September 30, 2024

The tough start to the season continued for the Rams yesterday against the Bears. Feels like they really gave that one away against a team they still should have beat. They really should have been in full control of that game, even with all their injuries. They had more total yards, more 1st downs, better 3rd down efficiency, and less penalties. The difference: 2 turnovers, 1 missed FG, 1-4 in the red zone. Jared Verse should have had about 3 sacks as well. It was truly a golden opportunity to get back to .500 that they missed. This team still has a lot to clean up in the red zone and defensively if they expect turn their season around. They are 3 point underdogs next weekend at home against the Packers. If they can find a way to win, 2-3 going into the bye week to get healthier isn’t so bad.

As for the Chargers, not even Jim Harbaugh can turn their fortunes around against the Chiefs. Kansas City has now won 6 straight over the Bolts, after rallying from a 10-point deficit to win yesterday at Sofi Stadium. You could tell that Justin Herbert was extremely limited with his mobility in this game, and to make matters worse, he was without his two starting tackles. That led to him taking a couple of sacks, and about a dozen more hits. That 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 3-yard line really hurt, but I’m surprised that the Chargers didn’t try and run it in. I guess it doesn’t really matter if Mahomes is going to march his team 5-plays and 60 yards down the field for the win. The Chargers can really use the bye week to get healthy, before they travel to Denver to take on the Broncos.

Elsewhere around week 4, Baker Mayfield suddenly looks like Tom Brady with the Bucs in the win over the Eagles, except we were reminded that he isn’t Tom Brady when he commented on his more stressful approach. Jordan Love threw on a Brett Favre jersey before they game, then proceeded to honor him by throwing 3 picks in the loss to the Vikings. The Washington Commanders suddenly look like the class of the NFC East, and all they had to do was get rid of Dan Snyder. Browns fans must be ready to drown themselves in that dirty river after losing to the Raiders without Max Crosby and Davonte Adams. Aaron Rodgers probably wishes he was doing ayahuasca in a cave in the middle of nowhere instead of playing in that loss yesterday against the Broncos. Death, taxes, and Joe Flacco still throwing touchdown passes against the Steelers! The Colts took down Pittsburgh after Anthony Richardson got hurt again.

In College Football, I don’t know what it is with this USC Football team. It’s like they start games like they are coming off a bender the night before on fraternity row, then they suddenly make the second half adjustments they need to. That’s exactly what happened against Wisconsin on Saturday night at the Coliseum. They weren’t tackling, they weren’t catching, and the coaches weren’t coaching in the 1st half. Then suddenly, they were a completely different team in the 2nd half. Miller Moss is actually a really good quarterback who might not be Caleb Williams, but he has the tough identity the Trojans need to be in The Big Ten. Next week against Minnesota is probably the only “gimme” game left on the schedule, but they can still conceivably make the playoffs.

Speaking of USC, Reggie Bush is back in the news again. I’m no expert, but I get the feeling suing your alma matter probably won’t help your relationship with them, which was recently repaired. The timing of the suit is really bizarre considering how far his relationship has come with the University. I can’t imagine the athletic department is very happy after being served papers!

Then there’s UCLA, which got bombed by Oregon at the Rose Bowl over the weekend. Th Bruins really left for the Big Ten, just so they could play 8 pm games on National TV, and still get humiliated in the process. Stop asking for better start times until this team is much better. They once again could not get a single sack against the opposing quarterback. Ethan Garbers, who already isn’t a great QB, is going to be even worse when he’s hobbled, and probably shouldn’t have been in the game while banged up. At best, this team might beat Minnesota or Fresno State before their season is over, but even beating both will be tough. They better figure out the NIL recruiting quickly, because they desperately need talent.

Hope you all enjoyed the last day of stress-free Dodger baseball yesterday against the Rockies. The Boys in Blue wrapped up the regular season by sweeping the Rockies after clinching their 11th division title in 12 years earlier in the week, and clinched the best record in the Major Leagues. That sounds great and all because they get home field advantage, but it’s actually not. Since 1969, only 28% of teams with the best regular season record in baseball have gone on to win the World Series. Since the Dodgers have only 1 World Series title in their last 12 playoff appearances it makes you think they are due right? Except their road is going to be tough as hell. Beginning next weekend they will have to play either the Padres, or maybe even the Braves. We’ve seen how good San Diego is, and now they might even face Chris Sale or Max Fried with the Braves? That sounds like a recipe for disaster in a short series. Ultimately, this team is going to need to hit like crazy and the bullpen will need to be lights out. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? Probably not given what we’ve seen the last decade. It’s sure going to be stressful though.

Meanwhile, the Angels wrapped up their worst season ever after getting swept by the Rangers. 99 losses and while there were some bright spots with young players, there’s not much hope for the future. Ron Washington came out and said he basically has no real Major League talent to work with, and to make matters worse he said he doesn’t expect them to spend any money to bring in talent this off-season. Then there’s the stadium issue, where Arte Moreno doesn’t seem to want to spend on that either, but doesn’t want to spend money on relocating. The LA Times suggested that Henry Samueli could be a buyer for the Halos, especially after he is building OC Vibe, that is opening in 2026. However, that just sounds like wishful thinking, and Samueli himself threw cold water on the idea of trying to run another sports franchise.

To the NBA, where the Lakers are set to open training camp on Tuesday. People are of course freaking out because they are not doing a players mini-camp before then, but they don’t need too. Lebron and AD are coming off of the Olympics, so they need rest. The Lakers are already off to a pretty good start just judging from media day. JJ Redick says he is going to start D’Lo, Austin, Lebron, Rui, and AD. That already sounds like a more competent plan than Darvin Ham had at the beginning of last year, where he was screwing around with the lineup for the majority of the season. Also, I’d like to point out that after Karl Anthony Towns was traded to the Knicks, on paper the Wolves, Nuggets, Clippers, and Mavericks are all worse than last year. The Lakers have the continuity from the last two years that can benefit them. Don’t sleep on them!

In news that won’t surprise you, Kawhi Leonard underwent another surgery on his knee, and will be limited to just strengthening his knee in training camp. Who are we kidding? You think this guy is capable of playing an 82-game season ever again? I think the Clippers best hope is to have him rest his knee until January or even a bit later, get his conditioning up, and hope he can be ready for the playoffs. There are only so many jumps left in this man’s knees. It’s becoming more and more obvious by the day that it can act up any time and shut him down. The Clippers have to put on a good face though given that they are about to open their new arena.

I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that ESPN laid of Zach Lowe last week. This man set the standard for NBA coverage on podcasts. However, it’s not surprising he was let go because ESPN is now run by a bunch of super left wing woke buffoons. If Lowe had just let Aaron Rodgers on his podcast every Tuesday to say the government puts nanobots in people’s drinking water, he would probably still be employed there. Lowe will probably be out of a job for no more than 5 minutes!

Finally, a really rough start for the LA Kings in training camp. First they lose promising young forward Arthur Kaliyev to a fractured clavicle, then they lose Drew Doughty to a fractured ankle. Both players will probably be out until January, if not much longer. Maybe now the Kings will be forced to lean on their younger players like Brandt Clark, which they should have given opportunities to long ago. Of course Rob Blake and Jim Hiller will keep saying stupid things like they have to earn their playing time, but that’s about as meaningful as dad telling you he’s going to turn this car around if you keep misbehaving, when he’s about 5 minutes from his destination.

September 23, 2024

What a rally by the Rams yesterday against the 49ers! Nothing can be more satisfying for Rams fans to see all those snobby Bay Area Niners fans that wasted their money at SOFI to see them choke the game away. Kyren Williams really stepped up and made some huge plays, scoring three touchdowns for a Rams team that have been ravaged by injuries. In fact, considering both teams were hit hard by injuries, it was a pretty well played game. Matt Stafford is so unbelievably underrated, this game was a reminder of that, and the special teams were the difference. Now instead of being 0-3, the Rams are a much more manageable 1-2 and headed to Chicago next week. They really just have to figure out how to get to the bye week, when hopefully they will get much healthier.

As for the Chargers, they fell to the Steelers on the road, and suddenly they are looking more and more banged up. Justin Herbert came into the game with a high ankle sprain, and reinjured it, so had to come out of the game. Considering the Steelers have been playing elite defense, that’s not a great time to lose your starting quarterback. Even Jim Harbaugh might not be able to change the Bolts bad injury luck. Joey Bosa injured his hip on the first defensive play of the game, and he’s starting to look like Mike Trout in football pads. I won’t be shocked if this guys days are numbers as a Charger when the season is over. The real bummer for the Bolts is that they had a chance to go 3-0, and have to settle for 2-1 with Kansas City coming to town under less than ideal circumstances. Nevertheless, you can only keep your faith in Harbaugh.

Elsewhere around week 3, the Chiefs keep winning football games that are tighter than a Beyonce jumpsuit. The Cowboys lost again, and I haven’t seen them play that bad since last week. Apparently nobody told the Vikings they aren’t supposed to be good because they are 3-0. If Bryce Young’s confidence wasn’t at zero after being benched, then watching Andy Dalton torch the Raiders will. The Dolphins have been losing so many games and quarterbacks, they might need to ask Snowflake if he can take snaps next week. The Packers beat the Titans, but I have no idea how Jordan Love is a week away from playing. It’s like Oral Roberts healed him.

To College Football, where USC lost a tough one to Michigan on Saturday at The Big House. That game was absolutely there for the taking, but some poor play calling, and inability to stop the big plays cost the Trojans. It’s a little disappointing for USC that they couldn’t win a game against a quarterback with a wet noodle for an arm. However, they should feel good about the fact they went on the road in a tough environment, and are showing signs of having a championship level quarterback and defense. I never really thought that Miller Moss could step up the way he has, yet here he is making big time plays in big time games. It’s an adjustment period for USC. They showed they could make those adjustments in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t enough for the win this time. They will continue to get better within these conference matchups, the question is if it will be in time to make the playoff.

As for UCLA, they can actually feel pretty good about being competitive against LSU, despite the loss. This is basically all Bruin fans can hope for right now. To play hard and respectable football every week. For a hot second I thought that the Bruins might pull it off, but LSU just has too much talent for them, even if they are a bit overrated. Overall, the two things that are destroying the Bruins are a lack of a pass rush, and lack of a running game. These are probably two of the most fundamentally critical elements a football team needs to compete in the Big 10, but right now, UCLA doesn’t have the talent in those areas. At some point this season, they will need to give recruits something to feel good about other than NIL money, if they hope to turn it around.

For the love of Touchdown Jesus Marcus Freeman……..please change your quarterback. Every single Notre Dame fan is begging you to not throw this season away, and start Steve Angeli as your quarterback. Riley Leonard just isn’t cutting it. We can all see it. He can run, but he can’t throw. This idea that he might be able to throw is about as meaningful as Uncle Rico telling you he can throw a football over ‘dem mountains. The Irish are up to #16 in the AP, but it’s only a matter of time before they falter again with Leonard as their QB, looking like a very one dimensional football team.

To baseball, where it wasn’t pretty, but the Dodgers took 2 out of 3 from the Rockies over the weekend, and are clinging to a 3 game lead with 6 games left to play. Shohei Ohtani is worth every penny of that $700 million contract, and I don’t care if he ever throws another pitch. His 6-6 game with 10 RBI may be the greatest game ever. He hit a clutch homer to tie it in the 9th yesterday, before Mookie hit a walk-off. And his 50/50 season is something that nobody else has done, and if you come at me with some “Jose Lindor should be MVP because he plays defense” argument you’re a fool. With that being said, the Dodgers starting pitching is in shambles. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is back, but he’s not used to pitching every 5 days. In Japan he was pitching every 6 or 7 days, so he may not always look sharp, like in yesterdays game. Jack Flaherty can strike guys out, but he’s by no means a shutdown pitcher. After that, you gotta just hope for health and effectiveness from Walker Buehler, and perhaps Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw. If the Dodgers are forced to play in the Wild Card round with these guys on short rest, they are toast. I think they can survive a 5-game series against the Brewers or Mets, but I wouldn’t feel great going up against the D’Backs, and most definitely not the Phillies or Padres in a 7-game series where you need arms. The bottom line is if the Dodgers are going to make any noise, they need to hit every night, and their bullpen needs to be lights. Anything less than that and they are going home early.

Finally, for the Angels, if they go 3-3 in their last 6 games, they will have achieved their worst season in franchise history. That’s actually unbelievable considering how bad some of their teams have been in the past, as well as their ownership. However, it just goes to show you just how bad it has become with Arte Moreno. He may not be the worst owner in all of baseball, but he’s damn near close. I really can’t imagine that much is going to change. Is he really going to spend any money this off-season? I doubt it. His pockets aren’t deep enough to outbid the teams that actually spend on talent. However, it’s shameful that teams like the Royals and Tigers can have the player development and scouting in their franchise that can put those teams back in the playoffs multiple times, before the Halos even sniffed a postseason appearance in the last 10 years.

September 16, 2024

Very tough game and tough start for the Rams.  They got throttled by the Cardinals yesterday.  I completely understand the Rams are injury depleted, especially on the offensive line, but the  Rams run defense looked pretty awful.  We’ve been used to seeing Sean McVay coach circles around Cliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals for a few years, but yesterday was a different story.  It’s imperative the Rams figure out how to solve their offensive line  and run defense issues immediately.  Yesterday also makes the Cardinals Week 1 win against the Bills even better for them.  Things might not get much better in the next week with the 49ers looming.  Although with Brandon Staley on their coaching staff they will probably have just “concepts of a plan” against the Rams.

Meanwhile the Chargers are 2-0 after crushing the Panthers on the road.  I know the Bolts have played two crummy teams but keep this in mind.  These are easily games they have lost in the past decade, but they handled their business this time.  That’s called coaching.  They haven’t been 2-0 since 2012, so of course the coaching has been rough.  It’s also really good to see JK Dobbins continue to kill it on the ground and racking up tons of rushing yards.  I’m sure Jim Harbaugh is going to give his brother a hard time for losing to the Raiders this week, while the Bolts mopped the floor with Vegas in Week 1.  They could easily get to 3-0 against the Steelers next week before the Chiefs come to town.  Or I guess I should say the Chiefs and their referees as everyone likes to put it.

Elsewhere around Week 2 in the NFL, the Bills crushed the Dolphins, and Miami is ready to call Dan Marino to play quarterback for them after Tua went down.  Someone told the Cowboys yesterday was a playoff game, because they got smoked by the Saints like it was January.  The Bears lost to the Texans on Sunday Night Football, and Chicago ruining a great QB with a terrible offensive line is becoming a strong tradition.  The Ravens might find  a way to bench their whole coaching staff after losing to the Raiders.  The Browns beat the Jags, but they are trying to figure out a way to send DeShaun Watson to the moon after another sexual assault charge surfaced.  Credit to all the Chiefs fans for staying until the end of the game against the Bengals when they trailed by 5 points for a couple of minutes.  Hard times for that fan base!

To College Football, where UCLA got completely dismantled against  Indiana on Saturday, in their Big 10 debut.  Everyone wants to suddenly point to DeShaun Foster not being a capable coach but it’s been two games.  He’s been left a complete mess by Chip Kelly, who was like George Kostanza starting a kitchen fire and running out of the building to save himself before anyone else.  There is simply not enough talent on this roster, and it’s even more glaring now that they are in the Big 10.  They lost their highest rated recruit in school history at the most important position on the field because Kelly was a fool in how he handled him.  It’s going to be rough for a while, but that’s ok.  Stop resorting to “it’s a basketball school”.  It takes time to rebuild so give them the chance to do that.

Elsewhere around College Football, Notre Dame destroyed Purdue, but the win might just be more aggravating for Irish fans.  They really couldn’t have run the same game plan against Northern Illinois?  Riley Leonard has already been exposed as a useless passer, so long-term, it’s hard to like the outlook with him.  There were no upsets this week, but you gotta love Jesse Palmer during garbage time of the A&M win over Florida giving analysis of a fan standing with two attractive young  women.  He completely cooked the guy saying he was likely in the friend zone!

In baseball, the Dodgers had a tough weekend against the Braves.  They found the win column yesterday, but the big blow is discovering Tyler Glasnow has a sprained elbow and is probably out for the playoffs.  Now everybody is doom and gloom, and thinks the Dodgers are screwed. However, I don’t really think it’s as doom and gloom as most of you people think.  They got Yoshinobu Yamamoto back, and they still have Jack Flaherty who could play well in the postseason as a big strikeout guy.  If they hit and their bullpen does the job, they could easily make it to the World Series.  The Texas Rangers won it last year with that model.  They might need Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller to step up, and as of now, Buehler looked much better last night.    It unfortunately doesn’t look like Clayton Kershaw will be back before the regular season is over though.  By the way, Anthony Banda is an idiot for breaking his hand punching a wall.  Way to control your emotions bro.

In news that won’t surprise you, Anthony Rendon was shut down again  by the Angels last week with an oblique injury.  He claims he has been trying everything to stay healthy, and will continue to try, but you can’t fool us! He simply doesn’t care enough and it has showed.  By the time this season ends he will have played fewer than 250 games and made a total of $168 million over 5 years.  Dude still has two more seasons to go on his deal and $77 million.  The shocking thing though is how even when he has been in the lineup, his effectiveness has totally deteriorated.  .224 average??? Not a single home run?? He can’t even luck into one??   Arte may have had more luck giving his money to Bernie Madoff than Rendon.

In the NBA, the Lakers signed young promising big man Christian Koloko to a two-way contract.   Of course Laker fans are are so desperate to sign anybody, they are already hyping the guy up like he’s the 2nd coming of  Bill Russell.  Relax people.  He’s got some promise but he doesn’t have that much experience.   I can’t wait for the season to start so people can stop bitching, which will happen when they start winning games.

Finally, I would like to request 90 minutes of my life back after that stupid debate between Kamala and Trump last week.  What a bunch of buffoons we have running for President.  I might as well have been watching Stephen A Smith yell at Skip Bayless.  Hey Kamala, why don’t you answer the damn question about  whether or not people are better off today than 4 years ago, and don’t tell me you grew up middle class and mowed lawns.  Hey Trump, if we have an immigration issue, tell me that’s the issue, not that one guy is eating a dog or a cat.  We can say Kamala won the debate, but I’m not sure what exactly she won, when everybody knows she had the home field advantage.  She had the questions, only Trump was fact checked, and the moderators were debating on her behalf.  Given that she just jumped in the race a month ago, her campaign has probably gone as good as it could possibly go, but I have no idea how real her support is.  The last three elections have turned out to be super close, and I expect this one to be the same.  With that being said, I also can’t believe there was another assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Sunday.  People have truly lost their minds when it comes to politics.  Glad he’s ok once again as everyone should be no matter what your political stance is, and have some sense of human decency.  But it doesn’t change the fact this election is between two complete idiots and this country’s politics are a total embarrassment. 

September 9, 2024

That was a tough loss for the Rams yesterday against the Lions to open the season. Not so much because of the loss, but more so because of the injuries to Puca Nakua, and the offensive line. It already feels like 2022 again. They had a great chance to win however, but they lost to a team that is very much a strong contender to come out of the NFC and make it to the Super Bowl. One thing is for sure though: Cooper Kupp has now re-claimed the #1 wide receiver role with the Rams. There’s a lot of fire power around him, but he’s the guy. Also, can we stop pretending like Aaron Donald is going to come back? He’s not. Dude was sleeping on his couch yesterday, and his wife confirmed as much over Instagram. Their defense is still pretty good anyway, but they’ll be put to the test next week at Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Chargers took care of the Raiders at SOFI Stadium. They played the Raiders, so no matter who was coaching them, they should have won, but the start of the Harbaugh era is what matters here. That means a big culture change, which means having the confidence to finish games much better, and having the confidence that they can do it. That’s exactly what happened yesterday after a slow start that saw them trailing at the half, before finally taking control in the 4th quarter. It’s nice to see J.K. Dobbins have a big game, because he’s obviously been through a lot with all his knee surgeries. The schedule is very much in the Bolts favor to begin the season, so let’s see if they can take advantage of it.

So far, USC doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with their Big 10 Schedule. But that’s probably also because they haven’t played any Big 10 Teams. They dominated Utah State 48-0 over the weekend, to improve to 2-0. Miler Moss only had to play 2.5 quarters and Quinten Joyner piled up the yardage and TDs on the ground, but the story was the defense. They pitched a shutout, which for them, would be unheard of last season. It’s amazing how much better you can be just by tackling people, let alone having a completely new scheme. A top 10 ranking is very much in play after that.

Wow what a difference a week makes for Notre Dame. They went from looking like one of the best teams in the country to one of the worst with one of the worst QBs. Usually the truth is somewhere in between, but the Irish have been playing down to some of their competition for years. Brian Kelly couldn’t win the big games, but now Marcus Freeman can’t win the small ones. He’s now lost to Northern Illinois, Marshall, and Stanford at home in 3 straight years. That’s nearly a fire-able offense for a program like Notre Dame. Aside from Freeman though, Riley Leonard looks like he can’t even throw the ball, as the team has one of the worst passing offenses in the entire country. Freeman is going to need another haircut to distract everyone from this poor performance!

In baseball, the Dodgers are still sitting with the best record in the league, but are dealing with more injuries in their starting rotation. The latest is Gavin Stone, who has been great, but suddenly seems doubtful to return this season with a shoulder injury. We need to stop talking about who should be starting on the mount during the playoffs, but rather, who is going to be healthy. We don’t know yet if Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw will be healthy to pitch, and pitch effectively. That’s why its imperative they actually manufacture runs, something they have struggled to do in previous Octobers recently. Also, people need to stop with the idea that Francisco Lindor is in the MVP conversation with Shohei Ohtani. It’s idiotic. Who cares if Ohtani doesn’t play defense. He’s recovering from Tommy John Surgery, and is about to become the first player in history to have a 50/50 season. He’s also statistically better than Lindor in almost every traditional metric. If you think Lindor is your MVP, you’re just an east coast homer, and you need to put down the crack pipe.

As for the Angels, they took a lot of criticism for not honoring Shohei Ohtani when the Dodgers came to town last week. I actually don’t think this is that big of a deal, and the fans giving him a standing ovation when he came to the plate is just fine. Video tributes are bit overdone these days for players that accomplish almost nothing with teams, and then come back with the opposing team. Ohtani accomplished a lot more than that with the Halos, but honoring him isn’t some requirement. I’m also amazed that the Angels have managed to only see a slight drop in attendance with Ohtani leaving, and Trout getting hurt again. However, it just goes to show you that when you have good weather and affordable tickets, you can survive. Unfortunately, knowing this won’t give Arte Moreno any more motivation to increase the payroll.

Finally, ESPN came out with some NBA standings predictions last week. In that projection, the Lakers aren’t even shown as a play-in tournament team! Even ESPN has lost it’s mind, but then again, we probably knew that a long time ago. As long as Lebron James and Anthony Davis are healthy, and the Lakers getting reasonable coaching, the Lakers are in the mix in the Western Conference. There’s also a lot of teams who have gotten much worse than the Lakers like the Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, and Suns. It’s not even out of the question the Lakers are a top 3 team in the West. It’s called “continuity”. Heck, Jovan Buha has even lost his mind saying the Lakers have to make a trade by mid-season or it’s a failture. Again, I’ll ask the question: who do you want the Lakers to trade for? There are no franchise changing players available. So let’s stop throwing this idea out there when in reality, it makes no sense. This team is going to be better than most people think.

September 2nd, 2024

What a wild series the Dodgers have played against the D’Backs over the weekend. The Boys in Blue have a chance to win the series with a victory today, but even if they lose, they would have had the benefit of maintaining their 4 game lead over Arizona and San Diego in the NL West, with 4 more games off the clock. Smart move by Dave Roberts yesterday to just let that game crash and burn and rest his pen and his star players. This lineup is finally hitting like we dreamed they would, and even the bottom of the order has been a handful to deal with from Gavin Lux, to Miguel Rojas, and now Tommy Edman. It’s the starting pitching that we now have to worry the most about, and mainly due to their health. The latest is Clayton Kershaw, who went down with a toe injury on Friday night. This also comes on the heels of Dave Roberts not exactly assuring us that Tyler Glasnow will be available come October. It’s only September 2nd, so how about you guys stop telling me who is going to start in the postseason, because we have no idea who is going to be healthy that point?! Also, just because you see a bad start from one guy on the roster these days, doesn’t mean you just write him off. Just look at where Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler are now and how they are progressing.

As for the Angels, they took 2 out of 3 against the Mariners over the weekend, and Caden Dana became the youngest Angels pitcher to win in his debut. He’s only 20 years old and 259 days. Makes sense because the Angels have a terrible farm system, so they have to promote their young players quickly. The Halos are firmly sitting with the 4th worst record in baseball behind the White Sox, Rockies, and Marlins, none of whom are even trying to win games. It’s shameful the Angels aren’t even better than the Oakland A’s. The biggest reason for that is that the Angels “young core” have all had prolonged spells where they not only struggled, but where they were borderline the worst players in the history of baseball this season. For instance, Logan O’Hoppe cannot have a 36 wRC+ for 2 months. There are other atrocious stretches for the likes of Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, which once again makes you question their long-term development in this system. The Halos don’t have the player development to help them continuously adjust and get better as professional ball players. Just look at Reid Detmers, who is finally getting called back up to start on Tuesday. We’ll see if he actually is ready for prime time on the mound. Even if those players come around and are more consistent, you need to spend money to round out the roster and make the team competitive. You think Arte Moreno is going to do that?

To College Football, where USC got a huge win to open the season over LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas last night. Senior Running Back Woody Marks snuck in the endzone in the final moments of the 4th quarter to secure the win. That game was an unbelievable indictment on Alex Grinch and his poor defense last season, as well as a strong validation of Miller Moss at quarterback. The team has some great player makers on offense that can be explosive, and the defense is night and day compared to last year just in terms of ability tackle. What does Paul Finebaum have to say now about Lincoln Riley as a coach and about his beloved SEC? I thought every SEC team was completely untouchable? Expect USC to rise in the polls along with Miami more than any other team this week.

The Bruins also got their season underway with a game on the road against Hawaii. They got the victory 16-13 on a late field goal, but let’s be honest, it ended in near disaster had they lost. I hate to say it, but Ethan Garbers looked dreadful and so did the entire UCLA offense. His decision making was not good, and he appears to have a very limited ceiling. He’s also not being helped by the fact his offensive line cannot seem to run block at all, which forces him to make throws that are just not in his comfort zone. This team is going to need to recruit big time on both the offensive line and at linebacker. If you’re a Bruin fan, you’re going to need to temper your expectations big time this season.

Elsewhere around College Football, I was told the SEC was basically the NFL compared to the rest of college teams, yet not only did LSU lose, but so did Texas A&M to Notre Dame! Ok fine the top of the conference is great, but people need to stop pretending like the rest of it is some juggernaut because it’s not. The Irish look like a very fun team to watch this year. They still have a long way to go to prove they can beat the likes of an Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, or Texas, but they look like a playoff team.

Moments before the USC-LSU game yesterday, Direct TV took all the ESPN, ABC, and Disney networks off the air because of a contract dispute. Of course the irony is that we don’t need either of them, and this is coming from a Direct TV subscriber. It’s so easy now to stream illegally with Streameast among many others, that people can get by without satellite and cable. There is also plenty of blame to go around for both Disney and Direct TV. Direct TV is supposed to be the king of sports, yet they lost the NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube. Meanwhile, Disney has been bleeding money for a while, feeding us their left wing nonsense, and overbidding on sports properties for years, so now they expect us to shoulder the costs. Both of these companies will find out quickly they aren’t the only game in town anymore.

Who’s ready for some NFL Football? The Rams will get their season underway against the Lions next week on Sunday Night Football in Detroit. This will be one of their tougher games on the schedule, but there is a lot to feel good about with this squad, even after Aaron Donald retired. Everybody wants to talk about the passing game and how elite the wide receivers are, which is true, but the reality of it is that the Rams need to establish the run consistently with Kyren Williams. If they do, they will be even more dangerous on offense, and that should pair well with their defense that is stocked with young talent. In my mind, the Rams are one of 7 teams that can win the Super Bowl, if things break right for them.

Finally, the Chargers will get their season underway at home against the Raiders next Sunday afternoon at home. The Bolts really need to take advantage of their first three games, with matchups against Vegas, Carolina, and Pittsburgh, all of whom are not exactly expected to win a lot of games. I’m still curious who is going to catch the ball for this team and be their playmakers, but I trust Jim Harbaugh and you should too. It might not be pretty in the beginning, but eventually, you expect him to get it right.