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.