March 17, 2025

The Bruins lasted about as long as the rap career of Vanilla Ice in the Big Ten Tournament. They got bounced by Wisconsin, who kept making 3-pointer after 3-pointer. As a result, the Bruins had to settle for the #7 seed and a 1st round matchup with Utah State. The good news for UCLA is that while the road to a deep tournament run looks tough, it’s not the toughest bracket. Utah State is a favorable matchup, and although Tennessee has one elite player, they are very dependent on him and that makes them vulnerable. UCLA also has #1 seed Houston in their bracket, who might be among the weaker of the top seeds. With all that being said, this UCLA team has been incredibly inconsistent, especially when it comes to guard play. Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack have to play well against the great teams, and the defense has to be elite, or UCLA won’t get out of the 1st weekend of play. This team could have its season end on Thursday night, or make it to the Elite 8. It’s a Mick Cronin team, so nothing would surprise me.

It’s that time of year where we all pretend like we’ve been watching College Basketball all year long, and are some kind of crazy experts. Even the real “experts” have a hard time making sense of all this, and there’s only even a couple of those people. Joe Lunardi has been scamming people for years into paying him to make fake brackets every week, and by the time it’s tournament time, everybody has forgotten about all the stuff he made up for the last few months. One thing is apparent: the NCAA Selection Committee did not care at all about what happened in the Conference Tournaments. It’s like they made their decisions in the middle of last week, then said “oh well!” after that. Florida is pretty damn good though, and is probably the best team in this whole tournament. Watch out for my UCSD Tritons though! They are in the tournament for the first time they are eligible, and might even win a round or two. UC Irvine should probably be in the tournament too, but even in 2025, they still aren’t going to take two teams from their conference.

To baseball, where we are just 24 hours away from the Dodgers starting their season in Tokyo! I can’t wait to see Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki get the ball in the first two games against the Cubs! These two guys can probably anchor this teams rotation for the next 5-10 years, but the trick will be keeping them healthy, which isn’t easy for pitchers. Unfortunately, Mookie Betts is suffering from an illness and will miss the entire series. Sounds like dude just had some bad sushi.

In the NBA, the Lakers ended a 4-game losing streak yesterday with a win against the Suns. Somehow, nobody really feels that bad about their losing streak though. They have been severely undermanned for those games, although they nearly beat the Nuggets on the road. If the Lakers can just tread water for a couple of more games, I still think they have a shot at the #2 seed by the time Lebron and Rui come back. This is also the toughest part of their schedule too, which will be past them by the time those two get back in the lineup. They will need to make sure they find the win column tonight against the Spurs though, who are now tanking after losing Wemby for the season.

There’s good news and bad news for the Clippers. The good news is Kawhi is ballin again. The bad news is they are very much stuck in the play-in tournament, and fighting for positioning there. Norman Powell will need some time to ramp up too, after returning from injury. If there’s one team in that play-in they want to avoid, it’s Minnesota. They have been on fire of late, and Ant Man has been tearing it up.

The Rams officially waived goodbye to Cooper Kupp last week. I was mildly intrigued at the idea of having him on the roster at a cheaper rate, but it wasn’t to be. He still got a pretty decent chunk of change from the Seahawks. I love Kupp, but the reality of it is, injuries have taken their toll on him. He can no longer get separation from defensive backs like he used to, and it became more and more obvious as last season went on. Unfortunately for the Rams, after Tee Higgins massive contract from the Bengals, they will ultimately need to pay a lot more for Puka Nacua, once he’s due for his extension.

Does Aaron Rodgers like drama or what? This dude has had offers on the table from the Giants and Steelers for weeks. Yet he’s probably out somewhere smoking weed in the forest, trying to find himself. Even Adam Schfter is like “dude do you want to play football or not?”. This is why having him on your football team at this point isn’t worth it, unless you badly need a quarterback. The Steelers are the only ones that really do, but at some point, they will need to move on.

March 10, 2025

The Lakers really shouldn’t feel so bad about themselves. They rallied from a big deficit against the Celtics on the road, and although they fell short, they had a lot working against them. Luka Doncic had a bad back, Lebron left with an injury, and they played without Rui Hachimura and Jaxton Hayes. That’s way too much to overcome against a contender like the Celtics. I also think Lebron being out 1-2 weeks is really bad timing, but I think the Lakers will fare better thank you think. Austin is going to have a much bigger role, and as long as Luka stays healthy, he’s getting way more comfortable and looking like himself. Lebron is basically Wolverine too, so I expect him to heal quickly. Don’t dismiss these guys from taking the #2 seed just yet!

The Clippers are definitely in a make or break portion of their season right now. They are fighting for their playoff play-in tournament lives, but the good news for them is that they’ve won their last two games to stop their skid. They are back up to 8th place in the West, and as long as Kawhi Leonard can stay available, which I know is sometimes like asking to win the lottery, then they should be able to stay in the play-in tournament. Kawhi was not only available, but hit a buzzer beater last night to beat the Kings. The Mavericks are falling apart with injuries, and Spurs have given up on the season, and the Suns hate each, so I like the Clips chances of at least treading water.

To the NFL, where the Rams shocked everyone yesterday by signing Davante Adams to a 2-year deal worth $26 million. I can’t say I understand this move, even though Adams is a big name. The Rams didn’t want to pay Cooper Kupp $30 million, but instead they want to pay Adams, who is a year older, $26 million? Is he that much better at this point in his career? I’m not so sure. I am slightly intrigued at the idea of keeping Kupp on a discounted deal if he’s willing to stay, but it doesn’t sound like Les Snead and Sean McVay want him to. In any case Snead and McVay deserve the benefit of the doubt that Adams is the right guy.

Now that Adams and DK Metcalf are off the market, what are the Chargers going to do? The Bolts still have a bunch of Door Dash drivers as their receivers, which isn’t going to be great for Justin Herbert. Joe Horitz says that the Bolts are going to be responsible this off-season with their spending. However, keeping Quintin Johnson as your #1 receiver is not responsible.

I’m astonished that UCLA ended up finishing in 4th place in the Big Ten! That got them a bye until Friday evening, and they just have to win 3 games to win the conference tournament. I certainly wouldn’t hold my breath that they are going to, but if they can win a game or two, they might be able to get into a lower seed in the NCAA Tournament in two weeks. That’s actually important so they don’t get stuck playing the likes of Duke or Auburn in the 2nd round.

I told you it was bound to happen. Pitchers get hurt. The first Dodger pitcher to get hurt and be out of the season? Michael Grove. He underwent season ending surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder. This is exactly why the Dodgers have a lot of depth. You need 12 starting pitchers to end up with 4 healthy and effective starters coming playoff time. With that being said, hopefully there aren’t many more of these, but sadly, it’s inevitable and more pitchers will get hurt.

I think I speak for all LA Kings fans when I saw we are just glad that Rob Blake didn’t screw up the team at the trade deadline. It’s simple. None of us really wanted a trade, but instead we want him to be fired, and I’m beginning to think he can take Luc Robitaille with him. Sure enough the Kings jerk Brandt Clarke around, and then they put him back in the lineup and he scores a beautiful goal. The Kings continue to be clueless developing their young players, and if they don’t change their foolish way of thinking, they will be ticketed for last place in the West in the next year or two.

March 3, 2025

Cooler heads have prevailed. The Rams agreed on a restructured contract with Matthew Stafford late last week, after it appeared as though he was headed to the Raiders for a moment. Sometimes the wife just needs to calm down and stop making noise on podcasts, and that’s exactly what happened here. Stafford wanted to be paid, but he was willing to take a little less to stay with the Rams. While we don’t know the terms yet, that’s exactly what happened. It’s simple. With Stafford the Rams are Super Bowl contenders. Without him they are not. Both sides are well aware of that, and as dumb as we think the Raiders and Giants are, they were never going to give up their 1st round pick in this year’s draft for him. They also locked up Left Tackle, Alaric Jackson, to an extension. The real question though is what’s going to happen to Cooper Kupp. If Deebo Samuel is worth a 5th round pick and somebody will pay his entire salary, you’ve gotta think Kupp is worth at least a 4th and someone will take his whole salary too. If that were to happen, what they do at wide receiver will be something to watch, since they really need a deep threat.

I don’t know if people realize this, but the Lakers are 16 games over .500! They won their 6th straight last night, are #2 in the West and they’ve been the best defensive team in the NBA for the last six weeks! That’s pretty good considering they acquired “Hookah Dončić“ who is one of the worst defenders in the NBA according to the media. OK, he’s not a great defender, but I have to say he’s actually played pretty good defense since he’s arrived here, and has the potential to be a much better defender than I thought. The Lakers just ran down the Nuggets for the number two seed and Luca isn’t even himself yet. Wait until he starts making shots consistently, and then this team will be really dangerous! What’s been really impressive though is the bench. People seem to forget that the Lakers are actually really good at developing young players. They found a couple of good ones in the G league with Trey Jemison and Jordan Goodwin who look like effective rotation players for the team right now. Also lost in all this is how amazing LeBron James looks in year 22 and 40 years old. LeBron is putting up numbers that are equivalent to his MVP season in Miami about 12 years ago! It’s still a little early to be calling the Lakers part of the inner circle of NBA championship contenders this season. However, every day they’re making me think they are part of that conversation more and more.

I think it’s fair to say after last night that the Clippers are going to finish somewhere between the #6 seed and the #10 seed in the West. Everyone ahead of them is basically out of reach. The Clips wanted to win that game so badly last night, they played Kawhi Leonard and James Harden nearly 40 minutes. That hasn’t happened in over a year and a half. The good news for the Clips though is that Kawhi had his best game of the season, and perhaps is improving conditioning wise. The question as always is how his knee will hold up after playing as many minutes as he did. Having Norman Powell back on a full time basis will help too, after he left last night’s game with hamstring injury.

I can’t believe some of you are already freaking out about how the Dodgers look in spring training. Who cares about their record when half the teams regulars aren’t playing much? In just a little bit of action we’ve seen from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez, they’ve looked really good! I even think someone like Dalton rushing looks promising as well. The only minor concern is how the pitching looks, but it’s spring training! There’s enough talent all over this roster to pick each other up when one guy isn’t performing well.

As for the angels, Mark Gubzica is out here trying to tell us that he’s never seen talent like this in the pitching staff in years. Mark Gubzica is also probably trying to sell ice to the Eskimos while he’s at it. You can’t fool us, Gubby! The Halo’s signed some middle of the road free agents, overpaid them, and are going to be expecting a lot out of them to keep them afloat this year. They are going to be hoping for more progress from a lot of of their young players like Christian Moore, Zack Neto, and others, but the likelihood of that happening is about as great as me winning the Powerball.

I think UCLA’s fate for NCAA March madness seeding was sealed over the weekend with their loss to Purdue. The only way they can get to a number four seed is by winning the Big Ten tournament and that seems pretty unlikely at this point. On the bright side, Mick Cronin teams have had a tendency to raise their game come tournament time and their defense is something that will travel well no matter who they play and where they play. On any given day, they could definitely beat anybody in the country, anywhere. I’m just not so confident they can win an entire tournament with all of those elite teams in it. They need to find more offense for that.

Nothing is more aggravating than seeing the LA Kings play hockey these days, and how poorly they are run. This is still a playoff team, but a completely unserious one with how they are operating. They are now benching promising young defenseman Brandt Clarke. They are trying to tell us he’s not great defensively, but the numbers say otherwise, since they’ve been outscored 10-1 in those 3 games without him. So much for him being “just an offensive defenseman”. The player development in this organization is awful and will continue to be. I’ve even heard Quinton Byfield’s name in trade rumors in the past week. You can talk all you want about the Kings trying to chase  Mikko Rantanen, Brad Marchand, or some other big name forward, but one player won’t make this team contenders. They need another goalie, they need more scoring, and they need another checking line winger. Gutting your team for some expensive scorer who is a pending unrestricted free agent won’t solve that. It’s about developing depth with their young players, who most around the league would say are promising. Their goaltending isn’t all that elite, their power play stinks, and their top 9 forwards are wildly inconsistent. Rob Blake and Luc Robitaille were great NHL Players, but as executives, they just don’t get it.

Finally, the 97th edition of the Oscars went down last night in Hollywood. I realize that Hollywood has always been very liberal historically, but people are wondering why it’s so hard to make content these days and get anything to stick. It’s because when you get political, no matter what your position is, you’re going to alienate half the audience. People aren’t going to watch your movies so they can watch some social agenda the producers are determined to get across. People want to laugh, they want suspense, they want drama. That’s exactly what’s happened to the movie and television industry, and last night was a reminder of all that. 3 hours practically dedicated to politics. It was headlined by Karla Sofia Gascon, who tanked her film’s Oscar Trajectory, with her Islamophobic tweet in late January. Conan O’Brien tried to crack jokes about it to break the ice, but the whole evening was still awkward. Also, did we really need to hear Robert DiNiro say “fuck Trump” on live TV? I did love the fact Adam Sandler clearly didn’t care about the dress code, and basically showed up looking like a homeless guy in Santa Monica.

February 24, 2025

So this is what it feels like to have Luka Dončić on your basketball team!  Saturday night really served as proof of concept that the Lakers new roster might actually be a championship contender.  Although I’m not sure how you guys expect the Nuggets to beat the Lakers when they don’t have Darvin ham and D’Angelo Russell playing for them.  Maybe the Lakers don’t really need a center for the time being and instead they just need to swarm Jokić with a bunch of 6’7 dudes that are very athletic.  The Lakers are more interesting than they have been in the last couple years and they might actually be a championship contender.  No I’m not quite ready to say that they are a true championship contender this year, but maybe. 

As for LeBron, you may have heard that last week he went after Green Bay head coach Doug Gottlieb for his awful 2-24 record this season.   Gottlieb was previously a sports talk radio host and last summer criticized LeBron and Bronny James for the fact that Bronny is in the NBA simply because he’s a “make a wish kid” and just because he’s LeBron James son.  Since Gottlieb got the head coaching job at the university without any head coaching experience, of course LeBron saw this as an opportunity to go back at him and make fun of his performance.  I have no issue with LeBron going after him.  As I’ve said before here on Jock, Talk LA there are tons of people in this world who are given opportunities because of the people they know and the relationships that they have. There is nothing wrong with Bronny being in the NBA because of his dad, however he will have to prove that he does belong in the league in the long run. So far he is on his way to doing that because he has proven to be a good player that is developing nicely in the G-League.   Besides… The smack talking actually makes this a whole lot more fun!

Everyone is talking about the NHL‘s Four Nations face off tournament. It really was a fantastic tournament and congratulations to Canada on their win over the United States.   It blows me away that these NHL players look like they are ready to sacrifice their lives for their country in these exhibition games.   What people are also talking about though, is PK Subban‘s comments about how the NHL players represented themselves with a lot of pride while the NBA players do not represent themselves with any pride at all during events like the All-Star weekend.   It’s very hard for anybody to argue against PK. Even if you love the NBA like I do, the players are playing like a disgrace when it comes to showcase events to really elevate the sport.  More than anything though, it’s a big wake up call to stars like LeBron, James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant raise the level of their compete for other players to follow suit.  Those players certainly care about their legacy, and if they don’t do that before they leave the game, it might actually be a knock against all of their legacies.

Yesterday was a really great day for UCLA basketball! The Bruins took down Ohio State and they celebrated the legacy and life of basketball Hall of Famer Bill Walton.   On the court the Bruins continue to look like a strong basketball team and congratulations to Mick Cronin on achieving his 500th win as a college head coach. Their defense continues to be elite and arguably the best in the Big Ten, which should travel well come March Madness. However, their offense still  is a bit of a concern.  They may have figured things ou, though by putting Aday Mara in the lineup more regularly, who has size and skill to help them on both ends of the floor.  Sure he has to put on a little weight, but Mick Cronin is finally beginning to realize that letting him play and develop is the best move for the teams success.  Making their free throws against bum teams like Minnesota would probably help their chances too.

I wouldn’t freak out just yet that the Rams are letting Matthew Stafford talk to other teams about a contract. I still think that both Stafford and the Rams want to have a reunion, however, Stafford wants to be paid fairly. The only way he can find out his true value is is by talking to other teams so the Rams can determine what it is they need to pay him in order to retain him. Make no mistake about it though, the Rams know that if they want to be Super Bowl contenders right now Matthew Stafford is their best option.  I suppose if they are unable to work it out with Stafford, Aaron Rodgers is going to be there next best option. Although if that happens, get ready for a year of complete nonsense with Rodgers talking about being unvaccinated and snorting marijuana off of tree branches during his long nature walks  in his “darkness periods”.

To baseball, where spring training is underway. The Dodgers have only won 1 of their first 4 outings. However, most of that is because they’ve been throwing rookie pitchers on the mound, along with Landon Knack and Ben Casparius. 4 months after the World Series, it’s like those two are still out there eating innings while the Dodgers are telling them “we don’t care if you suck, just protect us from having to use any of our really good pitchers”. As for those better pitchers, thus far Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Nick Frasso have looked good in the early going. It’s a small sample size, but we haven’t seen much of Gonsolin and May the last couple of years, so it’s positive news, nonetheless.

Finally, Arte Moreno did his annual spring training interview with the media last week. Once again, he provide his explanation of why the Angels still suck. This time he sort of took some blame by saying “it’s probably” his fault, but he surprisingly shifted some blame to Mike Trout, saying he had no control over whether or not he was healthy or staying on the field. Of course what he failed to acknowledge was his lack of investment in other areas of the organization like player development and scouting, which have really been the downfall of the team. He also disappointed most Angel fans by letting them know the team isn’t for sale right now, and that despite a new Anaheim City administration, he’s not going to put any money into renovating a stadium. Meanwhile, for those of you thinking the Angels could sign Vlad Guerrero Jr next year, ask yourself why would he want to join this mess? They certainly don’t seem likely to outbid other teams for his services either.

February 17, 2025

Welcome to the President’s Day edition of Monday Morning Coffee! We start with the NBA All-Star game, which once again, ended up being terrible. This used to be must-see TV, but sadly, now it’s unwatchable. The effort yesterday was slightly better than previous years, but there were so many commercials and game interruptions, it feels like there was barely any basketball played. When there was basketball played, the product still wasn’t great, with an abundance of 3-point shooting. I don’t recall anybody in the 90’s or early 2000’s worrying about getting injured during these games, so why should they be concerned about it now? I have no problem with Lebron sitting out because of an ankle injury, and probably even prefer it for the sake of the Lakers. However, he probably could have let the league know a little sooner so the likes of Norman Powell, Devin Booker, LaMelo Ball, Damontas Sabonis, or Jarrett Allen could have take his spot. It’s not every year some of those guys will get the chance to be an all-star, which is unfortunate for them. The only way to get the players to care is to raise the stakes for them. A USA vs the World format might be interesting in the short-term, but it really isn’t the long-term fix. Perhaps they can add home-court advantage in the finals to the winner of an East-West game. Damian Lillard had an interesting idea with an “all-snub” team instead of a G-League or Rising Star team, but having 4 teams and a tournament creates too many breaks in the action. I don’t have a great answer yet for how to get the players to care though. They shouldn’t have the All-Star Game in an international location though because if they did, the product is so offensive, other countries would consider watching it an act of terror and declare war on the U.S.

Credit to Mac McClung for doing his best to save the NBA Dunk Contest, and All-Star weekend in general. The man was basically out there risking his life by dunking over cars. His creativity was phenomenal, but he does make you wonder why the NBA doesn’t just bring in YouTubers for the contest, since none of the stars really want to participate in it. The dunk contest really doesn’t need stars for entertainment, it just needs creativity, and doesn’t even need great all-around basketball players for it. However, even the 3-point shooting contest fell off a great deal this year. Tyler Herro won, but it wasn’t the same as watching Steph, Klay, and Dame go at it. I love the NBA, but at this point, these All-Star Weekends are just embarrassing the league more and more.

As for the Lakers, they skidded into the All-Star Break with a nasty loss against the Jazz. They are currently the 5th seed in the West, and you have to wonder just how good they can be. At this point, I think we can reasonably think the Lakers should be one of the top 6 seeds in the West. Can they be better than that and go on a deep playoff run? That depends on two things. Health and defense. The Lakers played some of the best defense in the league the last couple of weeks headed into the break, and that’s because Gabe Vincent, Jared Vanderbilt, and Dorian Finney-Smith all returned to the lineup and were effective. When the Lakers are missing two of those players, their defense is going to suffer a great deal. Even though Alex Len should be delivering your Door Dash instead of playing in the Association, if the Lakers can patch it together with Jaxon Hayes and Jared Vanderbilt in their front court with the rest of those solid perimeter defenders I mentioned, they can rise higher in the West than you think.

The Clippers on the other hand went into the break treading water as the 6th seed in the West. The also added some reinforcements with Ben Simmons on the buyout market, who will help their defense, and Bogdan Bogdanovich. Simmons will probably be interested in playing basketball until one of the Kardashians or Kendall Jenner gets ahold of him again. This Clippers team has some good players, but how far they go will ultimately depend on the usual: how available and effective will Kawhi Leonard be in the 2nd half of the season. Kawhi has started to play better before the All-Star break, but the Clips need more. He’s only played 30 minutes or more in 3 of the 15 games he’s played this season, averaging 16.3 points per game with splits of 46.4%/81.3%/35.9%. Can he give the Clips more eventually? Probably. Can he give the Clips more without getting injured again? Probably not.

To the NFL where there are still trade rumors surrounding the Rams and Matt Stafford. The Giants are reportedly interested in trading for Stafford, so they can unite him with his brother-in-law, who is on the their coaching staff. However, the Rams want the #3 pick for him. I cannot possibly imagine the Giants giving up the #3 pick for a 37-year old quarterback, or for that matter, anybody trading for Stafford unless a Kings ransom is coming back in return. The Rams are at the tail end of a championship window with Stafford. Their road map is simple: add a cornerback and elite wide receiver to replace Cooper Kupp, and try to contend for a Super Bowl next year. The moment they trade Stafford, without an excellent replacement coming back, that’s over. They won’t find that in this year’s NFL Draft. Just ask the 49ers what it’s like having an elite roster without an excellent quarterback. You get nowhere. That’s exactly what will happen if the Rams trade Stafford right now. Meanwhile, Kelly Stafford should take her commentary to the school parking lot, her community tennis courts, or her mommy podcasts, but NFL executives don’t care what you have to say about the football to be honest.

To baseball, where Spring Training is getting under way. The Dodgers did what we all expected by re-signing Clayton Kershaw. Although Kershaw probably won’t be ready to pitch until June, I’m happy to see him back in Dodger blue. The question with Kersh is frequently about health, so if he can be healthy come October, the Dodgers will hopefully have enough arms around him that he could function as an effective complementary piece at this point in his career. Otherwise, he’s an extremely positive clubhouse presence, and no doubt a first ballot Hall of Famer. As for the rotation and who is going to pitch, stop trying to pencil in 6 guys and argue over it. The reality of it is, you will almost never have 6 guys healthy at the same time. This is 2025 and pitchers get hurt. That’s exactly why the Dodgers have 12 guys who can start a game.

As for the Angels, they made some news of their own last week. They signed former Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. I’m sure Jansen very much wanted to return to the Dodgers, but at this point, don’t they all? If Kenley came back to the Dodgers, at best, he would be a 5th inning reliever. On the other hand with the Angels, he will be relied upon as a high leverage reliever, and potentially their closer. He may not be what he once was, but he still saved a lot of games last year. Sadly enough, this is probably the best acquisition the Halos have made all off-season. Meanwhile in completely unsurprising news, Anthony Rendon will be out indefinitely after undergoing hip surgery. This feels like Rendon’s way of saying he wants to work from home this year, especially after waiting until Spring Training to realize that he needs hip surgery. Someone needs to call the Anaheim Police Department on Rendon, because this guy has stolen $245 million for the last 7 years. The guy is so lazy he won’t even call Ron Washington back. Then this morning, Mike Trout announced that he will playing right field full-time this season. When he says “full-time” he really means about 60 games, since right field is closer to the trainers room than the actual playing field. Get ready for another rough year in Anaheim.

Finally, UCLA basketball got back in the win column on Friday night against Indiana. Dylan Andrews made two clutch free throws down the stretch, and the Bruins have now won 8 of 9 games. Joe Lunardi has them currently as a sixth seed in his projected March Madness Bracketology. By the way, a bracketologist has to be the biggest scam ever. Imagine convincing someone to pay you to come up with fake brackets all year. There’s a sucker out there everyday! Oh back to basketball…. I still think a good showing in the Big Ten Tournament can get them as high as a #4 seed, and put them in a better position to make a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 run during March Madness. They’ve convinced me that they can in fact beat any team in the Top 10 on any given day, as long as they defend at a high level, and don’t turn the ball over. More interesting though was the fact that Mick Cronin was asked point blank about the fact he is a candidate for the Indiana job, with Mike Woodson announcing he departure after the season. Cronin deflected about the possibility of being a candidate, and acknowledged it would be inappropriate to comment. However, I do find it notable that he did not mention anything about his level of satisfaction at UCLA, and has previously mentioned a year ago that he wasn’t happy with UCLA’s commitment to NIL recruiting. In other words, the idea of coaching Indiana for him doesn’t seem to be a “no”.

February 10, 2025

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans on their Super Bowl Championship! Eagles fans probably burned down the city pre-emptively before the Super Bowl even started, because that’s just what they do. A white cornerback took a pick 6 of Patrick Mahomes back for a touchdown in the Super Bowl with Donald Trump in attendance during Black History Month. That has to be the most disrespectful thing I’ve ever seen. If Patrick Mahomes had Allstate instead of State Farm, he probably would have been protected from complete mayhem yesterday. Yesterday we finally realized how much the Chiefs depended on funding from USAID. Not even the refs could help them after that domination, and the irony is they shut down Saquon Barkley. It was Jalen Hurts who dismantled them. I know everybody wants to jump on the Patrick Mahomes isn’t really The GOAT debate, but he’s only 29. There’s a lot more legacy that is left to be written for him before we can really have the argument. The real bummer about yesterday is the Rams probably feel like they could have won a Super Bowl if they had gotten those 14 yards against the Eagles. They gave them the best game of any team in the playoffs, and we’re right there before going home.

As for other elements of the broadcast, I can’t believe that Taylor Swift got mercilessly booed, while Donald Trump got cheered. What a culture shift that was. If you like Kendrick Lamar, you enjoyed the halftime show yesterday. If you don’t like him, you like Drake, or you’re just indifferent, you probably weren’t into it. I enjoyed it, but the reality of it is that it catered to a very niche audience. Still, saying “Hey Drake” and having his ex dance to a song ‘dissing him is completely diabolical. The commercials were just ok. The Bud Light “Cul-De-Sac Party” was funny, and so were the Totino’s Pizza Rolls commercial. The Super Bowl is basically an American holiday to celebrate. Don’t bring your social agenda’s with the Hims and Hers commercials, or even the Snoop and Tom Brady “Stop Hate” commercial. That’s not why people are watching the game, or what they are looking for in the commercials.

The Rams were making some noise last week with a few different key players. Cooper Kupp was informed by the team he will be traded. I don’t love the decision, and frankly, I would have rather restructured his contract and used him as a #2 or #3 receiver. However, Les Snead and Sean McVay clearly know what they are doing and have a vision for what they want this offense to look like. Of course this news did not sit well with Matt Stafford, and naturally, it was his wife who had to bitch about it on her podcast. In reality, Kelly can’t really separate the friendship she has with the Kupp’s from football. Matt Stafford likely isn’t going anywhere, and her bitching about it on a podcast, or the fact she is bitter about contract negotiations from last year probably doesn’t change a thing. It also shouldn’t color your opinion about whether or not Matt Stafford is going to be continue playing for the Rams. It’s business people. There’s also talk about Myles Garrett becoming available, and some have suggested the Rams go after him. That would be completely unnecessary. The Rams have an excellent and cost controlled defense. They don’t need to blow money and resources on Garrett, when they can put those resources into bigger needs like wide receiver, cornerback, offensive line, and linebacker.

To the NBA where it has been an absolutely wild week for the Lakers. Luka Doncic is expected to make his debut tonight. Unfortunately though, their trade for Mark Williams has been rescinded because the Hornets tried to pull a fast one and Williams never passed his physical. That’s unfortunate, but the Lakers are rolling, and they can figure out a patchwork center for the rest of the season. In the meantime, they’ll at least get their valuable draft compensation and the shooting of Dalton Knecht back in their lineup. Meanwhile, the fact Mavs ownership is still out here publicly criticizing Luka for being out of shape and not working hard, which is insanity for a guy that led them to the finals months ago.

The Clippers were also wheeling and dealing at the trade deadline. I was pretty surprised to see them trade Terrance Mann, who I basically assumed was untouchable for the longest time. However, they got a solid scorer in return in Bogdan Bogdanovich, They probably need that scoring though because very quietly, Kawhi is starting to slow down from a production standpoint. Can he get back to that elite level we saw him at last season, when he was completely dominating? Maybe, but the better question is if he can do it without getting hurt. Keeping him healthy is probably the bigger priority, despite the fact he is being paid like one of the best players in the league.

In baseball, the Dodgers are bringing back Kike Hernandez! Reported by Kike himself yesterday, and in my opinion, this was an important player to bring back. Kike becomes regular season Barry Bonds in the postseason, which sounds insane, but it’s true. He’s a big reason why the Boys in Blue were World Series Champs last year, because he knows how to elevate his game in the postseason. He can also play multiple positions, and is a very key figure in the teams clubhouse culture, which is very critical in baseball. Now these stupid Nolan Arenado rumors just need to die because there is no place for him on this team.

As for the Angels, they really went dumpster diving last week. First they bring on Tim Anderson, the shortstop from the Chicago White Sox, who’s career has fallen way off after a very promising start. Then they decide to sign Yoan Moncada, who is now expected to be the team’s primary 3rd baseman and replace Anthony Rendon. Just to be clear, that’s two players who are complete reclamation projects, from the worst team to ever play in the regular season. Moncada has a terrible work ethic, and the plan is for him to replace another player in Anthony Rendon, who also has a terrible work ethic and couldn’t care less. Brilliant baseball moves here by your Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim!

February 3, 2025

Hopefully you have picked yourself off the floor by now after learning that Luka Doncic was in fact traded to the Lakers on Saturday night. I still can’t believe it after writing it. The Lakers somehow just acquired a consensus top 5 player, and global NBA superstar. He will be the next face of the franchise. Even more shocking, was the fact they still have Austin Reaves and more 1st round picks. This trade wouldn’t even have been allowed on NBA 2k, and I’m still waiting for David Stern to rise from the dead to veto it before going back into his grave. Luka will need to get his butt in shape, but he’s going to be motivated as hell to do so after the Mavs kicked him to the curb. I don’t know how the Lakers are going to make it work right now with this team, even if they get a center by Thursday’s trade deadline, but who cares. They have the cornerstone of the franchise in the post Lebron era. In the long-run this is phenomenal, and they still have young pieces like Austin and Dalton Knecht alongside Luka. Mad respect to AD though. He gave the Lakers a championship, was one of the best two-way players in the league, and the idea that he is injured all the time is actually flawed, because he hasn’t missed many games the past two years. However, when you get an opportunity to acquire a player like Luka, you can’t say no. You figure the rest out later.

Lost in all this is Lebron James, and his true feeling about what happened. Everyone is publicly playing it like Lebron and Rich Paul were shocked about what happened, and are still processing all of it. You really expect me to believe that?? There is a certain level of plausible deniability in this for both of them. Lebron and Rich Paul may not have known that trade was going to happen right then and there, so they can maintain that they were “shocked” but there is no way the Lakers make a trade of that magnitude without at least knowing that Lebron and Rich Paul would be ok with it. Even Brian Windhorst, who has been reporting from inside Lebron’s jock strap for years, said that Lebron has been “dreaming about this” idea of playing with Luka. He just never thought it would actually happen. While it would be nice to trade Lebron for some assets and draft capital, he has a no-trade clause so he is running the show. He also has a pretty damn good relationship with Jeanie Buss, so I don’t think he’s going anywhere. That’s fine, because at least now the Lakers know what their future looks like, and they don’t have to worry about mortgaging it to appease Lebron.

Meanwhile, the Clippers can actually feel pretty good about themselves for a few reasons this morning. They may have lost against the Raptors yesterday, but they no longer are the ones that in the public eye made the worst trade in NBA history, when they traded SGA for Paul George. For the time being in the public eye that looks like it belongs to the Mavericks (although I think the Mavs will be better in the short-run than people think). In addition to that though, the Clips made a trade of their own, sending Mo Bamba and PJ Tucker to the Jazz for Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks. It’s a nice deal for the Clips because they get a backup center, and a useful guard in Mills, who used to play with Kawhi in San Antonio. It’s not sexy, but it’s a nice solid move for the Clips that should give them a few reinforcements for the 2nd half of the season.

Now that we have a full week to go before the Super Bowl, are we all done with the complaining about the Kansas City Chiefs? Look, I know you all think they have the referees in their back pockets, but the reality of it is, they are a great team, with a generational quarterback talent. Plus, now you are going to get a matchup of truly the two best teams in the NFL, and frankly, either side could easily win. I do think if the Eagles are going to win though, they need to win by more than a touchdown, because if it’s a close game, you can’t bet against Mahomes and Andy Reid. The Eagles also can improve their chances by making sure when they tackle Mahomes, they use pillows and lay him down on the ground softly. I have advice for you as well. Get the taco truck at your Super Bowl party. Get those immigrant works to help you before Trump deports them, and before those tariffs raise the price of your guacamole!

To college basketball where UCLA is back in the mix! They took down Oregon last week, and now Joe Lunardi has them as a #7 seed in the South Region in his bracketology. This has been quite the roller coaster season. A few weeks ago we were wondering if Mick Cronin was going to put his coaching resume on LinkedIn to find his next gig. Now suddenly winning the Big Ten isn’t out of the question. The Bruins at minimum should go 5-5 down the stretch, but 7-3 and 1-2 wins in the Big Ten Tournament would put them in a much better place come March Madness. That way they get up the #4 or #5 seed and wouldn’t have to play a team like Duke or Auburn in the round of 32. They’ll have a big test against Michigan St on Tuesday at home, and if they win, they will improve their tournament resume immensely. I guess you can never count out Mick Cronin and his determination!

The Dodgers are still waiting to clear some roster space for the likes of Clayton Kershaw, and potentially Kike Hernandez. However, in the meantime, they have had to let go of some pretty damn good players to sign the talent they have this off-season. Earlier it was Diego Cartaya, who was once one of the best prospects in baseball. Last week, they released Ryan Braiser, who had a 1.89 ERA in 66 innings. That’s how much of an embarassment of riches the Boys in Blue have these days. They can no longer keep elite talent in their organization because they simply have too much of it. Talk about first class problems!

On the other hand, now that the Angels off-season is basically over, we can sadly say their team isn’t much different than last year. A rotation of Tyler Anderson, Kyle Hendricks, Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Soriano, and Reid Detmers isn’t exactly moving me. Even if Detmers rebounds nicely, this team is ticketed for 70 wins at best, and 100 losses is certainly not out of the question. What’s really sad about the whole thing is that Arte Moreno and Perry Minasian claimed that the Halos were going to compete now and make moves that weren’t of the rebuilding variety. Unfortunately, the Halos really did neither. They have an awful roster with limited Major League Talent, so they didn’t sign enough of it, and they don’t have the player development infrastructure necessary to help with a rebuild with their young players. It’s a terrible in between phase. It’s a rudderless ship and the irony of it is, the Angels have bottomed out already but they are pretending like it hasn’t happened.

Speaking of player development, or lack there of, the LA Kings are just as bad at it. The Kings are in their usual January slump, which happens. However, it’s their player development that has been awful. We already saw them give up on promising forward Arthur Kaliyev, who went to New York and started scoring goals five minutes later. Then they benched promising young defenseman Brandt Clark, and only decided to put him back in the lineup on Saturday because of a couple of injuries. Of course that led to other teams calling the Kings to see if they were stupid enough to trade Clark. Why wouldn’t other teams call? Rob Blake has shown he is the master of hockey malpractice, which explains why the Kings have been unable to regain their status as true Stanley Cup contenders in over a decade.

Finally, the Grammy’s went down last night at Crypto.com arena. Kendrick Lamar owned the night with 5 Grammy’s, coming out on top in every category he was nominated in. Can we just put this in perspective for a moment? Kendrick won all these Grammy’s with a ‘dis track! Has anyone check on Drake after this? Last year the Grammy’s belonged to Taylor Swift, but this year, it was Kendrick. Even better is the fact that he will be going on tour after the Super Bowl, and will be doing a show in Toronto, Drake’s hometown. You can be sure he will be dropping “Not Like Us” over and over again. Also, watching Shakira dance never gets old. I don’t have a problem with Beyoncé winning Country Album of The Year, and Album of The Year. I’m anti-woke, and DEI, but that’s not what this is. She’s talented and has star power. If you can re-invent yourself like she did, it only adds to your greatness. Was there no dress code for the event? Or did Kanye’s wife, Bianca Censori not get the memo? I’ll let you search the internet for that one.

January 27, 2025

The Lakers have suddenly decided they are interested in playing winning basketball, and have won 3 straight games. One of those wins includes a victory of the the Boston Celtics, who are one of the best teams in the league, and the defending champions. Now suddenly, Lebron James and Anthony Davis are making noise in the media that they need help, are just one or two pieces away from contending, otherwise they feel they have to play “perfect basketball” to win. I can admit that Rob Pelinka has constructed somewhat of a flawed roster, but the excuses from Lebron and AD are obnoxious. Lebron and AD have been available to play in almost every single game, and the Lakers should easily have about 9 more wins if they played like they gave a crap through the first half of the season. That would give them the 2nd best record in the West. Now they want help? Give me break. This team doesn’t deserve help given how they have performed. This is almost the same roster that went to the West Finals 18 months ago, and now it’s not good enough for Lebron and AD? Give me a break guys. If Rob Pelinka can get someone like Walker Kessler or Myles Turner then great, but he shouldn’t get ripped off and mortgage the future because Lebron and AD are bullying him into doing it. There are no star level players available out there that will transform the Lakers into contenders. If that’s what Lebron and AD are looking for, they are currently suffering from a real lack of self-awareness.

Speaking of the Lakers, yesterday marked the 5-year anniversary of Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s tragic passing. I’m not sure there’s a day that has gone by since then that I don’t think about it. However, it’s really incredible how much impact we’ve seen from Kobe’s legacy since his passing. In particular with women’s basketball, and how it’s taken off, and on the Mamba Mentality, which provides the inspiring motivation for people to maximize every single moment of their life the way that Kobe did. If you haven’t already, check out the documentary CNN has on Kobe, which aired part I over the weekend. It’s a three-part series, and the first part told a very candid story about how much his father and former NBA Player, Joe Bryant, and his mother Pam Bryant, invested in Kobe at an early age. It’s probably one of the few times you will watch CNN anytime soon.

How sold are you really on the Clippers right now? We’re halfway through the season, and the Clips are in 6th place in the West, and Kawhi is back and starting to look healthy again. Do we really think this team can do anything, or are they just another team that’s going to get bounced early on in the 1st round. While I don’t think the Clippers are terribly disappointed that Paul George is no longer on their team, I think they are just trying to make the best of what they have with Kawhi still anchoring their salary cap. Aren’t we all just holding our breath until his knees give out? Sure he looks good now, but isn’t it just rinse and repeat that eventually his knees won’t be able to have any more jumps in them? Even if that is not the case, is the team even good enough with an aging James Harden as his running mate? It doesn’t seem so. Nevertheless, the Clips won’t get much attention, but they’ll get respect and credit for what they are doing.

To the NFL, where Championship Sunday went down yesterday, and it went as expected. The Eagles took down the Commanders, and the Chiefs got by the Bills, so the Chiefs and Eagles will have a Super Bowl rematch from two years ago. The Commanders had more turnovers in that game than Betty Crocker. Saquon Barkley was basically a cheat code for the game, and AJ Brown finally put down his non-fiction book and caught some passes for the Birds. As for the Chiefs, how can you bet against Mahomes? This dude is luckier than the Lucky Charms Leprechaun, coming up with the right plays in the biggest games, and the biggest moments of these games. Yesterday was no different. But the real story is Brittany Mahomes and her perpetual Raging Bitch Face. Stay single fellas!

Based on what we saw from the Eagles yesterday, the Rams were the 2nd best team in the NFC this year, and were a block away from being in the Super Bowl. The Rams have $46 million cap space, so if they can sign a few key free agents and continue to draft well, along with keeping Matt Stafford playing, they have a window to win another Super Bowl. They need a young stud wide receiver who can take the top off a defense, a really good cornerback, and some reinforcements at running back. They have 14 key free agents, but i think there’s probably only 3 worth signing if it’s the right price: Alaric Jackson, Michael Hecht, and Jimmy G. Looking forward to seeing what this franchise can do, but they need to cash in on what’s left of the Matt Stafford era.

The Raiders shocked everyone last week by hiring Peter Caroll, who is now 73-years old. I can’t tell if this was a football move or a marketing move. The Raiders still have tons of fans in Southern California, which has tons of USC fans, who are huge fans of Caroll. The man is definitely a culture changer, and has the ability to do that with the Raiders, but he may not be there for that long. They also don’t have have a quarterback, they probably won’t get one this year, and they play in a division with the best quarterbacks of his generation which feels somewhat insurmountable. With that being said, a culture change for the Raiders is a good thing at this point.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are still apparently ruining the game by signing more elite free agents. The latest is Kirby Yates, who will anchor the back of the bullpen, along with Tanner Scott, and an army of other elite relievers. They are also still going to bring back Clayton Kershaw, but the only question is if they still have room for Kike Hernandez. Hopefully they do, because he’s a clutch playoff performer. They were also apparently taking a look at Max Scherzer, who was working out for teams last week. He can take a hike as far as I’m concerned, after letting the Dodgers down in 2021, by not pitching in the most critical game of the NLCS because of “arm fatigue”. That means he made a business decision rather than a decision to help the team, with his free agency approaching. I’m still loving all these people losing their minds over every player the Dodgers sign. So now that the Dodgers won a World Series, and aren’t “choking” every year, the league needs a salary cap or a salary floor, and rules need to be in place from preventing them from dominating. Hilarious.

As for the Angels, they made a classic dumpster diving move by signing shortstop Tim Anderson to a minor league deal. The Halos are truly a dumping ground now for MLB players to try and rehab their careers and re-establing value. Anderson was an incredibly talented player whose production has fallen off a cliff. If he’s going to rehab his value, it certainly won’t be because the Halos player development staff helped. That’s virtually non-existent for this franchise.

Finally, the Wall Street Journal came out with a list of the top 9 Domestic Airlines. As an avid traveler, I was fascinated with the results. It was based on 7 factors measuring how well the airlines get people and their luggage where they need to go. The averages are based on the number of flights and passengers on the airlines. Delta was first, followed by Southwest, Alaska, Allegiant, United, Jet Blue, American, Spirit, and Frontier. I’m not surprised that Delta is #1, but I am surprised that American Airlines is as low as they are. As someone who has been an Executive Platinum American Airlines flyer for 4 consecutive years, I can tell you that they have their flaws, but this isn’t a fair fight. American flies to a third more destinations than the next largest airline, Delta. When you fly to more destinations you get cities that can ultimately have varying weather patterns, which will inevitably create more delays. Southwest, Alaska, and Allegiant, and Jet Blue are extremely regional airlines. I’m not saying I haven’t had a bad experience with American, but if you fly enough you will have a bad experience with any one of these airlines.

January 20, 2025

Welcome to the MLK edition of Monday Morning Coffee! We start off with the unfortunate news that the Rams season ended yesterday against the Eagles. Even with the Rams much improved defense and health over the last month, Saquon Barkley once again proved to be a freight train that could not be stopped. That game was won in the trenches by the Eagles, who made big play after big play, which made the Rams tackling look like junior varsity level at certain times. What’s truly disappointing though is it still felt like the Rams should have won that game. They were right there in the end if not for a couple of stupid mistakes. Even Sean McVay thought so. Still, there’s absolutely nothing the Rams should be upset about with their season, and about their team moving forward. They were playing with house money this year, and nobody expected them to go far after a 1-4 start, yet they ended up winning the division, and in the divisional round of the postseason. They have a ton of cap space, an elite young defense that is cost controlled, and some young stars on offense. Next season, no more moral victories. They have to cash in on Matt Stafford’s window, which is closing rapidly. They should really focus their offseason on adding speed and athleticism at both corner and wide receivers, where they could really use a deep threat. I have no idea what happened to Cooper Kupp, who has become a shell of what he once was in a matter of months. He either needs to take a pay cut, or take a hike with his current production. Ultimately though, as long as Sean McVay and Les Snead are here, it feels like the Rams will always be in contention.

Elsewhere around the NFL, the Chiefs won another close one against the Texans, advancing to the AFC Title Game. The Chiefs are now 7-0 when Clay Martin is officiating their games, and pretty soon Patrick Mahomes and Martin are going to be swapping jerseys and taking pictures when the game is over. Meanwhile, after all that hype, Lions fans are going back to their apocalyptic homes after losing to the Commanders in a massive upset. Dan Campbell told Kevin O’Connell “we’ll see you in two weeks” after the Lions beat the Vikings in Week 18. Clearly he meant he’ll see him in Cancun. Jayden Daniels is a beast, and now there’s tons of teams like the Bears kicking themselves for not taking him in the draft. Has anybody checked on Mark Andrews? The man must be on suicide watch after dropping the game tying two-point conversion, and fumbling earlier in the game.

To baseball, where the Dodgers put an amazing exclamation mark on their off-season over the weekend by signing Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki. As if that wasn’t enough, yesterday, they came to an agreement with the top free agent reliever on the market, Tanner Scott. This is what being a Los Angeles sports franchise is all about. Doing everything you can to be a winner. Signing all these stars guarantees nothing in baseball, but as an LA sports fan, the market demands that you do everything you can to win, and the Dodgers are doing just that. Sasaki could have signed with any team in the Majors, but he chose the Dodgers because they are a very well run team, that can help him become what he aspires to be, which is the greatest pitcher in the world. It was adorable that the Padres made all that noise about Sasaki signing with them after their meeting, while the Dodger front office kept quiet as usual until it was a done deal. The Dodgers starting rotation looks about 12-men deep, but that’s because they need to go to a 6-man rotation, and try to keep everyone healthy. In all likelihood, not all these guys will be healthy at one time, which is why it’s silly to try and pencil in who will actually be in the starting rotation. The fact the Dodgers are getting a 23-year older cost controlled pitcher, who has the potential to be the best in the World is really mind blowing after just winning the World Series. Then there’s Tanner Scott, who is expensive for a reliever, but is added to an absolutely star studded bullpen as well. This team is going to be very fun to watch next year. I can’t wait to hear all the talk that “the Dodgers are ruining baseball” just to have them drive ratings and ticket sales through the roof everywhere. Get ready for all those talking heads on on Twitter to start coming up with all these stupid rules to stop the Dodgers from spending, acting like the Dodgers are both smart and have money, while other teams are both poor and stupid, so it needs to be fixed.

I was not in the least bit surprised last night to see the Lakers get completely smashed by the Clippers. The Clippers are the 2nd class citizens of LA, and when they go out to dinner, they probably end up getting a crappy table by the bathroom because they are Clippers. You know when the Clippers play the Lakers if they aren’t on their game giving maximum effort, the Clippers are always going to play with a chip on their shoulder and smash them. This Laker team just won’t give us the consistent effort on a night to night basis, and I still cannot understand why. They’ve had a chance to move up in the Western Conference for a while, but have been hovering right around 5th and 6th place. I’ll give Lebron and a few others the excuse of having to deal with the fires and being evacuated from their homes at the moment, but that inconsistent effort has been there all season long, and we are almost halfway through the season. This team has shown me nothing more than the fact they are good enough to make the playoffs, but not consistent enough to do any real damage and go on a real playoff run. I don’t buy Lebron’s excuse that the way the team is constructed, they don’t have much margin for error. Maybe Jared Vanderbilt will help some, and maybe a trade for another big man might help some, but right now, I just don’t see this team worth investing more future assets in with the effort they are giving us every night, or lack thereof!

Tonight is the night! The College Football National Championship Game between Notre Dame and Ohio State, both of whom will be vying for the first Championship under the first annual 12-Team CFP. I realize that the Irish are big underdogs to the Buckeyes, but this still has a totally different feel than the game against Alabama in 2012. Back then, it truly felt like Notre Dame didn’t belong. In this instance, the Irish may not win with all their injuries, but they do have a very realistic path at pulling off an upset and winning it. When you run the ball and have a very gritty defense, and play physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, you’ve got a chance to win every football game. That’s exactly why Notre Dame could win this game.

Finally, UCLA Basketball stopped the bleeding with a win against Iowa on Friday night. It’s gotten so bad for the Bruins, that they aren’t even mentioned anymore in anybody’s Bracketology. With that being said, there’s probably not a single team left on their schedule that they aren’t capable of beating, and 4 or 5 of those teams are ranked in the top 25. However, it’s really going to be a question of whether or not Mick Cronin’s players still have the confidence in their ability, and if they still want to work with their coach. This is an absolutely pivotal point for the program. It was only two weeks ago they looked like a top 5 team. Now they look like a team that could either go on a run and be dangerous come the NCAA Tournament, or let the bottom fall out on their season, which would put Mick Cronin in jeopardy of losing his job. It’s a very fine line between the two possibilities.

January 13, 2025

It was a rough end to Wild Card Weekend for the Chargers. They went into their matchup against the Texans thinking they got the best of all the matchups, but it was far from the case. Houston had their way with the Bolts all afternoon, and exposed a lot that still needs to be fixed for the Chargers. I know many of you people are going to point to all of Justin Herbert’s interceptions, but there were a lot of other problems that need to be solved. The offensive line got manhandled, and they have a bunch of wide receivers who should be your barista at Starbucks rather than catching passes in the NFL. They could also use some better linebackers as well. It was a disappointing ending, but when you really look at the results, it shows you the Jim Harbaugh did a great job with what he had to work with, and that it should only get better from here. Given Harbaugh’s track record, there is no reason think that the Chargers can’t move themselves closer to AFC Contenders in the near future.

Meanwhile, the Rams are getting ready for their big matchup tonight against Vikings, which was relocated to Glendale, AZ because of the LA wild fires. Since they are playing at State Farm Stadium, are we sure State Farm isn’t going to cancel the game in the next few hours? Seems on brand for them. I think the Rams should be confident coming into the game, given that they’ve beaten the Vikings already, and since Sam Darnold has struggled against some elite defenses this year. However, the one thing that would concern more is just how much preparation time the Rams have had, given all the fires that have been raging, and the chaos that’s created around practice time.

Elsewhere around the NFL, the Ravens dismantled the Steelers, and at this rate, Russell Wilson will be working for Waste Management taking out your trash next year. The Ravens suddenly realized that having a good running back like Derrick Henry helps if you are going to be a running team. The Commanders finally won a playoff and all it took was getting rid of Dan Snyder as their owner! The Bills took down the Broncos, and Bills fans took down more tables at the tailgates. The Eagles beat the Packers, but Jalen Hurts looks rustier than an old nail, after missing a few weeks of action.

In College Football, the Finals are set! Notre Dame is going to be taking on Ohio State next Monday for the National Championship. The Irish may be really banged up and underdogs in this game, but this doesn’t feel like 2012 against Alabama. Notre Dame has a head coach in Marcus Freeman that not only looks like an elite recruiter, but an elite tactician and game manager as well. In fact, their biggest concern is probably the fact that NFL Teams like the Bears are already looking to interview him. In any case, Ohio State looks great, but don’t count out the Irish in this one yet! It’s probably also worth asking Ohio State fans if Ryan Day will still be fired if they win the National Championship?

In the NBA, it feels like the Lakers haven’t played in forever with the wild fires. Incredibly, they are still 6th in the Western Conference after the long layoff. The last time we saw them, it was a shameful showing with complete lack of effort against a Dallas team without Luka and Kyrie. The good news is that Jared Vanderbilt should be coming back this week, which should help their shoddy perimeter defense, which often looks like they could not guard a parked car. I also think that the layoff for Lebron and Anthony Davis is probably good, because let’s be honest, these days they get banged up a lot. My heart also goes out to JJ Redick and his family, after he lost his home in the LA fires.

I don’t know what has happened to UCLA Basketball in a matter of a week, but suddenly they can’t win a game. It’s like Mick Cronin has completely lost the team, and his strategy of humiliating his players publicly isn’t going over well. This is suddenly having a real Ben Howland feel to it, and you even have some people that are calling for Cronin to be fired. It’s clear that the team is limited offensively, but it’s also apparent that when a team suddenly decides to quit on it’s coach. That’s exactly what we have seen the last few games. The Bruins need to turn this around quick, or the bottom could fall out on their season in no time.

In baseball, I was very disappointed to learn that the Dodgers traded Gavin Lux to the Reds, but he definitely deserved an opportunity to play everyday. It’s amazing that the Dodgers have so much organizational depth that players like Diego Cartaya and Gavin Lux had to be unloaded, and also unloaded for very little. With that being said, Lux is an excellent player who helped the Dodgers win two World Series, and I wish him very well in Cincinnati. On the Hot Stove front, there’s now rumors that Jack Flaherty is open to a short-term high average annual value deal from a team. Look, I like Jack Flaherty and he held helped the Dodgers hold their rotation together in the playoffs, but the Boys in Blue shouldn’t be spending $20+ million to keep him, even for a short-term deal. I would much rather spend the money on a high leverage reliever like Tanner Scott. Of course my opinion might change if they Dodgers are unable to land Roki Sasaki, but we should find out soon enough if that is the case!

Finally, my heart goes out to all the victims of the wild fires in Los Angeles this week. One thing I am happy to see though is how the community of Southern California is coming together to help those victims in amazing ways. Of course when things like this happen, everyone wants to get political. There’s a time and place for that though. Maybe just not in the immediate aftermath of people losing their homes, and this coming from someone who doesn’t like California politics, and thinks that the way things are currently being run needs to be re-evaluated. Even with that being said, it amazes me people who do not live in California take the opportunity to complain about it, and specifically the cost of living. If you don’t like it, don’t live here, and it’s not your business, so we don’t need your opinion on it. Also, the destruction isn’t some rich people problem. California has hustlers and people who worked hard to get where they are in life, and be able to afford to live here. They need people’s support to get through this, and they will.