March 21, 2022
UCLA is going back to the Sweet 16 for the 2nd year in a row! Nice first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the Bruins. The opening round against Akron was a game of survival, but Saturday night against St Marys was pure Bruin basketball. Tough defense, efficient 2-point offense, and limiting the turnovers. They will need to do exactly that when they play North Carolina on Friday night in Philadelphia. The Tar Heels are suddenly playing like Michael Jordan and James Worthy still play for them, after eliminating defending champion Baylor. UCLA will also badly need Jaime Jaquez healthy enough to be effective, after he rolled his ankle again on Saturday. I have no doubt he’s tough enough to try to play, it’s just a matter of how good can he be. If he’s anywhere near what he did on Saturday in the 1st half, the Bruins are a good bet to get to the Elite 8. As I said last week, these aren’t easy games by any means, but the road to the Final Four provides better matchups for the Bruins than if they were in any of the 3 other regions.
As for the Trojans, they lost a tough one to Miami in the 1st round of the tournament. It came down to the final possession, but USC dug themselves a 13-point hole, turning it over 18 times in total. There were 11 lead changes over the final 15 minutes, but missing six free throws didn’t help the Trojan cause. Miami was just an older, more experienced team and it benefitted them, despite the Trojans having more talent. It took USC a while to get over their nerves and the fact they were actually playing in the NCAA Tournament. Their first half looked like they just finished a night of drinking at the Nine-O. That’s a sign of a young team that at times, still needs to figure it out in the big moments. Andy Enfield is a great recruiter, so I expect him to continue to follow the same blue print of young elite freshman talent. However, fundamentals and emotional maturity for moments like these is something his coaching staff needs to instill, if USC is to make more runs in the NCAA Tournament.
I really thought there was a way to just avoid talking about the Lakers entirely in this column. I can’t though because it’s the Lakers. However, we’ve reached the point where this team is putting a disgraceful effort forward every time they play. It’s embarrassing, and there is almost no professional pride. The only thing left at this point is to enjoy Lebron getting 30 or more a night for the next dozen games. Congrats to Lebron for getting to #2 on the all-time scoring list. After Saturday’s loss to the Wizards, Frank Vogel said they didn’t play well with Lebron out of the game. He should have specified which games he was talking about. When I hear Stu Lantz and James Worthy talk about this team on TV, I feel like I’m a kid who just let his parents down in dramatic fashion. Just get to the off-season already, let’s find out if heads will roll, and get rid of nearly all these players who don’t want to put the effort in every night. Or in the case of Russ, who fit like a square peg in a round hole.
Spring training is underway for the Dodgers, and they finished up a big week by signing 1st baseman Freddie Freeman! Somehow, the Dodgers lost Corey Seager and Max Scherzer this off-season, yet on paper they are going to be better. Although six years is a bit much for a guy that’s 32 years old, credit to Andrew Friedman for spending the money when the time is right, and when there is an opportunity. Look at me complimenting Andrew Friedman after all these years of me telling you he was some video game nerd that didn’t know what he was doing. He commands my respect now. I also like the fact they have about 10 starters, 5 of them are cagey veterans like Danny Duffy, Andrew Heaney, and David Price, who may be lottery tickets for success, but worst case they can eat some innings. I was disappointed that Kenley Jansen took a one year deal in Atlanta. The Dodgers still need a closer, until Blake Treinen proves to me that he can do the job. The only guy available who could fit the bill is Craig Kimbrel, who has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career, despite his big time pockets of success in Boston, and in Chicago.
As for the Angels, I’m not so sure the team is any better than last year. They managed to get Noah Sydergaard, who they hope will be healthy and elite. They did manage to beef up their bullpen too but that’s it. Much of the potential success is if Trout, Rendon, and Upton stay healthy, and are playing at an elite level alongside Shohei Ohtani. That’s a lot of “ifs” and things that need to go right to have a successful season. Plus Arte Moreno just seems like the crotchety old man now, that just won’t spend money on fixing his leaky sink. Instead he tells his wife that they are just going to end up buying an expensive Ferrari instead.
On to the NFL, where it’s been a busy week for the Rams. They signed Allen Robinson, lost Von Miller to the Bills, traded Robert Woods to the Titans, and signed Matt Stafford to an extension. Let me start with this, Allen Robinson has shown he can be a solid receiver in this league, but last year he was pretty terrible. With an excellent QB like Matt Stafford does that change? I sure hope so, but I’m a little surprised. Losing Von Miller hurts, but you can’t keep everyone. I feel terrible for Robert Woods that he tore his ACL, never got to play in the Super Bowl, and then got dumped to Tennessee. He’s a good football player, and a great guy to have in your locker. He isn’t necessary though, and as much as I’d love to have OBJ back, they have other needs. Re-upping Stafford was the right thing to do. Hopefully he’s sobered up in time from the parade to sign the new contract. This team has been in two of the past four Super Bowls. For that reason, I think both Les Snead and Sean McVay have earned the benefit of the doubt.
Elsewhere around the NFL, the off-season is just wild. DeShaun Watson committed to the Browns, which makes me wonder if he committed to them while being held up at gunpoint. That seems like the only way somebody would live in Cleveland. Then there’s Devante Adams signing with the Raiders. I’m sure after that Aaron Rodgers is looking for a clause to escape his contract, which doesn’t even have the ink dried yet. I’m looking forward to seeing Baker Mayfield traded next week for a tank of gas. This whole moment between Trevor Bauer and DeShaun Watson got really awkward as well.
You may have noticed I’ve been a little bit light on my coverage of The Bachelor this season. Why? Well ratings are sinking faster than the Lakers, and the story lines are getting tired and not believable. This time, the Bachelor, Clayton, told three women he loved them on Fantasy Suite night. He claims he even convinced himself he really was in love with them. That’s adorable…..thinking you’re in love with three women, when you’re actually in love with private jets and basically getting laid whenever you want on National TV. This dude probably believed Vladimir Putin when he said he wasn’t going to invade the Ukraine. I’m not sure where the show can go from here. They’ve gotta be running out of ideas to make things more dramatic and interesting, even while trying to go back to its roots of typical “white people drama”. I’m also even wondering if someone can still command influencer power by being a contestant in the show. It’s also totally not the same brand without Chris Harrison, no matter how hard they try.
