May 13, 2019
If you’re a Laker fan you should be livid. Jeanie Buss seems determined to not only embarrass the franchise a little more everyday, but also set women back in sports another 20 years. Her latest debacle is relying on the “front office expertise” of Phil Jackson and Kurt Rambis, and deciding to hire Frank Vogel as coach. If Jeanie is taking basketball operations advice from those two, she’s probably also using Bernie Madoff as her financial advisor. I like how Jason Kidd’s history of domestic violence does not make him a worthy head coaching hire, but a perfectly acceptable lead assistant. Nice logic Jeanie. This is only going to get worse and when the Lakers fail in free agency, Lebron is going to demand a trade. In the meantime, Lebron is probably having Nike design him some special sneakers to walk all over Vogel, who is just an average coach for what is turning into a below average franchise.
Some of you have the memory of a five year old. The Golden State Warriors lost Kevin Durant for a couple of games and you suddenly thought that made them a lottery team. Yes, Charles Barkley, I’m talking to you. Nobody seems to remember that the core of this team won 73 games three years ago, and also won an NBA Championship. Meanwhile, the Rockets are looking for a receipt on that Chris Paul purchase. Kyrie Irving is already playing like he’s on the Knicks. The Blazers celebrated yesterday’s game 7 win until they realized they have to play the Warriors. Kawhi Leonard is a beast, and I think his buzzer-beater yesterday keeps him in Toronto next season.
To baseball where the Dodgers have the best record in the National League, but not even the dudes that bought tickets to Fyre Fest wouldn’t believe they are good enough to win the World Series. Matt Kemp is available and before you shut the idea down, he’d actually be a great asset. The Dodgers still stink against left-handed pitching and Kemp can help that, especially with AJ Pollock out with an elbow injury. Kemp was not only an All-Star last year, but even when people wrote him off for his decline in the 2nd half, he was still very productive when he wasn’t playing everyday. That’s because he loves being a Dodger, and that additional productivity won’t come from him playing anywhere else. Meanwhile, Hyun-Jin Ryu is doing his best Sandy Koufax impersonation. For all the talk about Clayton Kershaw and Walker Beuhler, Ryu is easily the Dodgers’ best pitcher at the moment. If only Kenley Jansen would start impersonating himself again things would be even better.
Then there’s the Angels. Things have gotten a little better on the field for the Halos, getting healthier, swinging the bats, and winning 4 of their last 6. However, they really need the Astros to move to the Japanese league, because the Halos are 6.5 games back in the AL West. To make matters worse, the top two starters, Matt Harvey and Trevor Cahill, are both sporting ERA’s over 6. I’ve seen better pitching from Lavar Ball in business meetings. If the Angels ever want to get serious about winning again they’ll need to actually develop this part of their farm system, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen anytime soon.
It’s May. We’re past the NFL draft. We’re past the majority of free agency, but Ndamukong Suh is still unsigned. The Rams need to re-visit getting him back on the roster. It’s clear nobody is going to pay him the $14 million he made last year, and you can never have enough good defensive lineman. Suh finally got away from the dirty play we’ve seen throughout his career last season, and played very well in the playoffs. If not, sooner than later they could end up lining up against him in the NFC Championship game vs the Saints. After all, nobody can say no to those beignets.
I don’t know if I can do it guys. This may be the season of The Bachelorette I can’t stomach. Hannah Brown? I’ve stared at a pile of paint chips that were more interesting than her. Something tells me it won’t matter though. People will watch, listen to podcasts on it, complain bitterly from the start of the season to the end, then watch it again next season.
I know I’m really late to the party on this, but I finally got around to watching the “Leaving Neverland” documentary on HBO over the weekend. This was four brutal hours of television. I found myself interested, yet very queasy listening to the horrific detail of what Michael Jackson did to these men when they were young boys. I’d like to think that could not happen as easily today, with parents far more aware of child abductions, molestation, and even sex trafficking. However, even with a celebrity such as Michael Jackson, or any adult, when in the hell would it actually be appropriate for a parent to allow their child to sleep in the same bed as them? One thing is for sure. You’ll never think of Michael Jackson the same way after watching it.
Finally, a huge episode of Game of Thrones went down on HBO 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. Imagine what Daeny would have done if she still had 3 dragons? This is what happens when you can’t bang your nephew. Innocent people die. At least Varys died doing what he loved: snitching. Had you known this episode was coming a couple of seasons ago, you probably would have screamed for joy. However, Daeny’s ruthless destroying of Kings Landing left me unsatisfied, and even feeling sympathy for a lot of people. I even felt sympathy for Cersei and Jamie, and even though they died together, the death was unsatisfying since it was just a ceiling that collapsed on them. It was great we got to see the Mountain vs The Hound, but Arya’s story wasn’t very well put together. It was coming together once she killed the Night King, but after she decided to call off her revenge tour, stumbling around Kings Landing was a senseless look. It was a good episode, but I can’t help but feel they are rushing the ending. At least we didn’t see any Starbucks cups or airplanes. I’m looking forward to the ending, and think we’re in for another curve ball next week.
