May 13th, 2013

I’d like to thank the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for crushing the hopes and dreams of all Southern California hockey fans over the weekend.  The Ducks had two chances to close out the Red Wings, but instead, folded like a deck of cards.  A series win would have meant the Ducks and Kings would have an epic Southern California hockey showdown in round 2, but the Red Wings would have none of that after their 3-2 win in game 7 in Anaheim on Sunday night.

After last night’s game, Corey Perry was seen kneeling at center ice in disbelief.  He was probably thinking “I can’t believe I fooled this dumb asses into giving me $66 million when I can’t even score a goal in the playoffs.”  Then there’s coach Bruce Boudreau, who is notorious for putting together great regular seasons, followed by disappointing playoffs. Boudreau is the Marty Schotenheimer of hockey.  He’s never made it past the 2nd round with the Capitals, and consistently comes up short in game 7’s.

Meanwhile, the Kings are going to have home ice advantage in round 2 against the Sharks.  Do the Kings even know how to win a series with home ice advantage?  The last time they had home ice in a playoff series Pearl Jam was cool, and Bill Clinton had started banging interns.  Dustin “Pancakes” Penner scored one of the greatest playoff goals in Kings history on Friday, as time expired at the end of the 2nd period, and his club will need much more of that to beat the Sharks.

I think it’s safe to say the Angels season is already over, and the Dodgers probably aren’t too far behind.  The Halos are 10 games back in the AL West, and that’s after taking two of three against the White Sox over the weekend.  Now, Arte Moreno is starting to hear it from TJ Simers and his friends at the LA Times.  The more I watch this team, the more it’s becoming obvious that Mike Scioscia is now forced to deal with a mess that he didn’t create.  His sluggers aren’t producing like they should, and when they aren’t, they are incapable of executing his small ball style of play.  His starting pitchers are not only ineffective, but are tuning him out.  Last night, after CJ Wilson came out of the game in the 7th for giving up 3 runs, Scioscia repeatedly asked Wilson about his pitch selection, yet Wilson was lifeless in his response.  Good luck managing these guys the rest of the way Mike.

As for the Dodgers, I love the festive atmosphere in the clubhouse this weekend, after taking two of three from the worst team in the National League.  Their season should end this week after facing the Nationals, followed by the Braves in Atlanta.  Dee Gordon and Scott Van Slyke now have as many home runs as Matt Kemp, who has become a $165 million singles hitter.  The Dodgers need to find a way to get Yasiel Puig into their lineup with Kemp and Andre Ethier trying to pull their heads out.  Heck, even Clayton Kershaw has as many home runs as Kemp!

Lastly, my heart goes out to those three girls in Cleveland, who were tortured for 10 years by Ariel Castro.  Those three girls are extremely courageous.  I would definitely kill myself if I were ever held captive in Cleveland.

May 6th, 2013

May just started, and it already feels like the 2013 baseball season is toast for the Dodgers and Angels.  Don Mattingly says he actually feels pretty good about his team after getting swept over the weekend against the Giants.  Imagine how bad things would really be if he didn’t feel good about his team!

The Dodgers have the 5th best batting average in the NL, and the 2nd best on base percentage, yet only the Marlins have scored fewer runs than them.  This team can’t hit when it counts, and I’m starting to question the legitimacy of Matt Kemp’s power numbers the last couple of years.

Things are even worse in Anaheim, where the Halos are off to their worst 31 game start in franchise history.  Everyone wants to blame Mike Scioscia for this disaster, but it isn’t really his fault that his starters can’t even give him 6 innings, or that Josh Hamilton is a $125 million scrub.  One could actually make a case that if Scioscia were the manager of the Dodgers, his small ball style would be far more effective in the NL, and if Mattingly were manager of the Angels, his ability to manage big names would make him more successful.

Even though the Kings won game 3 on Saturday night, the team can’t feel that great about their inability to impose their will against the Blues.  Jonathan Quick has been spectacular, but Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter haven’t scored since the first Iron Man was in theaters.   Apparently, Jake Muzzin needs to cost the Kings a game in this series before Daryl Sutter benches him for good.

The Ducks are catching a big break with the suspension of Red Wings forward Justin Abdelkader.  Gotta love Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau telling it like it is: “The Wings are a good team.  We’re not playing the Florida Panthers here.”  With Abdelkader out, the Wings may be a lot closer to the Panthers, and the Ducks need to take take control of the series with a win tonight.

We can now add the Miami Dolphins to the list of teams that are using Los Angeles as leverage to get a new NFL stadium in their city.  Dolphins CEO Mike Dee told WFOR-TV in Miami that he has to have a public-private partnership in order for a new stadium to be built.    The NFL isn’t coming back to LA anytime soon, and any hope of it coming back disappeared when Tim Leiweke was fired by AEG, and took a job north of the border.

Finally, people need to stop crucifying the one writer who voted for Carmelo Anthony, instead of Lebron James for the MVP.  Nobody even knows what the criteria is for the NBA MVP award, so at the end of the day, you can make a case that one player is “more valuable” than another.  I’ve always thought the NBA needs a player of the year award, and an MVP award, but that will probably never happen because the league enjoys the MVP debate every year.

April 29th, 2013

Thank god it’s over.  The Lakers season mercifully came to an end on Sunday evening at Staples Center.  This has been the most disappointing season in franchise history.  Great effort on behalf of Dwight Howard as well.  2 shot attempts in 3 quarters of play while playing with bunch of D-League players?  No wonder he got himself ejected from the game.  Dwight might have some maturing to do, but it’s not going to happen with D’Antoni coaching him.  Now some fans can pretend to care about the Clippers for the next couple of weeks.

Everyone is applauding Jason Collins for coming out and admitting he’s gay, but why should we care?  Your sexual orientation is nobody’s business but your own, and it’s not something you need to wear on your sleeve.  The fact that everybody is making such a big deal out of this tells me that the sports world isn’t comfortable with it yet, no matter how much people try to say things have changed.

Why do people who watch the NBA have the memory of a 3 year old?  Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been playing great, but after 4 great games people wanted to anoint them the greatest shooting backcourt in team history.  Most of these people have probably never heard of John Stockton and Jeff Hornacek, Mark Price and Craig Ehlo, or Jerry West and Gail Goodrich.

Carl Crawford has been on fire.  I thought this guy’s arm would have fallen off my now, but he’s easily been the Dodgers best player this year.  Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier need to start earning their paychecks for the boys in blue to go anywhere.  Speaking of not earning your paycheck, the Angels trio of Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Josh Hamilton have combined to hit .167 over the last 6 games with 16 strikeouts.  The Halos have equaled last year’s horrendous start of 9-15, and now that the Lakers are toast, we can focus our attention on how badly our two expensive So Cal baseball squads stink.

The Kings ended up getting a great 1st round matchup against the Blues.  Although they won’t have home ice advantage, they’ve beaten the Blues like they stole something over the last 8 games.  I’ve got the Kings in 5.  Meanwhile, the Ducks may have a little tougher time with the upstart Red Wings, but they should have enough fire power to win the series in 6 games.

I sure hope Matt Barkely had fun in his senior year and slept with as many sorority girls as possible, because he cost himself about $30 million by not coming out for the draft last year.  The Eagles seem like an awkward fit for Barkely with Chip Kelly’s system, which will only make things tougher for him.  Barkely’s free fall to the 4th round reflects poorly on USC quarterbacks, and it will definitely have a negative impact on Lane Kiffin’s ability to recruit quality talent at that position.

April 22nd, 2013

So Mike D’Antoni was bothered by Kobe’s in game tweets.  Give me a break!  We all know that Kobe isn’t saying anything that we all aren’t already thinking.  Besides, Kobe’s tweeting makes the game that much more entertaining for all of us watching at home.    What’s with Mike D’Antoni’s man crush on Steve Nash anyway?  Nash gets back in the lineup after missing about a month, and D’Antoni thinks he’s back in Phoenix running play after play for Nash, who was rustier than an iron nail in the ocean.

What will it take for the Clippers to get some attention in this town?  They dominate the Grizzlies in game 1 on their home floor, yet the Lakers are still dominating the headlines.  It’s going to take a deep playoff run for these guys to make a serious dent in the LA sports landscape, and maybe even to save Vinny Del Negro’s job.

The Dodgers are sinking like the titanic, and now they are out of starting pitching.  Chad Billingsley will likely need season ending surgery, which only makes Zach Greinke look like that much more of an idiot for intentionally hitting Carlos Quentin.   Meanwhile, the Angels finally remembered how to hit, but when you’re $240 million first baseman claims “I’m dying” from a foot injury, you have to be pretty concerned.

The Ducks have just about wrapped up the Pacific Division title, but I still have my doubts about this team style being effective in the playoffs.  The Stanley Cup playoffs are about grittiness and toughness, which the Ducks don’t have.  As for the Kings, last night’s win makes me think they have another gear they can take their level of play to.

April 15th, 2013

Dwight Howard is angry.  He was in a-hole mode last night in his post game interview with Mike Trudell, providing short and curt responses to all his questions.  It’s obvious that Dwight is annoyed   everyone is counting the Lakers out without Kobe, and acting like he and the rest of his teammates are a bunch of scrubs.  Heck, as long as Steve Blake keeps playing like Reggie Miller, the Lakers should win a championship this year.

The USA Today is reporting that two people close to Howard say they now expect him to re-sign with the Lakers this summer.  Those two people also spoke “on the condition of anonymity” out of respect for the fact Howard has been known to change his mind more frequently than a teenage girl.

Thank god the Astros moved to the AL West or else the Angels might still be looking for their first win at home this season.  Who the hell does Ted Lilly think he is? The dude is taking a beating in the minor leagues, and now he’s demanding to be on the Dodgers major league roster or be released.  Hey Ted, unless you can play 3rd base and hit some home runs, which we know you can’t, just keep your mouth shut and enjoy your $12 million salary.

It’s probably a good thing Tiger Woods didn’t win the Masters this weekend.  A victory would have been looked at with an “asterisk”  in the eyes of most people.  Adam Scott was phenomenal, but the most entertaining part of the weekend was all the cheater jokes that Tiger’s penalty created.  Lindsay Vonn’s ex-husband Thomas tweeted the following:

No problem Masters tournament happy to call in and help. You always have to keep an eye on those cheaters 😉

April 8th, 2013

Sorry Laker fans….the playoffs aren’t happening.  If the Jazz go 3-1 over their final 4 games, the Lakers have to go 5-0.  This team hasn’t won on the 2nd night of a back-to-back all season long, and we know it almost never happens in Portland.  Good thing I just sent the Lakers a fat check for playoff tickets I’m not going to get.

As for the Clippers, don’t fool yourself into thinking all is well with this team.  Since their 17 game win streak earlier this season, they have struggled against the elite teams in the Western Conference.  Does anybody really think they can beat Denver, OKC, or San Antonio in a playoff series?  I sure don’t.

We’re only one week into the baseball season, but there’s already some big concerns about our local squads.  The Halos are off to an ugly 2-4 start, which is a disturbing resemblance to what we saw one year ago from them.  The offense has had some ups and downs, and now the teams only reliable starting pitcher is banged up.    Meanwhile, the Dodgers have been getting great pitching, but for $230 million you would hope the team could drive in a few more runs every night.

Great game between the Ducks and Kings last night at the Honda Center.  The Ducks prevailed 4-3 in a shootout, but this was a physical game with a playoff feel to it.  Not only does this appear to be one of the few seasons where both local teams will make the playoffs, but they both might be good enough to matchup with each other in the 2nd or 3rd round of the playoffs.

Finally, I’ve got Louisville tonight over Michigan 77-71.  An interesting drinking game to play would be to drink every time Kevin Ware is showed on TV.  Of course, you would probably be dead about 10 minutes into the game.