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.
What a wild series the Dodgers have played against the D’Backs over the weekend. The Boys in Blue have a chance to win the series with a victory today, but even if they lose, they would have had the benefit of maintaining their 4 game lead over Arizona and San Diego in the NL West, with 4 more games off the clock. Smart move by Dave Roberts yesterday to just let that game crash and burn and rest his pen and his star players. This lineup is finally hitting like we dreamed they would, and even the bottom of the order has been a handful to deal with from Gavin Lux, to Miguel Rojas, and now Tommy Edman. It’s the starting pitching that we now have to worry the most about, and mainly due to their health. The latest is Clayton Kershaw, who went down with a toe injury on Friday night. This also comes on the heels of Dave Roberts not exactly assuring us that Tyler Glasnow will be available come October. It’s only September 2nd, so how about you guys stop telling me who is going to start in the postseason, because we have no idea who is going to be healthy that point?! Also, just because you see a bad start from one guy on the roster these days, doesn’t mean you just write him off. Just look at where Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler are now and how they are progressing.
As for the Angels, they took 2 out of 3 against the Mariners over the weekend, and Caden Dana became the youngest Angels pitcher to win in his debut. He’s only 20 years old and 259 days. Makes sense because the Angels have a terrible farm system, so they have to promote their young players quickly. The Halos are firmly sitting with the 4th worst record in baseball behind the White Sox, Rockies, and Marlins, none of whom are even trying to win games. It’s shameful the Angels aren’t even better than the Oakland A’s. The biggest reason for that is that the Angels “young core” have all had prolonged spells where they not only struggled, but where they were borderline the worst players in the history of baseball this season. For instance, Logan O’Hoppe cannot have a 36 wRC+ for 2 months. There are other atrocious stretches for the likes of Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, which once again makes you question their long-term development in this system. The Halos don’t have the player development to help them continuously adjust and get better as professional ball players. Just look at Reid Detmers, who is finally getting called back up to start on Tuesday. We’ll see if he actually is ready for prime time on the mound. Even if those players come around and are more consistent, you need to spend money to round out the roster and make the team competitive. You think Arte Moreno is going to do that?
To College Football, where USC got a huge win to open the season over LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas last night. Senior Running Back Woody Marks snuck in the endzone in the final moments of the 4th quarter to secure the win. That game was an unbelievable indictment on Alex Grinch and his poor defense last season, as well as a strong validation of Miller Moss at quarterback. The team has some great player makers on offense that can be explosive, and the defense is night and day compared to last year just in terms of ability tackle. What does Paul Finebaum have to say now about Lincoln Riley as a coach and about his beloved SEC? I thought every SEC team was completely untouchable? Expect USC to rise in the polls along with Miami more than any other team this week.
The Bruins also got their season underway with a game on the road against Hawaii. They got the victory 16-13 on a late field goal, but let’s be honest, it ended in near disaster had they lost. I hate to say it, but Ethan Garbers looked dreadful and so did the entire UCLA offense. His decision making was not good, and he appears to have a very limited ceiling. He’s also not being helped by the fact his offensive line cannot seem to run block at all, which forces him to make throws that are just not in his comfort zone. This team is going to need to recruit big time on both the offensive line and at linebacker. If you’re a Bruin fan, you’re going to need to temper your expectations big time this season.
Elsewhere around College Football, I was told the SEC was basically the NFL compared to the rest of college teams, yet not only did LSU lose, but so did Texas A&M to Notre Dame! Ok fine the top of the conference is great, but people need to stop pretending like the rest of it is some juggernaut because it’s not. The Irish look like a very fun team to watch this year. They still have a long way to go to prove they can beat the likes of an Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, or Texas, but they look like a playoff team.
Moments before the USC-LSU game yesterday, Direct TV took all the ESPN, ABC, and Disney networks off the air because of a contract dispute. Of course the irony is that we don’t need either of them, and this is coming from a Direct TV subscriber. It’s so easy now to stream illegally with Streameast among many others, that people can get by without satellite and cable. There is also plenty of blame to go around for both Disney and Direct TV. Direct TV is supposed to be the king of sports, yet they lost the NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube. Meanwhile, Disney has been bleeding money for a while, feeding us their left wing nonsense, and overbidding on sports properties for years, so now they expect us to shoulder the costs. Both of these companies will find out quickly they aren’t the only game in town anymore.
Who’s ready for some NFL Football? The Rams will get their season underway against the Lions next week on Sunday Night Football in Detroit. This will be one of their tougher games on the schedule, but there is a lot to feel good about with this squad, even after Aaron Donald retired. Everybody wants to talk about the passing game and how elite the wide receivers are, which is true, but the reality of it is that the Rams need to establish the run consistently with Kyren Williams. If they do, they will be even more dangerous on offense, and that should pair well with their defense that is stocked with young talent. In my mind, the Rams are one of 7 teams that can win the Super Bowl, if things break right for them.
Finally, the Chargers will get their season underway at home against the Raiders next Sunday afternoon at home. The Bolts really need to take advantage of their first three games, with matchups against Vegas, Carolina, and Pittsburgh, all of whom are not exactly expected to win a lot of games. I’m still curious who is going to catch the ball for this team and be their playmakers, but I trust Jim Harbaugh and you should too. It might not be pretty in the beginning, but eventually, you expect him to get it right.
The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 against the Rays over the weekend, and still have the best record in baseball. You would never actually believe it though with all the panic about their starting rotation. However, I’m going to take this conversation into a completely different direction than you thought: an appreciation for two Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Lux. Lux has been hitting .361/.427/.680 since the all-star break and been one of the best hitters in the NL. Every fan that wanted him send to the Moon for a player to be named later owes him an apology. He’s also been looking solid defensively too. This is what happens when it takes you time to bounce back from a major knee injury. You need to have patience. He’s not just a good hitter, but he’s actually the type of hitter the Dodgers need in their lineup. A guy that can put the ball in play, and not just rely on the home run. That could benefit them greatly come October. As for Kershaw, coming off major shoulder surgery, there have been a lot of fans who claim he’s washed and should retire, and he’s been trash for 4 seasons. However, coming into Saturday’s game, he had a 2.63 ERA in 5 starts. Even though he had a tough first inning against the Rays, he battled back and shut the Rays down for most of the next 4 innings. This man is the only pitcher after 17 years who gets criticized for giving up a single run. That’s how great of a standard he has set. He doesn’t get enough credit for not just how good he was, but how good he still is. He may not be ideal to start early in a short playoff series, but he is still a very effective starting pitcher, who has remarkably reinvented himself.
Meanwhile, the Angels have lost 11 of their last 13 games, but that’s not the big news. It’s that General Manager Perry Minasian was given a 3-year contract extension. I realize that Perry is somewhat handcuffed by having a complete buffoon of a boss in Arte Moreno, but I’m curious what made Arte say he wants to sign this man up for 3 more years? The Halos haven’t made the playoffs in a decade, they let the best player in baseball walk for nothing, and they still have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. I think Arte probably said he isn’t going to find anybody he’s willing to pay big money to, or that’s willing to work for him. He also probably thought by not renewing his contract, he would look like an unstable owner. It doesn’t matter though, because we would think that anyway.
In the NBA, Anthony Edward’s and Magic Johnson are having an interesting back and forth. Ant said that Michael Jordan was the only player that had real skill in the 90’s. Magic of course took offense to this, and responded by saying “I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship. He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.” The back and forth is amusing, but the notion that no players had any skill in the 90’s is stupid. Or even that basketball in any previous era is inferior today is even more stupid. Just because there are more players shooting 3-pointers today, that doesn’t make them more skillful than players in the previous era, especially when many of those players are shooting it at a 30%. Plus, the idea of comparing different eras is just stupid. Every era has different resources, so who is to say one player can’t succeed in a different era? I love Ant and his game as well as sense of humor, but this idea is dumber than anything that’s ever been written on Magic’s Twitter account.
College Football is about to start next week for USC, who is about to take on LSU at Allegiant Stadium. The Tigers are 4.5 point favorites going into this one. By all accounts, the Trojan defense should be improved this season, but I can’t imagine that Miller Moss is going to be anywhere near the level of Caleb Williams. You compound all that with the fact it’s going to be a much tougher Big 10 schedule, and USC will be lucky to finish this season 7-5. No Trojan fan is going to be believe me, but getting adjusted to a different conference with brutal travel to begin with isn’t going to help.
The same can be said for UCLA, which has even less talent than USC. If there’s one thing the Bruins can feel good about it’s the fact that they have a coach who cares about the program in Deshaun Foster. Despite the weird press conference he had a few weeks ago, he’s probably a more charismatic person that you expect him to be. He’s also going to do everything he can to recruit in the NIL landscape, and in the long run, could be more successful than you think. With that being said, a 6-6 season would be very fortunate for this team with their travel, schedule, and tougher conference.
Finally, all this talk about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck getting a divorce is wild. Is anybody really surprised? This is her 5th divorce. This woman marries men like middle schoolers enter relationships. As for Ben Affleck, it takes a pretty strong man to be with J-Lo, who is such a star, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. With that being said, they have both made some incredibly poor relationship choices, and at some point it’s gotta be them and not the other people they have been with.
The Dodgers are suddenly in a battle for the NL West with a month to go in the season. I know everyone is freaking out, but I’m not worried yet. The Dodgers lineup holes are looking much better than before. Gavin Lux is now one of the best hitters in the NL, Miguel Rojas is giving the Dodgers both hitting and nice defense up the middle, and they are suddenly way better in centerfield with Kevin Kiermaier and eventually with Tommy Edman. There’s a lot to like in this lineup, but it’s the pitching that’s the scary part. Tyler Glasnow is now back on the DL for a couple of weeks, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is still about a month away. I love the potential of Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller, but they really shouldn’t be pitching in the big leagues until they are feeling confident and looking right. Neither one of them are at this point. That means at the moment, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, and Jack Flaherty are your only options for reliable starters. Kershaw is pitching remarkably well right now and still has it. He looked incredible yesterday, but I still like the idea of him pitching later in a series than early on. It’s really imperative though that the Dodgers get lots of length from their starters between now and the end of the season to preserve their often used bullpen. What’s going to be scary though is the three more games they have with the Diamondbacks at the end of the month, and the three more with the Padres in late September. It’s ok though, because in reality, it’s getting the Dodgers ready for the postseason, which is what they need.
As for the Angels, because things couldn’t get any worse for this franchise, the state auditor is launching an investigation into the failed Angels Stadium sale, and whether the Angels have complied with the terms of their current lease. The audit was requested by Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) and approved by the Legislature last week. Umber and Valencia say they have “deep concern” that the team has withheld revenue owed to the city and failed to comply with stadium maintenance requirements stipulated in the lease. The Angels are denying this and there is no specific evidence that has been cited, but it’s not out of the question the Angels could be left without a home after this season and they will have to renegotiate. Plus, would anybody really be surprised if Arte Moreno weren’t in compliance and withheld revenues owed to the city? Even in the unlikely event they aren’t in compliance though, the Halos don’t really have anywhere to go. You think Moreno can find a stadium deal in Long Beach or Tustin? No chance! One way or another, he’s going to be forced to work with the city of Anaheim on this.
The Lakers announced that Michael Cooper will have his jersey retired on 1/13 at Cryto.com arena. I am typically only in favor of having your jersey retired by the Lakers if you are in the Hall of Fame, so when Coop earned that honor, it became a no-brainer. However, I am surprised it took so long for him to get in. He was 8 times on the NBA all defensive first or second team, and also won defensive player of the year in the 80’s. He was also a five time NBA champion with the Lakers, and instrumental to their Showtime era success, so very well deserved. As for the Lakers and their schedule though, they found out they will open the season at home against the Timberwolves, travel to Golden State on Christmas to play the Warriors, and play the Clippers in the Intuit Dome for the first time in January. One thing that stands out though: there are no nights off in the West. There are too many good teams that can knock you off in any given night. On the bright side though, the league as a whole has fewer back-to-back games which will benefit the likes of Lebron and AD more than a lot of players.
The Rams now have a couple of preseason games under their belt. Of course there are no starters playing, which is typical Sean McVay style. With that being said though, it hasn’t stopped Matt Stafford from getting banged up. He’s suffering from a hamstring injury, which McVay was slightly vague on. He still has 2.5 weeks before the opener against Detroit, so hopefully that will be enough time. Especially since Jimmy Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the season, and since Stetson Bennet has had more turnovers during than Betty Crocker at this point. Some of you also seem to think that Puka Nacua is going to be the Rams number 1 wide receiver. I think he’s going to be very good, but Cooper Kupp didn’t die. I think he’s still the guy as long as he’s healthy.
As for the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh had to set the record straight that Colin Kapernick isn’t going to be joining his staff. Apparently they had some conversation. Bro, it’s been 7 years. Time to move on. People didn’t want to give you a shot before because you were a distraction with prioritizing things other than football. We can all respect the cause and the work you’ve done. However, now people don’t want you on the team because you’re just too old and you’ve been away from the game for too long. It’s time to move on!
Tyreek Hill is a phenomenal wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. However, sometimes, he says idiotic things. And sometimes, idiotic people will believe him. Hill says that Noah Lyles shouldn’t be talking because he believes he faked an illness as an excuse for not winning the 200 meters in the Olympics. He also claims he can beat Lyles in the 100 meter dash. Hill is fast for the NFL, but if you think he’s Olympic fast, you know nothing about track and field. If Hill tried to race Lyles, he would not only get smoked, but he would get smoked by the majority of the field in the Olympic semi-finals. He’s never run faster than 10.19 seconds, and wind- aided, he once ran 9.98s. On Lyles worst day, he would still win by a lot. As for him “faking illness”, it’s pretty hard to believe he could be that dominant in the 200 meters for so long, and then in several races struggle the way he did against competition he’s dominated before, so an illness seems highly likely. Besides, he still got 3rd place which is pretty impressive given that condition.
Finally, this Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese Rookie of the Year conversation needs to be put to bed. Both Clark and Reese are great basketball players who will be great for a long time. However, the idea that Reese is having an impact on the women’s game like Clark is insanity. Nobody would even know who Angel Reese is if it weren’t for Caitlin Clark. Neither one of their teams are great, but Clark has had to deal with so much more crap from some angry women in the WNBA, who claim she isn’t paying her dues. That’s hilarious because she is carrying the WNBA ratings and interests. This type of impact should actually matter in the voting for the award, because most Rookie’s don’t deal with that level of scrutiny. Just give her the Rookie Of The Year award already.
The Olympics wrapped up yesterday in Paris, and what a spectacular 2 weeks it was. I think it’s very safe to say the Olympics have their buzz back. We are in an era where ratings are very tough to get, but the Olympics averaged 30 million viewers a night. NBC has to be ecstatic, and their coverage between Peacock and Primetime NBC in Paris was phenomenal. Now that Paris had an amazing run, LA is up next, and really cool to see the buzz that is building up already after last night.
As for the games themselves, it’s safe to say this was a very successful games for the US. They had far and away the most medals, including tying China for the most gold. They can thank Steph Curry, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant for that, after they all came up big in both the semi-finals and finals of the Olympic Tournament. Those 3 were like the three branches of US Government. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum was like a White House intern. We had been waiting for Steph to detonate, and he finally did at the right time. Not to be forgotten is Anthony Davis, who was a defensive monster throughout, and in the biggest moments as well. I also have a new found respect for Devin Booker, who very quietly played a nice role for Team USA, knocking down open shots and playing some solid defense, something I had no idea he could do. I’m sure Nike and Klutch Sports will have that footage of Lebron getting dunked on deleted immediately. This team could have a lot of turnover come 2028 and a lot of younger players in the mix, but this just goes to show you that we need our best players to play, and to be elite to get the job done. Even the women had their own problems yesterday with France, but they were able to get it done. The gap between the world and the USA women has narrowed significantly as well.
You have to consider this a phenomenal track and field games for the USA. The women completely crushed it in both relays, and the men came through nicely in the 4×400. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the absolute GOAT in the hurdles, and the US Men had their share of medals too in hurdles, shot put, sprints, and some of the distance events. I really live for these guys scratching and clawing for the silver and bronze medals with these last second leans at the finish line. I cannot understand however, why the US Men cannot get it right in the 4×100 relay. 24 years since they’ve won a medal, which is bizarre for a country that routinely has 4 of the fastest men in the world. The handoffs are so poor, it always looks like they are putting a group together that may be fast, but has no chemistry together. I also can’t understand that hate toward Noah Lyles. The man won the 100 meters and then managed to get a bronze while he had COVID in the 200 meters. Apparently, NBA Twitter hates him just because he said something that’s true: the NBA Champion cannot really be considered the world champion. He’s elite, and I hope he’s back for the games in LA.
Break Dancing? Look I respect the fact these guys have talent, and it’s impressive, but I just can’t look at this as an Olympic sport. It’s way too subjective in terms of scoring. That probably also explains why it won’t stick moving forward. I can’t believe Jordan Chiles had to return her bronze medal in the gymnastics floor exercise. This sets a very bad precedent that after the fact you can challenge the ruling? I don’t think this is fair at all. What a mistake by US High Jumper Shelby McEwen to not agree to share the gold medal with New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. Kerr ended up beating him in a jump off, and we really could have used that medal to go one-up on China! USA women’s soccer? Boy they really lucked out in that game, because it looked like Brazil had them on the ropes. Nevertheless, still a much more likable team than in the past. Even the men deserve credit for how far they made it. Disappointing finish, but hard to call making it out of the group stage a failure.
To baseball, where the Dodgers have found themselves in a battle for the NL West. To be honest though, it’s funny how many people are really freaking out over the NL West being competitive, but it’s really not a bad thing at all. For years, the Dodgers haven’t played meaningful games going into the playoffs, so when October came, it hurt them in ratcheting up the intensity to win those more important games. Plus, the Dodgers are only in this position because they have had a mountain of injuries to key position players, as well as in their starting rotation. The Boys in Blue are now tied with the Phillies for the best record in the NL, and one game behind the Orioles for the best record in baseball. However, you deranged psychopaths are more focused on the fact they are “only” in the playoffs by 6.5 games, have a 3.5 game lead in the NL West, and could completely fall out of it. It’s called competition people. Get used to it, and it’s a good thing. In the next week, the Dodgers will get back Mookie Betts, Walker Buehler, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edmen. They look like they will get Yoshinobu Yamamoto back in the next week after that as well. That should give them enough time to ramp up for October, while also playing meaningful baseball games.
I have to say, for a franchise that has given you almost nothing to feel good about you, you all are very excited about the Angels 4 young player. Those are 1st baseman Nolan Schanuel, Shortstop Zack Neto, Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, and 2nd baseman Christian Moore. Moore is progressing quickly through the minor leagues, but the other three are quietly having very productive stretches in the majors. The question for me is whether or not this kind of development curve is sustainable without the infrastructure in place to make it successful. I have also yet to see anything on the pitching side of the organization that you should be feeling good about, other than a slew of names that have been drafted recently.
I’m really happy to hear that Inside The NBA is going to be sticking around after next year, even though the NBA is leaving TNT. The show is simply too good to let go. Let’s be honest, it’s even a lot better than the games themselves. There’s some talk that we might even hear Shaq, Kenny, Chuck, and Ernie cover more sports than just the NBA. I don’t know, I’ve seen these guys try to cover college basketball and it’s simply not the same. They don’t know the college game like they know the NBA, and they are simply too stiff, compared to how they usually do things. In any case, this is great news for NBA fans!
I know you’re all excited about football and all, but I just can’t get excited about watching Rams and Charger preseason games with a bunch of guys who will be delivering your Door Dash next week. Plus, if i had to pay regular season prices to watch these guys play, I would lose it. In any case, for the Rams, hopefully Puca Nakua’s knee injury isn’t serious. It will be very interesting to see what the combination of a healthy Nakua and Cooper Kupp look like. As for the Chargers, they could really use JuJu Smith Schuster, as they are running pretty thin on guys who can catch the ball. He was just released. However, it’s probably a little more important they get Justin Herbert healthy, who is dealing with a foot injury. He’s supposed to be ready for the opener, but the fact he’s in a walking boot is nothing to feel good about.
What a spectacular week of the Olympics we’ve seen so far. I have to start with the fastest man in the world competition we saw last night, in the 100-meter dash. Noah Lyles talked a lot of smack going in, and even looked pretty bad in the first couple of qualifying races he ran. However, when it was all on the line, he proved to be the Olympic Champion by a torso. NBA Twitter was definitely in shambles after that, since Noah commented earlier in the week that the NBA Champion shouldn’t be considered the world champion, which didn’t sit well with them. All the people who don’t watch track and field are also in shambles because they don’t understand the torso rule, so they thought Kishane Thompson got screwed. He didn’t. That’s the rule. Even if you don’t like the rule and I play your game that it should be first body part to hit the line, Noah’s foot still hit the line first. If you want to take it a step further and say it should be first body part over the line, then Fred Kerly would be your Olympic Champion. Either way, Noah won the race and rightfully so, and he met the moment. Thank goodness because anybody that does all those crazy antics during the introduction had better win! Congrats to him and Kerley though, who took the bronze.
Elsewhere around the Olympics, Simone Biles is incredible. She is 27 years old, a won her 2nd ever women’s all-around Olympic Gold Medal. I don’t care that she slipped off the balance beam this morning in the individual event. She also got a silver in the floor exercise. She is the most decorated Olympic Gymnast of all-time with 11 medals, and the oldest American gymnast to win gold. She is the GOAT, and it’s this type of greatness that is the reason we watch sports. Then there’s Katie Ledecky, who is another GOAT in her own right in the pool, dominating in the 1500 meters and 800 meters, and becoming the most decorated female Olympian in US history. These two women are two of the best female Olympians we’ve ever seen, and they may both add to that total come 2028 in Los Angeles. While those two made headlines, don’t forget about Scottie Scheffeler winning the Gold Medal in golf in a wild year, that even saw him getting arrested. There was also Novak Djokovic who won the gold medal in men’s singles tennis. This man has the golden grand slam: 10 Australian open wins, 3 French Open victories, 7 Wimbledon titles, and 4 US Opens. What was amazing about Scheffler and Joker is that they were both extremely emotional about winning, and it shows you just how important the Olympics really are. These two win all the time, yet these wins felt just as impactful, if not more.
Don’t forget about the always controversial but interesting
side stories that come out of the Olympic Games. For instance, Egyptian Fencer Nada Hafez
competed while seven months pregnant.
She competed very well too, despite not medaling. I know some will be critical, but she is a very
accomplished woman who is also an MD, and ultimately, I think this is a
personal choice. While there are many
women that know what it’s like to be 7 months pregnant, there aren’t many of us
that know anything about fencing or what the preparation is like, or if it could
be harmful to someone who is pregnant. Thus,
most of us aren’t in position to judge, other than to say what she did was remarkable
and strong enough to compete, let alone win while pregnant. It was also fascinating seeing North and
South Korean athletes take photos together.
Sadly, I fear that North Korea athletes will be having a word or two
from their government when they get home, and hopefully they are not punished
for what they did. There’s also the controversy
raging around Algeria’s intersex athlete Imane Khelif, a boxer, who easily beat
up Italy’s Angela Carini. Look, I don’t
think we need to overdramatize and politicize this situation as is being done,
but we need to face facts. We now need
to make distinctions between biological males and females, and genetic males and
females. If someone is genetically a male,
that gives them a competitive advantage over a genetic female, and they shouldn’t
be competing against a female. I don’t
know what the solution is, but it makes no sense. It’s a shame for both athletes who I’m sure
have been through a lot to get to this point, but it’s simply not a level
playing field, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves otherwise. The IOC needs to revisit this topic.
Meanwhile, the US Men’s Basketball Team is on its way to the elimination round against Brazil tomorrow. The US is adjusting nicely to international competition, looking stronger and stronger in their last two victories against Puerto Rico and South Sudan. My favorite part about Olympic Basketball though is the wild conclusions that people draw from these games. Based on the last 10 days of basketball, these people have determined that Lebron and KD are head and shoulder the two best players in the world currently; Jayson Tatum is a scrub who should be delivering your Door Dash and not a top 5 player; Joel Embiid is an Eric Dampier level scrub who should have his passport revoked; and Steve Kerr should only be coaching 8th grade girls in Aruba and makes Mike Brown look like Red Auberbach. Ok so all of this is ridiculous, but on Lebron and his greatness, he may not be the best player over the course of an entire season, but on any given night, he can be the best player in the world. That’s still meaningful.
After attending the first 10 days of the Olympics and
attending 10 events I can say that Paris got the most important thing right:
security. When you host an Olympics that
is critical. They had 68,000 solider and
police officers in the streets and at events.
They also did fairly well with transportation. If you’ve been in San Francisco and rode
BART, been to Atlanta and rode MARTA, or New York and rode the Subway, they are
filthy. Most in the world are, but can
they be effective modes of transportation is always the question, and the Paris
Metro is. They also did a great job of
keeping the cost of the tickets manageable for people. The downside to that though, is that they
used one platform to sell tickets at face value, and re-sell those same tickets
at face as well. However, that platform
was not enough to support the masses that jammed the website all the time for
tickets. All the secondary market was
delegitimized, so it was hard to know who was a scam and who wasn’t, and even
the ones that weren’t had their issues. It
has its pros and cons because when the Olympics come to LA in 2028, there will
be many more good platforms where you can get tickets, but I suspect the cost
will be extremely expensive. Think Super
Bowl like ticket prices to the opening ceremony.
Let’s talk NBA for a moment, and specifically the
Lakers. I feel like many people, NBA
Executives included, have lost their perspective on the value of D’Angelo
Russell. He is currently on a one-year
$17 million deal. He shoots nearly 40%
from three, he can create his own shot, and is a very good playmaker. He’s definitively an NBA Starter too. For that kind of production, he should be
more like a $30-$40 million player per season.
Yes, I realize that he can be streaky and doesn’t play a lot of defense,
but there’s a lot of guys in the league that can’t play defense. You aren’t going to trade him and get some
all-star back, and you shouldn’t trade him for lesser parts. Keep it in perspective because D-Lo is
actually a really good player.
The MLB Trade deadline came and went and the Dodgers definitely made their best efforts to improve their ball club. There was definitely no superstar level player available, but the Dodgers did a really nice job of acquiring players who can help them now, and they only gave up one top 15 prospect in the process. Between Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman, Amed Rosario, and Michael Kopech, the Boys in Blue managed to help their starting rotation, bullpen, bench, and even add a quality bat that can play multiple positions. I realize the Dodgers have been looking like hell lately, but you’ve got to keep in mind that they have been missing a hell of a lot players. Give it a couple of weeks, and they might actually have an even better team than you originally thought, especially once they get Mookie Betts, Freddie Freema, and Max Muncy back in the lineup, and Edman is playing center field. By the way, when does Gavin Lux get an apology letter from everyone? He is one of the hottest hitters in the National League, and has now earned himself an everyday spot on the infield. Everyone is freaking out over Clayton Kershaw’s last start, but relax, it’s only his 2nd start back from injury. The Padres also aren’t a great matchup for him at this point. Ultimately, once the Dodgers get a healthy Yamamoto back, and a couple of other bullpen pieces from the injured list, I think they’ll be fine. Perhaps none of you have noticed that the Dodgers are just 1.5 games back of the best record in the NL, because the Philles have been losing like crazy too. Too be honest, I don’t care at all about being the top seed in the NL, because it almost seems like a curse going into the playoffs. Instead, it’s truly all about how this team is going to be playing heading into October, and how they execute against elite pitching.
As for the Angels, what a pathetic organization they
demonstrated they are at the trade deadline. At the deadline they were one of
the three worst teams in baseball. Yet
they did not trade a single player who was under team control beyond this
season. When you can’t even rebuild or
sell correctly in a seller’s market, you’re doing something wrong. These guys are clearly trying to make a run
as the worst run organization in all of baseball, and in sports. Teams like the Marlins have rebuilt,
competed, and torn down their organization multiple times in the last 10
years. Meanwhile, the Angels, have done
nothing but sold fans on the illusion that they can win next season for the
last decade. Are fans really buying it
anymore? No way. Meanwhile, when Perry
Minasian got asked if they can compete next season, all he said was “we’ll
see”. Really? We’ll see??? You’re not
even going to pretend like you’re for sure going to try and win next
season? Ok Perry, way to make your fans
feel like your franchise knows what it’s doing.
I do see some optimists buying into the idea that next season a lineup Logan
O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore, Zach Neto, Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout,
and Joe Adell is going to be promising.
Their pitchers would include Reid Detmers, Caden Dana, Chase Silseth,
George Klassen, Samuel Aldegheri, Patrick Sandoval, and Jose Soriano. The problem with this line of thinking is
that many of these younger players are being fast tracked to the Major Leagues
because the Halos have no choices but to pull them up because their minor
league system is so terrible, along with their depleted Big-League roster. The assumption that they can continue to
develop into consistently impactful players with such a flawed infrastructure
is a mistaken one. Look at Reid Detmers,
who has had his confidence completely shattered, and has had more poor starts
in the minors than quality ones. The
Halos have done nothing to help him with his mechanics, yet they may just bring
him back up in the next week or two to see if he can pitch well again. The same thing goes for many of the position
players who are playing well now, but at some point may not, and they won’t
have the support in the organization to help them work through it. Lastly, everyone wants to write off Mike
Trout and Anthony Rendon, which is fine, but don’t put them in the same
bucket. Anthony Rendon couldn’t care
less about baseball, and he shows it on a day-to-day basis. He’s the guy sitting in the meeting looking
at his watch to figure out how much longer he has to be there. Mike Trout on the other hand has shown that
he wants to be with the Angels, and succeed with them, despite the fact he has
had trouble staying healthy. I’m not
saying you can count on either of them moving forward, but they simply are not
the same.
Finally, what a disappointing season finale of House of The Dragon. The entire episode was basically a trailer for Season 3. The last episode seemed to build up so much momentum toward this episode, and then nothing happened. Spoiler alert for those of you that haven’t seen it, but there isn’t much to spoil because nothing happened. An enormous amount of time was wasted on the Lannister scene and why? It was simply a waste of time, and even worse because it was the finale. You know what the worst part is? You will have to wait 2 years before you get to season 3. Will anybody still care at that point? These writers are going to have to tell an amazing story if they are going to bring people back to watch this.
What a spectacular opening ceremony it was on Friday night here in Paris! Lebron James is going to start telling people that he founded America after bearing the flag on the front of the boat with the US delegates. It was a beautiful thing to watch. French President Emmanuel Macron really had a great reminder for all of us and what the Olympics are about. It doesn’t solve any of the worlds political or economic issues, but it is a reminder of how beautiful life can be when we bring all these people together from different countries. That’s what the games have always been about.
As for the results of the game so far, the Team USA Basketball Team looked much better last night in their win over Serbia. We completely forget that it’s not that the world has more talent, but the game is more conducive to team play and not individual one-on-one play in FIBA, so you can expect more competitive games moving forward. This isn’t 1992. Also wild that Jayson Tatum didn’t even play yesterday, but that just goes to show you how much talent Team USA has. He went from having to play well for the Boston Celtics to win, to not having to play at all for Team USA to win. Also, Dwayne Wade using the same pronoun joke twice in the same quarter is bizarre.
How tough is Simone Biles? She injures her ankle, yet still manages to finish on top of the all-around qualifying stage. I don’t know how anyone could ever criticize her for anything she’s done in her competition. I’m so happy for Torri Huske and Gretchen Walsh for their 1-2 finish in the 100 butterfly. Huske suffered a devastating loss in 2021, when she missed out on 3rd place and a finish on the podium by one one-hundredth of a second. This time, it was her moment, and she came from behind in dramatic fashion to take the gold. Even more amazing that she shared the top of the podium during the medal ceremony with her teammate, Walsh, who took the silver.
To baseball where the Dodgers and their fans are getting restless. They are 7-3 since the break, which most normal baseball fans would feel good about, but the Dodger fan base isn’t normal. They are actually very worried, given how their pitching and bullpen looks. Let’s start with the positive. It was fantastic seeing Clayton Kershaw come back last week. I don’t expect the guy to be the #1 ace of the staff like he was in the prime of his career, but he’s clearly shown he can battle and re-invent himself to be an effective part of the 5-man rotation if he can stay healthy. It’s a pleasure to watch the guy pitch every time he takes the mound. The negative? I have no idea why they DFA’d James Paxton, when they have some major health questions around the rest of their staff. When I see Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler pitch in the minors, I’m concerned for this season, they will not be able to contribute effectively at the Major League level, and for Buehler it seems largely mental. I never liked the idea of acquiring Garrett Crochet, but he’s already injured anyway, so I guess he would fit right in with the Dodger pitching staff! I have no idea what has happened to Evan Phillips. He may be having his own mental issues as well, similar to Buehler. This team is still feast or famine offensively. If they are going to have a chance to do something in October, they’ll need to get 2-3 pieces by this week’s trade deadline: a contact hitting bat that can play defense, one reliable starter, and one reliable reliever. That’s a tall task, but hopefully Andrew Friedman’s computer has resolved all it’s issues with Microsoft by then!
Then there’s the Angels, who are 9.5 games back in the AL West, even further back in the wild card, and have started selling. They’ve already traded closer Carlos Esteves, and they received two top 30 MLB prospects. Not bad for a rental, but since it’s the Angels, I’m sure they will find a way to shatter these two wonderful young players careers and their development. Meanwhile, there’s more depressing news on Mike Trout, who exited his rehab stint with knee soreness. The Halos are now saying that there is no timetable for his return. Forget the idea of trading him or anything like that. For his sake, I just hope he can get healthy and resume playing the game that he loves, because right now, baseball can’t be much fun for him. I still think the Angels would be wise to trade Tyler Anderson and Luis Rengifo, because they will get some good talent in return for them, but I have my doubts they will actually do it.
To the NBA, where everyone seems to think that Zach Lowe has broken news that Jerami Grant is going to be a Laker. In reality, that’s not true and I think people are taking what he said too literally. Sure the Lakers are interested, but not for the cost of 2 1st round picks. And those of you that think they should do it have become desperate and delusional. If Rob Pelinka isn’t going to trade 2 1st rounders for Buddy Hield and Myles Turner, then why would he do so for Jerami Grant? I don’t even think the idea of a package around Rui Hachimura for Grant makes the Lakers much better than they are now. Also, the fact that D-Lo is getting so much hate is ridiculous. His value is much higher than most of you perceive it to be, especially given his production. I wish people would stop talking about this for the time being, so the Lakers can just focus on improving from within, which can easily be done. Also, some idiot on the Lakers summer league squad went to the media and said Bronny was getting special treatment and didn’t like it. Apparently this guy doesn’t know what summer league is. It’s an opportunity to see 3-4 guys who may be a part of their actual roster in game situations. Not an opportunity to actually make the team. I feel bad for Bronny having to hear this nonsense. It’s not his fault people are saying stupid things about him. Just leave him alone and let him develop.
Paul George was at it again on his podcast last week. He opened up about what it was like being a Clipper, rather than playing for the Lakers. He acknowledged that everyone was telling him that he was on the B-Team in LA rather than the A-Team. This is something that we all knew, and most people tried to warn PG of this situation, but he didn’t care until he spent time in LA. However, the reality of it is, George wants to be paid like a star player and treated like one, without the accountability of being one. He got exactly that as a Clipper. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Way back in 2019, even Lebron realized this in his conversations with PG when trying to recruit him to the Lakers, and very quietly made reference to that fact over the years. That’s exactly how things have played out as he transitions to Philadelphia. As for the A-Team vs the B-Team, it would be silly to think the Clippers will ever become the A-Team anytime soon, and I don’t even think that’s Steve Ballmer’s goal. It’s simply to establish more of his own brand identity.
I was very disappointed to hear about the NBA choosing the Amazon offer over TNT. While I’m super excited that the NBA will be back on NBC, potentially losing Inside The NBA on TNT is huge blow to the fans. Although the money is the same, I understand the NBA’s position here. Amazon has twice as many subscribers as TNT, with Prime’s 200 million video subscribers. The reach is just that much further, and in an era where cable is dying, you must have some ability to stream. My hope is that NBC will pick up Inside The NBA, or that it at least continues on some other platform. It’s hard for me to imagine that it will not. In the meantime enjoy the return of John Tesh and his NBA on NBC theme!
Finally, just when you think UCLA Football might have stabilized things, Deshaun Foster has a completely awkward press conference to start things off. The Bruins really didn’t have a PR guy who could work with him before taking the podium? I’m really glad he reminded everyone what city UCLA plays in, otherwise they might not have known. To be fair he did recover from this and started to feel more comfortable with the questions later on in the presser, but still. In this day of social media and people taking these clips and running with it, they need to make sure he’s more prepared. Not a great start to the new era.
The MLB Trade Deadline is rapidly approaching and the Dodgers have a lot of decisions to make. They have a ton of players on the DL who may or may not come back, and the biggest questions among those are in the starting rotation. I’m all for Andrew Friedman upgrading his software, which hopefully isn’t Microsoft based at this point, and having it tell him what elite player to go after. In all seriousness though, players who are free-agents-to-be this off-season make little sense to pay for. If the Dodgers are going to make an impact move they need to think about ones beyond this year. That’s why Tarik Skubal makes a ton of sense. He’s an elite level pitcher, who can help this this year, and the next couple. The Dodgers also have the farm system to get it done. He also makes sense because he and Glasnow can be high % strikeout guys come October, which plays well in the postseason. It also makes sense to acquire a player like Luis Rengifo, who can help the Dodgers at 2nd or 3rd base, and even move Mookie Betts back to the outfield when he returns from injury. The only problem is Arte Moreno would probably rather gargle with razor blades than make a trade with the Dodgers. Enough of the Garret Crochet and Luis Robert Jr talk. Crochet is a converted reliever, and has a very small body of work. You can’t blow up your farm system for that, and Robert is just a marginal upgrade. Also, Dodger fans need to stop pretending like Rays outfielder Randy Arrozarena is some sort of savior because he hits in October. Dude is hitting .200 right now.
Then there’s the Angels. Warriors owner Joe Lacob claimed last week that he was close to actually purchasing the Angels a year ago. That has to be maddening to all Angel fans, because Lacob figures to not only be a wealthier owner than Arte, but a much more forward thinking one who will build out a more modern and stable organization. There’s a lot of bad owners in the MLB other than Arte, so it’s no guarantee a new owner would be better, but you would have liked your odds with Lacob. As for the trade deadline, it would be stupid for the Angels to hang on to someone like Luis Rengifo and Tyler Anderson, who can fetch real value. What has happened to Reid Detmers though? 3 months ago, this kid was looking like the real deal. Now he’s been demoted, but the Halos haven’t even communicated with him. Hello? Is this guy still in your plans? Or are you going to botch his development like everyone else’s? It’s this kind of operation that makes you think the young players they do have like Zach Neto and Logan O’Hoppe will have their development botched too. Now that Joe Biden has essentially retired, isn’t it your turn Anthony Rendon?
To the NBA, where Rob Pelinka reminded everyone last week that the Lakers need to be patient. He’s not wrong. The Lakers shouldn’t give up their draft picks for some marginal upgrade, and that’s all that’s out there right now. One more wrong move, and they only have one big swing left in this era, and the AD and Lebron era is over. So why screw that up? The Lakers are already better with Dalton Knecht on the team, and with some more competent coaching. There’s also stupid moves that have been made by the Denver Nuggets, and serious regression from the Clippers as well after losing Paul George. So things are looking up despite the fact people think otherwise. Now that Bronny James finished summer league with a couple of nice games, can everybody shut the hell up about him now? He’s the 55th pick! He looked like most 55th picks do, and will get the chance to further develop in the G League. Relax.
Meanwhile, the Clippers traded Russell Westbrook to the Jazz, who released him, and now he’s going to sign with the Nuggets. I’m going to say what I’ve said for a while with Russ. Great guy, but doesn’t fit on a lot of modern NBA teams at this point. He can’t shoot, he can’t finish at the rim like he used to, and some people seem to think he can defend. He can’t anymore. He is a poorly aging NBA player, that in reality, can hurt more teams than help them if you don’t manage his role effectively. The Clippers actually saw that, but it’s the Clippers, so you didn’t hear the noise around it like you did with the Lakers.
You’ve gotta give credit to the WNBA and their All-Star game. Those women are actually getting after it and competing. You may recall, the men used to be like this in a different era, now it’s soft and nobody wants to get hurt. Of course, I also loved to see the WNBA beat the Team USA squad. Those women are just catty toward Caitlin Clark, and once again, they need to realize the only reason people are actually paying attention to them is because of her. Everyone wants her to “pay her dues”, but she’s the only one that’s actually paid them. Sorry Angel Reese, you’re a really great player, but if it weren’t for Clark, nobody would know much about you. With just one week to go before the Olympics, it’s a bummer that we won’t see Clark aa s replacement. In any case, with how well she is continuing to play, all the haters look like complete idiots now.
ESPN came out with a list of the top 50 athletes since 2000. Their top 10 was Michel Phelps, Serena Williams, Lionel Messi, Lebron James, Tom Brady, Roger Federer, Simon Biles, Tiger Woods, Usain Bolt, and Kobe Bryant. Also notable were Shaquille O’Neal at #17, Aaron Donald at #20, Mike Trout #30, and Clayton Kershaw #31. It’s a fun little list, but it’s always amusing to see how triggered people get by it. It doesn’t mean much, but it is interesting that Aaron Rodgers isn’t in the top 50 considering he’s a 4-time MVP. There’s a lot of international and Olympians on the list, so ultimately, how we’re defining best athlete here is the big question. Most dominant? Most impactful? Feels more like most dominant but there’s even some questions there.
Speaking of Olympians, I’m very excited about the Summer Olympics that will begin on Friday night in Paris. I have the privilege of actually attending the games, and really looking forward to seeing some of the greatest athletes in the world: Simon Biles, Katy Ledecky, and Noah Lyles among others. More than anything though, this group of athletes is far more likeable than some of the teams we’ve seen in recent memory, and easy to get behind. Looking forward to a spectacular two weeks!
Finally, what an unprecedented week in American history. Former President and Republican candidate dodgers an assassination event through dumb luck, and then the sitting President steps down 4 months before the election. It’s safe to say that the Democratic Party just waived Joe Biden. What a day to drop out though: on National Ice Cream Day! We know Joe loves his ice cream too. Look in all seriousness, I said after the Trump incident last weekend, this would take a few more turns before it was over. I said a few, but sounds like many more before we find out who the next President of The United States will be.
It was a very rough finish to the first half of the season for the Dodgers. They got swept by the Phillies followed by losing 2 of 3 to the lowly Tigers. They have lost 8 of 10 games, yet they remain in 1st place in the NL West, and 2nd overall in the NL. That doesn’t sound too bad, but when you realize the Dodgers have some major injury problems, their postseason outlook isn’t looking so great. Not to mention, the bottom of their lineup stinks even when they are healthy. We are approaching the point where you have to ask yourself: can the trade deadline really fix this team? Between the injuries to the starting rotation, Max Muncy’s injury, and the other lack of productivity, adding a rental player doesn’t sound smart. If Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow don’t come back healthy, the Dodgers are probably screwed anyway. There’s no ace out there that they can acquire before the deadline to make up for that. Ultimately, if there is an infielder or outfielder that is good defensively, and makes good contact at the plate under team control beyond this year, that could be reasonable. However, that sounds like a lot of boxes to check, and a player that probably isn’t available come July 31st.
Meanwhile the Angels swept the Mariners over the weekend. However, they are 10 games out in the AL West, 12.5 back in the Wild Card, and have the 5th worst record in baseball at the all-star break. This will only add fuel to Arte Moreno’s narrative that he doesn’t want to trade players under team control beyond this year, because he foolishly thinks his team is closer to contention than the rest of us do. The Halos engaged with the Pirates recently on trade talks for Taylor Ward, but stubbornly refused to trade him because they seem to think he’ll help them get back in contention. The Athletic actually reported that Arte Moreno has been averse to embarking on any kind of rebuilding effort. Is this guy stupid? He’s been rebuilding for 10 years without actually rebuilding!
To the NBA, where the Lakers still haven’t been able to do much in free agency or trades since they have no roster spots and no salary cap space. However, all these idiots want to talk about Bronny James and how awful he is playing, and even morons are creating spoof highlight reels of his terrible play. Layoff guys, he’s the 55th pick in the draft, and he’s going to be playing in the G-League. Instead, what you should all be talking about is the fact Dalton Knect is balling. This kid looks like he’s going to be an immediate impact player, and give the Lakers some desperately needed shooting. That should help Lebron and AD a great deal. Speaking of Lebron and AD, the people have voted. By the people I mean all of the Team USA players, who voted Lebron as far and away the best player on the team. That speaks volumes, when you have a team with Jason Tatum, Joel Embiid, Steph Curry, and Anthony Edwards on the squad, who the media seem to consider better players than Lebron at this point. I think the point is that on any given day, Lebron can in fact still be the best player in the world. Sorry Anthony Edward’s, but it’s not your time yet!
As for the Clippers, Paul George had to go and make his negotiations with the team public, which I’m sure they love. PG explained that the Clippers originally offered him 2 years and $60 million, which was much less than the max. After several offers that were only slightly higher than that, George declined and said he would have accepted what Kawhi got, 3 years and $153 million. It wasn’t until he played 70+ games this year that the Clippers offered him that, but at that point, he was angry, and wanted a no-trade clause. That’s completely unrealistic, and he knew that. Good for Paul George for getting the money he wanted, but the Clippers would have been better off just offering him the 3 years and $153 million early on and then figure out how to stay under the apron later. As for Kawhi, I’m not surprised to see him pull out of the Olympics, and was shocked to see him playing to begin with. That fact he still isn’t healthy is cause for continued concern, but even if he was, it would be stupid for him to exert any additional strain on his fragile knees. The fact Jaylen Brown wasn’t selected over Derrick White is bizarre though, as Brown, could easily be a top 10 player in the world. Sounds like Nike is behind this, after Brown was critical of Nike for dropping Kyrie Irving. There is no world where you can convince me White is a better player or fit than Jaylen Brown, who plays the same position as Kawhi Leonard.
I finally got to see the TV Series “Clipped” on Hulu. In case you aren’t familiar with this, it’s a 6 episode series on the fall of Donald Sterling as owner of the Clippers, back in 2014. It was an interesting watch, but the storylines revolved much more around the lives of Shelly Sterling, Donald, and Vie Stiviano, Donald’s girlfriend. I wish they had developed the storylines more around the likes of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan especially. I did come away feeling bad for Doc Rivers and having to deal with that entire situation, as well as the likelihood that his players could just completely walk out on him. More than anything though, Shelly Sterling and Vie Stiviano came across as very self-serving, and only interested in maintaining their lifestyles, rather than having any real emphathy for the players. Perhaps if this weren’t the case, the show would need to be much more than 6 episodes.
We’re not too far from College Football season starting, and that means that the Trojans aren’t far away from their opening game showdown with LSU. However, according to Paul Finebaum, Lincoln Riley could flame out quickly at USC, after their move to the Big 10. Finebaum said that Riley is losing recruits at an alarming rate, to Oregon especially. This can’t make Trojan fans feel too good about themselves. I do think that Finebaum is a bit over-dramatic with this take, but there’s a few things that need to be acknowledged. The first is that in College Football’s current recruiting and NIL landscape, coaches now have the responsibility of recruiting players year round. Players that are outside the program, and the players they’ve already recruited that are in the program to keep them from leaving. That may burn out a lot of coaches. In addition to that, when USC begins play in the Big 10, the first couple of seasons may not be that great, especially until they can find themselves their next truly elite quarterback.
UCLA will also have their share of troubles in the Big 10 when play begins on 8/31. If there’s one thing to feel good about for the Bruins, it’s that they have somebody coaching the program who cares: DeShaun Foster. That should be enough to get some folks in the program energized, and even some of the fan base. At some point though, he has to win football games. It won’t be easy to win a lot of them in year 1 in a new conference, but I think more of them will come as opposed to when Chip Kelly was leading the program.
I am both saddened and disappointed that we witnessed political violence over the weekend during Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. Say what you will about Trump and his supporters, there is simply no place for violence in this country. Thankfully Trump wasn’t hurt, but sadly, one innocent by standard was killed, and two others were also injured. I cannot say that I am surprised that this occurred. For years, the media has basically been creating a dramatic divide in this country, which sometimes has me wondering when we are going to have another civil war. Also, was Trump provided the 2nd string of Secret Service during this rally? The whole place wasn’t that big, and yet they can’t find one kid on a roof with a rifle? From an election standpoint, most will say Trump is looking very good to be the next President of The United States. However, something tells me that before that happens this thing will take a few more twists and turns.
Congratulations to Argentina for winning the Copa America after their dramatic victory over Columbia last night in Miami. Feel bad for Messi getting injured, but this is still something he can add to his legacy. The outcome aside, how about the fact that the game was delayed by 75 minutes because fans had breached security in several parts of the stadium? Fans were even seen on social media climbing through vents like John McClane in Die Hards, just to get in to see their team play. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. If they can sneak across the border, then why couldn’t they figure out a way to sneak into the stadium? Still, it’s not a very good look for the US, which plans to host the World Cup in 2026. It’s also a reminder of how insane soccer fans are, and that sometimes you just can’t stop the Third World!
You people need to stop freaking out about the Lakers. Let’s be clear. The Lakers can’t sign any free agents because they don’t currently have money available under the new CBA, and they don’t have roster spots. The only thing they can do is make a trade. However, there’s nobody out there available that significantly improves this team. What’s hilarious though is every time a player like Klay Thompson, DeMar Derozan, or some other useless player signs with a team, you guys freak out. Even if the Lakers had the money, there was never going to be a player available this summer that made the them significantly better in this offseason. For all the crap Rob Pelinka is getting from you people, sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make. Trading D-Lo, Rui, or Vando had better net you a starter or two that is all-star level. That’s not gonna happen. Even if it’s Jerami Grant or Lauri Markkanen, the cost of what the Lakers would give up wouldn’t make them better. That’s not to say the Lakers won’t be better next season. Simply by having a healthy Vando and Gabe Vincent, and playing Max Christie and Rui more minutes, along with halfway competent coaching, and the Lakers could easily be a 50+ win team in the West. You saw it last year just by getting Rui back in the lineup regularly. It can only get better with Vando, Max, and Gabe. This team didn’t just forget how to play basketball after making it to the West Finals. Not doing much is the best move they could have made, so stop calling it the worst summer you’ve seen, because there has been much worse.
Meanwhile, it’s clear that the Clippers have been working to replace Paul George in the aggregate. Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba were all signed by the Clips, which is a decent recovery. None of them by any means are all-stars, but they do all bring some athleticism, and keep the Clips competitive in the West. I did think that by now Russell Westbrook would be traded to another team like the Nuggets. However, somebody in their front office probably slapped General Manager Calvin Booth in the head, and showed him tape of Russ from the last few years. Ultimately though, it really is about the health of Kawhi Leonard. Will he be available when it actually matters? If I’m the Clippers, I don’t love that the guy is playing in the Olympics. The guy can never be available in the playoffs, wasn’t available when we last saw the Clippers play, and now he’s suddenly ok for the Olympic team? That can’t sit very well with them. Even if he’s healthy, his knees clearly can only endure so much, so why would they want any of that to be used up on the Olympic team?
The Dodgers had a rough time earlier in the week against the Diamondbacks, but recovered over the weekend against the Brewers to take 2 of 3. Once again, you Dodgers fans need to chill though about this roster. They are a good team, and better than last year. However, it’s baseball and nothing is guaranteed come postseason time, as we’ve seen in many years past. Nothing the Dodgers can do will change that. With that being said, there are things they can do at the deadline, but the idea that they’ll have 2 new outfielders, a new shortstop, a starting pitcher, and stud addition to the bullpen is just madness. Maybe you guys don’t realize the Dodgers are the 2nd best team in the NL despite their problems. They will get a lot of reinforcements back from injury: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and maybe even Dustin May. That should be enough pitching and at least 2 of those 4 should be trustworthy enough come October, along with Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, and James Paxton. They’ll also get Mookie Betts and Max Muncy back. Of course the Dodgers have been playing about .500 ball for weeks. It’s because they’ve been slammed with injuries, and their pitchers are facing arm fatigue we often see in the dog days of summer. They’ll be fine in a few weeks. If they can get a solid defensive infielder who can hold his own at the plate and an effective addition to the bullpen before August 1st then great. However, if not, they still have reinforcements coming. Also, congrats to Shohei, Mookie, Freddie, Teo, Will, and Tyler for making the All-Star team!
Meanwhile, the Angels came crashing back to earth this past week, losing 6 of their past 7 games. They are back to the 5th worst record in the majors, and 10.5 games out of 1st in the AL West, and 12 games out of the AL Wild card. On the bright side, Tyler Anderson made the all-star team for the AL. It certainly was well deserved. If the Halos are smart though, they will trade him to the highest bidder by the end of the month. Who are we kidding though, the Angels aren’t smart!
Imagine giving your wife $300 to go to the grocery store. Instead of coming home with a bunch groceries, all she brings back are two bottles of Stoli Vodka. That’s it! That’s exactly what Kings GM Rob Blake did last week in free agency. Blake went into free agency with $20 million. He needed one top 6 forward, one bottom 6 forward, and a defenseman. Instead he came out with two bottom six forwards and a defenseman that are limited in talent, questionable health, and overpaid. He could have even spent the money on an upgrade with a goalie, but no. He even had the money to add an elite talent like Steve Stamkos, a two-time Stanley Cup Champion that would have fit perfectly next to Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe on the top line. Funny how the Nashville Predators went into free agency with the same amount of money as the Kings, and came out with 3 elite players, while the Kings were left holding the bag.
The COPA America Tournament has been going on, but unfortunately, the USMNT was eliminated last week by Uruguay. I know I know, this is where many of you want to throw out your outdated takes like “If our best athletes like Tyreek Hill or Lebron James played soccer, we’d have an elite team.” That’s really no longer the case. There’s a lot of young and very talented players in the US player pool. Perhaps more than ever before. There’s 4.5 million kids that play soccer in this country, which is more than many other countries that are considered better than us. So why can’t we break through? The issue now is player development and coaching. Ball skills, or technical skills that our players just don’t have relative to other countries. We’ve made a lot of strides, being ranked 12th in the world, but there’s still a long way to go, and a lot of work to do before the World Cup in 2026.
Finally, House of The Dragon on HBO is getting good! It’s a little hard to wrap my head around the idea that everyone on both sides now has a dragon compared to Game of Thrones. I really wasn’t mentally prepared for anybody of real significance to die in this episode, but it happened with a final dragon duel, which cost Princess Rhaenys her life. Someone really needs to take Aemond Targaryen’s other eye because that kid does nothing but cause trouble on those dragons. This time it wasn’t an accident. I have no idea how you can complain about what you’ve seen so far in 4 episodes. In 3 of the 4 episodes this season, the show has ended with the surprising death of a character, and the other had an incredibly tense moment between Alicent and Rhaenyra. We’re halfway through season 2 already!
