<TBODY><TR><TD style="FONT-FAMILY: arial; FONT-SIZE: 12pt" id=yiv1659140113drftMsgContent _yuid="yui_3_1_1_3_1311905291603180">I will arrive home later today after an 1,800-mile drive between my hometown of Chicago and Las Vegas. I took Interstate 80 across the upper Midwest through Nebraska and Iowa to arrive in Illinois two weeks ago then opted for Interstate 40 on the route home, driving through Oklahoma and New Mexico before landing in Nevada.
Thank goodness for XM Satellite radio and its MLB package.
Listening to baseball on the radio brought back boyhood memories of hearing Cubs' road games in Los Angeles or San Francisco while being tucked in bed with the transistor radio underneath my pillow as the "Lovable Losers" sometimes played well past the midnight hour. The top of the Cub lineup featured names like Kessinger, Beckert, Williams, Banks and Santo.
Vince Lloyd and Hall-of-Famer Lou Boudreau served as the play-by-play team on WGN Radio in the early 1970s and I still hear Boudreau in the deep recesses of my mind saying, "For all you kids out there..."
At the time, it seemed as if he was talking directly to me.
Fast forward to today and I continue to listen for baseball tips on the radio. Not the kind of tips Boudreau was offering on how to bunt or turn the double play, but rather the kind of unique information an investor seeks to outsmart the competition.
Here are a few nuggets of information from cities I visited on my three-day journey through the Great Midwest:
ST. LOUIS......The Cards are in a three-way battle for the NL Central title. I think St. Louis will prevail at season's end for two reasons: pitching and past performance. St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter, with support from lefty Jaime Garcia and the recently-acquired Edwin Jackson, leads a decent pitching staff in a division bereft of quality starters. Carpenter started the season 1-7, but he's 5-0 in his last seven starts, going seven or more innings in six of his last seven outings. The Cards also benefit from "back class" and their main challengers are unproven teams like home-happy Milwaukee and surprising Pittsburgh. The Brewers are 21-35 away from Miller Park and they're fortunate to lead the division in light of getting outscored by their competition after 106 games. The Pirates, sporting a 54-49 record, are this season's feel-good story. They would do well simply to post a winning record, their first in 19 seasons. One other plus for St. Louis is the thrilling atmosphere at Busch Stadium where huge crowds support the local nine. Here are the first four lines and the last four lines from a poem posted at Busch Stadium:
We are Cardinal Nation
We are the 3 million in the stands and the millions more at home.
We are generations of generations.
We are a father, a son and a scorecard.
We are two birds on one bat. And always will be.
We are 43 Hall of Famers, 10 World Championships and counting.
We are the first team this side of the Mississippi...
And the best fans this side of anywhere.
TULSA.....I timed my trip home to correspond with Tuesday night's WNBA game at BOK Center between the Atlanta Dream and Tulsa Shock. Nolan Richardson is out as Tulsa's head coach and assistant Teresa Edwards inherited the top spot. The job is a thankless one as the Shock roster is filled with rejects, projects and publicity stunts (think Sheryl Swoopes and the recently waived Marion Jones). Former UCLA basketball star and 12-year NBA veteran Tracy Murray joined the team this week as an assistant coach to Edwards. I will monitor Tulsa's progress to see if Murray has any effect on the sorry squad. Also, look for Atlanta to play well in the second half of the WNBA season. The defending Eastern Conference champs are getting healthy (Sancho Lyttle played 14 minutes last night) and Angel McCoughtry is a fabulous player who is improving with experience. McCoughtry is playing a different game than the vast majority of players in the league. She has first-step quickness to blow past bigger defenders and a deadly mid-range game to shoot over smaller opponents. She's unstoppable, especially against teams without a defensive mindset.
ALBUQUERQUE..... I read an article in the morning paper (Albuquerque Journal) about a rift between UNM basketball coach Steve Alford and head coach Tim Floyd of UTEP. The two teams have met 141 times, but the rivalry is on hold after New Mexico defeated UTEP in the first round of the NIT last season. Alford and Floyd engaged in a heated face-to-face argument before the postseason game when the two coaches could not agree on practice times at The Pit. Stay tuned.
FRIDAY'S BEST BETS.....Here are four plays for Friday, two MLB selections and a pair of WNBA releases:
Play 961-962 Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals "UNDER" 8 runs. Edwin Jackson's debut as a Cardinal. Garza has been pitching well of late and he's miserable at the plate (one sacrifice in nearly 40 plate appearances).
Play 963-964 Colorado Rockies-San Diego Padres "UNDER" 7 runs. These teams played two night games at Petco Park earlier this year: a 3-0 Colorado win and a 2-0 San Diego victory in which tonight's starter Tim Stauffer pitched eight scoreless innings.
Play 603 Seattle +8 over Minnesota. Love grabbing points with a team led by coach Brian Agler and point guard Sue Bird.
Play 603-604 Seattle-Minnesota "OVER" 146.5. Minny will push the pace at home. Augustus said after the team's most recent win, "We were having fun out there."
COMING MONDAY.....A smart handicapping angle in the college football game between Oregon State and Wisconsin set for early September in Madison.
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Thank goodness for XM Satellite radio and its MLB package.
Listening to baseball on the radio brought back boyhood memories of hearing Cubs' road games in Los Angeles or San Francisco while being tucked in bed with the transistor radio underneath my pillow as the "Lovable Losers" sometimes played well past the midnight hour. The top of the Cub lineup featured names like Kessinger, Beckert, Williams, Banks and Santo.
Vince Lloyd and Hall-of-Famer Lou Boudreau served as the play-by-play team on WGN Radio in the early 1970s and I still hear Boudreau in the deep recesses of my mind saying, "For all you kids out there..."
At the time, it seemed as if he was talking directly to me.
Fast forward to today and I continue to listen for baseball tips on the radio. Not the kind of tips Boudreau was offering on how to bunt or turn the double play, but rather the kind of unique information an investor seeks to outsmart the competition.
Here are a few nuggets of information from cities I visited on my three-day journey through the Great Midwest:
ST. LOUIS......The Cards are in a three-way battle for the NL Central title. I think St. Louis will prevail at season's end for two reasons: pitching and past performance. St. Louis ace Chris Carpenter, with support from lefty Jaime Garcia and the recently-acquired Edwin Jackson, leads a decent pitching staff in a division bereft of quality starters. Carpenter started the season 1-7, but he's 5-0 in his last seven starts, going seven or more innings in six of his last seven outings. The Cards also benefit from "back class" and their main challengers are unproven teams like home-happy Milwaukee and surprising Pittsburgh. The Brewers are 21-35 away from Miller Park and they're fortunate to lead the division in light of getting outscored by their competition after 106 games. The Pirates, sporting a 54-49 record, are this season's feel-good story. They would do well simply to post a winning record, their first in 19 seasons. One other plus for St. Louis is the thrilling atmosphere at Busch Stadium where huge crowds support the local nine. Here are the first four lines and the last four lines from a poem posted at Busch Stadium:
We are Cardinal Nation
We are the 3 million in the stands and the millions more at home.
We are generations of generations.
We are a father, a son and a scorecard.
We are two birds on one bat. And always will be.
We are 43 Hall of Famers, 10 World Championships and counting.
We are the first team this side of the Mississippi...
And the best fans this side of anywhere.
TULSA.....I timed my trip home to correspond with Tuesday night's WNBA game at BOK Center between the Atlanta Dream and Tulsa Shock. Nolan Richardson is out as Tulsa's head coach and assistant Teresa Edwards inherited the top spot. The job is a thankless one as the Shock roster is filled with rejects, projects and publicity stunts (think Sheryl Swoopes and the recently waived Marion Jones). Former UCLA basketball star and 12-year NBA veteran Tracy Murray joined the team this week as an assistant coach to Edwards. I will monitor Tulsa's progress to see if Murray has any effect on the sorry squad. Also, look for Atlanta to play well in the second half of the WNBA season. The defending Eastern Conference champs are getting healthy (Sancho Lyttle played 14 minutes last night) and Angel McCoughtry is a fabulous player who is improving with experience. McCoughtry is playing a different game than the vast majority of players in the league. She has first-step quickness to blow past bigger defenders and a deadly mid-range game to shoot over smaller opponents. She's unstoppable, especially against teams without a defensive mindset.
ALBUQUERQUE..... I read an article in the morning paper (Albuquerque Journal) about a rift between UNM basketball coach Steve Alford and head coach Tim Floyd of UTEP. The two teams have met 141 times, but the rivalry is on hold after New Mexico defeated UTEP in the first round of the NIT last season. Alford and Floyd engaged in a heated face-to-face argument before the postseason game when the two coaches could not agree on practice times at The Pit. Stay tuned.
FRIDAY'S BEST BETS.....Here are four plays for Friday, two MLB selections and a pair of WNBA releases:
Play 961-962 Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals "UNDER" 8 runs. Edwin Jackson's debut as a Cardinal. Garza has been pitching well of late and he's miserable at the plate (one sacrifice in nearly 40 plate appearances).
Play 963-964 Colorado Rockies-San Diego Padres "UNDER" 7 runs. These teams played two night games at Petco Park earlier this year: a 3-0 Colorado win and a 2-0 San Diego victory in which tonight's starter Tim Stauffer pitched eight scoreless innings.
Play 603 Seattle +8 over Minnesota. Love grabbing points with a team led by coach Brian Agler and point guard Sue Bird.
Play 603-604 Seattle-Minnesota "OVER" 146.5. Minny will push the pace at home. Augustus said after the team's most recent win, "We were having fun out there."
COMING MONDAY.....A smart handicapping angle in the college football game between Oregon State and Wisconsin set for early September in Madison.
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