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Real-time Las Vegas Odds And Scores for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA Football And Basketball. Daily Free Picks From Professional Sports Handicappers. Game Previews, Matchups, Line Moves, Player Injuries, Printable Schedules

Real-time Las Vegas Odds And Scores for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA Football And Basketball. Daily Free Picks From Professional Sports Handicappers. Game Previews, Matchups, Line Moves, Player Injuries, Printable Schedules submitted by randyeunice to u/randyeunice [link] [comments]

College Basketball Las Vegas Sportsbook Odds, NCAA Basketball Picks

College Basketball Las Vegas Sportsbook Odds, NCAA Basketball Picks submitted by Carnatic12 to u/Carnatic12 [link] [comments]

How likely is every NFL stadium to host WrestleMania? An investigation

With the announcements of WrestleManias 37, 38, and 39, some users were critical of WWE selecting the same venues every year. Every WrestleMania since 23, with the exception of three in Orlando (two at the Citrus Bowl/Camping World Stadium and one at the Performance Center due to COVID-19), has been held at an NFL stadium. As something of an NFL stadium expert, I decided to examine each NFL stadium's likelihood of hosting a future WrestleMania. Please note that some stadiums are located just outside of the city limits listed, but I listed the major city most associated with it (so for instance, while AT&T Stadium is technically in Arlington, it hosts the Dallas Cowboys, so I listed Arlington.) I'm also giving WWE a significant benefit of the doubt and assuming they'd be interested in hosting a Mania outside of their usual go-tos.
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
AT&T Stadium, Dallas, TX
Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC
Bills Stadium, Buffalo, NY
Empower Field at Mile High, Denver, CO
FedExField, Washington, DC (stadium located in Landover, MD)
FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, OH
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL
Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, PA
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, WI
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA
Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, IN
Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, GA
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA
MetLife Stadium, New York, NY (located in East Rutherford, NJ)
Nissan Stadium, Nashville, TN
NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
State Farm Stadium, Phoenix, AZ
TIAA Bank Field, Jacksonville, FL
US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
submitted by iamnotacola to SquaredCircle [link] [comments]

[Nov 24-30] ACC Football and Basketball Betting Discussion

Talk all things ACC betting!

Discuss spreads, money-lines, and totals of various ACC football and basketball games through the next week! The football games are listed below, but basketball odds aren't posted until one day out, so they won't be added here. Thus, if you find a game you'd like to discuss, be sure to reference the relevant odds!
This thread is posted every Tuesday-ish.
ACC Football Odds
Day/Time (ET) Away (ML) Line Home (ML) Line Total
Fri at 3:30 PM #2 Notre Dame (-215) -5.5 North Carolina (+175) +5.5 67.5
Sat at 12:00 PM NC State (-620) -14.5 Syracuse (+460) +14.5 51.5
Sat at 3:30 PM Pittsburgh (+1000) +24 #4 Clemson (-1900) -24 55
Sat at 4:00 PM Louisville (n/a) +1 Boston College (n/a) -1 55
Sat at 7:00 PM Duke (n/a) -1 Georgia Tech (n/a) +1 58
Sat at 8:00 PM Virginia (-330) -9 Florida State (+265) +9 59
Odds are from MyBookie or Bovada and are typically updated Friday-ish, though not always.
ACC Basketball Odds
There are too many games and odds aren't posted early enough to cram each one into this thread... but feel free to still discuss any that you like or are interested in!
See the latest basketball odds: MyBookieBovadaVegas Insider
submitted by billdb to ACC [link] [comments]

[Dec 8-14] ACC Football and Basketball Betting Discussion

Talk all things ACC betting!

Discuss spreads, money-lines, and totals of various ACC football and basketball games through the week! The football games are listed below, but basketball odds aren't posted until one day out, so they won't be added here. Thus, if you find a game you'd like to discuss, be sure to reference the relevant odds!
This thread is posted every Tuesday-ish.
ACC Football Odds
Day/Time (ET) Away (ML) Line Home (ML) Line Total
Thu at 7:00 PM Pittsburgh (-245) -7 Georgia Tech (+195) +7 54
Sat at 12:00 PM Wake Forest (+105) +1.5 Louisville (-125) -1.5 63.5
Sat at 3:30 PM #17 North Carolina (+125) +3 #10 Miami (-145) -3 67.5
Sat at 4:00 PM Duke (+165) +5 Florida State (-195) -5 57
Sat at 8:00 PM Virginia (+115) +2.5 Virginia Tech (-2.5) -135 62
Odds are from MyBookie or Bovada and are typically updated Friday-ish, though not always.
ACC Basketball Odds
There are too many games and odds aren't posted early enough to cram each one into this thread... but feel free to still discuss any that you like or are interested in!
See the latest basketball odds: MyBookieBovadaVegas Insider
submitted by billdb to ACC [link] [comments]

[Dec 15-21] ACC Football and Basketball Betting Discussion

Talk all things ACC betting!

Discuss spreads, money-lines, and totals of various ACC football and basketball games through the week! The football games are listed below, but basketball odds aren't posted until one day out, so they won't be added here. Thus, if you find a game you'd like to discuss, be sure to reference the relevant odds!
This thread is posted every Tuesday-ish.
ACC Football Odds
Day/Time (ET) Away (ML) Line Home (ML) Line Total
Sat at 12:00 PM Florida State (+190) +6.5 Wake Forest (-235) -6.5 66
Sat at 4:00 PM #2 Notre Dame (+290) +10.5 #3 Clemson (-380) -10.5 60
Odds are from MyBookie or Bovada and are typically updated Friday-ish, though not always.
ACC Basketball Odds
There are too many games and odds aren't posted early enough to cram each one into this thread... but feel free to still discuss any that you like or are interested in!
See the latest basketball odds: MyBookieBovadaVegas Insider
submitted by billdb to ACC [link] [comments]

[Dec 1-7] ACC Football and Basketball Betting Discussion

Talk all things ACC betting!

Discuss spreads, money-lines, and totals of various ACC football and basketball games through the week! The football games are listed below, but basketball odds aren't posted until one day out, so they won't be added here. Thus, if you find a game you'd like to discuss, be sure to reference the relevant odds!
This thread is posted every Tuesday-ish.
ACC Football Odds
Day/Time (ET) Away (ML) Line Home (ML) Line Total
Sat at 12:00 PM Western Carolina (n/a) +49.5 #17 North Carolina (n/a) -49.5 69
Sat at 2:30 PM Syracuse (+2175) +33.5 #2 Notre Dame (-8730) -33.5 51.5
Sat at 3:30 PM Boston College (+185) +6.5 Virginia (-225) -6.5 54.5
Sat at 4:00 PM Georgia Tech (+215) +7 NC State (-265) -7 59.5
Sat at 7:30 PM #3 Clemson (-2000) -22 Virginia Tech (+1025) +22 67
Sat at 8:00 PM #10 Miami (-600) -14.5 Duke (+450) +14.5 60.5
Odds are from MyBookie or Bovada and are typically updated Friday-ish, though not always.
ACC Basketball Odds
There are too many games and odds aren't posted early enough to cram each one into this thread... but feel free to still discuss any that you like or are interested in!
See the latest basketball odds: MyBookieBovadaVegas Insider
submitted by billdb to ACC [link] [comments]

Interview with Magician and Card Thrower Rick Smith Jr

Interview with Magician and Card Thrower Rick Smith Jr
Who is Rick Smith Jr?
When you're an entertainer, you need to find something that makes you stand out from the rest of the pack. This is also true for performers in the magic industry. With magic man Rick Smith Jr, it's easy to see that he has what it takes to stand out from your run-of-the-mill magician. To begin with, Rick has three Guiness World Records.
But it's not just that Rick Smith Jr is a world record holder that makes you sit up and take notice, but it's especially the kinds of records that he holds. Rick is an expert in throwing playing cards, and holds the record for the furthest distance ever thrown with an ordinary playing card. But that's just one of the ways he's made headlines with his card throwing skills. He's also developed an incredible accuracy with his card throwing, and his insane skills have seen him hit the big time in a "trick shots" collaboration with Dude Perfect, which features his card throwing. The video went viral, and at the time of writing it has around 150 million views! In the summer of 2020 he made a return visit to Dude Perfect, the result being this latest video with even more amazing stunts.
With his unique fusion of magic and card throwing, Rick Smith Jr is in high demand around the world. He's performed on television many times, for some of the biggest names in the business. Each year he does more than 600 shows for a steady stream of clients, who want to bring his exciting brand of magic and card throwing to their homes, businesses, and events. With a background in marketing, Rick is well placed to serve the needs of corporate customers, while entertaining them with an unforgettable performance at the same time.
Rick has been amazing audiences for around 20 years, and with his remarkable skills and talents, he knows how to use playing cards in a way that few others do. We're grateful that he was willing to do this interview with us, giving us the opportunity to get a unique insight look at his world, and get some helpful pointers for taking our playing cards to the next level - literally!

https://preview.redd.it/ec4kogd9oyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=019748d63fabef77cefe20d5b02c351848bdacec
THE INTERVIEW
For those who don't know anything about you, what can you tell us about yourself and your background?
Well, I've been performing magic for over 30 years. I perform close to 600 magic shows a year right now, with my card-throwing being a niche of my act. So I'm not just a card thrower, but I am a professional entertainer. I was an NCAA pitcher in college, and I developed my strength of my card throwing by throwing a baseball 90-plus miles per hour.
What can you tell us about the Guinness World Records you have set?
I have three Guinness Book world records for throwing playing cards. My first world record was set in 2002, for throwing a playing card 72 yards at a speed of 92 miles per hour.
My other two world records were set in 2015 and 2017, one for throwing a card the most accurate, which was 46 out of 52 cards to a target in under a minute. The other world record was for throwing the highest, which was 70 feet and some odd inches straight up in the air.
What does a typical day or month in the life of Rick Smith Jr look like?
Typically, I have been a prize for a fundraising company for the past ten years. I would perform three school shows during the week, Monday through Friday. My weekends, I would travel. I would perform for different companies and corporations around the world, and the school tour thing lasted for ten years. There was 400 shows a year.
An average day: I'll try to come up with some new material, perform the shows, post on social media, and hang out with family and friends when I can. I work a lot.
What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of magic and throwing playing cards?
Going to sporting events. I was a baseball player, and we're from Cleveland, so we go to different Cleveland Indian games. I played baseball up until a couple years ago, after I had an elbow injury, where I had to have surgery, which was both baseball and card-throwing-related. So I gave up baseball.
Also four-wheeling, hanging out with family, cooking on the grill - those are my hobbies right now.
Aside from your world records, what would you consider to be your biggest accomplishments, and things you're most proud of?
I guess my girls. I have a three-year-old, Aubrey, and I have a five-year-old, Averie. Having kids now, it's changed my life. When I'm not performing, I'm going to dance recitals and taking them for swimming lessons and Little Gym and getting them into sports and baseball and soccer and basketball. So I'm spending a lot of my time with those two, and there's one more on the way in August. So it's going to change my life even more, coming up.
What instructional videos have you produced that we should know about?
If you want to learn some magic and some card-throwing, I have a free tutorial and some more tutorials on my YouTube channel. I also have some behind the scenes of the card-throwing and some in-depth training on a DVD called Velocity, which is available on my website.
What playing cards have you personally been involved with producing?
I developed the whistle for the Banshee throwing playing cards. Banshees were created by Murphy's Magic, while the whistle was created by me. So Banshees and Banshees Advanced are playing cards that you can throw that have a measuring system. I used the Chrome Kings that De'Vo developed for most of the first video for Dude Perfect. In my second collaboration video, I used my new Falcons, which have a gold and silver edition. We just released a cool Kickstarter for the Falcon Razor deck.
What playing cards do you use for performing magic?
My magic deck is still Bicycle. I still prefer them over any other deck that I've used for performing magic, unless I'm at a really high-end event and I want to have a fancy deck of cards. I will browse my collection and grab one of De'Vo's earlier decks. I'm not against other companies though, and I have decks from David Blaine, Art of Play, and Theory 11. I probably have thousands different decks of cards, if not more. Some decks of cards, other magicians give to me. Some decks of cards, I've received as gifts. So I like playing cards all around.

https://preview.redd.it/70ev4ltioyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67f2ee860b5441acf7a7ce22be8c7d5a8c150c7e
When did you first get involved in magic and what first sparked your interest in it?
I was seven years old. I always did card tricks. My dad knew one card trick, my uncle knew a coin trick, and that was what really sparked my interest - being able to handle cards and being able to do one-handed cut and shuffle the cards and be able to do little tricks, where I could do some betting things with family and friends. That's how I really got into card magic. The coin trick was just the scotch and soda trick, and that was the trick that my uncle knew and taught me. He ended up giving me the coins to be able to perform that trick for my friends. So that got me interested to it.
Back in the day we also had World's Greatest Magic every Thanksgiving. That sparked an interest from illusions to close-up magic to all those other things that just got me into magic even deeper.
How have your own performances and shows changed since you first became involved in magic?
I've made myself more of an entertainer. I'm not the best or most technical magician in the world. But I feel that I'm a good entertainer. I'm out there performing and doing things that are not easy to figure out, but they're also fun. They're not drawn out, and they're exciting.
I try to create some magic tricks that would fit in with my card-throwing For example, there's my own version of a card stab and instead of using a knife I do this: I have someone select a playing card, lose it in the deck, throw the cards in the air, and then I throw a playing card and pin their sign card to a board.
I also create tricks that fit in with my personality, which is just have a good time, make sure the audience is having a good time, and keep people entertained. I'm always there to talk with my audience. And if people see me at a show, I'm the same person that they would see if I was just walking down the street. Those are the people that got me into magic, and I'm always there for those types of people as well.
How has technology impacted the magic industry over the last couple of decades, and is this good or bad?
I think it's enhanced the magic community a ton. I use technology magic in my act now, and I don't see a weakness in it yet, other than someone thinking that it might be an app. But if you can use somebody else's cell phone or somebody else's technology in their hands and end up doing something with their props, you can sometimes just get rid of that whole idea of "That was an app" or "That was something that had to do with technology." If you're a good storyteller, you can kind of work around that.
Do have any good stories you can share about an epic "fail" that you experienced?
I haven't really had any card-throwing things gone wrong, aside from not hitting the target the first time. But I did have one epic fail. At the end of my shows, I would throw playing cards as far as I could, for example at an outdoor show in the summertime. If it was a kids' show, I'd tell the kids: "Whoever catches this card wins a deck of cards, one of these Chrome Kings" (or a Bicycle deck or whatever I had at the time). I would throw the card as far as I could or as high as I could, and outside it would definitely travel sometimes farther than world record distance because of wind and things like that.
Well, one day, I had two kids run into the card at the very same time, and they kind of ran face-to-face, ran into each other. The one kid's tooth popped right out. So that was an epic fail. I was pretty upset about that. But they went to the hospital, and they got the tooth back in, and I never heard from that family again, even in a bad way. But I felt bad.
I guess the first show ever I ever did in my entire life was an epic fail as well. I was 15 years old. I thought flash paper and smoke powder and sparkle dust type of stuff that was flammable would be a cool idea to set on fire in somebody's living room. Well, it started sparkling and sparkling and sparkling, and it never stopped until it hit the floor and then burned a nice quarter-inch hole in their carpet. This was a housewarming party for their first house that they ever bought. Now they have a quarter-inch burn hole in the middle of their thing! 20 or more years later, they come up to me, and say: "That burn hole is still there, and we love that you're performing still. We tell everybody that you did it."
What advice would you give to a young person just starting to learn card magic for the first time today?
Just practice. Don't necessarily practice in front of a mirror. It's good to practice your angles, but practice on your family. Practice on your brother or your sister, your aunt or your uncle. The more that you're out there, performing these tricks on people, the better you'll get.
I've seen some of the best magicians in the world technically who can show the most incredible card move that I've ever seen in my entire life, but they don't have the courage to walk up to a real person and perform that trick. Even though they would blow me away technically, they don't have the social or people skills. So develop your people skills. It's going to help you with school. It's going to help you with presentations in college. It's going to help you with anything. The more that you can be in front of people and the more that you feel comfortable with people, the better you'll get with your act. People will see that you're comfortable, and they'll like you as a person, as well as your act.
Do you have any thoughts and opinions on cardistry?
I think cardistry's pretty cool. I have a lot of friends that do cardistry. I know De'Vo was one of the first to do extreme card manipulation, and he popularized it. Then it became cardistry, and then the Buck twins made it a little bit more popular, which is great.
Back in the day all of those fancy card moves were used as performance pieces. Nowadays they're used as things added to enhance your performance. While you're performing a trick, you do a little bit of cardistry in the middle of it, finish your trick, and you're done. It just gives you something you can do with cards that no one else can.
What has been your experience with social media, and what role do you think it plays for your career?
I never liked social media. I hated that kind of stuff. But I guess I followed just on what everybody was doing. I thought, "I don't want to be left behind too far. I'll post here and there." Now I have an audience of over half a million people. It's not a lot yet, but it's getting there, and it's growing every day. I'm getting sponsors from different companies, and I'm doing sponsored posts. I'm becoming an influencer. I'm making money on YouTube. I'm making money on Instagram. So I'm going to continue to do that, because, as of right now, during this time in the world [COVID-19 crisis] it's the only way for an entertainer to make money.

https://preview.redd.it/rhtq2unyoyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a71bf400135306955f1659a0f86f18d1f9b6cf50
Do you have any goals or accomplishments that you would still like to achieve in your lifetime?
That's a tough one. Just keep performing. I feel like I've accomplished so much, so young. I would love to build up my YouTube subscribers. I would love to continue that and present card-throwing, magic, and tutorials to the younger people out there in the world, give them a place that they could learn and collaborate with others. I would like to just continue doing what I'm doing, collaborating with different artists, making different trick shot videos, trying to always get better. That would be the goal, never to let it get stale, never let it get old.
I had a mentor as a kid when I went on Ripley's Believe It or Not say, "Enjoy your 30 seconds of fame, because it's not going to last more than a couple of weeks." When that mentor said that to me, I was like, "Well, I'm going to prove him wrong." I've been doing card-throwing now for 18, 19 years, making a significant living off that and off my magic. So it's been going on for 18 years. Ricky Jay did it his whole career. I think I can keep enhancing it and making it better, keeping it popular.
What should we know about Magic Gives Back, which you founded and are the director of?
Magic Gives Back is a platform that I created for my Las Vegas-style magic show. Originally for ten years I was performing at 400 schools a year, as a prize for a local fundraising company. Kids would sell magazines, cookie dough, and wrapping paper and I was the prize for their reward. Instead I basically made Magic Gives Back, the ultimate family night, as a fundraiser. I grabbed 15 of my closest friends, from lighting engineers, sound engineers, to special guest entertainers to dancers to assistants, built some of the best illusions from big magic builders in Las Vegas, like Magic Ventures, and I have tons of different illusions from around the world. We put all that stuff together.
We ended up going into schools, offering them 50% of the profit. So instead of kids selling magazines and cookie dough, they would sell tickets to the show. They would be the promoters to the show, and then we would bring that show to their facilities, their auditoriums. In one night, we could raise anywhere from $20,000-$40,000 and split the money, with the school perhaps doing absolutely nothing. And we had a sold-out show and were able to perform our Las Vegas Dallas show without ever having to spend any money on advertising. So it was a win-win for everybody.
Where can people go to see you perform today?
Most of my shows are private. We do probably 15 Magic Gives Back shows a year. Just say keep an eye out on my social media. If there are public appearances, I put them on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, and if they want to come to a Magic Gives Back big show, the next shows will be in the spring, 2021.

https://preview.redd.it/nw3x9vrdpyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9f515bed9049fd2a419878f8ae3321e307fda5b
CONCLUSION
There's no doubt that Rick Smith Jr is a unique individual with a remarkable set of talents. He has shaped himself into an entertainer like no other. His path to the record-setting top has been shaped by a few key events, especially his baseball background, his first world record, and his Dude Perfect collaboration video. But he's also not afraid of hard work, as his busy schedule of 600+ shows a year makes clear. He's honed and polished his craft, enabling him to do things with playing cards that nobody else in the world can do.
But even if we're not about to contest Rick Smith Jr for his world records, that doesn't mean we can't have fun with playing cards in unusual ways. So why not grab a deck of playing cards and give card throwing a shot yourself!

https://preview.redd.it/uxxjg7bfpyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=178561667eb0a61cc79d52ea4bc97d1b298b18a5

Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.
submitted by EndersGame_Reviewer to Magic [link] [comments]

Interview with world record playing card thrower Rick Smith Jr

Interview with world record playing card thrower Rick Smith Jr
Who is Rick Smith Jr?
When you're an entertainer, you need to find something that makes you stand out from the rest of the pack. This is also true for performers in the magic industry. With magic man Rick Smith Jr, it's easy to see that he has what it takes to stand out from your run-of-the-mill magician. To begin with, Rick has three Guiness World Records.
But it's not just that Rick Smith Jr is a world record holder that makes you sit up and take notice, but it's especially the kinds of records that he holds. Rick is an expert in throwing playing cards, and holds the record for the furthest distance ever thrown with an ordinary playing card. But that's just one of the ways he's made headlines with his card throwing skills. He's also developed an incredible accuracy with his card throwing, and his insane skills have seen him hit the big time in a "trick shots" collaboration with Dude Perfect, which features his card throwing. The video went viral, and at the time of writing it has around 150 million views! In the summer of 2020 he made a return visit to Dude Perfect, the result being this latest video with even more amazing stunts.
With his unique fusion of magic and card throwing, Rick Smith Jr is in high demand around the world. He's performed on television many times, for some of the biggest names in the business. Each year he does more than 600 shows for a steady stream of clients, who want to bring his exciting brand of magic and card throwing to their homes, businesses, and events. With a background in marketing, Rick is well placed to serve the needs of corporate customers, while entertaining them with an unforgettable performance at the same time.
Rick has been amazing audiences for around 20 years, and with his remarkable skills and talents, he knows how to use playing cards in a way that few others do. We're grateful that he was willing to do this interview with us, giving us the opportunity to get a unique insight look at his world, and get some helpful pointers for taking our playing cards to the next level - literally!

https://preview.redd.it/wws902ypnyi51.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4de4d669ebd8071ae5d6ada39bff6b564f3dac21
THE INTERVIEW
GENERAL BACKGROUND
For those who don't know anything about you, what can you tell us about yourself and your background?
Well, I've been performing magic for over 30 years. I perform close to 600 magic shows a year right now, with my card-throwing being a niche of my act. So I'm not just a card thrower, but I am a professional entertainer. I was an NCAA pitcher in college, and I developed my strength of my card throwing by throwing a baseball 90-plus miles per hour.
What can you tell us about the Guinness World Records you have set?
I have three Guinness Book world records for throwing playing cards. My first world record was set in 2002, for throwing a playing card 72 yards at a speed of 92 miles per hour.
My other two world records were set in 2015 and 2017, one for throwing a card the most accurate, which was 46 out of 52 cards to a target in under a minute. The other world record was for throwing the highest, which was 70 feet and some odd inches straight up in the air.
What does a typical day or month in the life of Rick Smith Jr look like?
Typically, I have been a prize for a fundraising company for the past ten years. I would perform three school shows during the week, Monday through Friday. My weekends, I would travel. I would perform for different companies and corporations around the world, and the school tour thing lasted for ten years. There was 400 shows a year.
An average day: I'll try to come up with some new material, perform the shows, post on social media, and hang out with family and friends when I can. I work a lot.
What are some of your interests and hobbies outside of magic and throwing playing cards?
Going to sporting events. I was a baseball player, and we're from Cleveland, so we go to different Cleveland Indian games. I played baseball up until a couple years ago, after I had an elbow injury, where I had to have surgery, which was both baseball and card-throwing-related. So I gave up baseball.
Also four-wheeling, hanging out with family, cooking on the grill - those are my hobbies right now.
Aside from your world records, what would you consider to be your biggest accomplishments, and things you're most proud of?
I guess my girls. I have a three-year-old, Aubrey, and I have a five-year-old, Averie. Having kids now, it's changed my life. When I'm not performing, I'm going to dance recitals and taking them for swimming lessons and Little Gym and getting them into sports and baseball and soccer and basketball. So I'm spending a lot of my time with those two, and there's one more on the way in August. So it's going to change my life even more, coming up.

https://preview.redd.it/ph6s5qkqnyi51.jpg?width=400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f56f9abffcc827f20d09adeacc178406926819c9
THROWING PLAYING CARDS
Throwing playing cards looks amazing, but why should we learn how to do it?
You don't have to learn how to do it. It's just something fun to do. Being able to be at a party and being able to take a playing card and be like, "Hey, let me slice that celery in half" - that's something that I do that no one in the world has ever commonly done. It made me unique as a performer.
I used my baseball background to be able to throw the cards so far, and the accuracy just came with practice. People kept asking me to do different types of challenges, and I kept on testing my abilities. Sooner or later, I was slicing olives being thrown up in the air or taking a cup off of somebody's head or slicing a vegetable in half.
So if you want to learn it, it's just a cool skill to have. It's not going to make you any money, unless you devote your life to it and add it to something that you love to do. Since I loved to be a magician, I wasn't going to make a living off just throwing cards. It was more of a hobby, and wasn't something that I was like, "Oh, this is going to be my job. I'm going to be a card thrower." It just became something that I can showcase in my magic acts, which made my magic acts more popular, which made me more money.
How difficult is it to learn how to throw playing cards for the average person?
The average person can learn how to throw a playing card fairly quickly, with the right technique, the right hold, the right flick of the wrist. Anyone can throw a playing card, just like anyone can throw an object.
Everyone can play a piano and can play Mary Had a Little Lamb, but not everyone can play Beethoven. So if you want to get good with it and confident with it, you're just going to have to keep practicing it. Doing it well is not something that you're just going to be able to do instantly. It's going to take years of throwing and figuring out what the cards can do and what they can't do. Once you realize what they can do, then you can create the trick shots that you want to create.
What else can you tell us about the process involved in setting your first Guinness World Record for card throwing?
The story with the first world record, the distance world record, comes down to the baseball locker room. In the locker room, before practices, we would goof around. I would perform magic for some of the guys in the locker room. But we would also roll up our socks and throw them across the room and try to hit people. One day, I got hit with a sock, and I didn't have a sock to throw back, so I grabbed out my deck of cards and took out one playing card, threw it, and gave one of my buddies the worst paper cut of his life. I thought they were going to be mad, but they thought it was the coolest thing that they've ever seen. So we practiced throwing a couple cards in the locker room, and that was it for that day.
The next day, one of the other teammates brings in a Guinness Book of World Records. He goes, "Hey, there's actually a Guinness world record for throwing playing cards, 201 feet, and it's held by this magician guy named Jim Carroll. I bet you can beat it." So we called up Guinness World Records. We called up every local news station, every newspaper, everything that you could do. In the year 2002, there was no social media, no YouTube, or anything of that caliber. So if you wanted to get it out there, you went to Associated Press. We went to the Plain Dealer, the News Herald. Basically, we told everybody we were going to break this world record for throwing a playing card, and we had no idea if people were going to show up or not.
What response did you get to your world record attempt and afterwards?
Guinness showed up. Every single news station showed up. Every newspaper showed up. It took about 30 throws because of the air flow in the room, but after I broke the world record, I made the front page of the Plain Dealer. It went to Associated Press and it went viral before viral was a thing. Every news station, newspaper, radio station in the world was contacting me and asking me, "What did you do?" This wasn't even a stunt, and it wasn't even "Can you slice something in half?" This was just throwing a playing card 72 yards! It had nothing to do with anything other than throwing a card a long distance.
But the following day, I was in class in college all day after this stuff got published, not knowing what was going on. And all of the voicemails were like, "Hi, this is the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Please give us a call back." "Hey, this is so-and-so from Ripley's Believe It or Not. Give us a call back." "Hey, this is the Steve Harvey Show. We're doing a TV show called Steve Harvey's Big Time. We'd love for you to be a part of it. Please give us a call back." "Hi, this is the Wayne Brady Show, blah blah blah." I had voicemails from London, BBC, radio, so many different places. I was doing interviews like crazy.
That's how I got into the card-throwing. It was all a mistake. It was all from throwing a sock, to throwing a playing card, to giving the kid the worst cut of his life, to finding out there was a world record, to breaking the world record, and then getting contacted by media all around the world. It's crazy.
How did your other two Guinness World Records for card throwing come about?
For the other record, I went on this local station in Cleveland - FOX 8 - and I said, "Hey, I'd like to break a world record." They were like, "Hey, why don't you break it on our show?" So it was just a morning segment. It wasn't anything crazy, and I broke the world record on the segment. I didn't get any press out of it, other than FOX 8 in the morning. I broke the world record, and sent it to Guinness. They approved it, and I got my plaque.
I broke the record for the height on Pi Day, and we ended up getting thousands of people to show up at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, Ohio. We decided to do a magic show, as breaking the Guinness Book world record. I stood at the bottom floor of the science center and hit the ceiling of the science center, and we had people from different news stations there, as well as Plain Dealer, again. It didn't go viral or anything, and no one seemed to care, other than, "Hey, it's just the new world record." But it was an accomplishment. It was right after another surgery that I had on a piece of bone that was in my elbow that I broke that world record.
Do you have your eye on any other records, or do you have any plans to beat the ones you currently hold?
I was supposed to. In April, I was supposed to go to Italy to break a world record for the most cards thrown around a human in under a minute. That's on hold due to the world situation right now.
What can you tell us about your baseball background, and how has this impacted your ability in throwing playing cards?
My training and ability to pitch is the only reason I could throw cards so well. If you want to break the world record, it's possible, and I could teach you how to throw a playing card. But the only way that someone's going to be able to break my world record is they can throw a baseball 90 miles an hour plus. You could flick a card as hard as you want, but if you don't have that arm speed and that power from your legs and your body to be able to throw a baseball 92 miles an hour, there's no way in the world that you're going to get enough power behind your playing card.
I broke the world record in my peak of NCAA baseball. So if I teach a Major League Baseball pitcher how to do it, I can see that they would have a fair chance. But no one's going to break the record unless they're an NCAA athlete or higher. I just don't see it happening. Not to be cocky about it - I'm just saying it's going to be hard. That day I was warming up by throwing a ball, and then I broke the world record.
The world record has to be set indoors. It has to be set with no wind flow. We had to shut all the air conditioners off. We had to shut all the doors. There was no air flow, and it was weird, because when I first did go break the world record, I kept on throwing 200 feet, 199 feet. It kept on stopping, and then we ended up switching sides, because there was still an air flow, like some kind of vent. We switched sides, and I broke the world record the second or third throw after that. It hit the bleachers and bounced back 15 feet. So maybe I could've thrown it a little further, but Guinness took the world record from where the card landed, not where it hit.
Are there particularly memorable experiences you've had with your card throwing for TV shows?
America's Got Talent, the Tonight Show, and Shark Tank were probably my favorite TV shows to appear on. On Shark Tank I was able to perform magic as well as my card-throwing stunts, and it was on a major TV network at a prime time. So they got my magic and my card-throwing out in one episode.
America's Got Talent was one of the bigger stages that I got to perform on. I never got X'ed, and a lot of people watch that show, so that was another fun one to get recognized from. There were other shows that were fun to be on, like the Tonight Show. They all just have different audiences, and have different reasons for being the best show at the time. With the Ellen DeGeneres show, I got to throw cards with Ellen, and it was a timeframe and different audience that I'd never reached before. The Tonight Show is just a late night show audience, college kids, and was also another group that I'd never reached.
I have a lot of favorite TV shows. Even on Ripley's Believe It or Not, the first show I ever performed on, I was treated like gold. They flew me to Vegas to film in front of thousands of people, and I got to do stunts for the very first time, ever. I did thinks that I'd never done before for the very first time on TV, and that was so memorable.
Of the many videos online in which you appear, which is your favourite one, and why?
With YouTube channels I've been able to work with some of the best YouTubers in the world. When I did the first Card Throwing Trick Shots video with Dude Perfect, the video went viral. It trended in the number one spot on YouTube for an entire day. It had over 20 million views in the first week, and we're over 137 million views now. They got card-throwing out to the biggest audience in the fastest amount of time, and made me the most recognizable around the world for the age group of kids. Kids would recognize me anywhere I'd go, non-magic-related, just because they're huge Dude Perfect fans.
But Dude Perfect led into other big collaborations with Mark Rober, the mechanical engineer from NASA; with David Dobrik, going to his house and performing trick shots with all of his friends, and with Florian "Venom" Kohler, the pool trick shot artist from Las Vegas. And there's a whole bunch of others: Carter Sharer, Juggling Josh, Logan Broadbent, the Slow Mo Guys, the Modern Rogue, and Scam Nation. All of these other YouTube channels have just totally launched my YouTube career; I thought that I would have reached 300 million people in such a short amount of time.
What impact did these viral videos have on your career?
I have been able to charge higher fees and I have been more in demand. I've got some of the biggest shows of my life since then. I've been able to travel to other countries and do my card-throwing and magic in places that I never thought possible. I've had a few agents ask to hire me for different events. I've done just card-throwing shows, even if they were only ten minutes long. At times I been paid more to do a ten-minute card-throwing show than for my Las Vegas-style magic show!
So yes, it has gotten me out there, and the demand right after that video was so great that I couldn't handle all the shows. I started working with other magicians and people in my area, and we developed a really good entertainment agency ourselves called the Cleveland Entertainers, where we book different entertainers. When leads come in and I can't fulfill them personally, we say: "Rick's not available, but we have so-and-so that would be a good fit for your party." It is another way to make some extra money, but it also gives a lot of friends in my network some extra shows that they didn't have coming.
How many takes does it typically take you to accomplish the kinds of feats we see you do in viral videos like your first video with Dude Perfect and others?
Dude Perfect took place in one and a half days. The first day, we started at 11 and ended at 5. The second day we started at 11 and ended at 1:30 or 2:30, because I had to fly back. Most of the trick shots were fast, and didn't take a long time at all. The only thing that took time in between each trick shot was setting up the cameras. The trick shots that you would think would be the hardest to take place, like the olive slicer where Cody would throw the olive up in the air and I would slice it in half? A lot of people say "That had to take you all day," but I can honestly do that one out of every six throws. I probably cut that olive six or seven times, just to get the right and perfect camera angle that we needed for that shot.
Making a basket from a full court? Some people say, "Oh that probably took you all day." Believe it or not, that was my second throw. It happened, and we were done with it. We had set aside 20 minutes to do that shot, but I did it within the first minute.
No one would believe what was the hardest shot of that whole video. It would be the balloon that was hanging on the second level, and I was standing below, and had to throw the card upwards and pop the balloon hanging about 50 feet away. That was the hardest shot of the whole video, because I had to throw upwards at an angle, and I had to hit the balloon, and I had to pop it. So that one probably took the longest - I think we worked on it for 20 minutes. Then we went to lunch, and we came back. Right after lunch, we were about to give up, and then I got it. So 20 or 25 minutes was the longest we spent on any trick shot in that video. But a lot of them were first or second try.
What instructional videos have you produced that we should know about?
If you want to learn some magic and some card-throwing, I have a free tutorial and some more tutorials on my YouTube channel. I also have some behind the scenes of the card-throwing and some in-depth training on a DVD called Velocity, which is available on my website.
What's the worst injury you've experienced as a result of throwing playing cards?
I would say it was the elbow. I tore the UCL in the elbow, and I had to have that replaced. The first time was with a cadaver and that broke. Then the second time, they took my hamstring from my left leg, and they built it into my right arm. They did a figure eight twice to strengthen that ligament strong enough so when I threw a card or ball or whatever I was throwing, I wouldn't tear that ligament again. But that puts you out six months. I still could do magic and card throwing, but I did it with my other arm.
What do you think the worst damage a playing card could do if you threw it at someone?
It can definitely give you a paper cut, that's for sure. I think that's the worst thing you could do. I don't think you're going to kill somebody with a playing card, but you can definitely make somebody bleed. You can definitely stick a card into somebody, if you throw it hard enough. But it'll give you the worst paper cut of your life, so I recommend you don't throw at people, even though I've done it to friends of mine.
If you're going to have your card battle, you're going to want to have glasses or a welder's mask. I have a gauntlet glove. I give people Styrofoam targets to put on, the UFC gloves with targets put onto them. So if I'm doing this in a live show, people are 100% protected, and nothing is going to happen to them.
What advice would you give to someone who is interested in learning how to do card throwing for fun?
If you want to learn how to throw cards for fun, I would just say hop onto my YouTube channel. Check out the different tutorials. Grab some Styrofoam targets, some playing cards, and practice throwing them.
What can you tell us about the card-throwing competition at your shows?
I have a card-throwing competition now that is live for anybody that wants to come to one of my shows, offering $1,000 if they can hit a target three times in a row and stick their cards into the target. People come up, and whoever throws a playing card the farthest gets to throw three cards into the target. I demonstrate that it's possible right in front of them, and then I give them the same three cards, or three new cards, depending on what they want, and let them try to throw the cards as well.
If they do it, they win the money. If not, they get other prizes. They can win a deck of cards, they can win $100, or they can win the grand prize of $1,000. It's usually done live, in front of hundreds of thousands of people. No one's won yet, but I've given a couple hundred dollars away, and I've given probably 15 decks of cards away for people that have stuck one card into the target. I've had a couple good kids out there that are ready to take my money.

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PLAYING CARDS
Should we use old playing cards for practicing our card throwing?
I'm pretty much a diva when it comes to playing cards, and I've used Bicycle playing cards my entire life. I'll probably use them forever for practice. But once I throw a playing card and it gets bent, I can't throw it again. The accuracy and precision comes with a perfectly non-touched playing card. Once oil is on our hands or once the card gets crinkled or once it gets bent or the heat hits it and it starts warping a little bit, I can't throw those cards accurately. So I would say you can practice throwing or get the technique down with old playing cards. But if you're going to try a trick shot, to have the accuracy and precision that they're looking for, you're going to have to go buy a brand-new deck, never touched by a human.
What type of playing cards did you first use when you started card throwing and magic?
I typically use Bicycle playing cards. I've been a Bicycle fan since I broke the world record in 2002.
For magic I always thought Bicycle playing cards were cards that didn't look like trick cards. They look like the standard deck that everybody has, so when performing magic with them, people didn't think it wasn't a trick deck.
What playing cards do you use for card throwing today?
I still throw Bicycle playing cards, but I had special cards when I worked with De'Vo. When he created the Chrome Kings, I thought those would be a really good card to use because of how they looked in slow motion. I started collaborating with De'Vo as much as I could, because the cards that he created were always different than anything else that I saw on the market. He put a lot of work into it, and I used a lot of his different decks on different TV shows when doing card-throwing appearances. People would see those cards, and they got a lot of interest, and they would say things like "Oh, those are really sick-looking cards" or "They look really cool in slow motion." So I ended up collecting every single deck that De'Vo has created, and I have them hanging in my office on a nice plaque.
We've been friends for years, and he finally said, maybe two years ago, "Let's create a deck of cards just for you." So we created the Falcons, and that's what I have now. That's what I've been selling and giving away and promoting for the last year now.
What playing cards have you personally been involved with producing?
I developed the whistle for the Banshee throwing playing cards. Banshees were created by Murphy's Magic, while the whistle was created by me. So Banshees and Banshees Advanced are playing cards that you can throw that have a measuring system. I used the Chrome Kings that De'Vo developed for most of the first video for Dude Perfect. In my second collaboration video, I used my new Falcons, which have a gold and silver edition. We just released a cool Kickstarter for the Falcon Razor deck.
Do you need a special deck of cards like the Banshees or Chrome Kings for card throwing?
A brand new Bicycle-quality card is fine. I use all the different cards for different reasons. The Chrome Kings looked amazing in slow motion, and I liked the way that they looked. When we used 10,000 frames per second, it looked like a blade was coming right at the vegetable that I was throwing at. The Banshees were heavier, so when I did the long distance bottle-breaker on Dude Perfect, the Banshee card was the thickest card I had at the time that was strong enough to be able to break the sugar glass. The Falcon throwing cards which De'Vo and I created last year are a little bit thicker, the thickest stock that USPC has ever printed on. So my Falcon deck is the only deck that is printed on that stock, which gives it an edge over other cards, because they are a little bit heavier than your typical Bicycle playing card.
Bicycle cards are perfect to practice with. I've used them to break my Guinness Book world record. I feel that if someone wanted to break a world record for distance, that they would need to use a card like the Bicycle playing cards and not a Falcon playing card, because a Falcon would almost be considered cheating, because it's definitely a heavier card, and the heavier card will definitely throw farther than your typical card.
What are some of the other qualities we should know about your personal Falcon Throwing Cards?
There's a marking system on them, not for magic, but for card-throwing. There's a star measuring system for how far you would throw a card into a target.
There are gimmicks that are built with the silver Falcons and the gold foil of the gold Falcons. There's a double backer in the silver Falcons. There's two Jokers with a gimmick card, where you can force a card in the falcon's talons for the regular deck. Then there's a new reveal card in the new silver edition.
Other than that, it looks almost like a blade when you're throwing them in slow motion, so they look pretty cool when you hit them with the high-speed camera.
What playing cards do you use for performing magic?
My magic deck is still Bicycle. I still prefer them over any other deck that I've used for performing magic, unless I'm at a really high-end event and I want to have a fancy deck of cards. I will browse my collection and grab one of De'Vo's earlier decks. I'm not against other companies though, and I have decks from David Blaine, Art of Play, and Theory 11. I probably have thousands different decks of cards, if not more. Some decks of cards, other magicians give to me. Some decks of cards, I've received as gifts. So I like playing cards all around.
Are you a playing card collector at all yourself, and if so, what can you share about your personal collection?
I have a lot of decks of cards, but I don't have all the rare decks. I have never got into collecting like some of my friends who are professional card collectors. I do have some rare decks, like some decks from World War I and II. And I have lots of the different Bicycle brand decks. But my biggest collection is De'Vo's collection. That was the one series of cards that I wanted to make sure that I had every deck. So I do.

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CONCLUSION
There's no doubt that Rick Smith Jr is a unique individual with a remarkable set of talents. He has shaped himself into an entertainer like no other. His path to the record-setting top has been shaped by a few key events, especially his baseball background, his first world record, and his Dude Perfect collaboration video. But he's also not afraid of hard work, as his busy schedule of 600+ shows a year makes clear. He's honed and polished his craft, enabling him to do things with playing cards that nobody else in the world can do.
But even if we're not about to contest Rick Smith Jr for his world records, that doesn't mean we can't have fun with playing cards in unusual ways. So why not grab a deck of playing cards and give card throwing a shot yourself!
Where to learn more? Check out Rick Smith Jr's resources here: - Rick Smith Jr: Official site, Magic Store, Magic Gives Back - Social media: Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Youtube - Videos: Promo video, Card Throwing Highlights - Dude Perfect videos: Card Throwing Trick Shots, Card Throwing Trick Shots 2 - Tutorials: Free Card Throwing Tutorial, Velocity DVD - Custom decks: Falcon Razor, Falcon Throwing Cards, Chrome Kings, De'vo Cardistry decks

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Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.
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[OC] Is It Hot In Here, Or Is It Just Me? a 30-team examination of which coaches are on the “hot seat”

The NBA season hasn't started yet, but that doesn't mean that coaches should feel entirely comfortable in their offices quite yet. Circumstances change quickly, and coaching positions can change quickly along with them.
Through this (super long) post, I wanted to assess each coach's job security for this 2019-20 season. There's no simple or accurate metric for measuring this, so I'm going to give an estimated and subjective appraisal of their chances of getting fired, either in mid-season or at the end of the season.
I LOVE YOU, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME (listed alphabetically by team)
Golden State: Steve Kerr
After 5 years on the job, Steve Kerr has a winning percentage of .785 in the regular season, and 3 NBA titles in the postseason. In fact, the team's 57-25 record last year was the worst of his tenure so far. So yes, his job is safe. Kerr could coach the next 10 years there if he wanted. For Kerr, it's not a matter of job security; it's a matter of health. He's been able to endure his constant back pain in pursuit of titles, but will he have the same resolve if the team sags into "good but not great" status? TBD. chance of firing: 0%. chance of retirement: 10%.
L.A. Clippers: Doc Rivers
A few years ago, Doc Rivers was almost the victim of his own success. His gaudy resume had allowed him to take charge of the L.A. Clippers front office, and he simply didn't do a great job in that role. However, he wisely took more of a backseat there, and embraced the job (head coach) that he's quite good at. The 48-34 record last year re-established his coaching cred, and the new superstars should energize him for a few more seasons at least. chance of firing / retirement: 2%
San Antonio: Gregg Popovich
Along with Steve Kerr, Gregg Popovich is firmly in the "you can stay as long as you want" camp. And he nearly has. He's been at the helm for 23 years. Amazing, the last two seasons (47-35, 48-34) have amounted to Pop's worst percentages over the course of a full season. He's one of the greatest ever, and unlike some old veteran coaches, hasn't lost his fastball whatsoever. He's constantly adapted, evolved, and thrived. But as with Kerr, the question is whether Popovich is nearing the end of the road, for personal reasons. He's 70 now, and in control of Team USA. He may hand the baton off and focus on that job going forward. I suspect he'll give it a go in both roles until the Olympics at least, but it's no longer a guarantee. chances of firing: 0%. chances of retiring: 20%.
I STILL LOVE YOU, BUT WE MAY NEED COUPLES COUNSELING (listed alphabetically)
Boston: Brad Stevens
A season or two ago, Brad Stevens was the golden boy coach in the NBA. After a slightly underwhelming 49-33 season, we're starting to see some grumbles about his offense (which isn't as free-flowing and ball-moving as his age may suggest.) The Celtics will replace Kyrie Irving with Kemba Walker, but expectations aren't much lower. If the team can't grab a top 4 seed, those grumbles may grow. And if the Boston-Stevens love affair ends, would he start to eye a move back to the NCAA? Probably not, but we can't promise the marriage lasts forever. chances of firing: 2%, chances of leaving: 5%.
Miami: Erik Spoelstra
Although the Miami Heat have been mediocre lately (124-122 over the last three years), I'm still be inclined to group in Erik Spoelstra in with the "untouchables." After all, this is a 2-time champion coach with 500+ career wins prior to the age of 50 (48 years old right now.) Even if the Miami Heat underachieve and miss the playoffs again, I don't think Pat Riley would want to rock the boat on this culture. Still, Jimmy Butler is a handful, and potential addition Chris Paul isn't a bed of roses either. If Spoelstra can't get "buy in" from his new stars, then there may be more trouble in paradise than we expect. Again, it's a very small chance a divorce happens, but we can't give it a 0 either. chance of firing: 4%.
JUST DON'T EMBARRASS ME IN PUBLIC (listed alphabetically)
Cleveland: John Beilein
It's hard to under-estimate the leverage rookie coach John Beilein has with the organization right now. They lured him from Michigan with a 5 year contract, where he'll be "working for" a front office that features assistant GM Mike Gansey (Beilein's former player.) Simply put: they're going to hand him this team and allow him to build a program in his image. Despite that, it doesn't mean the transition will work like a charm (just ask Billy Donovan.) Beilein is 66 years old, and has never coached in the pros before. He may simply decide that he hates the NBA and walk away prematurely. Still, it's hard to imagine that happening this early barring any unforeseen health issues. chances of firing: 1%. chances of leaving: 5%.
Memphis: Taylor Jenkins
Although they have wildly different resumes and backgrounds, Taylor Jenkins will be in a similar boat to John Beilein. He's inheriting a team that's in a rebuilding situation, and should afford him a lot of patience going forward. The Wharton-grad Jenkins projects as a smart, modern coach who should have long-term success. Still, we can't absolutely guarantee Memphis doesn't fire him after 1 season, because they have done that before. chances of firing: 3%
Milwaukee: Mike Budenholzer
Based on pure coaching talent and resume, Coach Bud has nothing to worry about - particularly after a 60-22 record last season. The only reason that I'm even putting him in this category at all is the potential for off-the-court issues. He had been arrested before on a suspicion of DUI back in 2014, although he was later found not guilty. If something worse happens in that ilk, then he may be in trouble. But barring that, he's obviously safe. chances of firing: 2%.
Minnesota: Ryan Saunders
While interim coach Ryan Saunders (Flip's son) had been a popular pick in the locker room, he still represents a sizable risk by this new front office. After all, he's only 33 years old and hasn't been a head coach at any level prior to that short stint last season. He may be a home run; he may be a strike out. Of course, he'd have to be a wild strike out (with a bat thrown into the stands) for it to amount to a firing in year one. chances of firing: 5%
Orlando: Steve Clifford
Veteran Steve Clifford did a tremendous job in his first year in Orlando, helping the team improve from 25-57 to 42-40 and a playoff trip. There's a chance the Magic may stagnate in R1 unless one of their young players (Jon Isaac, Mo Bamba, Markelle Fultz) takes a "leap," but they should have patience with Clifford for at least another year or two. Barring health issues, his job is safe. chances of firing: 2%.
Phoenix: Monty Williams
One of the reasons we can't claim rookie coaches are entirely safe is because teams like Phoenix have fired them in the past -- including Igor Kokoskov last season. However, it'd be very difficult for any owner (even Robert Sarver) to justify doing it two times in a row. In fact, Monty Williams secured a 5-year deal to help prevent that nonsense. chances of firing: 2%.
Sacramento: Luke Walton
Despite mixed results in L.A., Luke Walton was a hot commodity with the Sacramento Kings franchise, who gave him a nice 4-year contract. Of course, that happened before the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced since. While that appears to have quieted down, any new rumor or accusation may turn up the heat on Walton. Barring that, the team should stand by their man. chances of firing: 5%.
Toronto: Nick Nurse
Nick Nurse is about as close to "untouchable" as you can get for a coach with 1 year of experience. But hey, that was a heck of a year. Nurse won the title, and outfoxed several great coaches along the way. The Raptors could probably sink down as low as 30 wins (unlikely) and still keep Nurse for the long haul. chances of firing: 1%.
Utah: Quin Snyder
While Quin Snyder hasn't had a huge amount of playoff success yet himself, he's also quickly established himself as one of the better NBA coaches. Over the last three years, the Jazz have played lockdown defense and averaged 49.7 wins. This offseason has raised expectations, but Snyder should be safe for another season or two even if they slightly underachieve. The bigger issue would be if Snyder gets in trouble off the court; he had a wilder history in college prior to straightening out in the pros. chances of firing: 4%.
YOU'RE SAFE (FOR NOW) (again, alphabetically)
Atlanta: Lloyd Pierce
In theory, Lloyd Pierce should be in great shape here in Atlanta. The young team had a solid 29-53 season in his first year, and their young core projects well for the future. That said, expectations will rise over time. Pierce was partly hired for his defensive reputation, but the team only ranked 27th last season. With Trae Young (who graded dead last in ESPN RPM on defense), that may be hard to change. Hopefully rookies De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish will solve that issue, but if not, Pierce may start feeling some heat in 2020. When he was hired, the team only gave him a 3 year contract, which indicates that he didn't have much leverage coming in. chances of firing: 7.5%
Charlotte: James Borrego
Like Lloyd Pierce, James Borrego will be entering Year 2 in a rebuilding situation that should lend itself to patience. On the other hand, logic tends to go out the window when it comes to the Charlotte Hornets. Borrego will have to deal with a weak roster, and a shaky front office that just gave $19M a season to Terry Rozier. I expect Borrego will survive for a while, but we can't rule out a house cleaning. chances of firing: 10%.
Brooklyn: Kenny Atkinson
Kenny Atkinson has done a great job bringing the Nets out of a deep black hole rebuild, but now the expectations will vault up with the arrival of Kyrie Irving (and soon Kevin Durant.) Presumably, those stars wouldn't have signed up in the first place if they didn't like Atkinson. That said, their opinions can change at the drop of a hat. A disappointment in 2019-20? Okay fine. Another in 2020-21? Then Atkinson will start feeling that seat warm. chances of firing: 4%
Dallas: Rick Carlisle
As one of the most respected coaches (and a title winner to boot), Rick Carlisle should have job security for life. Still, the NBA will always be a stars league, and Carlisle's star isn't Dirk Nowitzki anymore. It's going to be Luka Doncic (and Kristaps Porzingis' team), and Carlisle will need to appease them to some degree. Missing the playoffs this year may be fine, but whiffing again in 2020-21 would be problematic; it would be the 5th season in a row without a playoff berth. chances of firing/retiring: 5%
Denver: Mike Malone
After a premature exit in Sacramento, Mike Malone has rebuilt his stock by lifting Denver to contender status. He's improved every year, from 30-52 to 33-49 to 40-42 to 46-36 to the breakout 54-28 record last season. Of course, that also comes with rising expectations. Like the others in this section, Malone could survive one regression year, but two disappointing years in a row would be a problem. chances of firing: 5%.
Detroit: Dwane Casey
Of all our coaches, Dwane Casey knows that one should never get too comfortable. After all, he was fired after a 59-win season (and a Coach of the Year trophy) in Toronto. After that, he still had enough leverage to earn a 5-year deal in Detroit, which should buy him quite a bit of time. Still, a 41-41 start was "meh." To make matters worse, Nick Nurse and the Raptors won the title without him (albeit with Kawhi Leonard.) Given Casey's big contract, he should be safe in Year 2 and Year 3, but there's hardly a guarantee he'll survive all 5 years of the deal. chances of firing: 5%.
10 HOTTEST SEATS (in order)
(10) Portland: Terry Stotts
Remember, this isn't a ranking of the best and worst coaches but merely their situations. In fact, everyone would agree that Terry Stotts is a very good basketball coach. In fact, if you asked the other NBA coaches to rank their peers, I suspect Stotts may even crack the top 5. That skill has manifested on the court as well. His Blazers have made the playoffs for 6 seasons in a row, and had a mini-breakout with a Conference Finals trip this year.
Still, making the playoffs doesn't lock in job security in the NBA; winning a title does. And until that happens, the franchise will always wonder in the back of their minds on whether or not they should pull a "Masai Ujiri" and squeeze Stotts out for a younger assistant on his staff like Nate Tibbetts, a rising star in the ranks.
After tasting the WCF last year, can Stotts afford to take a step back? Probably. Losing in R2 seems about right for this team as presently constructed. But what if they lose in R1? Then it becomes more of a debate. I'd still recommend keeping Stotts and tweaking the roster instead (ya'll got any more of them stretch PFs?) but I'm not in charge of the team and I'm not ruling any shake-ups out. chances of firing: 15%
(9) Indiana: Nate McMillan
As with Terry Stotts, it may feel strange to see Nate McMillan on this list. At first glance, neither should be on the hot seat at all. In McMillan's three years on the job, he's guided the team to winning records and playoff trips in each season. The Pacers just finished 48-34 despite Victor Oladipo's injury, and may be better than that this season with new additions like Malcolm Brogdon.
Still, we have to go deeper than the first glance here. Indiana thrives on the basis of their defense (ranked 3rd last season), which is heavily influenced by assistant Dan Burke and DPOY candidate Myles Turner. Offensively, the team tends to look a little scattered and uncreative, which has Pacers fans quietly murmuring about McMillan. They added some new scorers in Brogdon and T.J. Warren, but both are players coming off career years from 3. If they regress at all -- and this team regresses at all -- then McMillan may be in more trouble than we realize.
Am I expected that? Not really. If I had to bet, I would bank on the Pacers winning 45-50 games and McMillan lasting at least another season. But if we're looking for potential hot seat situations, we can't ignore the potential downside here. If they underachieve, McMillan may be the fall guy. chances of firing: 20%
(8) N.Y. Knicks: David Fizdale
We can't judge David Fizdale too harshly based on his 17-65 record in year one. After all, tanking and landing a top 3 pick was all part of the plan. But what's the plan going forward? After striking out with the superstars in free agency, the Knicks signed a bunch of B+ and C+ players to big money. With it, they've attempted to re-set expectations. Instead of landing superstars in 2019, they're going to land them in 2021! Hopefully?
In the meantime, David Fizdale should be able to survive until then. His team is still young, and features first and second year players like R.J. Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox, and Dennis Smith. Practically speaking, the veterans like Julius Randle and Bobby Portis are meant to supplement that rebuilding movement. Fizdale should be allowed to develop this group, and be afforded some growing pains in 2019-20 and again in 2020-21.
However, there are a few factors working against him. The front office may fancy themselves a playoff contender out East, which may go sour by the end of the year. Moreover, that front office isn't exactly on solid ground themselves after getting pounded by the press this summer. Dolan may want a complete fresh start after this year. More than that, there's a non-zero chance James Dolan leaves town himself, and some super-billionaire like Jeff Bezos uses his change jar to buy the team and mold it into his image. At the end of the day, there's more uncertainty with this situation than a second-year coach would like to see. chances of firing: 20%
(7) Chicago: Jim Boylen
As a well-respected defensive coordinator, Jim Boylen's name has always been bandied about for head coaching jobs in the past. He finally got his opportunity last season after taking over for apple pie Fred Hoiberg in mid-season.
At first, it did not go well. Jim Boylen had about as rocky of a start as you can imagine, earning negative reports in the press about his drill sergeant attitude clashing with the locker room. Still, he turned that perception around and had a decent finish to the year and earned some "buy in" from the players. Better yet, his Chicago Bulls may be a darkhorse contender for the # 8 seed. They have offensive stars in Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen already, so an improved defense may vault them closer to .500. Even if that doesn't happen (yet), Boylen should feel safe knowing he has the backing of the front office.
Of course, that also ties Boylen's fate to that front office. Ownership has tended to leave Gar Forman and John Paxson alone, but it's not a lifetime appointment. If this team doesn't improve enough (and wins say, 25 or 30 games), then there may be a total housecleaning here. I'm a little more optimistic on the Bulls' chances of winning 35-40 games than others, but we can't rule a potential disaster out. chances of firing: 25%
(6) Philadelphia: Brett Brown
After a long dark winter, Brett Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers have emerged from the "Process" intact. In fact, Brown has won more games in each of the last two seasons (52 and 50) then he did over his first three seasons combined (47). But with that comes raised expectations, which may be higher than ever. With Kawhi Leonard out of the Conference and the sheen off the Boston Celtics, the Sixers are the co-favorites with Milwaukee to make the Finals. Losing in the Conference Finals would be acceptable, but a R1 or R2 loss may be stinging.
Would that disappointment be enough to cost Brown his job? It's debatable. His contract extension runs through 2021-22, but that's never stopped a coach from being fired before. Fans may grow frustrated if Ben Simmons still can't shoot, or if Joel Embiid can't stay healthy, or if Philly's defense doesn't look as dominant as it should be on paper (despite Simmons, Embiid, and Jimmy Butler, they only ranked # 15 last season.) It's very possible that Brown becomes the scapegoat here.
Of course, we're talking "worst case scenarios" here. Chances are: the Sixers should be quite good and have a very good chance to make the ECF or the Finals. So while we can't rule out a firing, we wouldn't bet on it either. chances of firing: 30%
(5) New Orleans: Alvin Gentry
After coming over from Golden State, the exceptions for Alvin Gentry in New Orleans were sky-high. Suffice it to say, it's been an underwhelming return so far. Despite the (occasional) presence of Anthony Davis, his Pelicans have won less than 35 games in three of his four seasons on the job.
Oddly, Davis' trade demands may have helped Gentry survive another year. With the blockbuster deal, expectations get re-set and the window extends again. On paper, Gentry and assistant Chris Finch's run-and-gun style should suit this new roster well. Gentry is also someone who's earned high praise from his players and from the media in the past. If new execs David Griffin and Trajan Langdon didn't believe in him, they had the opportunity to make that change this past summer.
But alas, that doesn't mean they won't have that same opportunity again next summer. Gentry's contract will be running out, and the team may decide to go with someone younger than him (he's now age 64.) To earn a longer leash, Gentry doesn't need to make the playoffs, but he has to show reasons for optimism. The Pelicans need to find a clear role for Zion Williamson, and earn some improvement from the cast-off Lakers. There's a lot of talent on the roster, but if the team stalls or looks like a muddled mess, Griffin may likely clean up the picture and chose his own head coach the next time around. chances of firing: 35%
(4) Houston: Mike D'Antoni
Veteran Mike D'Antoni may start spitting out Rodney Dangerfield routines, because the poor guy doesn't get much respect. Despite a great run here in Houston (records of 55-27, 65-17, 53-29), he's still struggling to earn a contract extension from the franchise.
And while owner Tilman Fertitta gets the blame for that, we can't rule out Daryl Morey's influence either. Morey has stated in the past that he thinks coaches' messages tend to run stale after a few years, and that philosophy has born out in their decision making. Jeff Van Gundy lasted 4 years. After him, Rick Adelman lasted 4 years. After him, Kevin McHale lasted 4 years (+10 games). This season, Mike D'Antoni will be entering the dreaded 4th year himself. The Houston Rockets' job essentially has strict presidential term limits, and he's verging on lame duck status.
To up the degree of difficulty even further, the team added Russell Westbrook to the equation. That's not to say it's the wrong decision by any means or that it won't work out (personally I'd still peg them for a top 3 seed), but we have to admit there's a sizable chance that it won't work out. The chemistry for Harden + Westbrook is going to be harder to calculate now that they've both had considerable success (and MVP seasons). And if something doesn't click, it will certainly be easier to blame D'Antoni than the two stars, whose massive contracts run for another few seasons. chances of firing/retiring: 40%
(3) L.A. Lakers: Frank Vogel
It's rare to see a first-year coach listed this high, but this is rare circumstances indeed. Frank Vogel will be joining the Lakers on a 3-year contract, which is quite light for a veteran like him. That fact showcases his limited leverage and his reduced reputation. The Lakers didn't high the coach who guided the Indiana Pacers to the ECF; they hired the coach who led Orlando to 29-53 and 25-57 records. In some ways, Vogel is lucky to have landed any job at all.
But there's no mistaking the fact that this particular job will come with some challenges. Primary among them: the threat of assistant Jason Kidd breathing down his neck. According to some, Kidd was the first choice of the front office, and the conspiracy theory that they simply didn't want to hire him outright (due to domestic violence charges in the past) checks out logically for me. Vogel can't be too pleased to turn on the Summer League and watch his new star LeBron James sitting next to Kidd in Vegas either.
Will LeBron James, Rich Paul, and Jason Kidd conspire to stab Vogel like Caesar? The odds are high. But the question is a matter of "when?" James didn't love David Blatt, but allowed him 1.5 on the job before he got the boot. The Lakers may end up giving Vogel a full season and change to make his impact on the defensive end before considering a full-time change in midseason in 2020-21.
And hey, we can't rule out the "what if it works?" theory either. This team has LeBron James and Anthony Davis, for fuck's sake. They have a legitimate chance to be a great team, and even an NBA champion. If that happens, Vogel won't be going anywhere (at least, not for another year or two.) chances of firing: 45%
(2) Washington: Scottie Brooks
The Scottie Brooks era in Washington has been a disappointment, and it won't get much prettier from here. After the John Wall injury, the Wizards will be entering 2019-20 with one legitimate star in Bradley Beal and a wonky supporting cast. They're a motley crew of decent prospects who may be 2 years away (Troy Brown, Rui Hachimura, Thomas Bryant) and veterans who may be 2 years removed from quality play (Isaiah Thomas, Ish Smith, C.J. Miles.) Realistically speaking, Bradley Beal will have to put in a Herculean effort for this group to win 35 games.
If there's any reason to think the axe will not come for Scottie Brooks' head, it's that this Washington Wizards owner Ted Leonsis isn't the "off with his head!" type. He's been patience with the Washington Capitals hockey team, as well as this Wizards unit. Former GM Ernie Grunfeld lasted for years past his expiration date. And in turn, Brooks may be allowed to play out another year of his (pricy) contract. Brooks also has a reputation as a good player development coach, which bodes well for his prospects during a possible rebuild to come.
All that said, Brooks shouldn't be investing in D.C. real estate. The clock is ticking. I would fully expect new acting GM Tommy Sheppard to cut Brooks loose and choose his own coach at some point, but we can't be 100% confident it will happen after this season or after the next. chances of firing: 50%
(1) Oklahoma City: Billy Donovan
Given his new status as a /NBA punching bag, it's hard to under-sell just how much leverage Billy Donovan had when he first came to Oklahoma City. We're talking about a well-paid college coach who had won two separate NCAA titles at Florida, and had resisted the NBA calls for years. He arrived in OKC with a 5-year deal in tow, as well as a reputation as one of the best coaches in basketball.
As we now enter Year 5 of that contract, Donovan's reputation has been tarnished considerably. He's been blasted for perceived underachievement, particularly in the postseason. With Kevin Durant, the team blew a 3-1 lead to Golden State, and hasn't won a playoff series since (losing in R1 three times in a row.) In fact, they've gone 4-15 in playoff games since then. Donovan's managed to avoid getting the boot because of his reputation and big contract, but those excuses won't hold off the executioner much longer.
Personally, I'm a little bit of a "Donovan Defender." I don't think he's done as bad of a job as advertised. After all, his worst regular season record has been 47-35. He's kept the team afloat without Kevin Durant. And sure, he probably should have reined in Russell Westbrook, but it's not easy to harness an MVP. The fact that Donovan won 48 games with a guard who jacked up 20 shots a game (at 50.1% true shooting) is oddly impressive in a way. And heck, let's even defend blowing the 3-1 lead. It's not like OKC woke up one morning with a 3-1 lead under their Christmas tree; Donovan used some wily tricks and unconventional lineups to help earn those 3 wins in the first place.
But again, these rankings aren't about my perception of the coaches, but rather my perception of their situations and stocks. In theory, this OKC roster isn't half bad and could flirt with .500 if they wanted to pursue the playoffs. And in theory, if they blow it up, then a college coach like Donovan may be well suited for that rebuild. But in reality, I just don't see an extension here. The marriage has soured, resentment has built up, and a divorce may be best for both parties involved. chances of firing: 55%
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How and Why the Raiders will Stay in Oakland

An Open Letter to the Oakland Raiders: Why the Raiders Will Stay in Oakland
Raiders fans, sports fans at large, Oakland natives and anyone else who supports the Raider organization to stay in Oakland, the city where the team was born, this is for you. The value of a professional sports team to its community is without parallel. It is priceless. The touchpoints of a pro team are woven into society. The city of Oakland is a special place. It is my native city. A prideful city at the heart of the Bay Area. Oakland is diverse, a town of ingenuity, an historic and culturally rich city and a brilliant future for generations to come.
I have held on to the idea the Raiders franchise and the city of Oakland could find a middle ground to maintain their residence where the team was founded near 60 years ago. Some have laughed, some booed, some called me delusional. It’s a long, complicated saga between the team owners and the city leaders. Caught in the middle is the die-hard to the casual fan of all ages, local business owners who greatly benefit from having the Raiders players and employees living in the city limits and the surrounding communities. I’m not naïve to think it is going to be an easy solution. The most impactful things in life rarely are easy. This letter is not about casting blame at the team leadership or the city government. This unfortunate situation is decades in the making. Both sides hold some responsibility to this crisis. No one is innocent.
Every business has the right to move to another city or state. It is understood at some point it is more advantageous for the business to cut its losses and move to a better business environment, for the health of the company. I support a business leader’s choice to re-locate. It is usually good business to look out for the employees and the survival of the company. This is no ordinary business, and this is no typical situation. An NFL franchise is a rare earth material. There are only 32. A lot of people beyond the employer is affected. A pro team is a vital asset to its home city. Oaklanders understand this fact. We know what its like to lose a team, to get it back and to potentially lose it again. Insanity. A tragedy of epic proportions.
The most impacted is the youth. It tells them, what is important to you doesn’t matter. That the business decision to leave is more important than being supportive to the fans. The players current and former are also caught in the middle. The years of community connection, charitable involvement would go away, like water to vapor.
The players and team employees graciously give back to the region in immeasurable ways, donating copious hours to local charities, hospital visits, entrepreneurial programs, physical fitness camps all for local youth groups, veterans support programs, at risk population services, visits to schools, every student will remember for a lifetime, the list goes on! There is a dollar amount on an annualized basis that could be calculated. An economics disciplined person is capable of an estimated financial impact for one year and deduce how many years it will be before the financial impasse between the City and team will be resolved. Regardless the dollar amount the two sides can’t agree on, let’s figure the offset.
What is the long-term benefit for an agreeable financial amount to keep the Raiders, versus how many years it would take to compensate the communities affected? For example, the loss of the team means the sphere of philanthropic contributions in per person hours donated to charitable causes and the financial impact (donations, grants, lost commerce revenue) by players, team staff, visiting teams, their fans and our fans during the NFL season. The equation solution is not linear. When all the pros and cons are factored, the long-term benefit to the region at large and for the sports fans far exceeds a big eye-popping number, that likely scares many people to think critically about the overall impact. The harsh reality, without a well-conceived, and equitable solution, the sure loser is all the local businesses, fans and charitable causes benefiting from the team’s residency.
For non-sports fans who may not care whether the Raiders stay or leave, the non-monetary impact is worthy of supporting this just cause. Odds are one or more of your loved ones is or will be inspired by a player or team employee whether it be in the sciences, volunteerism or just feeling good because someone took time to listen and share their story. The selfless actions by staff and players is a gift to the local citizenry. What does inspiration for a life-time cost? It is an intangible.
Also affected are the part-time stadium workers who do it purely for the love of the team, feeling like part of something much bigger. The team employees either must relocate or be out of a job. If you have been to a Raider game, it’s a spectacle. In the mid/late 90’s I worked for a company based a few blocks from the stadium. For all time I will remember watching the armada of RVs and campers lined up on a Friday evening outside the parking lot awaiting for the gates to open, whether it was a traditional Sunday kickoff of a Monday night national game, the fans are there, days in advance. We live our un-yielding passion for the Silver and Black. The Raiders fans are a legion, we transcend being fans just because football is fun to watch. The fanbase is educated about the team’s legacy.
Oakland and neighboring cities will feel the ripple effect. The activities surrounding the team, pre-game and post-game will suffer. Some will go out of business; others will struggle to survive. Their patrons will lose the game day community, where we all despite our broad spectrum of personalities, and lifestyles come together, unified as a Raider Nation. Youth football programs and charitable involvement will falter. It is not all doom and gloom because there is one thing the people of Oakland, the greater region, the Raider fan base can do.
Stand united. Save our Oakland Raiders. The following are four points to save the team, keep them home, where they belong:
  1. A vacancy next door opens a legitimate reason for the Raiders to stay. The Golden State Warriors moved to San Francisco, done deal. The Warriors are a Bay Area treasure. The team is a beloved sports franchise for all time. The team’s 40 plus years calling Oakland home runs deep in the city’s history and will always be fondly remembered. Three world championships in five years is legendary, plus one more in the 1970s, makes four titles. The Oracle arena, dubbed “Roaracle”, a fitting name indeed, is now (largely) an abandoned venue, spare the occasional concert or indoor sporting event. Other venues will be excellent replacements, Henry J Kaiser, Fox Theater, not to mention the potential building a new music/arts venue in the future. The adjacent coliseum stadium home to the Raiders and the Athletics (A’s) of major league baseball (MLB) is the only duel sport franchise facility (two different pro sports) in the United States. It is possible both factions, city leaders and the Raiders management have allowed this detail to cloud a solution.
The plain fact, it is a health risk to the athletes. It’s an eyesore to see as a fan and in short, an embarrassment. The Oakland/Alameda county complex facility is aged. A solution is to use the existing footprint, tear down Oracle and the stadium and build two new facilities for the Raiders and A’s. For example, position the two buildings in current parking lots, A and C . The grounds are approximately 120 acres, large enough to accommodate two stadiums. The infrastructure is in part already in place. The local transit system Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station is adjacent including a footbridge from the station to the stadium grounds. More important is the impact on the immediate neighborhood. Without the games and fans visiting near year-round, the neighborhood will slip into abandon. It is understood the state of California is strict with maintaining natural habitats. The environmental design and architecture industries have come a long way. There isn’t a better time to secure competitive bids to design an improved facility making a world class destination for sports fans and outdoor enthusiasts. A recent “60 Minutes” news program segment highlighted a Dutch architecture firm. Their winning design is an environmentally conscience solution, preserving beach dunes and constructing a community parking structure underground to enhance the experience for beach goers and tourists.
Like much of the Netherlands, the land the stadium complex sits on is a natural marsh system, in a tidal zone, meaning at certain times of day is below sea level. Oakland is not only a proud city, it is also a 30 plus year member of the “Tree City USA” program. . A testament to the city’s long-term commitment to urban natural habitats, parks and wilderness areas. A modern design will build much needed green space, and sports/recreation facilities for the surrounding residents. The East Oakland community is long overdue for an urban revival. For long time city residents, it’s an obvious need. Some local leaders rightly foresee a land grab (if the Raiders relocate) by deep pocketed industrialists. The locals will certainly be in a more tenuous situation. Whether the Raiders stay with the current site or choose a different location locally, the neighborhood deserves to use the stadium land space for a new community use, park space, recreation, sky’s the limit. Now it dovetails to the second concept:
  1. The A’s have put forward a beautiful rendering of a new baseball park along the Oakland estuary waterfront . It is a long-neglected part of the city. The waterfront holds a lot of promise for the sky-rocketing real estate prices. Oakland is in effect the central hub of the greater Bay Area based on the transportation (freeways and trains) systems and geographically is in a prime location. When the A’s move to their new facility, it leaves plenty of latitude for the Raiders to stay at the current site as referenced or choose another location, for example, the old Oakland Army Base or in a neighboring city, such as Emeryville, keeping in mind the benefits to build an environmentally compatible facility that will also bring a sustainable revitalization to the local community. During construction of a new facility, the Raiders could play at Cal Berkeley Memorial Stadium or the San Jose State stadium for a season, if construction requires a short-term home. While constructing a new stadium in one of the previously suggested sites or a different location, a simultaneous project to extend a BART line to transport attendees to the stadium and a revitalized neighborhood infrastructure could be developed, a matter of smart planning and logistics.
A well-designed revision of other public transit services and ride-sharing providers will be part of the master plan too. It doesn’t need to be another immovable barrier to the Raiders staying in Oakland. There are numerous sensible locations for the team to build a new home. A move to another state is irrational. The Bay Area is one of the largest and most diverse metropolitan areas in the country. Oakland is one of the most diverse cities by most any measure, it is chromatic.
The rival 49ers moved to Silicon Valley, far from its namesake. The Raiders are the closest proximity to all the world-class tourist destinations in San Francisco. By BART or car, Oakland airport and the coliseum complex, is closer for visitors to S.F. than the 49ers home base in Silicon Valley. All the visiting team fans and can still stay in San Francisco and take public transit to the game without much effort. For the football fan, keeping the Raiders in Oakland allows you to bring family, friends or business associates to experience a pro football game (and baseball the same weekend if the time of year is right) and visit all the renowned San Francisco sites.
As a bonus, downtown Oakland, Jack London Square and Oakland Chinatown are equally entertaining on a game day or any day. For all those who think Oakland is an unsafe or a dull place, make a visit, see for yourself what it’s like. A dynamic city, great food, electric night life, street festivals, an urban lake and park space are all easy to access. The views from the Oakland Hills is the definition of the “million dollar” view. On any day of the year, the Golden Gate Bridge shrouded in fog or a golden sunshine filled skyline view of downtown San Francisco is second to none. Oakland is beautiful; town pride is splashed across the city.
  1. Las Vegas is an amazing city. It is the entertainment capital of the world. My Dad lives in Vegas. When I visit it is always as great time. Las Vegas does not need the Raiders. Vegas has so much to offer, a glittering oasis in the middle of a vast desert, it is like no other city in the world. Their new stadium is going to be an excellent facility for Super Bowls, NCAA championships in football, basketball, exhibition matches for Latin and European football clubs, highlight national televised major sports events, (think Yankees vs. Red Sox, or Lakers vs. Celtics), all-star games, MMA, soccer, motorsports, the list goes on. The stadium will be a draw no matter what or who’s name is emblazoned on the marquee. Some cities may not like the idea Vegas be a de facto home for the Super Bowl or All-Star contests, consider the alternative. Would Dallas or Miami prefer to lose their football teams to save the occasional Super Bowl host city duties? I don’t think so. The championship games could continue to rotate to other cities. Vegas is an excellent location. The story of the Las Vegas Golden Knights is a sports story for the ages. The fans are passionate about their hockey team. They were forged in the desert oasis.
I doubt there’s a Knights fan that is OK with the team deciding to move. Some may scoff at the proposition. It’s happened before, Seattle Pilots (MLB) moved to Milwaukee re-named the Brewers after one season, Kansas City Scouts (NHL) moved to Denver after two seasons, L.A. Chargers moved to San Diego, after their inaugural season (now relocated back to L.A. after 50 plus seasons). Regardless, fan to fan understand the catastrophic loss to Oakland. Understand, it already happened to us once. Now the team and city can’t come together to prevent it happening to us again, yet. Vegas, you don’t need the Raiders. You have world class music, theater, dining, hotels, shopping, gaming and are primed to be the undisputed “big game” city the world over. We Raider fans will happily visit, spend our tourist dollars to see our elite players in pro bowl games, Super Bowl games, the occasional marquee showdown against a division rival (similar to NFL games played in Mexico City and London), and be in solidarity to your Golden Knights being home grown for decades to come.
  1. The alternate if the Raiders leadership won’t make amends with Oakland and save our team, for the fans, for the community there is always a buyer. An NFL franchise has a line out the door and around the corner for buyers. The Bay Area is home to 18 “Fortune 500” companies. Tech giants, Alphabet (Google), Intel, Facebook, and Oracle (the former Warriors arena name sponsor) and thriving tech companies like Pandora (headquartered in Oakland), corporate titans, Wells Fargo and Chevron all call the Bay Area home. The tech world has proved its ability to succeed in professional sports, “shark”, Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks), Steve Ballmer (Los Angeles Clippers) and Paul Allen’s family (Seahawks).
There are also scores of local investors with deep pocketbooks living off the news wire radar. Professional athletes are a natural fit as well, Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux, Venus and Serena Williams all have financial interest in pro franchises. Athletes locally raised or with Bay Area ties will make up an excellent ownership team, Rickey Henderson, Marshawn Lynch, Gary Payton, C.C. Sabathia, Tiger Woods, Ken Dorsey, Natalie Coughlin, and Langston Walker to name a few. Include entertainers, Sheila E, Carlos Santana, Todd Shaw (AKA Too Short), Billie Joe Armstrong, Mr. Jackson (AKA Ice Cube), James Hetfield, the incomparable women of En Vogue, lest we forget Mr. Burrell (Hammer don’t hurt’em). The pool of prominent citizens is deep and abundant. And some pretty stratospheric A-list entertainers too, Tom Hanks, a long time Oakland ambassador, Jessica Alba, and Guy Fieri. The star power is evidence Raider Nation is one of the brightest in all pro sports fandom. Let’s put the word out, get the stars aligned to shine above the Oakland skies.
If there isn’t a viable ownership group, making the Raiders a community owned franchise like the Green Bay Packers is a strong option. The fans/investors proved championship caliber football can be achieved by a team without a private ownership group. The Raiders are well suited for such an enterprise. Oakland, if it were an island to itself is populous enough to qualify as an NFL city. According to the US Census, the city’s population is larger than Cleveland, New Orleans, Buffalo and Green Bay. Reality, NFL cities include the surrounding metro area, which makes sense. The home cities for all pro sports franchises draw fan bases from the greater region. Considering the region, where the Raiders live, it’s in the top 10 metro areas by population, making Oakland an ideal location for an NFl team. The Raiders also have a long-standing natural rivalry in pro sports, the Bay Area, and the Southern California region is balanced, two NFL teams in each metropolis. Moving the Raiders would upset that historic balance.
Any of the above ideas are the beginning of sensible options to achieve the greater goal. Integrating any one with another idea, for example a new stadium for the team and say, community ownership is very possible. For example, a third-party investor group building and owning a stadium with rights to use for other events beyond NFL schedules is a solve with respect to Oakland city leaders unwilling to budge on local government financing.
The Raiders fans, particularly the local fans have been lulled into a state of lethargy. All the years of the Davis family threatening to move the team to various cities and squabbling with the city. Lawsuits are thrown around. It’s become a situation of one ups-man-ship. Oakland leadership is no better by suing the team and the NFL. A business being sued elicits a not so friendly attitude to reconciliation. Let bygones be bygones.
We the Raider fans, Raider Nation have been loyal, passionate fans from all walks of life, ethnicities, geographic backgrounds, we come together on game days knowing the opposing team brings their “A” game because the legend of the Raiders means something across the league. The mystique of the Raiders is because of Oakland, the pirate logo, the “Black Hole”, the tailgating before the games. These characteristics known around the world could not have happened anywhere except Oakland.
No other place can replicate how the history of the Oakland Raiders has contributed to the popularity and community bonding our team brings. The same can be said of the Philadelphia Eagles or the Chicago Bears, no one could fathom these storied teams moving. The fans would not allow it, neither will we.
The Raiders are worth making a grand last effort to keep the team in our hometown. We show our commitment to a team that bluntly put out a sub-par product, possibly on purpose. Maybe a nefarious attempt to make a future re-location not so bothersome to the locals. Such is speculation yet, not out of the realm of reason. The cumulative record of the Raiders over the last 10 years would make a lot of fans change loyalty. Not Raider Nation. We support the Silver and Black because we know the legacy of the team, we know there are going to be brighter days ahead, because we band together to stand up for what’s right. We believe in the ebbs and flows, and we are smart enough to recognize once a championship team, the heights of success are absolutely, achievable. The Raiders franchise belongs in Oakland.
NFL teams are a rarity. Ranking the value of pro football teams, the Raiders are a comfortable, #18 out of #32. An estimated value near $2,000,000,000 . Billion with a “B”. Interestingly the same report notes the debt to value of the Raiders is tied at the second highest of all NFL teams at 33%, in a tie with Atlanta. Only the L.A. Rams is a higher debt to value, understandably because the owner is building a brand-new world-class stadium that will rival any pro sports arena the world over.
Considering this information, does the Davis family really need to wreck a community? $2B will buy their family interest in another franchise or a mountain top castle if that’s what excites their wants. To Mr. Davis, you may or may not be aware, your actions are reviled by most of the Raider Nation. It doesn’t have to go down that way. By selling or working diligently to preserving the Oakland Raiders, your reputation will be exalted in the hearts and minds of Raiders fans. Many fans have and will disparage your decision to move our team however consider all the good will a change of heart will make on tens of thousands of people, families, children, people you will never meet. We will be thankful you chose to keep our Raiders in Oakland.
To all the Raiders fans and sports fans at large who support keeping the Raiders in Oakland share your stories, what going to a pro sports event means to you. How the Raiders family, players, employees have impacted your life for the better or why the Raiders staying home matters to you? When we stand united for a worthy cause, a civil, well organized and impassioned citizenry can make the impossible possible.
Respectfully-
An Oakland Raiders fan
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Conor "Mystic Mac" McGregor (21-4) vs Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-13)

Conor

UFC 246 Odds: McGregor -350/ Cerrone +275

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UFC 246 Odds, Conor McGregor vs Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone Betting Preview & Prediction
Written by Lester Cullan on January 16, 2020
When: Saturday, 10 PM ET (main card)
Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
TV: PPV
Live Stream: UFC Fight Pass
UFC 246 Odds: McGregor -350/ Cerrone +275
McGregor is a -350 favorite for this welterweight bout and Cerrone at +275
Conor "Mystic Mac" McGregor (21-4) vs Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (36-13)
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Mystic Mac returns to the welterweight division for the first time since August 2016. He went 1-1 during his first stint in the weight class, both against Nate Diaz. Conor hasn’t won a fight since he became a rare 2 division UFC title holder, cracking Eddie Alvarez like a iron clad champion, and looking like the Irish Hulk Hogan until Mayweather outclassed him with a Mexican Style TKO in 10. True believers knew that a 4 leaf clover from Saint Patrick himself wouldn't of gave The Mystic Mac a chance in a boxing match against the greatest, but Vegas cleaned up as everyone took that underdog sucker bet and 4.3 million domestic pay-per-views exceeding $600 million in revenue.
Past History
McGregor got his beaten from Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title and to teach him a lesson, clobbering McGregors head and submitting the man like a pure bred MMA champion – all though Conor seems to only lose by submission.
It’s expected that McGregor will get a rematch with Khabib later this year if Khabib wins his title defense in April at UFC 249 against No. 1 lightweight contender Tony Ferguson. That fight has been booked four times before, and each time it’s fallen through for various reasons mostly due to the fact that Ferguson is a animal and animals get wounded.
"UFC president Dana White has gone on record saying that if McGregor defeats Cerrone, he will be on standby to replace either Nurmagomedov or Ferguson at UFC 249. And to be honest with you, Conor believes that Khabib versus Tony is not going to happen.”
What about the Cowboy?
The 36-year-old Cerrone has 23 wins in the UFC since his inception in 2011
Cowboy split at 2-2 last year, losing his final 2 - Ferguson with a 2nd round TKO and then Justin Gaethje with a 1st round stop. A big right hand hurt Cerrone midway through the round, Gaethje finished the job for the win.
Cowboy Cerrone is a record breaking savage, he holds many titles and accolades for fighting in the UFC, but he has many more out of the ring accomplishments that matter to his legacy as well. Donald Cowboy Cerrone is a rare breed of human that is not only extremely dangerous with his kicks and combinations, but he'll also steal your girl and take her horseback riding, and he wins UFC bonuses at will.
Chances are this will not go the distance.
Mac, age 31, has fought to a decision just 2 times and has 18 knockouts including the best UFC meme KO that was a 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo at UFC 194 until Masvidal sent Askren to the stone age.
Cerrone beats opponents and that's a fact, but he can also make you tap and his kicks will make you wanna let him tap you. The integrity of Dana White and the UFC Organization is interesting to say the least, the company needs a Mystic Mac win more than a close to retirement Donald Cerrone victory. The Cowboy needs the win to set up the next pay day, the fans want a upset and the bookies want your money.
6 Clips Cullan's Expert UFC 246 Prediction - CONOR MCGREGOR WINS IN ROUND 2 +330
UFC 246 Card:
Holly Holm vs. Raquel Pennington
Aleksei Oleinik vs. Maurice Greene
Cláudia Gadelha vs. Alexa Grasso
Anthony Pettis vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira
Roxanne Modafferi vs. Maycee Barber
**Andre Fili vs. SODIQ YUSUFF BY KO, TKO, DQ OR SUBMISSION +175
Tim Elliott vs. Askar Askarov
Drew Dober vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Aleksa Camur vs. Justin Ledet
Brian Kelleher vs. Ode Osbourne
Sabina Mazo vs. JJ Aldrich
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