After YEARS of fans ripping David Price for his lack of big game performances, Cora had him ready to go with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. You think Price actually wanted the ball there?

Game 5 is tonight and David Price gets the ball with a chance to get his first postseason win ever…oh and with a chance to send the Red Sox to the World Series! First pitch is at 8:09 pm so don’t sleep now!