March 7th, 2016

Did that really just happen? We just witnessed history at Staples Center yesterday.  No NBA team with a winning percentage below .200 has ever beaten a team with a winning percentage above .900, and that’s exactly what happened when the Lakers destroyed the Warriors yesterday afternoon.  Admit it….you kind of wanted to storm the court after the win, didn’t you Laker fans?  Ok, so maybe Steph and Klay popped a few too many bottles in the club last the night before.  However, Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo played great defense, while putting up some very solid numbers.  Russell has scored 20 points or more in 5 of his last 6 games, including a career high 39 points earlier in the week.  Even if you’re on “Team Tank”, and want the Lakers to lose to solidify their lottery position, you’ve gotta love the confidence booster this win gives LA’s young guns.  It’s better to beat a team like this, then Phoenix or Philadelphia.  I wouldn’t be surprised after all this if the Lakers lose to Orlando on Tuesday.  D’Angelo is pumped, while Kobe needs a bye week……

Do the Clippers deserve any respect? They beat Oklahoma City earlier in the week, after one of the biggest choke jobs in the NBA this season.  Now people are suddenly thinking the Clippers should be contenders.  Let me get this straight….the Clippers beat a team Thunder team that choked harder than they usually do every spring time, and one that few people consider a true championship team. So why should we think any differently of them for that? Besides, no team with a mascot that is called “Chuck The Condor” deserves any respect in my book.  Sometimes the jokes just write themselves, and this is definitely one of those cases.

Is Lebron James still the best player in basketball? Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard are certainly doing some amazing things, and are making me think twice about it.  However, Lebron is a 4 time MVP, and led a team to the NBA Finals in the last five consecutive seasons.  Forgive me for not being entirely prisoner of the moment since that’s what we do in the NBA, but let’s have some perspective people.  If and when Steph makes it to five NBA finals, Or Kawhi gets on a couple of All-NBA teams, then there’s a much more sound argument.  Steph is the game’s best shooter, and Kawhi is a rising star, but Lebron’s impact on both ends of the floor is still unmatched.  He may not be in his prime, but it was just last season where he nearly pulled off the greatest upset in NBA playoff history.

UCLA just finished an embarrassing regular season and is hoping to miraculously survive the 1at round of the conference tourney this week, let alone win it.  Steve Alford has been a disaster, despite the big recruits coming next year.   Hopefully, there will always be great recruits for the Bruins on the horizon…not the point. The question is whether or not Alford was a smart hire by Dan G…so far, no. Only Walt Hazzard has a lower winning percentage as a UCLA coach than Alford. He just seems in way over his head….nothing wrong with that but he he belongs working at another school. The best work I’ve seen from the Alford camp was from his agent and attorney who leveraged a panicked AD into one of the most obscene employment contracts in UCLA history….the kind that would get a guy, AD, fired.  It’s only fitting that the Trojans will be the ones to end the Bruins’ season on Wednesday.  Nothing more humiliating than losing to your “football school” cross town rival three times in one year.

Speaking of USC, the Trojans aren’t exactly a lock to make the NCAA Tournament anymore.  USC has now lost 6 of their last 8 games, after losing to Oregon on Saturday.  The pressure is really going to be on now, because an early loss in the conference tournament, and SC’s bubble might just burst.  Even more alarming is the fact that SC has lost 8 of their 11 games away from the friendly confines of the Galen Center.  That’s often the case for a team that plays uptempo like the Trojans, who’s role players just aren’t that good on the road.  The more you watch this team, the more you realize that they just aren’t ready for primetime yet.

Ok, who is surprised that Dodgers starting pitcher  Brett Anderson is injured? Sure he had a nice year last year, but him staying relatively healthy was an aberration.  Anderson ending up on the DL is about as sure as the sun rising and A-Rod admiring himself in the mirror every morning.  Andy Friedman’s idea of “pitching depth” is a collection of guys that get hurt all the time,  or that just aren’t very good.  I’d rather pay the $200 million for one guy who is going to remain healthy than $100 million for 5 guys that can’t stay healthy.  Those 5 guys will be lucky to win 10 games collectively when they do start.

There’s no way the Anaheim Ducks can continue the pace they are on.  11 in a row and looking for more tonight against Washington.  The Ducks are finally getting the goals they weren’t getting earlier in the year.  The only question is whether or not they are peaking too soon.  The Kings on the other hand, have goal scorers that have disappeared like Jeb Bush.  Home ice and winning the division is meaningless to LA, but if they don’t start scoring goals, they probably won’t last too long in the NHL playoffs.

I fully expect Peyton Manning to not only announce his retirement tomorrow, but also four new toppings at Papa John’s Pizza.  In all seriousness though, I’m definitely going to miss watching him and all his battles with Tom Brady in the postseason.  He was one of the best quarterbacks i’ve seen in my lifetime, and easily the best regular season quarterback.  That’s not a knock on him.  Winning in the NFL is tough.  He probably should have a few more rings given all of his regular season accomplishments, but I deny his brilliance and greatness.  It’s a shame that story about the PED’s and the trainer at Tennessee came out now, but in general, when we evaluate athletes performance, we have to separate what we think of the athlete vs person.  Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t be watching professional sports anymore.

I don’t know what’s more ridiculous, Donald Trump’s candidacy, or the the Republicans whining and crying about him winning.   I haven’t seen a single debate where Trump or anybody else can bring any sensibility or explain an actual plan for specific policies.  It’s been nothing other than watching a bunch of kids in the school yard call each other names.  Now Mitt Romney is trying to come in at the 11th hour and “save the day”.  Too little too late.  I feel like when it comes time for me to vote, I might have to decide which leader I would want if we were in the middle of an Apocalypse, like The Walking Dead.

You know what the beauty of The People vs OJ Simpson on FX is? We know what happened already, so nobody can spoil it for you if you are waiting to watch it on DVR.   The last episode just reminded us why Johnny Cochran was the right choice for OJ over Robert Shapiro as the lead attorney L.  The man was willing to run over anyone standing in the way of OJ’s innocence.  As for the story about the alleged murder weapon that was recovered and turned in, it’s too perfect of a publicity stunt.  You’re telling me they found this at the time the show is going on? If you believe it’s just a coincidence then you are probably voting for Donald Trump.  Even if it is the actual murder weapon , it wouldn’t have mattered.  The prosecution screwed up everything else, so they would have screwed that up too.

Finally, The Walking Dead had another intense episode last night on AMC.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it, so read no further if you don’t want to know.  Rick and the gang decide to invade the Saviors headquarters.  You can see how reluctant Glenn was to kill these guys while they were sleeping, however, once he looked at the bloody pictures on the wall, he knew that the ends justified the means.  Rick and Darryl on the other hand didn’t seem to have any problem killing the Saviors while they were sleeping, or while they were awake.  Every moment I was on the edge of my seat, I kept telling myself this was a bad idea for Rick’s group, but then I realize that’s probably too idealistic.  Rick’s group can either starve to death, or even be attacked by the Saviors while starving. Or they can proactively eliminate the enemy and provide themselves with plenty of food in the process.  I love the “calm before the storm” beginning of the show with happy music.  Carol and Maggie being captured puts the focus right back on Darryl and Glenn, who would probably both do anything to save them.  That’s why I think there’s a good chance we lose Darryl or Glenn when this season is over.  The show has a much dark feeling than ever before, with the bad guys super evil, and the good guys forced to resort to some evil to survive.  When Father Gabriel is forced to man up and kill people, you know the world is screwed up.

February 29th, 2016

It’s not very often you see Mitch Kupchak look that distraught.  Jeannie Buss subtly reminded everyone last week that her brother, Jim Buss, is running out of time.  Back in 2014, Jim foolishly claimed that the Lakers would be at least back in the West Finals within 3 years.  There’s no way that’s happening by next year, which means Jim is toast.  However, the real danger here is that since Jim knows he could be out next year, isn’t there a greater risk for him to do something reckless and desperate? That makes me more nervous than anything.  So does the idea that he could be responsible for hiring another head coach this summer, when his last three have failed horribly.  It makes more sense to get rid of him now to avoid that situation.  I’m also not sure what this means for Kupchak.  Is he tied to Jim’s timeline?  I hope not.   There aren’t many good GM’s in the league who have assembled championship teams but Kupchak is one.  Heck there are only three teams in the whole league that could possibly win a title this year.  Hopefully the Lakers don’t lose sight of that if and when they stabilize their front office.  Either way, that’s probably a bigger priority than anything else for the franchise.

The Lakers got their brains beat in on Friday by Memphis.  Meanwhile, Kobe was probably sitting at home in Newport Coast watching Netflix.  At best, he had the Laker game on his IPad while Netflix binging.  Not that I can blame him.  He’s probably earned the right not to have to deal with this crap after 20 years and 5 championships.

The Clippers are running out of time.  They appear locked into the 4th seed in the West, and have about 6 more weeks to get their chemistry straight.  They may be playing well, but once Austin Rivers comes back from injury, and eventually Blake Griffin, they’ll have to figure out how to play their best basketball.   All that on top of getting the recently acquired Jeff Green to fit in as well.

Ok, Steph Curry is out of his mind.  He is shooting 66% from anywhere between 28 feet and half court this season.  Do you realize that’s way better than DeAndre Jordan’s free throw percentage? That’s no typo.  He’s told people privately that he feels like he can pull up from just inside half court all the time and make a reasonable amount of his shots, but wouldn’t do it for the sake of playing team ball.  I’m starting to think that he misses on purpose at times to blend in with humanity.   You miss every shot you don’t take, except if you’re Steph.  Then you make those too.  Steph just can’t get any love from the grumpy old NBA legends though like Oscar Robertson and Phil Jackson.  They poo-poo everything he does, and seem to think he’s some flash in the pan.  Apparently this just isn’t impressive enough for them…..

Speaking of underachieving basketball teams, UCLA put together another embarrassing weekend of ball.  The Bruins dropped road games to Cal and Stanford, and are almost assured of missing the NCAA Tournament.  UCLA has lost to so many teams it shouldn’t this year that Steve Alford really should start updating his LinkedIn page, so he can find a new coaching gig.  That probably won’t happen though with stud recruits TJ Leaf and Lonzo Ball coming in next year.  If UCLA had real options to upgrade their head coach, keeping the recruits wouldn’t be an issue if they fired Alford.   That just goes to show you how far the Bruin basketball program has fallen.

Remember everything I said about USC basketball a couple of weeks ago? Ok good, I don’t either.  The Trojans making the NCAA Tournament is no longer a sure thing.  They looked like a completely different team against Stanford and Cal, and the offense just isn’t putting up the numbers it did a few weeks ago.   It’s possible that after a couple of weeks of game tape, other Pac 12 coaches are figuring out how to defend these guys.  That of course doesn’t apply to Steve Alford, who has no idea how to defend anything.  The Trojans have lost 5 of their last 6, and have been getting crushed of late.  They could easily be losers of 7 of their last 8 by the end of next week.  Talk about a bad time to through a complete free fall.  It’s looking like the Pac 12 Tournament may be way more important for the Trojans than we thought.

What a disaster the Dodgers Time Warner Cable Channel is becoming.  Now they’ve decided to cut their number of spring training telecasts in half, even though they are claiming it’s not a cost cutting move.  Really? A network that was made for 24-7 Dodger coverage isn’t going to be televising some of its actual games? I’ve heard some people suggest that commissioner Rob Manfred needs to get involved and force a deal to be made.  Other than telling the cable providers and TWC to get in a room, it’s not like he can force the providers to buy the channel, or force TWC to lower their asking price.  However, he should encourage them to think more out of the box to solve the problem, like streaming their games for a subscription fee.  I don’t blame the Dodgers for creating the channel, but they need to work harder to solve the problem, or many fans won’t forgive them being that it’s Vin Scully’s last year.

Yasiel Puig is all flash and no substance.  Now he wants to fly a helicopter to every Dodger game so he can avoid traffic and be on time.  Too bad FAA rules prohibit this.  Here’s a better idea: Leave earlier like the rest of your teammates, who mange to be on time.  If Puig actually lived up to his potential, I’m sure the Dodgers would find more ways to accommodate him.  Right now he’s just a show boating pain in the ass, who needs to be traded as soon as his trade value increases again.

In NFL offseason news, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is now demanding a trade.  Chip Kelly is probably dying to replace him with a white quarterback.  Kaepernick’s trade value is currently 3 lottery tickets, a 6 pack, and a bottle of Mike’s Hard Lemonade.    The Redskins are trying to sign Kirk Cousins to a long term deal.  That’s like settling down with your ex after she’s put on a few pounds, after you were shot down by a couple of super models that wouldn’t give you the time of day.  Meanwhile, Peyton Manning reportedly has not decided whether he is going to retire or not.  Obviously, Manning has had a few too many of those Budweiser’s he was talking about.

The Kings really got screwed in their battle last night with the Ducks at Honda Center.  LA had a goal overturned by the referree in the third period when the Ducks challenged the play, which was ultimately ruled offside.  That call took so long to make, in the meantime, Leo DiCaprio actually won an Oscar while it was going on.  The goal would have made it 4-3, altering the momentum, but the Kings ended up losing 4-2.  Even though home ice advantage doesn’t really matter in the NHL, the Ducks are on the verge of taking 1st place from the Kings in the Pacific.  Anaheim is finally scoring to go along with its stellar defense.  Meanwhile, LA has been scrambling to add depth before the trade deadline.  I like the move to bring back defenseman Rob Scuderi, but I was really hoping they could add someone with a little more scoring, other than the Kris Versteeg trade they made last night.  By the way, on yesterday’s telecast on NBC Sports, Pierre McGuire actually said “Nick Shore can’t get it up and David Perron, he can get it in,” without an ounce of self-awareness.

I really think that Donald Trump might break the internet before his Presidential campaign ends.  Never have I seen so much animosity over social media directed toward politics and him in general over the last few weeks. The irony of it all is that his odds of being our next President are only going up.  Every debate that he looks stumped, embarrassed, and outmatched, he ends up gaining 15% of the voters anyway.  Maybe Rubio and Cruz would have more success if they actually discussed the issues in every debate rather than make it a pissing match.  Wolf Blitzer has about as much control of these debates as Kim Kardashian has when she’s around NBA players.  If Trump ends up going up against Hillary in the fall, I’m still not entirely convinced she would win.   We definitely didn’t think he would make it this far and yet here he is.   The man is a complete disaster, and his success thus far is exposing how uneducated most voters are. However, you’ve gotta admit politics have never been more entertaining.

The People vs OJ Simpson was phenomenal again last week.  The episode focused on how Robert Shapiro ended up losing his role as the lead attorney, as well as the media circus that developed around the trial, particularly during the jury selection process.  Marcia Clark and the prosecution totally underestimated the power of the media, ultimately losing the battle early on in the court of public opinion.  Then again, how could she have anticipated it? The OJ Simpson trial changed the way news was covered, and eventually lead to larger scale media coverage when it was over.  I do wonder if the show will end up covering the affair between Clark and Chris Darden, which we found out about years later.  As for Shapiro, it’s easy to see how his arrogance and obliviousness to race made him more unlikeable to his fellow team members.  I’m looking forward to seeing where the show goes from here.

He did it! Leo DiCaprio finally won the Oscar for best actor.  Given his bad luck, i was expecting a giant earthquake to hit Los Angeles right before the announcement was made.  I think we can have a good argument as to whether or not Spotlight should have won the best picture.  However, I don’t think anybody would argue that Michael Keaton wasn’t hammered.  Alejandro González Iñárritu notched his second straight Oscar in the directing category.  You would think you wouldn’t be rushed off stage like he was if that happened.  Chris Rock also killed it with his opening monologue.  He didn’t shy away from the race issue.  He went right at it unapologetically, poking fun at both black people and white people, and nobody could have done it better.  Of course those super sensitive types might have taken offense to it.  Here are the best parts of the opening monologue….

Finally, The Walking Dead went down on AMC last night with another exciting episode.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see the episode, so read no further if you are going to watch it later on your DVR.  This episode was all about Jesus taking Rick’s group to meet up with his, the Hilltoppers.  That resulted in a negotiation between Maggie and their leader, Gregory, for supplies.  After a bloody conflict ensued, we learn that the Hilltoppers are being extorted by a group called The Saviors, led by the infamous Negan.  Maggie negotiates a deal to kill Negan and his men, in exchange for half the Hilltoppers supplies.  I hate the idea of Rick’s group seeking out conflict.  It’s somewhat cocky on their part to believe that they can handle the Saviors, just because they handled the Wolves and the Governor, among others.  I don’t think there’s any question what Maggie meant though: “it’s going to cost us”.  They can do it, but it likely means that they are going to lose a group member they love in the process, which they are fully aware of.  On the other hand, if they don’t kill Negan, eventually he will probably find them, extort them, and eventually kill them.  Rick really knows how to make a great first impression doesn’t he? He kills a couple of Hilltoppers moments after meeting them when his group is threatened.  He killed someone in Alexandria, and beat up Jesus when they first met.  I can even remember how much of a punk Darryl thought he was for beating down his brother, Merle, when they first met in season 1.  The remaining episodes in this season have me very nervous, but excited to see how this all plays out.

Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon – The Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 11 – Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

February 22nd, 2016

Ok Byron Scott haters.  You’ve got me.  I can’t defend the man anymore.  There was nothing wrong with making D’Angelo Russell have to work for playing time.  There was nothing wrong with making Julius Randle have to earn it either.  Now there’s only 27 games left.  They should have been starting and playing more minutes to speed up their development about 20 games ago.  Nobody was ever going to judge Byron on how many games he won this year.  It was all about player development, and making those young players feel good about what they were working toward.  The comments and behavior from Jordan Clarkson and Russell at last week’s All-Star game were a huge indictment of Scott’s relationship with players the Lakers are going to be building with for the foreseeable future.  They hate their coach.  Now, Mitch Kupchak even sees that as well.  Several months ago, the Lakers GM said that Scott was doing a great job under the circumstances.  Last week, he gave absolutely no such support, and said that Byron is the Lakers coach and “we’ll let you know when that changes.”  Byron isn’t nearly as bad of a coach as you’re all making him out to be.  However, it’s safe to say that he is not the right coach for this team moving forward.

Kobe Bryant is really something.  If I dislocated my finger, I’d be sitting at home for weeks.  He’s back in action 1 minute later.  He’s doing it all for the fans who want to see him one last time……

Across the hall, Doc Rivers strikes again.  This time, Rivers traded for Jeff Green, another completely ineffective small forward to stick in his lineup for the rest of the season.  Every trade deadline, somebody is trying to trade for Green, thinking that he is the “missing piece” for a championship contender.  It didn’t work out in Boston when Rivers was there, it didn’t work out in Memphis, so I’m not sure why anybody would think it would work in LA (especially Rivers himself).  The funny part is, Lance Stephenson was just starting to turn it around and help the Clippers depleted bench, then Doc gets rid of him.  Doc probably doesn’t care about any future draft picks because CP3 and Blake Griffin might not be here in another 18 months.  Based on what we saw Saturday night against the Warriors, with or without Blake, it doesn’t look like the Clipps are gonna get past the 2nd round again.

The NBA trade deadline came and went last Thursday, and it was completely uneventful. It was also a reminder that NBA General Managers have absolutely no balls.  The Chicago Bulls have a bunch of front court players that will be free agents like Joakim Noah an Pau Gasol and did nothing.  I guess they are content losing to Lebron James in the playoffs every spring.  Oklahoma City is 18 months away from losing Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, yet didn’t have the guts to add an all-star like Gasol, who would have been a perfect missing piece.  The Toronto Raptors are clearly the 2nd best team in the East, but did nothing to improve their chances of beating the Cavs in the conference finals.  It’s no wonder that only a handful of NBA teams have won championships in the last 30 years.  Team executives are gutless!

In college hoops, does anybody have any idea who the favorite is to win the NCAA Title? Vegas will tell you that it’s Carolina, Oklahoma, or Michigan State, but that seems more like a kiss of death these days.  When you get ranked #1 in the polls, it seems like your stay there is even shorter than a Kardashian marriage.  Too bad UCLA won’t be participating in the madness of March after taking another body blow to their season against Utah.  USC will be in the mix, but their chances of winning the Pac 12 have faded.  Hopefully we can look forward to more of this stuff from college basketball fans in March…..

I realize that trying to find a franchise quarterback in the NFL these days is like trying to win the Powerball.  However, the Rams would be foolish to go into the season with Case Keenum as their starter.  The likelihood of Brock Osweiler hitting the market is pretty unlikely, but the Rams would be wise to take a flier on Robert Griffin III.  It wasn’t that long ago that RGIII was actually a decent quarterback.  He certainly wasn’t the same after he tore his ACL, but the man might still be an effective player if given the chance.  There’s certainly nobody in the draft that would fall to the Rams at #15, unless you’re a believer in Cardale Jones, and want to take him in round 2.  However, RGIII is a low risk, high reward move they would be wise to make.

In baseball, Dodgers President of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, did an interview with the LA Times last week, with his thoughts on the season and the Dodgers plan moving forward.  After reading that piece, I came away with the impression that Friedman has no understanding of the expectations that are on him in Los Angeles.  He stressed the idea of building the farm system because having an extremely high payroll isn’t sustainable.  That’s ok, but the strong farm system was already in place before Friedman arrived.  He mentioned winning the division title a number of times, as if the General Managers that came before were unable to do that.  In fact, the General Managers that came before him not only kept the farm system strong, but also built teams that won more games and went further than him in the playoffs.  Those executives were fired because they couldn’t put the Dodgers over the top to win a World Championship.  Someone should inform him of this because he’s pretty naive to think otherwise.

Meanwhile, the Angels pitchers and catchers reported to Arizona, but they learned that they may not have Albert Pujols to start the season.  The Halos have a few question marks in their lineup, including 2nd base, 3rd base, and left field, so hopefully Pujols won’t take too long to get back in the lineup and get his game going.  However, I’m not as down on the Angels as most people.  I think their pitching is going to be pretty good this year, and their bullpen seems sturdy enough.  They play in a tough division with the Astros and Rangers, but the Angels showed their roster was good enough to stay in the race against those teams until the final days of the season last year.  It’s no surprise that former Halos GM Jerry Dipoto admitted that he and skipper Mike Scioscia had an unhealthy relationship last year, and disagreed on a number of issues.  It’s pretty early, but it seems as though new GM Billy Eppler and Scioscia are on the same page thus far.  That should provide more stability on the field this season.

The LA Kings just completed a 7 game Grammy road trip in which they went 3-3-1, but there were a number of casualties.  The list includes Jonathan Quick, Marian Gaborik, Anze Kopitar, and any Kings fans’ sobriety.  With the injuries piling up, the Kings lead in the Pacific Division is nearly gone, and both Anaheim and San Jose look poised to blow right past them in the standings.  The Kings have to have Kopitar, Quick, and Drew Doughty in their lineup, or else the team just isn’t a threat to do much.  I mean last week marked the first time I can remember the Kings ever having a lineup consisting of only North American players.  Meanwhile, the Ducks have been on fire since Christmas, sporting the league’s best record since that time.  It was an ugly start, but suddenly, the Ducks look like the contending team we thought they would be.

What another brilliant episode of The People vs OJ Simpson last week.  This episode was focused mostly on Robert Shapiro’s decision to add Johnny Cochran to the defense team, and convincing OJ that it was the right move.  There were two great parts of the episode for me.  The first was the opening scene, where Robert Kardashian is taking his kids to Chin Chin restaurant.  Kardashian reminds all his kids that being honest and being a good person is way more important than fame.  Who didn’t fall out of their chairs laughing when this line was uttered? If only Robert could see how his daughters have capitalized on fame, years after he passed.  Seeing the kids may not be necessary for the OJ story, but it sure does enhance the entertainment value of the show.  I also loved when OJ (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.), asked Robert Shapiro if he “wants to make this a black thing?” when questioning whether or not to add Cochran to the defense team.  He then reminds us how ironic the race issue was in the whole case by saying “I’m not black, I’m OJ!”.  That line was totally over the top, and so is John Travolta in his portrayal of Robert Shapiro, but they do a great job of re-living this whole drama for us.  Looking forward to seeing what’s next!

Finally, another good episode of The Walking Dead went down on AMC last night.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to watch it.  Who saw this one coming? This episode was highlighted by the sudden love affair that emerged between Rick and Michonne.  The funny part is the episode definitely implied that it would happen from the start when we see that she was living with Rick and Carl, but nobody would have imagined that a romantic relationship would have ensued.  Even better is the fact that Michonne has been accepted as family by Carl, who lets her know that if she became a walker, he would make sure he would be the one to kill her since she is like family.  That’s exactly why he didn’t kill Deanna, so he could let her son Spencer do it.  Since Rick and Michonne’s relationship was formed as a result of the apocalypse, as a couple, they will probably do much better than his previous relationships (assuming they can both survive).  In fact, when they both leap out of bed naked and point their guns at the character we know as “Jesus”, that was a perfect example.  I don’t know what to make of this Jesus character.  I’m sure comic followers know where this is going, but he must somehow be connected to Negan, who is obviously evil, so that means he can’t be good.  How did he get to Rick’s bedroom though with Darryl supposedly watching him? What a stupid decision by Rick and Darryl to chase him down when they could have just split with the supplies the group needed.  Overall it was a “lighter episode” for the Walking Dead, but one that still had enough action to keep you engaged.  It was enjoyable, but I’m sure the intensity is going to pick up again very shortly.

February 15th, 2015

They should have just called it the “Kobe Classic”.  There wasn’t any defense played, but it was very entertaining nevertheless.  The NBA All-Star game is still arguably the best of the four major sports because it’s a phenomenal showcase of talent.  The athleticism and the dunks are more exciting than anything else you will see in any other exhibition, which is exactly what the fans want.  It was great to see Kobe enjoying himself, and all the players enjoying being a part of Kobe’s final All-Star game as well.  I like how the only shred of heated competition was when Paul George needed one point to break Wilt Chamberlain’s single game All-Star scoring record, but Greg Popovich made sure he was double teamed and couldn’t get the record.  Both coaches allowed the players to draw up plays, and didn’t do much coaching.  Tyronn Lue should be used to this by now because that’s usually what happens to coaches in Cleveland.  What was up with Kobe and Westbrook not giving Drake any love after they were introduced? Then again, Kobe is from Philly, and everybody from Philly hates Drake.  Great halftime performance by Sting.  Meanwhile, the players were all Googling “who is Sting?”  Then there’s this dude who should have been in the dunk contest.  And the best part is he did it in jeans!

That was by far the best All-Star Saturday Night I have ever seen.  Sure there have been greater individual moments over the years, but nothing as competitive in each and every competition that we saw.  The slam dunk contest was the best since Dominque Wilkins vs Michael Jordan in 1988.  When did white people learn to jump like that? Aaron Gordon should have beaten Zach Lavine, and at the very least it should have been a tie.  It’s getting harder and harder to come up with dunks that we haven’t seen, yet those two dudes found a way to show new levels of creativity.  Who says the dunk contest is dead? It’s been brought back to life now.  What more did Gordon need to do to win? Cure cancer and AIDS while completing his dunks?  As for the three point shootout, Klay Thompson was great in edging his teammate Steph Curry.  However, imagine how good Devin Booker is going to be once he hits puberty.  Good for Klay, but Steph is still the best shooter in the world.  We also learned that Draymond Green is no better at basketball than Kevin Hart without Steph Curry on the court.  Since Hart beat Green in a 3 point contest, the Lakers are now looking to sign Hart in free agency this summer.  In the skills challenge, too many guys “play it cool” and don’t compete hard, but Karl Anthony Towns busted his ass to win.  I loved seeing it.  The Timberwolves are now considering moving KAT to point guard and Ricky Rubio to center.  Here are the highlights from one of the best dunk contests ever……

I thought both D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson were great in the Rising Stars challenge.  Both had a shot at the MVP.  Russell shot the lights out and was great at making plays for others in limited playing time.  Clarkson was outstanding as well, but I don’t know what the hell happened to him during the skills competition.  He completely “played it cool” and conceeded his matchup with CJ McCollum.  Makes sense though because the Lakers have been conceding games to their opponents all season.  Of course the battle between D’Angelo and Byron Scott continues.  Byron felt the need to call out D-Lo for his lack of maturity compared to other great point guards he’s coached.  So D’Angelo took a shot back at Byron in priceless fashion in the last 30 seconds of this clip……

D’Angelo Russell talks about his Rising Stars game performance.

VIDEO: https://t.co/N5L5FZEnaO

— LakersTV (@LakersTV) February 13, 2016

There’s plenty of interesting trade rumors out there with the deadline approaching on Thursday.  The biggest one being the rumored three team deal between the Celtics, Knicks, and Cavs.  The Celtics would get Kevin Love, the Cavs would get Carmelo Anthony, and the Knicks would get some of the Celtics assets to build around Kristaps Porzingas.  The Cavs aren’t going to have forever to win a title with Lebron James.  They need to build a roster that can better matchup with the Warriors, and that means adding an elite wing player.  ‘Melo may not be a great defensive player, but he sure would matchup with Draymond Green a lot better than Kevin Love would.  We all know the Celtics want a star player, and the Knicks need to build the right way.  The deal makes a lot of sense for everybody, but probably won’t happen because the trade deadline usually amounts to nothing.

The UCLA basketball season is effectively over after the loss to Arizona on Friday.  Barring a miraculous Pac 12 Conference Tournament win, this team is ticketed for the NIT.  Sure Steve Alford is going to blame the referees for the big free throw disparity on Friday, but that’s just covering up the real issues going on with the Bruins.  There’s a lack of talent, lack of depth, and mediocre coaching that has made the program nearly irrelevant.  Sure there’s a great deal of parity across college basketball right now, but there’s no reason why UCLA should lose some of the games they have this year, to schools that they should be blowing off the floor.  I couldn’t help watch Zach Lavine’s brilliance during the NBA All-Star weekend and wonder how in the hell could Steve Alford limit this kids minutes and not take advantage of his talent while he was in the program?  Too bad that nobody associated with the Bruins athletic program can take a long look in the mirror and give themselves a candid evaluation to turn the program around and put it back where it should be.

Meanwhile, USC basketball is still in great shape.  ESPN’s latest bracketology has them as the 5th seed in the Midwest Region, starting out in Denver.  With the way top ranked teams are losing every week in college basketball, would anybody really be shocked if an athletic team like the Trojans made it to the Final Four? I sure wouldn’t.  Jordan McLaughlin and Julian Jacobs are easily one of the five best backcourts in the country, and USC has an experienced coach in Andy Enfield.  They might not win the Pac 12, but look out come tournament time.  Now if only the Trojan alums knew they actually had a basketball team.

Last week, ESPN’s Keith Law claimed that the Angels farm system was the worst that he has ever seen.  He went on to say that since there is no depth whatsoever that is coming anytime soon, the Angels will need to consider trading Mike Trout in a year or two to fix this problem.  This idea is completely preposterous. The Red Sox traded Babe Ruth.  How did that work out? The Mets traded Nolan Ryan.  How did that work out? I realize that baseball isn’t the NBA, where one player changes the fortunes of your franchise dramatically.  However, prospects are completely overvalued these days in baseball.  You can’t trade a once in a generation talent who is under contract in his prime, for 5 or 6 unproven talents.  The Halos play in a tough division, but they were in playoff contention up until the last few days of the season.  The year before they won the division.  The Angels have a decent team, but their window to win is in the next 3 years, before Albert Pujols decline gets too steep.  Things aren’t nearly as bad for the Halos as most are predicting.  But you don’t trade away superstars for 50 cents on the dollar.

This story about Peyton Manning sexually assaulting a trainer at the University of Tennessee is pretty ugly.  Manning allegedly put his genitals on top of Dr. Jamie Naughright’s head while she was examining him in 1996.  She sued Manning and settled.  Then in 2003 he trashed her in a book, causing her to get fired from her job.  She sued him again, and they settled once more.  This whole incident looks pretty bad for Peyton.  I mean people do stupid things in college, but the details of the story make it look like he’s a total liar, and a complete ass hole.  The one thing I can’t figure out is why Peyton didn’t like Naughright.  It’s not clear, but it was apparent that since Manning arrived at Tennessee in 1994, these two had it out for each other.  This is especially bad news for Peyton at a time where his career is probably going to end, and we should be celebrating his accomplishments.  Instead, as more details come to light, we’re probably going to be tearing him down, as we often do with superstars.  I hope we learn more, but so far, this looks really bad for Peyton, and even worse for Tennessee, which looks like another SEC University that is so obsessed with football, that they will protect the players even under the most immoral circumstances.

The People vs OJ Simpson on FX had another great episode last week.  This time we got to re-live the chase in the Bronco down the freeway, that eventually resulted in OJ turning himself in.  The real fascination with that episode was watching how quickly race emerged in the case.  A number of African Americans were lined up on freeway overpasses with signs cheering OJ on as he ran from the cops.  Those African Americans had incredible mistrust for the LAPD (they still do today), and saw OJ as one of their own, who can win a battle against them.  However, the reality of it was that OJ wasn’t one of them.  In many ways he removed himself from African American culture.  African American women hated OJ for the fact that he had been married to a white woman.  They were cheering for the wrong guy.  It was another good episode, and I’m looking forward to re-living more in the coming weeks.

Finally, The Walking Dead retuned on AMC last night for the 2nd half of the season.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it.  This was a very stressful episode, that made you wonder if we were going to lose multiple characters again.  Glenn has caused most of that stress and did again.  That guy is one lucky Asian, whose ass got saved by Sasha and The Sarge, who used a machine gun on the herd of Walkers who were about to take him out.  Then again, Sasha and The Sarge were nearly toast themselves, until Darryl blew away the bikers that were threatening them.  Something tells me Negan is going to exact his revenge on one of those three.  Even Jessie knew that her son Sam was a liability, and tried to pawn him off on Father Gabriel.  Unfortunately, it was Sam that not only led to his own demise, but those of his mother as well.  Poor Rick….the guy fell in love with somebody else and she dies too.  I’m still not really sure how Carl could survive a bullet to the head.  I’m also not sure how a psychiatrist could have the skills necessary to save his life.  Now what’s left of the gang is going to try and rebuild Alexandria.  It seems as though the next major villain is going to be Negan, but are The Wolves gone for good? Their leader died, but it seems like we barely got to know anything about them before they came and went.  Something tells me that Negan is going to be even more evil, and Rick seems to be getting softer and more humane, which could make the group vulnerable. 

February 1st, 2016

Blake Griffin did the most “Clipper-esque” thing imaginable.  He punched Mathias Testi, one of the equipment managers, in the face.  Since these two are friends, what was this really about? Did Testi buy a Nissan instead of Kia?  Actually, sources close to Jock Talk LA have the real inside scoop.  Testi is involved in developing and promoting a clothing brand called The Datum Line.   The Datum Line features clothing for adults and children, including accessories like socks and hats, and is symbolic of “hard work”  Blake and DeAndre Jordan have been helping him promote the Brand, and have even invested in it.   Those sources indicated to me that “it was about money, and Blake’s investment in the brand.”  So Griffin is just like Vinny Chase in Entourage, while Testi is Turtle, although I don’t ever remember Vinny punching Turtle after he invested in that brand of Tequila.  On and off the court, the Clippers are still “Clippin”.  Despite winning 16 of their last 19 games, everybody knows the Clpps aren’t for real with or without Blake Griffin.  This team is ticketed for another early playoff exit.  The Clippers marketing team might want to re-think this one…..

On the other side of the hallway, the Lakers are challenging the 76ers for the worst record in the NBA.  I’m not so sure how excited the Lakers should be over that since the worst team has only won the draft lottery 4 times in 26 tries, which is just over 15% of the time.  For the sake of pride, the Lakers need to win on Tuesday to avoid the longest losing streak in franchise history.  As for D’Angelo Russell, I have no problem with his level of confidence, or even cockiness if you want to call it that.  You don’t make it to the NBA without having some of that, and you can’t strive toward being one of the best without having that belief in yourself.  It’s Byron Scott’s job to reign in some of that perceived cockiness, and to harness it into developing Russell into an elite player.  We didn’t really see that last week when Russell tried to take over a game against Dallas last week, yet Scott benched him for it.  I don’t agree with how Byron does things, however, I can’t say that it doesn’t work.  Look at Julius Randle, who is balling again after struggling for a bit, and having his own issues with Byron.  Look at Jordan Clarkson as well, who is much more consistent this year, and on his way to being a very good player.

On a much more sad note, yesterday, the Laker family lost Marge Hearn.  Marge was the widow of long time Lakers announcer Chick Hearn, who passed away in 2002.  Marge was 98 year of age.  In many ways, she was “the first lady” of the Lakers, and had some beautiful words to say about her husband when he passed away.  Now she and Chick can finally be together again. RIP.

There are always going to be great players who are snubbed every year during the All-Star selection process.  This year, the biggest All-Star snub has got to be Damian Lillard.  Lillard has been playing out of his mind, and somehow has the Blazers in the 8th spot in the West.  I would have taken Lillard over LaMarcus Aldridge, who has been good, but not great for the Spurs.  Dirk Nowitzki probably deserved a better fate as well.  In the East, I would have taken Pau Gasol over Isaiah Thomas, but other than that, the coaches did good job.  As for the Rising Stars game, I’m very happy to see D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson selected, but how the hell did Julius Randle not get picked? He has 16 double-doubles, which leads all sophomores, and should have gotten the nod over Nerlens Noel.  Although there are some good international players on the world team, I think the USA vs The World format screwed a lot of people out of spots, like Myles Turner and Devin Booker, who might end up being a first team all-rookie selection.

To college hoops, where the Bruins may have salvaged a win against Washington State on Saturday, but they are still slowly circling the drain.  I think the Bruins are going to have to win the Pac 12 Tournament to get in because they are on the bubble right now according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, and they haven’t given me any reason to think they are going to play any better before March Madness begins.  Since the start of Pac 12 play, the Bruins have looked completely unprepared in nearly every game they’ve played in, and the game plan has been dependent on Bryce Alford getting blazing hot from outside the arc.  Tony Parker went to the bench, Jonah Bolden was inserted into the starting lineup, and the Bruins had a more athletic look on Saturday.  This is what happens when a highly touted recruit like Parker doesn’t get the coaching he was promised.  Over at USC, Parker would probably be getting that better coaching from Andy Enfield.  I suppose the trade-off though is that Parker is actually getting an education at UCLA, and can put together coherent sentences.

As for USC, we are halfway through the Pac 12 season, and they are near the top of conference.  This team is now a lock to make the NCAA tournament, and is poised to do some damage.  Not only are the Trojans winning, their basketball team is going Hollywood.  Christian Bale showed up to Saturday’s win against Washington, along with D’Angelo Russell and Taj Gibson.  The Trojans haven’t been this good at home since 1943, as they are now 13-0 at the Galen Center.  If UCLA isn’t careful, their basketball program is going to slip into further irrelevance as the Trojans hoops program steals some of the headlines away from them.  UCLA better start by beating the Trojans at the Galen Center on Thursday, and avenging the beating they were given a few weeks ago by USC at Pauley Pavilion.

Congratulations to the Dodgers Andrew Friedman, who found the other half of his brain temporarily, and re-signed  Howie Kendrick.  The Dodgers were poised to be significantly worse next year after already losing Zack Greinke, and employing a platoon of old guys and average players at 2nd base.  At least Kendrick alleviates some of that with his reliable bat, steady clubhouse presence, and solid defense.  They also got him at a very reasonable two years, and $20 million.  2nd base is just not a position that teams pay a premium for in Major League Baseball.  I still think the Dodgers aren’t going to make the playoffs this year with their horse crap bullpen, and their mediocre pitching staff behind ace Clayton Kershaw.  However, this move at least prevents them from being a total embarrassment.  Then again, nobody will be able to watch the Dodgers embarrassment anyways since only 30% have Time Warner Cable.

We’re just 6 days away from Super Bowl Sunday.  It’s a shame that all we’ve been hearing about is Cam Newton, and why people dislike the guy.  I don’t think there’s any doubt that race plays a role in the minds of most people who dislike Newton’s antics, simply because most people who have these feelings aren’t even subconsciously aware of how race impacts how they look at certain people.  It’s a sad fact of life that you would think we would be beyond.  Nevertheless, the problem with this discussion is that we have two weeks of a build up a storied white quarterback, vs a polarizing black quarterback.  It really takes away from the fact that Cam Newton should be the next face of the NFL. As for the game itself, I think the Broncos are going to keep it much closer than most people expect. It’s very hard to blow out a team with a great defense, and both of these teams have that going for them.  I like Carolina in a close one, but the Broncos have been surprising me all season with how they’ve been winning ugly, so why stop now? I wouldn’t be shocked if they won, and surely would take the points.

The Chargers staying in San Diego for the 2016 season is a very sensible move.  The only problem is that they must insure that they resolve their stadium situation this summer, because moving to LA after next season would just be silly.  Have you ever met a Chargers fan living in LA? I’ve lived in Southern California nearly my entire life, and I have yet to do so.

So while I completely hated the new NHL All-Star Game format, the story of John Scott was incredible, and may have actually made the entire weekend a success.  Scott was initially voted in as a captain as a joke by the fans.  After being traded from the Coyotes to the Canadiens and sent to the minor leagues, the league tried to force him out of the game.  Turns out that Scott was eventually allowed to play, and not only ended up on the winning team, the Pacific Division, but also won the MVP award.  For a guy who isn’t even in the NHL, and about to have another child, it’s a nice story.  Especially with his share of the $1 million his team won, and brand new car.  This was basically a big “screw you” to the NHL.  In fact, it makes you think that the league should find a way for the fans to vote a loveable journeyman into the game every year.  The Pacific Division victory also marked the first time that members of the San Jose Sharks have been part of something that resembled an NHL championship team.  I am happy to see LA getting awarded the 2017 All-Star game as well.

Then there was the other ridiculous all-star event yesterday, The Pro Bowl. This game is a bigger and bigger joke every year, yet nobody is laughing.  It used to be that there was basically no hitting, but just tackling.  Yesterday, there really wasn’t even tackling.  I did notice that Eli Manning threw an interception though, so at least one player was giving his normal effort.  They say that it was Charles Woodson’s last NFL game, but I’d argue that it really can’t be considered much of a game.  Woodson and Richard Sherman even lined up on offense.  Attending this game is becoming more and more of a punishment for players than anything else.  Next years rosters will probably consist of 17 janitors, 12 homeless guys, 18 random Twitter users, 10 NFL execs, and you (if you don’t decline).

January 25th, 2016

Just think how happy Roger Goodell is right now.  He is spared the embarrassment of having to hand the Patriots a Super Bowl Trophy after his initial suspension of Tom Brady was overturned earlier this season.  Goodell is also happy that he changed the extra point rule by pushing it 15 yards back, otherwise the Patriots probably would have sent the game into overtime, and possibly won it there.  Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are both amazing players, and their brilliance nearly pulled it off, even with the Broncos defense all over Brady all day.  I’ve gotta hand it to Peyton though……the man has now made 4 Super Bowls with four different head coaches.  For all the times it felt like Peyton had been owned in the playoffs by Brady, he’s now 3-1 against him in AFC title games.  Yesterday, he made the big throws he needed to, in order to get the win.  I can’t say I like their chances against the Panthers though, who’s defense is just as good.  I wonder who Giselle is going to blame for this one?

Then there’s the dominance of the Carolina Panthers.  Carson Palmer played that game like a college kid who downed a 12 pack and decided to play some Madden.  I’m surprised that the Cardinal haven’t announced Palmer’s retirement after that.  Then again, should we really be surprised? The Panthers went 15-1 during the regular season, their defense was as dominant then as it is now, and so was Cam Newton.  He really is Superman.  I mean he broke his back and was back in the lineup right away.  Batman broke his back and it took him weeks to come out of that hole and take on Bain.  Too bad for Larry Fitzgerald, who is a good guy, who many want to see win a title before his career is over.  Meanwhile, Carson Palmer’s cell phone has been blowing up…..

To the NBA where the All-Star starters were announced a few days ago.  As we expected, Kobe was named to his 18th All-Star team, and I’m totally ok with it.  The game is for the fans, and that’s who the fans want to see. I’m sure most of Kobe’s peers are ok with it as well.  I just wish the guy would take a week or two off so he can actually be healthy for the game and the rest of the season.  I actually think the fans did a pretty good job of picking the starters.  In the West, Draymond Green nearly started, and probably would have if not for the Kobe situation.  In the East, Andre Drummond probably deserved to start over Carmelo, but that’s still not a terrible choice.  I’m also not outraged by Dwayne Wade of Jimmy Butler, since he’ll surely be named a reserve.  The rest of the reserves in the West should be CP3, Klay Thompson, Draymond, Blake Griffin, Demarcus Cousins, James Harden, and Anthony Davis.  In the East, I’d take John Wall, Jimmy Butler, Chris Bosh, Paul Milsap, Demar Derozan, and Pau Gasol.

As for the Lakers….the more and more I watch D’Angelo Russell play, the more I think that he’s going to be the teams best player as early as next season.  Russell looked good offensively on Saturday against the Blazers, despite another Laker loss.  I’m really hoping the Lakers can get 4 players into The Rising Stars All-Star Weekend event: Russell, Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and Larry Nance, Jr.

Meanwhile, the Clippers have now lost 2 of their last 3 games after reeling off 10 straight wins.  Funny how Doc Rivers described his team’s bench play as “awful” after losing by 18 points to the Raptors yesterday.  This is exactly what we knew was coming.  The Clipps play real teams like Cleveland and even Toronto, and they get exposed for what they really are.  The Clippers also decided to end a disastrous six months with Josh Smith, by sending him back to the Rockets.  In typical Clipper fashion, Smith had a great game in his first game back with Houston, where he clearly seems to be more comfortable.  It’s going to be especially amusing when the Clippers play the Rockets again in the playoffs this spring, and Smith is the one that destroys them and sends them home early again.

The Cleveland Cavaliers really amaze me.  The were 30-11, in 1st place in the East, and they fire head coach David Blatt.  He probably wasn’t the best coach for the team, but the way this whole situation was handled, screams of a team that has no idea what it’s doing.  The weirdest part is that they immediately signed Tyronn Lue to a three year extension.  Lue? A dude that has never been a head coach? This kind of crap, along with paying a role player like Tristan Thompson $82 million, is only done in Cleveland, where they are at the mercy of their superstar, Lebron James.  Funny, because Pat Riley would never have to ask Lebron about these type of things, because he knew what he was doing.  The Cavs don’t.  If these buffoons had any idea what they were doing, they would have fired Blatt over the summer, and brought in a real high profile head coach to bring this superstar team together.  The Cavs are looking more and more like a franchise that is going to waste the talent of the best player of the generation with their incompetence.  The All-Star game should be a 1st half of David Blatt coaching vs Luke Walton, followed by a 2nd half of Steve Kerr vs Tyronn Lue.

Speaking of incompetence, it’s time for me to dust off that Joe Blanton joke book, now that the Dodgers just signed him to a $4 million contract.  Isn’t baseball amazing? Joe Blanton was absolutely horrible two years ago with the Angels, after being mediocre with the Dodgers the year before.  He looks ok for half a season, and he finds an idiot like Andrew Friedman to pay him $4 million to pitch out of the bullpen.  That’s right…the bullpen.  The crappiest part of the Dodgers team the last couple of seasons.  By the time you finish reading MMC, Blanton would have already given up 3 home runs.

In college hoops, the UCLA Bruins continue to flirt with missing the NCAA tournament.  The Bruins got handled by Oregon in Eugene on Saturday.  The Ducks just looked way more athletic, and crushed UCLA on the glass.  It amazes me that Steve Alford was actually known for defense at New Mexico, because his team plays none, and is especially awful when it comes to zone.  Alford’s idea of a game plan is to hope that his son Bryce is shooting 38% from three, and then his team will have a chance.  Hopefully this nonsense doesn’t cost the Bruins some of their better recruits they are slated to have next year.

Finally, don’t laugh Trojan fans.  Your basketball team came crashing back to earth last week as well.  USC lost to both Oregon and Oregon State, and will probably tumble back out of the top 25.  Suddenly, the Trojans can’t make three point shots, or play any defense.  It will be interesting to see if this team just caught lightning in a bottle for a couple of weeks, or if they are really legitimate threats to win the Pac 12.  The answer should be revealed soon.

January 10th, 2016

Ok people calm down.  Everybody wants to burn Mitch Kupchak at the stake for saying that this season is all about Kobe, and that the Lakers can’t move on as a franchise until he retires.  Isn’t this obvious? He’s Kobe Bryant.  He’s a once in a generation talent that can’t be replaced.  Kupchak never said the Lakers aren’t going to develop their younger players.  They already are.  All he’s saying is that even when Kobe doesn’t play, every game is still about Kobe.  In fact, that’s actually a good thing.  The Lakers can develop Russell, Randle, Clarkson, Nance, and Brown, with little to no pressure on them because it’s all about Kobe.  Once again, we have another classic example of  NBA fans and media losing their mind and providing zero rational perspective on a story.  Besides, Russell and Clarkson have been balling of late.  They just need some work on their celebrations.  What is this Ben Stiller nonsense???

What do you know….the Clippers have won 9 straight games.  What a surprise…..all 9 of those games have come against teams that under .500.  This has nothing to do with Blake Griffin being in the lineup or out of the lineup.  It’s nothing but status quo for this same cast of characters.  CP3 and DeAndre leading the way, JJ Redick shooting well, but there’s still no help from the bench.  CP3 is getting serious about his all-star campaign however, as Justin Bieber is asking all his Twitter followers to vote for Paul.  This brings up a much more important question.  How the hell does Bieber have more Twitter followers than Kobe, Lebron, Durant, and Chris Paul combined?

What a crazy Wild Card Weekend in the NFL.  The Seahawks are so lucky, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win the $1.3 billion Powerball on Wednesday.  Maybe Jesus is rewarding Russell Wilson for his will power to not have sex with Ciara? As for Blair Walsh, I’m sure years from now he’ll be screaming that the laces were out in a small town in Florida, have a sex change, and kidnap a Viking.  Hopefully Ace Ventura will be around to solve that case.  It was so cold in Minnesota, the Seahawk fans were wearing their Warriors and Royals gear underneath their clothes for extra warmth.  Even the Bengals think that was a bad loss by the Vikings.  Speaking of the Bengals, the last time they won a playoff game, America had only 13 colonies.  Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones are total pieces of shit for their actions at the end of that game.  So is the Bengals fan that threw the beer can at Ben Roethlisberger when he was being carted off the field.  That fan was far more accurate however, than his teams quarterback.  After seeing Martavis Bryant’s ridiculous touchdown catch though it’s official: to make a catch in the NFL you must use two hands, touch two feet, hold the ball to your butt, do a front flip and keep control.  Meanwhile, Marvin Lewis phone was blowing up after the game…….

Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins didn’t like that.  Before you go making fun of the Redskins however, put yourself in their moccasins.  Next year’s winner of the NFC East should get unlimited breadsticks.  Brian Hoyer was so terrible in that Chiefs-Texans game that Andy Reid should have just punted the ball back to Houston on 1st down to give Hoyer more chances to throw the football.  DeAndre Hopkins probably wanted to trade himself to Carolina for a draft pick by halftime.  I mean the Texans offense was so bad they probably couldn’t score on the Rockets.  As for Kansas City, they haven’t caused that much suffering in Houston since they were down 4 runs in the 8th in October.

It’s starting to look like by Wednesday afternoon, we could have not one, but two NFL teams officially moving to Los Angeles.  The rhetoric has changed quite a bit over the last few weeks, but the league seems more motivated than ever to get this situation resolved.  The most sensible move would be for the Chargers and Rams to share a stadium in Inglewood, but that would take Dean Spanos and Stan Kroenke putting their egos aside, and the league feeling bad enough for the Raiders to provide them with a viable alternative with more financial support.  Moving the Rams makes sense, but moving two teams to LA is foolish.  Even research shows a general apathy SoCal fans have toward NFL Football coming back, which the league is ignoring.  The Chargers claim that they need to move if another team is moving to LA to protect the 25% of their fan base that comes from the LA area.  Ok, but what about the fact that moving will alienate the other 75% of their existing fan base?  San Diego sports fans make up barely any of the fan base of LA sports teams.  Once two teams move, one will instantly become the red headed step child, while the other will be the more popular team.  It will almost surely be the Chargers in this instance.  Look at the difference in fan base between the Lakers and Clippers.  The Dodgers and the Angels.  The Kings and the Ducks.  Those differences played out over many years.  The differences in this case will be apparent right away.  We couldn’t support two teams twenty years ago, and we’re definitely not in a better position to support two teams now.

I’m taking Alabama tonight over Clemson, but the bowl season has been a complete joke.  The selection committe should be embarrassed for ranking Iowa #5 and Michigan State #3 after their horrendous bowl performances.  Ohio State and Stanford would have been more appropriate choices.  Ranking these teams is no art or science.  It’s a political exercise subject to incredible human error.  Sounds like the Obama administration might have had a hand in this.

Years ago, I thought the Pac-12 was the best basketball conference in the country.  This year, top to bottom it’s making a case once again.  Great game on Thursday night between UCLA and Arizona, and the Bruins came away with another win against a ranked opponent.  Are UCLA fans really surprised? This is the Steve Lavin era all over again.  Lose to Washington and Washington State on the road, come back and beat Arizona, and almost lose to Arizona State.  It always feels like one step forward and two steps back with Steve Alford as coach.  That’s also because when things get tight, nobody on the Bruins touches the ball except for Bryce Alford.  He hit big shots late against both Arizona schools, but the Bruins actually have some decent talent that they sometimes forget to use.

Meanwhile, USC might actually be a basketball school for the time being instead of a football school.  The Trojans are 14-3 overall and 3-1 in conference play thus far, including an exciting win over Arizona.  This is a critical year for Andy Enfield, who could be fired if his team doesn’t make the tournament.  The Trojans are looking good so far, but Enfield almost botched Saturday’s game against Arizona single handedly.  The Trojans had the lead late in regulation but didn’t use either of their two fouls to give.  USC has also had success as an outside shooting team all year, but they stubbornly tried to play inside against a bigger Arizona team with little success.  Katin Reinhardt has been one of the teams best outside shooters all season, but was chained to the bench in OT.  Wednesday’s USC vs UCLA showdown should be great, and a riveting coaching battle.  It will be Alford’s nepotism vs Enfield’s ineptitude.

Finally, seeing Mike Piazza get inducted into the Hall of Fame this past week as a New York Met is just sad for Dodger fans, and another tragic reminder of the franchise flaws over the past twenty years. A couple of years ago, Piazza came out with a book in which he talked about his hard feelings toward the Dodgers after they were unable to come to terms on a contract extension, and then ultimately traded him in the late 1990’s.  Piazza blamed Vin Scully of all people, for turning the fans against him.  Who hates Vin Scully? What a weirdo.  Besides, what Dodger fan actually hates Mike Piazza? I blame much of that situation on the new Fox ownership that had just acquired the Dodgers at the time.  If the new Guggenheim group were smart, they would find a way to make amends with Piazza, and retire his jersey.  It would be shortsighted on behalf of both Piazza and the Dodgers if they don’t try to work things out.

December 21st, 2015

I like how everybody thought for a second that the Lakers might reel off a few wins after beating the Bucks.  Nice try folks.  This team still stinks.  They looked like a bunch of high schoolers playing against pros in Oklahoma City, and they got demolished by Houston.  Poor Anthony Brown.  His first NBA start and he’s up against Kevin Durant.  It was like child abuse.  The young players are coming along, but watching the last two games just shows you how much work is ahead of them.  Then there’s Kobe.  At least he’s playing better and not looking like total dog crap.  The real question though is whether or not he should be an all-star.  Being an NBA-All Star isn’t easy.  The honor is only given to 24 players, and people always get the shaft.  Take a player like Eric Bledsoe for instance.  Having an all-star worthy year, but may or may not make it. If Kobe makes the team as a “legacy award”, that’s a spot a player like Bledsoe won’t get.  Bledsoe may be young, but he’s a guard, which is a stacked position in the West.  This may be his best chance to make an all-star team.  Would it be nice for Kobe to be there? Of course, but it shouldn’t happen at the expense of a roster spot.  The commissioner should give the West an honorary 13th spot.  I don’t think anybody would have a problem with that.

As for the Clippers, exactly as I suspected.  They tear it up against the league’s trash, then get exposed against real competition.  Only 5 of their 16 wins have come against teams over .500.  They  fell short against the Spurs then got punked by the Rockets, who are softer than Charmin.  The funny part is, the Clippers haven’t actually played that badly against teams like the Spurs and Warriors, but instead of building off the success they’ve had, they always have the body language of team that knows it isn’t going to come through in the most critical moments.  They also don’t seem to enjoy playing with each other either.  This is a leadership problem more than anything.  Blake Griffin, Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, and Doc Rivers have created this culture.  They are the ones that need to be accountable for turning it around if it’s ever going to happen.  Since they’ve been together for years now, it seems unlikely to change.

Dwight Howard is such a chump.  That dude has fallen so far, and his act is wearing thin in Houston. He’s played the last two games against the Lakers and Clippers like he’s playing pickup basketball at 24 Hour Fitness.  His teammates don’t even respect him anymore, and he’s a total liar.  He claims he doesn’t want out of Houston and that his relationship with James Harden is fine.  That’s about as believable as a promise from a Presidential candidate, especially since Dwight echoed the same thing in Orlando and Houston before he left those teams.  I can’t imagine any team that’s going to give him a 4 year max deal if he opts out of his contract this summer.  If Darryl Morey were smart, he’d ship that fool to Philly to let him rot, and just take the cap space and some draft picks.  Meanwhile, Kendrick Perkins set this epic screen last week…..

For a little over a week, UCLA looked like it might be one of the best basketball teams in the country. They even looked that way in the 1st half against Carolina.  It was like John Wooden rose from the dead and took over the body of Steve Alford.  In the 2nd half Saturday, Wooden went back to his grave because the Bruins returned to playing no defense and turning the ball over, while getting outclassed by elite competition.  Much of that can probably be attributed to UCLA big men Tony Parker and Thomas Welsh, who got themselves into foul trouble early, and couldn’t play together for much of the game that they dominated early on.  UCLA probably won’t face another team that good until NCAA tournament, but at least they’ll be well prepared for Pac 12 play.  It’s just hard to know exactly how good this team is right now.

Has anybody seen MonMouth play basketball? Then again, you probably are all wondering where that school is.  This squad has actually beaten some halfway decent competition this year, taking down UCLA, USC, and Notre Dame.  They’ll be a dangerous mid major come tournament time.  However, the real story with these guys is their bench.  They have some epic celebrations that you’ve gotta see.  Of course there’s rumors of the NCAA creating rules to prevent teams like MonMouth from doing these types of celebrations.  As usual, the NCAA is nothing but a wet blanket that won’t even let these kids have fun.  Now this is a team that is clearly having fun both on and off the court…..


The Dodgers off-season is actually becoming hilarious.  The latest joke is that they couldn’t even finalize their deal with pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma, who ended up re-signing with Seattle.  Sorry but there’s just no way the Dodgers aren’t doing this on purpose.  You think a team goes from a $300 million payroll to half that in one season accidentally? Friedman has been stupid by just giving away talent, but the Dodger ownership is enabling them to do this because their $5 billion television contract isn’t what it was once worth without being distributed by Time Warner Cable.  Other than Corey Seager, many of the Dodgers top prospects are several years away from making a big impact at the Major League level.  If the Dodgers were really trying to make their team better they would have acquired Todd Frazier in that three way deal last week, and would have already signed Howie Kendrick.  You thought it was Frank McCourt that didn’t like to spend money and only Ned Colletti that signed old guys? Think again.  For now, we’re re-living the past.  Don’t worry though….most of you won’t actually have to watch the garbage product the Dodgers put on the field next year, because you won’t be able to without the Dodgers channel distributed again.  Meanwhile, the TMZ video of Yasiel Puig’s recent violent acts surfaced.  However, TMZ later reported that it wasn’t Puig in the video.  That makes sense…..there weren’t enough hits.

Anybody actually watch the Bowl games this past weekend? In case you missed it, there was New Mexico vs Arizona in  “The Meth Bowl”.  BYU vs Utah in “The Premarital Sex is Bad Bowl”.  Ohio vs Appalachian State in “The Teams Michigan Can’t Handle Bowl.”  San Jose State vs Georgia State in “The These Two Teams Play Football? Bowl”.  And finally, there was Arkansas State vs Louisiana Tech in “The Still Better Than The SEC East Bowl”.

It seems like we’re closer than ever to an NFL stadium solution, but very far apart on the owners agreeing which teams will be moving to LA.  The Chargers and the Raiders have one foot out the door in their current markets, who have done very little to provide them with a solution for a new stadium.  The Rams on the other hand, have been provided with a reasonable stadium solution in St. Louis from public money.  However, do you really think that Stan Kroenke would buy all that land in Inglewood and not move his team there? I still think when push comes to shove, Kroenke is going to move his team regardless of what the owners think, even if it means dealing with lawsuits from the league.  If the Rams were to move to LA, in many ways the Chargers and Raiders are screwed, because they desperately need stadiums.  What the Chargers don’t realize though is that if they move to LA, their fan base will be even smaller than that of the Los Angeles Clippers.  When the Chargers had their training camp in Carson, nobody showed up.  Many fans from San Diego are also claiming they wouldn’t follow the team anymore if they move. At least the Rams and the Raiders can stake their claim to a fan base they already know is here.

Speaking of the NFL, Week 15 went down yesterday.  How did Odell Beckham not get ejected from that game? If it were a UFC fight he would have been disqualified.  The Dallas Cowboys have now clinched a wild card bye, a division round bye, conference championship bye, and a Super Bowl bye.  The Chiefs have won 8 straight games and have been dominating for weeks.  I doubt anybody in the AFC is going to take down New England though.  The Chargers finally scored a rushing touchdown!  Wasn’t Melvin Gordon supposed to solve all those problems? I don’t know if the Panthers can handle the pressure of going into the playoffs if they are 16-0.  Sometimes Teddy Bridgewater makes you think he’s an elite QB, like yesterday.  The Bills made Kirk Cousins look like Dan Marino.  The Redskins look like they are going to take the NFC East.  I wonder how RGIII feels about all this.  Remember that guy?  The Seahawks are still dangerous, but them playing on the road in the playoffs is like Superman battling Lex Luther without his cape.   I have no idea how the Texans have 7 wins, but they look like they will win that pile of trash known as the AFC South.   After the Rams beat the Bucs on Thursday Night Football, they should take on Mayonnaise next week in the “The Condiment Bowl”……

Steve Harvey had the most hilarious screw up last night during the Miss Universe contest in Las Vegas.  He mistakenly announced Miss Columbia as the winner, when it turned out it was Miss Philippines.  That mistake was so bad, I fully expect him to be hosting an ESPN midday talk show shortly.  Here it is in case you missed it……..

That was a good season 5 finale of Homeland last night, but it almost covered waaaaay too much.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it.  In less than an hour, we covered Carrie preventing the Sarin attack, her suddenly renewed then severed relationship with Jonas, Laura’s threat, Carrie’s cloudy future with the agency, and Allison’s whereabouts.  There was so much that it felt like an episode of 24.   And of course it left the fans unsatisfied because Peter Quinn died.  Everybody wanted him to live because they wanted him and Carrie to start some type of romance.  But it’s Homeland, which means that everybody that Carrie loves dies.  Quinn was a man who was living on borrowed time all season, so his death (or so we think) was inevitable.  I also wanted a more satisfying ending to the Allison saga.  In fact, I kind of wanted her to get away, instead of just seeing her shot to death in the trunk of a car.  I still wanted to see her demise, but in a different way. Since each season of Homeland post Brody has been a  a story by itself, it’s hard to know how good the show will be moving forward.  You know that Carrie is coming back to the agency, or else the show won’t work.  I guess I need to take the leap of faith and watch next fall just to be sure.

December 7th, 2015

This is obviously a lot closer to Tuesday Morning Coffee, but with everything going on, much to get to nonetheless.  Zack Greinke is gone, just like I told you he would be months ago.  I think the question needs to be asked at this point: is Andrew Friedman an idiot or was he brought in to destroy the team? It feels like just yesterday that the Dodgers were spending money on players like Charlie Sheen spends money on hookers and blow.  They even spent $62 million on unproven Cuban players like Hector Olivera, but now you’re telling me they got outbid by Arizona by $50 million for a proven elite pitcher?  I’m sure some of you will argue that it isn’t reasonable to give a pitcher over 30 years of age over $30 million a year.  However, it also isn’t reasonable to spend $30 on a hot dog and a beer at the game, but fans do it because it’s just the cost associated with watching a good baseball team.  Of course Friedman foolishly would rather spend $45 million on what’s likely to be three injury plagued years of Hisashi Iwakuma, then twice that on 3-4 years of brilliance on Greinke.  This may have something to do with the Dodgers not actually being able to distribute the SportsNet LA channel due to failed negotiations, which ultimately is putting pressure on Time Warner, and in turn putting pressure on them to give back financially to TWC and lower their payroll.  Either way, Friedman is still an idiot for trading Dee Gordon, and trading Matt Kemp for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  He’s also about to waste what’s left of Clayton Kershaw’s prime.  Even if they get Ardolis Chapman, they will only be renting him for a year.   Get ready for a crappy few years Dodger fans.  We’ve now become a small market baseball team.

Meanwhile, the Angels may not be going after any big name pitchers, but they are rumored to be in the mix for Jason Heyward.  If somehow the Halos could lock up the 26 year old outfielder, and bring back Howie Kendrick at 2nd base, I’d really like their chances in the American League, let alone the AL West.  The Angels still have some very good arms in their rotation, and they’ll also have some payroll coming off the books next year to spend big now.  The Angels are also shopping pitcher CJ Wilson, and at this point, most fans would gladly pack his bags for him and drive him to the airport.

To the NBA, where this Kobe circus is just too much.  We have to endure 60 more games of this farewell tour? Look, I love Kobe, but I echo the sentiments of Jerry West, in that it’s just too damn painful to watch him like this.  It’s like watching Batman get his ass kicked by Bain.  It’s like watching Superman get destroyed by Lex Luther.  Or Spiderman get beat down by the Green Goblin.  I totally understand the idea that he needs to say goodbye, and that he’s never cared about his critics, and is finishing his career by raging against them once again.  There may be poetic beauty in that, but there isn’t aesthetic beauty in watching him shoot 30% from the field every game.  It’s been so bad and Byron Scott’s rotation decisions have been so bizarre of late that you have to wonder if he’s doing this on purpose.  There’s still a lot better ways for this team to lose than this.  D’Angelo Russell and Jordan Clarkson pay the price the most for this circus tour, as it will only delay their growth  and development.  At least Byron Scott is giving the Lakers a great chance of landing a franchise player, in Ben Simmons.

As for the Clippers, they are just treading water with a recent win over Orlando.  They stink on the road, and now they have a 5 game trip coming up against some soft competition, so this would be a good time for them to pretend like they have it together.  You think Kobe’s 27% shooting is embarrassing? The real embarrassment is DeAndre Jordan getting a max contract and not even being able to make a free throw.

To College Football, where USC was basically one bad Saturday afternoon away from having buyers remorse about the Clay Helton hire.  Sure enough, that bad Saturday afternoon came a couple of days ago, when they lost to Stanford in the Pac 12 Championship game.  The Trojans were totally outmatched by the Cardinal, who played their typical smash mouth style of football, running the ball and controlling the clock.  USC should be able to handle business in the Holiday Bowl against a Wisconsin team that has been about as impressive President Obama’s last term in office.  However, wait until early next season when they’ll probably have to face the preseason #1 team in Alabama, which should bring out the Helton haters quickly.  Of course there’s never a dull moment in Trojans football, as Steve Sarkisian is now suing the program for wrongful termination.  This was somewhat predictable, but definitely a sign from Sark that he knows he’s never going to get another head coaching job again, so he’s trying to squeeze the University for as much money as possible.

UCLA got exactly what they deserve: A crappy bowl game in a crappy city, against an even crappier team.

The College Football Playoff selection committee had an easy job picking Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Michigan State.  Of course, if the best SEC team had 1 win, I’m sure the committee would find a way to get them in playoff regardless.  The Ohio State vs Notre Dame Fiesta Bowl is going to be fantastic, and is a great accomplishment for a Notre Dame team that has suffered so many injuries, they’ll probably lose somebody else by the time you’re done reading this.  That’s easily the best matchup outside of the playoff games.  What a dumpy Rose Bowl matchup though: Stanford vs Iowa? That’s like having to eat stale leftovers on Thanksgiving Day.  Meanwhile, this Texas player must have thought his Bae was watching….

I don’t know what got into UCLA basketball the other night.  They actually took down the #1 team in the country in Kentucky, and even more impressive was the fact that the fans acted like they had been there before and didn’t storm the court.  The Bruins actually looked like they were well coached in that one, and they even played defense.  That’s bizarre from a Steve Alford team.  As a reward, maybe Dan Guerrero will let Steve Alford fly first class, since he complains about that.  Then again, you would think he can afford it with his $2.7 million salary.  Meanwhile, John Calipari is sure to punish his players by taking away the cars and cell phones he gave them.

Finally, week 13 of the NFL was another wild one.  Aaron Rodgers will probably never stop laughing after that last second Hail Mary win against the Lions.  That final play was very symbolic of Detroit Lions football.  Tom Brady should have been throwing passes to himself on Sunday.  Suddenly, the Pats are kind of a wreck.  Brock Osweiler is now going to replace Peyton Manning in all his Papa John’s commercials, in addition to being the starting quarterback.  Remember when Jeff Fisher’s football teams used to be good? They haven’t been in a while.  The Rams stink.  The Jets and the Bucs have come out of nowhere to contend for Wild Card spots.  The Seahawks looked elite again and so do the Chiefs, while the Raiders, Chargers, and Browns look like trash.  Funny how all the teams that suck might actually be moving to SoCal next year.  Sounds about right….NFL Football back in SoCal.

November 30th, 2015

It’s damn near remarkable.  After all the drama they went through this season, USC won the Pac 12 South with a blowout win over UCLA on Saturday at the Coliseum.  The Bruins may have been beaten up, but this was simply a case of a more experienced Trojan defense that got the best of an inexperienced freshman quarterback in Josh Rosen.  Rosen had moments of brilliance throughout the season, and in the game, but in the second half he had more turnovers than Betty Crocker.  Clay Helton simplified everything: run the ball, put pressure on Rosen, and win the battle at the line of scrimmage.  That’s something the last two Trojan coaches failed to do.  The Bruins once again put together a season that makes you think they are “on the verge”, but leaves their fans disappointed.  They may have had injuries, but they had every opportunity to win the South.  A coach as good as Jim Mora should have won the Pac-12 at least once by now.  Rosen is going to get better, but will the team actually win something even more than a rivalry game against the Trojans? I’ll believe it when I see it.

As for the Trojans, leave it to many of their obnoxious fans to pretend like Saturday’s win was the re-incarnation of the Reggie Bush era.  Nevertheless, the better team won, and USC stands a decent chance of knocking off Stanford this week and advancing to the Rose Bowl.  That’s as long as they execute a similar simplified game plan they did against the Bruins.  They should also now be known as the “University of Settling For Clay” since Pat Haden has now named Clay Helton full-time head coach.  Helton has shown he has the X’s and O’s, but there is much more than that as the head football coach at SC, like recruiting and developing players.  In the long-run, the Trojans could have done better elsewhere.  My guess is that Haden probably couldn’t get the big name he wanted after looking around, so this was the sensible choice, especially if it was going to pump up the kids even further for the Pac 12 title game.  So much for the so called “Trojan insiders” that pegged USC already having an agreement with a new head coach, which many would consider a big splash.

Elsewhere around college football, we witnessed a spectacular game between Notre Dame and Stanford on Saturday, but as usual for Irish fans, it ended in devastating disappointment.  How the hell do the Irish let Stanford go 60 yards in 30 seconds to win the game? That was the worst thing to happen to Notre Dame since the movie Spotlight came out.  Look, no team in college football has been hit harder with injuries than the Irish, and to go 10-2 was a freaking miracle they should be proud of.  However, the Irish were basically 2 plays away (one at Clemson and the other at Stanford) from being the #1 team in the country.  That seems very symbolic of Notre Dame football.  That makes the playoff committee’s job pretty easy.  Clemson and Alabama are in easily if they win next week, and so is Oklahoma after dominating Oklahoma State.  Michigan State should be in as well if they handle business against Iowa.  Meanwhile, Ohio State is probably trying to schedule Michigan 5 more times to fill out their 2016 non-conference schedule.

As many of us expected, yesterday Kobe announced that he will retire at the end of the season.  Kobe made the announcement by writing a letter to the Players Tribune.  He also wrote a letter to the fans.  Both nearly made me cry.  However, he says “this season is all I have left to give.”  This season? Do you even have that??? Ok really Kobe.  It’s time to retire.  Not in April……right now.  Nobody wants to watch this Kobe Bryant.  He hasn’t had a single game this season where he has shot 50% or better.  Kobe is easily my favorite player of all-time, but it’s just too painful to watch.  I get it though…..Kobe has earned the right to say goodbye, and his letter to the fans and the Players Tribune at least dignifies this final season.  I haven’t been on the “fire Byron Scott bandwagon” like most of you, but I’m baffled by some of his comments.  He basically said that Kobe has earned the right to take whatever bad shot he wants.  That’s not exactly the best message to send to his younger players he is trying mature.  He also said that under no circumstances would he bench Kobe.  However, he also claimed that his first priority is winning and not player development.  It shouldn’t be, but whichever it is, Kobe isn’t the teams best player anymore, and his play is actually hurting the team.  On the bright side, D’Angelo Russell is steadily improving.  Coming into Sunday’s game he was averaging 13.4 points over his last 5 contests, significantly raising his field goal percentage, 3 point percentage, assists, and rebounds from his season average.

As for the Clippers, they are still hovering around .500, but they have now embarked on their annual stretch where they beat up on mediocre teams and make us think they are actually an elite team again.  Last year we thought the Clippers had upgraded their bench, and they stunk.  This year, we thought once again that they upgraded their bench and they still stink.  The bench has been so bad that the Clippers actually thought Wesley Johnson was going to be a good rotation player for them.  That guy has underachieved on bad teams his entire career, which is funny because the Clippers have been a bad team for the first month of the season.  Other than yesterday against the Raptors, Paul Pierce has been old and useless, Josh Smith has been as bad as he was in Detroit, and Lance Stephenson’s play is more offensive than Donald Trump.  When will Steve Ballmer start holding Doc Rivers accountable? Not soon enough. Congratulations to Jahlil Okafor.  After his street fight last week, he becomes the first 76er to beat someone this season.  Did you know that the 76ers are named after the average number of losses they are projected to have each season? In case you missed footage of the fight here it is…..

UCLA basketball looks exactly like they did a year ago.  A team with marginal talent, mediocre coaching, and unable to hang with decent teams.  I fully expect the Bruins to collect just enough wins in Pac 12 play to barely squeak into the tournament and keep Steve Alford employed, but watching losses against Kansas and Wake Forest were just a reminder of how far this program has fallen.  Do you realize that the Bruins are ranked 282nd in points allowed in the nation?  They are also ranked 160th in opponent field goal percentage.  If the team were some type of offensive juggernaut I’d say ok fine, but there are 99 teams putting up more points in Division I.  As far as I’m concerned, the only redeeming quality for Steve Alford is his 2016 recruiting class.  I doubt he can actually do something with it anyway.

Speaking of hoops, it looks like USC is the best basketball team in Los Angeles right now.  Most Trojan fans probably didn’t even realize it, but USC is off to a solid 5-2 start, including a win over #20 Wichita State.  Freshman Bennie Boatwright can play! USC had not beaten a Top 25 team in two years.  Andy Einfield might actually know what he’s doing.  There’s no reason why SC can’t put together some halfway decent basketball teams given that they are in basketball hot bed in downtown Los Angeles.  Nobody in their right mind would claim that USC is a basketball school, but they should be able to beat teams in the Top 25 more than every couple of years.

To the NFL, where on Thanksgiving Day, the only thing worse than the Eagles play was Big Sean’s halftime performance.  The Lions were definitely thankful for the Eagles defense.  After Tony Romo re-injured his collar bone, Cowboy fans have switched from drinking liquor to chugging gasoline.  I’m shocked Brett Favre didn’t announce another comeback during the Bears win over the Packers.  Odell Beckham had another filthy catch yesterday, but you can’t be serious….the Redskins are in 1st place in the NFC East???? The AFC South is so sorry, but the irony of it is the Colts and Texans might both make the playoffs.  Johnny Manziel should not be blamed for his actions.  If I were the Browns starting quarterback I would be driven to drink as well.  Check out Tom Brady’s text inbox after  last night’s loss to the Broncos………

Meanwhile, Miami Dolphins football can be summed up on this play….

In San Diego, Blake Bortles didn’t let a little thing like the line of scrimmage prevent him from throwing a touchdown pass….. And all this time I thought it was NBA referees that were the worst in sports…….

What a couple of amazing hockey games over the weekend in SoCal.  First the Blackhawks shocked the Ducks on Friday in Anaheim by winning 3-2 in overtime.  The Hawks trailed 2-0 with 90 seconds left and in typical Ducks fashion, they choked the lead away.  It’s only November and the Ducks are already in playoff form, coming up small in the big moment.  This team might need a trade to shake things up because the leadership and has been questionable, and the goal scoring has been few and far between.  Then on Saturday, the Kings gave the Hawks a taste of what the Ducks felt like by beating them 3-2 in overtime, after trailing 2-0 heading into the 3rd period.  That was another classic Kings vs Hawks game, and here’s to hoping the two teams meet again in the West Finals this spring. Also, if you haven’t watched 3 on 3 overtime in the NHL this season….do it.  It might be the most exciting 5 minutes in sports.

Disney just announced that ESPN has lost 7 million subscribers due to cord cutting.  No, it’s not because we have to hear Skip Bayless and Stephen A Smith scream at each other for no apparent reason.  It’s because the consumer is fed up with cable companies.  The mergers with AT&T and DirecTV, along with other potential mergers aren’t going to help.  These companies are going to have to completely overhaul their model to survive.  Live sports is the only thing preventing most people from cutting the cord, but people are getting around that and will continue to do so.

Finally, that was a very intense mid-season finale of The Walking Dead last night on AMC.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it.  All things considered, I thought we were going to lose a much more significant character than Deanna.  She did go out in a great blaze of glory screaming what was basically a war cry.  Was I the only one that wanted Tara to shoot the Wolf even if it meant Doctor Denise was going to die?  I bet if it were Carol that were holding that gun she would have taken the shot.  Carl was actually much less annoying in this episode, and was actually kind of a badass too for not ratting out Ron for nearly getting everybody killed.  His comment was pretty legendary too.  “I get it, my dad killed your dad,” said Carl. “But you need to know something: your dad was an asshole.”  Jessie’s son is a little pansy, and if he makes it out of Alexandria alive, his mother should smack him across the face for his stupidity.  Overall it was a good episode, and a solid first half of the season.  I’m looking forward to seeing where the group goes now that Alexandria is overrun, what becomes of the relationship between Carol and Morgan, and how the group might get rid of the Wolves.