April 27, 2026

The Lakers somehow have a commanding 3-1 series over the Houston Rockets, and nobody should be worried about last night’s loss. Did you really think the Lakers were going to sweep the Rockets when most of you thought they were going to be swept about a week ago? The team was gassed after an emotional OT win on Friday, especially Lebron. Honestly, closing this series out on Wednesday instead of last night might actually be a blessing in disguise, because it will give Luke Doncic and Austin Reaves more time to get healthy and be ready for round 2 against OKC. To this point, you have to give Lebron a lot of credit. What he’s doing at his age is remarkable. Plus, seeing him on the court with Bronny in the playoffs is truly an amazing father son moment, especially that alley-oop connection they had in game 3. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant is a great player, but at this point he’s a pain in the ass and his teammates hate him. He’s like the star musician that somehow gets in a fight with his own fellow band members and ruins what could have been a good show. Whether he comes back or not, the Lakers should wrap this series up on Wednesday. I expect them to come with much more urgency than they did last night.

To baseball, where the Dodgers took 2 of 3 from the Cubs over the weekend to reclaim 1st place in the NL West. Dalton Rushing no longer looks like a little leaguer carrying a bat, and has suddenly turned into an impact Major Leaguer. They almost need to find a place for him in the lineup, even when Will Smith is healthy enough to resume full time catching duties behind the plate. The same can also be said for Hyeseong Kim, who is showing his talents at the plate, and on defense. Roki Sasaki hasn’t exactly been lights out, but he’s making progress as a starter. Then there’s Justin Wrobleski, who has suddenly turned into Randy Johnson overnight. When do we start the Cy Young campaign for this guy? He’s supposed to be a 6th starter that is suddenly taking the NL by storm right now. Ironically, it’s the top of the order that has just been ok by their standards. Shohei went deep yesterday for what felt like the first time in ages, but the Dodgers are still rolling. Losing Edwin Diaz is tough, but the Dodgers have enough arms in their pen to overcome this. Heck, the won the last two World Series without a bona fide Closer last year anyway.

As for the Angels, they have quickly returned to the team we all thought they would be. They were swept by the Royals over the weekend, in a series that was capped off by them blowing a 3-run lead in the 9th inning, followed by a walk-off homer in the 10th. The Halos are now just 12-17, and losers of 7 of their last 10 games after looking respectable for a couple of weeks. However, it turns out that putting together a patchwork bullpen for pennies on the dollar isn’t working out, as opposed to signing some established relievers like Kenley Jansen. On top of that, the starting pitching is leaking oil as well, after looking somewhat dependable in the first few weeks. Someone just tell Arte Moreno to take his $5 Billion from selling the team and get lost!

In the NFL, the Rams surprised us all by taking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th pick in the draft. I know we should usually give the Rams the benefit of the doubt with the moves they make, but at face value I didn’t really like this move. They are getting a player who was a reach at #13, just so they might have a successor to Matthew Stafford whenever he retires. Yes the Rams are already Super Bowl contenders, but you can never have enough good players. Why not take another wide receiver like Makai Lemon? Or an edge rusher like Rueben Bain Jr? Or an offensive tackle like Blake Miller? Those guys would have positively impacted the Rams immediately in their attempts to win a Super Bowl right now, and beyond. In a perfect world, Simpson won’t see the field for another couple of years. It just seems like a wasted pick, but here’s to me hoping that I am wrong.

Speaking of the Rams, there is some video of some members of their staff wearing Colorado Avalanche jerseys at work. Everyone is making a big deal about this, since the Kings got swept by the Avalanche in the 1st round. More on that in a moment, but people fail to realize that because Stan Kroenke owns the Rams and the Avalanche, his employees are just supporting their boss. Heck, the staffs of those two franchises actually work very closely together, sharing information on training and nutrition, so they are simply supporting each other. Their allegiances are to their boss, not the city. I’m as big a Kings fan as they come, and a big Rams fan too, but this doesn’t bother me, and it shouldn’t bother you.

As for the Chargers, they helped their team with size, speed, and an o-line overhaul at the draft. The Bolts already ramped up their pass rush by selecting Miami’s Akheem Mesidor at No. 22, a player widely projected to be off the board by then. Doesn’t matter the division, a strong pass rush is always essential. The Chargers didn’t race to the podium to select offensive linemen — their undoing last season — but they have remade their offensive line anyway. They’re getting back Pro Bowl tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, who missed all or most of last season with leg injuries; signed center Tyler Biadasz and guard Cole Strange in free agency; and drafted Florida center Jake Slaugher in the second round, with the idea of him playing guard. So if the plan works out, the Chargers will start five linemen who weren’t even in uniform for them for the January playoff loss to New England. The club took Memphis tackle Travis Burke in the fourth round, presumably adding depth at the position because he’s not the type of player who is going to move inside to guard. Overall, a decent draft, but the question as always is if they can stay healthy, and can they contend with both Denver and KC, who are always a handful.

In College Hoops, it looks like UCLA’s projected lineup next year is Trent Perry, Jaylen Perry, Eric Daily Jr, Filip Jovic, and Xavier Booker. The Bruins got left without much in the transfer portal dance that took place just after the tournament. That teams looks extremely mid, and is probably a .500 team in the Big Ten. They are lacking a bigger body, and lost a lot of efficient scoring. At this point, Mick Cronin might be walking dead. This team isn’t 1 player away but more like 2-3. Perhaps Steve Kerr will want to be relocate to Westwood and be an advisor to Bob Myers for the next coaching search. Either way, UCLA Basketball looks like it’s going to be grim for a while.

Finally, the frustration that is the LA Kings. They were swept by the Colorado Avalanche yesterday in their 1st round series. This team has now last 5 straight 1st round series, and has not won a playoff series in 12 years. Happy trails to Anze Kopitar, who played his final career game yesterday, finishing what will be a Hall of Fame Career. However, the future does not look bright. The Kings are in no mans land. They aren’t bad enough to tank, and not nearly good enough to contend. They had built a bridge to to contention with the #1 farm system in the league 4 years ago, but that bridge collapsed when they failed to develop any of their young players into studs. Now they have a few nice players like Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke, but then a bunch of old aging guys that are not longer the stars they once were. The first thing that really needs to happen is to fire Luc Robitaille. Everyone knows this needs to happen, but unfortunately, that isn’t likely to happen right now. Robitaille is a franchise legend, and barring something unforseen, will probably continue to be enabled by Philip Anschutz and his boys from AEG. This team needs to look at themselves in the mirror and realize they need to tear down a rebuild, and that includes the front office as well. Unfortunately, they just refuse to have the honest conversation with themselves.