Search
Login
Sign Up
Feb 26, 2026
A Numbers Game | February 26, 2026 | Hour 1
A Numbers Game | February 26, 2026 | Hour 1
00:00
48:03
1×
Transcript
0:01
The numbers tell the story, they always do. It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a numbers game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Thursday morning to you.
0:10
It is the Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, VSiN.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV, and of course Sirius XM Channel 158. Gil Alexander, Kelly Midlen on this Thursday. Zach and Crack on a Thursday.
0:23
Crack returns. The return. Return of the Crack. Once again. I believe, I believe those are the lyrics. Uh, Bill Krackenberger. I even know that one. What's that? Never mind, I said once again.
0:33
Even though I even know that one. You do know that one. Throwing back, yeah. Mark Morrison, by the way, the o- the, uh, artist, I think he was, like, on, immediately sent to jail after that became a number one hit.
0:41
He, like, had some outstanding something. Really? Oh, yeah. It's a whole thing. I'm gonna look up the history on that one. Okay. Uh, Bill Krackenberger unscripted later on the show.
0:46
Zach Cohen before that, little NBA and tennis talk. Perhaps he has some tennis plays around the globe. I have a couple coming up here on a choppy hardcore season for me. Uh, Zach will do that. We'll talk NFL awards.
0:58
We'll do Are We Sure? And I don't wanna bury the headline, 'cause Crack's always the headline on a Crack day, but Joe Peta, part two, MLB, MLB season preview. Even I don't really know what's coming up today.
1:10
I know there's a Mets 2026 profile, but there's also some 2025 case studies that he wants to talk about as well. We'll do that with Joe Peta.
1:20
Um, I made a couple bets here literally in the last 15 minutes before the show. Would you like to hear 'em? Baseball? Would you like to hear 'em? Here they go. Baseball bets? No. Oh, okay. Uh, one, college basketball.
1:32
Just bet UConn. Kansas. Oh, no. [laughs] Kansas? Uh, I just, I, it was sort- Hey, you know what?
1:39
Good for you and Jim Root, though, for being the first human beings I've heard i- uh, name a team other than the University of Florida in the past, like, seven weeks. Florida would be...
1:48
If I was gonna bet someone else- No, I get it... it would be Florida. I get it. But in the same way that I got Indiana for the college football title at 10 to 1, not, you know, as sexy a number as others did,
1:58
it sure felt good when the 10 to 1 cashed. Uh, UConn at 16 to 1 after they just... And I, I really wish I had done this before yesterday, but of course if I, I wasn't heady about it. But they just crushed St.
2:08
John's yesterday, 72 to 40. 40. Snapping the Red Storm's 13-game winning streak. Uh, Terance Reed Jr, 20 points, 11 boards, 6 blocks. They held St. John's to 20% shooting. Is that good, 20%? Yeah, that's pretty good.
2:24
Um- Also trying to re- uh, missed their final 24 field goals. Yeah. Field goal attempts. 24. [laughs] Final 24. Final 24. You can watch basketball from here to eternity and not see that again, perhaps. Yeah.
2:37
Um, unless, of course, you know, it's different. A, a, you know, a high school level kind of thing, where one team is just horrific. But this g- this was a bet that I was gonna make anyway.
2:48
If you remember with Jim Root on earlier this- Mm-hmm... earlier in the week, I was like, "Okay, if one of these teams that isn't currently qualifying in the formula is gonna win it all, who is it?"
2:54
And I said, "Bang, UConn," and he did as well. UConn will qualify, I would imagine, by the next time we do this formula next week, uh, in 3.0. So UConn 72, St. John's 40.
3:05
So UConn 16 to 1, 'cause I just, I couldn't wait any longer, just wanna have that in pocket. And then, uh, literally seconds before we came on air, a few bankroll building Love is Blind bets on Calci, Kelly. Oh, nice.
3:17
Yeah. For those who are down, these are all nos. Nos to get married. No. Hold on. I need to pull this up. Go ahead. No. I'm gonna do the same th- the same thing as the odds.
3:28
I'm not even gonna, I'm not even gonna bet these- Right... but I, but I just wanna see them. All right. This is great. Mike, who is dating Emma, 85% no. I'm just gonna go to Love is Blind, I'm guessing.
3:39
Uh, Love is Blind married. No, Love is Blind engaged. Oh, oh. Remember, they're all engaged. Who will get married? Yeah. Mike 85%. He's dating Emma. DeVante, 90%, dating Brittney.
3:49
That dude, no chance that guy's getting married. We'll bet, bet nos? We're betting nos. They're all nos. Okay, yeah. These are all just bankroll builders for, for small profit. These are- This is gonna take one week.
3:57
Oh, yeah. Th- this is- 'Cause I mean- This is a good call. This is, this, this is still, in my opinion, the best reason for Calci. The best re- whenever you have a defined timeline, right?
4:06
Like, is there gonna be an 8.0 earthquake by the end of the month? Right. Now, I don't know if that one exists this month, but February 26, oh, at least we only have a couple more days for it, right?
4:14
And then you know it, it cashed. So this is just one week of Love is Blind. It's, it's so sad how much bigger this is than some of the sports things because- Oh, it's incredible...
4:20
they have their own, like, profile pictures next to them. Bro. Yes. Like, we can't even get team logos and stuff with sports. I love thi- I love that you go into sports mode.
4:27
[laughs] I'm still in, yeah, I'm in sports fan mode. And then Ashley, 90% no with that serial pathological liar, Alex. If she gets married to him, not only is love blind, it's also deaf. She's just looking the other way.
4:40
She's l- she's listening the other way. She wants to be married so bad. See, they put the profile pictures, but they're not big enough for me to actually see them. I know. So now I have- I noticed that as well.
4:47
That's why you gotta be a viewer. Yeah, but now I have to go to the we- I'm sure there's a website with the cast of characters. Oh, there is. Yeah. Mike, DeVante, Ashley. No, no, no. Mike.
4:56
Your Love is Blind, your Love is Blind betting place. There you go. All right, uh, we have a, uh... First of all, let's do the tennis picks first. Tennis picks.
5:03
Yesterday we split the ones on the show for a very small profit, two-plus money plays early in the morning, and then I added two late. They, they both lost late. Hm. Um, so it's been, it's been a little choppy.
5:13
We got two plays on the women's side today again. Um, these in Austin or Merida, I can't even keep track anymore where these are, 'cause this is just the, the, again, the strange week before the Sunshine Double.
5:25
Sunshine Double coming up, which is Indian Wells and Miami, two hard courts. Uh, Indian Wells, slow hard courts, Miami much faster hard courts, but those are both 1.000s for both men and women.
5:36
So th- this is just sort of the, the week before the storm, if you will. Uh, I am on two plays. Kimberly Birrell, play number one. Um, play number one, Kimberly Birrell going up against- She's in Austin...
5:48
she's in Austin, going up against Caroline Dolehide. Birrell's a minus 128 favorite, and right now, what is her price? She is- You know, 118 at DraftKings... you get, you can get better.
5:57
Yeah, you get about 10 cents better than I got her at last night. And then Zeyneb Sanli. The Turk plus 108 versus Ann Li. That one is in Merida, I believe. Uh, Zeynep Sönmez right now, she's, oh, she's minus 106.
6:13
I got a much better number last night. I wouldn't play at any higher than minus 110, let's put it that way.
6:18
So you got a better price on Burrell, a worse price on Sönmez, but those are the two plays in tennis for me today. I remember this happening with hard courts.
6:26
You know, this tennis season's basically hard courts, then it goes to clay, then it goes to grass real briefly, and back to hard courts. That's generally the whole thing.
6:33
Hard courts is always the, the one we usually kill on. But I remember last year, the early hard court one didn't go as well either. The, the late one, we c- remember when Wimbledon, when Wimbledon was ending- Yeah...
6:42
to the end of the season- That's when you were crushing... it was destroyed. But y- this happened last year too with the early hard courts, so maybe the data hasn't manifested quite in the same way it used to.
6:49
If I'm counting right, there are a dozen tennis tournaments live in action right now over at DraftKings. That is- Yeah. Well, some of them are challengers. Yeah. And some of them are- A lot of ITFs in there.
7:02
A lot of 125 in there, but there's really five main events going on. But they're in- but time zones this week all across, all across the, the time zones right now globally, from Dubai to Austin, Texas. Mm-hmm.
7:18
Acapulco, Merida, Santiago, Chile for the clay court tournament, which I'm not even bothering with right now. Not gonna deal, 'cause there's too many matches. So anyway, those are the two tennis plays.
7:27
And then we have a brain dead parlay on, a- after a night where we did not play a brain dead parlay in the NBA. Let's do it tonight. Full, not a full slate, but a much more robust slate.
7:38
Uh, we hit the first one we did two days ago, which got 78 cents on the dollar. This one's only 50 cents on the dollar. But you know what? NBA brain dead parlay, we're just gonna add them up. Mm-hmm. Today,
7:49
in the National Basketball Association, we'll flash up the, uh, the stats too here, the, uh, the updated stats on these, uh, tanking teams. But tonight's is Charlotte, San Antonio, and Atlanta.
7:59
Charlotte is taking on the Indiana Pacers. Oh, pardon, what did I say? Hornets, Spurs, Hawks. What did I say? Okay. Yeah, Charlotte, San Antonio, Atlanta.
8:08
Uh, Hornet, Hornets are- [laughs] We did the same thing yesterday... yeah, Hornets are taking on the Pacers, Spurs are taking on the Brooklyn Nets, and the Hawks are taking on the Wizards.
8:17
So that pays almost exactly 50 cents on the dollar.
8:20
And again, with these books, right, they're aware this is going on, so they're gonna make this more difficult for us and they're gonna jack up some of these money lines, but that's not gonna stop us, 'cause these teams don't care.
8:30
What'd you think about last night in the NBA? What'd you think about Detroit and OKC? OKC without SGA and, and injuries mounting. Yeah, man. Isaiah Joe leaves too. I, and this is another one.
8:39
Complete co-sign on this, Gil, 'cause I have two of these legs, uh, in, in something that I played, uh, we'll get to in a little bit as well.
8:45
H- uh, Hawks, I think the o- the only thing I would say about them is just w- Jalen Johnson,킬 Alexander Walker, both questionable, but we talked about that yesterday when we, or the other day when we got that timing question, right?
8:56
When's the best time to make these open, closed, somewhere in between? It's, there's gonna be injury information a lot that you might not have a full grasp, uh, on yet.
9:05
But, uh, yeah, man, Isaiah Joe leaving for, uh, the Thunder, that's big. Um, Pistons get back at it. That, that was a... Did you see the numbers moving all day yesterday on that game?
9:14
Like, the, the Thunder didn't- Oh, it was incredible. Yeah, yeah. So that was a very much- The, the number really mattered last night... v- very much where you got that at. Yep.
9:23
If you, I know there was a lot of people running to lay it with, with the Pistons, and man, all day I just kept like pa- [laughs] like even if these, all these Thunder players don't play, I'm like, "The Thunder are catching eight and a half, nine and a half, 10 and a half points now."
9:34
Um, and yeah, win by, Pistons win by eight, so yeah, depe- absolutely depends on where you got that at.
9:38
Then there was also the, there was also the Cleveland number that crashed yesterday too, although that, that didn't matter in the end what the number was there. Yeah, that was nice. Me and Danny were- Yeah...
9:45
sitting downstairs when that all came down. I was like, "Huh, this is, I'll take eight and a half of the Bucs right now, thank you."
9:50
Do we have the, uh, the latest, uh, tanking trustworthiness tiers with the latest updated, uh, the, the streaks? Do we have that? Yeah, here it is. Um, the, the, the top category, we kind of nailed that one.
10:01
We don't even need to repeat the not trustworthy at all. Pelicans don't have any reason to tank, as their pick gets conveyed to the Hawks. Uh, Hornets too good at basketball to be considered a tanking team.
10:11
And the Bucs keep winning. They've won 8 of 10. I, I think those two, you, we, you just gotta move off the graphic, Gil. Yes. I just, that's what I just said. Yeah, I think we gotta remove those completely. That's done.
10:20
Off the graphic. Bucs might make the playoffs. Hor- Hornets- Yep... might make it out of the play-in. Don't need the, shouldn't even be part of this discussion anymore.
10:26
Somewhat trustworthy, uh, Pacers have lost eight of 10. Remember, we are, uh, fading them in a money line situation with the Hornets tonight. Wizards have lost 16 of 22.
10:37
Remember, the Wizards, they're actually six and seven in their last 13. But, uh, I think, uh, Atlanta can take care of them tonight.
10:46
And then trustworthy though, uh, against other t- though, though not against other tanking teams, the Grizzlies have lost 13 of 16. The Nets have lost 23 of 28. We are fading the Nets with the Spurs tonight.
10:58
And then who I consider the extremely trustworthy, the Bulls, Kings, Mavs, and Jazz. The Bulls, uh, have lost 10 in a row, 13 of 14. The Kings, 17 [laughs] of 18.
11:10
The Mavs, 10 of 12, although the Mavs have won their last two. Oh, yeah, don't, uh, don't worry, Cooper Flagg on the bench again tonight. So, uh- Yeah... Mavericks will mess around and win another game.
11:19
And the Jazz, supreme tankers, maybe not by the lost 15 of 19, but basically by their actions during games. Dude, the, the- Despite a half-million-dollar fine, they've lost 15 of 19.
11:28
The, the, once again, the individual paths that each team is taking is ju- is just fantastic. Eric Bledsoe, Woodhorse, and, and, uh, Nick Wale brought it up about the Grizzlies yesterday.
11:38
W- Woodhorse called it a master class in tanking with what Memphis is doing. It's like, "Here's your hard minute limits for like eight, eight of you." [laughs] We'll come back.
11:47
Um, Joe Petta, Bill Krackeburger, Zack Cohen, and more coming up. You're here because you want an edge. That's what separates listeners from winners. But let's be real, mindset alone doesn't get bets home.
11:58
Pros win because they've got the tools, the data, and the discipline. And now so can you. VSiN Pro gives you access to the same real-time insights the sharps use.
12:07
No secrets, no fluff, just actionable info that moves markets. Tap the link and see why serious bettors are turning knowledge into profit with VSiN Pro Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more.
12:21
That's Toyota affordability, and it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.
12:27
Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks.
12:34
Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between.
12:40
Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday.
12:47
And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.
12:57
And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value, so you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota.
13:05
From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.
13:18
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Wanna bet smarter? Start with smarter insights.
13:30
Right now you can check out Greg Peterson's College Basketball Best Bets, Michigan State-Purdue preview, and Steve Macaten's Duramax Texas Grand Prix simulation. Wow.
13:39
Later today you can check out Tyler Shoemaker's men and, men's and women's college basketball projections, Zach Cohen's NBA picks, Jonathan Davis' NHL best bets.
13:47
Right now you can get VSiN Pro access through May 1st for just 29.99 with our Hoops Mania special. Sign up today at vsin.com/subscribe.
13:54
We brought up that whole, uh, you know, off the Olympics, all these players with, uh, Jay Kahn earlier in the week. I was like, "Hey, okay, Vegas has the most players that played in the- Mm-hmm...
14:04
Olympics," uh, or at least they had the most that, that ended up on both the USA and Canada team. Is this the thing? Vegas Golden Knights win last night. First game back.
14:12
So I'm glad I didn't- [laughs] I'm glad I didn't dip my toe into that. Yeah, I mean. Yeah. The NBA tanking- I think it would-... much more, much more reliable...
14:19
I think it would take a lot, a lot to convince me and you to swing over to an NHL side- Oh, yes... for a regular season game. Yes it would. Yes it would. And that was, yeah, I was, uh- Maybe we're not the guys...
14:29
even I sheepishly brought it up right end of the show yesterday. It's like, well, I guess if you have more confidence than we do about one of these NHL scenarios, you could consider that neat with your tanking parlay.
14:38
But yeah, not, not something I did, not something I'm gonna do. We get Sweet Speed in the book.
14:42
Montreal Max, our buddy starter at Stardust Book, he says, "Are we getting the band back together for our unscripted Thursday with Crack at noon Eastern?" Yes, we is. You see this from Paulie 68? Brock Bowers.
14:54
I know, I just sent this to Danny to, it confirm that is a r- actual, actual real thing. Oh, right, 'cause you never know what's AI, what's not. Right. I, I mean just, that could just be photoshopped. I don't even know.
15:03
But you know what? And well, first of all, what we're talking about is that Brock- [laughs]... Brock Bowers is- Great for the radio... what do we say? Follicly challenged. Yeah. As a young man. Yeah.
15:12
And so there's a picture, I don't know if this is real, of him at, in, going to [laughs] Paulie 68 says, "Going to Turkey for the old stitch and weave." You know what? Good for him if he did. Yeah, man. Yeah.
15:22
Good for him if he did. Whatever makes you feel better about yourself. Absolutely. He's too young for that. Trotsky- And when you got a ton of money, it makes it, things a little easier. I will say that for you.
15:32
It, it's amazing what you care about at twen- yeah, 25, what you should not care about at 55, you know? Mm-hmm. I'm with him. Uh, Trotsky, John Osher, "Hey Gil, I have a hard take on hyphenated last names."
15:42
Oh, this is interesting. Where'd this come from? "Wondering where you fall on this. My take is every couple that thinks they're honoring family and tradition by holding onto both last names is supremely selfish.
15:50
Suppose your kid wants the same triple names?" That's a very good point by Souther- by, uh, Trotsky. I don't know where that came from, but. It's fe- fe- fe- Trotsky, you need to talk, man?
15:59
Like, hit, hit me up in the DMs. [laughs] That's right. It feels like you're going through something, dude. But, but now keep in mind, there's some cultural things, right?
16:05
In, like, in Spain there, the, it, it, you honor it by, by using both last names. But he's talking about American hyphens, I guess.
16:12
Southern Capper, "Wasn't expecting Love Is Blind spoilers when turning into Gil this fine morning." There's not spoilers. I don't know anything. Those are just bets. I don't know who's getting married, who's not.
16:22
I was really hoping Trotsky was going with the h- how do you feel about the hyphenated first name, like our, our friend John Erik Sullivan, who's- Oh, yeah... running the Miami Dolphins now.
16:29
Isn't there a little part of you when you say that name that just winces a little bit inside? Yeah, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well. It, it irritates me, but, like, there might be a very good reason.
16:36
I'm gonna give him, I'm gonna give him a break for now, Gil, but it, yeah, I don't, I don't love it. I don't love it. See what Danny Bermett is doing with our, uh, brain dead parlays?
16:44
He's trying to, he's trying to get a better price. He's saying, "Take all three favorites to win by one and a half, get the parlay down to minus 131." See, people always wanna get frisky with these things. Hey, man.
16:55
Danny, you do you. You do you, yeah. I mean, Gil's gonna keep making 'em. He'll keep tracking 'em and whatever you feel more comfortable with. Eli E.
17:02
Yeah, Kelly and I can, we sit here and we can prattle on for hours and days. Just wait until you got to this. I knew this was coming at some point. Eli E. just wants to know one thing.
17:12
He goes, "When's the $5 parlay segment with Chris and Darnell?" [laughs] That's all we gotta do. Oh, my G- actually, this- That's all you wanna know... th- okay, this, uh, this,
17:21
this does lead me to something actually, 'cause I, I hopped on Twitter this morning, and I saw, I saw a headline for an ESPN article that I just, I, I could not believe this was a real quote.
17:33
Re- retweeted it, and Nick Weyland, Nick Weyland, uh, immediately responds to me. He's like, "I, I had to double-check it was a real quote." DeAndre Ayton
17:43
on, this is from an ESPN mar- uh, article with Dave McMenamin, and this is just talking about some of his struggles with the Lakers and how he's fitting in. Quote, "They're trying to make me Clint Capela.
17:54
I'm not Clint Capela." Hey, I'm just gonna leave it at that. The quote, you can read the whole story. You can find out more, but it's the DeAndre Ayton, like the- Meaning I'm better than Clint Capela... I, I, I, I guess.
18:05
Yeah. And, you know, 'cause you're... Well, if we're talking the Clint Capela of the same age that you are, DeAndre Ayton, it, believe me, the Lakers would love for you to be a better defender- Would love for you...
18:16
a better rebounder- That's right... and a better lob threat for Luka Dončić, and if you're s- I'm, I'm assuming you're specifically talking about stop trying to make me into that. I want, I'm here to score. Right.
18:25
What'd you think you were- That's what it sounds like... what did you think you were signing up for with Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James on the roster?
18:32
Anyways, I sent this article to, uh, Chris Foster this morning. Was like, "Well, there's a scandal." There's a Darnell. I was like, "Sounds like there's a- Chris Foster-... there's a prophet."
18:39
Chris and, uh, Chris Foster's, Chris Foster's entire parlay strategy as inspired by- Right... Darnell Glenn. Wait for a scandal, bet against the scan- Oh, bet with the s- bet on the player who was scandalized.
18:49
Yeah, or was in the headlines. Yeah. Yeah. Right?
18:51
And the, and the other one I threw, I threw to them, 'cause I turned on ESPN, I could not believe how much I heard this being talked about yesterday, was the end of that Lakers game with Luka Dončić passing up an open three to get the ball to LeBron.
19:01
Does he not have the confidence? What's wrong with Luka Dončić? So I think Luka over on your threes, Deandre Ayton over on your points today. If you're going with the Darnell Chris theory, that's the one.
19:11
Uh, Jante Porter, banned for life by the NBA for gambling in 2024. Remember that? Made $400,000 a year, but was, uh, manipulating his props.
19:21
He is, uh, well, he pled guilty to a related federal charge, planning to play for an upstart pro basketball league, the Seattle SuperHawks, a member of the newly recreated United States Basketball League.
19:32
So there's that. You know the first thing I did before I even got to that second part, before he was gonna be playing, was are there betting lines for this league? Right. 'Cause that- Yeah...
19:39
that would just be comical, right? Would be. But no, to- they haven't even started yet- Yeah... so couldn't find anything. Pascal Siakam downgraded doubtful tonight for the Indiana Pacers.
19:47
Uh, and the Raiders want two first round picks and a player for Maxx Crosby. The old Micah Parsons haul, if you will. Mm-hmm. Would you, would you trade two first round picks and a player for Maxx Crosby? No.
20:00
You would not? No. I would not give up what the Packers gave up for Micah Parsons for Maxx Crosby. Because of simply his age? Uh, I think it's too much. Yeah, I was just going to look that up.
20:11
At 8- 28, he's gonna be 29 when we start next season. Yeah. That's part of it, but- Part of it... I, I mean, part, he's not as good of a player- Not old... as Micah Parsons. But he's not young. Yeah. Right.
20:19
Uh, Micah Parsons is a, a, one of the most important defensive players in the NFL. I, I mean, if Myles Garrett wasn't out there, I would make that next leap to the best player, uh, defensive player.
20:31
I thought you were gonna say 'cause Maxx Crosby's a little cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs for your pains. No, no, I think he's a great pass rusher. Yeah. I think he, he will be a valued asset by whatever team gets him.
20:38
Absolutely. And there are plenty of teams. 100%. I mean, say what you will about the Raiders, they got two things. They got Brock Bowers, they got Maxx Crosby. Mm-hmm. And they're phenomenal.
20:44
It's the same thing, like, when we discussed Trey Hendri- Hendrickson, right? Like, he's great. He's not Micah Parsons. Nope. There's very few that are. That's right. Even I, Mr.
20:52
Terry McLaurin lover, I was like, "Hey, you wanna make that straight up trade?" Remember that came out last year? Sure. Mm-hmm. I'll do it for Micah. Uh, Cognizant Classic update. How you doing?
21:01
Mm, not great so far, but I don't have a lot of guys out there yet. Uh- Not great, Bob... updated leaderboard.
21:06
Kevin Streelman, Nico Echavarria, and Kevin Yu your leaders at four under par, all three of them, through 11 holes on the golf course. Let's see where my guys are. Sam Ryder even par through 13, so that's exciting.
21:20
Shane Lowry even par through 11. Keith Mitchell, my better first round leader, on even par through 10, so I don't think he's gonna take that home for me. Um, that's all my guys that are out there.
21:31
So my guys are playing par golf right now. Okay. That's good. Um- Oh, no, Nikไi H�jgaard's one under. That's big. Not, not par golf. No.
21:41
Uh, Colin Murphy, "You aren't comfortable including the Blazers or Pelicans in the brain dead, uh, parlay today? I included them and did a round robin by twos and threes in case one of them burns me.
21:51
A good alternative to parlaying in case one of the teams loses, you won't lose your shirt." Well, b- rob- round robin's different story.
21:56
But just in terms of the, uh, brain dead parlay, I was not comfortable, to answer the question. I was not comfortable including the Deni Avdija-less Portland Trail Blazers. They were feisty the other night without him.
22:08
They are. And- There's Shaedon Sharpe too. It's, they, they're getting thin with, with players, that's for sure.
22:12
I let the, the Warriors won big the other night, but they don't have Steph, so I didn't feel comfortable playing them either the other night.
22:18
Um, and I'm just, I'm just keeping that policy with the Blazers against the Bulls tonight. What was the other one? The Pelicans you said? Well, the Pelicans, again, as we... Was it the Pelicans he said?
22:28
Maybe- Yeah, Pelicans. Oh, the Pelicans against the Jazz. Well, two reasons I'm not playing that. It's two tanking teams playing each other. Excuse me.
22:35
It's the, uh, it's the Pelicans trying to win against the Jazz, who are tanking, but I don't... The Pelicans are just bad at basketball, period.
22:43
So even though they have no incentive to lose, it's not like I'm racing to play them. Yeah, they don't have control of their first round pick for next year, so they're kinda never gonna be included in this conversation.
22:53
Um- Well, no, but I understand what he's saying. So if they're not included, would you play them against the tanking Jazz? But I'm not- Oh, I'm sorry. I misheard that... right. But that, but I'm not...
23:00
I, I don't have enough confidence in them as a basketball team- Yes... to play them anyway. Yes. I, I agree. Um- Yeah... I did look at it on open. I think it was,
23:08
I think it was o- uh, w- like one point that it opened at. Now we're out to, like, four and a half, five and a half. Yeah, yeah, one and a half Pelicans open up as a favorite. I d- I was l- looking at it hard then.
23:19
Dejounte Murray back for the Pelicans. Yeah. Thir- 13 months removed from an Achilles.
23:25
It's worth bringing up for one guy in Boston that we're gonna be tracking, uh, here coming up, uh, who is on a much shorter timeline if he does return. Well- He's about at 10 months... 10 months. Yep. Yeah.
23:33
He's about at 10 months. But 10 months is reasonable. Even I would've said, "Okay, 10 months, sure." It's, it's just that people, like, once it happens and it's 10 months, they're like, "See, I told you."
23:40
No, you didn't tell me. You thought it was gonna be six months or seven months. Right. Yeah. Yeah. One that I ended up on, uh, liking s- liking straight if you wanna lay points with them tonight, the Lakers.
23:51
I do like the Lakers going, uh, into Phoenix. I know I was just joking about some of the props with them, but I do like the Lakers side tonight. I ended up just doing money line, and I combined it with Hornets.
24:00
Um, Hornets and Spurs, which I think are, like, the most no-brainers of no-brainers to include. I might end up laying the points with the Hornets too. I think that is, they could roll past the Pacers tonight.
24:10
Did our buddy lay the points with the Hornets? Yeah. He did. Our buddy. One of our, uh, basketball guys. Coming back, Zach Cohen on the NBA and tennis next.
24:17
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Back on the numbers game live from Circle Resort Casino, downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. Gil Alexander Kelly Bidlin.
24:33
Do you recoil when, when people say Nevada, by the way? No. No, you... That doesn't bother you? No, because we, you and I are from here, and I guess it's just not something we care about as much.
24:41
Well, I said Nevada for a long time, and then Chrissy, my match booker, Chrissy Andrews, finally was like, "You know, Gil," he's like, "You've lived here long enough." I got yelled at, like, in week two by Matt Youmans.
24:49
[laughs] Matt Youmans. So yeah. Matt Youmans, though, a- acts like he- Well, he-... he got here with Bugsy Siegel. Well, he was doing a good job of trying- Yeah... to get me acclimated to the city. Yeah.
24:58
That's the way I took it. But, uh- That's how Ch- that's how Chrissy tr- tries to do it... but, but, yeah, I'm n- I'm not r- r- like... I, I mean, I hear it now, right? Yeah. Like, I hear it when people say Nevada.
25:06
I'm like, "Yeah." See, that's what I mean. It's not really, right? That's what I mean. It's the little- It's not like I don't, like... I don't correct them immediately.
25:11
Zach Cohen joins us now courtesy of the Progressive guest line to talk some NBA and tennis with us. He, of course, part of the whole glue that holds this operation together, and I mean that.
25:20
You can follow him on Twitter at bettingonx. And he joins us now courtesy of the Progressive guest line. Zach, good morning to you, sir. Good morning. How you guys doing? Doing very well.
25:29
Uh, you have any tennis plays left today for folks? Yeah, so I'm going to need Jakub Menšík to beat Tallon Griekspoor to close out a two-leg parlay that I posted to vsid.com last night.
25:40
But something that I have for this evening that I have to throw on the pro picks page shortly is, uh, Hui Bing Wu at -149 to beat Flavio Cobolli.
25:49
And that's just one where it's been a weird tournament in Acapulco, but Cobolli has not looked good since the start of the 2026 season. This is a player that has kind of always been a little bit shaky with his serve.
26:01
He has a lot of firepower from the baseline, but the serve has been a problem this season. He's been a little bit off from the back of the court.
26:07
And I do think that Wu is a player that has been, you know, very talented all throughout his career, but injuries have gotten the better of him.
26:13
But he's finding something here in this tournament, and I do think he's gonna win this one.
26:16
And also, if you kind of go over to our VSiN tennis betting splits, you'll see that this is one where, you know, a majority of the betting public is on Cobolli, but you see Hui Bing Wu is a pretty big favorite.
26:27
You know, the issue with, uh, Flavio, Flavio Cobolli, f- for me is he is the player currently whose numbers least reflect his play.
26:36
So he had this great soar last year, and then he sort of dipped, and now he's back to being good, and so the numbers aren't capturing this kind of rollercoaster stretch he's having right now. Um, I...
26:47
Before we move on to the NBA, I just want to ask you this 'cause, uh, I think we've talked about this on the podcast, and we will do an Indian Wells podcast, me, you, and Drew.
26:54
Hopefully we can work it out time-wise next week. It's gonna be tough between the draw and the beginning of the tournament. It's such a small window, but we'll try to, we'll try to grab it. But I, I'm just...
27:03
I, I'm curious about this because I don't think we've talked about it on the radio side, which is you, you do stuff for Tennis Channel still, or you've sto- have you stopped doing that? You still doing stuff for them?
27:11
I'm doing, like, a little bit. Not nearly as much as I used to be doing, but still have the connection a little bit, yep. All right, I gotta ask you a question.
27:18
What is it about tennis bettors, and I don't think this is gonna be different...
27:22
The American sports fan probably won't believe this, but it is my belief that, that tennis bettors globally are the worst human beings when it comes to betting of any sport there is.
27:35
They cannot stop harassing players when they lose bets. What do you make of that? Is it because the players are... You know, it's an individual sport, and so they become easy targets.
27:46
Half of them are women, so they feel in a misogynistic way that they can almost go after them even hard. Like, what is that? Because if I...
27:53
Am I correct in saying that the Tennis Channel is aware of this and has kind of backed off its blitz of doing gambling on the network kind of because of this?
28:04
Yeah, I don't know if that had anything to do with them kind of backing off gambling as much, but it definitely is the worst sport with this. I think that the individual nature of it definitely lends itself to that.
28:13
I think that people are very entitled also, and they just think that these players should be caring as much as they do about every single tournament. The reality is that it is a really long season.
28:22
These players can't possibly get up for every single match the same way they do at a slam or, you know, a 1000, and there's going to be some bad losses here and there, and people just can't seem to ac- accept that.
28:32
And because it's a one-on-one sport, they just go and they say whatever they want to the player after losses. It's incredible. And it's, it's disgusting.
28:39
I mean, like, after Jessic- Jessica Pegula had a loss, uh, not s- not too long after losing her dog, and people were like, "Glad your dog died," it's, it's awful.
28:48
S- And, and Kelly's always worried about her state of, state of mind as well- That's right... with Pegula. Um- Worried about her finances... the best is, uh, Monfils who, who got on a...
28:56
Someone, th- they were killing him 'cause he lost a match, and he got on and made a video in his, uh, in his French accent in English. He's like- Gaël? Uh, Gaël Monfils. Gaël Monfils.
29:05
He, he was like, uh, "Uh, tell me who is the dumb one. I am a 39-year-old has-been, and you're betting on me." Like, that kind of thing. [laughs] That's great. So he went at, he went back after them. So great.
29:15
I don't know if he said has-been. Has-been. That's great. But he basically said, "39 years old, what are you doing, old man?" I think he said. All right, to the NBA. Uh, what did you land on today?
29:23
I have a few picks that I really like. The Magic are, are one of them. I grabbed this at plus 118 last night.
29:28
You could do a little bit better than I did, but I do think this is a spot that is pretty favorable for Orlando.
29:33
If you just kind of look at the rest situations for both of these teams, Houston's playing a third game in four nights, second leg of a back-to-back.
29:41
A lot of those have been blowouts, so maybe not, you know, all three team- three games in four days are created equal, but I do think this is a team that should have somewhat tired legs.
29:49
And if you just kind of break things down for this season to the last 10 games, there really isn't that big of a gap between these teams. Both are six and four.
29:57
Uh, Orlando's actually been back to being a top five defensive team in the league in the last 10 games.
30:02
And just overall, I think that I like what I'm seeing out of the Magic now that it's, again, another period of time where they both, they don't have both Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero on the floor together.
30:12
Clearly, this team is more comfortable with playing just one of them and not both. Yeah. So the, so the, Matt, you agree with that? Yeah, I know.
30:19
I think that's what's, what, what we're seeing, but I think, y- you know, how good can they really be without both of them, right, Zach? I have got questions about that.
30:26
I think that they are getting more comfortable right now. This game's been interesting.
30:29
It was easy for me to skip over, but the line movement I think has been interesting, opening at, like, one and a half, uh, two on the Houston side.
30:36
We're out to, like, three, and that's after- Getting the injury reports coming in, and it looks like Menden Thompson's questionable, D- Dorian Finney-Smith questionable, um, Suggs questionable on the other side.
30:47
But yeah, just interesting movement in this game so far. Clip show, Clippers six-point dog at home against the T-Wolves. You're playing this a couple ways. Yeah, I have the Clippers plus five and a half.
30:58
I also took a little bit of plus 185 on the money line. I'm taking a leap of faith a- and hoping that Kawhi Leonard will be out there. He's questionable tonight with an ankle sprain, but I don't really get why.
31:08
He played on Sunday. That was the last time they played. They've had three full days of rest, and then they don't play again until Sunday this week.
31:15
So there's just no real reason that he wouldn't play this game unless you're really dealing with something that might be a little bit more serious than they're letting on.
31:22
But I think Kawhi's gonna be out there, and I do think this is a game that the Clippers can win outright.
31:26
I mean, if you look at what they've done since the trade deadline, they're four and three with a top 10 defensive rating. I think that Benedict Mathurin's looked really good.
31:33
I think that overall the team is getting solid play from the center position. And with Kawhi playing like the best player in the world, I would expect them to be in this game against Minnesota late.
31:43
The Timberwolves are a team that I'm very high on in terms of the future.
31:47
I think that they have a chance of representing the Western Conference in the NBA finals, maybe a smaller chance than some of the other teams, but a slight chance.
31:54
But they are very difficult to trust during the regular season.
31:56
They seem to lose games out of nowhere that they have no business losing, and I just don't trust them to be laying points in a road game against a solid team.
32:03
I just wanna seize on one little sentence fragment that you used there, just 'cause I'm curious about this. You said Kawhi playing like the best player in the world. When all is said and done with his career,
32:13
like, is he gonna... Like, when they do the next, uh, I guess it'll be the, the 100-year anniversary, the 100 best players in the NBA. Are we up to 100 yet? I don't think we are. Um, is he gonna- No, I don't think so.
32:22
It was- Is, is he gonna be part of that? Okay. Is he g- is he absolutely gonna be part of the best 100 players of all time? I think so.
32:29
I mean, I think he's probably closer to a top 20 player than, than just being, you know, just in the top 100.
32:35
I mean, he's got two NBA finals MVPs, one, uh, NBA titles with two different teams, and I think that everybody just knows that based on watching him and seeing the numbers he's put up, he has been one of the best players of all time.
32:47
It's just a matter of, like, he hasn't played enough regular season games to accumulate the stats of other legends. Well, so this is my point. So let, let whatever your top, pick a number where he is, right?
32:56
Whether 20, 100, whatever- Yeah... in between. What, what could have been, right, if he was a different player? I wonder how, I wonder how the average scribe c- you know, would, would describe his career.
33:08
It's just a very interesting one where for as much success as he's had, as many moments or stretches where he's been the best player in the world, it's also been like, can we even rely on him to even show up- Mm-hmm...
33:18
kind of thing. Mm-hmm. It's pretty interesting. I don't know what the equivalent is, right, in other sports.
33:20
You know, and even I find it right now, what's, what's going on, uh, what's going on right now with him I find beyond fascinating because it's, it's, it's factual.
33:27
He's been one of the best players in the association for the past couple months, yet ownership, front office for the Clippers still decided, "You know what?
33:37
We don't know that we can rely on this guy and this team that we have built up. We're gonna send out Harden and Zubac and kinda start focusing to our future."
33:44
So, like, that tells you everything you need to know, right, about the confidence they had i- in that team assembled. So I... It really is a big what if. Well- Just like the 76ers and one of their players.
33:54
I wanna, wanna squeeze in two more here. You have a, you have a prop in the Sixers-Heat game? Yeah, I have, uh, Tyrese Maxey over seven and a half assists at plus 112. It looks like Joel Embiid's going to play tonight.
34:05
He's listed as probable. I would expect to see him out there, and the last 11 games that Maxey has played with Embiid, he's averaging 8.3 assists per game.
34:13
He's had eight plus assists in eight of those 11 games, and this is still a Miami team that is number one in the league in pace of play, so I think it's going to be up and down and kind of favorable for a player like Maxey that can, you know, use his speed to get into the lane pretty much at will.
34:27
And the last time he faced Miami, he only had six assists, but he had 15 potential assists in that game, so a little bit better shooting luck, uh, from his teammates, and he should get to this number.
34:37
Kelly referring to Embiid, of course, when, uh- Yeah... moments ago. Yeah. Which, uh, but which I'm also just sitting here thinking now like, what, why play this game, Joel?
34:44
Like, this is, this is gonna be a track meet like Zach's talking about. This sounds exhausting. Sit out this one, Joel. Wait for the next one. Zach, I'm putting you on the spot. 10 seconds.
34:51
If you had to bet one NBA award and one, one bet in one of them, what is it right now? I'd still take Kiante George because I'm, like, miserable and looking in advance, and he's gonna lose it.
35:01
I think he should be the most improved player. [laughs] Don't think it should be close. All right. Thank you, sir. Zach Cohen, everybody. Thank you, Zach. Uh, Betting on X- Thank you... is where you can find him.
35:10
NFL awards, let's take a look at those next on the Numbers Game with VSiN, the sports betting network. Buy smart, drive for less and trade for more.
35:21
That's Toyota affordability, and it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.
35:26
Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks.
35:33
Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between, or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday.
35:46
And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.
35:55
And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value, so you could trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota.
36:02
From a great deal today to great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. ShopToyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.
36:12
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network. Back on the Numbers Game live from Circle Resort Casino downtown Las Vegas. Gil Alexander. Kelly Bentley, everybody.
36:30
Over 100 pounds down. What is it now? 100 and what? Uh, 10-ish, something like that. 110-ish. Something like that. You see this story from, uh, Montreal Max pointing out the story from, uh,
36:45
Jim Konisberger, Koenigsberger, 'cause you know we were talking about the, uh, the Niners practice facility being next to the whatever it was, the electromagnetic field, and everybody trying to, like, correlate the, the Niners' injuries with their practice location.
36:59
Mm-hmm. Yeah, it's clearly the, Sacramento has a problem with that, Salt Lake City, Washington DC. [laughs] All the teams that are injured.
37:06
[laughs] Well, the Philadelphia Inquirer found dangerous chemicals in the AstroTurf of the now-demolished Veterans Stadium.
37:14
Six Phillies who played on that turf, Tug McGraw, Darren Daulton, John Vukovich, John Oates, Ken Brett, and David West, have died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer. Oh my God.
37:27
All six died in their 40s or 50s, roughly three times the rate of the average adult population. Even more alarming was their mutual diagnosis of glioblastoma.
37:39
By the way, the Phillies sold pieces of that turf in sealed four-by-four bags, and The Inquirer then purchased four of those on eBay, and they analyzed those samples by two separate labs.
37:50
They found 16 types of dangerous chemicals in the turfed, in the turf rather, referred to as forever chemicals because they don't break down and can last in the human body for years. What a story. Geez. It's terrifying.
38:03
Not to, not to bring things down or anything, but- I mean, like, like, that's one of those fields that always looked like it was just, like, spray-painted on.
38:11
Oh, it was con- it was like playing on concrete, first of all. Right. Yeah, yeah. Michael Irvin almost snapped his neck on that thing. Mm-hmm. Uh, Richard Burkhardt, "Yo, GM sir, I appreciate your, uh, plays you provide.
38:21
I totally missed the second tennis play. Could you repeat? I can't stand when my boss interrupts my beat- my, uh, my company time, or my [laughs] betting on company time. Who does she think she is? Good luck today."
38:32
Our second one was Zeynep Sonmez. S-O-N-M-E-Z, last name. First name Zeynep, Kelly. Zeynep Sonmez- Zeynep... versus Ann Li. That's a hell of a name.
38:43
3JackH3131, "Gil, I'm guilty of reaching out to tennis players after wins and losses. Paula Badosa has not responded to anything.
38:49
[laughs] Serious note, when are these bettors gonna realize nobody made them make the bet?" Oh, it's incredible. James Sott, "Oh my God, tennis Twitter is easily the worst gambling base ever.
39:00
Even fans, quote-unquote, sometimes are way worse on their favorite players." Uh, Sean Truax does not like the play on Orlando. He says, "Orlando coming off a West Coast trip." They don't like that.
39:11
Uh- It looked very correctly lined to me tonight. And Dan Groeschel, "One of my books gifted me a bonus bet, and I wanna have a bit of fun with it. What's the play for Chris Foster today?" Oh, boy.
39:21
Well, Chris, work it up, buddy. Oh, boy. Oh, and Colin Murphy, "What do we think about Jacob deGrom as a comp for Kawhi? Didn't, he won a title but was injured, but when healthy, one of the best in the sport."
39:32
Yeah, but the difference is, is that Kawhi's injuries are in question, right? Like, taking all of the, like- Or, like, the, just the load management nights, right? Like, yeah, yeah. The load management stuff, right?
39:41
Like, Jacob deGrom didn't voluntarily remove himself from action. By the way, I think Jacob deGrom is, could have a, could have a 200 strikeout year.
39:52
We'll get into some of those, uh, MLB pitching season longs tomorrow on the show. Wins- Dude, some people gotta stop tweeting the haircut thing.
40:01
So I've, like, I've spent 20 minutes on air today trying to research whether these hair things are real or not. [laughs] I got a more, I got a more- If you were wondering what Kelly does while we're doing this.
40:10
[laughs] Like, prime time. Is, is, is Mark Davis one real? Did he re- did he go and finally get a haircut? No, stop it. He didn't do anything. Okay, that's fine. That's his, that's his signature.
40:19
That's, that's what I would assume. Yeah. Uh, NFL. Never too early to talk NFL. Season just end, by the way? I believe so. Yeah. Regular season MVP, Josh Allen, plus 550, your short shot. Lamar Jackson, plus 650.
40:34
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, two-headed monster that have dominated this category, um, with the exception of this past year, but the, the, the years before that, let's say, trading these awards. Jackson, two-time winner.
40:47
Allen, one-time winner. Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert all at 10 to 1. We don't know when Mahomes will return. Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, always fashionable in these markets. Drake May, MVP runner-up.
41:02
Mm-hmm. 11 to 1. Much harder schedule, remember, this year, that he'll be facing. Dak Prescott, 13 to 1. Matthew Stafford, the reigning MVP, 14 to 1. Oh, Matthew Stafford barely won. Caleb's 14 to 1.
41:15
Jordan Love's 15 to 1. Jayden, two years removed from Rookie of the Year, 20 to 1. So is Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy. All quarterbacks, all of them. You know what? Without, without exception.
41:27
You know we did win totals yesterday, and we talked about, you know, whether good time to make a bet now, wait, that sort of thing. Some of these markets just don't even...
41:36
Like, we're talking how many guys before we get to a 20 to 1? Like, the pricing feels so short. Unless you're looking at- 10 is your answer...
41:44
Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, like, the pricing on everybody else feels ridiculously short. You'd wanna bet Mahomes, but not at 10 to 1. Give me more. It's a shopper market, of course.
41:53
I, I, I would say that about everybo- every name beyond Lamar Jackson. Burrow, Herbert. Yeah, May. I mean, Matthew Stafford I got at 45 to 1 last year. He's four- I can't even, you can't even consider that.
42:04
I would, I would like, Gil, and maybe this happens, maybe this happens. I would like to flirt around with a Caleb Williams taken in this market. There's no way in hell I'm betting it at 14 to 1.
42:14
And I wouldn't do Jayden at 20 coming off a- Uh-huh... right off a r- a year where he didn't even play really. By the way, can we just say about Dak, though? Is there any path where Dak wins this anymore?
42:24
No, no, I don't think so. Have, have we seen enough of that? You know what? I love that you brought him up 'cause we can flip this right over to Offensive Player of the Year, and this is, like, one of...
42:32
Like, I'm not gonna rule out, man. It's, I made that bet last year. Dak, Joe Burrow. It's like, as long as these teams keep showing who they are year after year of, "Hey, we're fine.
42:41
We're just gonna have [laughs] we're gonna blitz you on offense. We have no defense."
42:45
I think those guys, and where it's not be- it's not really a quarterback award anymore, I think they're gonna be in the conversation at least late into the year. So I, I mean, like these are...
42:55
If I'm looking for bomb numbers in Offensive Player of the Year, 100 to 1 Dak Prescott. I made that, like, same bet in the season last year. Now, that's the same point.
43:03
I made that same bet in season last year, but what did I know in season? In season, I knew what the Cowboys team was looking like, and it, they were a force on offense and had absolutely no defense.
43:14
I think if you're using that same h- type of reasoning, you can't go make that kind of bet right now. Same with Joe Burrow. Yeah. You gotta see how the rest of the team's gonna, uh, round out.
43:21
Jameer Gibbs plus 750 is the short shot to win Offensive Player of the Year. Bijan and Ja'Marr Chase both nine to one. Christian McCaffrey, who won this award, correct? Yeah? Did he? Yeah. I can't remember anymore. Yeah.
43:33
10 to 1. Puka 10 to 1, and Jackson Smith-Njigba 11 to 1. No, no, no. J- J- No, Jackson Smith-Njigba won it, right. 11 to 1. Comeback. So,
43:42
right, Christian McCaffrey won Comeback Player of the Year, but remember Christian McCaffrey was very close to winning this one as well- Right... and we pointed that out.
43:48
So the four top candidates from this past year are in the top six here, which is to say JSN, Puka, McCaffrey, and Bijan. The only other two there, Jameer Gibbs and Ja'Marr Chase. Who rightfully belong, right?
44:01
They, they, they were- Yes, all of whom. All of, all of those six guys belong at the top there. In fact, I wouldn't even... I know there's gonna be some folks who would say Jonathan Taylor still maybe.
44:10
Derrick Henry if you're into a, a running back break, you know, another big running back. Eh. Yeah, I'm, I'm not. Derrick He- I mean, we're getting up there in age now- We're getting up there... right, with him? Yeah.
44:17
20 to 1. This is what, like... I know what I just said about the quarterbacks. Outside of that, though, doesn't this really feel like this is going to be Gibbs, Robinson, Chase?
44:26
I gu- I guess I ca- I guess I have to include McCaffrey still. Puka, and then, like, I don't really understand why J- uh, JSN, I w- I'm gonna stop the list there.
44:35
Those six guys at the top, it still feels like they command so much of the win equity for this award. Yeah, that's what I was saying. Those six, right?
44:43
They're, those six are impenetrable, imp- impenetrable in terms of how you feel about these players right at this very moment. You know what's stupid? What's stupid about some of these awards, right, is the J- JSN.
44:55
I don't really know how y- he, he, I don't really know how he's not your favorite after we saw what he, uh, what he did a year ago, besides the fact that he won the award. Right?
45:05
It's like he won, so we can't make him the f- betting favorite. Like, we gotta move him down further down the board. Uh, he won, just for the, for memory's sake, 'cause I wanted to look this up.
45:14
JSN won it with 272 points and 14 first place votes. McCaffrey was second with 223 and 12 first place votes.
45:23
So it was, it was actually way closer, 'cause remember the whole thing was can a guy win both Comeback and this? Mm. He almost did. Yeah.
45:31
Uh, Puka was third in the end with 170 points and eight first place votes, and then it was Bijan fourth with 168 points and six first place votes. Drake May was fifth.
45:42
If you're wondering what quarterback finished highest, it was the MVP runner-up, Drake May, who finished fifth. Which is also something to be aware of, though, right? Yes. It's the cop-out MVP. Yep.
45:51
I'm gonna like, "Yeah, I like both these guys. Let me put Stafford MVP. I'll put the other guy Offensive Player of the Year." And if you have, you know, a sp- like a running quarterback, right?
45:59
We've seen that in the past, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, like those guys could end up in that, uh, area as well.
46:05
But I think the takeaway, and I, we said this when the award, when the voting came out, I think the notion of a guy winning two awards is very possible if it's like Comeback and, and another bigger award.
46:16
But that a quarterback still isn't really legit. Right, yes, yes. It's just gonna be s- I'm gonna put them second or third- Mm-hmm... for Offensive Player of the Year.
46:24
We're, we're getting to Coach of the Year tomorrow, 'cause I think that's a more interesting conversation, 'cause we can kinda compare it to the Kalif Ta' trends, the Defensive Player of the Year.
46:32
Is the, I was gonna say, is there anything to say about this? This is hilarious, right? Like, this is, this is DraftKings being like, "Here you go. We don't know. Bet away if you want." [laughs] We don't know.
46:39
"Here's, here's, uh, here's, uh, four really good defensive players we're all gonna put at eight to one, and then here's another four we're gonna put at 12 to one." [laughs] And then we'll throw T.J. Watt in at 14 to 1.
46:51
Yeah. [laughs] Oh, man. Good luck choosing that one at this point. Uh, we'll come back. Joe Peta on baseball, part two of the three-part baseball series coming up on A Numbers Game.
47:03
Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability, and it all starts with a great deal on a truck from your local Toyota dealer.
47:11
Make a smart buy on the off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's most capable and longest-lasting trucks.
47:19
Built with the strength for the tough jobs, the tech to power your next big adventures, and the rugged style for everything in between.
47:25
Or discover Toyota's off-road lineup, including the iconic 4Runner and Land Cruiser, designed to go beyond the everyday.
47:32
And with Toyota's proven reputation for quality and reliability, plus available hybrid power on many models, you can get more for every mile and drive for less along the way.
47:41
And long after you leave the lot, your Toyota keeps delivering with great resale value, so you can trade in for more when you're ready for your next Toyota.
47:50
From a great deal today to a great value tomorrow, a Toyota is right for you. Shop toyota.com for deals and details, or stop by your local Toyota dealer today. Toyota, let's go places.
A Numbers Game
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
Recent episodes
A Numbers Game | September 17, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 17, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 16, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 15, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 11, 2026
Sep 11, 2026
