April 16, 2023

That was quite a statement win for the Lakers yesterday against Memphis. They look rested, focused, and disciplined, while the Grizzlies looked like a very inexperienced squad, despite their talent. Think about this: Anthony Davis and Lebron James were the Lakers 3rd and 4th best players yesterday. The Lakers are so deep, the Grizzlies could adjust, and next game it could be the likes of Malik Beasley or Dennis Schroeder that beat them, let alone Lebron and AD dominating. Having an extra day of rest is also working in the Lakers favor too. Never thought I’d see the day Austin Reaves ran down the court with Lebron as his teammate yelling “I’m him!” Call me weird, but I’d much rather see Ja Morant healthy, because I don’t want to see any excuses from people as to why the Lakers won the series. The only thing that should make you nervous if you’re a Laker fan is that Charles Barkley thinks they are going to the conference finals. If Barkley thinks the sun is going to rise tomorrow, I’d be nervous the world is going to end.

As for the Clippers, don’t act like Russell Westbrook didn’t make you nervous as hell yesterday in that game. Most of you people were probably wondering why he wasn’t sitting on the bench in the 4th, but Ty Lue gambled and it worked out. Russ’s shooting percentage was sinking faster than Joe Biden’s approval rating yesterday, but he did manage to make a great defensive play at the end, and sank two clutch free throws to win it. Of course in typical Russ fashion, he couldn’t control his emotions, and at halftime went at it with a fan, breaking NBA protocol, and potentially getting suspended for game 2. The Suns are good, but they’ve only played 8 games with their full complement of players. I’ve seen dudes in 24 Hour Fitness pick up games with more chemistry than that. Kawhi has been playing at an elite level for a while now, and if he continues to do so, the Clips might just get out of this series with a win, without Paul George.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are having their problems. They lost two of three to the Cubs over the weekend, falling to 8-8. In 5 their wins this season, they scored 8 runs ore more. In 5 of their losses, they scored 2 runs or less. The lineup is just wildly inconsistent, and even Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman have been struggling of late. Their starting pitching and bullpen also isn’t as deep and as dominant as the last couple of years, so you just never know what you’re going to get from these guys. Despite Chris Taylor’s homers this weekend, he’s only hitting .135, and has been bad for over a year now. The best news for the Dodgers is the fact that they are only one game out of 1st place, and it’s the Diamondbacks they are currently chasing.

Then there’s the Angels, who lost three in a row over the weekend in Boston, against the Red Sox. The Halos are now 7-8 with some very frustrating losses. They’ve had the lead in 7 of those 8 losses, and all of them came by one or two runs. I feel like we’re trying to convince ourselves that this team is much better than they are, but when you watch them they are flawed, in the bullpen especially. When losses get tough like this, leadership in the clubhouse is also critical, and I’m just not sure they have it. Ohtani and Trout are great players, but are they leaders? This is probably about the time we’ll find out.

UCLA Basketball got some tough news last week. Amari Bailey will be entering the NBA Draft. For a hot second I thought with Adem Bona, Bailey, and a couple of solid transfers, this team might be able to be a contender again. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like the case, especially with Tyger Campbell, also declaring for the draft as well.

The LA Kings are back in the playoffs, and they will open up a 7 game series against the Oilers tonight in Edmonton. The Kings are much better than they were last year, but unfortunately, so are the Oilers. The worst part about this for the Kings is that two of their most important offensive players, Gabe Vilardi and Kevin Fiala, will probably not be ready to play tonight due to injury. I like the fact that Coach Todd McClellan said that he would either start Joonas Korpisalo or Phoenix Copley tonight in goal. Thanks for the info Todd, otherwise I would have thought there was a chance you could start Patrick Roy.

April 10, 2023

The Lakers did it. They went 17-7 down the stretch to finish the regular season as the 7th seed, and qualify for the play-in tournament. Had they played those last 24 games with more of Lebron James and Anthony Davis, they might have finished as high as 4th. They only played 10 games together after the All-Star break. Prior to yesterday, I was beginning to think that these guys worked for “Chick Fil A” since they never seemed to be available on Sunday. Finishing 7th is impressive and goes to show you how much better of roster they have after the trade deadline. However, one can’t help but question just how much gas this team has in the tank, and how durable they are to get through the West. It’s imperative that they win on Tuesday against the Wolves, which won’t be easy. They badly need the 5 days of rest leading up to a first round series with Memphis. Must be a tough situation for the Wolves. They obviously want to win, but the longer they play, the longer they have to be around Rudy Gobert, who is punching his teammates publicly now. The other thing the Lakers must do moving forward, is to make sure that Anthony Davis is involved more consistently on offense. He is un-guardable, and when he touches the ball he has to be doubled, which ultimately, makes the Lakers more dangerous than anyone. That’s on Darwin Ham and Lebron James to initiate that.

Meanwhile, the Clippers picked up a win against the Suns yesterday, clinching the 5th seed for the Clips. That means they will play Phoenix, beginning in the desert next week. When I listen to Kawhi talk, and you know he never talks, he doesn’t sound very confident that Paul George is going to be back anytime soon. For that reason, it makes me think that Clips aren’t feeling all that great about this matchup, and the Suns are. It probably also explains why Phoenix sat their starters yesterday. I’m not sure how the Clips will guard both Durant and Booker without George. Kawhi can only guard so many people. As for all the Russell Westbrook talk, people will say anything. Some anonymous NBA GM was quoted saying the Lakers didn’t use Russ the right way, trying to make him a wing, which is why it failed. That GM clearly didn’t watch the games, because he missed nearly two full seasons of Russ having the ball in his hands, blowing layups, hitting the side of the backboard repeatedly, and shooting the ball with the accuracy of Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Along Came Polly”. He also failed to realize that the Clippers record with Russ is actually worse since he got there. Still, a sensible person can realize that multiple things can be true at the same time. Russ is a better fit with the Clippers than with the Lakers, because he isn’t making $47 million anymore, and doesn’t compromise the Clippers depth. He’s fine as a minimum salary role player. However, the fact Ty Lue keeps him on the bench in the 4th speaks volumes about how much he trusts him in crunch time. That will continue to be interesting in the 1st round of the playoffs.

To baseball where it was a rough weekend for the Dodgers. They lost 3 of 4 to the Diamondbacks, and are suddenly looking like a very mediocre team. The most surprising part of their 5-5 start is that their pitching was especially bad. Austin Barnes probably wanted to get ejected yesterday, just so he could watch the Lakers and the Masters in the clubhouse. Usually it’s reliable, but both the starters and the bullpen were pitching like they were throwing batting practice all weekend. It’s also time to start moving the likes of Miguel Vargas and James Outman higher in the lineup, and drop Max Muncy. I realize that Muncy has done a lot for this team over the years, but he’s been bad for most of the past year plus. Move him down in the lineup until he can start swinging the bat like he we’ve seen him to before. I realize it’s early, and while I think the starting pitching will turn itself around, I don’t know what to make about the bullpen , or the inconsistency in the lineup. At some point they will need a real closer too. In the meantime, all we can do is overreact, because it’s what we do.

It was also a tough weekend for the Angels, who lost 2 of 3 to the Blue Jays. The Halos handed over a 6-0 lead yesterday, and then squandered some opportunities late to lose 12-11. The Jays are definitely a top tier team, so on one hand, you can’t be too upset, especially since the team seems to be swinging the bats. On the other hand, Phil Nevin’s pitching management probably could have been better, especially on a day like yesterday when Reid Detmers was struggling. How long is it going to be before Logan O’Hoppe becomes the teams cleanup hitter? How long is it going to be before Anthony Rendon starts earning his fat paycheck? The good news for the Halos is that they take on the Nationals next, who stink. Separately, I can’t believe the Halos asked Sam Blum to no longer appear on that Baseball Writer Roundtable show. Apparently when you tell it like it is, people don’t like it. Arte Moreno would rather sugar coat everything. We might as well be living in a communist regime.

Some mixed news for UCLA Basketball in the past week. Jaylen Clark and Jaime Jacquez have declared for the NBA draft. However, Clark did not hire an agent, and may come back to school. The Bruins now have to brace themselves for the decisions of Adem Bona and Amari Bailey. One would assume that Tyger Campbell isn’t coming back either. The Bruins did get some good news though in that they got a commitment from Utah transfer Wing Lazar Stefanovich. Hard to say yet whether he would start, but looks like a solid rotational piece. Given where most of these kids are projected to go in the draft, I’m surprised more NIL sponsors haven’t stepped up to come up with more money to keep those kids in school and keep UCLA as a championship contender.

Congratulations to Jon Rahm for winning the 2023 Masters over the weekend. I’m much more concerned about Tiger Woods though, and seeing him limp around on the course yesterday at Augusta. We knew that it was going to be tough for Tiger to just make the cut, which he did. However, when the weather got cold, it only got worse for him, and you knew his body was going to start working against him. At this point, it feels like he’s in a race against his body. Then again aren’t we all? I just had a bag of chips at 10:30 pm last night. I only hope that his issue is a simple case of plantar fasciitis, that won’t prevent him from competing in big tournaments later this year.

Finally, what the heck has happened to the LA Kings? They went from being one of the hottest teams in the league just a week ago, to struggling to score, and defend. Now, they will for sure not have home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs starting next week. I mean the Kings played so badly against Vegas, I thought they were going to try to troll them by putting Jonathan Quick in goal late in the game. Heck, it might have given them a chance to actually win! If they play anything like they have in the past week, they will be booking trips to Cancun before the month is over.

April 3, 2023

I don’t ever recall the NBA being like this. The level of play between the 12th best team in the Western Conference and the 1st place is tighter than a Kim Kardashian jump suit. At the moment, there’s probably 6-10 teams that could win an NBA championship this year. The Lakers are now one of them, assuming they can stay healthy, which is always a big question with them. After last night’s win against Houston, if the Lakers win their last 4 games, believe it or not they can get the 5th seed. What’s most impressive though is the fact that they can take control of a game with their defense over any given stretch. That’s exactly what they did on Friday against the Wolves, and yesterday against the Rockets. You guys can bitch and complain all you want about Anthony Davis, but when he’s healthy, he’s one of the best players in the league. Also, Dennis “The Menace” Schroeder has been and is going to continue to be a huge catalyst for this team. I’d prefer the Laker get the 6th seed and play the Kings in the 1st round, avoiding the Suns and Nuggets in the 1st round. However, I don’t think the Lakers care and feel they can beat anybody in the league right now.

Then there’s the Clippers. They suddenly find themselves struggling to not only stay in the top 5 of the West, but they could even slip back into the play-in tournament. In fact, that game against the Lakers on Wednesday, might even be for 6th place when we get there. Kawhi is playing phenomenal, and Russell Westbrook is putting up numbers, but there hasn’t been much of a reliable force on offense besides those two since Paul George went down. They are also struggling to defend consistently, which frankly, hasn’t exactly been one of Russ’s strengths the last few years. If you’re the Clippers or the Lakers though, would you rather be in the play-in or would you rather face the Suns in the first round? If I’m either of them, I’d rather be in the play-in and face the Suns later on.

Listen guys, when I say this, it’s no shade at San Diego but it’s true. That buzzer beating shot by Lamont Butler on Saturday is easily the greatest moment in San Diego sports history. It sent SDSU to the National Championship Game, where they will take on UCONN tonight. I have a soft spot for the Aztec Basketball program, as I used to host their pregame and post game radio shows in the early 2000s. If you know any FAU fans I can assure you that they probably won’t be speaking to you for at least the next 3-5 business days. Too bad the UCONN Miami game wasn’t all that competitive. The TV ratings and the ticket prices weren’t exactly what they’ve been in the past but rightfully so. It’s criminal to make people pay outrageous prices to see a basketball game in a football stadium.

To baseball, where it was a mixed bag for the Dodgers over the weekend, and a lot of frustration. They split their first four games with the Diamondbacks, despite dominating for stretches. The good news is that all four starting pitchers were sharp: Julio Urias, Dustin May, Clayton Kershaw, as well as Noah Syndergaard. That feels very on brand for this team. The bad news though is that the offense had its ups and downs. It was really good to see Trayce Thompson and JD Martinez swinging the bat well, despite having awful spring trainings. However, the situational hitting is still poor at times, with a total of 20 runners left on base in the two losses. Chris Taylor also continues to struggle, which has been a problem for over a year now. Ultimately, it’s the likes of Taylor, Max Muncy, and James Outman, and Miguel Vargas that are going to determine just how good the Dodgers really are this year, because we know Betts-Freeman-Smith are a trio that will produce at the top of the lineup.

As for the Angels, they handled business against the A’s, taking two out of three games. It seemed very odd that there was no game on Friday after starting the season on Thursday. However, you know there was some nerdy analytics guy in Oakland who convinced everybody that the data shows fans ,won’t come to games on Friday, or that the team might be paying too much in electricity on a Friday night in April, so better to not have the game. In any case, the offense looked good for most of the series, the lineup appears to have more depth, while Trout and Ohtani looked like the stars they are. As for Anthony Rendon’s altercation with a fan, both the fan and Rendon are wrong here. If you’re a fan, you can’t just say whatever you want because you buy a ticket. There’s a line and you can’t cross it. You can say a guy sucks, but you can’t get personal. That guy shouldn’t be allowed to come to an A’s game. For Rendon though, you can never put your hands on a fan, and he should know that by now. It’s a suspendable offense, even handed out by a guy like Rob Manfred, who has no idea what he’s doing. Then again Rendon would probably welcome a suspension since he seems to love his time off during the season to go along with his fat paycheck.

Finally, the LA Kings are headed back to the playoffs which is great to see for their loyal fans. However, it once looked like they were going to finish 1st in the West, but now they’ll be lucky if they can get home ice advantage in the 1st round. That 1st round will likely be against the Edmonton Oilers, who were a thorn in the Kings side last year, and if you watched Kings hockey in the 80’s and 90’s, you know how much of a pain the Oilers have been historically in the early rounds for the Kings. The last few weeks the Kings have looked dominant offensively, but since this road trip started, they’ve been struggling to score. Some of that has to do with injuries, but there’s not much time to get health. It’s like they are giving you a taste of how they could suddenly disappoint in the playoffs. All I need to do is watch the game in colorful clothing, see the Kings lose, and I’m back in the 90’s all over again.

March 27, 2023

It happened again. For the 2nd time in 3 seasons, Gonzaga is sending UCLA home from the NCAA Tournament. I know we all want to say that UCLA fought hard with injuries, and was right there with an opportunity to win at the end. That’s all true. However, the reality is that the Bruins went 11 minutes without a field goal in the 2nd half, and got crushed on the boards. If they cold make just a couple of baskets in that stretch, they win this game, and probably should have won in a blow out if we’re being honest. Injuries or not they should have won that game. Plus, when I look at teams remaining in the tournament, boy was this a missed opportunity. Heck, the last three seasons, this has been an immensely talented Bruins team that should have more to show for it than two Sweet 16 appearances, and a Final Four Appearance. I get that this is the nature of the NCAA Tournament, but still. The Bruins were right there. Unfortunately, it appears as though next year, UCLA probably won’t be that good because they could lose just about everybody. Adem Bona, Amari Bailey, Jaime Jacques, Tyger Campbell, Jaylen Clark, David Singleton, and Kenneth Nwuba, are all likely to leave. Yes, they all have remaining eligibility left, but they would all need some serious NIL money to stay in school and come back for another run. In all likelihood, UCLA is at least another season away from truly contending again. My only criticism of Mick Cronin is his inability to develop a deeper rotation. Then again, not many in College Ball have one. It’s just a reminder that even in college sports, as a player or a fan, the experience is 99% kicks to the balls and 1% glory.

Elsewhere around the Final Four, who are the 37 of you lunatics that correctly picked Miami, UCONN, San Diego, and FAU in your Final Four? I don’t know if you were all drinking when you made your picks, but whatever you were drinking, I’d like you to be part of your next round. These 4 teams were obviously much better than most of the “experts” thought, but that’s probably because they didn’t actually watch them throughout the season. Which is their job by the way. However, it does make you ask the question of whether or not you’d rather see all these crazy upsets at the beginning of the tournament if you’re left without the “blue bloods” and true number 1 seeds we’ve seen all year long? For the casual fan I think the answer is yes. For the degenerate gambler and the real college basketball fan, I think the answer is probably no. For the casual fan though, you probably won’t even remember who won the tournament in any given year. But you will remember the upsets and magical moments!

In the NBA, it’s a roller coaster ride for the Lakers every game. The Lakers win and their fans think they are going to win the Championship. The Lakers lose and their fans think this team is garbage and should be blown up. There is apparently no in between. The Lakers got a huge victory on Friday against OKC, and lost to the Bulls yesterday. That’s exactly the rhetoric that ensued over the last few days. With all that being said, I think the Lakers will make the play-in, although it may be the 9th or 10th seed, meaning they’ll have to win two games to get in the postseason. However, we’ve reached the point where if this team is going to go on a run, they need to have Lebron, AD, and DLo in the lineup every game. If not, the run we’ve all talked about won’t happen. Getting Lebron back was nice, but it’s an adjustment for the whole team. They need to go back to leaning on AD and having him be aggressive. 8 shots for AD yesterday is not acceptable. I have to say I’m also a little nervous about Lebron’s foot even though he’s back, after hearing him talk about it yesterday. He said he went to “the Lebron James of feet” to get treated. Does that mean the previous two doctors he went to were “the Smush Parker of feet”? There’s 7 games left, and they need to win just about every one of them. The good news though is that every other team around them seems to be going through their crap as well.

As for the Clippers, they got their own bad news last week. Paul George is going to miss the rest of the regular season with a knee injury. That one could have been a lot worse, but fortunately, he’ll be ok in a few weeks. Still, the Clips situation is fragile. They could easily slip back into the play-in tournament, which for them would be dicey because you never know in one game who could be available for them. So the next couple of weeks will be crucial for them as well. There’s also the rumors that Ty Lue may be stepping down at the end of the season, which of course the Clippers and Lue’s camp squashed. However, you can see why this could be true. It’s hard to coach a team where every single night you have no idea who is available to you and who isn’t. Only time will tell if this is true, and the next few weeks will probably have a lot to say about that. The best news for the Clippers though is that Kawhi is playing amazing despite the fact he got his face smashed Saturday. As long as he’s on the floor, the Clippers have a chance.

The baseball season has really snuck up on us and the Dodgers open the season on Thursday against the D’Backs. I’m still really shocked about the rhetoric around the Dodgers going into the season. Everyone seems to think this team is going to suck, and that they can’t hang with the Padres. If those are your expectations, I think you’re going to be pleasantly surprised. Sorry you’re used to have a $300 million payroll and instead it’s only $232 million now. It’s like you people are disappointed that you’re downgrading from a Ferrari to a BMW. The BMW might actually be more reliable in the long run. The Dodgers won’t win the World Series until they change their over analytical approach, so the postseason will always have it’s troubles until then, but this team is no less formidable than last year.

Then there’s the Angels. Arte Moreno messed up again. This time after Japan won the World Baseball Classic on the back of Ohtani’s brilliant performance, Moreno called him a “top 5-10 player”. He means “Top 5-10 player” all time right? This is downright idiotic. I wonder if Arte told his wife when he was courting her that she’s in the top 5-10 women that she’s dated all-time? That’s exactly what Moreno did in this instance, with Ohtani on the verge of free agency, and nobody of the opinion that he’s going to re-sign with the Angels. Those comments probably didn’t help. Nevertheless, there seems to be some optimism around the Angels with the season starting this week, but I need to see it before I believe it. I’ve been hearing about this for years, and supposedly the team has more depth, but I personally think the division is still too tough.

March 20, 2023

It wasn’t always pretty but UCLA survived the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. They are in the Sweet 16 for the 3rd consecutive year. I’m sure some of you may be thinking this team is nice, but they don’t necessarily look like they could be a National Champion. However, historically, the 2nd round has always been a dog fight for many teams that end up going all the way. Plus, had the Bruins not been beat up on the boards, they probably would have won this game much more decisively. That had a lot to do with Adem Bona’s injury and Kenneth Nwuba’s foul trouble. Plus, you need a good test along the way to get you ready for the later rounds. In completely unsurprising developments, here we are again, with Gonzaga standing in the way of UCLA getting past the Sweet 16. It’s going to be tough. The Zags are good and will probably be favored by a little, but you can never count out this Bruin team with their elite defense and mental toughness.

Elsewhere around March Madness, The Trojans were eliminated in round 1 by Michigan State. USC was talented, but you can’t beat a team as well coached as MSU with undisciplined play. The Trojans had a lot of turnovers and took a lot of bad shots, which is a sure fire recipe for going home. Here’s an update on your March Madness bracket: the girl who picked everyone based on the cutest mascot is in 1st place. 2nd place is a guy who had family at Furman, Princeton, and FDU. Third is the 9th bracket of a girl who made 19. Oh, and you’re in last place. Jay Bilas does this for a living and he had Arizona winning it all. Instead they got punked in the first round by a bunch of nerds from Princeton. That’s how hard this is. Purdue lost to a team that only got in the NCAA Tournament because another team declined the invite. We should have known though this would be the case when Joe Biden picked Arizona to win it all.

To the NBA, where despite last night’s win against the Magic, the Lakers continue to blow opportunity after opportunity to secure a playoff spot. Had they just shown up against the Rockets and made a couple of free throws against the Mavs, they would be sitting in 6th place in the West right now. Instead, they are fighting for their lives just to get in the play-in tournament. I realize Utah is basically trying to lose and the Pelicans are sinking like the Titanic, but the Lakers schedule in the last 10 games isn’t exactly easy. They have to play Phoenix twice, Chicago twice, and the Clippers. Those are all teams that will be coming at the Lakers hard as they fight for playoff positioning, and it seems unlikely the team will get Lebron back until the final couple of games at best. I realize you all want to crucify Anthony Davis for everything he’s done the past week, but the reality of it is, the Lakers aren’t even in this position without him, and everything is magnified because they left themselves no margin for error. Frankly, the best news that I’ve heard on the Lakers is that they are pivoting away from trying to sign Kyrie Irving this offseason, which is a smart move. Relying on Kyrie to show up to work everyday is like relying on Silicon Valley Bank to lend you money right now. D’Angelo Russell may not be as talented, but he sure will be a much more reliable player over the course of the next five years than Kyrie will.

The Clippers seem to be ok in the standings with 10 games left, but is Kawhi really going to sit out every remaining back-to-back? I mean you would think the guy would want to have at least some rhythm and chemistry with his teammates going into the playoffs. Something tells me he doesn’t care and will do things his own way, no matter what the Clippers truly want from him. The problem with that however, is that Russell Westbrook will be relied upon more on those nights, and you saw on Saturday night against the Magic, how that can cost you.. I mean I hate to be honest because Russ is a good guy, but the reality of it is if you lean on him too much at this point in his career, he will actually cost you games.

I have not watched a second of The World Baseball Classic. I get that the players are into it, but it’s hard for me to get around to thinking I’m watching meaningful baseball games in March. I also think this is a perfect example of how baseball just can’t get out of it’s own way to provide more coverage around it. MLB’s website for coverage looks like it was put together by some amateur web developers, who moonlight as Door Dash drivers. You also can’t find the games very easily because they are buried on Fox Sports One. If I knew how to find the games though, I might actually watch some of it. On another note, it does feel cruel to send Mike Trout back to the Angels after experiencing all this with Team USA, who is now headed to the finals

In Spring Training, the Dodgers overall look like you thought they would, but it’s Spring Training so I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in it. I also wouldn’t put a lot of stock into the Spring Training performance of Clayton Kershaw. He wasn’t sharp in his first start, only marginally better in his 2nd start and still not great. However, the most important thing is for him to be healthy. With Kershaw, I look forward to seeing him pitching in April, part of May, late July, and then again in early September, and through the postseason. An injury, most likely to his back, is going to be inevitable, but it can be managed and doesn’t have to prevent him from being able to be effective. Just get him healthy and effective in October.

Arte Moreno just needs to stop talking. It’s become aggravating, as his latest interview with the media came with The Athletic. Apparently, he and Shohei Ohtani haven’t even spoken about a contract extension yet. Considering he’s basically the biggest priority moving forward, and also the biggest storyline that is a distraction around the club, don’t you think it would be a good idea to broach the subject with him and his agent? If your wife suggests that she’s going to divorce you to somebody else and you find out, then maybe you should have a conversation about it, no? That’s what this feels like. I know there’s a lot of people still banking on this idea that the Angels might actually be good this year. I don’t see it. Their division is too good, the pitching is just ok, and their hitting is non-existent for long stretches around Trout and Ohtani. Unless those two and Anthony Rendon are in the lineup regularly and crush it on a nightly basis, I don’t see this team getting in the playoffs again, which will raise questions around Ohtani all season.

Isn’t it possible for some of you Kings fans to just be happy for Jonathan Quick when he does well with Vegas, instead of rooting for him to fail? It doesn’t have to come at the expense of the Kings either. Jonathan Quick brought two Stanley Cups to LA, was the Conn Smyth Winner in 2012, and one of the most important players in franchise history. He’s arguably a hall of famer too. Yes he’s now with a division rival, but I see a lot of Kings fan out here openly rooting and taking pleasure in Quick failing with the Golden Knights. He’s actually been pretty good overall since the trade, and frankly, good for him. He’s a competitive guy, and a proud hockey player. Had he not been traded, he would not be this motivated to do what he’s doing so good for him, and as a result, the Kings are also better off as well. If and when these two division rivals meet in the playoffs it will get interesting, but if you’re a Kings fan, you don’t have to act like Jonathan Quick is suddenly Patrick Roy.

Finally, the NFL off-season has been wild. Aaron Rodgers is having his usual drama and appears to be headed to the Jets. Glad he figured that out after his darkness retreat, where he was probably snorting marijuana off a tree branch. Does anybody want Lamar Jackson? He is an MVP who is in his prime. I’m not sure what exactly the Raiders are doing. Jimmy Garoppolo is definitely a downgrade from Derek Carr. He might be cheaper, but he’s also going to miss games like he’s Kawhi Leonard. I know he’s a running back that’s a position that isn’t valued much, but the Chargers should try and find a way to keep Austin Ekeler. He’s a solid dude, a good football player, and gives excellent Fantasy Football advice!

March 13, 2023

March Madness is upon us! UCLA is banged up but managed to make it to the finals of the Pac-12 Tournament, before losing to Arizona in the final moments on Saturday night.  It’s fine that the Bruins are a #2 seed in the West, which is probably less pressure than being a #1.  However, don’t try to tell me they shouldn’t be a #1 seed after barely losing to a Top 10 team down two starters, both big guys fouling out, and getting nothing from Lloyd McClendon, Dylan Andrews, and David Singleton.  This team is tough, and they just keep playing better when more adversity strikes.  Jaylen Clark is done for the season, but Adam Bona sounds like he’ll be ready next week.  The committee is clearly not very creative.  Once again if UCLA is going to the Final Four, looks like they’ll have to beat Gonzaga followed by Kansas in weekend 2.  I’m sure Mick Cronin would probably slap me and tell me “we gotta get there first.”

To the NBA, where the Lakers dropped one to the Knicks last night.  That one just had some terrible shooting, but the Lakers should actually be feeling better about things.  They’ve got a real shot to suddenly make the play-in tournament, and a possibility to even get the 5th or 6th seed and bypass it altogether.  They’ll have to play through Anthony Davis way more than they did yesterday, but if they stay afloat for another week or so, they might even get Lebron back to push even harder.

Meanwhile the Clippers appear to be back on track, but that’s mostly due to the greatness of Kawhi Leonard.  Kawhi has been playing like the all-nba player we know him to be.  However, one can’t help but wonder if by himself he can help them overcome their chemistry issues.  This team at times looks like they just haven’t spent enough time on the court together, despite their flashes of brilliance.  On the bright side though, the new Intuit Dome will have thousands of toilets, which Steve Ballmer is pretty pumped about.  Cue the jokes about the Clippers being a toilet franchise.

Load management in the NBA makes no sense anymore.  The idea behind it is to give the players more rest to prevent them from getting injured, and prolonging their career.  Instead, players are not only missing high profile regular season games fans spend a lot of money on to attend, but players are still getting injured more.  I believe it’s because their bodies aren’t used to the rigors of playing and practicing regularly like they used to do.  If the players aren’t careful, they are going to screw themselves in the next CBA negotiation.

In the NFL, the Rams made a big move yesterday, trading Jalen Ramsey to the Dolphins, for the equivalent of a dirty sock and a can of coke.  This move goes to show you a few things.   First, the Rams may be giving up on 2023 with a mini rebuild.    Ramsey may be a bit in decline, but he’s still an effective corner and a big part of their defense.  Getting his money off the books allows them to get closer to signing all their upcoming draft picks, while opening up a ton of cap space the year after.  That also tells you that Sean McVay is here to stay for more than just this year.  He’s committed to building this thing back up.  Even Matt Stafford was being shopped at one point, which makes you think the Rams may do an extensive reboot, but if anything, it tells you they are already looking for their next franchise QB.  I would too knowing that Stafford’s health doesn’t seem all that stable.

In baseball, Arte Moreno finally spoke to the media, and gave an interesting puff piece to Sports Illustrated.  He claimed he had a few good offers, but even those prospective owners knew he wasn’t ready to sell the Angels.  Arte tried to make it seem like he was just a die hard fan that wanted to enjoy drinking beer at the ballpark.  However, this whole thing has to be related to any scrutiny on him from the failed sale of the stadium from the city.   There’s also the topic of Shohei Ohtani, which he addressed.  As you would expect, he said they will not trade him as long as they are in contention, and deflected on this question if they aren’t in contention.   I’m curious come July what Arte’e definition of “contention” is.

I finally got to watch the Chris Rock special on Netflix.  As usual, he was hilarious.  If you’re offended by anything he said, you probably shouldn’t be watching in the first place.  As for the Will Smith part though, that was just sad.  I personally, love Will Smith, and apparently so did Rock, until last years slapping incident at the Oscar’s.  That segment was more of a sad reminder of how Rock feels about him now, and how Jada Pinkett has ruined Smith, and changed him from the person many of us love.

I’m sure those of us that tuned into the Oscar’s last night were disappointed that nobody slapped Jimmy Kimmel.  In all seriousness though, it was a good show.  There is always that one movie that sweeps every award.  In this case it was “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.”  It won 7 awards.  Happy that Jamie Lee Curtis won after all these years.  Tom Cruise didn’t actually attend when “Top Gun” was nominated? They Academy was probably thrilled so they didn’t have to see him stand up on couches yelling things.

March 6, 2023

Sometimes we need to be reminded that sports is a business, no matter what our emotions tell us. That happened for many of us last week when the Kings traded Jonathan Quick to Columbus, for defenseman Vladislav Gabrykov, and  goalie Joonas Korpisalo.  Quick is the best goalie in franchise history, and arguably a Hall of Famer.  However, you can no longer defend his play.  He hasn’t been good this year, and he makes a lot of money.  On paper, the Kings made a trade that made them much better, but most fans will be wrapped up in the emotion of dealing Quick.  I felt the same way when the Kings traded Wayne Gretzky, my childhood hero.  It always hurts when your favorite players get traded, even if in the long run, you’re better for it.  Props to Rob Blake for having the guts to do this, because nobody thought he did.  I’m not sure if I feel bad for Quick because he got traded, or because he got traded to Ohio.  At least for him it didn’t last long and he got traded to Vegas shortly thereafter.

To the NBA where let’s be honest, the Lakers won yesterday thanks to Anthony Davis, but they may still be screwed without Lebron.  A week ago, when we thought everyone was healthy, it looked like the team could not only make the playoffs, but make a run.  With him gone for at least two more weeks, I doubt they can even make the play in tournament, especially without D’Angelo Russell in the lineup either.  I don’t know what’s up with the Lakers medical staff.  These guys couldn’t heal a paper cut in a week.  Plus, they completely mismanage the information they give out about a players injury, thereby making the fans angry at the player and calling him “soft” for not getting back sooner.  One thing is for sure: the Lakers will have every opportunity to get in the play in tournament, even without Lebron.  They have the third easiest schedule remaining.  That also tells you how little faith I have in them being able to stay healthy.

As for the Clippers, they won last night against the Grizzlies, but still have their own set of issues. I sat here a week ago and told you there could be more chemistry issues to work out once they brought in Russ.  So did everybody else.  Sure enough, there are chemistry issues and they are just 1-4 since Russ started playing for them. I’m not sitting here telling you it’s Russ’s fault, but don’t act like it’s not a big adjustments with him in the lineup.  Does Ty Lue actually enjoy going to work everyday? He has no idea who is going to be available every time he comes to the arena.  I mean even in some of the most important games of the season, PG and Kawhi are like “nah it’s a back-to-back I can’t play”.  Don’t worry boys.  You’ll have plenty of time to rest in the off-season if you don’t make the playoffs because you load managed your way through the last 20 games.

UCLA wrapped up their regular season on Saturday against Arizona with another big win.  They are headed into the PAC-12 Tournament as the #1 seed and have a great chance to be a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.  Does it matter though? I mean all we should really care about is if the Bruins are in the West, and that they have a reasonable path to The Final Four.  They should get that no matter what happens in next weeks conference tournament.  We should be more worried though about the injury to Jaylen Clark, which may very well end his season. It isn’t Clark’s scoring that is the issue, it’s the intangibles he brings at the defensive ends like steals, deflections, and other plays that don’t show up in the box score.  I saw Clark in a walking boot after the game Saturday, but was baffled by the fact he was standing on a street corner waiting for someone to pick him up.  Someone get this man off his feet immediately! Only at UCLA I tell you.

Speaking of UCLA, Chip Kelly got an extension.  The visor is here to stay for a few more years.  I don’t love this move, but he had a decent (not great) season in 2022, and a couple of nice recruits coming in.  The problem I have with it is that when Chip came in, UCLA didn’t pay him to have one good season in five years.  And by “good” we mean respectable finish in the conference, not even winning it.  This isn’t great, but par for the course for what is really a basketball school.

Finally, the Dodgers are feeling the pain of not bringing in another shortstop this offseason, after Gavin Lux went down with an ACL injury.  Lux is out for the season.  Oh so you think Miguel Rojas can replace him? This dude is a less productive hitter than Cody Bellinger was last year, according to advanced metrics.  And in case you forgot, Bellinger couldn’t hit Little League pitching last year.  The Dodgers will definitely have to get creative because there isn’t a trade out there that can suddenly give them an all-star middle infielder.  Even Andrew Friedman’s computer will tell you that!

Sent from my iPhone

February 27, 2023

What a fantastic win by the Lakers yesterday against the Mavs. Assuming that Lebron’s foot will be ok, there’s suddenly a lot of optimism, despite the fact there’s no margin for error or injury with just 20 games left. How on earth did Rob Pelinka manage to get Jarrod Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, and D’Angelo Russell for Russell Westbrook and one protected first round pick? That trade feels like highway robbery every time I see those guys play. Also props to AD and Lebron for playing much better in that 2nd half yesterday. AD looked like nothing more than Chris Mihm with an urban barber in the 1st half, but he looked like an MVP in the 2nd. It’s the games coming up against the Thunder, Timberwolves, Pelicans, and Warriors that are absolutely vital for the Lakers to win if they plan on playing in the postseason.

As for the Clippers, they suffered another tough loss yesterday against the Nuggets. The Clips are so cursed that their plane even got struck by lightning on the way to Denver. This coming on the heels of a tough loss against the Sacramento Kings. The focus though is on Russell Westbrook and how things are looking. So far, he hasn’t completely wrecked the Clippers chemistry, but he’s still missing point blank layups at the rim, making some questionable decisions at times, and ultimately, taking playing time away from more efficient bench players. A reasonable box score number from him is masking these issues for the time being. The good news for the Clippers though is that the the next two games are against the struggling Timberwolves, and the injured Warriors.

Congratulations to the UCLA Bruins on winning the PAC-12 regular season title. What has impressed me a great deal about UCLA is that no matter what kind of offensive struggles they go through, at any given stretch they can shut down a team with their elite defense, and force them into long stretches without a basket. That’s a great enough weapon that can propel them deep into the NCAA Tournament. In addition to that they are now in good position to get a number 1 seed for the tournament. Defeating the Arizona schools this week will go a long way towards that.

Let me get this straight: UCLA basketball players Jalen Hill, Cody Riley and LiAngelo Ball stole sunglasses in China and were suspended for a season while Alabama star Brandon Miller supplied the gun used in a murder and he won’t miss a game. It makes no sense. Would he have been suspended if Alabama was in last place or if Miller was a walk-on? Embarrassing and illogical.

Spring Training is under way for the Dodgers and there’s one thing that nobody is really talking about: they don’t have a closer. They actually didn’t have one going into the playoffs last year, but that’s not what actually cost them, so nobody noticed. However, they need to find one, and Dave Roberts says that will sort itself out over time. Alex Reyes seems like a potential choice on a one-year “prove it deal”, Evan Phillips is also a potential candidate, as is Daniel Hudson. However, I still stand by what I said over a year ago: Dustin May would be an outstanding closer. He has the stuff, he throws hard, and would be tremendous in that role. Unfortunately, I don’t think he wants to do that because he knows he can make more money as a starter.

Are the Rams really shopping Jalen Ramsey? Although I do think that he can replenish draft capital for the franchise, by trading him you are changing the style of your defense altogether, especially with the departure of Bobby Wagner. In my mind if the Rams still have Sean McVay, Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Matt Stafford, and Cooper Kupp, they are going for it. Building through the draft takes some time, which isn’t on the side of this group.

Finally, the LA Kings are well position for another playoff appearance, and potentially even winning the Pacific Division. However, as much as they’ve improved, they are probably still another year or so away from true Stanley Cup contention. The trade deadline is this coming Friday, and if the Kings are planning on making any real noise in the playoffs, they need to make a move, but they will probably overpay than if they make that move in the offseason. They need a left handed shot defenseman, and let’s be honest, they need a goalie too. Phoenix Copley has been a nice stop gap, but even his advanced metrics suggest he’s not that elite, and there’s unfortunately no sticking up for Jonathan Quick anymore. He’s just not making saves when they are needed. I’m not really sure however, that these two holes can be filled in a matter of days. This feels like an offseason problem that needs to be fixed. With that being said, at least the Kings are improving and slowly getting themselves back to contending status.

February 20, 2023

I’m usually a fan of the NBA All-Star game, but yesterday was an embarrassment. There was absolutely no effort and no defense played. I can understand that guys don’t want to get hurt, but even James Harden thinks the defense was pretty soft yesterday. In the last handful of years, we’ve at least seen the games get very competitive in the 4th quarter, and wildly entertaining in the first 3 quarters with lots of alley-oops and highlight plays. This was just a layup line and half court shots, that were nearly unwatchable. Maybe it was because Lebron and Giannis sat out the majority of the game, and other big stars like Kevin Durant and others were not participating. I don’t know what the answer is, but the league needs the players to understand that there is a level of pride and professionalism that needs to be on the display here. Otherwise, just kill the event. Although, somebody should have told Lebron that you aren’t supposed to play defense in an All-Star game because he injured his hand blocking a shot. Hopefully it’s not very serious, and it doesn’t appear that way. Props to Mac McClung for winning the dunk contest, which was the best part of the weekend. Of course a white guy won the dunk contest in Utah though!

As for the Lakers, Lebron says he’s going to try to play in every game the rest of the way. Nice to see that he finally realizes there is no margin for error left if they plan on even making the play-in game. Look, I like what this team has done for sure and on paper, I think the pieces fit together much better. However, they are going to need to win 16 or 17 of their final 22 games to assure themselves of being in the postseason, and I can’t say I’m totally confident that Lebron and especially AD will be available every night. The schedule is hell, but then again, there’s a lot of teams like the Warriors, Mavericks, and Clippers in front of them who are going to have to deal with their own set of chemistry building challenges. If Lebron James gets the team to the playoffs after all this, and somehow gets them to make a run, that may be one of the most impressive parts of his amazing legacy.

Then there’s the Clippers, who have agreed to sign Russell Westbrook this morning. I know there are a lot of Russ supporters out there, so let me address you all first. I get it…..Russ is a great guy, great teammate, great father, great husband, great parallel parker, and great tipper. That’s all true and he’s even had a great NBA career. That all has nothing to do with the fact that at this point in his career, he’s a massive liability for any team, including the Clippers. It doesn’t matter if the Clips have better spacing and shooting than Russ had with the Lakers. If you’re playing Russ, he’s taking away minutes from Norman Powell or Terrance Mann, who at this point, are more productive and better fitting players for the Clippers. Some people actually thought he was a 6th man of the year candidate, but 6th man of the year winners don’t shoot 41% from the field, 65% from the line, and under 30% from 3. He’s not only a poor shooter, but he has more turnovers than Betty Crocker, and his decision making at the end of games is often a detriment to his team. I know some of you are thinking it’s low risk and they can cut him if it doesn’t work out, but there’s 22 games left in the season. This is valuable time that could be wasted for a team that is already struggling to build chemistry. But hey, at least Paul George thinks it’s a good move, so what could go wrong?

In baseball, Spring Training is upon us which brings us to the Dodgers. The Boys in Blue come into the season with some doubts publicly about how good they are going to be. They are +750 to win the World Series behind the Astros and Yankees, and in front of the Braves and Padres, who are +1400, and who everyone seems to love. The Dodgers may not win the division (although I think they will), but they are still an excellent team. Just because their lineup doesn’t seem as stacked as last year, it actually is. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Will Smith, and Max Muncy are a pretty good lineup, and for some reason many of you forgot that Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux, and Trayce Thompson are pretty good players as well. Their pitching staff is also excellent. This won’t be a regular season issue. As always with the Dodgers, it’s going to be how they approach the postseason. Maybe this year there will be less heat on them since they didn’t spend wildly in the offseason. Meanwhile, I can’t say I’m too upset Clayton Kershaw won’t pitch in the WBC. The guys arm and back could use the extra rest. I also don’t want to hear anything about this alleged cheating the Dodgers did in 2017 or maybe 2018. We all know the lengths their opponents went to in order to cheat were far more offensive than the tactics the Dodgers employed, which are far more common across baseball.

As for the Angels, you can’t help but feel disappointed coming into Spring Training. We would have thought there would be new ownership by now, but we know that’s not happening for a while. The distraction that is going to hang over this teams head all year is going to be Shohei Ohtani. I don’t think there’s a circumstance where the Halos will trade him, because Arte Moreno will convince himself he has a chance to keep him. In reality, Ohtani is already out the door. Unless the Angels make some crazy run to the playoffs, or even the World Series this year, Ohtani will be on another team in 2024. He’s made that as clear as possible, without actually saying it. With that being the case, it’s the same story with the Halos this year. On paper, they look like they could be good. In reality, they aren’t better than the Astros or Mariners, their offense has been wildly inconsistent for what it should be, and their pitching may only be marginally improved.

Finally, it was so good to see Tiger Woods back on the course at the Genesis Open this past weekend. Tiger is really what keeps the sport alive in a way that no other pro golfer can these days. His presence is huge, and hopefully he can stay healthy enough for four majors and another couple of tournaments this year. The only problem with this approach is we may not see Tiger win another tournament again, as his health will need to be managed for the rest of his career, which he admitted over the weekend. Still, when he’s out there, enjoy him while you can. Legends won’t always be around forever.

February 13, 2023

Congratulations to the Kansas City Chiefs on winning Super Bowl LVII yesterday against the Eagles. Let’s start with this: you may not have wanted the game to be decided by a penalty, but that was a holding penalty. Everybody is so focused on James Bradberry putting his hand on JuJu’s back, but the penalty wasn’t that. It was him tugging on the jersey moments before that. It’s a bad way to end the game, but it was the correct call. Bradberry even owned it afterward. The Eagles felt like they were dominating this game for such a long stretch, but they never put the Chiefs away, and you can’t do that when Patrick Mahomes is on the other side. Sure enough, it cost them the Super Bowl. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense was pretty good too, but it wasn’t enough. I also don’t know what they gave Mahomes at halftime, but whatever it was, I want some. I thought his ankle was going to fall off, but he somehow managed to keep going and play at an elite level. I don’t know if he will get to 7 Super Bowls, but he’s got a chance to be one of the best ever by the time he’s done playing. Nice to see Andy Reid win a Super Bowl that the Eagles were actually playing in. The Super Bowl also re-confirmed something I’ve thought for a long time: cleaning up confetti must be one of the worst jobs in America.

As for the rest of the broadcast, I thought Rhianna had a great halftime show. If you didn’t like it, you either don’t like her music, or you’re just one of those Twitter heads that are looking for something to criticize. She’s a superstar with so many hits, and she played all of them. The fact she did it while pregnant is even more impressive, even if it did take away from her ability to do more choreography like she has in the past. For the commercials, I thought they were just ok overall. Tubi was great, and really made us all think that we accidentally pushed some buttons on our remote. The Budweiser Commercial with the dog and the horse had all the feels to it. Plus anything with “Breaking Bad” in it is always going to be a fan favorite. Other than that though, for $7 million, these brands should do a better job of making me realize what it is they are actually advertising.

To the NBA, where the Lakers are suddenly a completely different roster after the trade deadline. Russell Westbrook, Damon Jones, Juan Tuscano-Anderson, and Thomas Bryant are all gone. D’Angelo Russell is back, and also new to the team are Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, and Malik Beasley. That’s actually a pretty nice trade by Rob Pelinka, that should dramatically improve the shooting, defense, rebounding, and balance of the roster. The problem is, the Lakers are running out of time and they don’t have any margin for error left. The Lakers probably need to go 20-7 just to get in the playoffs, and that may only be good enough to get them to the play-in game. 20-7 is a tall task for a team where the durability of Lebron and AD are always in question. The Lakers got a nice win on Saturday, which is a nice start, but the fact Darwin Ham keeps playing these 3-guard lineups with all these new pieces makes me think he might just have the IQ of a Snapping Turtle.

I don’t want to sit here and trash Russell Westbrook. He’s a great teammate, and he did buy into his role. However, he was not a great fit with the Lakers. Now the Clippers are rumored to have interest in Russ if he’s bought out by the Jazz. Paul George claims he’s a better fit than he would be for the Lakers. If I’m being honest here, this probably won’t end well. The Clippers need a true point guard. Russ is a bit more of a scoring point guard. The Clips also don’t have any guards left after the trade deadline, despite the piece they added. That means Russ will have to play bigger minutes than they would want him too. If you have Russ for the minimum in a role off the bench, that’s not bad, but you have to play him with the right group. I think he would play too big of a role with the Clippers for him to be good, and not hurt them. I mean if Kawhi sees Russ pull up for a three pointer with 20 seconds left, he might actually show some emotion for the first time.

UCLA Basketball picked up another pair of wins last week, this time over the Oregon schools on the road. The victory over Oregon on Saturday was especially impressive, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. scoring 25 points and looking more and more like an NBA player with each game that he plays. His play was much needed at a time when the offense was struggling, the big men were in foul trouble, and Amari Bailey was ailing. The #7 Bruins have now opened up a 1.5 game lead in the Pac-12 standings over 2nd place Arizona. UCLA still has a shot at a #1 seed in the tournament, but they will have to not only have a strong finish to the regular season, they will likely have to win the Conference Tournament to make that a reality. I’m not sure that really matters though as long as they are healthy, the offense is clicking, and they peak at the right time.

Congratulations to Dustin Brown, on having his own statue unveiled Saturday Night at Cryto.com Arena. Brown is an American born, two-time Stanley Cup winner on the LA Kings, and the franchise leader in games played. More importantly, thanks to Brown, I am able to make fun of every NHL fanbase that has never won a Stanley Cup, and I will never forget him for that. The Kings just had about 10 days off, but they looked great on Saturday night against the Penguins, winning 6-0. There’s also some big trade rumors around this team, so we might see a splashy trade from them in the coming days.