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Daily Sports Roundup

Friday, October 30

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The T-Wolves host the Cavaliers, the Mavs battle the Lakers, and ranked West Virginia looks for a win against South Florida.

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

No. 20 West Virginia is at South Florida on Friday night in the lone college football game on the schedule. The Mountaineers (6-1 SU, 2-4 ATS) are coming off a 28-24 win over Connecticut in their last contest, with Noel Devine rushing for 178 yards and a touchdown in the victory. The Bulls (5-2 SU, 2-3 ATS) were embarrassed 41-14 by Pittsburgh last time out. Oddsmakers have West Virginia pegged as the 3-point road favorite for Friday, with the game's total at 48 points.

As well, there's one Canadian Football League game on tap for Friday, with Toronto (3-13 SU, 6-9-1 ATS) at Edmonton (7-9 SU, 5-11 ATS). The oddsmakers have the Eskimos listed as 7.5-point home favorites, with the total at 49.5 points.

Tipping off on the hardwood . . .

A busy night around the NBA on Friday sees 13 games on the schedule, including Cleveland at Minnesota. LeBron James and the Cavaliers are off to an 0-2 start to the season, dropping their opener to Boston and then falling to Toronto 101-92 on Wednesday night. James scored 23 points against the Raptors. The Timberwolves began their campaign with a 95-93 win over the Nets on Wednesday. Jonny Flynn had a team-high 18 points for Minnesota that game.

Also on the Friday schedule: New York at Charlotte, Milwaukee at Philadelphia, Washington at Atlanta, Oklahoma City at Detroit, Toronto at Memphis, Chicago at Boston, Orlando at New Jersey, Sacramento at New Orleans, Miami at Indiana, the Clippers at Utah, Golden State at Phoenix, and Dallas at the Lakers. The Mavericks were beaten 102-91 by the Wizards in their opener on Tuesday, while Kobe Bryant and company topped the Clippers 99-92 in their first contest.

Taking a trip around the rink . . .

Finally, there are 10 games on the NHL's schedule for Friday night, including Toronto at Buffalo. The Maple Leafs (1-7-2) were tagged with yet another loss last time out, falling 4-3 in overtime to the Stars on Wednesday night. Jonas Gustavsson stopped 32 of 36 Dallas shots in that contest. The Sabres (7-1-1) rolled to a 4-1 win over the Devils in their last game on Wednesday, with Ryan Miller making 31 saves and Clarke MacArthur scoring his fifth goal of the season.

Also on the ice on Friday: the Islanders at Washington, Pittsburgh at Columbus, the Rangers at Minnesota, Montreal at Chicago, Florida at Dallas, Vancouver at Anaheim, and Colorado at San Jose. The Avalanche (10-1-2) continued their torrid start with a 3-2 win over Calgary on Wednesday night, with Craig Anderson making 30 stops. The Sharks (8-4-1) won their third straight on Wednesday, topping the Kings 2-1 in a shootout. Patrick Marleau had his 10th goal of the year.

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Six-pack for Friday

-- Last time Phillies played Bronx in World Series, in 1950, it ended October 7; baseball playoffs started on October 7 this season.

-- Mets fans I know are divided about who they're rooting for in the World Series. The more sensible ones are rooting for the Phillies.

-- Earlier this week. tickets for Viking-Packer game at Lambeau Field were going for as much as $1,400 a pop. Favre-nomics, I guess.

-- Georgia Tech won its last three games, scoring 37 ppg; the combined passing stats for Tech in those three games: 9-23/267 yards.

-- Favorite is 6-0 vs spread in Louisiana Tech's '09 football games.

-- Have NBA package for free until Tuesday; forgot how much I like watching Warrior home games and seeing Steve Nash playing for the Suns. Will I buy the NBA package? That's a question for next week.

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Friday's List of 13: Things I'm looking for this weekend.....

13) I'm off to the hallowed halls of the Ivy League Saturday morning, to see the Penn-Brown football game in Providence; buddy of mine is one of Brown's assistant coaches. Forecast of temps near 70 is sweet.

12) Texas is away from Austin for third Saturday in a row. Oklahoma State is a dangerous underdog in Stillwater Saturday night.

11) Can Temple win its sixth game in row and become bowl eligible? Can Duke win its third ACC game in a row? Can Idaho get win #7?

10) 6-2 Idaho is favored for second time in nine games over Louisiana Tech team; favorite is 6-0 vs spread in Tech's games this season.

9) Georgia's schedule was stupid-hard this year; will they give Florida a tough game after finally getting a bye? Gators waxed them 49-10 LY.

8) Central Michigan-Boston College will be a good game. Chippewas are no stiffs. Eagles play better at home, but went all out last week in a tight loss at Notre Dame, could let down here.

7) Oregon won its last six games, USC its last four. Trojans are on road for third time in last four weeks. Winner here probably wins Pac-10.

6) In the NFL, how will the 0-6 Titans play coming off a bye after their 59-0 beatdown in Foxboro? Vince Young is starting at QB, making this game even more interesting.

5) You have to have a lot of onions to lay points with 0-6 Titans or 1-5 Detroit this week. Lions' offensive coordinator is Scott Linehan, who was run out of St Louis after a horrendous stint as the Rams' coach.

4) 13 NFL games this week; seven games have spreads of less than four points, the other six games have spreads of nine or more points. Odd slate of games this week, some good rivalries being renewed.

3) 3-3 Ravens are favored over 6-0 Denver, with both teams coming off byes; Broncos had it going so well, not sure they needed a bye, while Ravens lost three in a row before the bye-- they definitely needed it.

2) Brett Favre returns to Lambeau Field Sunday as the enemy; how will the natives react? People in the midwest are normally polite. Normally. There isn't a lot about this game that is normal.

1) How many people in Philly Sunday will go to both Giant-Eagle game in afternoon and the World Series at night?

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This Day in Baseball

On October 30 in Baseball History...

1911 - Clark Griffith is named manager at Washington, beginning a stand in the nation's capitol as manager, then owner, that will last until his death in 1955.

1945 - Branch Rickey signs Jackie Robinson to a contract with Montreal of the International League for 1946. Black pitcher John Wright also signs.

1956 - The Dodgers sell Ebbets Field to a real estate group. They agree to stay until 1959, with an option to stay until 1961.

1963 - Sandy Koufax wins again. The Dodgers southpaw, who won 25 games and pitched 11 shutouts, outpolls Cardinals shortstop Dick Groat 237 to 190 for the NL MVP award.

1967 - Arthur Allyn announces that his White Sox will play nine games in Milwaukee in 1968. Chicago will become the first AL team to play regular season games outside its own city since 1905.

1974 - Catfish Hunter is named the AL Cy Young Award winner. He led the league with 25 wins and a 2.49 ERA.

1975 - Giants pitcher John Montefusco outpoints Expos catcher Gary Carter for NL Rookie of the Year honors.

1984 - Tigers reliever Willie Hernandez wins the AL Cy Young Award, edging fellow reliever Dan Quisenberry of the Royals. Hernandez was 9-3 with 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA.