November 25, 2024

Saturday night it was like I entered a time machine and went back to every playoff series the Lakers have had against the Nuggets in the last two seasons. The Lakers had the lead, the Nuggets came storming back in the 2nd half, and blew them away. This has become more than just a suggested trend. The Nuggets are definitely a worse roster than the last two years, yet they psychologically own the Lakers. Jamaal Murray and Michael Porter Jr look like Hall of Famers against them, and Joker turns into Ivan Drago when he gets to play them as well. I’m not even convinced the matchup is bad, it’s that at this point, the Lakers don’t believe they can beat them. JJ Redick is going to have to do something about that. He’s got time, but a good start would be finding a way to get a center and a defensive wing. Perhaps D’Lo could remember how to shoot the ball as well. This also makes that loss to Orlando last week even more brutal, where AD, Lebron, or Austin just had to make a free throw or two and that game is in the bag. I’m thinking the Lakers need to petition the league to allow them put the NBA Cup signage on their floor every game, because they seem to take those way more seriously. Time to regroup Lake Show!

Something tells me the Clippers really enjoyed giving the Sixers a beating yesterday on the road. I’m sure they wish that Paul George and Joel Embiid were in the lineup as well to receive that beating, but James Harden certainly got his revenge on Philly. Paul George has barely been available this season, and the same goes for Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Philadelphia has a massive hole to pull themselves out of just to make the playoffs, while the Clippers feel like they are just playing with house money these days, staying afloat without their biggest star, Kawhi Leonard. The Clips are getting the results they hoped for to this point without Kawhi, but whether or not that is a practical for their franchise is a different discussion.

To College Football where the Trojans defeated the Bruins at The Rose Bowl on Saturday night. USC managed to rally in the 4th quarter, otherwise let’s face it…..this would be a very embarrassing loss for their fan base. I get that this was a rivalry game and anything can happen, but USC did not expect to need this win just to become bowl eligible. You can say that the Trojan defense is looking much better and has come a long way since last year, but the offense is kind of train wreck. UCLA put up a really good fight against them, but they simply lost because SC just has a little more talent that made the big plays in the 4th quarter. They’ll fix some of that over time when DeShaun Foster hits the recruiting trail. However, USC fans should not walk away from that game feeling good. The way Lincoln Riley used Jayden Maiava in that game makes you wonder why he ever bothered benching Miller Moss. He did not use the kid’s legs and not force UCLA to respect the fact that he could tuck the ball and go at any moment. Their offense looks broken, and they look like a team that may be talented, but simply lacking confidence, and a solid game plan. But hey….they are bowl eligible now.

To the NFL, where the Rams unfortunately showed us who they were last night. They are incredible mid. Not a bad team, but not a good one either. I guess, luckily for them, the NFC West is just a battle of 4 mid teams, so they still have a chance to make the playoffs if they can squeak out the division title. They did not have one answer last night for Saquon Barkley. On the other hand, Kyren Williams, for as good as he can be at times, has some absolutely awful fumbles that kill momentum, and last night was one of them. I will gladly take a playoff spot over a draft pick, but the bottom line is this Rams team unfortunately just isn’t good enough to be where we all hoped they would be.

Are you ready for the Harbaugh Bowl tonight? The Chargers host the Ravens tonight at SOFI Stadium. The Bolts are 7-3 and sitting in 5th place in the AFC, with the top wild card spot. They are in good shape to make the post season, and probably won’t finish any higher due to the Chiefs big 10-1 record. That’s ok though because they can just focus on building momentum toward the playoffs. The Ravens are just half a game behind them in the standings, and an excellent team. However, think about this. The Chargers are 7-3 in the new Jim Harbaugh era, but this is the worst roster they will have under Jim Harbaugh. You’ve gotta think it will only get much better from here, and look how great they are doing already! It’s not going to be long before we start looking aft this franchise differently.

Elsewhere around the NFL, imagine if the Giants actually had a running back like Saquon Barkley. They might actually win some games! The Dallas Cowboys actually won a football game! Except at this point nobody cares. You can probably go watch the Giants and Cowboys on Thursday for cheaper than the price of a Turkey. The Chiefs barely got by the Panthers, are the most 6-5 team that is really a 10-1 team. The Lions are still rolling and did you ever think in your lifetime you would be excited to see them play on Thanksgiving Day? The Packers dismantled the 49ers, but hey, at least Brock Purdy beat the “System QB” allegations! Who knew that Bo Nix was going to look like a franchise quarterback? The Broncos are going to be in the mix for a playoff spot as well after they took down the Raiders.

Not much news yet during the baseball off-season, but one thing to note on the Dodgers side. They did release Brett Honeywell over the weekend. Before you say something like “who cares he was terrible during the postseason”, let me remind that you don’t actually get it. The Dodgers needed Honeywell to eat innings during the postseason to protect their elite arms in the bullpen during several games in the NLDS, NLCS, and the World Series. As far as I’m concerned, the man is a hero, and played a critical role in helping the Dodgers win the World Series.

As for the Angels, they non-tendered Patrick Sandoval last week, which is surprising to me. He’s a cost controlled arm for the next two years, and they are desperate for pitching, yet they gave up on him? That’s bizarre, but what do you expect? You may recall that in 2021 the Angels had an all-pitcher draft. After the rule-5 eligible draft, there are only 2 pitchers left in the organization from that draft. They are Sam Bachman and Chase Sileth. That just goes to show you how awful the Halos have been at developing players.

November 18, 2024

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but Lebron James is still really good at basketball. In fact, he can still be the best player in the game on most nights at 40-years old. The Olympics were a reminder of that, and it’s continuing to play out that way in the first 13 games of the NBA season, with the Lakers off to a solid 9-4 start. Enjoy this man while he’s still playing, because you’ll miss him when he’s gone, and it’s a privilege to watch him play every night. Anthony Davis is also back to playing at an MVP level, which is a complete game changer for this team. If only the Lakers could get more consistency out of D’Angelo Russell, hope Gabe Vincent remembers how to play basketball, and get Max Christie to look more like he did last spring. All these problems, and a completely depleted front court, yet the Lake Show is making it work. By the way, the fact 16 NBA GM’s allowed Dalton Knecht to drop to the Lakers in this years draft is a reminder that the National Basketball Association is employing a number of people who aren’t even qualified to serve me fries at McDonald’s, let alone run a basektball team.

The Clippers snapped a 3-game losing streak Sunday with a win against the Jazz, but are at an interesting cross-roads. They play hard every night, are putting up a respectable showing, but let’s be honest. This team’s ceiling is dependent on a franchise player, who cannot be relied upon anymore to stay healthy when the team needs them most. In fact, even if Kawhi got healthy, with a running mate like James Harden, who is looking older by the game, can you really expect a whole lot from this team? If the Clippers were smart, they would try to trade James Harden by the deadline while they can get something for him. I’m sure all the LA strip clubs business would be devastated, but it’s the right thing to do for the franchise. The same goes for Ivica Zubac, who they can get quality draft capital for. Behind closed doors, I can’t help but think that the Clippers are hoping that Kawhi just decides to retire so they can get out from under his massive contract, never hear from Uncle Dennis again, and find a more reliable star to spend the majority of their cap on.

To the NFL, where the Rams got back in the win column with a big victory over the Patriots yesterday on the road. Although it was a bit of a slow start, the Rams offense was on full display with their two stud receivers, Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp, both finding the endzone. Kyren Williams also provided a balanced running attack too, and the young upstart defense continued to make big plays. Most importantly though, the offensive line looked way better than they did last week, which was a very costly loss against Miami. That is basically going to be the key to how effective they are going to be the rest of the season, even as the defense continues to get better. The only problem is that the red hot Eagles are coming to town next week, and they will be coming off extra rest after playing on Thursday night. The Rams are tied for 2nd place in the NFC West, and they are in the thick of the NFC Wild Card race, but they’ll need to do more than just beat the division opponents moving forward.

The Chargers also picked up another win last night, this time on Sunday Night Football against the Bengals. That game somehow felt like every Bengals and every Chargers game all rolled into one. Until the final minute, when we learned that these aren’t your fathers Chargers! The pulled it out in a game they would frequently lose in the past decade. The story in the first half though was the Chargers pass rush absolutely dominating the Bengals. Joe Burrow had no time to do anything, which was even more impressive without Khalil Mack. Justin Herbert was dropping dimes to his receivers, and even showed some nice mobility. The Bolts are suddenly a team to be feared, and are quietly rising up in the AFC. If Justin Herbert and the defense look like this, they could be a surprise team come playoff time. It will be the most ‘Un-Chargers” thing in the world, but so was last night. You can think Jim Harbaugh for that. I will never understand why Joe Burrow walks into these games dressed looking like a lesbian women’s basketball coach.

Elsewhere around week 11, the Chiefs lost to the Bills, and America thinks the check to the refs must have bounced since a close game finally didn’t go their way. The Jets lost to the Colts and have found a way to be even worse after firing Robert Saleh. The Seahawks beat the 49ers for the first time in 3 years, and Geno Smith was barking pretty hard at them about it. Taysom Hill had his annual blow up game, as the Saints took down the Browns. The Vikings beat the Titans but their fans are confused why they can’t win every game by 47 points. I guess all that knee cap biting is working because the Lions are now 9-1 and are the best team in the NFL. The Dolphins smashed the Raiders, but it’s the ’72 Dolphins that are doing the celebrating after the Chiefs loss keeps them as the only undefeated team in NFL history. And Bo Nix turned into John Elway, and the Broncos destroyed the Falcons.

In College Football, the Trojans got back in the win column with a win over Nebraska on Saturday at the Coliseum. Did USC finally benefit from some questionable officiating? Absolutely. Will most Trojan fans care? Absolutely not considering they have been screwed on some late calls earlier in the year. Jayden Maiava filled in for Miller Moss and not only made important plays, but also the kinds of plays Miller Moss simply wouldn’t have been able to make.  Ultimately though, it’s critical the Trojans win 1 of these last 2 games against UCLA or Notre Dame because they need to be bowl eligible to keep practicing into December. That’s the only way this team can get better, which it needs to. The offensive line is still a disaster and Nebraska really isn’t all that good, yet they were right there at the end of the game. If USC is going to turn things around, they’ll need to kill it in the transfer portal in a few weeks and at the moment, it’s hard to see that happening.

Then there’s UCLA, which lost to Washington over the weekend. But do you really care about that? What you really care about is the idea that the Bruins might actually be able to beat the Trojans next week at the Rose Bowl. A few weeks ago, this idea would be completely preposterous. However, in reality, UCLA has been improving and USC has be regressing. The Trojans may be 5 point favorites, but they have to be a little nervous facing their cross-town rival, because a loss would send Trojan fans to jump off the roof of the Sigma Chi house, and the pitch forks and tiki torches would really be out for Lincoln Riley.

To baseball, where you’re all probably wondering what’s going on with the Hot Stove. The answer? Not much because most of the big free agents on the market are Scott Boras clients. That means you shouldn’t expect many of them to sign anytime soon. With that being said, you also shouldn’t expect Roki Sasaki to sign before Mid-January, when he is posted. In case you haven’t heard, the Dodgers are the front-runners for his services, and anybody else that tries to tell you otherwise is probably the same person trying to tell you that Kamala Harris still has a chance to be the next President of the United States. What I’m really liking though is the latest Jeff Passan insight, which is that the Dodgers aren’t going to chase after Juan Soto unless his market softens, and that they plan on investing in pitching. That’s exactly what they need. Sasaki, Walker Buehler, and one of Max Fried, Blake Snell, or Corbin Burnes. Signing Juan Soto is like buying a Ferrari when you just need to fix a leak in your roof.

It’s Mid-November and the Angels have now signed a washed up middle-of-the-order bat (Jorge Soler). They’ve signed a backup infielder (Kevin Newman). A backup catcher (Travis D’Arnaud), and a back end starter (Kyle Hendricks). If we’re being honest, this is nothing but a bunch of veteran rejects that don’t cost much to fill out the roster. If this is Arte Moreno’s idea of “competing in 2025” then he isn’t going to fool anybody. If they are serious about competing, they need at minimum a front line starter, 1-2 high leverage relievers, and a reliable everyday corner infielder. It’s really hard for me to imagine Arte Moreno opening his wallet and giving Perry Minasian the green light to sign one any player of significance here. I’ll be stunned if that happens.

We learned over the weekend that Inside The NBA is going to continue to be produced by TNT, and aired on ESPN after this season. Memo to you Bozos at ESPN. If you screw up this show and stick Stephen A Smith on it, NBA Twitter is going to re-create January 6th of 2021 at the ESPN HQ.

Finally, I’m sure many of you saw the fight over the weekend between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which aired on Netflix. First of all, Netflix is clearly a total disaster when it comes to sports, as you can see by the fact their site crashed. I can’t wait until they start showing football games, where you can expect better quality viewing on Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo. As for the fight itself, it’s hard to believe that these celebrity boxing matches aren’t fixed to be quite honest. You’re telling me that Mike Tyson, even at 58-years old, couldn’t knock out Jake Paul? I saw plenty of evidence that Mike had plenty of opportunity to, but held back at certain points to ensure that the fight was going the full 8 rounds. Honestly, good for him for getting the $20 million payday. If people are willing to tune in for it, which we were, then why not? You can be sure this isn’t the last of these ridiculous fights we will be served since none of the real heavy weight boxers actually fight regularly anymore, which is just very unfortunate and our loss.

November 11th, 2024

Happy Veterans Day Everyone! The Lakers found the win column last night, but they have certainly had their ups and downs so far, and once again, Anthony Davis suffered an eye injury. I’m going to start a petition to force this man to wear goggles. How many times does he need to get smacked in the face before he takes preventative measures? As for their 6-4 record, they definitely had one completely awful loss against Detroit where they showed little effort and engagement. Despite the wins, they didn’t really show great effort in a handful of them either. With that being said, at this point they should be able to reel off a good 4 or 5 straight wins with their upcoming schedule. Given how tough the West is, this is definitely the time to bank as many wins as they can right now. If Anthony Davis stays healthy and keeps playing at this level while the Lakers do rack up wins, wining an MVP is certainly a possibility. The Lakers do really need to figure out how to get more out of their bench, and more consistency from D’Angelo Russell. Getting Jared Vanderbilt and Christian Wood back in the lineup would help immensely as well. Only problem is there is still no indication of when that might happen. It was great to see Bronny with a nice debut in the G-League. Hope his time and development there continues so we don’t have to hear all of you continue to bitch about him on the NBA roster.

You’ve gotta hand it to the Clippers. They are 6-4 after taking down the Raptors on Saturday, and finding a way to outhustle teams in every game. I had no idea that Norman Powell could do what he’s doing, and they also have some young athletic players like Derek Jones Jr, Kris Dunn, and Kevin Porter that are holding their own. I’m sure if there’s one thing the Clippers wish they had, it was Kawhi Leonard and a capable star to take them to another level. The second capable star might be just as much of a problem as the Kawhi problem. James Harden is supposed to be that, yet he’s only shooting 36% from the field and under 30% from 3. That’s the type of shooting that Philip Seymour Hoffman would be doing on the streets in the movie “Along Came Polly”. Only time will tell if the Clippers will get their biggest star healthy, and their other one back on track. I’m skeptical on both.

To the NFL where the Chargers took care of the Titans yesterday at SOFI. It was their 4th win in 5 games, and the Bolts are very much in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race. Catching the Chiefs at this point is probably out of the question but that’s ok. This is already turning into a great first season for Jim Harbaugh, and you can see the identity changes that are taking place for this team. Going into yesterday, do you realize the Chargers had not allowed a first quarter touchdown since week 1? That’s the type of tenacity and toughness that this team has needed for a long time. Of course we were all just worried about the skilled position players or lack thereof, but it turns out you can find guys like Lad McConkey and Quintin Johnston much easier than you think.

This Monday night game for the Rams against the Dolphins makes me extremely nervous. The Rams really need the win. The Dolphins have been playing much better now that Tua is back. They are extremely dangerous, and if the Rams aren’t careful, they may get caught up drinking their own Kool-Aid, and thinking they can just waltz into this game and wipe the floor with this team. That’s certainly not true. It has the makings of a very good game. Yes, the Rams defense is playing much better in the post Aaron Donald era, but they are still young and prone to mistakes. They badly need the win though if they want to keep pace in the NFC West.

Let’s go to baseball, where the hot stove is simmering and we’re hearing all kinds of rumors around the Dodgers. If you’ve been following the noise, it sounds like the Dodgers are very hot on the likes of outfielder Juan Soto, Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki, and shortstop Willy Adames. Adames makes perfect sense because the Dodgers need an upgrade at shortstop, and Sasaki is an incredible talent who would be cost controlled. However, adding Juan Soto seems like complete overkill. As great of a hitter as Soto is, for $700 million you should be getting much better defense than they will get from him. Keeping Mookie in right field would be much better, and so would Gavin Lux at 2nd base. I’d much rather take $150 million of that money for half the term and spend it on the likes of a quality pitcher like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, and bring back Walker Buehler too. You simply cannot have enough pitching. I also don’t think the prospect cost of someone like a Garrett Crochet is worth it either, and we’ve heard a lot of trade rumors there as well. In any case it will be fascinating to see how this all unfolds over the next few weeks.

Don’t forget about the Angels signing Kyle Hendricks. I’m not sure Arte Moreno has been watching baseball since 2016, because that’s the last time this guy was an elite pitcher. I’m sure the Halos will try to sell this to us as a guy who can “eat innings”, and the fact he’s cheap. He wasn’t great last year as a starter, and only cleaned things up in the 2nd half when he went to the bullpen, but best case scenario, this guy can be a mentor for some of their younger pitchers. Maybe he can even help develop some of them, since the Halos apparently have nobody in their organization that can help with that.

To College Football, where USC made a big decision during their bye week. The Trojans will start sophomore Jayden Maiava at quarterback and bench Miller Moss. This move is interesting, but it certainly isn’t one that makes you think they are going to salvage their season or even qualify for a Bowl Game. Moss has actually played very well for the most part. He has the 3rd most yards in the Big Ten and is 4th in touchdowns thrown. He’s no scrub by any means, and I don’t think the issues the Trojans have had have much to do with him. We saw some of the same issues pop up when the great Caleb Williams was still the quarterback of this team. If anything, Maiava might give the team a different dimension of having a QB that can run, but that just tells you how concerned Lincoln Riley is about the offensive line. That might give USC some marginal improvement, but by making this decision, they have essentially given Miller Moss a reason to start looking for another school next year through the transfer portal.

As for UCLA Football, it’s time to give credit where credit is due. UCLA just beat Iowa, and has now won 3 straight games. Of their 5 losses, 4 are to Oregon, Indiana, Penn State, and LSU. That is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. DeShaun Foster has in fact done a hell of a job in year 1, and he has limited talent to work with. He simply cares about his kids and cares about the program, and he’s accomplished a lot more than you thought he could. Imagine if he had a quarterback that didn’t turn the ball over? Hey Dante Moore, do you want to come back to UCLA and play? We no longer have a moron who doesn’t give a crap coaching the program.

Then there’s UCLA Basketball, which everyone was excited about until Friday night’s loss to New Mexico. It’s unfortunately going to be a climb to get back into the rankings given the Bruins upcoming schedule. We thought the offense was fixed, but there were more turnovers than Betty Crocker. We thought the defense was back, but it looks like they couldn’t guard a parked car. On the bright side, Tyler Bilodeau looks like he can play, and Trent Perry has some spirit in him. I’m not going to write this team off yet, but they certainly have a lot of work to do. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into last year.

I don’t really wanna get overly political on here, but it’s gotta be addressed. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that Donald Trump is going to be the 47th President of The United States. I don’t care what your political preference is, a few things have to be acknowledged out of this. First, neither candidate was great, and you had to compromise on one thing or another, but that’s why we have a democracy so you can vote on what is important to you. Not what’s important to anybody else, but you personally. That’s how this works, and you should not be criticized for those choices. Next, now that we know who our next President is, can we all just come together and unite, working in one direction? That’s how we will actually succeed as a nation. Lastly, at the end of the day you just can’t take things too seriously. No matter the outcome, life will go on and you will be fine, but I think we can all agree that as long as you don’t take things too seriously, the entertainment value of the memes is incredible!

November 4, 2024

The Dodgers are World Series Champions! That’s a phrase that I don’t think anybody thought we would be saying in 2024. The most baseball thing in the world is for the Dodgers to win their 8th World Series in franchise history, in a year where they were ravaged by injuries, and nobody actually thought they were gonna get out of the NLDS. Of all the years they’ve made the playoffs and even been the favorites at times, this is the year they win it. Now all those idiots that think the 2020 championship doesn’t count can shut the hell up because this championship is like winning 2, validating the first one. Suddenly, 4 World Series in 8 seasons and 2 World Series Titles in that stretch makes you realize this is arguably the best organization in baseball. I was never overly critical of Dave Roberts like most of you were for decisions he never actually made, but in any case, he deserves credit for getting the players to buy in to their roles, and the analytical decisions. Andrew Friedman, it took a while but you sold me. You are the master of building a team with a phenomenal lineup, outstanding bullpen, and pitching. You’re also way more adaptable than I gave you credit for, actually spending money on elite players, while developing some too. Thank you Walker Buehler for reminding everybody that you still have it. Mookie, remember weeks ago when people thought you couldn’t perform in the postseason? You’re now an elite postseason performer and a winner. Freddie Freeman, you are amazing doing what you did on one leg. Will Smith, you played brilliantly behind the plate no matter what you did on offense. Don’t ever questions Shohei Ohtani’s toughness either, playing with a bum shoulder. Teoscar Hernandez, you bring so much grit and passion to the Dodgers, in addition to your talent. Gavin Lux, I don’t care what anybody says, you are a solid player that can start on my team any day. Max Muncy, you made yourself into a very good defender at 3rd base when nobody said you could. Clayton Kershaw, this championship is just as much yours as it is theirs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you are the ace we thought you could be. To the entire bullpen, you were lights out! Lastly, I want to thank the Yankees for their charity, in giving away game 5. They should be given the Robert Clemente Award this year for being so giving!

With all that being said, it’s not too early to look to the baseball off-season. Even the Dodgers have decisions to make. I realize there is a lot of talk about Juan Soto, and how the Dodgers could create the Death Star lineup with him, but do you really need another $700 million outfielder? Soto is saying bring the cash, and get a reservation at Nobu to talk. Meanwhile, Teoscar Hernandez would do anything to remain a Dodger. The Dodgers need to re-sign him to a reasonable contract, and invest in more pitching. You need 10-12 pitchers to net out at 4 healthy and reliable pitchers come the postseason. Max Fried or Corbin Burnes, come on down! Bring back Walker Buehler too. The Angels have already started making off season moves too, but stupid ones. Mike Trout can’t play the outfield anymore so they acquire Jorge Soler, who also can’t play the outfield. Savvy move by Perry. What else you got up your sleeve? I hear Josh Hamilton and Stephen Strasberg are available. Arte Moreno was so mad the Dodgers won, he decided to light $13 million on fire.

To the NFL, where the Rams had a tremendous win yesterday against the Seahawks. They are now 4-4 and in second place in the NFC West. A great throw by Matt Stafford, and an even better catch by D-Rob to finish it off. That “punch” by Puka to get ejected was complete nonsense. The defense is making plays and getting better and better every week. Jared Verse might even be the defensive rookie of the year, especially since he’s going to be playing in even bigger games as the season goes on. Suddenly we went from talking about rebuilding to being buyers at the trade deadline. It’s amazing how much better you can be when you have an offensive line, and your top offensive players are healthy. They can easily beat Miami next week on Monday night at home. This division is going to come down to the final game or two to determine a winner, but that just means we’re going to see some serious prime time games before it’s over, which is great. In case you forgot, Sean McVay can coach, and he’s reminding you of that every game.

As for the Chargers, they took care of the Browns easily. Slowly this is becoming a team you don’t want to play with. Much more physical and nasty, and you can thank Jim Harbaugh for that. Justin Herbert also has the fewest interceptions in the league this season, and the Bolts are the #1 scoring defense. These are things that would have been unheard of under the previous Bolts regime. At 5-3, this team is firmly in the mix for a Wild Card spot, but there is lots more upside to come.

In the NBA, the Lakers are off to a decent 4-2 start, but there is some drama coming up. Jaxton Hayes, who was investigated for domestic abuse a few years ago, is having his case re-opened by the NBA after some TMZ footage was released. Hayes was previously sentenced to community service and counseling, and was not suspended by the league. After seeing the tape, I don’t personally see anything that could have come to light that would make the punishment any different. However, if the Lakers lose Hayes they will need more help at center immediately. That was already a weak position. Christian Koloko has yet to suit up, while Jared Vanderbilt and Christian Wood are still recovering from injuries and are weeks away from playing. The Lakers also have a serious bench problem, with Dalton Knecht their only real productive player off the pine. With that being said, the Lakers schedule is exceptionally soft for the next 5-6 games, so this is a great time to bank some wins, unlike what we’ve seen from them in the early going of the past couple of seasons.

Then there’s the Clippers, who are struggling to finish games. The Clippers are 2-4, playing hard in every game, but losing control in the 4th quarter. That’s unfortunately what happens when you’re missing your star players like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and James Harden isn’t exactly the MVP version of himself anymore. There’s also unfortunately no end in sight to when Kawhi might have a better string of health. The Clippers are being very vague, and his people are being vague with the Clips. It’s safe to say they probably don’t see eye-to-eye on it, especially when you consider the litigation going on with their former trainer.

On to College Football, where USC should be feeling rather embarrassed after this weekend. They fell to Washington on the road, and are now 4-5 on the season. I’m beginning to wonder if 6 or 7 wins is really in the cards for this group, and if they can actually reach a bowl game, which would be disappointing considering how things started. I know there’s a lot of arrows slinging at Lincoln Riley, but everyone needs a reality check. He has a $90 million buyout. The NFL isn’t going to come calling for him to be an offensive coordinator, and he doesn’t want that. You shouldn’t want that for USC either. You knew it was going to take time to adjust to The Big Ten. You ultimately need to give it time either way.

Finally., UCLA even found the win column again Nebraska! Did you really think they were going to even get 3 wins this season? I sure didn’t. But everyday, DeShaun Foster is showing you that he at least cares enough to continue keeping the job. Nebraska isn’t some team of bums either. Ethan Garbers looked solid, and the defense held up. I’d really like to see what Foster can do from a recruiting perspective, especially in this new NIL era. This program might have a little more upside than you think.