February 10th, 2014

It’s gotten really bad for the Lakers, but it just hasn’t gotten bad enough.  Early last week, it looked like the Lakers were well on their way to free falling all the way to the third worst record in the league.  This is exactly what they needed, to continue to lose to position themselves for a top 3 pick in this summer’s NBA draft.  However, several players foolish pride took over, and LA came away with wins agains the floundering Cavs, and 76ers, before losing to the Bulls yesterday.  So how’s that rebuilding job going in Cleveland?  They couldn’t even beat the Lakers, when LA was down to 5 players.  That situation could only occur in a game where Mike D’Antoni was coaching against Mike Brown.  That game reminded me of a bad horror film.  I’m thinking worse than Freddy vs Jason.  Obviously, there are several teams taking their tanking efforts far more seriously than the Lakers.  Mitch Kupchak and Jim Buss had better start shipping out a few more players, if they are serious about their own rebuilding job.

It’s one thing for the older players like Kobe, Nash, and Gasol to suffer injuries at this point in the twilight of their careers.  However, aren’t most of you wondering why younger players, like Jordan Farmar, Xavier Henry, and Nick Young are getting injured as well?  Do you really think this is just one big ugly coincidence?  Far from it.  Mike D’Antoni’s ridiculous, run and gun style, is driving his players into the ground.  He wants to play at a furious pace, which is taking a toll on both his older and younger players.  That’s not even taking into account the horrendous defense that results from his silly style of play.  The players are so tired of D’Antoni, Steve Blake’s was thrilled he ruptured his ear drum against Cleveland, so he wouldn’t have to listen to him anymore.  D’Antoni’s act has become very old with the fans, it’s simply a matter of when it wears out with the front office.  Oh, and as I predicted, Nash is injured again, less than one week after returning.

Meanwhile, the Clippers got Chris Paul back yesterday, and then demolished the 76ers.  Blake Griffin has been killing it, and could even be making a case to be an MVP candidate.  As Blake continues to take his game to new levels, some ridiculous rumors began surrounding the Clippers last week, especially with the Miami Heat coming to down.  ESPN writer, Brian Windhorst, who has been sniffing Lebron James jock strap since he entered the NBA, wrote a piece about how Lebron could consider forcing a sign and trade to the Clippers this summer.  Windhorst explained that sources close to Lebron have told him that this summer, all 30 teams are an option if he wants to play for any one of them, and that his close friendship with Chris Paul could be the deciding factor.  Windhorst suggested that Blake Griffin could be headed to Miami in that sign and trade.

So let me get this straight Brian Windhorst.  Lebron James is going to leave a team that has won two, possibly three straight NBA titles, and force his way way out of Miami, just to play with his buddy?  I’m sure he’s just going to walk into Pat Riley’s office in June, and say “look Riles, you better trade me to the Clippers right now, or else I’m going to sign with Milwaukee or Cleveland!!”  I’m sure Riley will fall out of his chair laughing at that point.  Just because Lebron’s people use Windhorst as a mouthpiece, doesn’t mean that Windhorst is excused from using his brain when writing.  Go back to HomeTown Buffet Brian, and stop wasting our time with your ridiculous columns.

On to the college ranks, where the Bruins and Trojans battled it out at the Galen Center on Saturday night.  UCLA defeated USC for the 2nd time this season on the hardwood, by a score of 83-73.  Norman Powell exploded for the first time since he was playing high school ball, with 21 points, and the Bruins maintained their grip on 2nd place in the Pac 12.  This was a reminder of what we’ve been seeing all season long from these two squads.  The Bruins can score in bunches, but they are still allergic to playing defense, and their coaching is mediocre at best.  Sometimes it feels like Steve Alford and his two sons were sent by the Trojans to sabotage the program. As for USC, the Trojans simply lack the talent on their squad right now, and one has to wonder whether Andy Enfield was hired any reason, other than for all of us to stare at his hot wife during the games.

USC may have lost the battle on the basketball court this weekend, but they did win the football recruiting battle with UCLA last week.  The Trojans somehow, pulled off the 10th best recruiting class in the nation, while the Bruins had to settle for the 18th best class according to rivals.com .  The fact SC was able to do this while hiring Steve Sarkisian at the end of the season was remarkable.  Sark just finished putting together his coaching staff a few weeks ago, yet he still managed to steal 3 of Southern California’s top high school players away from UCLA: Serra’s Adoree’ Jackson (defensive back), Long Beach Poly’s JuJu Smith, and St. John Bosco’s Damien Mama (offensive lineman).  The Bruins should have had a top 10 recruiting class, and they are a year away from going back to a program without a quarterback.  UCLA will likely have a better football team than USC next year, but Sark has made a statement that it may not be long before the Trojans turn things around.

Speaking of football, I’m not really sure why everyone is making such a big deal about Rams owner Stan Kroenke purchasing 60 acres of land in LA recently.  This is nothing more than another attempt by an NFL owner to use LA as leverage for a better stadium deal with the city their team currently resides in.  The sixty acres of land isn’t even enough to build a new football stadium on, and even if it was, I’m sure the FAA would have something to say about it, since the stadium would be right in the path of all those LAX flights.  Kroenke is the 2nd wealthiest owner in the NFL, and he’s asking the city of St. Louis for public funding for a new stadium, which the city refuses to give him.  Look Stan, if you want to move the Rams back to LA, go right ahead, but you won’t see a single dollar from the tax payers for a new stadium.  You’ll also have to deal with a hefty relocation fee from the owners.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me 10 times, shame on me.  The NFL isn’t coming back to LA anytime soon.

Spring is right around the corner, and that means one thing: pitchers and catchers have begun reporting for spring training.  You know….pitchers?  Those critical players that are vital to a baseball teams success, which the Angels can’t seem to find any of these days.  With pitchers and catchers scheduled to report on Thursday, the Halos are going to be relying heavily on the likes of Garret Richards, Hector Santiago, and Tyler Skaggs.  The odds of one of them being pretty successful is reasonable.  The odds of two being successful is fair.  The odds of all three being successful are the same as the odds of a successful Kardashian marriage.  The Angels really don’t want to take their chances with signing either Chris Capuano, Joe Saunders, or even Johan Santana?  The Halos seem to be in “win-now” mode, but they also seem to be caught between not wanting to exceed the luxury tax and winning with the group they have now.  When you consider that Mike Trout needs to be paid big bucks really soon, it’s scary to think this team can’t even afford a real #3 starter right now.

Let’s go to the ice where mercifully, the LA Kings have reached the Olympic break.  The Kings salvaged a win on Thursday against Columbus, but they’ve only won two of their last 10 games, and are barely holding onto playoff spot in the West.  The Kings are the best defensive team in hockey, but they are almost the worst offensive team as well.  Dean Lombardi is feverishly scrambling for goal scoring help, but acquiring the likes of Thomas Vanek, Matt Moulson, or even Michael Cammalleri will be challenging given the team’s salary cap restraints.  LA will have 23 games left to get their shit together, and keep in mind, 7 of the last 13 are on the road.  Hopefully when the Kings return to action, Mike Richards, Dustin Brown, and Justin Williams start scoring, because right now, the team is about as exciting to watch as monkeys slinging poo at each other in a zoo.

Meanwhile, the Ducks cooled off quite a bit at the Olympic Break, losing 4 of their last 6 games.  That also included a 2-0 loss to the Blackhawks earlier in the week at the Honda Center.  Anaheim enters the break with a 3 point lead in the Western Conference, and they will need home ice advantage to give themselves every edge they can come playoff time.  With seven Olympians, a key question for the Ducks will be how much fatigue plays a factor during the rest of the NHL season.  Make no mistake about it, Canada and the US will be playing deep into the Olympic tournament, and at a playoff level intensity.  Will the three extra weeks of hockey take its toll on the likes of Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Cam Fowler?  I suppose the same question can be asked for any team sending key players to the Olympics, but since the Ducks have had their recent share of playoff futility, it’s a far more critical question.

As an American whose uncle won a bronze medal during the 1952 Summer Olympics, I absolutely love watching both the winter and summer games.  I thought the opening ceremony on Friday was masterfully done, and did a great job incorporating numerous elements of Russian history and culture.  I realize that each of these opening ceremonies tries to “out-do” the previous one, however, each one should be evaluated on it’s own merit.  I was extremely disappointed that the NHL did shut down their season a few days earlier to allow the players to walk in the opening ceremony.  I get that the league was reluctant to let the players participate, but if they were going to let them play, then at least let them get the full experience.  Despite the greatness of the opening ceremony, I’m shocked as to how unprepared the city was for the games, and the hotels in particular.  If we are going to continue to award the games to these 2nd world countries, then the IOC better be damn sure they are prepared.  Here’s just a small taste of some of the athletes complaints about the hotels….

February 3rd, 2014

We waited two weeks for that?  The Seattle Seahawks dismantled the Denver Broncos last night in Super Bowl XLVIII 43-8, in what was probably the worst championship game I have ever seen.  The only thing that kept me from turning the game off was reading Twitter while it was going on.  When it was over, it felt like Peyton Manning was really the Seahawks so called “12th man”.  Manning just couldn’t get it going against the Seattle defense, which was in his face all game, and extremely physical with the Broncos wide receivers.  Denver picked a bad time to have its worst game of the season.  Peyton Manning will still be considered a top 5 quarterback all-time, but without more Super Bowl rings, will never be unanimously considered the best.  As for Seattle, they  proved that once again, defense wins championships (are you paying attention Mike D’Antoni?), in an NFL era that revolves around offense.  Congratulations to Pete Carroll as well, who completely turned Seattle around in 4 years, and now has a chance to contend for many more titles with his young core of players.  Looks like he knew what he was doing when he left SC.

In addition to the game being a complete snoozer, the commercials were underwhelming too.  There’s usually a commercial or two that gives me a good laugh, but I can’t recall a single one that was funny this year.  By far the strangest commercial was the Maserati advertisement, which featured a narration by Oscar nominee Quvenzhane Wallis.  You would think this was a trailer for a new horror film, but instead, it was an ad for the entry-level Ghibli model ($67,000).  That was probably the most important part of the commercial, which was never even explained.  However, the funniest thing I saw yesterday was prior to the Super Bowl, which was Frank Caliendo’s “30 for  30” mockumentary on Richard Sherman.  Take a look for yourself…..

On to the NBA, where the Lakers have completely thrown in the towel on the rest of this season.  How much more uninterested can these players possibly look?  They took a beating from Charlotte on Friday at Staples, and Al Jefferson completely destroyed him in the paint.  Once again, Mike D’Antoni complained about his team’s defense in the paint, but that’s like Jack The Ripper complaining about street crime.  Things should continue to get worse with the news last week that Kobe will likely be out for another month, and Nash tweaked something again while playing with his kids (I’m not even joking about that).  LA isn’t just taking a beating on the floor, but off as well.  TWC SportsNet ratings are down 37.5% through the first 40 games of the year.  I’m surprised they haven’t asked the Lakers for a refund on the season.  Magic Johnson decided to take my advice and stop “publicly” complaining about the team, but we know how he really feels at this point.

Once again, the Pau Gasol rumors have started too.  This latest rumor has him being traded to Phoenix for Emeka Okafor.  The Suns are loaded with 1st round picks, so LA will probably ask for one of those in the deal, if they are really going to trade Gasol.  Time is running out to move him. His value is low, but the Lakers had better realize it’s time to get something for him before he leaves them for nothing this summer.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are at it again.  The Clipps will reportedly sign Sasha Vujacic to a 10 day contract sometime today.  Was there really any reason to sign this guy, other than the fact he is a former Laker?  Once again, the Clippers moronic front office is trying get under the skin of the Laker franchise.  There’s simply no need for this guy on the roster, especially considering he hasn’t played in the NBA in almost 2 years.  On the floor, the team continues to roll, winning 7 of their last 10 games, and doing it  without the injured Chris Paul.

I’m very surprised that Indiana signed Andrew Bynum for the rest of the season.  It almost feels like they signed him just to keep him away from Miami.  The Pacers have plenty of people on their team that want to be there, and I don’t think he is one of them.  Bynum has demonstrated that he simply has no interest in playing basketball, and I still wouldn’t expect any less from him in his new home.

Get used to it Dodger fans:  this week ticket prices went up by as much as 140% for certain seats.  The Dodgers cited “unprecedented demand” for the raise in prices.  This is what happens when you have a $250 million payroll.  Frankly, if you put a winning product on the field, I have no problem with it.  On the other hand, when you’re the Lakers, and you put trash on the floor for a full season, and the fans are getting rapped on season ticket prices, then we bring out the pitchforks and tiki torches and start the riots.

Things could not be any worse for the LA Kings right now.  The Kings were shut out for the third time in 5 games on Saturday afternoon, as they lost to the Flyers 2-0.  Fans are so upset, someone threw a Louis Vuitton handbag on the ice in protest.  I agree that this team needs a little bit of a shakeup, but those of you who are suggesting that captain Dustin Brown be traded, or Daryl Sutter be fired, need to have your head examined.  It was only a month and a half ago that this team was playing some of the best hockey in the league.  It was just last spring that they were in the Western Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row.   The Kings are defensive team, and the best in the league at that.  That’s their identity.  They aren’t suddenly going to open things up and play a faster tempo when they don’t have the personnel to do it.  We’ve seen the Kings go through scoring droughts before, and then they turn it around.  I expect the same, but it might not come until after the Olympic break.

As for the Ducks, they are also looking toward the Olympic break.  They lead the NHL with 85 points, but they’ve suddenly lost 3 of their last 5 at home, after Saturday’s loss to Dallas.  The way things are going, the Kings may end up sliding all the way back to the 8th seed, which may result in  a Kings vs Ducks 1st round playoff matchup.  As exciting as that would be for Southern California, that’s probably not a matchup that Ducks would want in round 1.

UCLA really blew it yesterday.  If they had handled business against Oregon State, they would have been just one game out of 1st place in the Pac 12.  In typical Bruins fashion, their defense got exposed after going cold from the field.  UCLA gave up an 18-2 run to the Beavers late in the 2nd half, and shot a pathetic 39% from the field for the game.  Sometimes, this team thinks it’s much better than it really is.  I guess that’s what happens when Steve Alford is your coach.

Do USC fans even pay attention to their basketball team?  The team is simply terrible.  They have no fundamentals, and their so called “run and gun offense” doesn’t really have much running involved right now.  Right now, the Andy Enfield hire looks like a science experiment gone terribly wrong.

Finally, very sad to hear the news about Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Hoffman was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan yesterday, in what appeared to be a drug overdose.  Most will remember him for the Oscar he won in “Capote”, however, I will remember him for many of his other phenomenal performances.  Hoffman was one of those actors who the average person probably didn’t know, but every actor in Hollywood could tell you how amazingly talented he was.  He could be brilliantly serious, or he could make you laugh.  He could do nearly anything he wanted to on screen.  Ironically, my favorite movie he was involved in was “Along Came Polly”, in which he provided plenty of laughs.  RIP Philip.

January 27th, 2014

It was an amazing experience, but a lackluster game.  On Saturday night, the Kings and Ducks played the first outdoor hockey game ever in California, and it was the Ducks coming away with a 3-0 victory.  The Kings showed that they can’t win indoors or outdoors these days, and the Ducks showed why at the moment, they are the best team in the NHL.   Anaheim has won 21 of their last 24 games, and really gave the Kings a taste of their own medicine in this one.  The Ducks matched LA’s physical play, sending lots of bodies to the net, and scoring ugly goals against Kings netminder Jonathan Quick.  It felt like the Ducks had the Kings right where they wanted them all game long: on the powerplay.  The Kings are 0 for their last 11 powerplay opportunities, and simply could not finish.  If i really wanted to spend a lot money, stay up late, and not score, I would have gone back to my Senior Prom instead of that game.  Thanks a lot LA Kings.

I felt very fortunate that I had “good seats” to this game.  There were very few.  If you were sitting on the field level, you really couldn’t see anything.  If you were sitting in lodge level, you probably had a decent view, except if you were by the foul poles, which obstructed your view.  Otherwise, if you were sitting any higher, the players looked like ants.  Dodger Stadium felt about as unprepared for this game as the Kings were.  The lines just to get in the fan zone were outrageous, and even longer just to get a beer once you were inside.  Many of the concession stands ran out of food, and they even ran out of beer in the Pavilion.  Some folks over there had to settle for warm Coors Lights with ice.  The performance by KISS was lame and outdated, but Five For Fighting was great.   Overall, the concept of the outdoor game here was great for hockey, and they should do it again, but hopefully they’ll improve on these things moving forward.  Here’s one of “the better seats”…..

On to the NBA, where the Lakers are continued their rapid decent down the NBA standings, after finishing their annual Grammy Road trip with a 2-5 record.  Things have gotten so bad that the Lakers are now losing to Eastern Conference teams that don’t even want to win.  Even Pau Gasol, who is one of the most soft-spoken and politically correct athletes out there, ripped into his teammates yesterday, and questioned their effort.  Mike D’Antoni is demanding better defense out of his team, so yesterday, he resorted to starting rookie Ryan Kelly on Carmelo Anthony.  That’s like putting a guy wearing jeans and flip flops on him.  D’Antoni really amazes me.  He’s bitching about the defense and toughness in the paint, yet he keeps putting smaller and smaller lineups on the floor, and wants his team to just jack up three point shots all day.  After all these years in the NBA, has he really not noticed that none of his teams play defense because of the way they play offense?  If only it was Jim Buss who could see this.

Meanwhile, Blake Griffin is still beasting, and the Clippers haven’t had much of a problem winning without Chris Paul of late.  After outlasting the Raptors on Saturday night, 126-118, the Clipps are now 8-3 without CP3, and 4-2 on their current 7 game road trip.  Although the team has climbed into the top 10 in defensive field goal percentage, they somehow let the Raptors score 126 points, and let Terrence Ross break loose for 51.  When was the last time Terence Ross had 51 points in a  game?  The 7th grade?  They’ve stayed afloat without Chris Paul, but the team has a way to go defensively, before they are a championship squad.

As for the NBA All-Star voting, the league definitely failed in its attempt to get the most deserving players in this year.  Previously, fans could vote for two front court players, and a center in the starting lineup.  This year, the fans voted for the three best front court players.  This meant that Dwight Howard was snubbed, which I found rather amusing, as was Roy Hibbert.  Both of those guys will still probably get voted in by the coaches, as they should.  However, people like Charles Barkley, who are calling the fans “idiots”, should keep this in mind: the all-star game is about the fans.  If the fans want to see Kevin Love and Carmelo Anthony over Dwight Howard and Roy Hibbert, it’s because they are simply more entertaining.  The other deserving players will get selected by the coaches.  The same can even be said for Kobe Bryant, who may not be deserving, but the fans want to see him if he’s healthy.  In any case, props to the Mamba for telling the fans not to vote for him because he’s injured, even though they didn’t really listen.

Have the Dodgers actually reached the limits of their payroll?  LA was outbid by the Yankees last week in their efforts to land Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka.  LA offered “a measley” $100 million mult-year deal, while the Yankees offered a $155 million deal over 7 years.  How can this be?  I thought the Dodgers were now made of money? I thought Tanaka would be introduced at a Dodger press conference while diving into a pile of money?  I thought the Dodgers were so intent on not giving up prospects, which is why they were all about spending money?  Ok, I know I’m being dramatic here, but it does make me wonder.  Stan Kasten did come out and say the team hasn’t reached it’s payroll limit, which leads me to believe LA didn’t think Tanaka was really an ace, while everybody else did.  I guess we’ll find out if and when the Dodgers go after Rays ace, David Price again.

The Tanaka sweepstakes did tell us that the Angels have definitely hit the limits of their payroll.  The Halos did not have any intention of coming close to the $100 million + offers of their competitors.  Further hurting their search for pitching is the fact that Matt Garza signed with the Brewers for 4 years and $50 million.  The Angels had serious interest in Garza, but he turned out to be out of their range as well.  At this point, there isn’t much left on the market for the Angels to improve their pitching.  They need to hope that Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago become the next Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

To college hoops, where the up and down Bruins were back up again this weekend, with a pair of wins against Stanford and Cal.  David Wear put together a nice game with 18 points, and UCLA is now 2nd in the Pac-12.  I’m not so sure that says all that much about the Bruins, but more about how poorly the rest of the conference is performing.  I mean even USC beat Cal, and that was the Trojans only win in conference play so far!  Up next for UCLA and USC is a trip up north to battle the Oregon schools.

You know, considering the NFL is the top sport in this country, they sure have some dumb ass ideas.  For instance, why have they not done away with the Pro Bowl?  Does anybody actually watch that thing?  The players don’t even care, and now we’ve resorted to a couple of former players picking their teams.  Just get rid of it already!  I think there was more physical contact at the Grammy’s last night than the Pro Bowl.  The only thing dumber than keeping that game around, is having a cold weather Super Bowl, which will be the case next week.  Seriously, I hope Roger Godell gets hypothermia next week and freezes his ass off in the stands.  NY is a great city and all, but not the place for a Super Bowl.  The players don’t work their asses off all year to play in 20 degree weather, and be impacted by the elements in the biggest game of the year.

Finally, I was a little underwhelmed watching the Grammy Awards last night.  I still don’t get why CBS forces everyone on the west coast to watch the tape delayed version.  This is 2014 CBS….tape delayed broadcasts are out! The performances were pretty underwhelming.  Beyonce and Jay Z kicked things off nicely with their performance, but everything dropped off after that.  Katy Perry was too gothic, Lorde did an obvious lip sync, and she couldn’t have looked any more weird.  Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons kept me entertained for a little, but they don’t sound quite as good live, however, Daft Punk was pretty good.  Just think how many guys there were at bars in LA last night claiming they were Daft Punk?  I also thought the controversial, same sex couple weddings during the show were simply a way to deflect attention off of these lackluster performances.  Here’s to a better Grammy show next year.

January 20th, 2014

When the Lakers and Celtics get together, it’s usually pretty exciting.  Except on Friday, it wasn’t.  With both teams improving their lottery position by the day, the winner of Friday’s game was really the loser.  That loser, was really the Lakers, who came back to beat Boston in the final minutes.  The remaining Lakers games should be televised on Comedy Central, because it’s getting comical.  I mean Ryan Kelly is even starting now.  Yes, I know the Lakers are on a whopping 2 game win streak after beating Toronto, but they still stink.  Even more embarrassing were Nick Young’s teammates, who didn’t even stand up for him when he threw a punch at Phoenix Suns Center Alex Len earlier in the week.  Kendall Marshall claimed the Lakers couldn’t come to his aid because they only had 9 healthy players left, but so what? I’m not really sure why Young was so surprised nobody rushed to his defense.  After all, that would require the Lakers actually defending somebody.

Meanwhile, Magic Johnson decided to chime in earlier this week on the state of the Lakers.  Magic basically ripped Jim Buss apart, questioned his leadership, criticized his last two coaching hires, and called him out for letting his ego get in the way of building a championship team.  There’s probably very few people out there that disagree with Magi’c assessment of what is going on in the Laker front office right now, but that doesn’t mean publicly expressing his opinion on it is the right way to go.  The Lakers are at a very critical stage right now, especially with what they are going to do this summer and next, to potentially attract some major free agents.  Magic’s comments don’t exactly inspire the confidence of Laker fans in Jim Buss, or the potential free agents that could make a difference on the Lakers.  If Magic really cares, he should think twice before he speaks.

I will never understand the rationale of the Clippers front office.  It’s almost like they decide to pursue every player that has either played for the Lakers, or they think the Lakers might be interested in, just to get under their skin.  For instance, even after Chris Paul was injured, there was no reason to sign Darius Morris, since they already had enough guys that could handle the ball, as Morris played a whopping 6 minutes the other night.  Then they signed Hedo Turkoglu, which is just bizarre.  I can just see Donald Sterling talking to his front office now: “I know what we need guys! Another player that plays 25 feet away from the basket, can’t defend or rebound, and is way past his prime!  This will really piss the Lakers off, since I heard they were interested in him!”  Once again, the Clippers looked like a 2nd tier team when they faced a real championship contender on Saturday, in Indiana.  Paul George was just nasty…..

On to baseball, where the Dodgers finally locked up ace Clayton Kershaw to a massive deal last week.  Kershaw signed the largest deal ever for any pitcher, inking a 7 year $215 million contract.  A 7 year deal is a long deal for any pitcher, but Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball, and is definitely worth it.  He’s only 25 years old, he probably hasn’t even reached his peak, and the Dodgers are now going to have him under contract for the prime of his career.  Look, it’s just money, and clearly this franchise has plenty of it.  They might even add Japanese pitching star Masahiro Tanaka to their staff this week, which shows you how deep their pickets really are.  The pieces are now in place for the Dodgers to make a World Series run for the next few years, now it’s up to the players.  Meanwhile, down in Anaheim, all eyes are on the Angels to see if they can also lock up the cornerstone of their franchise, Mike Trout.  Otherwise, the natives will burn down the Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland.

To the college hardwood, where the Bruins basketball program went straight to hell on Saturday against Utah.  UCLA fell to 3-2 in conference play, after losing to Utah, and after it looked like they had turned the corner one week ago, they were badly exposed over the weekend.  Jordan Adams is far less efficient than last year, Norman Powell can’t buy a basket, and both Bryce and Steve Alford stink.  Who misses Ben Howland?  At least the team would play defense and have a better chance to win the Pac-12, than with what we are seeing now.

We’re not seeing anything from the USC basketball program under Andy Einfield.  So far the Trojans coach looks way over his head in conference play, as USC is 0-5.  Einfield was a completely out of the box hire, who was supposed to bring an exciting run and gun style to the program.  Instead, his team looks like a talentless group of chumps, that are allergic to defense.  Einfield had better have some magic up his sleeve when it comes to recruiting, or his USC coaching stint will be as short as the career of Vanilla Ice.

There was some serious bull shit that took place in Detroit on Saturday night during the Kings and Red Wings game.  The Kings got completely screwed when the Red Wings tied the game in the last few seconds of the 3rd period on a controversial call.  The puck bounced off the netting above the glass, then came back into play and hit Jonathan Quick in the back before ending up in the Kings net.  The Red Wings went on to win the game in a shootout.  The referees ruled that since they didn’t see the puck go out of play, the goal counted.  Amazing!  These four moron referees didn’t see what everyone else in the building saw.  This is equivalent of a fan throwing the puck into the net from the stands, and having it count as a goal.  It’s even more offensive that the Red Wings coaches and players didn’t have the class to admit the goal shouldn’t have counted at the time.  I’m really looking forward to the Kings losing home ice advantage by 1 point, and bitching about this game again in the spring.  So typical….the city of Detroit steals something again.  It’s an embarrassment that this is actually a goal…..

As for the Ducks, they are rolling.  They’ve won 19 of 21 games, and they have the best record in the NHL.  However, I’m amazed at how many people are suddenly picking them to win the Stanley Cup.  I guess nobody realizes that 8 of the last 10 Presidents Trophy winners failed to win the Stanley Cup.  I’m not trying to rain on the Ducks parade here, but they’ve still got some major questions to answer come playoff time.  Can they beat Chicago on the road in a 7 game series?  Do they have enough grit and toughness to win in the playoffs? Anaheim isn’t exactly going to be pounding teams 9-1 in the post season, like it did against Vancouver last week.  It’s going to come down to matchups, and if the Ducks get the wrong one, they could be badly exposed, like they were last year.

Other interesting NHL happenings include the massive brawl that took place at the beginning of the Canucks vs Flames game on Saturday night.  2 seconds into the game, all 5 players on each side squared off, an engaged in a line brawl.  200 penalty minutes were handed out in that game, along with 8 game misconducts.  Canucks head coach John Tortorella was so mad that he got into an altercation with a Flames coach and player outside the locker room in the first intermission.  This whole incident prompted long time baseball analyst Peter Gammons to tweet it.  He said “Calgary and Vancouver last night re-iterated why the NHL is a minor sport.”  Good one Pete!  News flash buddy: this isn’t the 1980’s anymore.  Your sport is in the toilet because its filled with cheaters, and has been surpassed in popularity by nearly all 3 other major sports (including hockey).  I guess Peter didn’t notice the 100,000 people that showed up on New Years in the freezing cold to watch Detroit and Toronto go at it.  Here’s a look at the crowded penalty boxes after Saturday night’s brawl….

What a great championship Sunday it was yesterday in the NFL.  The Broncos showed why they were the best team in the NFL all season, handling the Patriots 26-16.  Peyton Manning threw for 400 yards and a pair of touchdowns.  This may be Manning’s final season, and he played the game with that kind of desperation.  I’m sure Papa John himself was waiting for the Broncos in the locker room, naked and covered in pizza sauce.  As for the Patriots, in many ways they are wasting some very good years of Tom Brady’s career.  They constantly strip the team down of talent on both sides of the ball, and think they can get away with it because they win their crummy division and end up in the AFC Championship game every year.  They have definitely left a few Super Bowl titles on the table because of their ridiculous “Patriot Way”.  Poor Tom Brady.  What does he have left after this loss, other than his good looks, super model wife, and amazing life and hall of fame career?  This is probably what his text inbox looked like after the game…..

In the NFC, the Seahawks held off the 49ers 23-17, to advance to the Super Bowl.  The 49ers looked like they had this one in control, but Russell Wilson made some big plays down the stretch, while Colin Kaepernick had some critical turnovers with the game on the line.  The big story after the game was Richard Sherman and his thug-like interview with Erin Andrews.  We get it Richard:  You are the best cornerback in the game.  But at this point, you should let your game do your talking for you, instead of yourself.  Skip Bayless is going to have a field day with Sherman this morning.  Stanford University must be so embarrassed that this dude is actually one of their alums.  Why is he so angry?  It’s like he had a series of bad sexual experiences with nerdy girls at school.   I’m sure Sherman is a smart dude, but it’s moments like this make people just dislike pro athletes…..

Did anybody actually go see Anchorman 2?  I haven’t seen it, nor have I driven a Dodge Durango, but after watching a little TV, I feel like I have done both extensively.  I’ve gotta admit that I was pretty excited to see it when it first came out, but word of mouth killed this movie quickly.  The plot sounded stupid, and the amount of media exposure in the weeks leading up to it, just wore me out.  The real mystery here is how the film even ended doing as well as it did, raking in $115 million so far.

With the Winter Olympic games coming up, ESPN released a 30 for 30 film called “The Price of Gold”, which looked back at the 1994 scandal involving figure skaters Tanya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan.  This documentary was riveting, and I still find it amazing that to this day, some people actually believe that Harding had no knowledge that Kerrigan was going to be attacked.  One of the most interesting parts was one interview with Harding, after the U.S. Championships, and well before anyone connected her to the plot to injure Kerrigan.  In that interview, she was speaking as though it was a foregone conclusion that Kerrigan would miss the Olympics due to her injury, which was even before any doctors suggested that she could miss the Olympics.  Her tone itself suggested she was hopeful Kerrigan wouldn’t compete, and in my mind, implicates her in the plot.  Well, Kerrigan did compete, and showed she had way more skill, class, and grace than Harding ever had, by winning the silver medal in the 1994 games.  Meanwhile, Harding, a total white trash loser, tried to cheat and took a pathetic 8th place.  Too bad the U.S. sent a total gutter rat to represent our country that year, and that should have never happened.

January 13th, 2013

Just because Laker fans want the team to tank doesn’t make Friday any less painful.  The Lakers were pounded into dust on Friday night by the Clippers 123-87 at Staples, which was the Clippers largest margin of victory over the Lakers in the history of the rivalry.  When Mike D’Antoni’s teams give up less than 125 points, he probably considers that “a solid defensive effort”.  How bad does the losing streak have to get before the Lakers have to fire D’Antoni and give Kurt Rambis a chance to coach?  Friday’s effort was so horrendous, I think Kurt Rambis was ready to clothesline himself.  Much harder than when Kevin McHale clotheslined him……

Mitch Kupchak was interviewed this week, and attempted to make a distinction between “tanking” and “rebuilding”.  He said that “tanking” is intentionally losing games for better draft position, which the Lakers would never do.  “Rebuilding” is going with young players and other assets and looking toward next year if you know you are a sub .500 team.  Let me translate for you folks:  The Lakers aren’t trying to tank, but if they keep sucking in the coming weeks, they’ll be tanking.  That may mean limiting Kobe’s minutes when he returns, or trading Pau Gasol for cap relief.    Have you seen LA’s schedule the next few weeks?  They may not win a game the rest of the month!  There were also some rumors that the Lakers recently called the Nets about point guard Deron Williams.  Makes perfect sense to me:  he’s a point guard, he’s injured, he’s expensive, and his best days are behind him.  Hopefully Kupchak’s next move will be putting Jim Buss on waivers.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are holding their own without Chris Paul in the lineup.  Although they haven’t exactly played against the ’72 Lakers, The Clipps have won 3 of 4 games since CP3 went down, and Blake Griffin is carrying the squad.  Is it me, or are Griffin and DeAndre Jordan actually getting better?  Jordan has been a defensive beast, leading the NBA in rebounding, and third in the league in block shots.  Griffin is shooting a career high 70% from the free throw line, and very quietly, his jumper is improving.  The real question is whether or not they can go to Griffin at the end of games, and can he be more of a consistent force in the post?  He’s not Karl Malone or Charles Barkley yet, but sometimes we forget……he’s only 24 years old.

The Clippers are also one of the teams bidding for the services of center Andrew Bynum, who was released by the Bulls earlier this week, after being traded from the Cavs for Luol Deng.  As badly as the Clippers need depth, whoever signs Bynum deserves to have their season go straight to hell.  Bynum has worn out his welcome in LA, Philadelphia, and Cleveland in a little over two years.  He has all the ability in the world to become a great NBA big man, but has no motivation, lacks passion for basketball, has wobbly knees, and is quickly becoming known as a locker room cancer.    Good luck to the fools that take a chance on this clown.  I like how SB Nation doesn’t even have him as a “good” fit with anybody……

As for the college ranks, it had to be considered a pretty good week for UCLA.  The Bruins nearly knocked off #1 Arizona on Thursday night, after putting together a fierce 4th quarter rally that fell short.  Then last night, UCLA dominated Arizona State 87-72, and Zach Lavine put on a show.  The Bruins defensive is questionable at times, but I’m beginning to think they are slowly peaking, and might even make a run in the NCAA tournament.  The only thing that makes me question that is that Steve Alford is their coach.

On to baseball where the Dodgers, Angels, and Yankees are battling it out to sign Japanese right handed pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.  Tanaka is expected to sign a contract worth over $100 million, and the team that signs him will also owe his Japanese team $20 million.  Let’s be honest…..this guy is probably a #3 starter, and a #2 at best.  Is he really worth $100 million?  For the Dodgers, he’d be a nice addition, but a complete luxury, given that they have Kershaw, Greinke, and Ryu.  He would be an insurance policy in case Kershaw leaves via free agency next winter, but signing him is a far greater necessity for the Yankees and Angels.  Both teams desperately need pitching, and the marketing exposure in the far east would be a huge plus.  The Halos have been rumored to have an interest in Matt Garza, who would certainly be nice, but Tanaka has far greater potential to turn the Angels fortunes around.  My money is still on him ending up with the Yankees though, especially with them freeing up some money after A-Roid’s suspension.

Speaking of A-Roid, he simply needs to give up his fight.  We get it A-Roid: baseball had a bunch of PED users for a long period of time, and you were one of them.  Don’t make things worse by acting like everyone around you has some major character flaws.  Did anybody catch the 60 Minutes interview with Anthony Bosch last night?  Bosch said that he personally injected A-Roid with PED’s, and that he was scared of needles.  I was waiting for him to follow this up by saying that Rodriguez cried like a little girl every time he was injected.  So much for doctor-patient confidentiality!  Bosch sang like a canary last night on 60 Minutes, and even though A-Rod is guilty,  Bosch was obviously in serious legal trouble to spill it the way he did.

The baseball hall of fame voting process has to be the most ridiculous in sports.  First of all, shame on anyone that didn’t vote for Greg Maddux to be inducted.  He’s as brilliant a pitcher as we’ve ever seen, and his greatness lasted for two full decades.  The 16 voters that left him off their ballots should be drug tested.  Secondly, I’ve never seen a bigger group of hypocrites than these writers, who were kissing the asses of all the PED users like Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire during their playing days.  They pretended as though the entire time they didn’t know what was really going on.  Now, they want to exclude these players from the hall because of these character issues.  You can’t tell the story of baseball without including the steroid era, so these players need to be inducted into the hall, even if an asterisk is by their name.  Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb are full of their own character issues, so if we are adding that element to the voting, then we should have excluded them too.

I guess Tom Glavine picked the right sport.  The LA Kings drafted Tom Glavine with the 69th overall pick in 1984.  Glavine was inducted into the baseball hall of fame last week, after a  phenomenal career with the Atlanta Braves.  That year wasn’t a total loss for the Kings though, as they got Luc Robitaille in the 9th round, who went on to be the highest scoring left wing in NHL history.

Speaking of the Kings, Saturday night was a disaster.  They were defeated by the Detroit Red Wings, who were missing most of their regulars, so they basically lost to an AHL team.  This crap was so typical of the Kings of late:  they put a ton of shots on goal, they can’t finish, while the opponent is far more opportunistic.  Are Mike Richards and Tyler Toffoli ever going to score again?  Although it’s gotta be tough to score when you are playing with Matt Frattin.  2nd time in a week the Kings blew it against an undermanned team, as they lost to Minnesota on Tuesday.  LA may still be third in their division, but they are quickly losing ground to the Ducks and Sharks.

I guess Jonas Hiller doesn’t like it when I talk crap about him on Jock Talk LA.  The Ducks goaltender won his 14th straight game last night, and he’s the 8th goaltender in NHL history to accomplish this feat.  The Ducks continue to be an offensive powerhouse too, and they won for the 17th time in 18 games by beating the Red Wings.

Another great weekend of NFL playoff games.  The Broncos held off a furious rally from the Chargers, to advance to the AFC Championship game.  Peyton Manning may not have been amazing, but he made the critical throws when the game was on the line to hold off the Bolts.  Early on Phil Rivers was about as accurate as Helen Keller playing Jenga, but he did help the Chargers make an admirable rally.  Even though the Broncos advanced, the Chargers should feel really good about themselves.   In the first year with Mike McCoy, they not only made the playoffs, but won 1 round, and lost to probably the best team in the NFL in a close game.  They’ve got a great young front 7, and an emerging star in Keenan Allen.  However, in the end, Manning had the the last laugh…..

Meanwhile, The Pats put a beating on the young Colts.  Andrew Luck had some flashes of brilliance, but it felt like Tom Brady just said “step aside son” when this one was over.  This is probably what Andrew Luck’s text inbox looked like when the game was over….

In the NFC, the 49ers took down the Panthers on the road, to advance to the conference championship game for the 3rd year in a row.  It must be an annual tradition for Jim Harbaugh to lose his mind, because he looked like he was going to murder the referee late in the 1st half, before Vernon Davis catch was overturned and ruled a touchdown.  That propelled the 49ers to the win.  My favorite part of the game was Cam Newton doing his best Lebron James impression…..

And finally, the Saints were no match for the Seahawks in Seattle.  It sure felt like the Saints had a $50,000 bounty on Percy Harvin, since he kept getting injured in his first game back.  Marshawn Lynch was just too much in this one.  The Saints tried to rally at the end, but I’m not sure why the hell Marques Colston thought he could throw the ball 10 yards forward after catching a pass on the last play of the game.  In any case, Seattle and San Fran should be fantastic next week.  If only Harbaugh and Caroll could put on the pads on and just go at it themselves!

January 6th, 2014

Poor Pau Gasol.  I sure hope he stays away from social media, because it feels like he’s nearly been traded about 10 times in the last three years.  It happened again on Saturday night when ESPN Radio 710 AM’s Rick Schwartz tweeted that Pau had been traded to Cleveland for Andrew Bynum.  Rick has been an entertaining talk show host over the years, but he blew it on this one.  Anybody that knows anything about the NBA, knows that Gasol can’t even be traded for Bynum straight up, because it doesn’t work financially.  Mitch Kupchak usually doesn’t make trades with opposing GM’s unless he is destroying them, so he likely will not deal Gasol unless he gets Dion Waiters, or a 1st round pick, or Dan Gilbert’s unborn child in return.  Pau has been a great Laker, but it’s time to move on.

Do you realize how bad it’s gotten for the Lakers?  It’s gotten so bad, if you can dribble without bouncing the ball off your leg, you can play point guard for the Lakers.  It’s gotten so bad, Mike D’Antoni believes defense will actually win games.  It’s gotten so bad, D’Antoni is already preparing for a lineup when Kendall Marshall gets injured.  It’s gotten so bad, John Ireland is even negative about the Lakers.  It’s gotten so bad, I saw Mike D’Antoni chanting “we want Phil!” in the middle of last nights’ game.  It’s gotten so bad that that the celebrities asked management not to point to them during the Laker telecasts.  It’s gotten so bad, Staples is changing their lighting scheme to dim on the court and bright on the audience.  It’s gotten so bad, Phil Jackson called Jim Buss at midnight to thank him for not hiring him.  It’s gotten so bad, that the Clippers are better than the Lakers!

Speaking of the Clippers, they suffered a big blow this week when they lost Chris Paul to a separated shoulder.  CP3 could miss up to six weeks with the injury, and the Clippers got a taste of what life was like without him, when they got pounded by the Spurs on Saturday night.  The Clipps might slide a little in the standings over the next six weeks, but nothing too disastrous.  Blake Griffin has been playing well of late, but the real story surrounding him this week was the Griffin for Carmelo Anthony trade rumors, which i reported last week on Jock Talk LA.  Doc Rivers was irritated by the mere suggestion of the rumors, but some people are ignoring the facts.  There’s two people in the Clipps organization that would be interested in this move: Chris Paul and Donald Sterling.  Paul has wanted to play with Carmelo for years, and Sterling is impulsive enough to be contemplating a move.  Although the trade is unlikely, if the Clipps have a big slide in the next few weeks without CP3, don’t rule out Sterling thinking about it a little harder.

Let’s talk UCLA football, where Bruin fans were on the edge of their seats just a few days ago.  Bruins coach Jim Mora Jr. had discussions with Texas for their job opening, and it appeared as though quarterback Brett Hundley was leaving school to enter the NFL draft.  It looked like UCLA’s football success was going to be short-lived, and they were going to be bombed back to the days of complete suckage.  Now, just a few days later, Mora squashed the Texas rumors and said he was committed to UCLA.  Then, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Hundley is expected to announce that he is returning to school next year.  Great news for UCLA, however, with it comes much higher expectations.  Being able to hang with Stanford and Oregon is no longer a cute story. The expectations will be winning the Pac-12 and going to the Rose Bowl, or else the program will soon be viewed as overrated.

Speaking of UCLA, the Bruins basketball team opened conference play by dominating USC at Pauley Pavilion, 107-73.  Ok…I get it.  UCLA can actually beat a real division I opponent.  However, the Bruins RPI is still pretty underwhelming.  Big, bad, Arizona is coming to town on Thursday night.  UCLA is yet to collect a signature win this season.  If the Bruins win, then they’ve got my attention.  By the way, I always find it interesting how USC fans almost never recognize when their team gets beaten down by UCLA in basketball.  I completely understand that UCLA is really a basketball school, and USC is a football school.  However,  USC should historically be a much better school in basketball, much like the Bruins have put together some quality football teams throughout history.

Let’s go to the ice, where the Kings and Ducks are beginning to find out which members of their team will be participating in next months Winter Olympics.  Team USA selected Kings forward Dustin Brown, goaltender Jonathan Quick, and Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler.  Both teams could each have 5 or 6 total players selected, but do you really want these guys beating the shit out of each other for two weeks in February, when they could be getting some extra rest?  I love the Olympics, and I love that these guys take it so seriously, but I love my hockey team a lot more.

Speaking of the Kings, I’m not sure what the hell is going on with them.  LA snapped a 5 game losing streak on Saturday against Vancouver, but that’s their longest losing streak since Darryl Sutter took over the team.   Tyler Toffoli has cooled off, Dustin Brown’s goal scoring ability has gone to hell, and Mike Richards has disappeared like hodini.  It’s not time  to panic, but if you lose a few games in the west, you can easily go from 3rd place to 9th in no time.  Get it together fellas, or you may have to dig yourselves out of a big hole!

What a great Wild Card Weekend we had.  The Colts had a great comeback, but it was more about the Chiefs collapsing.  You knew things were going Indy’s way when the ball bounced into Andrew Luck’s hands and he rushed for a TD.  I think Jim Irsay drew up this play when he was drunk at 2 am at Taco Bell….

The Saints and Eagles played a relatively boring game compared to the weekends other three games.  New Orleans proved once again, that it can be its own worst enemy with all the turnovers it committed.  However, somehow, they managed to escape with a win.  That last second field goal was the quietest ending to any football game I have ever seen.

Then there’s the Chargers, who pulled off the unthinkable by going to Cinci and handling the Bengals easily.  What Charger fan actually believed they would make the playoffs this season? Let alone, win a playoff game?  Mike McCoy’s play calling was more conservative than Muslim chick during Ramadan, but the Bolts benefited from Andy Dalton’s collapse.

Finally, the 49ers got by the Packers at Lambeau yesterday.  It’s pretty rare that the spread and the temperature are the same (+3).   It was so cold, I think I saw the Coors Frost Brew Train go through Lambeau Field.  Colin Kaepernick was pretty unstoppable, and if he plays that way the 49ers will be headed back to the Super Bowl.  Aaron Rodgers didn’t have the magic coming back from the broken collar bone, but the Pack are going to be dangerous next season now that they have a running game again.

Has anybody been watching the bowl games?  That Oklahoma-Alabama game was pretty amazing, and was probably the best bowl game I’ve seen over the past few weeks.  It should be known a the “I probably had sex with my cousin and I’m ok with it” bowl.  Meanwhile, SoCal has been invaded by all of those hillbillies from the south, with FSU and Auburn going at it tonight for the BCS Championship.  I’ve got FSU in this one.  How many games has Auburn gotten lucky this year and escaped with a win?

This past week had a few pieces of sad news.  Yesterday, Padres broadcaster, former Yankee player, and American ware hero Jerry Coleman passed away.  I had the honor of working with Jerry at The Mighty 1090, and anyone that worked with him would tell you he was a pleasure to be around.  I’ll always remember him for his exciting play-by-play calls like “You can hang a star on that baby!” and “Woooah Doctor!”  Condolences to the Coleman family, and RIP Jerry.

The other piece of sad news we received this week was the passing of James Avery.  Avery was literally my favorite TV dad, on my favorite television show of all time: The Fresh Prince of Bel-air.  Not only did Avery brilliantly play the role of “Uncle Phil”, but he was also the voice of “The Shredder” in the Ninja Turtle cartoons as well, so he was definitely an important piece of my childhood.  Here’s a classic Uncle Phil moment….

December 30th, 2013

This was supposed to be an “easy stretch” for the Lakers.  Instead, they’ve lost 5 straight, including a loss at home to the lowly 76ers.  Philly had lost 13 straight games on the road, and is the worst defensive team in the NBA.  Sorry D’Antoni, but when you’re losing games to Utah and Philadelphia, injuries are no excuse.  It’s about effort.  How come when the Lakers were over .500 before Kobe came back, nobody used the injury excuse?  D’Antoni’s coaching decisions are completely bizarre.  Anyone with half a brain knows that Jordan Hill is currently the Lakers best healthy big man on the team right now, yet Mike D’Antoni only plays him 27 minutes.  Shawne Williams can’t do anything except shoot three pointers, and for some reason D’Antoni has a man crush on him.  The Lakers are sinking closer to the bottom of the West, but the fate of their coach will give us a real indication of where this franchise is headed.

This was a tough week for the Clippers.  They managed to escape with wins at home against the T-Wolves and Jazz, but they lost two important road games at Golden State and Portland.  Some of you may think it’s no big deal because NBA Championships aren’t won in December.   You may think it’s no big deal because Blake Griffin put up monster numbers.  However, the issues are still the same as they were one year ago.  The Clipps still struggle to finish close games because Chris Paul is their only reliable option.  They still struggle in the half court offense, and as good as Blake Griffin looks at times, he can be so much better.  All of these issues were exposed in critical moments last week, and there’s little reason to believe they won’t be exposed again come playoff time.

ESPN is reporting that Cleveland Cavaliers center, and former Laker, Andrew Bynum, is suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.  It’s also been reported that Bynum’s suspension will continue, but he will be on “paid leave”.  I’m trying to act surprised here but I just can’t.  I’m pretty sure that Bynum has been on “paid leave” for his entire career, and he’s probably loving this situation.  The guy doesn’t even like basketball, and at this point, has no desire to rehab his knees and get himself in shape.  It’s amazing that Phil Jackson got this to compete and even help the Lakers win two titles.  This feels very typical of America doesn’t it? Someone won’t work for you, and you still have to pay them!

Speaking of being an idiot, Yasiel Puig is at it again.  On Saturday night, Puig was arrested and charged with reckless driving for the 2nd time this year.  He was driving 110 mph in a 70 mph zone in South Florida.  There really isn’t a whole lot the Dodgers can do here.  He’s arguably their most important player, and they can’t trade him.  He’s simply a loose cannon, who needs to grow up fast, or else his career will implode.  This is exactly why the Dodgers need to hang on to all four of their outfielders, which will protect them from another Puig implosion.

That was some gruesome UFC fight on Saturday night.  Chris Weidman successfully defended his title against Anderson Silva, but the story was the fight ending in horrific fashion with Silva breaking his leg.  This was even more gruesome than the Kevin Ware injury in last year’s NCAA Tournament.  I’m no UFC expert, but I can say that into two fights against Silva, Weidman has looked like the far better fighter.  This sport is absolutely brutal.  A few years ago a friend of mine took me to an MMA fight to see his cousins’s professional debut.  It was over in 30 seconds when he split his chin open after taking a punch and falling to the ground.  It’s tough to stomach sometimes.  Seeing the women’s UFC is even more brutal.  It’s the only sports where the competitors are bleeding before the competition even begins!

On to the NFL, where we had some finish to the regular season yesterday.  It would have been so typical of the Chargers to blow that game yesterday against the Chiefs 2nd stringers, but somehow, they pulled it out.  The Chargers slipped into the playoffs, while the Dolphins and Ravens blew it.  Speaking of blowing it, for the third year in a row, the Cowboys lost the division on the final day of the season, and Kyle Orton did his best Tony Romo impression by throwing a pick late in the 4th quarter.  It took 3.5 quarters, but that final Packers drive made me think that Aaron Rodgers may really be the best player in the NFL.  I thought it was really unfair for the NFL to give the Broncos an extra bye week before the playoffs even started.  This Raider fan isn’t doing too much better than the guys running the organization….

I think Philip Rivers probably threw the worst block of all time yesterday…..

And here’s a good reference guide for Cowboys fans…..

December 23rd, 2013

Great job Jimmy Buss!  The ink isn’t even dry on Kobe’s two year contract extension, and he’s hurt again.  Maybe Jimmy boy will give Kobe another two year extension when he returns from his latest injury.  Look, I love Kobe, but this is exactly why you don’t give a 35 year old, coming off a torn achilles, a $48 million extension.  Kobe says this injury may actually give him a chance to get even stronger, but the only thing that is really getting stronger are the Lakers lottery chances.  There’s no doubt Kobe’s work ethic is as strong as ever, but there’s only so much his body can take after 18 years in the league.  At least now with Kobe out, the Lakers can tank without actually trying to tank.  Even Magic Johnson told CBS’s Jim Hill earlier this week that Kobe should sit out the season so the Lakers can get a high lottery pick, like the Spurs did in 1998, when they drafted Tim Duncan.

Now the Lakers have the excuse they need to trade Pau Gasol.  A Gasol trade may not bring back equal value in talent, but shedding his $19 million salary will get the Lakers under the dreaded luxury tax, and possibly even allow them to get back a future first round pick.  Do you realize that Steve Nash cost the Lakers 3 1st round picks?  Two in the trade with Phoenix, and one they gave up in the Ramon Sessions trade.  You do remember Steve Nash right?  You know….that point guard that’s older than a fossilized dinosaur, who will be making $9 million this year and next.  Getting rid of these guys is the first step toward rebuilding the Lakers.  But even if they do, does anybody believe LA will get back to winning titles with Jim Buss in charge?  In 1999, Charles Dolan put his moronic son, James Dolan in charge of running the New York Knicks, and since then we’ve all had some good laughs.  It’s scary to think that history might be repeating itself in LA.

Speaking of the Knicks, interesting rumors are floating around Clipper Nation.  Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Reports recently wrote an article discussing a possible Blake Griffin for Carmelo Anthony blockbuster trade between the Knicks and Clippers.  Last week, I suggested that the Clippers may have peaked with this group, and might need to look at a big trade to become the elite team they hope to be.  This isn’t exactly what I had in mind though.  It’s no secret that CP3 and ‘Melo would love to play with each other, but this would make the Clipps much older, and far worse defensively. The Knicks would have a star to build around for the future, and the dumbest owner in sports would have bamboozled the cheapest owner.  It’s sounds crazy, but it’s crazy enough for Sterling to do it.

The Clippers pulled out a wild win last night at Staples against Minnesota.  I still can’t figure out what’s up with the T-Wolves this year.  They got off to this great start, then they slipped to 11th in the West, and Ricky Rubio is afraid to shoot because he’s struggling.  Still a great game last night at Staples, and an epic battle between Kevin Love and Blake Griffin, as neither guy seemed to be able to guard the other.  The Clipps won the game, but when it was over,  it still felt like Love was the more polished player, while Griffin was only a more entertaining player.

On to college football, where the Trojans wrapped up their season on a positive note, with a win against Fresno State in the Las Vegas Bowl.  SC wasn’t exactly facing a powerhouse opponent, but they could have easily mailed it in, like they did in the Sun Bowl last season.  That does say a lot about the character of the graduating seniors and upperclassmen headed to the NFL, especially when they had to work with their third coach of the season, Clay Helton.  I’m sure that wasn’t awkward or anything.  Speaking of coaching, just a couple of weeks into the Steve Sarkisian era, and Trojan fans are already shaking their heads about recruiting violations that may have occurred under Sark’s watch at UW.  Now Sark has to beg Ed Orgeron to come back to SC to be a part of his staff, however, Orgeron might tell him to suck it, since he took the job he wanted.  That “gut feeling” Pat Haden had when he hired Sark, is probably more like a throbbing pain right now.

On to some college basketball, where the Bruins are who we thought they were.  UCLA put up a good fight against #8 Duke on Thursday night, but ended up getting pounded in the end.  Last night they continued to beat up on the little guys, taking down Weber State  in another blowout.  Who do the Bruins play next?  San Diego Christian Academy? Steve Alford is starting to feel like the Mike D’Antoni of Westwood.  Up tempo offense, no defense, great regular season, no post season success.  The Bruins could get exposed badly next month when conference play rolls around.

Let’s go to the ice, where Kings rookie goaltender Martin Jones is tearing it up.  Jones has won his first 8 starts in spectacular fashion, tying an NHL record.  I’m not one of those people crazy enough to think the Kings need to trade Jonathan Quick after 8 good games from Jones, but he has given the Kings some tough decisions to make when Quick gets healthy.  They’ll have to decide whether to send Jones back to the minors, or keep him as the backup and send Ben Scrivens to the minors.  Scrivens has to be wondering what it takes for him to play again, since he was leading the NHL in save % before Jones started playing.  Interestingly enough, Martin Jones now has a whole bunch of teammates following him on Twitter.  Ben Scrivens isn’t one.  By the way, Dwight King made maybe the creepiest face I’ve ever seen after he scored on Thursday night…..

Speaking of rookie goaltenders, the Ducks have a rookie goalie of their own who hasn’t been too bad either.  Frederik Anderson has done a commendable job filling in for injured backup Victor Fasth, and he’s won 9 of his first 10 starts.  He is just the third goaltender in NHL history to do so.  Anaheim has won 8 straight games, and coach Bruce Boudreau will make his return to Washington tonight, when the Ducks take on the Caps.

Week 16 of the NFL was a wild one.  How did the Lions manage to blow the division when they only had to beat the Giants at home?  Nice showing by the Bears defense last night.  I think the Eagles just scored again.  The Chargers are still alive for the playoffs….but barely.  The Seahawks don’t look so invincible anymore after yesterday’s loss at home, but they still may not have to leave Seattle until the Super Bowl if they clinch home field next week.  I can’t wait to see how the Cowboys will blow the division title for the third year in a row next week on Sunday night football.  I’m still not really sure how the Ravens managed to give up 41 points at home to the banged up Patriots, but I loved how Tom Brady was left hanging on this high five…..

I never want to hear the phrase, “they control their own destiny.”  Hello?  It’s “destiny”.  You can’t control destiny, because it’s your destiny!  My head hurts after looking at all the AFC playoff scenarios for next week.  Take two aspirin after reading…..

December 16th, 2013

So you actually thought for just a second, with Kobe getting back in the lineup, the Lakers were suddenly going to be an elite team didn’t you?  You forgot didn’t you?  You forgot that the pieces just don’t fit together.  You forgot that the Lakers two best players don’t fit the coaches game plan.  You forgot that this team can’t really defend.  You forgot that they just don’t have the talent.  A disappointing loss to Phoenix at home, and a beat down in Oklahoma brought all of these realities back into focus.  Saturday’s win against Charlotte made us feel like Kobe is getting healthier, but that’s not enough to overcome the sad realities of Laker basketball these days.  Kobe never publicly complains about D’Antoni, because he knows as the leader, he has to be accountable.  The same can’t be said for Pau Gasol, who’s been alienated more than anyone else in D’Antoni’s system.

Now that Pau is complaining about D’Antoni again, the Lakers have considered trading him again in the last few days.  I’m sure it won’t take long for Mitch Kupchak to realize he’s not going to get much for him.  Unless opposing general manager’s are drinking on the job, LA won’t be acquiring Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, or even Rajon Rondo in a trade for Gasol.  Pau may be in decline, but he can still be an effective big man when operating in the post.  The Lakers have demolished his trade value the last 3 years, by pushing him further and further away from the basket.  Sources say LA is even interested in re-signing him for a reduced rate, but you think Pau wants to stick around to play for D’Antoni?  He’s probably looking at teaming up with his brother Marc in Memphis next season.  The Lakers are broken, their fans are depressed, and it’s going to take more than one move to put the team back in championship contention.  If you ask Mike D’Antoni he’ll get defensive, and that would be the first time.

Oh yea….then there’s the Clippers.  A solid team, but still a mere afterthought in everyones mind.  Great teams are better than .500 on the road, and know how to lock you up defensively, which the Clippers aren’t.  Is this really as good as it gets with the great Doc Rivers as their coach?  When you watch this team, you would expect them to get better and better with every game they play.  Instead, they simply look like they have reached their ceiling.  If the Clipps were serious about contending, they might even consider making a big trade before everyone else realizes this is as good as Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan will ever be.

Let’s talk baseball, where we found out just how desperate the Angels were this week.  The Halos traded 27 year old slugger Mark Trumbo, for pitchers Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs.  We can all agree that the Angels badly needed pitching, and didn’t have a whole lot of money to get it, so they had to give up something of value.  However, did they really get enough value in return for a guy that hits 30 homers and drives in 100 runs? Santiago was just 4-9 with an ERA of 3.56 in his first full season as a starter.  Skaggs has an ERA over 5.00 in 13 career starts.  I’m sure all those baseball super stat nerds who defend the trade will bring up Trumbo’s declining on base percentage, but that doesn’t excuse not getting his full value in return.  If the Halos decided to trade Trumbo to Arizona a few months ago, they could have had Ian Kennedy, who has won 20 games before, and their rotation would be in much better shape.  Maybe Arte Moreno has given up on helping his own team, and resorted to sabotaging the Dodgers by sending Trumbo the NL West?

Speaking of the Dodgers, good thing they re-signed Juan Uribe because they had no other options at 3rd base next year.  Now The Blue Crew won’t have make a silly trade with one of their 4 outfielders to fill that hole.  I’m sure Matt Kemp was relieved when his agent was told by Ned Colletti that he wasn’t going to be traded.  Kemp has clearly pissed off somebody in the Dodgers front office with his recent behavior, because LA has seemed so determined to trade him for the last few weeks, regardless of what they were getting in return.  Maybe it’s because they found out he could be dating Khloe Kardashian, which increases the likelihood of his career going to hell?  The last time Kemp’s attitude was questioned, he responded with a career season.  Hopefully the same happens this time.  Then again, Rhianna had herpes which literally had to have lit a fire in his pants to get him going.  Kemp may be dating the wrong Kardashian if that’s going to happen again.

It’s looking more and more like USC jumped the gun, and hired their head football coach a week too soon.  No, I’m not talking about Chris Peterson.  I’m talking about Mack Brown.  Trojan fans were insisting on having a big name on their sidelines.  Is there a name bigger than Mack Brown out there right now?  I think not.  His last few years at Texas may not have been the greatest, but he’s won a national title, and a fresh start at USC would have energized him and the Trojan fan base.  It’s hard not to think that Pat Haden is having buyers remorse.

The Kings were rolling.  Until they ran into the Chicago Blackhawks.  Once again, the Hawks completely took the Kings out of their game, and dictated the tempo in last nights 3-1 victory in the windy city, which snapped LA’s 6 game win streak.  The game felt like it was straight out of a time machine from last seasons Western Conference finals.  The Kings just can’t seem to neutralize the Hawks speed, and they continually get forced into making turnovers, while giving up outnumbered attacks against them.  The Kings were the top defensive team in the league going into last night’s game, and I don’t recall them giving up an outnumbered attack for weeks, until they ran into the Hawks.  If the Kings are going to make another run for the Cup, they’ll likely have to go through Chicago to make it happen.

The irony of it is, even though the Kings seem to knock the Ducks around, the Ducks probably stand a better chance of beating the Hawks in a 7 game series.  Anaheim made it 5 in a row last night, with a 3-2 win over the Oilers.  The Ducks are practically unbeatable at home, with a record of 13-0-2, and their style of play matches up far better with the speedy Hawks in a playoff series.  However, home ice didn’t mean much for Anaheim last year when they got beat by the Red Wings in game 7 at the Honda Center, in round 1.  The Ducks are looking elite in December, but there remain questions about their toughness and grit come playoff time.

Week 15 of the NFL was the week of let downs.  The Pats blew an opportunity to clinch the division and move closer to taking home field.  The Saints blew a chance to clinch a playoff spot, and may not even win the division anymore.  The Broncos may have blown home field advantage by losing to the Chargers.  The Cowboys blew it against the Packers, but it’s December, and they usually choke around this time.  Knowing the Chargers, they’ll probably lose at home to the Raiders next week, after coming up huge in Denver.

Speaking of the NFL, and more specifically, old-time players, Jim Brown’s comments about Kobe Bryant this week were extremely shortsighted.  Look, I get it.  Jim Brown was playing football in an era where terrible things happened to African Americans in the United States.  However, he’s basically saying that Kobe isn’t black enough because he grew up in Italy.  In Brown’s mind, that means Kobe wouldn’t be recognized as a leader in the black community.  Keep in  mind that Brown was also very critical of Michael Jordan, and other black athletes for not being involved enough in their community.  Brown reminds of my 80 year old uncle, whose views on race you just have to dismiss, since he is simply a product of his generation. Props to Kobe for realizing this fact, and also not shying away from the the conversation about race, which many athletes do.

Florida State Quarterback Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy over the weekend, but there is certainly a cloud that will remain over the freshman quarterback.  Winston is most deserving of the trophy, but the recent rape allegations against him by a woman have him guilty in the court of public opinion.  Winston was cleared of any criminal wrong doing, but nobody knows for sure whether this allegation is real or bogus.  In any case, this incident will forever cast doubt on the character of both Winston, and the woman who accused him of the crime.

Finally, the season finale of Homeland was last night on Showtime.  Spoiler alert for those of you who haven’t seen it yet, and have it on DVR.  This episode ended without any cliff hangers, and was wrapped up nicely with a bow on top.  It almost felt like it could have been the series finale, because I’m unsure where the show goes from here.  I was shocked that Brody was killed off, and I was a little bit disappointed because his character, along with his interaction with Carrie made the show fantastic.   Despite an intriguing ending to season 3, overall, this season was a rocky one.  Brody’s family was just too damn annoying, and didn’t really fit into the show anymore without him playing a major role.  Heck, if they were going to kill Brody off, why did they focus half of the season on his family?  The focus of the show should remain on terrorism and national security, because that’s what Homeland viewers want to see.  So now what?  Does Carrie have the baby and become a mother while remaining in the CIA?  Does Saul return to the CIA?  Then again, is Brody really dead?  It’s hard to see how they can make the show as exciting as the first two seasons, but we’ll see where it goes next fall.

December 9th, 2013

That didn’t exactly go as planned.  Kobe Bryant finally made his return to the lineup last night, after  recovering from a torn achilles tendon.  The return didn’t go as planned.  Kobe looked rustier than an old nail in my garage, and the Lakers got beat by the shorthanded Raptors on their home floor.  Yes, I realize it’s only his first game back, so I won’t make too big of a deal out of his 25% shooting and 8 turnovers.  However, where was the energy level from his teammates?  Why does it seem like superstars can’t play effectively in Mike D’Antoni’s dumb ass system?  If I didn’t know better, after watching Kobe’s Facebook video announcing his return, I would have thought Jesus Christ was going to be making his return to the Lakers.  Too bad, because I hear Jesus has some great handles, and the Lakers could really use a point guard right about now.

Then there’s the Clippers, who just make you wonder.  You wonder, why haven’t they become better defensively under Doc Rivers?  You wonder, why  Blake Griffin hasn’t come the next Karl Malone?  You wonder, why their bench is more inconsistent than Katy Perry’s hair color?  The Clipps have lost 3 of their last 4, and Rivers called out the team for pouting when things weren’t going their way the other night in Cleveland.  It’s hard to watch this team and think they are any better than last year’s team, which has to make Donald Sterling’s head explode.  It’s early, but a team performing poorly on the road, atrociously on defensive, and inconsistently off the bench does not represent an elite team.

On to college football, where both USC and UCLA made some serious headlines on the coaching front this past week.  The Trojans hired Washington coach Steve Sarkisian to be their new head, which has most Trojans fans ready to jump off the Santa Monica pier.  Let’s be honest, this was the best coach USC could find.  Every Trojan fan fantasized about unrealistic names like Nick Saban, Jon Gruden, and Mack Brown.  Although USC can be criticized for obsessively trying to recreate the Pete Caroll era, Sark knows how to recruit in the SoCal, and he’ll have far better resources at his disposal with the Trojans than he did at UW.  It will likely be a tough next year for SC with many of their upperclassmen leaving, but with the scholarship ban lifted the following year, the Trojans may not be down for too long.

As for the Bruin football program, they can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Jim Mora Jr. agreed to an extension, and will not be leaving for the vacated Washington job.  Had Mora left, it likely would have meant Brett Hundley would have bolted for the NFL, and the UCLA football team would have instantly been bombed back to the stone age next season.  Mora’s new contract was announced, along with the opening of a new football facility on campus.  I still don’t understand why, after all these years, the Bruins haven’t figured out a way to put a football stadium on campus, or at least in Westwood?  It’s no wonder all of the previous coaches have complained about this, as it’s definitely prevented the Bruins from building a consistent winning program.

Speaking of UCLA, their basketball team is exactly who we thought they were!  They actually played real competition on Saturday morning, at Missouri, and they lost 80-71.  It’s hilarious how many UCLA basketball fans are in complete denial that the season has even started, because they are so disgusted with the state of the program.  It’s obvious what most Bruin fans were thinking this week:  Yes!  Mora is staying…..crap….so is Steve Alford.

I don’t know how many times I have to yell about it here on Jock Talk LA, but I’m going to say it one more time, so hopefully Dodgers GM Ned Colletti can hear me:  DO NOT TRADE MATT KEMP, OR ANY OF YOUR 4 OUTFIELDERS!  Kemp doesn’t want to be traded, and his agent, Dave Stewart, says that he is very nervous something could happen this week at the Winter Meetings.  On one hand, Colletti told the LA Times that he can’t just give up an outfielder because the free agent market in the coming years is weak.  However, he also said, he wouldn’t mind giving up an outfielder, if it means strengthening the farm system.  So what’s it going to be Ned?  Why give up any of these outfielders when you have to pay a significant portion of their salary anyway, and you’re getting .50 cents on the dollar back?  Bringing back Brian Wilson was a good move, but LA needs to keep the team together and give them a chance to make it to the World Series. They nearly did last year, with an unhealthy team.

I still can’t seem to figure out how the Angels are going to improve their team.  They don’t have the money to go get any real pitching, and they don’t want to give up Trumbo, Kendrick, or Aybar anymore.  So where does that leave them?  With the same damn team as last year.  At least they weren’t dumb enough to spend $240 million for the next 10 years on Robinson Cano like the Mariners.  They were dumb enough to do that two years ago with Albert Pujols.

Let’s go to the ice.  Most of the Kings fans probably don’t remember this, or just choose to block it out, but for years the Kings had been a team with terrible goaltending.  I was absolutely amazed to see the job rookie goaltender Martin Jones did against the Ducks, followed by a shutout against the Islanders.  It feels like just yesterday, the Kings were saddled with the likes of Dan Cloutier and Roman Cechmanek, who couldn’t even stop a beach ball from getting by them.  Whenever Jonathan Quick gets healthy, the Kings should now feel comfortable giving him regular rest, knowing that there are two capable goaltenders behind him.

Week 14 of the NFL Season may have been a death blow to the New England Patriots.  The Pats fear that Rob Gronkowski may be lost with a torn ACL, which probably just handed the Broncos a bye all the way to the Super Bowl.  Seeing so many of this week’s games played in the snow was pretty cool, but I still think a cold weather Super Bowl is a terrible idea.  Part of the novelty of playing in the Super Bowl, and even for fans going, is to go to a warm weather city.  Apologies to all those people that live in New York, Philly, and all those other cold ass cities.  You just shouldn’t be hosting Super Bowls, unless your stadium has a roof.

Lastly, the USA really got screwed when the World Cup group’s were announced this week.  Ghana, Portugal, and Germany all in our group?  The oddsmakers say the US has just a 39% chance of advancing out of pool play.  So much for my interest in soccer every 4 years.  Remember, we lost to Ghana in the last World Cup, and now they are in our group in 2014.  I feel really bad for this US soccer fan, who nearly lost his mind after the last World Cup…..