Monday Morning Coffee

November 6, 2017

Congratulations to the Houston Astros and their fans on winning the World Series.  As if Justin Verlander’s life couldn’t get any better.   As for the Dodgers, their cockiness caught up with them.  After game 6, Yasiel Puig and other Dodger players told the media that the Astros had no chance to win the series.   That cockiness extended to Dodgers’ radio host David Vassegh, who was even more cocky after game 6.   Screw Yu.  Yes, as in Yu Darvish, who couldn’t win the big games the Dodgers acquired him for.  The Astros treated Darvish like a Harvey Weinstein victim.  Carlos Correa’s girlfriend still got a ring before Clayton Kershaw.  The Dodgers also couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position when it mattered most.  LA will be in contention next year, but their chances of winning the World Series are no better than getting hot on the tables in Vegas.  That’s just baseball.  Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw won’t be great forever.  Hopefully the Dodgers don’t sabotage themselves with an overuse of analytics moving forward, which is a major reason why they lost this series.

Very quietly, the Angels made a big move by re-signing Justin Upton to a 5-year deal.  In general, giving long-term deals to outfielders over 30 hasn’t worked out well for many teams.  However,  this is a good start to the offseason for the Halos, as they need to spend lots of money to fill a lineup that has more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese.  They also need to spend because they need real quality major league players while they rebuild their crummy farm system.  If the Angels can also find a way to trade for Giancarlo Stanton, they may actually make the playoffs next year.  Of course having the Astros in their division means the Halos will be relegated to fighting for a Wild Card spot and the right to get punked early on in the postseason.

The Lakers may have won last night, but is it too soon to be concerned about Lonzo Ball?  It’s been 10 games already and he’s played well in about 2 of them.  The biggest issue is actually not his shooting, but rather his lack of aggressiveness.  I never expected him to be Ray Allen from the 3-point line, but he is capable of doing much more on the offensive end.  Screw this “let the game come to you nonsense”.  Lonzo’s best chance to contribute more offensively is with his speed and playmaking ability in transition.   The more the Lakers run and he attacks the paint, the sooner we can stop making fun of his shot and Lavar.  I hope Luke Walton plans on making this adjustment very soon, or else people will start calling Lonzo a bust.  On the bright side though, Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma are coming along just fine, as is the Laker defense.  It just so happens that the Lakers also have a better record than the Cavs too, which can’t hurt their chances with Lebron next summer either.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are like high school girls, finding a way to continue their drama when you think it’s gone.  We’re a couple of weeks into the season now and Doc Rivers is still doing damage on the team’s chemistry issues and culture last season.  His latest proclamation was that JJ Redick was practically begging the Clippers to return last summer, which Reddick denied.  Doc needs to stop talking about this nonsense and focus on basketball.  If the Clippers hope to add any free agents in the near future, any NBA player will start thinking twice about joining them knowing that Doc might be responsible for that negative culture.  Doc is definitely responsible for his team running the YMCA offense, which is nothing but Blake Griffin hero ball at the end of games.  We’ve seen much of that in the Clipps latest losing streak.

To college football, where the Trojans found the win column on Saturday against Arizona.   This one was actually much more unsettling than the final score, with Ronald Jones needing to do his best Bo Jackson impression to secure the win.  USC is a good team, but not the elite team everybody thought they were going to be.  They nearly collapsed, giving away a 21-point lead.   They’ll easily win the Pac 12 South, but the next real test they’ll have will be against Washington in the Conference Title Game.   If that game turns into another embarrassment against an elite team, they’ll be more pressure on Clay Helton.  Unfortunately for Sam Darnold, the disappointing play by the Trojans has raised more questions about his career potential in the NFL.   Darnold doesn’t care and reportedly just doesn’t want to be drafted by the Browns.  Can you blame him though? Wouldn’t you rather party with sorority girls then spend your weekends taking a beating in Cleveland.

Elsewhere around the college game, “The Ohio State University” just took “The Biggest Beatdown” of the season on Saturday.  The Big 10 is doing everything possible to not send a team to the College Football Playoff.  Baker Mayfield put up video game numbers, and Oklahoma outlasted Oklahoma State.   It feels like those two teams scored more points than 49ers and Browns have all season.    The Irish keep winning, which is weird for the fans.   Notre Dame fans feel like Cub fans before the World Series win last season, always waiting for disaster to happen.  To Brian Kelly’s credit, that disaster hasn’t struck yet.

I think its safe to say the Rams are a lot better at football this year.  The Rams and Seahawks both faced injury decimated teams yesterday.  The Rams dismantled the Giants, while Seattle lost a close one at home to the Redskins.  That’s where this team is easily the best in the division right now.  The Rams have also scored 263 points in 8 games this season.  They had just 224 points all of last season.    It just goes to show you that the NFL is more unpredictable than who Donald Trump is going to argue with next.  The best part is the Rams still have to play the Eagles and the Saints at home, which is potentially huge for home field advantage in the NFC playoffs.  Did I really just write that? Playoffs? The Rams are really that good, and they are getting even better.  Let’s just hope they get the support they deserve next Sunday the Coliseum.

Week 9 was filled with blowouts.  The Eagles ripped the Broncos, and replacing Brock Osweiler with Trevor Siemian is like using a bandaid to stop an oil leak.  Leonard Fournette was benched by the Jaguars for being a highly successful player, which is a direct violation of team rules.  The Jags still managed to destroy the Bengals.  DeShaun Watson with a torn ACL is probably better than Tom Savage.  So is a coat rack.  The Raiders beat the Dolphins, and used Amare Cooper on the “hands team” to recover an onside kick.  Cooper leads the NFL in drops.  The Raiders just trolled the Dolphins.  Ezekiel Elliot’s “on again” then “off again” suspension was back off, and the Cowboys beat the Chiefs.  Elliot and the NFL are more on and off than Rachel and Ross on “Friends”.  It was also a fantastic week for the Browns, who didn’t play, which means they didn’t actually lose.  Great potato sack race celebration by the Chiefs here…..

Finally, The Walking Dead was back on AMC last night.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it, so read no further if you plan on watching it later.  I like how Morales was around for about 15 minutes before getting killed.  It was like he got his acting job back and taken away in the same day.  He talked more in those 15 minutes than he did during the entire first season.  Can we just find out already what happened to Father Gabriel?! This is turning into that moment when we thought Glenn died after falling off the dumpster, but didn’t find out he lived for a couple of episodes.  I prefer Daryl and Morgan’s “kill now and ask questions later” strategy.  Daryl is clearly not big believer in the idea that you “don’t shoot the messenger.”  If you like spaghetti on this show, you’re going to die.  Herschel, now Eric.  After we learned that the Saviors were ordered not to kill Rick, Maggie, or the King, no way the King is going to die in the shootout we saw in the cliff hanger.  Michonne and Carl just hanging back in Alexandria like they are on vacation.  Hope the next episode moves a little faster.

 

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