Monday Morning Coffee

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.

Rams receiver Cooper Kupp celebrates with his family after winning Super Bowl LVI and being voted the MVP.

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.

Luka Doncic listens to player introductions with his head bowed before a Lakers game.

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!

Monday Morning Coffee

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.

Beyoncé honors first responders in Grammys speech for album of the year win  | Fox News

Monday Morning Coffee

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.

Monday Morning Coffee

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.

Monday Morning Coffee

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.

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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.

UCLA guard Sebastian Mack drives to the basket under pressure from Michigan guard Nimari Burnett

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!

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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.

Monday Morning Coffee

January 6, 2025

The Lakers lost a tough one yesterday to the Rockets, and some stupid mistakes happened in crunch time. However, overall, things are still starting to look up for this team. Dorian Finney Smith is making a big impact defensively with Max Christie, which isn’t showing up in the box score but it’s happening. They have a tremendous opportunity to reel off about 9 win or so in their next 10 games, and inch closer to the top few seeds in the West. Considering that February is going to be a lot more brutal, this is the time for them to bank wins. It also raises the question of whether or not they should be making another trade before the deadline. Everybody thinks they need a center, and possibly another ball handling guard that can shoot. All that’s true, but is it really worth trading 1st round picks for a guy that’s only going to play 20 minutes a game in the playoffs? It might just be better to wait until Jared Vanderbilt and Christian Wood get healthy. Even the idea of a player like De’Aaron Fox sounds great, until you realize the Lakers would have to gut their team to acquire someone making that much money. In reality the Lakers best hope might be to just improve within. As for Charles Barkley and JJ Redick talking smack back and forth, I have no problem with the approach either took. JJ didn’t even call out Barkley specifically, when talking about how the media keeps reminding us how the product sucks. Barkley on the other hand felt the need to call out JJ, and remind us that the product does suck, and that he’s just a big Laker hater. Chuck is always good for ratings, and he’s wildly entertaining, but his critique is totally fair. There’s nothing wrong with JJ’s take either, even though I don’t agree that the NBA is more talented now than ever. It’s completely fine for both to have widely differing opinions. It was a hilarious segment though on TNT if you had not seen it, check it out below.

As for the Clippers, it’s a Christmas miracle! Kawhi Leonard made his season debut over the weekend. He was limited to 20 minutes in his first game, which was a blowout win against the Hawks. Kawhi was nothing special in his debut, clearly trying to get back into game shape. He says he will build up his minutes, but of course the question everyone is going to have is if he can really build up his minutes without getting injured again. Only time will tell. The Clippers have overachieved to this point, but is anybody really surprised? This team actually has played better over the years without their stars than with all of them. The Clippers just hitched their wagon to the wrong stars, but are stuck with them for the time being.

To the NFL, where I know what you’re thinking. Why did the Rams rest their starters yesterday against the Seahawks with the #3 seed on the line? When you really think about it, it was the right move. Tyler Higbee got injured last year in a game with similar stakes last year. It’s football, you can get hurt easily, and risking the Rams best players health for the #3 seed vs #4 seed wasn’t worth it. Had the Rams won, they would have had to face a very mobile quarterback in Jayden Daniels that would have completely neutralized their pass rush. That game wouldn’t have been much easier than facing either the Lions or the Vikings, who are both excellent teams as well. The Rams already beat the Vikings, and I could actually talk myself into playing them again. Sam Darnold is banged up, and he’s a subzero refrigerator sitting in the pocket, who the Rams could really abuse. If the Vikings can’t stop Jahmyr, then how are they going to stop Kyren? The game is nearly going to be a coin flip, but the Rams should feel really good about their chances. Don’t sleep on this team!

Meanwhile, the Chargers got exactly what they wanted! Securing the #5 seed and a date with the Houston Texans next week during Wild Card Weekend. This is clearly the ideal matchup for the Bolts, who should feel like they can almost bully the Texans. Houston is what you would describe as a finesse football team, which is usually ripe for a Jim Harbaugh team to come in and tear them apart. Either way, the Bolts definitely overachieved in their first year under Harbaugh, and they should be very excited about what’s ahead regardless of the outcome. This could be a fun couple of weeks for the Chargers in the playoffs in any case, and one they could make extremely interesting.

In College Football, for those of you Notre Dame haters, are the Irish “relevant” yet? They knocked off Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff. This team could easily beat Penn State on Thursday in the Orange Bowl, and believe it or not, winning a National Championship isn’t out of the question for this team. The real eye opening part of this though is Marcus Freeman, and his masterclass in coaching. He completely out coached Kirby Smart, and has also done an excellent job recruiting. I also find is very interesting that he is an African American coach who completely rejects the concept of DEI, and is just focused on coaching and winning football. The real problem for the Irish is it’s not going to be long before NFL teams come calling for him. That’s a first class problem at this point for the Irish, who look like real contenders for the National Championship. They just have to hope they don’t run into Ohio State!

To baseball, where the Dodgers are at it again, this time signing Korean Infielder Hyseong Kim. Amazing….another talented super utility infielder, who can play great defense, and will likely be a solid bat that just puts the ball in play. That’s definitely going to be useful for this Dodger team, but obviously leads to questions about other players. Stop trying to tell me that Gavin Lux is going to get traded, because even the organization is saying he’s not at the moment. Yes other teams are calling, but unless something blows them away, Lux has proven he’s an excellent player when he’s in the lineup regularly. Don’t listed to those yahoos that want him off the team because they saw one bad inning during the World Series. The real question though is what happens with Kike Hernandez. Kike is another emotional leader who elevates his game in the playoffs. They need to find a way to bring him back. It’s probably more wise to eat the salary of Chris Taylor, and move him to another team, just to open space for Kike. It’s amazing to me that the Dodgers are so deep that they had to DFA Diego Cartaya, who was their top prospect not long ago. Meanwhile, we are all on pins and needles waiting for the decision of Japanese pitching sensation Roku Saski!

On the other hand, the Angels are essentially being used as leverage with any free agent mentioned. Anthony Santander? Pete Alonso? I don’t really see the fit with any of these guys, because they need to be DH’s, and the Halos have enough of those guys. Then again, this is the Angels we are talking about, so if it doesn’t make sense, then they will probably do it!

Finally, on the ice the LA Kings are winning, but GM Rob Blake continues to mismanage his assets. This time the Kings put Arthur Kaliyev on waivers, who was once a prized young prospect the Kings were trying to develop. This guy is going to get swooped up by somebody, and end up scoring 30-goals for them. The Kings are winning with defense, but they desperately need secondary scoring, and Power Play help. You can only do that by developing talent, or trading for it at this point in the season. Developing it is much more ideal, and the Kings have blown that opportunity with Kaliyev. The Kings might actually be Stanley Cup Contenders if it weren’t for Blake and his mistake after mistake.

Monday Morning Coffee

December 30, 2024

There is much to get to in this addition of Monday Morning Coffee, starting with the Lakers, who finally made a trade yesterday. They acquired Dorian Finney Smith, a 3-and-D player, and a reserve guard Shake Milton, for D’Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis, and 3 2nd round picks. Finally! Rob Pelinka made a trade. Even Jimmy Carter waited until Pelinka made a deal before he passed away on Sunday (God rest his soul). At face value, I really like the move. The Lakers really needed better perimeter defenders, and they are getting that with DFS, who has also been a reliable 3-point shooter. Don’t sleep on Shake Milton either, who could be a useful guard off the bench who can replace some of D-Lo’s scoring. D-Lo was a solid shooter, but he was streaky, and he was becoming tougher to play in the backcourt with Austin Reaves, which exposed their perimeter defense a lot more. It will be interesting to see if the Lakers can do something to beef up their front court before the trade deadline with the likes of a Jonas Valanciunas or Robert Williams. In any case, the Lakers roster appears a lot more balanced now, but hopefully we can see a more consistent effort on the floor from them, like we have in last 6 games. By the way, I guess the Lakers and Warriors missed the memo that “the NBA is boring” given how they played such an awesome game on Christmas Day!

Meanwhile, believe it or not, there is actually a target return date for Kawhi Leonard. That date is believed to be January 4th, which is 5 days from now against the Atlanta Hawks at home. They key word here is “target”, and if you listen to Ty Lue, he will tell you, or I guess I should say he is being told by Kawhi’s people that he needs more time to practice 5-on-5. Sorry Ty, but you know this is a complete load of crap. You know that the only way Kawhi is going to get back into NBA game shape is by playing in real NBA games, not some 24-Hour Fitness like cardio in practice. If his people are telling you otherwise, it’s because they know he’ll be lucky to give you 30 games this year with the deteriorating condition of his knees. The fact Kawhi was able to pull of 60+ games last year to convince the Clippers to give him a massive extension is really astonishing. When his contract is up, there is simply no way any team could be bamboozled into paying this man that kind of money again.

To the NFL, where the Rams pulled out another victory over the weekend, and after a handful of teams lost yesterday, they have clinched the NFC West! It’s remarkable how far this defense has come in the last few months. Jared Verse is suddenly the favorite to win the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of The Year. Who says the Rams have no fans? They absolutely showed out on Saturday night, and the place was as loud as I’ve ever heard it. On a slightly more serious note though, there are some concerns with the offense. Matt Stafford isn’t being protected like he was a couple of weeks ago, and Joe Noteboom might get Stafford killed. But the real concern is the passing game. There isn’t much of a vertical threat. It’s basically Puka Nacua on a bunch of screens, while Cooper Kupp suddenly can’t create the separation we used to see. That’s going to make it tough for Kyren Williams to be effective on the ground for long stretches. If the Rams have any hopes of beating a team like Green Bay and going on a deep playoff run, they will need to clean up this portion of their game, and quickly.

The Rams weren’t the only LA Football team that clinched a playoff spot over the weekend. The Chargers dismantled the Patriots on Saturday, locking up a postseason berth for the 2nd time in 3 seasons. Jim Harbaugh beat Nick Saban in the Rose Bowl, won the College Football Playoff national championship to give Michigan an undefeated 15-0 season and took the Los Angeles Chargers to the NFL Playoffs in the same calendar year. He’s a Hall of Fame coach in both the NCAA and NFL. Not only that, but Chargers may have drafted a franchise right tackle, a franchise wide receiver, and two franchise cornerbacks in the last draft. Just give Jim Harbaugh a little more time and this defense will only get better, and they’ll even add a few more weapons on offense. Justin Herbert doesn’t have the flashy numbers of a few years ago, but he’s been solid and a very good leader. The Bolts have not won a postseason game since 2018. But the best thing that could happen to them is to win next week and have the Steelers lose to the Bengals. That would give them a very favorable 1st round match up against the Texans.

Some of you Trojan fans may have forgotten, or tried to forget that the Las Vegas Bowl was over the weekend against Texas A&M. This was actually a great game, and USC had quite a rally to win this one. It was an exciting win, and something to feel good about for the Trojans going into next year. However, I don’t think Jayden Maiava is an ideal starting QB for USC moving forward. He had to overcome three interceptions in that game, and originally, everyone was led to believe that Maiava was much more mobile than Miller Moss. It turns out that really wasn’t the case, and Maiava really isn’t better than Moss, who is now transferring out of USC. Of course Maiava was praised by Lincoln Riley, because what else is he going to say? You’re only as good as your options are, and right now, he is the best and only option available to them moving forward, unless they are pleasantly surprised in the transfer portal.

Don’t look now but UCLA Football suddenly has the #4 transfer portal class according to rivals.com. Then there’s this. Ethan Garbers has exhausted his eligibility. Justyn Martin has transferred to Maryland. Former Appalachian State star Joey Aguilar, announced his commitment to the Bruins on Saturday. Aguilar put up some very gaudy numbers as the Appalachian State starting quarterback. Since no other QB on the UCLA roster has any college experience, the job is clearly Aguilar’s to lose. There’s still a lot of work to be done, but things are looking up in Westwood, and DeShaun Foster might actually know what he’s doing.

Speaking of UCLA, they finally broke through against Gonzaga, defeating them for the first time in the Mick Cronin era, at the Intuit Dome on Saturday. It was heartbreak after heartbreak against the Zags, but this time there was no half court buzzer beater, or other ridiculous devastation. It sure looked like Sebastian Mack tried with that stupid late game foul, but Skyy Clark made two clutch free throws to put the game away. The Bruins should move up significantly in the rankings after this one, and despite the loss to Kentucky, the wins against Oregon and Gonzaga should go a long way toward the their March Madness resume. This team is definitely going to win with defense, and that’s what they did on Saturday, along with some timely 3-point shooting. Dylan Andrews is really the Ethan Garbers of the basketball team. That’s not a good thing for this team.

The Dodgers made another big move over the weekend! They re-signed Teoscar Hernandez to a 3-year $66 million contract. Great for the Dodgers and great for Teo, who the team rewarded for having a fantastic season, and leading the team to a World Series Championship. Not only is Teo a big bat in the lineup, but he also was the emotional leader of the ball club this past season, which they desperately needed, given their playoff failures of seasons past. That cannot go unnoticed, and it’s a great thing that Andrew Friedman recognized this. So what’s next? This has been a fantastic off-season thus far, which can be capped off by signing Roki Sasaki, re-signing Kike Hernandez, and adding a high leverage reliever like Tanner Scott.

On the other hand, ESPN came out with a top 10 ranking of the most frustrated MLB fan bases. Sure enough the Angels came out at #1. The reasons cited were the fact they wasted prime years of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in their lineup, gave out a terrible contract to Anthony Rendon, and Arte Moreno refuses to spend more money on significantly improving the club. Knowing the Halos luck, Anthony Rendon probably injured himself opening Christmas gifts, so he’ll bee out for a significant portion of time I’m sure. This type of attitude for an owner just makes you look like a buffoon in the Southern California sports market, as opposed to the cool successful wealthy guy that is beloved by all his friends.

Finally, sports broadcasting legend, Greg Gumble passed away from cancer last week. The man was 78 years old, and in my mind is considered one of the voices of March Madness and the NFL. There was no other feeling in sports quite like 6pm ET on Selection Sunday, hearing the CBS music & Greg Gumble announcing the tournament field. Thank you for everything Mr Gumble!

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Monday Mornng Coffee

December 23, 2024

Remember two months ago when some people said the Rams should tear it down and rebuild? Well those same Rams are 8-2 in their last 10 games and one win a way from clinching the NFC West. I will never figure out why this team starts so slowly, but they always seem to come up big in the 2nd half. Keep in mind, this is the first time all year they have been healthy, now that they’ve got a healthy offensive line, including Tyler Higbee back at Tight End. I’m not saying the Rams are going to win the Super Bowl, and they may be another year away. However, they are suddenly protecting Matt Stafford well, their defense is looking more and more elite every week, and they run the ball. All of those things make a recipe for an excellent team that will be very difficult to beat come playoff time.

The Chargers also came up big on Thursday night against the Broncos. Once again, that was the type of game the Bolts would have lost in recent years. Now that we are in the Jim Harbaugh era, they have way more confidence to rally from the deficit that they did, and are far more mentally tough. I think we may have forgotten how good Justin Herbert is until he made that ridiculous throw to Darius Davis, who most of you probably never heard of until he made that catch. I’m sure everyone wanted the free kick rule explained to them like they were five years old after that went down. I also think Sean Payton is a total liar, trying to convince us that they practice the fair catch free kick. It looks like the Chargers are going to clinch a playoff spot, and end up facing the Ravens or Steelers on the road in Wild Card Weekend. I think they would prefer the latter, but either way things are looking up for the Bolts.

Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 16, the Eagles got to 10-1 and then thought the job was done and they could go home. They are also clowning the Commanders for beating them without Jalen Hurts. They lost a tough one to Washington. The 49ers were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Dolphins, and those snobby Bay Area fans are going to be crying on their drive down “The 5 Freeway”. The Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs, then of course they turned into the 90’s version of the Cowboys and started winning meaningless games. Bryce Young bounced back this season for Carolina, and then proceeded to bounce Kyler Murray and the Cardinals out of the playoffs race. Joe Biden accused the Giants of quitting yesterday against the Falcons. The Bengals decided to wake up like they usually do towards the end of the season, but may not be in time to make the playoffs, after beating the Browns. The Lions are 13-2 after taking down the Bears. Do we live in the Twilight Zone?

To the NBA, where the Lakers are trying to re-group after a rough couple of weeks. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 games after sweeping a two-game series with the Kings. Lebron looked great after an extended time off. And no….Lebron wasn’t taking time off for your stupid theories about his involvement in the Diddy parties. The time off does make you wonder if they should be giving him 8 days off every 15 games. The problem is the Lakers can’t afford to do that. The West is so close, and the Lakers are so dependent on Lebron and AD to succeed. Honestly, they aren’t even playing that well right now, but the difference is their effort defensively has been great. Max Christie suddenly looks like a very good wing defender. However, now that Gabe Vincent is playing well, the Lakers need to trade him while his value is up. Dude has played well for a couple of months the last few years, and the only reasons he got the contract he did was because it came during the playoffs, when people were actually watching basketball.

The Clippers lost to the Mavericks last night on the road, and they are now 16-13. Of course we’ve been hearing people say “that’s pretty good without Kawhi, wait until he comes back!” Those people are hilarious. You’ve been fooled by the “Wait until Kawhi comes back” myth for 5 years, so I guess what is a 6th year? Sure he will supposedly be back in the next few weeks, but how long can the guy possible last without getting hurt again? He’s coming back with a new haircut, but the team is probably really concerned he was going to get injured receiving it.

Well you finally got your 12-Team College Football Playoff and the first weekend looked like a dumpster fire for casual football fan. Notre Dame fans, among other winners, don’t care about casual football fan. The Irish looked much better than they are being given credit for, and wiped out Indiana in the 1st round of the playoffs. If they can beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, winning a National Championship isn’t out of the question. As for the rest of the playoff, it’s still way better than having a 4-Team Tournament. If anything, we learned that 18 and 19-year old kids don’t play well on the road, since none of the road teams came close to winning. The seeding will have to get better over time, and maybe they will even re-seed teams. It doesn’t make much sense to punish Oregon by playing Ohio State this early, when those are arguably the two best teams left.

In College Basketball, UCLA was in a very giving mood over the weekend, giving away a 16-point lead to North Carolina, and falling to the Tar Heels. This was a team that looked much closer to a top-5 or top-10 team for most of the game, before collapsing down the stretch, and now we don’t really know what they are. Next week against Gonzaga will tell us a bit more, but for now we can consider the Bruins at least a Top -25 team and not sure beyond that. One thing that was exposed in that game: UCLA doesn’t have a go-to scorer with a go-to move down the stretch. Tyler Bilodeau is nice, but doesn’t quite look like a late-game prime time player. He’s predictable. The same goes for Skyy Clark, and Sebastian Mack, who just puts his head down and goes to the basket on every play. That doesn’t work with less than 10 seconds left. The rest of this is correctable, like free throw shooting. However, it does make you question just how high the ceiling really can be for this group.

UCLA's Tyler Bilodeau, right, looks to shoot over North Carolina's Ty Claude at Madison Square Garden.

The Dodgers learned this morning that playoff hero, Walker Buehler will be signing a one-year deal for $21 million with the Boston Red Sox. I was really hoping the Dodgers could bring him back, but I completely understand the reality of why both sides couldn’t make it work. Buehler still have a very high ceiling, especially if you look at what he did in the last month of the season. However, this is a guy who is coming off two Tommy John Surgeries, who only pitched well for a month, even though it was the most important month of the season. Obviously the Dodgers weren’t comfortable with $21 million, and probably more likely in the range of $10-$15 million given what we saw. For Buehler, he knows he needs to re-establish his value, and he looks at the Dodgers with a stacked rotation, and maybe not having the opportunity re-establish that value with so much competition. It’s unfortunate, but this was probably the best decision for both sides, and both sides can be better off for it. Buehler gets his opportunity and maximizes his 2025 earnings, and the Dodgers probably got the best years out of Buehler, including multiple World Series Titles. He also gets nothing but respect from me because he pitched until his arm was cooked in the playoffs against Atlanta in 2021, while that punk Max Scherzer complained of “arm fatigue” and quit on his team. As for the rest of the rumors, stop trying to make this Nolan Arenado trade to the Dodgers happen. The Dodgers have no place for him. This isn’t 2018. He’s old and washed, and the Dodgers currently have a better and cheaper 3rd baseman. They should figure out a way to make it work with Teoscar Hernandez though. Teo and the Dodgers are a measly $5 million apart, which is nothing. Oh and while they’re at it, sign Roki Sasaki!

Finally, I’m not going to buy into this LA Kings hype. I’ve heard some of you people praising Rob Blake for his poverty off-season moves. Give me break. This team is the exact same as last year. The division got worse outside of Edmonton, and everybody else is status quo, which will allow the Kings to stay a playoff team, but they have no chance of being a cup contender. On the bright side they are finally allowing their kids to play like Alex Turcotte, Brandt Clark, and Akil Thomas, but outside of that it’s going to be the same old story with this group.

Monday Morning Coffee

December 16, 2024

Let’s start with a realistic talk about the Lakers. Yes, they won last night, but they’ve got a lot of work to do. Some of you want to trade Lebron, while some of you want to trade Lebron and AD and blow up this whole roster immediately. That’s just not as realistic as you think right now. Lebron received a no-trade clause when he signed his extension. There’s a reason he asked for it. He dictates where he wants to go, and chance are he doesn’t want to go. From the Lakers perspective, sure it would be nice to get a couple of 1st rounders, but the reality is trading a 40-year old Lebron isn’t going to yield a whole lot of useful assets. From Lebron’s perspective, where can he possibly go and win and be a championship contender, without gutting a team of all its key role players? That’s actually the problem he’s experiencing on the Lakers. The bottom line is both sides are stuck with each other, so you can stop with the Bill Plaschke “let’s blow it up” takes. Then there’s those of you that have been pleading to upgrade the roster. However, if the Lakers are going to trade a 1st round pick or two to improve this team, they need to show a lot more than they have to prove they are worth investing future assets in. The way this team is playing now, acquiring Dorian Finney Smith, Jonas Valanciunas, or Cam Johnson isn’t going make this team any better than a play-in team. If Lebron wants a roster upgrade, he needs to get more out of what they have now, and show us they are worth investing in. Thus far, they have not. Otherwise, once Lebron retires, the Lakers are well positioned with all their own draft picks after this year, over $60 million in cap space in 2026, and a superstar they can either choose to build with, or get more assets for in AD.

Then there’s the Clippers. They are still hanging in there without Kawhi, 14-12, and there’s noise that he will come back soon. As usual, Ty Lue and the organization sound completely in the dark as to when he is actually going to be back, despite the fact they are seeing him go through practice. It sure would be nice for them to get him back though, because the attendance at the Intuit Dome has suffered. By all accounts, the experience at the arena has been great. However, since the on-court product has suffered, there is only about 75% attendance on many nights. They may be announcing sell-outs because brokers are buying up the tickets, but they aren’t putting butts in the seats, which is exactly what Steve Ballmer had to have been concerned about coming into the season. Unfortunately for the Clips, they tied their franchise to the poster boy of load management, and a big reason why NBA ratings are suffering.

As you’ve probably heard, NBA ratings have been down, while every other sport has been up. Why? Well first of all, don’t tell me it’s because “The NBA is too woke.” That storyline is from 4 years ago, and we’re past most of that nonsense. There’s three main issues. First, the blackout rules and accessibility to games hurts. If you have NBA League Pass, you can’t even watch in-market games. Then there’s the on-court product, which let’s be honest, isn’t great. Every NBA team thinks Steph Curry plays for them, so they do nothing but launch 40-50 three pointers a night, and there’s little to no defense being played, with no physicality. There’s also the fact the best players think their heads are gonna fall off playing back-to-back games throughout the season, or anywhere near 82 games. The NBA needs to think about how to fix these things, especially if they want to appeal to Gen Z.

To the NFL, where the Rams are on a nice little run. After defeating the 49ers on Thursday Night Football, they are now 7-2 in their last 9 games, and they’ve moved into 1st place in the NFC West. With 3 games left against the Jets, Cardinals, and Seahawks, the Rams control their own destiny to win the division. They are also looking much healthier, on the offensive line especially, and it’s been showing. The Rams found a way to win a high-scoring affair against the Bills, followed by a defensive slug fest in the rain against the 49ers. All of a sudden, the Rams are dangerous, and if things break right, they might even be able to make a deep run in the NFC. This could be a fun couple of weeks!

As for the Chargers, I don’t know what team that was that played the Bucs yesterday, but it didn’t look anything like the team we’ve seen all season. Baker Mayfield and the Bucs cooked the Bolts, hanging 40 points on them. The defense was non-existent, and the offense couldn’t convert on 3rd down. That’s a game where you take the film and just burn it. The Chargers need to win just 2 of their last 3 games to get in the playoffs, and their schedule includes Denver, New England, and Las Vegas. The latter two teams aren’t even trying to win games at this point, so if the Bolts can’t get in the playoffs, they have some serious issues.

Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 15, the Chiefs won a game in bizarre fashion, a game where it wasn’t close and didn’t require help from the referees! The Bills got by the Lions, and Josh Allen was committing flops and getting calls like he was James Harden. The Cowboys beat the Panthers, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say they actually look better with Cooper Rush as their QB than Dak Prescott. The old guys came through for the Jets, as Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adam’s hooked up for two touchdowns in their win against the Jaguars. The Bengals beat the Titans, but they are hoping for a Christmas miracle to get in the playoffs at this point.

Nice win by UCLA Basketball over the weekend at Arizona. The Bruins are now 9-1 after rallying from a 13-point deficit against the Wildcats. Going into the game they were ranked #24 in the AP Poll. This team is looking very typical Mick Cronin. Very gritty with some absolutely dominant defense at times. They have some playmakers on offense that they need to give them timely buckets, which they did on Saturday. This team is not nearly as young as they were last year, led by the likes of Junior Forward Tyler Bilodeau, and Junior Guard Sky Clark, but of whom came up big against Arizona. UCLA will take on North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Saturday, and then they’ll get #8 Gonzaga at the Intuit Dome 3 days after Christmas.

To baseball, where the hot stove continues to simmer for the Dodgers. I’m much more optimistic that they can re-sign Teoscar Hernandez. Teo seems to have over estimated his market, even after Juan Soto signed. There is clearly motivation on both sides to get a deal done, which is great. Roku Saski is about a month away from making a decision. I’m optimistic Kike Hernandez will return, but I’m growing less optimistic about Walker Buehler. It sounds like there’s teams out there that are willing to give him a multi-year deal with opt outs, but the bigger issue he may see with the Dodgers is that if they have a lot of starters, he may not have the opportunity to fully re-establish his true market value. For the life of me though, I don’t understand why some of you want the Dodgers to trade for Nolan Arenado. The guy is expensive and way past his prime. The Dodgers currently have a cheaper and more productive 3rd baseman in Max Muncy. I love the idea of Boys in Blue signing a high leverage reliever like Tanner Scott. You can never have enough pitching and bullpen, so hopefully that comes to fruition.

Finally, many of you are waiting on the Angels to make a big move, but don’t hold your breath. Corbin Burnes is available, but do you really see Arte shelling out $300 million for a guy like that? They sure need a guy like that, and a big-time reliever like Tanner Scott. The Halos could also use a bat like Cody Bellinger or Nolan Arenado, but what could they possibly give up that would interest the Cubs or Cardinals? I sure can’t see them taking on any of these big salaries, so you should expect more of the same.

Monday Morning Coffee

December 9, 2024

What a surprising and phenomenal win by the Rams yesterday against the Bills! Some of you forgot that the Rams are actually coached by Sean McVay, who is in fact one of the best coaches in football. Matt Stafford was a play-action passing killer, and the Rams condensed formations gave the Bills a hard time all game. Say what you will about LA benefitting from some poor officiating, but they still did a great job involving their running backs in the passing game with quick dump-offs, and taking well timed shots down the field. McVay should never give up play calling duties. The Rams could easily win their next 4 games, and they still have an opportunity to make the playoffs by either winning the division or a wild card berth. This team is still dangerous and can play with anybody when it’s healthy. Hopefully they continue to show that over the next 4 weeks.

As for the Chargers, they hung with the Chiefs right until the end on Sunday Night Football, but sure enough, the Chiefs won another close game. At some point you would think KC is bound to lose one of these close games, but it just hasn’t happened yet. Say what you will about the refs and all, but they just know how to execute when the game is on the line, and they have the best quarterback in the game in Patrick Mahomes, even though he sounds like Kermit The Frog. The flip side to all this is that the Bolts have 8 wins with the worst Wide Receivers and Tight Ends in the league. It’s only going to get better. I could still see the Chargers upsetting any of higher seeds in the 1st round of the playoffs given how tough they are becoming to play against.

Last night we learned that Juan Soto signed a 15 year deal with New York Mets for $765 million. The contract actually has escalators to make it worth up to $805 million. Good for Soto for getting the bag, but it’s hilarious that Jeff Passan and others are out here claiming the Mets had a better future. Good one guys. The Yankees have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole. The Mets have Francisco Lindor and no pitching. The Yankees offered $760 million, which he and Scott Boras thought was poor people stuff. That means he thought he probably thought whatever the Dodgers offered wouldn’t even be able to feed his family. Funny, I haven’t seen any “The Mets are ruining baseball” tweets yet since this news broke, even though they will have a higher payroll than the Dodgers. The Boys in Blue dodged a bullet not signing this guy, and all you need to see is how much better the Padres were last year without him. Nice move though bringing back Blake Treinen. Hopefully they can do the same with Teoscar Hernandez, Walker Buehler, and Kike Hernandez. Michael Conforto was a nice addition as well.

I didn’t really want to talk about it, but at some point I guess I have to address the train wreck that is the Lakers. They may have won last night, but this team just looks like they don’t care for many stretches. How can a team with Lebron James and Anthony Davis play like that? I don’t want to hear about injury excuses from Lebron. There are no circumstances where you should just get blown off the floor in games like the Lakers have been the last couple of weeks. Many fans have just about had it with this team and want to trade Lebron and AD to start rebuilding. I’m just not there yet with this group. We’re only a quarter of the way into the season. With that being said though, if they don’t show us they will start caring, this team is certainly not worth investing more assets and draft capital to win-now.

The Clippers meanwhile are treading water nicely in 6th place in the West, but the questions about Kawhi remain. Bill Simmons tweeted out that he has heard from sources that Kawhi will be back by Christmas. However, when you ask Ty Lue, he has no idea. This is so typical. People see this guy ramping up his activities and he looks fine, prompting the speculation that he will be back soon. You know though that his people are going to keep holding him back from playing to preserve whatever he has left in his knees. It’s Ground Hog day all over again!

To College Football, where the 12-Team playoff bracket was announced yesterday. America definitely won yesterday when Alabama was not part of the field. My Fighting Irish of Notre Dame will be the 7th seed and face Indiana in the 1st round, for an in-state cold weather battle in South Bend. That should be a good one, and a very winnable game for them. In fact, I don’t hate their chances against Georgia either. If there is one thing we learned though, it’s that the committee does value not just winning the Conference Championship Games, but even playing in them. That’s why the likes of Penn State and Texas were the 5th and 6th seeds.

Meanwhile, the Trojans are going to wrap up the season in the Las Vegas Bowl, facing Texas A&M. Ok, it’s kind of cool that they will play at Allegiant Stadium, but that’s about it. USC fans can’t be happy about playing in Vegas in a year where 12-teams can now make the playoffs, Big Ten or not. To put more salt in the wound, the Trojans have an alarming number of High School California recruits who ended up going to other programs, which isn’t a good look for Lincoln Riley. This program is going to have to rely on the transfer portal for some significant improvement next year.