It is a sunny yet brisk day today in little Rhody which is how my streak life has been going of late. Streak for the Cash has been the sunny experience the past few days. Beat the Streak however, has been that stiff breeze that sends a chill down your spine that lets you know you have no control over anything. Hopefully the return of the NBA Finals tonight can be my Streaking In Public windbreaker to stabilize things.
I can pick former MVPs, perennial BTS favorites, and even personal favorite players. Nothing seems to be going right for me on Beat the Streak right now. Therefore today, I went with the first person I didn't recognize against a pitcher with a miserable ERA. As you can see, the results came out pretty Magnum PI-esque. My selection for today is Colorado's Ben Paulsen. The platoon first baseman has had a solid bench season so far for the Rox with a .321 batting average, four home runs, and nine RBIs. That's all I got.
Over on Streak for the Cash, I will continue to tempt fate with the Women's World Cup and hopefully continue on the green wave (not to Tulane) later this afternoon with a familiar friend. Canada needed a dodgy penalty in second half stoppage time yesterday to win their opener of the 2015 Women's World Cup. I was watching horse racing but had the gamecast on my phone. I nearly squeezed the life out of it on several occasions as the clock ticked (or refreshed) ever so closer to the final whistle. Nevertheless, I put my nice shiny red star on the line today with Norway to cover a 4.5 goal spread against Thailand. Now I don't know if Thailand is this tournament's Tahiti (see 2013 Confederations Cup) but they have to be pretty on par with that to be giving that big of a goal spread this early. I like my chances. I also like my chances with the Mets this afternoon with Jacob deGrom on the mound versus the Diamondbacks. This is the eighth time I have chosen the Metropolitans on Streak for the Cash, far and away the most of any team. deGrom is coming off yet another masterful outing against the Padres (8 innings, 0 ER, 2 hits, 8 K/0 BB) and should replicate that tonight against an up and down Diamondbacks team.
Rounding out the day is Game 2 of the NBA Finals tonight on Drive To The Finals. After Harrison Barnes kinda no-showed Game 1, I am not taking a second tier guy again today. I'll be going with one half of the Splash Brothers: Klay Thompson. He may have had a lackluster opener, but I'll chalk that up to battling concussion symptoms in the lead up to that game. An additional half week's rest can't hurt, and now he may have to deal with less LeBron James defense as Kyrie Irving's injury may force the King onto Stephen Curry. Here's to Thompson trying to win his own MVP award tonight with a big PRA for me! HAPPY STREAKING EVERYBODY!!!!
Also be sure to look out for Episode Two of Streak Sharks coming out in the next couple of days. If you haven't watched the uber-long premiere yet: Here ya go!
Image Credits: Paulsen BTS (mlb.com), Streak picks (espn.com), Thompson DTTF (nba.com)