A Numbers Game | September 8, 2026 | Hour 1

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Hey, folks, it's Tim Murray, and here we are. College football season, long Saturdays ahead, and staying locked in for an entire day of football takes a little bit more than coffee. Loreen's new pouch is built exactly for that, without the nicotine. It works just like the pouches you've seen before. Tuck one in and go about your day. Each has 50 milligrams of caffeine, about half a cup of coffee, plus L-Theanine and Alpha GPC for smooth, steady focus with no crash. And because it's Loreen, it's also got nano-hydroxyapatite, the mineral your teeth are made of, so it gives your daily enamel support in between brushings. It's smooth energy without the jitters, and it comes in mint, cinnamon, and mango, all nicotine free. I love the cinnamon. Give Loreen a try.

Right now, Loreen is offering our listeners up to 50% off at buyloreen.com/college.

That's buyloreen, larine.com/college for up to 50% off.

Joe Sheehan (1:13)

The numbers told the story, they always do.

SPEAKER_1 (1:15)

It's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game with Gill Alexander on VSiN.

Gill Alexander (1:21)

Good Tuesday. Morning Tune is a Numbers Game at VSiN, the sports betting network, vsin.com, Game Plus, iHeart, Radio, YouTube, TV, SiriusXM, Channel 189, Gill Alexander, Kelley Bydlon. The day before the National Football League season begins.

Kelley Bydlon (1:37)

Pumped. I'm pumped.

Gill Alexander (1:38)

Let us go. Hamsters on a wheel. That's what we become.

Kelley Bydlon (1:41)

That's right.

Gill Alexander (1:42)

But willingly, gratefully.

Kelley Bydlon (1:43)

That's right.

Gill Alexander (1:44)

Have you caught that? Joyously.

Kelley Bydlon (1:45)

Have you caught that ESPN promo that's like, it's really stuck in my head. It's like the actor from Tyres has shown, he's like, it's like just about promoting the NFL season returning. He goes, this is your life now.

Gill Alexander (1:57)

Oh, yeah.

Kelley Bydlon (1:58)

You've seen that one? And it's like, it's so true and scary.

Gill Alexander (2:01)

What's the Colin Coward line? There's football season and then there's waiting for football season.

Kelley Bydlon (2:05)

Yeah.

Gill Alexander (2:06)

Those are the only two seasons of our year.

And it is true. It is true. I was, as a kid, I was always like, baseball is the national pastime. I mean, growing up in DC, baseball wasn't a huge thing. I was always, we sort of grew up, at least I did, in the generation where that transitioned, if you will. Yeah.

Kelley Bydlon (2:23)

By the time I was a kid already, it was football, football, football.

Gill Alexander (2:27)

For me, too. So I was already like, I don't get this yesteryear thing.

Kelley Bydlon (2:31)

Over the 90s, the 90s brought us Barry Bonds, you know, a little bit of resurgence there at the end.

Gill Alexander (2:35)

Listen, we love baseball. I still love baseball, but it is still, football is still our religion. Joe Sheehan on baseball today, Joe would like to, I don't know if he's going to take Umbridge with my manager of the year, but I think he's going to take a break down yesterday. My breakdown was very objective.

Kelley Bydlon (2:50)

I'm very interested to see where he goes with it.

Gill Alexander (2:51)

I just did it by the numbers.

We'll have a back and forth on that. He's got to play today. He's got some futures in this 2026 baseball season. Drew Dinsick triumphant return to the show after a week off. He was, where was he last week?

Kelley Bydlon (3:04)

Another, just a tough week in Hawaii.

Gill Alexander (3:07)

That's right.

Kelley Bydlon (3:07)

You know, Hawaii.

Gill Alexander (3:08)

He does the, let me take the wife to a vacation right before football season thing.

Kelley Bydlon (3:13)

I don't know. I don't know that he loves that we're on to that, but it's a good move by Drew. It's a good move.

Gill Alexander (3:18)

Oh, he's pretty. He's pretty open about that. He will talk US open. God, I hope he I hope he does better than I do.

An NFL week one, of course, primarily with Drew Jeff Erickson on the National Football League season, week number one, and Mark Borchardt on baseball a little later on. Oh, Paul Carr, not to be outdone. What does that mean, by the way? Not to be a champion. Champions League, the number one champion sound.

Kelley Bydlon (3:40)

Match day one, Gill Alexander.

Gill Alexander (3:42)

Yeah.

Kelley Bydlon (3:43)

Get ready.

Gill Alexander (3:44)

And again, for the uninitiated, we'll go over what exactly the Champions League is. I think the the analogy he uses is it's like if the NCAA tournament, if they if they had an NCAA basketball tournament in the middle of the regular season kind of thing, but with international, it's very strange tennis. Let's start there because we we have we are obligated to start there, but it'll be quick because yesterday two calamities. First of all, the matches, I had three. They went one and two.