October 11, 2021
The Dodger offense gives us more ups and downs than riding a bunch of roller coasters and Six Flags Magic Mountain. They responded on Saturday night with a Championship level performance, blowing out the Giants 9-2, and tying the NLDS Series 1-1. This series is an absolute coin flip. Max Scherzer going in game 3 against Alex Wood feels like a huge advantage, but we said the same thing a few weeks ago when Walker Buehler was on the mound, and we thought the Dodgers were gonna take the division. It would really help if Cody Bellinger turned into at least half the player he was two years ago. He finally showed flashes of it on Saturday, but the Boys in Blue will need more from him if they expect to win this series. Prior to that, I don’t know who was worse: Bellinger or Joe West? This is a classic series that may very well go five games, and whoever wins will probably win the World Series. Buckle up Dodger fans!
To the NBA, where the Lakers are just a week away from starting the season. It’s good to see Anthony Davis healthy for now, but Russell Westbrook looks like he hasn’t touched a basketball in months. Trevor Ariza probably won’t either now that he’s out for the next 8 weeks with a foot injury. I don’t love to put a lot of stock in preseason results, but it sure would be nice if the Lakers found the win column a little more often. They sure don’t seem concerned, but maybe it’s just the fact I am still traumatized by the win-less pre-season back in 2012, when the Kobe-Nash-Gasol-Dwight Howard team didn’t live up to expectations. Speaking of Pau, he deserves a big time congratulations on a fantastic career after he announced his retirement. This guy is one of the greatest European players in NBA history, and also among the greatest big men in Laker history. He resurrected the Lakers in the 2nd half of the Kobe era, and made watching the team fun again.
To the NFL, where the Rams rebounded nicely against the Seahawks on Thursday night. They also took Russell Wilson’s finger in the process, like we were watching “The Blair Witch Project”. I’d really like to see the Rams involve Robert Woods more, as they did on Thursday night. He’s another huge weapon, but Matt Stafford ignores him sometimes like he’s some crazy ex-girlfriend. The schedule is looking great for the Rams though for the next 4 weeks. They’ve got an amazing opportunity to seize the division, so they should take every advantage of it.
Only the Browns could lose a game in which they scored 40 points and had 500+ yards, and 0 turnovers. The Chargers were the beneficiaries, improving to 4-1 on the season. Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler look like they are playing in the arena league right now with the stats the are putting up, and the Bolts are looking pretty good. The only game the Chargers have lost was to a Cowboys team that is pretty good. The Bolts look like a playoff team right now, but I’m not counting out Kansas City just yet. The Chiefs have too much talent to think they aren’t going to get their act together at some point.
Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 5, England has said that if we ever send the Jets and Falcons to play there again, they will consider it an act of terror and declare war against the United States. Mason Crosby was kicking like he was drunk, but he came through in OT to help the Packers beat the Bengals. The Chiefs lost to the Bills, and you know that always means Patrick Mahomes fiancé is complaining about the refs. The Bears beat up on the Raiders, then the Raider fans beat up on each other. The Jaguars lost to the Titans, and Urban Meyer’s wife is about to enter the transfer portal.
To the College ranks where the Trojans got embarrassed by Utah on Saturday at home. USC and penalties. Name a more iconic duo…..I’ll wait. This team is a disaster and it’s probably a good thing because it’s exposing everything they need a quality coach to fix. Also, you have to wonder about Urban Meyer, and if he’s doing everything in his power to try and get out of the job in Jacksonville. Even if that’s true though, you have to wonder even more if the administration would hire him with all the controversy he brings to the table. This is one I’m keeping an eye on.
I’m also keeping an eye on the ups and downs of the UCLA Bruins. UCLA went on the road and smoked Arizona, and I still have no idea who this team is. They stink one week, and then they can look elite in another. I’m not so sure that’s acceptable because this is about as good as it’s going to get for Chip Kelly, with so many experienced kids at his disposal. I still think his biggest problem though is at quarterback, where Dorian Thompson-Robinson is the symbol of these week-to-week ups and downs. That mediocre development is largely on Kelly though. DTR was not great over the weekend, but it didn’t matter because the Bruins ran the hell out of the ball. We’ll see which Bruins team shows up next week at Washington.
Finally, nice episode of The Walking Dead last night on AMC. Spoiler alert for those of you who haven’t seen it and want to watch it later. Pope’s death definitely took me by surprise. Even more surprising was seeing Leah do it, and then seeing her turn on Daryl. Maybe it was the fact that Daryl sliced up one of her brothers like some sashimi that turned her. I bet most of you also missed the fact that one of the Reaper’s named “Deavor”, was on both “The Bold and The Beautiful” and “All My Children.” We’re a third of the way through the final season, and it’s actually been pretty good. I’m looking forward to seeing this show come back in February. It might not be with all the characters we wanted, but they’ve done a decent job re-inventing the show.