August 26, 2024
The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 against the Rays over the weekend, and still have the best record in baseball. You would never actually believe it though with all the panic about their starting rotation. However, I’m going to take this conversation into a completely different direction than you thought: an appreciation for two Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Lux. Lux has been hitting .361/.427/.680 since the all-star break and been one of the best hitters in the NL. Every fan that wanted him send to the Moon for a player to be named later owes him an apology. He’s also been looking solid defensively too. This is what happens when it takes you time to bounce back from a major knee injury. You need to have patience. He’s not just a good hitter, but he’s actually the type of hitter the Dodgers need in their lineup. A guy that can put the ball in play, and not just rely on the home run. That could benefit them greatly come October. As for Kershaw, coming off major shoulder surgery, there have been a lot of fans who claim he’s washed and should retire, and he’s been trash for 4 seasons. However, coming into Saturday’s game, he had a 2.63 ERA in 5 starts. Even though he had a tough first inning against the Rays, he battled back and shut the Rays down for most of the next 4 innings. This man is the only pitcher after 17 years who gets criticized for giving up a single run. That’s how great of a standard he has set. He doesn’t get enough credit for not just how good he was, but how good he still is. He may not be ideal to start early in a short playoff series, but he is still a very effective starting pitcher, who has remarkably reinvented himself.
Meanwhile, the Angels have lost 11 of their last 13 games, but that’s not the big news. It’s that General Manager Perry Minasian was given a 3-year contract extension. I realize that Perry is somewhat handcuffed by having a complete buffoon of a boss in Arte Moreno, but I’m curious what made Arte say he wants to sign this man up for 3 more years? The Halos haven’t made the playoffs in a decade, they let the best player in baseball walk for nothing, and they still have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. I think Arte probably said he isn’t going to find anybody he’s willing to pay big money to, or that’s willing to work for him. He also probably thought by not renewing his contract, he would look like an unstable owner. It doesn’t matter though, because we would think that anyway.
In the NBA, Anthony Edward’s and Magic Johnson are having an interesting back and forth. Ant said that Michael Jordan was the only player that had real skill in the 90’s. Magic of course took offense to this, and responded by saying “I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship. He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.” The back and forth is amusing, but the notion that no players had any skill in the 90’s is stupid. Or even that basketball in any previous era is inferior today is even more stupid. Just because there are more players shooting 3-pointers today, that doesn’t make them more skillful than players in the previous era, especially when many of those players are shooting it at a 30%. Plus, the idea of comparing different eras is just stupid. Every era has different resources, so who is to say one player can’t succeed in a different era? I love Ant and his game as well as sense of humor, but this idea is dumber than anything that’s ever been written on Magic’s Twitter account.
College Football is about to start next week for USC, who is about to take on LSU at Allegiant Stadium. The Tigers are 4.5 point favorites going into this one. By all accounts, the Trojan defense should be improved this season, but I can’t imagine that Miller Moss is going to be anywhere near the level of Caleb Williams. You compound all that with the fact it’s going to be a much tougher Big 10 schedule, and USC will be lucky to finish this season 7-5. No Trojan fan is going to be believe me, but getting adjusted to a different conference with brutal travel to begin with isn’t going to help.
The same can be said for UCLA, which has even less talent than USC. If there’s one thing the Bruins can feel good about it’s the fact that they have a coach who cares about the program in Deshaun Foster. Despite the weird press conference he had a few weeks ago, he’s probably a more charismatic person that you expect him to be. He’s also going to do everything he can to recruit in the NIL landscape, and in the long run, could be more successful than you think. With that being said, a 6-6 season would be very fortunate for this team with their travel, schedule, and tougher conference.
Finally, all this talk about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck getting a divorce is wild. Is anybody really surprised? This is her 5th divorce. This woman marries men like middle schoolers enter relationships. As for Ben Affleck, it takes a pretty strong man to be with J-Lo, who is such a star, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. With that being said, they have both made some incredibly poor relationship choices, and at some point it’s gotta be them and not the other people they have been with.
