Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud……

Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud…….

13) New Orleans Pelicans sold 2,500 season tickets the night they won the draft lottery; imagine how many they must’ve sold the night of the draft?

12) Celtics have 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall on their summer league team; their nutritionists have him eating 6,000 calories a day, to try and add some weight to his frame. Lot of eating.

11) I turn on the Portland-Utah summer league game Tuesday and the first voice I hear is Dan Dakich, so immediately my reflex is……..MUTE BUTTON!!!! Good grief he is annoying.

10) Nevada Wolf Pack alum Jordan Caroline had seven fouls in a game Monday night; the limit in summer league is ten- they don’t want guys fouling out, but having seven in a game isn’t good. Caroline’s dad and grandfather were really good football players, so it is in the genes.

9) Part of the reason NBA Summer League is so popular is that it is a chance for regular people to see pro ball in person at affordable prices. You can sit there all day, watch four games for $35, and for kids, they’ve got a good chance to meet a current NBA player or coach.

Plus if you’re in Las Vegas, its 105 outside and the arenas are air conditioned, and its a hell of a lot cheaper than playing video poker all day.

8) Central Florida QB Darriel Mack Jr broke his ankle recently, so Notre Dame transfer Brandon Wimbush is the Golden Knights’ likely starting QB this fall. Wimbush was Notre Dame’s starting QB two years ago.

7) NFC East is the only division where all four teams have won a Super Bowl.

6) NC State received a notice of allegations from the NCAA this week, related to the recruitment of former five-star point guard Dennis Smith Jr. Problem is, the coaches involved in all that have moved on, so the school will get punished for something the current coaches didn’t do.

5) Warriors told Shaun Livingston to take a hike before his contract became fully guaranteed at $7.7M- instead he will get paid $666,000 a year over the next three years to go away. He hopes to play for a contending team next season.

4) There are eight new head coaches in the NFL this season; Adam Gase, Bruce Arians are only two of the eight who have been NFL head coaches before. Kliff Kingsbury has been a head coach in college- Texas Tech fired him last year.

3) There are 18 NFL coordinators with NFL head coaching experience.

2) Quick college football trends:

— Since 2017, Kentucky is 0-7 as a home favorite.
— Mississippi State covered eight of last ten non-conference games.
— Since 2012, Arizona State is 20-12 as a home favorite.

1) RIP to former big league pitcher Jim Bouton, 80, who wrote Ball Four, which might’ve been the first real book I ever read. Controversial at the time, Ball Four was Bouton’s diary of the 1969 baseball season, where he took us inside a major league locker room, which was frowned upon at the time. Bouton started that season with the expansion Seattle Pilots and wound up with the Astros. RIP, sir.

Thursday's six-pack

Props for NFL teams making the playoffs:

— Pittsburgh Steelers No -$115, Yes -$115

— San Francisco 49ers No -$300, Yes +$240

— Seattle Seahawks No -$180, Yes +$150

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers No -$700, Yes +$500

— Tennessee Titans No -$350, Yes +$275

— Washington Redskins No -$700, Yes +$500