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Sep 3, 2024
Best of A Numbers Game | September 3, 2024
Best of A Numbers Game | September 3, 2024
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45:42
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Transcript
0:00
The numbers told the story, they always do. You're one of those idiots who believe in analytics? This is a numbers game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Good Tuesday morning to you.
0:10
It is a numbers game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV. However you're taking us in, we appreciate it. It is Gil Alexander.
0:19
It is Kelly Midlin, producer number nine, so much more than a producer, live from Circa, day two. It's beautiful. Beautiful studio. Beautiful sportsbook. Nobody was in it. Caught Gil, uh, making a bet. Yeah, maybe.
0:32
Maybe I did. Maybe not. Maybe I did. Maybe not. Maybe you wasn't. What of it? What are you... What's your point? [laughs] Um- Just funny to look out there and nobody's in there.
0:39
[laughs] I'm like, "Hey, I recognize that one guy." I'm so excited, 24/7 sports betting at Circa. Oh, it's great. We did not quite have that at the D. Yeah, it is great, yeah.
0:44
Uh, on the show today, Kelly has put together a, uh, a banger as they say. Uh, Zach Cohen, not only VSiN writer Zach Cohen, but the Tennis Channel's Zach Cohen, uh, to discuss some US Open with us here momentarily.
0:57
John Lagasa, some instant offense, talking Major League Baseball with us. Tyler Shoemaker on the WNBA. I like it. With the playoffs approaching, maybe some, uh, some futures plays, maybe some game plays as well.
1:09
Paul Spohrer will check in with some Major League Baseball as well.
1:12
Uh, I wanna talk Survivor here coming up, and not just who we might play in week one, but a little bit of Survivor, uh, strategery, as you have written up here on the screen, Kelly. That's right, strategery.
1:22
I believe that was you. Yeah, Survivor strate- strategery. Yeah, so we're gonna attribute to the, uh, the former President Bush with strategery.
1:29
Uh, I just- I'm pretty sure I've been trying to force that segment name on Gil for two years, and he's like kinda bought in- [laughs]... sorta not. No. Yeah.
1:35
[laughs] I mean, I'm like, I'm Ron Burgundy, so I just read it off the screen.
1:38
Um, so we're gonna talk sort of just str- strategy in terms of just some guardrails or just some things to keep in mind for new Survivor players.
1:47
Maybe you've played it for some time and it's a good, helpful reminder on some things. Uh, so we'll get into that here momentarily. We have to start with, uh, with a few things, uh, 'cause there's a lot going on.
1:57
One, US Open quarterfinals begins today, both on the men's and ladies' side. They play half the quarterfinals today, they play half tomorrow. Uh, we're in a great situation with a couple of our futures. Yeah.
2:08
We are one match away, um, one match though, anything could happen, one match away from hitting Paula Badosa at plus 550 to win her quarter.
2:17
We are one match away from Karolína Muchová from winning her quarter at 10 to 1. Um, the Muchová match tom- is tomorrow against Beatriz Haddad, uh, Beatriz Haddad Maia. By the way, we split yesterday.
2:29
Uh, we lost some juice in what has otherwise been a great tournament, but we hit on Muchová easy, then we lost on Wozniacki against Haddad Maia. Um- Muchová at minus 275 in that match tomorrow.
2:39
Yeah, Muchová at, Muchová m- uh, a 10 to 1 play for us at minus 275 in that match. We're looking good there. I don't think she's losing that. She looks awesome from what I've seen so far.
2:48
She's probably bla- I know some people say that Sabalenka's playing the best tennis. I would say it's Muchová, and then sitting there in the corner just quietly is Iga going, "Hey, guys."
2:56
[laughs] She wants revenge, yeah. "I'm still here. Just wanted to let you know." Yeah.
2:58
[laughs] Um, so I think we're good that somebody asked me on Twitter for, uh, forgive me for that, I can't remember his name, um, but he said, "What do I do?
3:05
I parlayed Badosa and Muchová for both of their quarters," and he asked me, "What's the strategy?" Uh, Mo- uh, Badosa plays Navarro first thing this morning.
3:17
For him, I said, "You sh- he," 'cause his was like 200 bucks to win 13,000 or something, I believe. Yeah.
3:24
Um, and I said, "You know, you, uh, I'm a little worried about the Badosa match today against Navarro," 'cause Emma Navarro, if you remember earlier this year in hard court season, we won on her as a $4 dog against Aryna Sabalenka.
3:35
You may recall that. Now she's on the cusp of the US Open semifinals. Um, I worry about that match. It's properly lined. Badosa's a slight favorite.
3:43
Um, but if you wanted to hedge back your outlay, maybe even a little more in this gentleman's case, I was like, "Go ahead, do it. Maybe do it for 500 or for a, for a dime or whatever," whatever is up to him.
3:53
And then if, if, uh, Badosa wins and you lose that bet, you can reconsider what you wanna do with it tomorrow, but I don't think Muchová's losing tomorrow. Yeah, that's probably how I would approach it. Yeah.
4:02
But I mean, easy situation for him. You are getting plus 110 on Navarro. You're getting dogs.
4:05
Yeah, and then plus two, 200 right now on Haddad Maia, so yeah, it's, uh, if he, if he, if he's a hedger, wants to get, go that direction, pretty easy way to do it actually. If you're a hedger by nature.
4:15
That's right, hedger by nature. I believe that was the Naughty by Nature song back in the day. [laughs] Um, so as far as today's plays are concerned, I have but one.
4:24
Taylor Fritz, the American, uh, number one ranked American player in the world on the men's side, is taking on Sascha Zverev. Sascha Zverev got to a US Open final.
4:33
You may remember the year where Novak Djokovic beamed the, the, uh, the lines judge- Mm-hmm... with a tennis ball, so he got disqualified. Totally tailing you on this one.
4:41
It was, it was on Sascha Zverev, uh, his racket, to win that US Open. He gakked it. Dominic Thiem won it, so he's a great, uh, he's got great history here obviously.
4:49
But Taylor Fritz's hard court numbers this year, both six-month and 12-month, are better than that of Sascha Zverev.
4:54
And quite frankly, Kelly, at vsin.com/picks, where I put in the play last night, every host, every guest, every sport for subscribers at vsin.com/picks, I think the number, I went, I just was making this bet down here at Circa.
5:04
It was plus 170 on Fritz. So I think you might be able to find a better number than I got last night at vsin.com/picks, but Taylor Fritz is the play. That number should not be what it is.
5:14
So Taylor Fritz is your one play of the day, and let's try to get both Badosa and Muchová home, which is just the greatest tournament in the world, the US Open. FSU, I'm sorry, go ahead.
5:23
No, I was gonna say that, that, those would be great to hit. You're right on the doorstep with those. Fritz, I think I'm gonna tail you on. I like that play. I think he's looked great.
5:30
And then no Drew Dincic on the show today, but man, Grigor Dimitrov, I've been- Yeah... I didn't make that bet the whole time, but every time I'm watching him, he's just cruising by. Now he's got Tiafoe.
5:39
That should be a great match later today too. I can't wait to watch that one.
5:42
The only problem, and Drew would admit this too, the only problem with that is even though Alcaraz got bounced, even though Joker got bounced, Jannik Sinner is still there. Mm.
5:49
So it's like this- Behemoth still exists, so it's tough to wrap your brain around that still getting home And, and so they're, whenever those matches face each other next- Well, I'm just saying he's in the tournament period...
5:59
or just, just period. So he's, yeah. [laughs] He's just around, period. Got it, yeah. I was gonna get to FSU next. There's something more important than FSU. Pardon me, I know you went to FSU. Um- Oh, I don't care.
6:07
Season's over. What do you... Yeah... Trent Williams and the Niners look like they're about to reach an agreement. Yes. Now, this is a m- to me, this is a massive development in the National Football League- Huge...
6:16
because, you know, I was talking about how I have a Jets bet against the spread. I was considering a Jets bet on the money line in week one, Monday Night Football, the Jets and the Niners.
6:24
This was under the presumption that the Niners and Trent Williams wouldn't be able to work it out, that they would not be able to work it out.
6:31
It looks like on the heels of the Niners coming to terms with Brandon Aiyuk, that it looks like they will with their standout left tackle. This is a first-ballot Hall of Fame left tackle we're talking about.
6:41
I thought he was gonna do the Washington thing. I know the Washington issue when he was in DC was a medical thing. He's like, "I'm never playing for you guys again," and he never did. But he, uh...
6:49
And I thought he'd be s- quite as stubborn on the money here, but no, they're g- they have made a deal. Uh, it looks like it'll get done officially by tomorrow.
6:56
If that is the case, and I don't even think it needs to be the case at this point because of th- the news is already out- Yeah... this number on the Niners is only going to soar now, uh, in my humble opinion.
7:09
So it's four right now on the Niners, uh, you know, p- and it's, I, it can only go up with this news in my opinion.
7:16
Like, I just believe that if you are going to bet the Niners, you ought to bet it right now, and if you are thinking about a Jets bet, you can kinda hang out for a while now 'cause this is massive news.
7:27
And, and I know we- That's interesting... we always say this about quarterback- Yeah... only quarterbacks move the line. I beg to differ. I think that this will move the line up. It's not gonna go crazy.
7:36
It's not gonna go to seven or anything, but it will move up here between now and game time. I, I am interested to see where this one moves to.
7:43
On- o- I only say that because all we've seen is all Jets money for the past, like, six weeks, right? Under the presumption that Aiyuk and/or Williams wouldn't be there.
7:51
So yeah, will there be any pu- you know, will there be a- a- any pushback b- uh, on the Niners side because of that? We haven't really seen it much with Aiyuk.
7:58
I agree with you, Trent Williams I think matters a whole lot more. So it'll be interesting to watch, uh, where that one moves over the next, you know, what, six days now.
8:05
Well, also, if you don't believe me, you go back in time to when it, you know, earlier in the summer when we didn't really know that this Williams and Aiyuk thing would happen, and the line was six. Right. Right, yeah.
8:14
So, you know, it's right there in black and white. We'll see. Uh, we'll see. That's huge. Uh, as far as your alma mater- Yeah... FSU. What about them? Uh, I don't know if you- Basketball season...
8:24
I don't know if you know this, but they're 0 and 2. Uh, they lose as a double-digit favorite last night outright to BC in Bill O'Brien's debut as a head coach. Uh, [laughs] Florida State...
8:33
Sorry, g- I shouldn't even laugh. Florida State, uh- That's all right... gives up 263 yards on the ground. They themselves, 16 total carries for 21 yards on the ground, and DJ Ung, Unga- uh, Ungele, pardon me. Ungele,
8:48
uh, when he did have opportunities to cash in, I think the, the biggest sequence for him was that one at the end of the first half where he got one ball tipped up in the air, could've been picked, and then he has a wide open receiver in the corner of the end zone.
9:00
Oh my God. And he just air mails it, and it's one of those things where the wide out, like, flails his body trying to get to it.
9:06
[laughs] And I was just like, uh, remember there was a time where people were like, "Oh, the Trevor Lawrence replacement is gonna be better than Trevor"? Yeah, yeah.
9:14
Yeah, they've whiffed on a few, a couple in a row there, right? And it's not like Klubnik's looking all that great either up in, uh, Clemson.
9:19
Uh, yeah, that throw, Gil, I, I know we, we like to rip apart people that are, that are on radio, on TV, when they say things as dumb as this, that I could have made that throw, but oh my God, Gil, what are we doing?
9:30
You're a college quarterback. You gotta be able to make that throw. It's an easy six. I thought you were gonna say you could have made that throw. I'm not gonna go that far. Okay.
9:36
But, uh, but, uh, I could have made it as good, as well as he did. Are you kidding me? Oh, you certainly could have done that. That was ridic- I don't...
9:43
Uh, I, I've got multiple questions, notes I wrote down during the game. Uh, does FSU practice? Like, did they practice all summer? Did they practice leading up to the game last week? I'm fairly sure they did.
9:52
Did they practice in between g- Does the coach- do the coaches meet? That's my next question.
9:57
Like, you got gashed on, on, on the, uh, on the running game last week, and you just gave up that many yards again to Boston College. What, what is going on? How did this program fall apart so much?
10:08
You may know that Kelly went to FSU, so he's a little, he's a little passionate about it.
10:11
I, I mean, and if you're a Rams fan out there, apparently you should be really excited about your co- your two draft picks from Florida State because they were the entire defensive front- Oh-... apparently...
10:21
I'm glad you brought that up, by the way, um, because, uh, the one thing that I can't stand that I am seeing a b- a smattering of is some people going back to last year and being like, "You see?
10:30
They shouldn't have been in the nat- in the, in the playoff." [laughs] And I'm like, "It has nothing to do with that. It's nothing to do with that." No, not at all, not at all. No.
10:37
Now there's only one thing left for me to say about it, Gil. Yes. What happened last night. It's the new Florida State tagline. Who can I sue? Who can we sue? We gotta sue somebody. It's ridiculous.
10:46
I don't know if it's Norvell. I don't know if it's whatever airline brought him back from Ireland. Something's going wrong here, and we're suing. We gotta find someone to sue. You gonna be okay?
10:55
We're only, like, 10 minutes in. Yeah, it's fine. It's okay. Season's over. My Saturdays are w- are wide open now during the season. Yes, that, if you- If you wanna hang out, give me a call...
11:02
it did, uh, it did occur to me like, okay, Florida State to make the playoff, they would have to win every single game the rest of the way. [laughs] It ain't happening. I believe I heard an ESPN FBI of under 1% for them.
11:13
That, that would be accurate. Yeah. That would be accurate mathematically. Uh, we'll co- [laughs] Good times... we'll, just, just had to give Kelly a few moments to vent. Uh, we'll come back. We'll talk baseball.
11:22
Um, I wanna, uh, obviously the White Sox utility continues. We'll put that in historical perspective one more time. Uh, we'll talk about which of the awards market is still up in the air. It's dwindling.
11:33
I would say two of six. We'll talk about that momentarily. And survivor strategy. I think we need to have this discussion. That's on the other side.
11:40
It's the Numbers Game live from Circa right here at VSAN, the sports betting network.
11:44
[upbeat music]A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
12:01
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12:07
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12:15
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12:25
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12:36
Head to vsin.com/subscribe to sign up and watch or listen to us anywhere you go. That's vsin.com/subscribe. Gil Alexander, Kelly Bidlin, live from Circa, the mothership. Ah, they let us in once and for all.
12:50
You feeling good about it? Oh, yeah. I'm feeling- Lovely... feeling great. The new graphics are looking great. Shout out to- Oh... James Coleman and the whole team. James Coleman. Love the way it's looking. Yeah.
12:59
James said to me yesterday, he's like, "Did you notice the, uh, bottom third?" I was like, "I did not, but now I do." [laughs] It looks great. It looks awesome.
13:04
I'm not used to turning my head this way for it to see them. There you go. Ah, they look great. They absolutely do look great, so shout out to the crew, uh, behind the scenes, and James specifically.
13:13
Uh, real quick, White Sox lost again last night, broken record. They lost by 10 runs to the Orioles. Um, so it's just the, for those of us who are baseball nerds and like history, this is the worst kind of history.
13:23
Uh, the White Sox now, in your friendly neighborhood standings, are twen- excuse me, 31 and 108. Ungood. Minus 301 run differential, 31 and 108. Um, my God. So this is a, what is this, an 11-game losing streak? Yeah.
13:41
That, and by the way, that's adorable because they had a 21-game losing streak earlier this year, and I'm pretty sure had a 14 earlier as well. Um- Did you see the Chris Flexen note, though? Oh, Flexen.
13:52
We talked about this on the, uh, on the Q, on the quarterly podcast. It's incredible. Chris Flexen, when he has started, this is the White Sox 20th straight loss. 20. Um,
14:04
baseball's modern era, since 1900 in other words, record for most consecutive losses in a pitcher starts, uh, had been shared previously with Bob Groom, the Washington Nationals' Bob Groom.
14:14
You remember Bob Groom, don't you? Oh, obviously, yeah. Um, so this is- Great guy though... the brand-new record for, for Chris Flexen, who remember a few years ago, people were like, "Oh, Chris Flexen is outstanding."
14:22
By the way, it doesn't mean that Chris Flexen is terrible. It's just that if you had happened to bet on him every single time, uh, we know how the White Sox bullpen is.
14:30
Um, not that Flexen is great, but the point is it's not all his fault, right?
14:33
Um, the White Sox famously this year had a m- marginally decent first five record before the bullpen gacked so much, but Chris Flexen gets that, uh, ignominious, I believe is the word you would use, Kelly.
14:44
So don't- Maybe not you, but somebody else might use. [laughs] Yeah, definitely not me... uh, record. So- So don't bet Flexen first five, just noting that. Marked that down. Noting that for the rest of the season.
14:52
I just wanna point out historically. That's who's the MVP. So what did we say, what did we say they were? 31 and 108? Mm-hmm. That is a, uh, that's a 223 winning percentage.
15:01
And again, history, the worst winning percentage in the history of baseball,
15:07
um, the Athletics, the Philadelphia Athletics of 1916, they had a 235 winning percentage of 36 and 117, and the worst 162 game record was a 248 winning percentage, uh, percentage.
15:23
That was the '62 Mets who went 40, 120 and one, apparently one game they didn't bother playing 'cause the Mets were so bad. They were like, "Yeah, you don't have to make it up."
15:31
Trying to figure out if- So they are on pace to ba- break all these records. I'm trying to figure out if I'd quit by now.
15:35
Like, like, you know, if I was a player on the team, just be like, "Fine me for the rest of the year." Like, "I'm done." Like, that's gotta be exhausting getting out there every single day.
15:42
Oh, no, you're allowed to menta- mentally quit, but physically you probably should hang around. [laughs] Yeah, you probably should hang around. Not really, not permitted.
15:48
Uh, real quick on the Baseball Awards, 'cause we wanted to do- Oh, yeah... you wanna just shoot them at me real quick? Yeah, you ready for- Yeah... another edition of done or not done yet? Bum, bum, bum, bum.
15:58
We don't really have an opening for it. Oh, I was expecting a big opening. No, we've only done it twice, [laughs] so whatever. Okay. All right.
16:02
All right, we're gonna run through all the awards, and then I got a couple divisions for you. Yes, sir. Ready? Okay. Yeah. MVP, done or not done yet? Both done. Both done. Okay. Judge and Ohtani.
16:11
Cy Young, done or not done yet? American League, done, Tarik Skubal. I've said that for a while now, even though I hold a Seth Lugo ticket. National League, not quite done. Chris Sale minus 600, Zach Wheeler plus 350.
16:25
Still alive. Tom Tango, who has hit 31 out of the last 36 Cy Young winners, uh, on his Cy Young tracker, has this super-duper close, uh, between Sale and Wheeler.
16:37
He has Sale with 67.5 Tango points and Zach Wheeler with 66.1. So Wheeler right now- Wow, okay... if you juxtapose it against the betting line, he has value. So that is still alive.
16:49
That's interesting, 'cause I feel like, I feel like Tango's been a little higher on Sale all year. A- I mean, obviously he still is, but just doesn't match the betting line. You're, you're just asking me what's- Yeah...
16:57
what's, uh, what's still possible to ch- change? No, no, absolutely, yeah. In terms of the favorite. All right. Rookie of the Year, let's start National League. Done- Done... or not done yet? Done.
17:07
Jason Weingarten gets it home with Jackson Merrill. Done. Wow. Cash that ticket, Jason. All righty. Now the Beast Switch. Even though, even though I think it's going to be closer than we as bettors think it is.
17:16
I think it's gonna be closer than what these odds indicate right now. Yes. Minus 1,000 on Merrill. It, it's not minus 1,000. That's my point. I think so. I, I agree with everything you said. Yeah.
17:24
Right now, I think he's in the lead. He's probably won it already, but it's gonna be closer than what we're seeing- Yep... in the odds. Yeah. All right, American League Rookie of the Year, done or not done yet?
17:33
Not done because Austin Wells plays for the Yankees. So sorry O- O's fans with Colton Cowser, who is the favorite right now. Yeah, minus 220, Austin Wells plus 150, and the, I feel like this escalated quickly.
17:45
Colton Cowser, 20 homers, 60 RBI, 322, 448, 770 slash. Austin Wells, you know, 12 homers and 42 RBIs. Those aren't as good.
17:54
But 343, 439, 782 slash is comparable, and he's a catcher for the New York Yankees, so there's always a shot that we have some kind of... Like, if he goes crazy toward, you know, towards the end of the year, um-
18:08
Is there a bias that could take place with voters? Absolutely. Okay. Is there a bet there at all or no?
18:13
I'm not betting it, so I'm not gonna recommend it, but I- You- But you're asking me what's still alive and what's not. Right. Yeah, yeah. That's alive.
18:19
I feel like that's one with, uh, with all the attention the National League, uh, Rookie of the Year has gotten, that's kind of flown under- Yeah... the radar a little bit with that, those odds maybe.
18:26
I think if Austin Wells plays for the, uh, I don't know, s- pick a team, the Oakland A's, I don't think this is a question. Okay. Yeah, I get, that's a great way of putting it. Yeah.
18:34
Okay, a couple division races real quick. AL Central, done or not done yet? God, this turned.
18:40
Um, the Royals have lost six in a row and the Guardians have won four in a row since the Royals took the first three in their four-game set, uh, with the Guardians. Uh, Twins are in there as well.
18:51
I kind of think it's done, but it's not. Technically it's not done, obviously, but I sort of think it is because if the Royals are gonna have a shot here, they gotta win these next two against the Guardians.
19:01
They lost yesterday. And if the t- y- the Guardians could essentially split with the Royals and split their games with the Twins that they have coming up, and then they can just lollygag home.
19:12
'Cause we're, we're less than four weeks now. Mm. So it's not done, but it's kinda close to done if the Guardians can just be mediocre against these teams.
19:21
And I'm, I'm gonna go to NL West next, because you saw a major jump in this market, and it's, uh, it, keep in mind what Gil is talking about with, we're running out of runway. We're running out of runway.
19:29
So every one of these wins matters more. Done or not done yet as the Dodgers launch out to minus 2500? Uh, I have to say no, that it's not done, just because I think the- [laughs] Because...
19:40
these Diamondbacks can catch fire here. But, uh, but it's definitely teetering. Okay. There's no question it's teetering. All right, and then one last one, it's the AL East. It feels like it's been- One last...
19:48
like this the whole year. Clearly not done. Clearly not done. These two teams just do this dance all year long. They're just next to each other. That's clearly not done. It, it's been wild.
19:54
Like, I mean, like, it, it feels like these odds have barely been the, you know, far from different from this since what? Three months ago? Yeah. The other three are done, by the way.
20:03
And, uh, that includes the Astros, who don't even have to be that good to win the AL West. Yeah, that's done. Um- The- Do you wanna save the Survivor talk for the other segment, or you wanna do it right now?
20:12
Let me, let me, let me squeeze in the Survivor. [laughs] It's all started, yeah. [laughs] I wanna squeeze in Survivor, because I think this is, like, this is very important for people to...
20:19
First of all, as I always say, I think the game is misnamed. And what I mean by that is, and maybe we'll just stick to this point before the end of the segment, we'll get to the others after. But
20:27
because the name of the game is Survivor, the average player simply goes, "Oh, the object is to survive." No, the object is to win. Let me just give you an example of that.
20:35
And I don't mean to throw my old buddy, the Grover Cleveland of producers, Jeff Probst, under the bus for this. He was producer number five or eight.
20:41
But I once did a, um, a sort of thought exercise with him a couple Thanksgivings ago. And you will remember that this was a Thanksgiving where the Raiders were heavy underdogs against the Dallas Cowboys.
20:55
And I sort of wanted to make a point about this, point about that it's misnamed and people, it takes s- people off the scent of what you're supposed to do.
21:01
And I said to Jeff, I said, um, "Let's say there's 100 entries left in Survivor heading into this Raiders-Cowboys game." Cowboys, again, double-digit favorites.
21:11
"And you knew, let's say you knew that 99 people were going to take the big favorite Cowboys.
21:20
Would you," Jeff Probst, the 100th entry representative, "would you, knowing that information," obviously you don't know it, but you can get some sense of what the percentages are gonna be.
21:29
That's a point coming up later. "Would you take the Raiders knowing that all 99, the, the 99 others were taking the Cowboys?" And his immediate response was, "Ah."
21:39
Now, keep in mind, they're double-digit favorites, so you have to s- Right, yeah...
21:42
you keep, put your mind to what the, you know, what, what the frame of mind was, the conventional thinking of these two teams at the time. And he goes, "I, I can't do it, Gilly. I can't do it."
21:50
And I'm like, "Jeff, that is," and that is the point of what I'm talking about with, that the name is, is, poorly states what the object here is. Mm-hmm.
22:00
If you knew that 99 people were going to be on the Cowboys, it is your obligation, it is your duty to put it all on the line and take the double-digit dog Raiders, even though in the moment it feels so uncomfortable to do so.
22:14
But how many times in your life do you have one, a one-game opportunity, and you won't know this cleanly, but I was just doing the, you know, the hypothetical with Jeff. Right.
22:23
How many times in your life, at the time I think it was, like, 6.7 million or something like that, will you have the opportunity to win that chunk of cash in one football game?
22:31
And so that's the mindset that we are fighting against as you continue on Survivor, because you become very enamored with your entry, and you just wanna keep playing the game. Mm. No, at some point you gotta try to win.
22:45
We'll get to more Survivor talk on the other side. Zach Cohen joins us as well. US Open, it's a numbers game right here at VSiN. The numbers told the story, they always do.
22:54
It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a numbers game with Gil Alexander on VSiN. Hour number two of a numbers game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Gay Plus, iHeartRadio, YouTube TV.
23:06
However you're taking us in, we appreciate it. We are grateful. I don't just say that. We really are truly grateful, uh, for allowing us to be part of your morning each and every morning.
23:15
Gil Alexander, Kelly Bidlin here. Um- I'm extremely grateful for a studio. We are. It is, it is nice. But I still don't know what to do with our arms. It's so quiet. Doesn't it feel, I'm almost lonely.
23:25
Like, where's, like, I, I need someone, like, passed out in that chair or something. We had some tweets about people saying, "Can we get somebody with a cigar behind you?" Right, yeah, yeah.
23:32
Like, I don't, I feel like I'm doing something wrong if there's not, like, uh, bells and whistles going off around us or something. [laughs] Or, or something. Or something.
23:39
[laughs] Uh, we get tweets @BeatingTheBook, always appreciate the feedback. This is from Indiana Jet. By the way, Indiana Jet, not just some random dude. No, not at all. No.
23:47
Indiana Jet, one of the four choppers at the end of Survivor last year. Yes. Uh, oh, this is responding to the video you had of me making a bet this morning. Oh, yeah. [laughs] "Is that a duffle bag?"
23:57
Um, I can't read this, by the way. I thought I posted a- "Was Gil secretly duffle bag boy all this time?" I was not. [laughs] Probably. I thought I posted a great creepy video of me videoing, uh, Gil this morning.
24:07
[laughs] It's on my Twitter if you wanna check it out. Um, thank you Indiana Jet for chiming in on that. Um, you can, you guys can just rifle through these. This is from Touchdown Jesus. Uh, "Was that the Ice Man?"
24:17
He's calling me the Ice Man now. He said, "Oh," and then, "Was that the Ice Man Gilly A?" [laughs] And then he goes into, "Are we allowed to quote R. Kelly lyrics anymore? Are we allowed to do this?"
24:25
We live the 10s grind. I don't see nothing wrong. Uh, DougTuttle7: "Is anyone going to touch on the..." Oh, we didn't talk about this.
24:34
"Is anyone gonna touch on the Florida State fan that said he'd eat dog poop," technical term, "if they lost to BC? Apparently he's deleted his account, and now Florida State is cursed."
24:43
I t- I try not to, I try not to give anybody crap about things like this, 'cause, like, I, I don't know about you, but the first, uh, I think my first week in Nevada, uh, I, I said Nevada a- and- Oh...
24:53
quickly got corrected by Mat- One Matt Humans and then anybody else that heard it. Uh, so I know people are passionate about it. [laughs] Who's ever written Florida State that way? I know, but it's- FS? Come on...
25:02
that's terrible. It's terrible. So yeah. All right. For God's sakes- Feel like-... put the U on there, if they are truly a university. [laughs] If that's real. That's a good, good point.
25:09
[laughs] By the way, that, that's so funny about Nevada, Nevada. Uh, Chrissy, my mishpocha, was the first person to tell me. I think it was, like, after a few months he let me say Nevada. Right, right.
25:17
After a few months he goes, "You know, Gilly," [laughs] "... you've lived here long enough." [laughs] That kind of thing.
25:22
Cowboys_Cubs1, primetime, he says, "I'm sorry," in Billen voice, "I wish Kelly would be a tad more passionate about FSU football rather than his laid back- [laughs]...
25:30
under the influence of Valium unenthusiastic take to start the show. By the way, some of us may have Muhova to win her quarter at 150 to one- Ooh... at faraway places. Wait a minute. To win her quarter at 150 to one?
25:45
Or do you mean the tournament? How you gonna get a quarter at 150 to one? I don't know. That, that winking emoji makes me think- Oh, maybe-... it really is the quarter. Maybe he's right. I don't know.
25:55
We talked about the quarter. Wh- wh- what's... Wait, what's your number on the quarter? 10 to one. D- was it maybe a, was it a rogue zero situation? Rogue extra zero?
26:04
I mean, there's no chance that that should be a real number. Right. Yeah, yeah. So I don't know. I have no idea. I love the rogue extra zero. It's very rare.
26:10
Uh, Berner, uh, uh, Berneracci, I believe is how you pronounce this. Uh, "Missing the endless loop of Like a Rock against the wind in Hollywood Nights." [laughs] "Bring back Seeger now."
26:20
Uh, for- That, that would make me feel a little bit more comfortable, yes. Yeah. Just a little Seeger in the background.
26:24
Uh, Derrick Stevens, uh, his, his number one thing at, uh, at the D was, "I must eliminate the McDonald's." His number two thing was, uh, "Seeger all day long, 24/7." [laughs] Seeger all day long.
26:37
That's Derrick Stevens' two mission statements for the D. Uh, Jets Pete, uh, "As a, uh, as a Mets fan, hearing Chris Flexen set a record for most consecutive losses is literally the [laughs] least surprising news ever.
26:48
Congrats on getting in the studio." Thank you. I appreciate the congrats. Yeah, Flexen. But when he was with the Padres, remember there was, like, a half a season where he was awesome.
26:57
Uh, TorchedD15, uh, "I sell Pokemon," um- I- "... for a living." Do you know Jason Weingarten? [laughs] It sh- might be Jason Weingarten.
27:07
"I sell Pokemon cards for a living, so naturally I have time to listen to Visa 24/7. Lately, a numbers game has made me more money than my entire career. Gil on tennis, Dincic on the Olympics, Dr. Bob on NCAA football."
27:18
Hoo. "What a ride. Let's go Diamondbacks. Let's go Grigor 130 to one." That one is live. Wow. I'm very jealous of that career, selling Pokemon cards. I got a lot of c- I got a lot of cards.
27:29
I got, I got, I got baseball, basketball, Magic: The Gathering cards, all that stuff. Magic: The Gathering. Oh, yeah, yeah. I was a Magic: The Gathering guy. Magic, comma, The Gathering. That's right.
27:39
[laughs] Actually, I believe it's a colon. I know. I believe it's Magic:- Is it?... Colon: The Gathering. Yes. Oh, okay. Well- That's how I got into poker, really.
27:45
Uh, there's a lot of poker players that have that background, actually. You're right about Jason. Like, Jason Weingarten will surprise me, be like, "Yeah, the claw machine," you know? Ugh.
27:53
By the time we got to the claw machine, we were like, "Oh, yeah, sure." Right, right. Yeah. That's not surprising hearing from- Yeah... uh, g- that come from him anymore, but I still love the idea. Yeah. Claw machine.
28:01
It's amazing. Well, we got claw machine uptake coming up. Uh, all right, survivor talk.
28:04
Uh, we started this earlier, and I just wanna give some guardrails for the new survivor players, for those who are, just sort of need reminders on stuff.
28:11
Or not even reminders, but, like, some things to sort of think about, maybe you agree with, maybe you disagree with.
28:16
Um, but I just talked about the, the sort of the thought exercise I did with Parlay, uh, Jeff Parles a few years ago, and just why you should not take Survivor literally.
28:27
At some point, the object is to win, not to survive.
28:31
And that right there, that mental toggle, if you will, is I think the biggest challenge of all of this, which is you have this entry, it's so much fun playing, uh, you wanna survive, but really, i- if you survive conservatively, you're not going to win.
28:47
That's the main thing I wanna say about that. Um, that said, I don't think you get too cute early. I should point that out.
28:53
I said in the, uh, docuseries, in the, uh, Quest for $9.2 Million docuseries, that, you know, someone who maps it out on their napkin for the entire season, they, they put me against crack on this [laughs], I, I think that's kind of ridiculous.
29:05
I do think, though, that you do play it conservatively the first four or five weeks because while we prattle on about the NFL all offseason, the truth is, is that none of us can be that sure about how good or bad these teams are gonna look out of the gate.
29:21
We have some idea, but invariably we're gonna be wrong, and 70-plus percent of Survivor entries get knocked out the first three weeks anyway. So I do think you should...
29:32
And, and that is a reflection of how the market is not what we f- you know, not correct. It's not what the public perceives it to be. Um, so I do think you try to get conservative the first four or five weeks, Kelly.
29:43
Uh, and then after that, um... Because even the, even the best handicapper doesn't exactly know what's happening at this point.
29:51
But I think once you get through weeks five or six, then you can sort of get into a, "Okay, I've come this far. Let me, let me sort of map out some stuff." I stand by everything that Gil just said.
30:03
Agree with it completely. I think that's easier said than done [laughs] with week one this year, though, right? I agree. Again, this is- Yeah... week one right away. Oh boy. Totally. There are not many gimmies here.
30:13
'Cause I, 'cause again, I have, I ended up with five entries and a sixth that my buddy wanted to share with me. I, I, I- Oh, you signed up? I, yes. I haven't done my signups yet. I gotta do that. Signed up on Friday.
30:21
Yeah, yeah, that's sweet. But, but he, I acquiesced. He's like, "Let's do one together." I'm like, "Uh, okay." Um, so I don't know. Some of mine are gonna be Bengals, but not all of mine are gonna be the Bengals.
30:30
Some of mine are gonna be the Saints, but not all of mine are gonna be the Saints. So I don't know. I mean, these are your biggest favorites.
30:34
Your biggest favorites for, for week one, Bengals eight and a half, Bills six and a half, Seahawks six, Bears four and a half, Saints four. I am so not touching the Bills, Seahawks, or Bears.
30:44
I was just gonna say, like, y- y- you, like, I, I... I mean, you're, you're talking about not getting too cute.
30:49
I might be getting a little cute, but just because I feel like they, there's not a ton of options that are not cute. Y- how many entries are you gonna have? Two, I believe All right.
30:58
I don't know how cute you can get, though. Um, some others. I don't wanna burn Bengals early, man. Like, I really don't wanna burn that one.
31:04
The Saints, the reason I'd land on the Saints again is that is the natural, this is the most natural spot to take the Saints- I, yeah... for the entire season. Um, know the size of your pool. Know the size of your pool.
31:14
Uh, that's always gonna matter.
31:16
And know on a week-to-week basis, uh, what the general survivor pool of players is going to play, uh, because once you get past that five, six-week survive and advance part, you really should employ game theory.
31:28
And what I mean by that is, um, the smaller your survivor pool, maybe you're not in Circa. The smaller your survivor pool, generally the more conservative you ought to be.
31:36
The wider it is, you know, thousands of people, the more risks you're going to have to take. That applies to daily DFS as well. Mm-hmm. That's just a, a common, uh, thing to know.
31:46
Um, here is one that I think we should sort of keep in mind.
31:49
Often the best, the option that is just a few percentage points lower in win probability, but is far less popular than the most popular pick, is the great pick. Does that make sense? Yeah.
32:03
So the pick that is going to be much less, um, selected in a week of survivor, but in terms of win probability, say, in the betting market, is just a notch below that. That's sort of a survivor sweet spot.
32:16
You may not follow that every week, but there are invariably gonna, inevitably gonna be weeks in the season where that's the best strategy to employ, if that makes sense. Mm-hmm. Um, specific pool rules.
32:27
Obviously, Circa, you have to know that Christmas. You have to know these upfront, too.
32:31
If, if Christmas and Thanksgiving, those quirks exist, then that's your, that's the first thing you have to know about a pool, right?
32:37
'Cause you can't operate from the beginning without knowing what you have to save for those very small, uh, windows of games. So that's, that's obviously the quirks you have to know.
32:47
A, a couple, one myth that I wanna dispel, too. You often hear people on a week-to-week basis saying, "Oh, it's a division game. I don't wanna touch a division game."
32:57
Uh, Kelly, that's based on the belief that upsets are more likely when two division rivals get together, obviously. Sure, they know each other better than other teams. Sure. And it, it may sound good as- Yeah...
33:06
sort of like a sound bite, but the evidence does not support it whatsoever, I'm here to tell you.
33:12
Uh, since 2002, among teams favored by five or more points, division favorites have actually won a higher percentage than non-division favorites.
33:23
So again, of the parameter of five or more points, the division versus division favorites, right, actually hit at a higher rate than non-division favorites do, five points or more. So keep that in mind.
33:37
So you're gonna hear people, "Oh, a division game. I don't know if I'm gonna take Team A over Team B, even though they're a six-point favorite at home."
33:42
No, it hits at a higher rate than, like, a non-division such s- situation. Um, but I will say this. Road favorites do lose more money than home favorites.
33:52
That is one that you do hear that is actually true, 'cause people are like, "I don't know. Road favorite." That one actually is true. Yeah. So just keep in mind that division thing is largely, uh, a myth.
34:01
Anyway, just some survivor thoughts that we hadn't really talked about this off-season. No, it's go- it's great. Yeah. It's great to reset- And I think you oughta know... and get- Yep...
34:07
give some basic kind of guardrails and, and just, uh, advice for a lot of people that are...
34:11
I mean, look, we talk about it every year at this point, but still every single year there's more and more people signing up for the very first time that need to hear this stuff. Yep. 49ers money coming in.
34:20
We're up to four and a half in places. I done told you. Shocker. And it's only gonna get higher. I'ma say it's get back, it's gonna get back to six by game time, if not in the next couple days. Six? Wow, okay. All right.
34:32
That's what it was before. No, I know. I know. Yeah. That's what it was before. Uh, we'll come back. Tyler Shoemaker joins us to talk some WNBA. That's on the other side.
34:39
It's the Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network. A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
34:52
College football underway, and a special Numbers Game investigation revealed that the NFL is kicking off this week, two days away. Let's go. There's never been a better time to become a VSiN Pro subscriber.
35:01
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35:18
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35:28
See why VSiN Pro's your ticket to a winning season. Don't wait. Head to vsin.com/subscribe to sign up and watch or listen to us anywhere you go. That's V-S-I-N.com/subscribe. It's Gil Alexander, it's Kelly Bidlin.
35:40
Uh, we get tweets at Beating The Book, Kelly. I'm not sure if you're aware of that. Uh, Ed Hamilton, "Gil, East Coast bias in full effect.
35:46
Lindor, Francisco Lindor could be gifted the MB- MVP if the Mets make the playoffs. It's all I hear out here," and then he, uh, and then he curses. [laughs] And then he curses. Yeah. I, I just cannot- Plus 650...
36:01
I cannot believe, I, the, I just don't, I cannot believe this. Ohtani could go 50/50. What'd he have, three stolen bases again yesterday? Yeah. What, what are we, 45/40? Uh, it- I don't even know which way it goes.
36:13
40-something home runs and 45 stolen bases? There's East Coast bias, then there's an insane East Coast bias. I'm not sure we can, uh, I'm not sure we can buy into that. Um, but I hear what you're saying.
36:21
Good friend Shillionaire, "Austin Wells, A- American League Rookie of the Year is alive and thriving," as you say. He said that he's the only AL rookie in the top two in both, um, war and WRC+.
36:32
A- as of four days ago, "I may or m- I may or may not have a 151 ticket in hand," he admits. "I do. Thanks for letting me rant. Have a good day. Longshots," gives you a shout-out.
36:42
[laughs] Well, Longshots, 44 home runs, 46 stolen bases for Shohei right now. So- What, what is that again? 40- 44 home runs, 46 stolen bases. So 45/45, he's definitely gonna get in that club. Is he gonna hit 50/50?
36:55
Uh, he's got a good shot. He doesn't look like he's slowing down anytime soon. Um, only been done, again, six times, Shohei being the sixth Mickey Mantle, of course, for, like, the old-timers.
37:07
They interviewed Mickey Mantle when Jose Canseco got to 40/40. He was the first, and they interviewed Mickey Mantle at the time.
37:12
Mickey Mantle was like, "Well, if I knew that was gonna be a thing, I'd have done it every year," or something like that, he said. [laughs] Uh, Steve the Proxy. That's a terrible Mickey Mantle impression. Yeah, I'm sure.
37:19
[laughs] Steve the Proxy, "As a lifelong Mets fan, I can tell you when I was 12, Anthony Young lost 27 consecutive decisions over two seasons.
37:25
I've been rooting for extended futility for Flexin, former Met, to take this horrific record out of Mets lore. Those sober '90s Mets were brutal." Uh, we'll read a whole bunch more of your tweets coming up.
37:35
I want to get to Tyler Shoemaker, though. Uh, he is a VSiN contributor focusing on both the NFL and the WNBA, which he does great stuff on. Tyler, uh, thanks for joining us courtesy of the Progressive Guest Line.
37:47
How you doing, man? Hey, I'm good. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. Uh, we showed a video of you dunking the basketball on air the other day. [laughs] I'm not sure if you're aware of this.
37:55
How tall are- I was not aware of that... how tall are you, and how easily can you dunk, first thing? I'm 6'1", and I can- Ooh... I can dunk, uh, you know, off, off of two steps.
38:05
I can't dunk off a vert, but I, uh, you know, give me a step or two and I can dunk it pretty easily, easily. Wow. I, I mean, he like... Our video system's down right now- Yeah...
38:12
is what I'm hearing, otherwise we'd be showing it. [laughs] Tyler, I thought it was extremely impressive. I wanted to know how many other people at VSiN could secretly dunk that I was unaware of. Uh- [laughs]...
38:21
Tim Murray did send in a video of him dunking a couple years ago. He got that easy. Tim is s- Tim is what, 6'6" though? But he's like 6'6", yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't think Tyler was all that tall. I was right.
38:31
Good for you, Tyler. 6'1", he's got hops, man. Um- [laughs] Thank you... I was gonna start with football 'cause we talked football in the promo. We'll get to your football thoughts momentarily, but let's talk WNBA.
38:39
Um, eight team playoff. First series is the best of three, then it goes to best of five afterwards. Uh, just in terms of the outrights right now, do you have thoughts?
38:51
You know, I'm not, I'm not a huge, uh, futures guy or, or series price guy when it, when it comes playoff time.
38:57
I, I take it more game by game, um, just because it's a whole different exercise to, to come up with that math on, on top of doing the individual games.
39:04
But in terms of just how I think the, the playoffs could play out, I mean, the Liberty right now are by far the, the number one power rated team by almost two full points, but behind them, I mean, it's kind of just a hodgepodge of teams that have really high ceilings but have also shown low floors.
39:19
I mean, obviously the Aces back-to-back champs, but they lost to the Wings last week. So it's like y- you don't know what, what team's gonna show up on any given night.
39:28
I, I think the Liberty have been the most consistent this year, although, uh, they've had a couple clunkers here lately as well. Yeah, Liberty plus 125 to win the WNBA championship.
39:36
Aces, the Las Vegas Aces, who are not quite the same Aces team this year as they have been, three to one. Then you got the Lynx, the Sun, the Storm, and the Fever, 19 to one.
39:45
If Caitlin Clark and the Fever make a deep- Oh, man... playoff run, can you imagine? It'll be huge.
39:52
Ty- Tyler, I'll ask you real quick, do you, do you b- have more faith in the Aces or the Lynx, uh, once you get deeper into the playoffs right now?
39:59
'Cause I, I mean, what, L- Lynx are the team that's been doing it all regular season. Like you said, the Aces have been up and down.
40:05
Yeah, it's, [sighs] it's tough because the, the Aces have what I would consider championship fatigue.
40:10
Uh, I talk about this a lot where the Warriors come to mind in the, in the NBA where when you're making deep playoff runs year after year, you eventually just get tired of playing hard in the regular season, and I think the Aces are running into that this year.
40:23
So in a playoff series, with their experience and A'ja Wilson, the best player in the world, I wouldn't wanna bet against them, but the Lynx have definitely been more consistent, and I think defensively do it in a...
40:35
They do it in a way that I think is more repeatable in the playoffs. You know, they're not relying on just, like, hot three-point shooting or something like that.
40:40
They, they kinda get nitty-gritty, down and dirty on defense, and I think that can win a championship, but I, I wouldn't wanna bet against the Aces and A'ja Wilson. What place did you land on today, Tyler?
40:52
Today I am on the Sun, Storm over, uh, the Mercury and Dream under, uh, 160 and a half, and I took the Mystics plus five.
41:02
And then tomorrow we got Caitlin Clark, uh, and the Fever playing the Sparks, and I took over 172 in that game as well. They're gonna go over their season win total, aren't they?
41:10
A lot of, we have a lot of friends that have the under, and they are sweating it now. Yeah, I, I project them right... The, the line was 21 and a half before the season. I've got them projected at 21.4 right now. Oh.
41:22
So it is going to be an absolute sweat. Oh, man. Uh, all right. NFL week one, I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Tyler, but it is upon us.
41:29
Two days away for the Thursday night opener, and then we have a game in Brazil, obviously, on Friday between the, uh, Eagles and the Packers, and then full Sunday slate beyond that, uh, with the exception of the Monday night game.
41:39
What are you doing week one? Yeah, week one, you mentioned the, the Brazil game on, on Friday.
41:44
I like the over, uh, 49, or I think there's some 48 and a halves maybe out there trickling in, but I like the over in the, in the Eagles/Packers game.
41:53
Um, it's a, a match-up where I've got two highly rated offenses and two defenses that are kind of middle of the pack in my rating. So I, I think it could be more of a fireworks show.
42:02
I'm curious to see how, how that plays out, but that, that's one that I like a lot. And then Thursday, uh, Chiefs, Chiefs/Ravens, I'm, I'm excited for that.
42:10
I project that game more like a pick 'em, so I'm gonna take the three with, with Baltimore. Uh, and then another one that I like that I gave out today at vsin.com, uh, Steelers/Falcons under 42.
42:22
Uh, really like that because I don't, I think there's a lot of quarterback uncertainty with the Steelers. Obviously, the Falcons, they drafted Michael Penix, they got Kirk Cousins, uh, but their defense is excellent.
42:31
Steelers always play excellent defense as well, so I think that's just gonna be a rock fight.
42:35
Tyler, I wanna congratulate you 'cause earlier on the show I said I haven't heard one person take the Ravens in this, so thank you for taking the Ravens. That is true. [laughs] Yeah, I haven't either, yeah.
42:43
Um, that w- not quite as, not quite as, uh, uh, as contrarian as Joe Serallo's Steelers over play. Or Steve Makinen's Patriots over. Or S- Yes...
42:52
or Steve Makinen's Patriots over, but for this game, I appreciate it very much. So same thing WNBA as NFL, you don't touch futures as well or season longs? Not, [sighs] not really.
43:02
I mean, I, I do it, and I, I put them out, you know, on my guides and things like that- [laughs]... and I'll write about 'em, but I personally just don't, don't play that many of them in, in my portfolio.
43:11
Okay, and repeat your Sunday play one more time for me. Sunday was Falcons-Steelers- Under... uh, under. Yeah 42. I like that.
43:18
And the, and the theory being just that you just don't, you don't believe in the Steelers offense and you do in the Steelers defense? Yeah.
43:27
Yeah, and, and, and the, the Falcons defense was top five in the league last year in my rating.
43:30
So I, I think, I think both defenses will, will show up to play, and I don't really know what to expect from the quarterback situation for either team. All right.
43:37
Uh, college football, and I know you don't have any, uh, you haven't necessarily a pick moving forward, but give us your biggest takeaway from what we've seen here this past week, in your opinion.
43:47
I mean, obviously with two data points now on Florida State, it's hard to, hard to justify the, the preseason ratings that, you know, myself and pretty much everybody had on them.
43:56
You know, I did feel like I was a little lower than the market on them coming into the season, but apparently a lot, not low enough because they've been atrocious.
44:03
Uh, one thing that I do feel kind of vindicated about a little bit, it was Clemson, uh, and really just the ACC in general.
44:09
I came into the season, my numbers were very low on the ACC, almost to the point that I was a little uneasy how far off market I was on, on some of those teams, but ACC has looked atrocious through, you know, week zero and week one so far.
44:22
Uh, ex-Miami, as we like to say, with the exception of Miami- Yeah. Yep... absolutely atrocious. Uh, Tyler, appreciate it. @TShoeIndex. What is the Tyler Shoemaker index for everybody? Yeah.
44:33
Uh, it's just an opponent and tempo adjusted rating system that I, that I use for all sports, basketball, football, um, both college and pro. Appreciate it, Tyler. Thank you so much. Yes, sir. Thank you.
44:44
Tyler Shoemaker, VSAN contributor @TShoeIndex, S-H-O-E, like in Shoemaker, by the way. Couple wide receiver notes here before we go to break.
44:53
Um, Ricky Pearsall shot in San Francisco, broad daylight, Union Square on Saturday, a mile and a half away from me, uh, out at least four games on the non-football injury list.
45:03
And then the Bengals, Kelly, with Ja'Marr Chase, his availity, uh, availability remains up in the air less than a week, obviously, before the season opener.
45:12
Zac Taylor, the coach, saying that Chase remained day-to-day as he continues not to practice while he awaits the status of a contract extension.
45:18
Monday was the team's last practice before game week officially begins, so we shall see with Ja'Marr. Kind of don't believe it still. I think he'll be signed by the time, uh, we kick off. I never know with these guys.
45:30
Me either, but... Never know. Really don't know. Uh, we'll come back. More NFL, more college football, more baseball. It's a numbers game. [upbeat music]
A Numbers Game
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