October 7, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 30, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 23, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 16, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 9, 2024

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

September 2nd, 2024

What a wild series the Dodgers have played against the D’Backs over the weekend. The Boys in Blue have a chance to win the series with a victory today, but even if they lose, they would have had the benefit of maintaining their 4 game lead over Arizona and San Diego in the NL West, with 4 more games off the clock. Smart move by Dave Roberts yesterday to just let that game crash and burn and rest his pen and his star players. This lineup is finally hitting like we dreamed they would, and even the bottom of the order has been a handful to deal with from Gavin Lux, to Miguel Rojas, and now Tommy Edman. It’s the starting pitching that we now have to worry the most about, and mainly due to their health. The latest is Clayton Kershaw, who went down with a toe injury on Friday night. This also comes on the heels of Dave Roberts not exactly assuring us that Tyler Glasnow will be available come October. It’s only September 2nd, so how about you guys stop telling me who is going to start in the postseason, because we have no idea who is going to be healthy that point?! Also, just because you see a bad start from one guy on the roster these days, doesn’t mean you just write him off. Just look at where Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler are now and how they are progressing.

As for the Angels, they took 2 out of 3 against the Mariners over the weekend, and Caden Dana became the youngest Angels pitcher to win in his debut. He’s only 20 years old and 259 days. Makes sense because the Angels have a terrible farm system, so they have to promote their young players quickly. The Halos are firmly sitting with the 4th worst record in baseball behind the White Sox, Rockies, and Marlins, none of whom are even trying to win games. It’s shameful the Angels aren’t even better than the Oakland A’s. The biggest reason for that is that the Angels “young core” have all had prolonged spells where they not only struggled, but where they were borderline the worst players in the history of baseball this season. For instance, Logan O’Hoppe cannot have a 36 wRC+ for 2 months. There are other atrocious stretches for the likes of Nolan Schanuel, Zach Neto, which once again makes you question their long-term development in this system. The Halos don’t have the player development to help them continuously adjust and get better as professional ball players. Just look at Reid Detmers, who is finally getting called back up to start on Tuesday. We’ll see if he actually is ready for prime time on the mound. Even if those players come around and are more consistent, you need to spend money to round out the roster and make the team competitive. You think Arte Moreno is going to do that?

To College Football, where USC got a huge win to open the season over LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Vegas last night. Senior Running Back Woody Marks snuck in the endzone in the final moments of the 4th quarter to secure the win. That game was an unbelievable indictment on Alex Grinch and his poor defense last season, as well as a strong validation of Miller Moss at quarterback. The team has some great player makers on offense that can be explosive, and the defense is night and day compared to last year just in terms of ability tackle. What does Paul Finebaum have to say now about Lincoln Riley as a coach and about his beloved SEC? I thought every SEC team was completely untouchable? Expect USC to rise in the polls along with Miami more than any other team this week.

The Bruins also got their season underway with a game on the road against Hawaii. They got the victory 16-13 on a late field goal, but let’s be honest, it ended in near disaster had they lost. I hate to say it, but Ethan Garbers looked dreadful and so did the entire UCLA offense. His decision making was not good, and he appears to have a very limited ceiling. He’s also not being helped by the fact his offensive line cannot seem to run block at all, which forces him to make throws that are just not in his comfort zone. This team is going to need to recruit big time on both the offensive line and at linebacker. If you’re a Bruin fan, you’re going to need to temper your expectations big time this season.

Elsewhere around College Football, I was told the SEC was basically the NFL compared to the rest of college teams, yet not only did LSU lose, but so did Texas A&M to Notre Dame! Ok fine the top of the conference is great, but people need to stop pretending like the rest of it is some juggernaut because it’s not. The Irish look like a very fun team to watch this year. They still have a long way to go to prove they can beat the likes of an Ohio State, Georgia, Alabama, or Texas, but they look like a playoff team.

Moments before the USC-LSU game yesterday, Direct TV took all the ESPN, ABC, and Disney networks off the air because of a contract dispute. Of course the irony is that we don’t need either of them, and this is coming from a Direct TV subscriber. It’s so easy now to stream illegally with Streameast among many others, that people can get by without satellite and cable. There is also plenty of blame to go around for both Disney and Direct TV. Direct TV is supposed to be the king of sports, yet they lost the NFL Sunday Ticket to YouTube. Meanwhile, Disney has been bleeding money for a while, feeding us their left wing nonsense, and overbidding on sports properties for years, so now they expect us to shoulder the costs. Both of these companies will find out quickly they aren’t the only game in town anymore.

Who’s ready for some NFL Football? The Rams will get their season underway against the Lions next week on Sunday Night Football in Detroit. This will be one of their tougher games on the schedule, but there is a lot to feel good about with this squad, even after Aaron Donald retired. Everybody wants to talk about the passing game and how elite the wide receivers are, which is true, but the reality of it is that the Rams need to establish the run consistently with Kyren Williams. If they do, they will be even more dangerous on offense, and that should pair well with their defense that is stocked with young talent. In my mind, the Rams are one of 7 teams that can win the Super Bowl, if things break right for them.

Finally, the Chargers will get their season underway at home against the Raiders next Sunday afternoon at home. The Bolts really need to take advantage of their first three games, with matchups against Vegas, Carolina, and Pittsburgh, all of whom are not exactly expected to win a lot of games. I’m still curious who is going to catch the ball for this team and be their playmakers, but I trust Jim Harbaugh and you should too. It might not be pretty in the beginning, but eventually, you expect him to get it right.

August 26, 2024

The Dodgers took 2 out of 3 against the Rays over the weekend, and still have the best record in baseball. You would never actually believe it though with all the panic about their starting rotation. However, I’m going to take this conversation into a completely different direction than you thought: an appreciation for two Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw and Gavin Lux. Lux has been hitting .361/.427/.680 since the all-star break and been one of the best hitters in the NL. Every fan that wanted him send to the Moon for a player to be named later owes him an apology. He’s also been looking solid defensively too. This is what happens when it takes you time to bounce back from a major knee injury. You need to have patience. He’s not just a good hitter, but he’s actually the type of hitter the Dodgers need in their lineup. A guy that can put the ball in play, and not just rely on the home run. That could benefit them greatly come October. As for Kershaw, coming off major shoulder surgery, there have been a lot of fans who claim he’s washed and should retire, and he’s been trash for 4 seasons. However, coming into Saturday’s game, he had a 2.63 ERA in 5 starts. Even though he had a tough first inning against the Rays, he battled back and shut the Rays down for most of the next 4 innings. This man is the only pitcher after 17 years who gets criticized for giving up a single run. That’s how great of a standard he has set. He doesn’t get enough credit for not just how good he was, but how good he still is. He may not be ideal to start early in a short playoff series, but he is still a very effective starting pitcher, who has remarkably reinvented himself.

Meanwhile, the Angels have lost 11 of their last 13 games, but that’s not the big news. It’s that General Manager Perry Minasian was given a 3-year contract extension. I realize that Perry is somewhat handcuffed by having a complete buffoon of a boss in Arte Moreno, but I’m curious what made Arte say he wants to sign this man up for 3 more years? The Halos haven’t made the playoffs in a decade, they let the best player in baseball walk for nothing, and they still have one of the worst farm systems in baseball. I think Arte probably said he isn’t going to find anybody he’s willing to pay big money to, or that’s willing to work for him. He also probably thought by not renewing his contract, he would look like an unstable owner. It doesn’t matter though, because we would think that anyway.

In the NBA, Anthony Edward’s and Magic Johnson are having an interesting back and forth. Ant said that Michael Jordan was the only player that had real skill in the 90’s. Magic of course took offense to this, and responded by saying “I never respond to a guy who’s never won a championship. He didn’t win a college championship. I don’t even know if he won a high school championship.” The back and forth is amusing, but the notion that no players had any skill in the 90’s is stupid. Or even that basketball in any previous era is inferior today is even more stupid. Just because there are more players shooting 3-pointers today, that doesn’t make them more skillful than players in the previous era, especially when many of those players are shooting it at a 30%. Plus, the idea of comparing different eras is just stupid. Every era has different resources, so who is to say one player can’t succeed in a different era? I love Ant and his game as well as sense of humor, but this idea is dumber than anything that’s ever been written on Magic’s Twitter account.

College Football is about to start next week for USC, who is about to take on LSU at Allegiant Stadium. The Tigers are 4.5 point favorites going into this one. By all accounts, the Trojan defense should be improved this season, but I can’t imagine that Miller Moss is going to be anywhere near the level of Caleb Williams. You compound all that with the fact it’s going to be a much tougher Big 10 schedule, and USC will be lucky to finish this season 7-5. No Trojan fan is going to be believe me, but getting adjusted to a different conference with brutal travel to begin with isn’t going to help.

The same can be said for UCLA, which has even less talent than USC. If there’s one thing the Bruins can feel good about it’s the fact that they have a coach who cares about the program in Deshaun Foster. Despite the weird press conference he had a few weeks ago, he’s probably a more charismatic person that you expect him to be. He’s also going to do everything he can to recruit in the NIL landscape, and in the long run, could be more successful than you think. With that being said, a 6-6 season would be very fortunate for this team with their travel, schedule, and tougher conference.

Finally, all this talk about Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck getting a divorce is wild. Is anybody really surprised? This is her 5th divorce. This woman marries men like middle schoolers enter relationships. As for Ben Affleck, it takes a pretty strong man to be with J-Lo, who is such a star, you have to be comfortable in your own skin. With that being said, they have both made some incredibly poor relationship choices, and at some point it’s gotta be them and not the other people they have been with.

August 19, 2024

The Dodgers are suddenly in a battle for the NL West with a month to go in the season. I know everyone is freaking out, but I’m not worried yet. The Dodgers lineup holes are looking much better than before. Gavin Lux is now one of the best hitters in the NL, Miguel Rojas is giving the Dodgers both hitting and nice defense up the middle, and they are suddenly way better in centerfield with Kevin Kiermaier and eventually with Tommy Edman. There’s a lot to like in this lineup, but it’s the pitching that’s the scary part. Tyler Glasnow is now back on the DL for a couple of weeks, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto is still about a month away. I love the potential of Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller, but they really shouldn’t be pitching in the big leagues until they are feeling confident and looking right. Neither one of them are at this point. That means at the moment, Clayton Kershaw, Gavin Stone, and Jack Flaherty are your only options for reliable starters. Kershaw is pitching remarkably well right now and still has it. He looked incredible yesterday, but I still like the idea of him pitching later in a series than early on. It’s really imperative though that the Dodgers get lots of length from their starters between now and the end of the season to preserve their often used bullpen. What’s going to be scary though is the three more games they have with the Diamondbacks at the end of the month, and the three more with the Padres in late September. It’s ok though, because in reality, it’s getting the Dodgers ready for the postseason, which is what they need.

As for the Angels, because things couldn’t get any worse for this franchise, the state auditor is launching an investigation into the failed Angels Stadium sale, and whether the Angels have complied with the terms of their current lease. The audit was requested by Sen. Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Assemblymember Avelino Valencia (D-Anaheim) and approved by the Legislature last week. Umber and Valencia say they have  “deep concern” that the team has withheld revenue owed to the city and failed to comply with stadium maintenance requirements stipulated in the lease. The Angels are denying this and there is no specific evidence that has been cited, but it’s not out of the question the Angels could be left without a home after this season and they will have to renegotiate. Plus, would anybody really be surprised if Arte Moreno weren’t in compliance and withheld revenues owed to the city? Even in the unlikely event they aren’t in compliance though, the Halos don’t really have anywhere to go. You think Moreno can find a stadium deal in Long Beach or Tustin? No chance! One way or another, he’s going to be forced to work with the city of Anaheim on this.

The Lakers announced that Michael Cooper will have his jersey retired on 1/13 at Cryto.com arena. I am typically only in favor of having your jersey retired by the Lakers if you are in the Hall of Fame, so when Coop earned that honor, it became a no-brainer. However, I am surprised it took so long for him to get in. He was 8 times on the NBA all defensive first or second team, and also won defensive player of the year in the 80’s. He was also a five time NBA champion with the Lakers, and instrumental to their Showtime era success, so very well deserved. As for the Lakers and their schedule though, they found out they will open the season at home against the Timberwolves, travel to Golden State on Christmas to play the Warriors, and play the Clippers in the Intuit Dome for the first time in January. One thing that stands out though: there are no nights off in the West. There are too many good teams that can knock you off in any given night. On the bright side though, the league as a whole has fewer back-to-back games which will benefit the likes of Lebron and AD more than a lot of players.

The Rams now have a couple of preseason games under their belt. Of course there are no starters playing, which is typical Sean McVay style. With that being said though, it hasn’t stopped Matt Stafford from getting banged up. He’s suffering from a hamstring injury, which McVay was slightly vague on. He still has 2.5 weeks before the opener against Detroit, so hopefully that will be enough time. Especially since Jimmy Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the season, and since Stetson Bennet has had more turnovers during than Betty Crocker at this point. Some of you also seem to think that Puka Nacua is going to be the Rams number 1 wide receiver. I think he’s going to be very good, but Cooper Kupp didn’t die. I think he’s still the guy as long as he’s healthy.

As for the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh had to set the record straight that Colin Kapernick isn’t going to be joining his staff. Apparently they had some conversation. Bro, it’s been 7 years. Time to move on. People didn’t want to give you a shot before because you were a distraction with prioritizing things other than football. We can all respect the cause and the work you’ve done. However, now people don’t want you on the team because you’re just too old and you’ve been away from the game for too long. It’s time to move on!

Tyreek Hill is a phenomenal wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins. However, sometimes, he says idiotic things. And sometimes, idiotic people will believe him. Hill says that Noah Lyles shouldn’t be talking because he believes he faked an illness as an excuse for not winning the 200 meters in the Olympics. He also claims he can beat Lyles in the 100 meter dash. Hill is fast for the NFL, but if you think he’s Olympic fast, you know nothing about track and field. If Hill tried to race Lyles, he would not only get smoked, but he would get smoked by the majority of the field in the Olympic semi-finals. He’s never run faster than 10.19 seconds, and wind- aided, he once ran 9.98s. On Lyles worst day, he would still win by a lot. As for him “faking illness”, it’s pretty hard to believe he could be that dominant in the 200 meters for so long, and then in several races struggle the way he did against competition he’s dominated before, so an illness seems highly likely. Besides, he still got 3rd place which is pretty impressive given that condition.

Finally, this Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese Rookie of the Year conversation needs to be put to bed. Both Clark and Reese are great basketball players who will be great for a long time. However, the idea that Reese is having an impact on the women’s game like Clark is insanity. Nobody would even know who Angel Reese is if it weren’t for Caitlin Clark. Neither one of their teams are great, but Clark has had to deal with so much more crap from some angry women in the WNBA, who claim she isn’t paying her dues. That’s hilarious because she is carrying the WNBA ratings and interests. This type of impact should actually matter in the voting for the award, because most Rookie’s don’t deal with that level of scrutiny. Just give her the Rookie Of The Year award already.

August 12, 2024

The Olympics wrapped up yesterday in Paris, and what a spectacular 2 weeks it was. I think it’s very safe to say the Olympics have their buzz back. We are in an era where ratings are very tough to get, but the Olympics averaged 30 million viewers a night. NBC has to be ecstatic, and their coverage between Peacock and Primetime NBC in Paris was phenomenal. Now that Paris had an amazing run, LA is up next, and really cool to see the buzz that is building up already after last night.

As for the games themselves, it’s safe to say this was a very successful games for the US. They had far and away the most medals, including tying China for the most gold. They can thank Steph Curry, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant for that, after they all came up big in both the semi-finals and finals of the Olympic Tournament. Those 3 were like the three branches of US Government. Meanwhile, Jayson Tatum was like a White House intern. We had been waiting for Steph to detonate, and he finally did at the right time. Not to be forgotten is Anthony Davis, who was a defensive monster throughout, and in the biggest moments as well. I also have a new found respect for Devin Booker, who very quietly played a nice role for Team USA, knocking down open shots and playing some solid defense, something I had no idea he could do. I’m sure Nike and Klutch Sports will have that footage of Lebron getting dunked on deleted immediately. This team could have a lot of turnover come 2028 and a lot of younger players in the mix, but this just goes to show you that we need our best players to play, and to be elite to get the job done. Even the women had their own problems yesterday with France, but they were able to get it done. The gap between the world and the USA women has narrowed significantly as well.

You have to consider this a phenomenal track and field games for the USA. The women completely crushed it in both relays, and the men came through nicely in the 4×400. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is the absolute GOAT in the hurdles, and the US Men had their share of medals too in hurdles, shot put, sprints, and some of the distance events. I really live for these guys scratching and clawing for the silver and bronze medals with these last second leans at the finish line. I cannot understand however, why the US Men cannot get it right in the 4×100 relay. 24 years since they’ve won a medal, which is bizarre for a country that routinely has 4 of the fastest men in the world. The handoffs are so poor, it always looks like they are putting a group together that may be fast, but has no chemistry together. I also can’t understand that hate toward Noah Lyles. The man won the 100 meters and then managed to get a bronze while he had COVID in the 200 meters. Apparently, NBA Twitter hates him just because he said something that’s true: the NBA Champion cannot really be considered the world champion. He’s elite, and I hope he’s back for the games in LA.

Break Dancing? Look I respect the fact these guys have talent, and it’s impressive, but I just can’t look at this as an Olympic sport. It’s way too subjective in terms of scoring. That probably also explains why it won’t stick moving forward. I can’t believe Jordan Chiles had to return her bronze medal in the gymnastics floor exercise. This sets a very bad precedent that after the fact you can challenge the ruling? I don’t think this is fair at all. What a mistake by US High Jumper Shelby McEwen to not agree to share the gold medal with New Zealand’s Hamish Kerr. Kerr ended up beating him in a jump off, and we really could have used that medal to go one-up on China! USA women’s soccer? Boy they really lucked out in that game, because it looked like Brazil had them on the ropes. Nevertheless, still a much more likable team than in the past. Even the men deserve credit for how far they made it. Disappointing finish, but hard to call making it out of the group stage a failure.

To baseball, where the Dodgers have found themselves in a battle for the NL West. To be honest though, it’s funny how many people are really freaking out over the NL West being competitive, but it’s really not a bad thing at all. For years, the Dodgers haven’t played meaningful games going into the playoffs, so when October came, it hurt them in ratcheting up the intensity to win those more important games. Plus, the Dodgers are only in this position because they have had a mountain of injuries to key position players, as well as in their starting rotation. The Boys in Blue are now tied with the Phillies for the best record in the NL, and one game behind the Orioles for the best record in baseball. However, you deranged psychopaths are more focused on the fact they are “only” in the playoffs by 6.5 games, have a 3.5 game lead in the NL West, and could completely fall out of it. It’s called competition people. Get used to it, and it’s a good thing. In the next week, the Dodgers will get back Mookie Betts, Walker Buehler, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edmen. They look like they will get Yoshinobu Yamamoto back in the next week after that as well. That should give them enough time to ramp up for October, while also playing meaningful baseball games.

I have to say, for a franchise that has given you almost nothing to feel good about you, you all are very excited about the Angels 4 young player. Those are 1st baseman Nolan Schanuel, Shortstop Zack Neto, Catcher Logan O’Hoppe, and 2nd baseman Christian Moore. Moore is progressing quickly through the minor leagues, but the other three are quietly having very productive stretches in the majors. The question for me is whether or not this kind of development curve is sustainable without the infrastructure in place to make it successful. I have also yet to see anything on the pitching side of the organization that you should be feeling good about, other than a slew of names that have been drafted recently.

I’m really happy to hear that Inside The NBA is going to be sticking around after next year, even though the NBA is leaving TNT. The show is simply too good to let go. Let’s be honest, it’s even a lot better than the games themselves. There’s some talk that we might even hear Shaq, Kenny, Chuck, and Ernie cover more sports than just the NBA. I don’t know, I’ve seen these guys try to cover college basketball and it’s simply not the same. They don’t know the college game like they know the NBA, and they are simply too stiff, compared to how they usually do things. In any case, this is great news for NBA fans!

I know you’re all excited about football and all, but I just can’t get excited about watching Rams and Charger preseason games with a bunch of guys who will be delivering your Door Dash next week. Plus, if i had to pay regular season prices to watch these guys play, I would lose it. In any case, for the Rams, hopefully Puca Nakua’s knee injury isn’t serious. It will be very interesting to see what the combination of a healthy Nakua and Cooper Kupp look like. As for the Chargers, they could really use JuJu Smith Schuster, as they are running pretty thin on guys who can catch the ball. He was just released. However, it’s probably a little more important they get Justin Herbert healthy, who is dealing with a foot injury. He’s supposed to be ready for the opener, but the fact he’s in a walking boot is nothing to feel good about.

August 5, 2024

What a spectacular week of the Olympics we’ve seen so far.  I have to start with the fastest man in the world competition we saw last night, in the 100-meter dash.  Noah Lyles talked a lot of smack going in, and even looked pretty bad in the first couple of qualifying races he ran.  However, when it was all on the line, he proved to be the Olympic Champion by a torso.  NBA Twitter was definitely in shambles after that, since Noah commented earlier in the week that the NBA Champion shouldn’t be considered the world champion, which didn’t sit well with them.  All the people who don’t watch track and field are also in shambles because they don’t understand the torso rule, so they thought Kishane Thompson got screwed.  He didn’t.  That’s the rule.  Even if you don’t like the rule and I play your game that it should be first body part to hit the line, Noah’s foot still hit the line first.  If you want to take it a step further and say it should be first body part over the line, then Fred Kerly would be your Olympic Champion.  Either way, Noah won the race and rightfully so, and he met the moment.  Thank goodness because anybody that does all those crazy antics during the introduction had better win!  Congrats to him and Kerley though, who took the bronze.

Elsewhere around the Olympics, Simone Biles is incredible.  She is 27 years old, a won her 2^nd ever women’s all-around Olympic Gold Medal.  I don’t care that she slipped off the balance beam this morning in the individual event.  She also got a silver in the floor exercise.  She is the most decorated Olympic Gymnast of all-time with 11 medals, and the oldest American gymnast to win gold.  She is the GOAT, and it’s this type of greatness that is the reason we watch sports.  Then there’s Katie Ledecky, who is another GOAT in her own right in the pool, dominating in the 1500 meters and 800 meters, and becoming the most decorated female Olympian in US history.  These two women are two of the best female Olympians we’ve ever seen, and they may both add to that total come 2028 in Los Angeles.  While those two made headlines, don’t forget about Scottie Scheffeler winning the Gold Medal in golf in a wild year, that even saw him getting arrested.  There was also Novak Djokovic who won the gold medal in men’s singles tennis.  This man has the golden grand slam: 10 Australian open wins, 3 French Open victories, 7 Wimbledon titles, and 4 US Opens.  What was amazing about Scheffler and Joker is that they were both extremely emotional about winning, and it shows you just how important the Olympics really are.  These two win all the time, yet these wins felt just as impactful, if not more.

Don’t forget about the always controversial but interesting side stories that come out of the Olympic Games.  For instance, Egyptian Fencer Nada Hafez competed while seven months pregnant.  She competed very well too, despite not medaling.  I know some will be critical, but she is a very accomplished woman who is also an MD, and ultimately, I think this is a personal choice.  While there are many women that know what it’s like to be 7 months pregnant, there aren’t many of us that know anything about fencing or what the preparation is like, or if it could be harmful to someone who is pregnant.  Thus, most of us aren’t in position to judge, other than to say what she did was remarkable and strong enough to compete, let alone win while pregnant.  It was also fascinating seeing North and South Korean athletes take photos together.  Sadly, I fear that North Korea athletes will be having a word or two from their government when they get home, and hopefully they are not punished for what they did.  There’s also the controversy raging around Algeria’s intersex athlete Imane Khelif, a boxer, who easily beat up Italy’s Angela Carini.  Look, I don’t think we need to overdramatize and politicize this situation as is being done, but we need to face facts.  We now need to make distinctions between biological males and females, and genetic males and females.  If someone is genetically a male, that gives them a competitive advantage over a genetic female, and they shouldn’t be competing against a female.  I don’t know what the solution is, but it makes no sense.  It’s a shame for both athletes who I’m sure have been through a lot to get to this point, but it’s simply not a level playing field, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves otherwise.  The IOC needs to revisit this topic.

Meanwhile, the US Men’s Basketball Team is on its way to the elimination round against Brazil tomorrow.  The US is adjusting nicely to international competition, looking stronger and stronger in their last two victories against Puerto Rico and South Sudan.  My favorite part about Olympic Basketball though is the wild conclusions that people draw from these games.  Based on the last 10 days of basketball, these people have determined that Lebron and KD are head and shoulder the two best players in the world currently; Jayson Tatum is a scrub who should be delivering your Door Dash and not a top 5 player; Joel Embiid is an Eric Dampier level scrub who should have his passport revoked; and Steve Kerr should only be coaching 8^th grade girls in Aruba and makes Mike Brown look like Red Auberbach.  Ok so all of this is ridiculous, but on Lebron and his greatness, he may not be the best player over the course of an entire season, but on any given night, he can be the best player in the world.  That’s still meaningful. 

After attending the first 10 days of the Olympics and attending 10 events I can say that Paris got the most important thing right: security.  When you host an Olympics that is critical.  They had 68,000 solider and police officers in the streets and at events.  They also did fairly well with transportation.  If you’ve been in San Francisco and rode BART, been to Atlanta and rode MARTA, or New York and rode the Subway, they are filthy.  Most in the world are, but can they be effective modes of transportation is always the question, and the Paris Metro is.  They also did a great job of keeping the cost of the tickets manageable for people.  The downside to that though, is that they used one platform to sell tickets at face value, and re-sell those same tickets at face as well.  However, that platform was not enough to support the masses that jammed the website all the time for tickets.  All the secondary market was delegitimized, so it was hard to know who was a scam and who wasn’t, and even the ones that weren’t had their issues.  It has its pros and cons because when the Olympics come to LA in 2028, there will be many more good platforms where you can get tickets, but I suspect the cost will be extremely expensive.  Think Super Bowl like ticket prices to the opening ceremony. 

Let’s talk NBA for a moment, and specifically the Lakers.  I feel like many people, NBA Executives included, have lost their perspective on the value of D’Angelo Russell.  He is currently on a one-year $17 million deal.  He shoots nearly 40% from three, he can create his own shot, and is a very good playmaker.  He’s definitively an NBA Starter too.  For that kind of production, he should be more like a $30-$40 million player per season.  Yes, I realize that he can be streaky and doesn’t play a lot of defense, but there’s a lot of guys in the league that can’t play defense.  You aren’t going to trade him and get some all-star back, and you shouldn’t trade him for lesser parts.  Keep it in perspective because D-Lo is actually a really good player.

The MLB Trade deadline came and went and the Dodgers definitely made their best efforts to improve their ball club.  There was definitely no superstar level player available, but the Dodgers did a really nice job of acquiring players who can help them now, and they only gave up one top 15 prospect in the process.  Between Jack Flaherty, Tommy Edman, Amed Rosario, and Michael Kopech, the Boys in Blue managed to help their starting rotation, bullpen, bench, and even add a quality bat that can play multiple positions.  I realize the Dodgers have been looking like hell lately, but you’ve got to keep in mind that they have been missing a hell of a lot players.  Give it a couple of weeks, and they might actually have an even better team than you originally thought, especially once they get Mookie Betts, Freddie Freema, and Max Muncy back in the lineup, and Edman is playing center field.  By the way, when does Gavin Lux get an apology letter from everyone? He is one of the hottest hitters in the National League, and has now earned himself an everyday spot on the infield.  Everyone is freaking out over Clayton Kershaw’s last start, but relax, it’s only his 2^nd start back from injury.  The Padres also aren’t a great matchup for him at this point.  Ultimately, once the Dodgers get a healthy Yamamoto back, and a couple of other bullpen pieces from the injured list, I think they’ll be fine.  Perhaps none of you have noticed that the Dodgers are just 1.5 games back of the best record in the NL, because the Philles have been losing like crazy too.  Too be honest, I don’t care at all about being the top seed in the NL, because it almost seems like a curse going into the playoffs.  Instead, it’s truly all about how this team is going to be playing heading into October, and how they execute against elite pitching.

As for the Angels, what a pathetic organization they demonstrated they are at the trade deadline. At the deadline they were one of the three worst teams in baseball.  Yet they did not trade a single player who was under team control beyond this season.  When you can’t even rebuild or sell correctly in a seller’s market, you’re doing something wrong.  These guys are clearly trying to make a run as the worst run organization in all of baseball, and in sports.  Teams like the Marlins have rebuilt, competed, and torn down their organization multiple times in the last 10 years.  Meanwhile, the Angels, have done nothing but sold fans on the illusion that they can win next season for the last decade.  Are fans really buying it anymore? No way.  Meanwhile, when Perry Minasian got asked if they can compete next season, all he said was “we’ll see”.  Really? We’ll see??? You’re not even going to pretend like you’re for sure going to try and win next season?  Ok Perry, way to make your fans feel like your franchise knows what it’s doing.  I do see some optimists buying into the idea that next season a lineup Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, Christian Moore, Zach Neto, Anthony Rendon, Mike Trout, and Joe Adell is going to be promising.  Their pitchers would include Reid Detmers, Caden Dana, Chase Silseth, George Klassen, Samuel Aldegheri, Patrick Sandoval, and Jose Soriano.  The problem with this line of thinking is that many of these younger players are being fast tracked to the Major Leagues because the Halos have no choices but to pull them up because their minor league system is so terrible, along with their depleted Big-League roster.  The assumption that they can continue to develop into consistently impactful players with such a flawed infrastructure is a mistaken one.  Look at Reid Detmers, who has had his confidence completely shattered, and has had more poor starts in the minors than quality ones.  The Halos have done nothing to help him with his mechanics, yet they may just bring him back up in the next week or two to see if he can pitch well again.  The same thing goes for many of the position players who are playing well now, but at some point may not, and they won’t have the support in the organization to help them work through it.  Lastly, everyone wants to write off Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, which is fine, but don’t put them in the same bucket.  Anthony Rendon couldn’t care less about baseball, and he shows it on a day-to-day basis.  He’s the guy sitting in the meeting looking at his watch to figure out how much longer he has to be there.  Mike Trout on the other hand has shown that he wants to be with the Angels, and succeed with them, despite the fact he has had trouble staying healthy.  I’m not saying you can count on either of them moving forward, but they simply are not the same.

Finally, what a disappointing season finale of House of The Dragon.  The entire episode was basically a trailer for Season 3.  The last episode seemed to build up so much momentum toward this episode, and then nothing happened.  Spoiler alert for those of you that haven’t seen it, but there isn’t much to spoil because nothing happened.  An enormous amount of time was wasted on the Lannister scene and why?  It was simply a waste of time, and even worse because it was the finale.  You know what the worst part is? You will have to wait 2 years before you get to season 3.  Will anybody still care at that point?  These writers are going to have to tell an amazing story if they are going to bring people back to watch this.