January 3, 2022
Happy New Year everyone! The Rams started off 2022 nicely with a clutch road win against the Ravens. This game made me nervous as hell as to what bad Matthew Stafford could look like come playoff time, especially in the first half. However, Stafford made some clutch throws late in the game to both Cooper Kupp and OBJ to secure the win. I was beginning to wonder if Justin Tucker was going to break the Rams hearts with a field goal from the parking lot to win the game, but the defense came up big when it mattered. Just curious, but has the acquisition of OBJ still hurt the Rams locker room like everybody said it would? He’s been great, and so has Sean McVay in figuring out how to maximize his effectiveness in the offense. OBJ looks like he’s having a great time out there too. Getting Cam Akers back is going to be huge. Now the Rams just need to figure out how to avoid the 49ers in the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Chargers dismantled the Broncos at SOFI. The Bolts just overwhelmed the Broncos with their skill. Justin Herbert and Austin Ekeler put on a show, which they desperately needed. Now comes a massive showdown with the Raiders for the right to go to the playoffs on Sunday Night Football. Make no mistake about it: The Chargers SHOULD win this game against the Raiders. They have more talent, the Raiders are outmanned, and they have an interim head coach who is probably still trying to find the playbook. Then again, this is the Chargers we are talking about, and it’s a big game. So for all the logic that suggests they should win, I can easily see a scenario where they blow it.
Elsewhere around the NFL in week 17, the Bucs rallied to beat the Jets, but Antonio Brown quit the NFL in the middle of the game. That’s the kind of thing you do when you find out you won the lottery at work. He’ll probably be fighting Jake Paul in an Octagon in six months. Joe Burrow has suddenly turned into Peyton Manning overnight, and the Bengals took down the Chiefs. The Bills clinched a playoff spot with their win over the Falcons, and Bills Mafia is celebrating by jumping off of more tables at tailgates. The Titans dismantled the Dolphins to take over the top spot in the AFC, and Miami is probably ready to send every 1st round pick they own for the next decade to Houston for DeShaun Watson. The Eagles took down Washington, and Jalen Hurts almost got sacked right after the game, but managed to avoid that too.
To the NBA, where the Lakers climbed back to .500 last night with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. The good news is that Lebron is in beast mode and everybody got tacos last night. The bad news is that this team is struggling just to beat terrible teams, and they are so bad defensively, they can’t stop a parked car. DeAndre Jordan is completely useless and should we waived immediately. As good as Rondo was two seasons ago, his time has passed, and I’m glad that they opened a roster spot for Stanley Johnson by trading Rondo. I would have liked to see more of an investment in Darren Collison, but after he was inactive last night, it looks like they are ready to part ways with him. He was quite a player when he was last in the league, and there are still signs he can get some of that back for a team that is starving for the qualify defense he can bring. Then there’s Anthony Davis. The Lakers are going nowhere unless he gets healthy, and gets back to 2020 AD. I also think that Lebron needs to take the same approach that Kobe took with Pau 10 years ago. He got to be tough on him, Pau toughened up, and they won a title. Lebron is capable of doing the same, and desperately needs to right now.
It’s amazing how many games you can win in the NBA just by playing hard on a nightly basis. That’s exactly what the Clippers are doing without Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. The Clips found a way to beat the Nets the other night on the road without their stars, and they are clinging to the 5th seed in the West. With the Clippers playing hard, they are benefitting from many other teams that just can’t get their chemistry together, or that don’t play hard. Considering they play the T-Wolves tonight who are on a back-to-back, they have a great chance to keep the winning going.
I cannot believe that the Holiday Bowl ended up getting cancelled. Yes, I realize that COVID-19 is a problem. However, regardless of your feelings on COVID, it’s probably not going away any time soon, and we’re not going to shut everything down again because of COVID. So why couldn’t UCLA, NC State, and the Holiday Bowl figure out a way to reschedule this game? These teams have been practicing for a month. You’re telling me they couldn’t have just waited another week and stayed another week in CA to play what would likely be the last football game for many of these Seniors? It’s not like these kids have school to go back to the first week of January. As usual, the administrators that run these Universities have very little imagination and brain power.
Finally, congratulations to Alabama and Georgia for making it to the CFP National Championship Game. This game is basically going to be a Trump Rally to start 2022. Where are all the people to tell us that Cincinnati and Michigan don’t belong in the playoff and that they belong in a women’s league instead? Oh that’s right, people only do that with Notre Dame because they hate Notre Dame. Of course, leave it to those same people to pile on after the Irish lost a close one to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. All those same idiots are forgetting that the Irish played without their starting running back, starting safety, and that their head coach left three weeks ago. Still, they almost beat Mike Gundy’s best team he’s ever had at OK State. One thing you can count on: Notre Dame will continue to live rent free in the heads of many of these fools that call them “overrated”.
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