October 2, 2023
The Rams had some trouble, but they took care of business yesterday against the Colts. Once the Rams add Cooper Kupp into the offense alongside Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Higbee, and Stafford. They might be a problem. Suddenly, choosing Williams over Cam Akers seems like a brilliant move as well. After last week, I was beginning to wonder if Sean McVay was capable of committing to a run game, and having a balanced attack, but yesterday he did for a bit, then abandoned it. I hope he sticks with it because the Rams have an advantage when they do, and he reduces the injury risk to an older Matt Stafford. That was a huge reason why the Colts got back in the game. Hopefully a lesson learned for McVay.
As for the Chargers, it took playing the Raiders, but they find the win column. Not even Brandon Staley could screw this one up. Well sort of. The Bolts didn’t score in the 3rd and 4th quarters against a team with a mediocre defense and a rookie quarterback. Of course the game also included Staley making weird decisions like going for it on 4th down again and calling a QB sneak, resulting in no gain at their own 34 yard line. I still think many of you though are underestimating just how much the Spanos’ love Staley, and how much they hate the idea of firing him and paying another coach. It’s hard to have any confidence this team is going anywhere this season, and they could easily be 0-4.
Elsewhere around week 4 of the NFL, if we played a drinking game where every time Taylor Swift was mentioned on Sunday Night Football and you had to take a shot, you would definitely be dead at the end of the 1st quarter. The Chiefs hung on to beat the Jets. I guess the Miami Dolphins can’t score 70 points when they play real competition, as they got dismantled by the Bills. The Jaguars dominated the Falcons in London, and England has informed the US that the next time they sent the Falcons to play in London it will be considered an act of terror and they will declare war on the United States. The Broncos rallied to beat the Bears in a game that featured two teams that were so bad, it should have been aired on Comedy Central.
To College Football, where the Trojans may be undefeated, but they aren’t nearly as good as we all thought. They took care of Colorado, but their defense is absolutely atrocious. Poor tackling, poor scheming, bad play calling, and just downright poor defensive coaching. This team is completely dependent on Caleb Williams having some ridiculous video game stats in a game, and putting up 50 points in a game. At this point, that makes them no better than the 3rd best team in the PAC-12 right now behind Oregon and Washington. Caleb Williams is making a strong case to be a repeat Heisman Trophy winner, which is one thing Trojan fans can feel good about. However, every game from here on out, everyone is going to be asking Lincoln Riley if he is going to be “tarmac-ing” his defensive coordinator, Alex Grinch.
Elsewhere around College Football, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame had a very gutty win against surprising Duke. I think most Notre Dame fans thought their team was dead in the final minute, before Sam Hartman scrambled for his life for that 1st down. Ole Miss took down LSU and their fans rushed the field. Even Abercrombie & Fitch thinks that’s way too many khaki shorts and polos in one place. Georgia woke up from a nap late in the game to survive their game against Auburn. Florida will also get bounced from the Top 25 after losing to Kentucky, and especially after not being able to stop this play with 13 men on the field.
To baseball, where the Dodgers wrapped up the regular season yesterday against the Giants, and are ready for the NLDS. Look, I don’t like the Dodgers chances in this years playoffs. I simply don’t believe in their pitching. Clayton Kershaw looked great Saturday, but he’s a vulnerable health risk at this stage, and everyone else behind him has no playoff experience. With that being said, the best thing the Boys in Blue have going for them is that Miami, Philadelphia, and the Braves are on the other side of the playoff bracket for them. If you had to choose, Milwaukee or Arizona are far more appealing opponents in a short series. Of course, it would be the most baseball thing ever if this was the year the Dodgers actually won the World Series in a year in which we thought they had no chance.
As for the Angels, their season ended and possibly the Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani era. Sure enough, the Athletic did another piece on how the Halos haven’t had a winning season for the six years they’ve had arguably the two best players in baseball. It was very predictable though, reiterating everything we’ve known. Arte Moreno does not spend money on player development and scouting, among many other non-payroll areas, which is killing his franchise. Also, just to remind you how soft people are these days, a kid came to the game over the weekend with a sign that said “sell the team”. Security asked him to take down the sign. I did not realize that going to Angels games was basically the equivalent of entering a communist regime.
We’re just a few days away from NBA training camps opening up. Perhaps the dumbest “I have no idea what I’m talking about” rumor that was out there was that the Lakers were considering trading for Dame Lillard. This was stupid, because the Lakers do not have anybody under contract they can trade until December 15th, other than Lebron, who we know would not be in that trade. I’m actually astonished at the 3-team deal between the Suns, Bucks, and Blazers, which ultimately sent Dame to Milwaukee. It’s possible that all 3 teams are worse than before the trade. The Suns got a bunch of guys that are unplayable for their starting center. The Bucks were already contenders without Dame and are worse defensively, and the Blazers aren’t good enough to make the playoffs or bad enough to tank now. If you’re a Laker fan, no need to be terribly concerned.
Then there’s the Clippers. I can’t believe they arrested the guy who murdered Tupac before they won an NBA Championship. The Clips also have to be a little bummed that they were unable to get in on the Jrue Holiday sweepstakes, in all the Dame madness. Holiday is an all-star, and an excellent two-way player. He actually even shot better than Dame from 3 last season. He’s the type of playmaking point guard that the Clippers need, but they didn’t have the assets to get him, as Holiday ended up with the Celtics. It’s also interesting they added Josh Primo, who is super talented, but has had issues with women, and in this era, that can be a problem. Something tells me if this weren’t the Clippers, more people would be talking about it. It’s disappointing but nevertheless, the Clippers fate will always be dependent on the availability of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
