Rob Q. Ink - A Philly Sports Blog

The Phillies open the 2024 season . . . Thursday. Because nothing says “opening day” like late March in Philadelphia with a forecasted high temperature of 51 degrees and rain (per 6abc.com on Tuesday early afternoon). The low is 41. I guess I shouldn’t complain. Dodgers and Padres fans got to watch their teams open the season for the American pastime last week in South Korea in the middle of the night local time. Americana, baby! The Phillies had a relatively quiet offseason compared to recent years. They re-signed Aaron Nola who could have left via free agency and extended the contract of Zach Wheeler, locking in the core of their pitching staff for years. They also signed Whit Merrifield, a utility player from the Toronto Blue Jays who hit .272 last season with an on-base percentage of .318 per ESPN . The team let reliever Craig Kimbrel walk in free agency, and fan favorite Rhys Hoskins was also allowed to leave with Bryce Harper taking over his position at first base. I lik

The “Madness” truly begins on Thursday around noon as the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament tips. For fun only, I’ve created a group on ESPN.com for readers to post their brackets. After everything is locked, I will be posting my brackets in the comments. I’ll also be posting any picks for the Tournament below (prior to tip-off) and in the comments for the first four days and possibly through the Championship game. As always, you’re welcome to do the same. Join the group for some fun, and don’t forget to post a screenshot of your bracket in the comments after the first tip-off! Our group is called: Ink Brackets The link is here: Link to group Password: DallasSucks   Readers might recall that I picked Connecticut to win the Tournament at +500 for $100 to win $500 in late February . I said the number would drop and it did, but only to +400. Honestly, I thought it would drop more. I still love the pick. As of Tuesday night, I have a Final Four pick of Houston (+140), Cr

“Shut up, and pitch!” Mayes’ half of the split screen as he  does “Ah Jeez.” Harry Mayes dropped some memorable lines as a talk show host for 97.5 The Fanatic. My favorite was from his rant against the at times over-sensitive ace of the Phillies during the run highlighted by the 2008 World Championship, Cole Hamels. For the record, Mayes said he loved Hamels and often defended the pitcher. Mayes left radio more than five years ago, and now calls himself a “content creator” on his Twitter/X bio . He does multiple podcasts, including Swing It and Ding It , with iHeart Media, and Ah Jeez , with Jason Myrtetus, through Not For Long Media (N4L). He was his usual blunt self when we recently communicated about the current state of sports talk radio. I asked him why he thought local sports coverage from local media outlets seems to be dwindling while established voices leave the air waves. Money? Competition from national outlets? Digital media? “All of the above,” Mayes said via e-mail.

  I had a few quick thoughts going into the weekend. ·          Last night I heard Jon Marks talk about Mike Missanelli reportedly going back to sports talk radio with 97.5 The Fanatic. I recently interviewed Missanelli , and I wonder if it puts a new light on some of what he said, especially about young guys not having “the chops” to do the job of sports talk. Missanelli is apparently going to do middays with Bob Cooney. I listen very little to sports talk radio these days due to not being in the car much – I hear plenty of it on YouTube – but this move seems like a reach. I like both guys, but it’s just reshuffling the deck. ·          I was already thinking about how much former and current sports media people talk . . . and talk, and talk . . . about the business of sports talk and sports media on their own podcasts. Just yesterday, I saw Marks, Harry Mayes (who I’ll have an interview with soon) and Jason Myrtetus with Tony Bruno, and Stephen A. Smith with Ryan Clark, talking

Conference tournaments are in full-swing, and I’m going to try a strategy that has paid off in the past – parlaying heavy favorites on the money line. The spreads can get a little crazy in these games, and parity makes the strategy a bit riskier these days, so I don’t go as heavy as I used to with it. Today, I’m going with:   Duke -715 over NC State North Carolina -590 over Florida State UConn -2000 over Xavier Arizona -455 over USC Creighton -345 over Providence Marquette -205 over Villanova  I’m not even going to use the word “parlay” because there’s apparently a law against me winning one. I bet $20 to win $65.68.

I like a few games today, so I’ll get right to it. Creighton -1.5 over Villanova for $5 to win $4.55. I don’t quite get this spread. The Wildcats are playing better and they’re at home, but I just don’t think they are as good as the Bluejays. Connecticut -9.5 at Providence for $5 to win $4.65. I know Joe Lunardi took the Friars, but UConn is rolling. Duke -5.5 over North Carolina for $5 to win $4.65. I don’t love going over 5, but I went with the Blue Devils at home. In case I’m a genius today, I parlayed all three games for $5 to win $30.57. At $5 a pick, obviously, I don’t love any of these games. They all have a flaw, but I think they’re solid. As always, get in the comments with your picks.

I was told how boring it was to pick Connecticut to repeat as the Men’s College Basketball NCAA Tournament Champion. Well, this pick might be just as dull to some. Tonight,  I’m taking UConn -5 at Marquette for $10 to win $9.10. I laid off Creighton against Marquette on Saturday because a commenter said the Golden Eagles were a sleeper in the Big East. The Bluejays won by 14, but Marquette was missing “star guard” Tyler Kolek. It appears that he’s still out tonight. Meanwhile, the Huskies crushed Seton Hall by 30 points on Sunday. I passed on giving 15 points, but I’ll give 5 points on a smaller play tonight on the road. I’m slightly concerned about a letdown after Connecticut players cut down the nets after the victory gave them the regular season Big East title, but I’m hoping they’ve had enough time to move on from that celebration.

Who doesn’t want a Friday afternoon quickie: ·           Joel Embiid plans to return to the Sixers after knee surgery . . . get this . . . regardless of the team’s record. Ignored in the written story on ESPN.com, the accompanying video has audio of a reporter asking the Sixers’ center if he would consider not playing for the rest of the season. “My question to you is then, ‘Why come back? I mean, you know what I mean? Like, after an injury like this, some people might say, ‘You know what, let me just rest up for next year.’” Why didn’t this reporter just ask Embiid out for a drink? The Sixers have struggled in Embiid’s absence, including losing 3 of their last 10 games as of Friday morning, falling to fifth place in the conference. The reporter’s essentially trying to say, “You’re too good to come back to a team that’s struggling.” It was an embarrassing attempt to by a reporter to cozy up to a star player. We’re actually encouraging athletes to act like prima donnas now? To his