November 11th, 2024

Happy Veterans Day Everyone! The Lakers found the win column last night, but they have certainly had their ups and downs so far, and once again, Anthony Davis suffered an eye injury. I’m going to start a petition to force this man to wear goggles. How many times does he need to get smacked in the face before he takes preventative measures? As for their 6-4 record, they definitely had one completely awful loss against Detroit where they showed little effort and engagement. Despite the wins, they didn’t really show great effort in a handful of them either. With that being said, at this point they should be able to reel off a good 4 or 5 straight wins with their upcoming schedule. Given how tough the West is, this is definitely the time to bank as many wins as they can right now. If Anthony Davis stays healthy and keeps playing at this level while the Lakers do rack up wins, wining an MVP is certainly a possibility. The Lakers do really need to figure out how to get more out of their bench, and more consistency from D’Angelo Russell. Getting Jared Vanderbilt and Christian Wood back in the lineup would help immensely as well. Only problem is there is still no indication of when that might happen. It was great to see Bronny with a nice debut in the G-League. Hope his time and development there continues so we don’t have to hear all of you continue to bitch about him on the NBA roster.

You’ve gotta hand it to the Clippers. They are 6-4 after taking down the Raptors on Saturday, and finding a way to outhustle teams in every game. I had no idea that Norman Powell could do what he’s doing, and they also have some young athletic players like Derek Jones Jr, Kris Dunn, and Kevin Porter that are holding their own. I’m sure if there’s one thing the Clippers wish they had, it was Kawhi Leonard and a capable star to take them to another level. The second capable star might be just as much of a problem as the Kawhi problem. James Harden is supposed to be that, yet he’s only shooting 36% from the field and under 30% from 3. That’s the type of shooting that Philip Seymour Hoffman would be doing on the streets in the movie “Along Came Polly”. Only time will tell if the Clippers will get their biggest star healthy, and their other one back on track. I’m skeptical on both.

To the NFL where the Chargers took care of the Titans yesterday at SOFI. It was their 4th win in 5 games, and the Bolts are very much in the thick of the AFC Wild Card race. Catching the Chiefs at this point is probably out of the question but that’s ok. This is already turning into a great first season for Jim Harbaugh, and you can see the identity changes that are taking place for this team. Going into yesterday, do you realize the Chargers had not allowed a first quarter touchdown since week 1? That’s the type of tenacity and toughness that this team has needed for a long time. Of course we were all just worried about the skilled position players or lack thereof, but it turns out you can find guys like Lad McConkey and Quintin Johnston much easier than you think.

This Monday night game for the Rams against the Dolphins makes me extremely nervous. The Rams really need the win. The Dolphins have been playing much better now that Tua is back. They are extremely dangerous, and if the Rams aren’t careful, they may get caught up drinking their own Kool-Aid, and thinking they can just waltz into this game and wipe the floor with this team. That’s certainly not true. It has the makings of a very good game. Yes, the Rams defense is playing much better in the post Aaron Donald era, but they are still young and prone to mistakes. They badly need the win though if they want to keep pace in the NFC West.

Let’s go to baseball, where the hot stove is simmering and we’re hearing all kinds of rumors around the Dodgers. If you’ve been following the noise, it sounds like the Dodgers are very hot on the likes of outfielder Juan Soto, Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki, and shortstop Willy Adames. Adames makes perfect sense because the Dodgers need an upgrade at shortstop, and Sasaki is an incredible talent who would be cost controlled. However, adding Juan Soto seems like complete overkill. As great of a hitter as Soto is, for $700 million you should be getting much better defense than they will get from him. Keeping Mookie in right field would be much better, and so would Gavin Lux at 2nd base. I’d much rather take $150 million of that money for half the term and spend it on the likes of a quality pitcher like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, and bring back Walker Buehler too. You simply cannot have enough pitching. I also don’t think the prospect cost of someone like a Garrett Crochet is worth it either, and we’ve heard a lot of trade rumors there as well. In any case it will be fascinating to see how this all unfolds over the next few weeks.

Don’t forget about the Angels signing Kyle Hendricks. I’m not sure Arte Moreno has been watching baseball since 2016, because that’s the last time this guy was an elite pitcher. I’m sure the Halos will try to sell this to us as a guy who can “eat innings”, and the fact he’s cheap. He wasn’t great last year as a starter, and only cleaned things up in the 2nd half when he went to the bullpen, but best case scenario, this guy can be a mentor for some of their younger pitchers. Maybe he can even help develop some of them, since the Halos apparently have nobody in their organization that can help with that.

To College Football, where USC made a big decision during their bye week. The Trojans will start sophomore Jayden Maiava at quarterback and bench Miller Moss. This move is interesting, but it certainly isn’t one that makes you think they are going to salvage their season or even qualify for a Bowl Game. Moss has actually played very well for the most part. He has the 3rd most yards in the Big Ten and is 4th in touchdowns thrown. He’s no scrub by any means, and I don’t think the issues the Trojans have had have much to do with him. We saw some of the same issues pop up when the great Caleb Williams was still the quarterback of this team. If anything, Maiava might give the team a different dimension of having a QB that can run, but that just tells you how concerned Lincoln Riley is about the offensive line. That might give USC some marginal improvement, but by making this decision, they have essentially given Miller Moss a reason to start looking for another school next year through the transfer portal.

As for UCLA Football, it’s time to give credit where credit is due. UCLA just beat Iowa, and has now won 3 straight games. Of their 5 losses, 4 are to Oregon, Indiana, Penn State, and LSU. That is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. DeShaun Foster has in fact done a hell of a job in year 1, and he has limited talent to work with. He simply cares about his kids and cares about the program, and he’s accomplished a lot more than you thought he could. Imagine if he had a quarterback that didn’t turn the ball over? Hey Dante Moore, do you want to come back to UCLA and play? We no longer have a moron who doesn’t give a crap coaching the program.

Then there’s UCLA Basketball, which everyone was excited about until Friday night’s loss to New Mexico. It’s unfortunately going to be a climb to get back into the rankings given the Bruins upcoming schedule. We thought the offense was fixed, but there were more turnovers than Betty Crocker. We thought the defense was back, but it looks like they couldn’t guard a parked car. On the bright side, Tyler Bilodeau looks like he can play, and Trent Perry has some spirit in him. I’m not going to write this team off yet, but they certainly have a lot of work to do. Hopefully this doesn’t turn into last year.

I don’t really wanna get overly political on here, but it’s gotta be addressed. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know by now that Donald Trump is going to be the 47th President of The United States. I don’t care what your political preference is, a few things have to be acknowledged out of this. First, neither candidate was great, and you had to compromise on one thing or another, but that’s why we have a democracy so you can vote on what is important to you. Not what’s important to anybody else, but you personally. That’s how this works, and you should not be criticized for those choices. Next, now that we know who our next President is, can we all just come together and unite, working in one direction? That’s how we will actually succeed as a nation. Lastly, at the end of the day you just can’t take things too seriously. No matter the outcome, life will go on and you will be fine, but I think we can all agree that as long as you don’t take things too seriously, the entertainment value of the memes is incredible!

November 4, 2024

The Dodgers are World Series Champions! That’s a phrase that I don’t think anybody thought we would be saying in 2024. The most baseball thing in the world is for the Dodgers to win their 8th World Series in franchise history, in a year where they were ravaged by injuries, and nobody actually thought they were gonna get out of the NLDS. Of all the years they’ve made the playoffs and even been the favorites at times, this is the year they win it. Now all those idiots that think the 2020 championship doesn’t count can shut the hell up because this championship is like winning 2, validating the first one. Suddenly, 4 World Series in 8 seasons and 2 World Series Titles in that stretch makes you realize this is arguably the best organization in baseball. I was never overly critical of Dave Roberts like most of you were for decisions he never actually made, but in any case, he deserves credit for getting the players to buy in to their roles, and the analytical decisions. Andrew Friedman, it took a while but you sold me. You are the master of building a team with a phenomenal lineup, outstanding bullpen, and pitching. You’re also way more adaptable than I gave you credit for, actually spending money on elite players, while developing some too. Thank you Walker Buehler for reminding everybody that you still have it. Mookie, remember weeks ago when people thought you couldn’t perform in the postseason? You’re now an elite postseason performer and a winner. Freddie Freeman, you are amazing doing what you did on one leg. Will Smith, you played brilliantly behind the plate no matter what you did on offense. Don’t ever questions Shohei Ohtani’s toughness either, playing with a bum shoulder. Teoscar Hernandez, you bring so much grit and passion to the Dodgers, in addition to your talent. Gavin Lux, I don’t care what anybody says, you are a solid player that can start on my team any day. Max Muncy, you made yourself into a very good defender at 3rd base when nobody said you could. Clayton Kershaw, this championship is just as much yours as it is theirs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, you are the ace we thought you could be. To the entire bullpen, you were lights out! Lastly, I want to thank the Yankees for their charity, in giving away game 5. They should be given the Robert Clemente Award this year for being so giving!

With all that being said, it’s not too early to look to the baseball off-season. Even the Dodgers have decisions to make. I realize there is a lot of talk about Juan Soto, and how the Dodgers could create the Death Star lineup with him, but do you really need another $700 million outfielder? Soto is saying bring the cash, and get a reservation at Nobu to talk. Meanwhile, Teoscar Hernandez would do anything to remain a Dodger. The Dodgers need to re-sign him to a reasonable contract, and invest in more pitching. You need 10-12 pitchers to net out at 4 healthy and reliable pitchers come the postseason. Max Fried or Corbin Burnes, come on down! Bring back Walker Buehler too. The Angels have already started making off season moves too, but stupid ones. Mike Trout can’t play the outfield anymore so they acquire Jorge Soler, who also can’t play the outfield. Savvy move by Perry. What else you got up your sleeve? I hear Josh Hamilton and Stephen Strasberg are available. Arte Moreno was so mad the Dodgers won, he decided to light $13 million on fire.

To the NFL, where the Rams had a tremendous win yesterday against the Seahawks. They are now 4-4 and in second place in the NFC West. A great throw by Matt Stafford, and an even better catch by D-Rob to finish it off. That “punch” by Puka to get ejected was complete nonsense. The defense is making plays and getting better and better every week. Jared Verse might even be the defensive rookie of the year, especially since he’s going to be playing in even bigger games as the season goes on. Suddenly we went from talking about rebuilding to being buyers at the trade deadline. It’s amazing how much better you can be when you have an offensive line, and your top offensive players are healthy. They can easily beat Miami next week on Monday night at home. This division is going to come down to the final game or two to determine a winner, but that just means we’re going to see some serious prime time games before it’s over, which is great. In case you forgot, Sean McVay can coach, and he’s reminding you of that every game.

As for the Chargers, they took care of the Browns easily. Slowly this is becoming a team you don’t want to play with. Much more physical and nasty, and you can thank Jim Harbaugh for that. Justin Herbert also has the fewest interceptions in the league this season, and the Bolts are the #1 scoring defense. These are things that would have been unheard of under the previous Bolts regime. At 5-3, this team is firmly in the mix for a Wild Card spot, but there is lots more upside to come.

In the NBA, the Lakers are off to a decent 4-2 start, but there is some drama coming up. Jaxton Hayes, who was investigated for domestic abuse a few years ago, is having his case re-opened by the NBA after some TMZ footage was released. Hayes was previously sentenced to community service and counseling, and was not suspended by the league. After seeing the tape, I don’t personally see anything that could have come to light that would make the punishment any different. However, if the Lakers lose Hayes they will need more help at center immediately. That was already a weak position. Christian Koloko has yet to suit up, while Jared Vanderbilt and Christian Wood are still recovering from injuries and are weeks away from playing. The Lakers also have a serious bench problem, with Dalton Knecht their only real productive player off the pine. With that being said, the Lakers schedule is exceptionally soft for the next 5-6 games, so this is a great time to bank some wins, unlike what we’ve seen from them in the early going of the past couple of seasons.

Then there’s the Clippers, who are struggling to finish games. The Clippers are 2-4, playing hard in every game, but losing control in the 4th quarter. That’s unfortunately what happens when you’re missing your star players like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, and James Harden isn’t exactly the MVP version of himself anymore. There’s also unfortunately no end in sight to when Kawhi might have a better string of health. The Clippers are being very vague, and his people are being vague with the Clips. It’s safe to say they probably don’t see eye-to-eye on it, especially when you consider the litigation going on with their former trainer.

On to College Football, where USC should be feeling rather embarrassed after this weekend. They fell to Washington on the road, and are now 4-5 on the season. I’m beginning to wonder if 6 or 7 wins is really in the cards for this group, and if they can actually reach a bowl game, which would be disappointing considering how things started. I know there’s a lot of arrows slinging at Lincoln Riley, but everyone needs a reality check. He has a $90 million buyout. The NFL isn’t going to come calling for him to be an offensive coordinator, and he doesn’t want that. You shouldn’t want that for USC either. You knew it was going to take time to adjust to The Big Ten. You ultimately need to give it time either way.

Finally., UCLA even found the win column again Nebraska! Did you really think they were going to even get 3 wins this season? I sure didn’t. But everyday, DeShaun Foster is showing you that he at least cares enough to continue keeping the job. Nebraska isn’t some team of bums either. Ethan Garbers looked solid, and the defense held up. I’d really like to see what Foster can do from a recruiting perspective, especially in this new NIL era. This program might have a little more upside than you think.

October 28th, 2024

The Dodgers are just two wins away from winning the World Series! Coming into this series, you would have thought it was the Yankees that had the advantage in starting pitching. Instead, it’s been the Dodger starters that have dominated. Jack Flaherty was every bit as good as Gerrit Cole in game 1, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto was every bit the ace we thought he could be in game 2. The bullpen continues to be phenomenal, and the offense continues to hit. It’s not all about swinging for the fences either, as their at-bats have been smart and strategic, which have enabled the long ball to be a byproduct. Don’t the Yankees know? Never pitch to a Dodger player who can barely walk in a World Series walk off-situation. Freddie Freeman was Kirk Gibson all over again, except Freeman was able to play the entire game. It appears as though the Boys in Blue dodged a bullet with Shohei Ohtani’s shoulder injury. It sounds like he will be in the lineup in game 3, despite a scary incident trying to steal 2nd base in game 2. The Dodgers will need to have at least 2 games in this series that will need to be bullpen games, which is likely to be games 4 and 5. That would give them an opportunity to use Buehler, Flaherty, and Yamamoto in games 6 and 7 at home. As we learned in the Mets and Padres series, those bullpen games aren’t necessarily a huge disadvantage for a Dodger team with an elite bullpen. The Dodgers are looking good, but as Kobe has told us, the job is not finished.

Speaking of Kobe, that brings us to the Lakers, who are off to a 3-0 start.
They’ve also beaten 3 opponents that are playoff caliber. That’s their best start in 14 years! For a team with two championships in that stretch, that’s pretty surprising. Of course it helps that Anthony Davis is looking like a dominant two-way force, and Lebron James continues to amaze us in year 22 of his illustrious career. However, more than anything, JJ Redick is doing exactly what I told you he needed to do. He is playing sensible lineups that include his best players. He also knows the proper way to use his timeouts. Again, nobody is asking him to be Phil Jackson or Pat Riley, just don’t be a complete buffoon like your predecessor. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that the Lakers are definitive championship contenders, but I can tell you that there is a world where they are much improved from the last two years, and you’re getting a peek into what that looks like.

As for the Clippers, they began play in the Intuit Dome last week, which is a pretty cool arena. “The Wall”, which is a 4,500-seat section exclusive to Clippers fans, located behind one of the baskets, and half of which is standing room only. It’s a pretty cool idea by Steve Ballmer, and has even caught the attention of players around the league who are complimenting the concept. That’s the most exciting news for the franchise, because it’s been a mixed bag on the court to start. The win over Denver was nice, and Norman Powell had a nice night. However, the Kawhi Leonard injury saga is putting a cloud over the franchise. The latest drama is former Clippers trainer Randy Shelton suing the franchise for wrongful termination, and within the lawsuit alleges unsafe treatment of the franchise’s star player. Shelton claimed that Kawhi’s torn ACL he suffered in 2021 required two years to heal from, which was a timeline the Clippers were unwilling to accept. This sounds all too familiar, because the same thing happened in San Antonio. Kawhi needed time to recover from his knee injury on a timeline the Spurs were unwilling to accept. It’s even worse for the Clippers, who are paying him more than $50 million a year, so of course 2 years for a knee injury is unacceptable. It’s become more and more apparent the idea of Kawhi as a full-time NBA player is nothing more than wishful thinking at this point, and I think in a perfect world, the Clippers would love to divorce themselves of this problem and move on from it.

To the NFL, where the Rams took down the Vikings on Thursday night at SOFI Stadium. That was a huge win, mostly because it should make the Rams evaluate themselves completely differently than they were in the days leading up to that game. The Rams are a game out of 1st place in the NFC West, and there is really nobody in the NFC that truly scares you. They also have a lot of very winnable games coming up on their schedule, and they are going to get healthier on the offensive line. There’s no reason to think the Rams can’t go on a run, given what we’ve seen from them in the past. As for the idea of trading Cooper Kupp, or even Matthew Stafford, I can understand the rationale. You can get great receivers in the draft for cheap given the new rules, and Kupp’s availability has been in question. However, Matthew Stafford is 36 years old, and the time to win with him is now. Trading Kupp is counter productive to that idea. I do love Sean McVay’s reaction to the question about the trade rumors though. He had a great answer, but didn’t actually say anything. Sure teams are calling the Rams, but you didn’t say what the Rams are saying on the other end. That’s why I love Sean McVay. Still, the team isn’t that far away, and should look to get healthier and win before they look to blow it up and rebuild

As for the Chargers, they found the win column against the Saints to get back over .500. What a dirty play by that Saints lineman, nearly taking off Justin Herbert’s leg. That game had a lot of PTSD like moments for the Bolts and their fans, like wide receiver drops and missed extra points with shoddy kicking. However, the Chargers still managed to pull it out. I can’t help but think the Chargers would be so much better served trying to acquire a quality wide receiver like Amari Cooper or DeAndre Hopkins, and I can’t imagine the cost would have been that high. Justin Herbert is dying out here throwing to all these Door Dash Drivers every week. Still, with games coming up against the Browns and Titans, there’s some opportunity to make up ground in the standings.

Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 8, Jameis Winston and the Browns shocked the Ravens. Winston is going to be telling stories with Uncle Rico about how far he can throw a football over dem mountains after that one. The Bills dismantled in the Seahawks in a game where Josh Allen was inventing new ways to get 1st downs by kicking the ball on the ground to his teammates. It took National Tight Ends Day and the Raiders for Travis Kelce to have a really good game, as the Chiefs topped the Raiders in Vegas. The Eagles blew out the Bengals, and at some point with Joe Burrow and his hair, you knew it was gonna go from Eminem to Lance Bass. The Cardinals got by the Dolphins, but Tua slid instead of went head first on a play, and everybody was ready to celebrate with a parade. The Texans beat the Colts, yet they are by far the most stressful 6-2 team for any fan base to deal with. The Packers also took down the Jaguars, but their fans will be lighting candles and sacrificing small animals in hopes that Jordan Love will be healthy next week.

In College Football, USC finally found the win column again, taking down Rutgers at home on Friday night. It’s a win they were definitely supposed to be have, but 8:00 pm on Friday night for a Big Ten Conference game? Not to mention it’s occurring on a night where the Dodgers and Lakers are playing on the same side of town as them! This could not be what USC was hoping for when they switched over to The Big Ten, even if they did get $15 million more out of it. On the field though, that was definitely a nice rebound game for Miller Moss, and for the critics, there is really no need to make a change. USC’s issues really don’t have much to do with him. The Trojans could be favored in 3 of their last 4 games, and could easily go 3-1, which frankly is what they will need to do just to have a respectable finish for their first season in The Big Ten. It still won’t be anything the alums will be happy about it, but certainly beats the alternative of people calling for Lincoln Riley’s head.

Finally, after 9 games the LA Kings are looking exactly like we thought they would look. Perhaps a decent team, but one that probably won’t do any damage in the playoffs. A growing issue for the Kings is their goaltending, which they probably took for granted for a long time with Jonathan Quick manning the net for over a decade, and ultimately leading them to two Stanley Cups. Darcy Keumper is just a guy they hope can be decent given his bloated salary. At this point, David Rittich and Phonix Copley should really be playing in a beer league somewhere, even after putting up some respectable performances the last two seasons. I’m not sure that the Kings have the next guy in their organization that will be the man between the pipes, but they need to figure that out, because it’s the most critical element to winning a Stanley Cup.

October 21, 2024

This is surprising and incredibly satisfying. The Dodgers are back in the World Series for the 4th time in the last 8 years. I’m going to tell you the most spoiled fan take in the world but it’s true. The job is far from finished, and the hardest part is coming. We can thank Kobe Bryant for making us psychopathic fans that demands championships from all our sports franchises in LA because he set that standard. This is no different. This series is going to be scary if you’re a Dodger fan. The Yankees are built like the Dodgers, but with more starting pitching. The Dodgers will probably have to face Gerrit Cole 3 times. That means whatever starting pitching the Dodgers have will have to be even more elite, the sluggers will have to have even more power, and the bullpen will have to be even more lights out. Dave Roberts definitely deserves credit for “pushing the right buttons” because that’s literally what he did to get the game plan off the spreadsheet, and it worked. That’s what managers do these days, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Tommy Edman is a championship type of player, which every roster needs if they want to get over the top. Kike Hernandez is the Robert Horry of baseball come October. It’s not just Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts driving the bus. I love seeing Walker Buehler step up big like he did last week, and he’ll have another chance to do so in the World Series. Buckle up because it’s going to be a World Series with unbelievable star power. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but the Dodgers may not have enough pitching to get over the hump.

To the NFL, but the Rams really didn’t have a very impressive victory over the Raiders yesterday. It was especially disappointing considering they were coming off of a bye week. However, there seems to be a greater chance they will get the likes of Cooper Kupp back, and a few members of their offensive line in week 8, which is pretty important because they are playing the Vikings. As for the defense, they did force 4 turnovers, but they still aren’t generating a lot of sacks for the amount of pressure they are putting on the opposing quarterback. I don’t really understand why they can’t get the offense going early. It’s been 7 straight first quarters that the Rams have gone without a touchdown. Does Sean McVay forget to have his morning coffee until halftime? McVay did blame himself postgame for the poor production on offense, but ultimately, once the line gets healthy, they should have a better team. They just have to hope it’s not too late for this season.

Elsewhere around week 7, The Patriots got crushed by the Jaguars in a game that should have been aired on Comedy Central. The Steelers crushed the Jets on Sunday Night Football after starting Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields probably rolled his eyes when Russ probably started singing “Our God Is An Awesome God” in the locker room afterward. The Panthers got cooked by Marcus Mariota and the Commanders. Who gets cooked by Mariota in 2024? Patrick Mahomes is basically a game manager now and he has the Chiefs at 6-0 after taking care of the Niners. The Colts beat the Dolphins, who get their quarterbacks injured as often as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump do something stupid. The Lions rallied to beat the Vikings, and the Packers came from behind to beat the Texans, so they might as well just have the entire NFL playoffs between the NFC North.

To College Football, where USC is really starting to look like a dumpster fire in the Big Ten. The Trojans gave up another lead in the 4th quarter, and lost to Maryland on the road 29-28. The Trojans are now 3-4, with no hope of reaching the 12-team playoff. Riley is now just 5-9 in his last 14 games, and USC is going to be hard pressed just to make some crummy Bowl game this year. I did tell you at the beginning of the year that this might be a down year and to be patient, but the way it’s happening is not what I envisioned. You have to beat teams like Maryland and Minnesota. The real issue is on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and the lack of physicality they bring relative to the rest of the conference. That’s something that will have to be addressed in recruiting. Riley needs to build a wall around California to prevent recruits from leaving, and prioritize talent in California first. There’s also the issue of who should be calling the plays, and more people are starting to think it shouldn’t be John Henson. Riley fixed the defense last year, but can he fix the offense? This is a hard fan base to please and the expectations are high, but it’s going to require some patience, which most Trojan fans will tell you doesn’t exist.

They are going to throw a parade in Westwood! UCLA won it’s first football game in the Big Ten! This is the Ethan Garbers that we were expecting to see from the opener. He was wildly efficient, could even run the ball, and the offensive line actually protected. Rutgers isn’t exactly going to confuse people with the ’85 Bears. However, it’s great to see the UCLA players not quitting, showing lots of character, and fighting hard to find the win column every game, even if the talent isn’t there.

Finally, the NBA season starts tomorrow! The Lakers will be taking on the Timberwolves at Crypto.com arena. There wasn’t much to take away from the pre-seaason other than the fact that Dalton Knecht is legit and going to be an excellent impact rookie, and that Bronny James has the potential to be a decent NBA player. The Lakers really don’t need JJ Redick to be Pat Riley or Phil Jackson. Just don’t be a complete buffoon like Darvin Ham was and screw with the rotation for half the season. Their first five games won’t be very easy though. Timberwolves, Suns, Kings Suns, and Cavaliers.

October 14, 2024

The Dodgers are pleasantly surprising me for now. They met the emotional and mental challenge that the Padres presented them last week. They can thank Teoscar Hernandez for hitting big home runs and bringing some fire to the team, as well as Kike Hernandez, who is basically Derek Jeter in the postseason. Nobody can talk shit on Dave Roberts anymore, even though you shouldn’t be criticizing a guy in the first place that is reading a game plan off a spreadsheet. Although, we just learned that he created Manny Ramirez drama to fire up his team. Who does he think he is, Phil Jackson?? Is he going to start burning incense in the locker room and hand out motivational books? The Dodger bullpen has also been unbelievable. It’s been so good, that they are actually looking forward to having a bullpen game this afternoon in game 2. At some point, the Dodgers are going to give up runs after having the longest scoreless streak in postseason history, but hopefully when they come it’s not an avalanche of them. The Mets don’t exactly have pitchers that scare you, so as long as they don’t see that avalanche of runs from them, you have to like their chances more and more. I’d also like to thank the MLB for scheduling one of their biggest games of the season in the middle of the day on a colonizer holiday that only banks and schools have off. The majority of us will be working and contributing to the economy, affording the rest of these folks the opportunity to go to a game with all those fat welfare checks they are getting from the government!

To the NFL, where the Chargers took down the Broncos yesterday in Denver. That was a much needed win for the Bolts, who got back over .500 on the season. That’s the type of game they would have lost the last few years, likely blowing a 4th quarter lead, but a Jim Harbaugh team is usually a lot mentally tougher than that. Speaking of Harbaugh though, his irregular heart beat doesn’t seem like a big deal to him, but it certainly feels like a big deal to the rest of us. Coaching in the NFL is a very stressful job, not to mention the added stress of having to work for Dean Spanos. It would also be just the Chargers luck to finally have a great head coach, who is hindered by health problems. Nevertheless, for now it appears like Harbaugh is ok. The Chargers had not beaten the Broncos in Denver since 2018. Had they lost, Columbine would be the 2nd worst thing to happen in Denver. Up next is Arizona.

Elsewhere around the NFL, did the Lions schedule the Cowboys for homecoming? It feels like it the way Dallas got blown out. The Jags lost to the Bears in London, and the British say the next time the NFL sends Jacksonville to play football in England, they will consider it an act of terror and will declare war against the United States. The Steelers crushed the Raiders and have asked Justin Fields to stop laughing hysterically when Mike Tomlin tells the media Russell Wilson might get his starting job back. The Bengals topped the Giants, and Daniel Jones has a better chance of winning the Power Ball than throwing a touchdown pass at home these days. The Eagles beat the Browns, but their identity is more confusing than all the people that Kamala Harris say need a sex change operation. I’m beginning to wonder if Jordan Love is the best quarterback in the NFL. He missed two games and he’s already 2nd in the league in touchdown passes, after the Packers crushed the Cardinals!

In College Football, the Trojans have all but been eliminated from the College Football playoff, after falling to Penn State. USC is just 3-3 now, but their last two losses shouldn’t have happened. They had a 2 touchdown lead at the half, and a 1 touchdown lead at the half against Penn State. They had no business losing to Minnesota. These are close games that they need to find a way to win. Ultimately, it’s Lincoln Riley who is taking a lot of heat for these games. USC is getting beaten up on the line of scrimmage, their defense doesn’t get many sacks, and Riley manages timeouts Bernie Madoff manages your money. It’s going to be an adjustment period for USC. That doesn’t mean Riley is incapable of making it, but he will need to recruit more heavily on the offensive and defensive line. As I mentioned at the beginning of the season, if the Trojans go 7-5 or 8-4, that’s really not terrible considering how tough their schedule is, and what the adjustment period is for going into the Big 10. There is nothing wrong with that, but nobody in the Trojan faithful wants to hear that, especially considering USC is a .500 team in the last 21 games.

I really thought UCLA was going to find the win column against Minnesota. It was not to be however, and now I’m not sure there’s another win on their schedule this year. The players are playing hard, but they simply don’t have the talent to get it done, in almost all facets of the game. To make matters worse, when they take the penalties that they did, it makes it nearly impossible to win. 3 of the next 4 are on the road, so winning one of those is hard to envision. I know you all want to slam Deshaun Foster, but he’s here because they didn’t have many choices after Chip Kelly left. There wasn’t a line of coaches around the block for this job. It’s not great, but the reality of it is you need to give it time, and give Foster time to try and recruit in the new NIL world. Don’t write him off yet, as this was a really difficult situation to begin with.

Finally, in the NBA the Lakers have been playing a bunch of preseason games away from Crypto.com arena. That’s all fine and dandy if it’s in the likes of Arizona, Vegas, or Palm Desert. However, why send the team to Milwaukee? Ok, I get it they came here last year so we gotta go there this year, but no more of this nonsense! These players have enough travel as it is. They don’t need to get on a plane to go across the country to play each other in a meaningless game where they are just getting some cardio. As for Bronny James, he was joking around that he wants his own skin in the “Call of Duty” video game. Of course some of you felt the need to jump in with the ridiculous reaction that he’s just going to be playing video games and not focusing on basketball. Since most of you aren’t aware, when pro athletes aren’t working on their craft, they play video games like you watch Netflix. We don’t slam you for watching Netflix and think it will take away from doing your 9-5 job, so there’s no reason to slam Bronny.

October 7, 2024

The Dodgers have a battle on their hands in the NLDS right now against the Padres. If the Boys in Blue are going to win this series, it’s going to have to be exactly how they did it on Saturday night. With big time hitting and an elite bullpen. However, last night was the opposite. No hitting whatsoever. What the Dodgers really need is for Mookie Betts to start hitting again. He hasn’t had a hit in the postseason in years, and he’s way too good of a player for that to continue. They will also need Freddie Freeman’s ankle to be ok. The lineup can’t be feast or famine the rest of the series. They have to hit. Since the game was getting out of hand last night, it was smart of the Dodgers not to use any of their best relievers: Alex Vesia, Evan Philips, Blake Treinen, and Michael Kopech. I have no idea what we’re going to get from Walker Buehler tomorrow night, but if he looks like he doesn’t have it, Andrew Friedman’s computer will need a very quick hook and go to the pen. I have no problem with Jack Flaherty and Manny Machado talking smack to each other. It keeps the game interesting, as opposed to all the old school baseball people that don’t like bat flips and showing other players up. As for the fans, every fan base has idiots among them. It just so happens that the Dodgers have a lot of haters right now, so last night’s idiots make things look even worse. It’s not that hard people. Go to a game and have a good time, but don’t throw anything on the field. Otherwise, you can go to jail with all the Raiders fans.

While we are on the topic of baseball, it’s worth pointing out that Angels Owner Arte Moreno spoke to the media in the last few days. Moreno said that he expects to increase the payroll and to contend in 2025. Increase the payroll by what? $40 million? That won’t get him much of a substantial roster improvement. That’s like going to Mastros with an extra $10 thinking you are going to get a nice meal. This team has so many needs, and needs so much deeper player development, trying to score big with a couple of free agents seems like complete lunacy. This man will never truly understand how to properly rebuild a baseball team.

In the NFL, the Rams suffered another tough loss, this time to the Packers. They are now 1-4 on the season, and have a big hole to climb out of if they want to turn it around. That game was such a headache. Self-inflicted wounds. Failed red zone attempts. Missed tackles. Both turnovers led to Packers TD’s. This team desperately needs a bye week right now. They need to deeply evaluate some areas, get healthy and soul search if they want to finish anywhere near where they did last year. With that being said, the rest of the division isn’t exactly on fire right now, with the Seahawks at 3-2, and the Niners and Cardinals at 2-3. On the bright side, Cooper Kupp will be back for their next game, but the question is how healthy will the offensive line be? Sometimes it looks like this team has the makings of something great, then they have these drives that stall with penalties or poor blocking that leads to sacks, which destroys them. While they don’t have an Aaron Donald level talent, they have enough to be a big play defense, and certainly enough to be better than 1-4. Also, people want to clown the fact there were a lot of Packers fans in the building yesterday. That’s because the Rams aren’t good right now, Dodgers are and they are in the playoffs, and this is Southern California where there is more to do. Not Green Bay, where there is nothing to do.

Elsewhere around Week 5 in the NFL, If I’m the Browns, I find more women to accuse Deshaun Watson of wanting his anus rubbed, and I cut ties with him immediately. Jared Goff has more receiving touchdowns than Travis Kelce this season. Caleb Williams vs. Jayden Daniels in the NFC for the next 15 years. Mike Tomlins manages a game clock as bad Gavin Newsom manages California. The Dolphins beat the Patriots in a game that was so bad it should have been aired on Comedy Central. The Bucs gave away Thursday night’s game to the Falcons like they were some 501C3 Charity. It took Trevor Lawrence’s birthday for the Jags to actually come up with a win, but unfortunately for them, his birthday only comes once a year.

To the NBA, where by now, you know what I think of the NBA preseason, let alone preseason games in any sport. I don’t like to overreact to them at all, since many of the players seeing significant playing time will be delivering your Door Dash next week. With that being said, in the two preseason games I have seen from the Lakers so far, i think Dalton Knecht has shown that he has a real chance to be significant role player as a rookie. He’s exactly the type of wing player the Lakers need right now. The same can be said for Max Christie, who is looking like he’s ready for a bigger role. I also think that Bronny James might be a development player, but he looks like he has a chance to eventually be a very impactful defensive player in the league at some point. There’s also Jalen Hood-Schifino who has taken a lot of crap from fans, but looks much more confident and capable. Even though he’s doing it against players with less NBA experience, you can see he is developing. Beyond that, I wouldn’t draw too many conclusions so far.

In College Football, USC was a victim of the carnage of upsets that occurred in the Top 25 over the weekend. In this instance, it was a loss to Minnesota, which was supposed to be the last team on their schedule that was considered an easy win. So much for that. Their defense completely unraveled down the stretch, and Miller Moss had an unfortunate interception. Overall, the Trojans have lost 7 of their last 12 games. This season may just be what I thought it was when it started: a middle of the road transition into the Big Ten. They will get to take on Penn State next week, which will give them a chance to vault toward playoff contention again, but their margin of error to get in that 12-team playoff is shrinking. The person to blame for all this is Bill Plaschke of the LA Times. He predicted they would make the playoffs, so he pretty much jinxed them. Hopefully he doesn’t predict the sun will rise tomorrow.

Meanwhile, UCLA got bombed by Penn State. Hey on the bright side, they covered the spread? These days that’s about enough reasons to throw confetti if you’re a Bruins fan. I do like what i saw from Justyn Martin though, the Sophomore Quarterback. He looked confident in the pocket, and I did really like the aggressive play calling they ran around him. What the hell do they have to lose at this point? The fact he didn’t turn it over either is also encouraging. Not sure it’s enough to actually find the win column anytime soon though. Remember when I said they had a chance to beat Minnesota? Yea, me neither!

Elsewhere around College Football, it was a weekend full of upsets! Alabama got shocked by Vanderbilt. This is the worst thing to happen to the citizens of Alabama since they learned it was illegal to marry your cousin. Arkansas surprised Tennessee, in a game where I’m not sure why they didn’t just host the Republican National Convention while they were there. I mean they had all the participants minus Trump! Washington took down Michigan, and the Wolverines looked like they had nothing more than “concepts of a plan” in their game plan against the Huskies. College Football is getting exactly what it wants. Complete madness every week, with all kinds of upsets in the Top 25, and a lot of teams that can compete for a spot in the 12-team playoff.

September 30, 2024

The tough start to the season continued for the Rams yesterday against the Bears. Feels like they really gave that one away against a team they still should have beat. They really should have been in full control of that game, even with all their injuries. They had more total yards, more 1st downs, better 3rd down efficiency, and less penalties. The difference: 2 turnovers, 1 missed FG, 1-4 in the red zone. Jared Verse should have had about 3 sacks as well. It was truly a golden opportunity to get back to .500 that they missed. This team still has a lot to clean up in the red zone and defensively if they expect turn their season around. They are 3 point underdogs next weekend at home against the Packers. If they can find a way to win, 2-3 going into the bye week to get healthier isn’t so bad.

As for the Chargers, not even Jim Harbaugh can turn their fortunes around against the Chiefs. Kansas City has now won 6 straight over the Bolts, after rallying from a 10-point deficit to win yesterday at Sofi Stadium. You could tell that Justin Herbert was extremely limited with his mobility in this game, and to make matters worse, he was without his two starting tackles. That led to him taking a couple of sacks, and about a dozen more hits. That 4th and 1 from the Kansas City 3-yard line really hurt, but I’m surprised that the Chargers didn’t try and run it in. I guess it doesn’t really matter if Mahomes is going to march his team 5-plays and 60 yards down the field for the win. The Chargers can really use the bye week to get healthy, before they travel to Denver to take on the Broncos.

Elsewhere around week 4, Baker Mayfield suddenly looks like Tom Brady with the Bucs in the win over the Eagles, except we were reminded that he isn’t Tom Brady when he commented on his more stressful approach. Jordan Love threw on a Brett Favre jersey before they game, then proceeded to honor him by throwing 3 picks in the loss to the Vikings. The Washington Commanders suddenly look like the class of the NFC East, and all they had to do was get rid of Dan Snyder. Browns fans must be ready to drown themselves in that dirty river after losing to the Raiders without Max Crosby and Davonte Adams. Aaron Rodgers probably wishes he was doing ayahuasca in a cave in the middle of nowhere instead of playing in that loss yesterday against the Broncos. Death, taxes, and Joe Flacco still throwing touchdown passes against the Steelers! The Colts took down Pittsburgh after Anthony Richardson got hurt again.

In College Football, I don’t know what it is with this USC Football team. It’s like they start games like they are coming off a bender the night before on fraternity row, then they suddenly make the second half adjustments they need to. That’s exactly what happened against Wisconsin on Saturday night at the Coliseum. They weren’t tackling, they weren’t catching, and the coaches weren’t coaching in the 1st half. Then suddenly, they were a completely different team in the 2nd half. Miller Moss is actually a really good quarterback who might not be Caleb Williams, but he has the tough identity the Trojans need to be in The Big Ten. Next week against Minnesota is probably the only “gimme” game left on the schedule, but they can still conceivably make the playoffs.

Speaking of USC, Reggie Bush is back in the news again. I’m no expert, but I get the feeling suing your alma matter probably won’t help your relationship with them, which was recently repaired. The timing of the suit is really bizarre considering how far his relationship has come with the University. I can’t imagine the athletic department is very happy after being served papers!

Then there’s UCLA, which got bombed by Oregon at the Rose Bowl over the weekend. Th Bruins really left for the Big Ten, just so they could play 8 pm games on National TV, and still get humiliated in the process. Stop asking for better start times until this team is much better. They once again could not get a single sack against the opposing quarterback. Ethan Garbers, who already isn’t a great QB, is going to be even worse when he’s hobbled, and probably shouldn’t have been in the game while banged up. At best, this team might beat Minnesota or Fresno State before their season is over, but even beating both will be tough. They better figure out the NIL recruiting quickly, because they desperately need talent.

Hope you all enjoyed the last day of stress-free Dodger baseball yesterday against the Rockies. The Boys in Blue wrapped up the regular season by sweeping the Rockies after clinching their 11th division title in 12 years earlier in the week, and clinched the best record in the Major Leagues. That sounds great and all because they get home field advantage, but it’s actually not. Since 1969, only 28% of teams with the best regular season record in baseball have gone on to win the World Series. Since the Dodgers have only 1 World Series title in their last 12 playoff appearances it makes you think they are due right? Except their road is going to be tough as hell. Beginning next weekend they will have to play either the Padres, or maybe even the Braves. We’ve seen how good San Diego is, and now they might even face Chris Sale or Max Fried with the Braves? That sounds like a recipe for disaster in a short series. Ultimately, this team is going to need to hit like crazy and the bullpen will need to be lights out. Is it possible? Yes. Is it probable? Probably not given what we’ve seen the last decade. It’s sure going to be stressful though.

Meanwhile, the Angels wrapped up their worst season ever after getting swept by the Rangers. 99 losses and while there were some bright spots with young players, there’s not much hope for the future. Ron Washington came out and said he basically has no real Major League talent to work with, and to make matters worse he said he doesn’t expect them to spend any money to bring in talent this off-season. Then there’s the stadium issue, where Arte Moreno doesn’t seem to want to spend on that either, but doesn’t want to spend money on relocating. The LA Times suggested that Henry Samueli could be a buyer for the Halos, especially after he is building OC Vibe, that is opening in 2026. However, that just sounds like wishful thinking, and Samueli himself threw cold water on the idea of trying to run another sports franchise.

To the NBA, where the Lakers are set to open training camp on Tuesday. People are of course freaking out because they are not doing a players mini-camp before then, but they don’t need too. Lebron and AD are coming off of the Olympics, so they need rest. The Lakers are already off to a pretty good start just judging from media day. JJ Redick says he is going to start D’Lo, Austin, Lebron, Rui, and AD. That already sounds like a more competent plan than Darvin Ham had at the beginning of last year, where he was screwing around with the lineup for the majority of the season. Also, I’d like to point out that after Karl Anthony Towns was traded to the Knicks, on paper the Wolves, Nuggets, Clippers, and Mavericks are all worse than last year. The Lakers have the continuity from the last two years that can benefit them. Don’t sleep on them!

In news that won’t surprise you, Kawhi Leonard underwent another surgery on his knee, and will be limited to just strengthening his knee in training camp. Who are we kidding? You think this guy is capable of playing an 82-game season ever again? I think the Clippers best hope is to have him rest his knee until January or even a bit later, get his conditioning up, and hope he can be ready for the playoffs. There are only so many jumps left in this man’s knees. It’s becoming more and more obvious by the day that it can act up any time and shut him down. The Clippers have to put on a good face though given that they are about to open their new arena.

I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that ESPN laid of Zach Lowe last week. This man set the standard for NBA coverage on podcasts. However, it’s not surprising he was let go because ESPN is now run by a bunch of super left wing woke buffoons. If Lowe had just let Aaron Rodgers on his podcast every Tuesday to say the government puts nanobots in people’s drinking water, he would probably still be employed there. Lowe will probably be out of a job for no more than 5 minutes!

Finally, a really rough start for the LA Kings in training camp. First they lose promising young forward Arthur Kaliyev to a fractured clavicle, then they lose Drew Doughty to a fractured ankle. Both players will probably be out until January, if not much longer. Maybe now the Kings will be forced to lean on their younger players like Brandt Clark, which they should have given opportunities to long ago. Of course Rob Blake and Jim Hiller will keep saying stupid things like they have to earn their playing time, but that’s about as meaningful as dad telling you he’s going to turn this car around if you keep misbehaving, when he’s about 5 minutes from his destination.

September 23, 2024

What a rally by the Rams yesterday against the 49ers! Nothing can be more satisfying for Rams fans to see all those snobby Bay Area Niners fans that wasted their money at SOFI to see them choke the game away. Kyren Williams really stepped up and made some huge plays, scoring three touchdowns for a Rams team that have been ravaged by injuries. In fact, considering both teams were hit hard by injuries, it was a pretty well played game. Matt Stafford is so unbelievably underrated, this game was a reminder of that, and the special teams were the difference. Now instead of being 0-3, the Rams are a much more manageable 1-2 and headed to Chicago next week. They really just have to figure out how to get to the bye week, when hopefully they will get much healthier.

As for the Chargers, they fell to the Steelers on the road, and suddenly they are looking more and more banged up. Justin Herbert came into the game with a high ankle sprain, and reinjured it, so had to come out of the game. Considering the Steelers have been playing elite defense, that’s not a great time to lose your starting quarterback. Even Jim Harbaugh might not be able to change the Bolts bad injury luck. Joey Bosa injured his hip on the first defensive play of the game, and he’s starting to look like Mike Trout in football pads. I won’t be shocked if this guys days are numbers as a Charger when the season is over. The real bummer for the Bolts is that they had a chance to go 3-0, and have to settle for 2-1 with Kansas City coming to town under less than ideal circumstances. Nevertheless, you can only keep your faith in Harbaugh.

Elsewhere around week 3, the Chiefs keep winning football games that are tighter than a Beyonce jumpsuit. The Cowboys lost again, and I haven’t seen them play that bad since last week. Apparently nobody told the Vikings they aren’t supposed to be good because they are 3-0. If Bryce Young’s confidence wasn’t at zero after being benched, then watching Andy Dalton torch the Raiders will. The Dolphins have been losing so many games and quarterbacks, they might need to ask Snowflake if he can take snaps next week. The Packers beat the Titans, but I have no idea how Jordan Love is a week away from playing. It’s like Oral Roberts healed him.

To College Football, where USC lost a tough one to Michigan on Saturday at The Big House. That game was absolutely there for the taking, but some poor play calling, and inability to stop the big plays cost the Trojans. It’s a little disappointing for USC that they couldn’t win a game against a quarterback with a wet noodle for an arm. However, they should feel good about the fact they went on the road in a tough environment, and are showing signs of having a championship level quarterback and defense. I never really thought that Miller Moss could step up the way he has, yet here he is making big time plays in big time games. It’s an adjustment period for USC. They showed they could make those adjustments in the 2nd half, but it wasn’t enough for the win this time. They will continue to get better within these conference matchups, the question is if it will be in time to make the playoff.

As for UCLA, they can actually feel pretty good about being competitive against LSU, despite the loss. This is basically all Bruin fans can hope for right now. To play hard and respectable football every week. For a hot second I thought that the Bruins might pull it off, but LSU just has too much talent for them, even if they are a bit overrated. Overall, the two things that are destroying the Bruins are a lack of a pass rush, and lack of a running game. These are probably two of the most fundamentally critical elements a football team needs to compete in the Big 10, but right now, UCLA doesn’t have the talent in those areas. At some point this season, they will need to give recruits something to feel good about other than NIL money, if they hope to turn it around.

For the love of Touchdown Jesus Marcus Freeman……..please change your quarterback. Every single Notre Dame fan is begging you to not throw this season away, and start Steve Angeli as your quarterback. Riley Leonard just isn’t cutting it. We can all see it. He can run, but he can’t throw. This idea that he might be able to throw is about as meaningful as Uncle Rico telling you he can throw a football over ‘dem mountains. The Irish are up to #16 in the AP, but it’s only a matter of time before they falter again with Leonard as their QB, looking like a very one dimensional football team.

To baseball, where it wasn’t pretty, but the Dodgers took 2 out of 3 from the Rockies over the weekend, and are clinging to a 3 game lead with 6 games left to play. Shohei Ohtani is worth every penny of that $700 million contract, and I don’t care if he ever throws another pitch. His 6-6 game with 10 RBI may be the greatest game ever. He hit a clutch homer to tie it in the 9th yesterday, before Mookie hit a walk-off. And his 50/50 season is something that nobody else has done, and if you come at me with some “Jose Lindor should be MVP because he plays defense” argument you’re a fool. With that being said, the Dodgers starting pitching is in shambles. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is back, but he’s not used to pitching every 5 days. In Japan he was pitching every 6 or 7 days, so he may not always look sharp, like in yesterdays game. Jack Flaherty can strike guys out, but he’s by no means a shutdown pitcher. After that, you gotta just hope for health and effectiveness from Walker Buehler, and perhaps Tony Gonsolin and Clayton Kershaw. If the Dodgers are forced to play in the Wild Card round with these guys on short rest, they are toast. I think they can survive a 5-game series against the Brewers or Mets, but I wouldn’t feel great going up against the D’Backs, and most definitely not the Phillies or Padres in a 7-game series where you need arms. The bottom line is if the Dodgers are going to make any noise, they need to hit every night, and their bullpen needs to be lights. Anything less than that and they are going home early.

Finally, for the Angels, if they go 3-3 in their last 6 games, they will have achieved their worst season in franchise history. That’s actually unbelievable considering how bad some of their teams have been in the past, as well as their ownership. However, it just goes to show you just how bad it has become with Arte Moreno. He may not be the worst owner in all of baseball, but he’s damn near close. I really can’t imagine that much is going to change. Is he really going to spend any money this off-season? I doubt it. His pockets aren’t deep enough to outbid the teams that actually spend on talent. However, it’s shameful that teams like the Royals and Tigers can have the player development and scouting in their franchise that can put those teams back in the playoffs multiple times, before the Halos even sniffed a postseason appearance in the last 10 years.

September 16, 2024

Very tough game and tough start for the Rams.  They got throttled by the Cardinals yesterday.  I completely understand the Rams are injury depleted, especially on the offensive line, but the  Rams run defense looked pretty awful.  We’ve been used to seeing Sean McVay coach circles around Cliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals for a few years, but yesterday was a different story.  It’s imperative the Rams figure out how to solve their offensive line  and run defense issues immediately.  Yesterday also makes the Cardinals Week 1 win against the Bills even better for them.  Things might not get much better in the next week with the 49ers looming.  Although with Brandon Staley on their coaching staff they will probably have just “concepts of a plan” against the Rams.

Meanwhile the Chargers are 2-0 after crushing the Panthers on the road.  I know the Bolts have played two crummy teams but keep this in mind.  These are easily games they have lost in the past decade, but they handled their business this time.  That’s called coaching.  They haven’t been 2-0 since 2012, so of course the coaching has been rough.  It’s also really good to see JK Dobbins continue to kill it on the ground and racking up tons of rushing yards.  I’m sure Jim Harbaugh is going to give his brother a hard time for losing to the Raiders this week, while the Bolts mopped the floor with Vegas in Week 1.  They could easily get to 3-0 against the Steelers next week before the Chiefs come to town.  Or I guess I should say the Chiefs and their referees as everyone likes to put it.

Elsewhere around Week 2 in the NFL, the Bills crushed the Dolphins, and Miami is ready to call Dan Marino to play quarterback for them after Tua went down.  Someone told the Cowboys yesterday was a playoff game, because they got smoked by the Saints like it was January.  The Bears lost to the Texans on Sunday Night Football, and Chicago ruining a great QB with a terrible offensive line is becoming a strong tradition.  The Ravens might find  a way to bench their whole coaching staff after losing to the Raiders.  The Browns beat the Jags, but they are trying to figure out a way to send DeShaun Watson to the moon after another sexual assault charge surfaced.  Credit to all the Chiefs fans for staying until the end of the game against the Bengals when they trailed by 5 points for a couple of minutes.  Hard times for that fan base!

To College Football, where UCLA got completely dismantled against  Indiana on Saturday, in their Big 10 debut.  Everyone wants to suddenly point to DeShaun Foster not being a capable coach but it’s been two games.  He’s been left a complete mess by Chip Kelly, who was like George Kostanza starting a kitchen fire and running out of the building to save himself before anyone else.  There is simply not enough talent on this roster, and it’s even more glaring now that they are in the Big 10.  They lost their highest rated recruit in school history at the most important position on the field because Kelly was a fool in how he handled him.  It’s going to be rough for a while, but that’s ok.  Stop resorting to “it’s a basketball school”.  It takes time to rebuild so give them the chance to do that.

Elsewhere around College Football, Notre Dame destroyed Purdue, but the win might just be more aggravating for Irish fans.  They really couldn’t have run the same game plan against Northern Illinois?  Riley Leonard has already been exposed as a useless passer, so long-term, it’s hard to like the outlook with him.  There were no upsets this week, but you gotta love Jesse Palmer during garbage time of the A&M win over Florida giving analysis of a fan standing with two attractive young  women.  He completely cooked the guy saying he was likely in the friend zone!

In baseball, the Dodgers had a tough weekend against the Braves.  They found the win column yesterday, but the big blow is discovering Tyler Glasnow has a sprained elbow and is probably out for the playoffs.  Now everybody is doom and gloom, and thinks the Dodgers are screwed. However, I don’t really think it’s as doom and gloom as most of you people think.  They got Yoshinobu Yamamoto back, and they still have Jack Flaherty who could play well in the postseason as a big strikeout guy.  If they hit and their bullpen does the job, they could easily make it to the World Series.  The Texas Rangers won it last year with that model.  They might need Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller to step up, and as of now, Buehler looked much better last night.    It unfortunately doesn’t look like Clayton Kershaw will be back before the regular season is over though.  By the way, Anthony Banda is an idiot for breaking his hand punching a wall.  Way to control your emotions bro.

In news that won’t surprise you, Anthony Rendon was shut down again  by the Angels last week with an oblique injury.  He claims he has been trying everything to stay healthy, and will continue to try, but you can’t fool us! He simply doesn’t care enough and it has showed.  By the time this season ends he will have played fewer than 250 games and made a total of $168 million over 5 years.  Dude still has two more seasons to go on his deal and $77 million.  The shocking thing though is how even when he has been in the lineup, his effectiveness has totally deteriorated.  .224 average??? Not a single home run?? He can’t even luck into one??   Arte may have had more luck giving his money to Bernie Madoff than Rendon.

In the NBA, the Lakers signed young promising big man Christian Koloko to a two-way contract.   Of course Laker fans are are so desperate to sign anybody, they are already hyping the guy up like he’s the 2nd coming of  Bill Russell.  Relax people.  He’s got some promise but he doesn’t have that much experience.   I can’t wait for the season to start so people can stop bitching, which will happen when they start winning games.

Finally, I would like to request 90 minutes of my life back after that stupid debate between Kamala and Trump last week.  What a bunch of buffoons we have running for President.  I might as well have been watching Stephen A Smith yell at Skip Bayless.  Hey Kamala, why don’t you answer the damn question about  whether or not people are better off today than 4 years ago, and don’t tell me you grew up middle class and mowed lawns.  Hey Trump, if we have an immigration issue, tell me that’s the issue, not that one guy is eating a dog or a cat.  We can say Kamala won the debate, but I’m not sure what exactly she won, when everybody knows she had the home field advantage.  She had the questions, only Trump was fact checked, and the moderators were debating on her behalf.  Given that she just jumped in the race a month ago, her campaign has probably gone as good as it could possibly go, but I have no idea how real her support is.  The last three elections have turned out to be super close, and I expect this one to be the same.  With that being said, I also can’t believe there was another assassination attempt on Donald Trump on Sunday.  People have truly lost their minds when it comes to politics.  Glad he’s ok once again as everyone should be no matter what your political stance is, and have some sense of human decency.  But it doesn’t change the fact this election is between two complete idiots and this country’s politics are a total embarrassment. 

September 9, 2024

That was a tough loss for the Rams yesterday against the Lions to open the season. Not so much because of the loss, but more so because of the injuries to Puca Nakua, and the offensive line. It already feels like 2022 again. They had a great chance to win however, but they lost to a team that is very much a strong contender to come out of the NFC and make it to the Super Bowl. One thing is for sure though: Cooper Kupp has now re-claimed the #1 wide receiver role with the Rams. There’s a lot of fire power around him, but he’s the guy. Also, can we stop pretending like Aaron Donald is going to come back? He’s not. Dude was sleeping on his couch yesterday, and his wife confirmed as much over Instagram. Their defense is still pretty good anyway, but they’ll be put to the test next week at Arizona.

Meanwhile, the Chargers took care of the Raiders at SOFI Stadium. They played the Raiders, so no matter who was coaching them, they should have won, but the start of the Harbaugh era is what matters here. That means a big culture change, which means having the confidence to finish games much better, and having the confidence that they can do it. That’s exactly what happened yesterday after a slow start that saw them trailing at the half, before finally taking control in the 4th quarter. It’s nice to see J.K. Dobbins have a big game, because he’s obviously been through a lot with all his knee surgeries. The schedule is very much in the Bolts favor to begin the season, so let’s see if they can take advantage of it.

So far, USC doesn’t seem to be having any trouble with their Big 10 Schedule. But that’s probably also because they haven’t played any Big 10 Teams. They dominated Utah State 48-0 over the weekend, to improve to 2-0. Miler Moss only had to play 2.5 quarters and Quinten Joyner piled up the yardage and TDs on the ground, but the story was the defense. They pitched a shutout, which for them, would be unheard of last season. It’s amazing how much better you can be just by tackling people, let alone having a completely new scheme. A top 10 ranking is very much in play after that.

Wow what a difference a week makes for Notre Dame. They went from looking like one of the best teams in the country to one of the worst with one of the worst QBs. Usually the truth is somewhere in between, but the Irish have been playing down to some of their competition for years. Brian Kelly couldn’t win the big games, but now Marcus Freeman can’t win the small ones. He’s now lost to Northern Illinois, Marshall, and Stanford at home in 3 straight years. That’s nearly a fire-able offense for a program like Notre Dame. Aside from Freeman though, Riley Leonard looks like he can’t even throw the ball, as the team has one of the worst passing offenses in the entire country. Freeman is going to need another haircut to distract everyone from this poor performance!

In baseball, the Dodgers are still sitting with the best record in the league, but are dealing with more injuries in their starting rotation. The latest is Gavin Stone, who has been great, but suddenly seems doubtful to return this season with a shoulder injury. We need to stop talking about who should be starting on the mount during the playoffs, but rather, who is going to be healthy. We don’t know yet if Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Clayton Kershaw will be healthy to pitch, and pitch effectively. That’s why its imperative they actually manufacture runs, something they have struggled to do in previous Octobers recently. Also, people need to stop with the idea that Francisco Lindor is in the MVP conversation with Shohei Ohtani. It’s idiotic. Who cares if Ohtani doesn’t play defense. He’s recovering from Tommy John Surgery, and is about to become the first player in history to have a 50/50 season. He’s also statistically better than Lindor in almost every traditional metric. If you think Lindor is your MVP, you’re just an east coast homer, and you need to put down the crack pipe.

As for the Angels, they took a lot of criticism for not honoring Shohei Ohtani when the Dodgers came to town last week. I actually don’t think this is that big of a deal, and the fans giving him a standing ovation when he came to the plate is just fine. Video tributes are bit overdone these days for players that accomplish almost nothing with teams, and then come back with the opposing team. Ohtani accomplished a lot more than that with the Halos, but honoring him isn’t some requirement. I’m also amazed that the Angels have managed to only see a slight drop in attendance with Ohtani leaving, and Trout getting hurt again. However, it just goes to show you that when you have good weather and affordable tickets, you can survive. Unfortunately, knowing this won’t give Arte Moreno any more motivation to increase the payroll.

Finally, ESPN came out with some NBA standings predictions last week. In that projection, the Lakers aren’t even shown as a play-in tournament team! Even ESPN has lost it’s mind, but then again, we probably knew that a long time ago. As long as Lebron James and Anthony Davis are healthy, and the Lakers getting reasonable coaching, the Lakers are in the mix in the Western Conference. There’s also a lot of teams who have gotten much worse than the Lakers like the Clippers, Nuggets, Warriors, and Suns. It’s not even out of the question the Lakers are a top 3 team in the West. It’s called “continuity”. Heck, Jovan Buha has even lost his mind saying the Lakers have to make a trade by mid-season or it’s a failture. Again, I’ll ask the question: who do you want the Lakers to trade for? There are no franchise changing players available. So let’s stop throwing this idea out there when in reality, it makes no sense. This team is going to be better than most people think.