June 5, 2017
Remember after Thursday night when the Warriors destroyed the Cavs and you told yourself “it’s only one game”? After last night’s Warrior win, you’re probably telling yourself, “The Warriors just defended home court, it’s no big deal.” I said this was going to be a short series, and I’ve seen nothing to make me think differently. Lebron hasn’t been this upset since he found out Delonte West was sleeping with his mom. He knows the Cavs are in trouble. It doesn’t matter if Riley Curry is coaching the Warriors, or Steve Kerr. Adding Kevin Durant to this team was simply unfair. They are so good that the Cavs actually think giving up dunks and layups is a better strategy than giving up 3-pointers. Actually, the best thing about the first two games was the beef between Durant and Rihanna, as well as Jeff Van Gundy getting distracted by her on the broadcast.
Speaking of Durant, Doc Rivers suggested that there is something wrong with KD signing with the Warriors for “anybody that’s competitive.” I think what Doc really means is that it’s just tough that KD didn’t join the Clippers. Doc’s only championship came courtesy of a super team in Boston. The NBA has always had super teams like the Lakers, Celtics, and Bulls, yet nobody complained about it. The league isn’t in bad shape when there is a dynasty in place. In fact, it’s actually thrived. Great players want to win championships to cement their legacy. When they don’t win them they get crucified. Now that KD wants to win multiple titles and took less money to do so, he shouldn’t be criticized for it. If it was Doc who was coaching this super team, I’m sure he’d be telling you how great super teams are for the NBA.
There has been much discussion about Jerry West’s desire to return to the Lakers as a consultant, and finish his career where it started. West revealed last week that it’s not going to happen. Actually, West indicated this back in February, even before Magic Johnson was put in charge of basketball operations. So before you go blaming Magic for this, keep in mind that this has everything to do with a conversation that Jeanie Buss must have had with West prior to that. Given how great of a talent evaluator West is, and how important drafting is these days, I’m surprised LA couldn’t find a place for him. Speaking of evaluating talent, I don’t believe the rumors that the Lakers aren’t sold on drafting Lonzo Ball. Only by leaking that information will they be sure that he works out hard for them, and the same with other prospects coming in to work out for the team. It’s also a reminder to Lavar Ball to “Stay In Yo Lane.”
The Stanley Cup Final looked like it wasn’t going to be competitive after the Penguins routed the Predators in the first two games, but Nashville is starting to make things interesting again. However, anybody that watches this series has to be wondering: who the hell comes to a hockey game with a dead catfish in their pants, holds onto it for 2 hours, then throws it on the ice? I don’t think there’s a dry cleaners in the world that can get that fish stench out of your clothes.
Congratulations to 28-year-old Alex Faust, who was named the LA Kings new television play-by-play man. He’ll be joining long time analyst Jim Fox in the booth. It’s usually difficult to follow a legend like Bob Miller, but the Kings followed the Dodgers’ example of hiring a young and upcoming voice, when they hired Joe Davis. However, even though the Kings have both Faust and Fox in the booth, they might be “F’ed” on the ice.
For the last year I have said that the Rams need a better offensive line before I can judge whether or not Jared Goff can play. Now I’m not so sure anymore. Last week head coach Sean McVay suggested that Sean Mannion might actually give the Rams a better chance to win football games. In other words, McVay is suggesting that the trade to get Goff was a total disaster, and that the kid just can’t play. When the old coaching staff suggested this it wasn’t a big deal. However, now that McVay is suggesting it there could be a problem. If the Rams are bad this year and end up with a top pick in next year’s draft with a ton of quarterback talent, they better not pass up a QB just because they have so much money invested in Goff.
I fail to understand why the Dodgers won’t let their pitchers go more than five innings. It’s actually much worse than that now, as they’ve been pulling their starters after four innings. Do Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman provide their starters with baby bottles and burp them in between innings as well? Using your bullpen for 6 innings a night is a sure way to burn them out come October, when the success of your bullpen is critical. I know the Dodgers have some frail guys in their rotation that are injury prone, but this is no recipe for success.
Congratulations to Albert Pujols, who hit home run #600 on Saturday night at the Big A. 15 years ago, this accomplishment would have been more celebrated. However, now that we know that we had an entire era of steroid users, fair or unfair, it’s hard to know just how real Pujols’ 600 home runs are. It’s sad that we have to ask ourselves this question, but in reality, most people are. When Arte Moreno signed Pujols, which also feels like 15 years ago, he envisioned that the chase for 600 home runs would sell out the Big A on a nightly basis. That wasn’t the case, and the decision to sign Pujols make you wonder whether Arte’s decision making is being driven by winning or by business and marketing.
Maybe Tiger Woods needs to party again to get his game back? If that’s the case, then he’s just one Perkins waitress away from being great again. Maybe Donald Trump will appoint him as the head of the Department of Transportation now. Tiger made a very poor decision to get behind the wheel after excessive use of prescription drugs. There’s no reason for someone like that to not have transportation in this day and age. However, let’s not forget how much the media sucks. Last week, tons of media members jumped the gun by reporting that Tiger got a DUI for having too much to drink. It turns out that alcohol wasn’t even involved at all. I’d love to see Tiger become great again, but when his DUI is the most athletic thing he’s done in years, it’s probably not likely to happen. I guess I’ll just have to resort to having fun with him like the media…..
Finally, the drama of The Bachelorette is in full effect after last week’s episode. DeMario was clearly the story of the last episode once his ex-girlfriend showed up. That girl definitely looked unstable, but he also looked like a liar by saying “who is this?” when she showed up. I’m sure he won’t get another chance, but I can’t be critical of a guy who just broke up with his girl days before the show, while the girl he’s chasing is still dating 25 guys. If Peter didn’t have that gap in his front teeth, I don’t think Rachel would like him. That connection is too strong. My orthodontist told me my character would be just fine after fixing the gap in my front teeth. That pickup basketball game that was played was the worst display of basketball I’ve seen since the first 3 rounds of the NBA playoffs. Even Ashton Kutcher is really confused as to why Lucas is still on the show, and even more confused as to what exactly “Whaaaboooom” is. Looking forward to more drama on tonight’s episode.
