October 27, 2025

It looked like the Toronto Blue Jays really had the Dodgers on the ropes there on Saturday night. The Jays were constantly threatening early, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto not only worked his way out of that trouble, but had the physical and mental toughness to throw his 2nd straight postseason complete game. Nobody in Dodgers history has done that in 4 decades. Now we’re tied coming back to LA. It’s going to be tough for either team to win 3 straight games, but if the Dodgers can win 2 of the next 3 they will be in great shape to repeat as Champions. The Dodgers have an edge in pitching in all 3 of those games. The toughest part though? The pitching in almost every game has been transcendent level. At some point, they will need some help from the bullpen. I know the choices are few and far between down there, but the next three Dodger pitchers certainly aren’t going to give you complete games. They’ve got to step up and provide some relief. The good news for the Dodgers is the Blue Jays bullpen isn’t exactly lights out either. Winning this series against the likes of notorious 2017 cheater George Springer, and former 2021 “me-first” Dodger Max Scherzer would be extra sweet. Also, credit to Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts for being flexible. I’ve always made fun of them for their overly analytics approach, but they are now using their starters as starters, despite the fact that line 57 of the spreadsheet is telling them otherwise. That flexibility is what gives them the greatest chance to repeat as champions. That and the fact that they just sound very confident they are going to win.

While we are on the subject of baseball, the Angels simply can’t get out of their own way, and made headlines with more embarrassment last week. They hired Kurt Suzuki as their new manager, and gave him a one year deal. They simply would not hire Albert Pujols or Tori Hunter because they wanted “too much money” in the eyes of cheapskate owner Arte Moreno. It’s clear that Arte has no interest in paying a Manager or General Manager if there is a potential lockout. However, if this is his attitude, then the man has no intention of building any kind of sustainable success. Although most of us already knew that, it’s an obnoxious reminder of what his approach is. One area of hope Angels fans can hold onto: the idea that Moreno would have to sell the team if his franchise is found liable in court over the death of Tyler Skaggs. Although that is considered unlikely, one can hold onto hope.

I love how Austin Reaves plays every game like he is still trying to make an NBA roster. The man is turning into an NBA All-Star before our very eyes, after he dropped a career high 51 points last night in a win against Sacramento. The Lakers did however got some early bad news. They will be without Luka Doncic for the next week with a finger sprain and a leg contusion. I’m going to spare all of you the jokes about how soft today’s NBA players are, and how they are like Charmin Tissue Paper. Ok sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But this is very unfortunate because the Lakers are already without Lebron and Jaxton Hayes. If they can get through the next week with a 2-2 record, they should be content. Luka was really on fire in his first two games. When this team is healthy, I think they do have a lot of promise, but that might be another month away from happening. I really like Marcus Smart and he gives them an edge and toughness the Lakers haven’t had in a long time. I like Jake LaRavia too, but his barber should be in prison. A lot of you are killing DeAndre Ayton, but last night he showed you just how impactful he can be on this team. Some of you that watch this team need your head examined. Austin was clearly injured in the playoffs last year, but you all thought he sucked and needed to be traded. Now he’s going off, and your next thought is that the Lakers are somehow better off trading Lebron. What you should be thinking is just how elite this team can be with Luka, Lebron, and Austin. In the meantime, it’s going to be the Austin Reaves show for the next week!

The Clippers are off to an ok start, with a couple of wins, following their opening night loss to Utah. However, the best news for them is this FBI investigation going on involving Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier. This is an incredibly bad look for the NBA, and one they really don’t have much control over because the Federal Government is involved in this matter. I find it very hard to believe Adam Silver would add to the negative publicity going on right now but punishing the Clippers for circumventing the salary cap. Timing is everything, and the timing is working out quite favorably for the Clips. The league doesn’t need negative publicity with new TV deals with Amazon and NBC. There is obviously an issue with gambling that needs to be addressed, but Steve Ballmer already placed his gamble on Kawhi’s knees and lost.

In the NFL, the Rams had a bye week but the Chargers came up with an easy but important win on Thursday night against the Vikings. The Bolts are really banged up, so it was important to get a win, even if it was against a team that should probably be relegated to the CFL at this point. Justin Herbert was great again. I don’t know how much healthier the Bolts will be in 10 days from now, but they should be able to beat an even weaker opponent in the Titans, who I’m not even sure are trying to win football games at this point.

It was a nice run while it lasted, but UCLA came crashing back to earth on Saturday against Indiana. The Bruins took a senseless beating from the Hoosiers, 56-6 in Bloomington. The Bruins were outmanned on both sides of the ball. Indiana is going to beat a lot of teams whether the opponent is new to the Big 10 or not. Tim Skipper deserves credit getting players who weren’t highly ranked to play well the previous three games. Beating Nebraska is possible with this team. Toppling Ohio State, Washington and USC less so. If they can just keep those games competitive, it will be an accomplishment. The better question is what UCLA is going to do with their coaching search. James Franklin is still the best guy they can hire. I sure hope Brian Kelly isn’t the guy for the job, or else we’ll be hearing him manufacture some surfer guy California accent in his press conferences.

Finally, I mean to ask this question in the most respectful way possible. Is LA Kings Coach Jim Hiller an idiot? Anybody with half a brain can see that the Kings best defenseman and best player is Brandt Clarke. He’s only 22 years old, but Hiller has shown that he hates trusting young players. Well his young player in this case has the potential to be an elite NHL Defenseman, yet he’s playing him fewer minutes than any of his other defenseman. A handful of those defenseman are complete scrubs that his useless GM signed over the summer. I’m absolutely terrified that Clarke will eventually go the way of other young players this organization has seen the last 5-7 years, and get traded for a used bag of pucks. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong.

October 20, 2025

It’s great to see the Dodgers “ruining baseball” again! The Boys in Blue just rolled right through the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-game sweep last week, and are headed back to their 2nd straight World Series. One of the reasons we watch sports is to witness individual greatness, and the moments that come with it. Shohei Ohtani gave us all that and more in game 4 of the series. There is nobody in baseball who can take over a game the way that Ohtani did in that game. He was dominant on the mound, striking out 10 batters over 6 shutout innings, and absolutely took over the game at the plate with three home runs. The man is just a walking box office and you should stop everything you’re doing to watch him when you have the opportunity. The Dodgers are like that student in your class that goofed around all semester, and now that the final exams are here (i.e. – the playoffs), and they are cramming for the exam and coming out of it with an A in the class. It’s not like they have been tearing the cover of the baseball and scoring all these runs either. Their pitching has been so phenomenal, allowing only 4 runs in 4 games. The Brewers were the best regular season team in baseball this year, yet the Dodgers held them to the fewest hits of any team through the first 3 games of a playoff series in 119 years. That’s unbelievable! Baseball is a very weird game and either of the AL Teams left could easily win the World Series. However, the Dodgers have a great chance to cash in now on a back-to-back championship while they have a CBA in their favor, and while they still have a core of star players that are still in the midst of their baseball prime. Oh and allowing Clayton Kershaw to go out as a champion is a nice cherry on top of the Sundae too!

Let’s go to the NFL, where the Rams played one of those stupid international games yesterday against the Jaguars. They dominated and came away with a victory going into their bye week. The NFL has a ton of parody right now, but the Rams look as good as anybody in the NFC does after 7 weeks of football. They are really starting to come together in all facets of the game. Prior to the 4th quarter yesterday, their defense had allowed just 3 points in their last 7 quarters, and they only allowed 3 out of 15 3rd down conversions by the Jags. Jared Verse is so good, I completely forgot about Aaron Donald, even though he was one of the best all-time when he played. On offense, no Puka Nacua? No problem. Davante Adams scored three touchdowns, and Matt Stafford threw 5, while they continuously pounded the ball up the middle to control the game. It was as impressive of a win as the Rams have had all season. The Rams have a very winnable game against the Saints in two weeks, then they’ll have to contend with two really good divisional opponents in the 49ers and Seahawks.

I don’t know what was uglier, the Chargers uniforms or those urination edition uniforms they played in yesterday. Maybe the reason they wore that color was so it would disguise the defense from peeing down their legs in fear of the Colts. Injuries are obviously a huge part of the problems for the Bolts, and that can explain why the Colts were getting pressure on almost every possession. However, it doesn’t explain why the Chargers defense was awful. This is not what Jim Harbaugh teams are supposed to look like. Suddenly the Chiefs look like they are about to overtake the Chargers and Broncos for 1st place. The Chargers schedule isn’t too bad, but if they don’t get healthy quickly, they will be in a dog fight just to get into the playoffs.

In College Football, USC’s Playoff hopes were torpedoed on Saturday night when they lost to Notre Dame 34-24. Notre Dame looks for real and like one of the top 5-10 teams in the country. Meanwhile, the Trojans are a Top 20 team, but not much better than that. I’m sure everyone wants to cook Lincoln Riley after seeing his team get completely run over on the ground, and beat up in the trenches. It felt like same old Trojans. They are a finesse team, and can win with finesse, but that’s tough against a lot of the elite teams in the country, and especially in The Big Ten. They could still quite easily get 9 wins and go to a nice bowl game, but that won’t get them to the CFP. Riley’s real saving grace is the fact he has the #1 recruiting class in the country next year. If he can’t make some major progress with that, then USC truly has the wrong guy coaching them. As for the rivalry game itself, it would be completely wrong for USC and Notre Dame to end their rivalry. They need to figure it out and I think they will. I get that USC now plays in the Big Ten with tough travel, but at least put Notre Dame earlier as part of the non-conference schedule. There are certain traditions that should always be honored, and in addition to the tradition, both teams really need each as other as part of their strength of schedule.

Then there’s UCLA, who won their 3rd straight game. I don’t know who this team is, but they are interesting. After beating Maryland, they are now tied for 4th in the Big Ten. Also credit to Nico Iamaleava, who overcame injury and came back for the final drive of the game. I have so much respect for this Bruins team and what they have been able to pull together, especially Jerry Neuheisal. With that being said, there’s some lightning in a bottle going on here. This team still lacks talent in the big picture, and I think come next week there will be a bit of a reality check. The Bruins have to face Indiana, followed by Nebraska, and Ohio State, with 2 of those 3 on the road. That’s a brutal schedule, but if they want a real shot at the Big Ten title like some people think they have, they’ll have to deal with those teams. Crazier things have happened, but I don’t think the Bruins can get by either of those ranked teams.

Get ready for the start of the NBA season! The Lakers will get things going on Tuesday night at home against the Golden State Warriors. My expectation is that the Lakers are still going to be playing very well to start the season, even without Lebron James. When I see Austin and Luka play together, they look really good, and they also have some credible rotation pieces as well, like DeAndre Ayton. The West is very hard to handicap 1-10, and all the teams aren’t going to be separated by much, which means healthy will probably be the deciding factor. However, the Lakers were 3rd in the West last year with a limited sample size with Lebron, Luka, and Austin in the lineup. I can’t imagine that they will be any worse than last year, as long as they are reasonably healthy.

Finally, what in the world is going on with the LA Kings. They have 1 regulation win in 6 games. For a team with the type of aspirations this team does, that’s completely inexcusable. I realize their schedule was a bit difficult, but everyone expects much better. The problem? Their defense could not defend a parked car, and it has regressed with the free agent signings of two veteran stiffs in Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin. They are nothing more than traffic cones on defense, and it’s also possible their starting goalie Darcy Keumper has regressed due to age. That would fundamentally destroy the Kings and they might suddenly not be a playoff team. I’m not saying that’s going to happen because a lot of the Kings losses so far are due to undisciplined play and just not staying out of the penalty box. However, keep an eye on where this goes, because if the Kings aren’t good, Adrian Kemp may want to look elsewhere and not re-sign. If that happens, the Kings are really screwed.

October 13, 2025

The Dodgers somehow survived a 5-game series against the Phillies and advanced to the NLCS vs The Brewers. The baseball Gods definitely evened the scales of justice after the Dodgers lost to the Phillies in devastating fashion in 2008 and 2009. That came when Orion Kerkering lost his mind and threw the ball home in extra innings instead of making an easy play by throwing to 1st base, which would have ended the 11th inning. The Dodgers somehow won 2 games on the road in Philly, and won 2 games at home while hitting like Little Leaguers. That’s because their starting pitching has been lights out, and their bullpen has been stabilized by Roki Sasaki, who suddenly looks like the 2nd coming of Mariano Rivera. If the Dodgers are going to beat the Brewers and ultimately win the World Series, they will need Shohei Ohtani to hit. The man is struggling so bad to hit anything right now, even his wife has been saying no. The Brewers remind me of the Lakers vs Spurs playoff matches from 2000-2010. You always knew the Lakers were the more talented team, but they had to execute at a very high level to beat the Spurs because they were so fundamentally sound. That’s exactly what will need to happen here. The Dodgers will need to put the ball in play, manufacture runs, run the bases well, and play good defense. You can count on both teams pitching well, but it will take a much higher level of execution for the Dodgers to win this one.

Before we get to some football, I’ve gotta mention how embarrassing the Angels are. Yusei Kukuchi told Japanese reporters after his final start that he had to exit due to cramping. The reason for that is because the weight room in Anaheim has no A/C, so he is always drenched in sweat. He even asked the team to fix the lack of A/C, but they did never did all season. An additional story is floating around on Twitter that an Armenian friend of Perry Minasian is saying that Arte Moreno won’t even pay for a personal assistant or admin for his GM. Who knows if that part is true, but it certainly fits the narrative that Moreno is the slum lord of MLB owners. For the life of me I can’t understand why Albert Pujols or Tori Hunter would want to manage a team with limited talent and resources. They must be incredibly bored.

To the NFL, where the Rams defeated the Ravens yesterday on the road. I don’t know what happened in the 1st half, as it was another case of the Rams playing down to their competition. It’s hard to enjoy a sloppy lifeless win when your expectations are winning the Super Bowl. However, the good news is that the Rams are still 4-2, and firmly in the mix for a top playoff spot in the NFC. It’s also clear that some of the other top teams like the Eagles, Packers, and 49ers are having their own issues at times as well against what you would think is inferior competition. What’s up with Davante Adams? He’s suddenly dropping balls like it’s New Years Eve. The injuries are a bit of a concern too with Puka dealing with a foot issue, and then Blake Corum with an ankle injury. It was good to see Kyren Williams get in the end zone though, and get his confidence back up after last week’s disaster against the 49ers.

The Chargers also had to deal with some injury issues, but still got by the Dolphins 29-27 on the road yesterday. Justin Herbert still looks amazing, throwing two more touchdown passes. Kimani Vidal was piling up receiving yardage like he was playing PlayStation, and Ladd McConkey looked like last years elite receiver. Ironally, the Bolts are one of the worst teams in the red zone in the NFL. Although it almost cost them, Cameron Dicker is the most accurate kicker in the NFL. Imagine that? A Chargers kicker that is actually accurate! That has never happened! I do think they are a playoff team, but I’m not totally convinced the Chiefs aren’t going to come back and win this division. They have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Taylor Swift on their team. We know anything is possible with Taylor Swift on your side!

In College Football, the Trojans took down Michigan at home on Saturday night at the Coliseum. That put them up to #20 in the AP Poll, heading into a showdown with Notre Dame, who is #13 in the polls. We give Lincoln Riley a lot of crap for his coaching when they’ve lost, but in this case he deserves a lot of credit. A lot of people pegged the Trojans as a soft team, and his coaching style as very finesse. He had his team ready to play, and it was by far the most complete game we had seen USC play in a long time. Now with USC sitting at #20, it’s a huge game next weekend for both teams, with major playoff implications on the line. If USC wins, they have some momentum and may actually have a shot at the College Football Playoff. If Notre Dame wins, they will suddenly launch themselves back into the Top 12, and strengthen their case for a playoff spot with a win over a ranked opponent.

In another shocking development, UCLA went on the road and dismantled Michigan State 38-13. All of a sudden this looks like a totally different team than the one we saw the first 4 games of the season. Most of that is thanks to the offensive genius of Jerry Neuheisel, who is making his offense look like the Greatest Show On Turf from the early 2000’s. He really did revive Nico Iamaleava, and this team might actually be fun to watch for the rest of the season. However, I’m not ready to anoint these guys Big Ten contenders or anything like that. Let’s slow our roll a bit. What I would do though if I were UCLA is call James Franklin, who would be an excellent hire if this program is serious about football. The problem is I’m not so sure that Martin Jarmond is a serious Athletic Director.

In the NBA, Lebron is the biggest troll I’ve ever seen. Making us all think he’s going to retire, only to announce some cheesy Hennessey partnership. The guy suing Lebron because he bought tickets to the last game is an idiot though. Why don’t you just ask for money back on your stock market losses while you’re at it? The Lakers also learned that Lebron James is going to miss the start of the season, and will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks with a glute injury. You know, I really want to believe he’s hurt, and for the time being I’m going to believe that Lebron is really hurt. However, there is a small part of me, and maybe a big part of some of you that think he doesn’t want to risk his 40-year old body until he sees what this Laker team can do without him. It’s so ridiculous to think that a player as good as Lebron would need to feel like he is on a completely stacked team in order to compete, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now and assume he is really hurt. I reserve the right to change my mind depending on how this plays out. It would be pretty funny though if the Lakers started 10-1 with Luka, yet Lebron ends up coming back and ruining team chemistry. More than anything though Lebron’s glute injury is symbolic because lately, he and Rich Paul have just been a big pain in the ass!

Finally, it’s been quiet in Clipper land for a couple of weeks now since Pablo Torres latest reports on Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration. The Clips have to hope it dies down because on the court, it appears as though they have a pretty good team. Like every year, it always depends on the health of Kawhi, but also, health of everyone else. The Clips are talented but older. Chris Paul, Brooke Lopez, Bradley Beal, James Harden. They are getting long in the tooth and can miss games. If and when that happens, the Clippers will once again be just a great concept, with not actual reality of winning.

October 6, 2025

What a great win by the Dodgers on Saturday night in game 1 against the Phillies.   That was definitely the game they needed to win on the road, with Ohtani going in game 1, Glasnow backing him up, and little middle relief help.  Say what you will about Teo’s shortcomings as a defender, but he is proving to be an excellent postseason performer, with clutch hits.  The same can be said for Kike Hernandez, who basically becomes Barry Bonds in October.  Ironically, the Dodgers were starting to get more from Michael Conforto in September, but it wasn’t enough for him to make the postseason roster.  It turns out they were just waiting for Kike to be completely healthy to give him a regular spot in the lineup.   On the other hand, if the Dodgers are unable to use Tanner Scott to close a game right now, then he shouldn’t be on the playoff roster.   Not sure they even trust him with an 8-run lead.   I’m afraid someone is going to accuse me of being racist, but the Dodgers DH looks exactly like their game 1 starter, but that’s impossible right?  Not if you’re Shohei Ohtani.  He really did pitch outstanding and settled down after 1 tough inning.  It was a rough night at the plate, but he can’t always be lights out every night on both sides.  The Phillies have such a potent lineup and can make you pay, I’m still not 100% convinced the Dodgers will win this series, only because of that shaky bullpen.

 As for the Angels, Perry Minasian spoke to the media on Saturday to answer some questions about the Halos season.  As usual, there was 0 accountability.  We heard the same thing we’ve heard for maybe a decade, that they have to drastically improve the pitching.  Minasian also said they have to stop striking out and improve their defense.  Well at least it’s good to know that the man knows how to read a stat sheet.  There was also no indication from Minasian that the Angels were going to spend more money to try and be more competitive.   Of course the candidates for their manager position are Albert Pujols and Tori Hunter.  They are already on the club payroll, so Arte Moreno won’t have to pay them much more!  And of course Arte wasn’t going to bring back Ron Washington when he might have to incur great cost on his health insurance.   This situation is the most Moreno thing in the world.

In the NFL, that was a terrible loss for the Rams on Thursday night against 49ers.  San Francisco had a handful of their very best players sittings out because of injury.  They should have never been down 14-0 in the first place, Kyren Williams cannot fumble on the goal line with the game on the line, and Sean Payton has to call better plays than we saw on the last play.   This team has always had a tendency to play down to competition, so when an opponent like San Francisco is missing so many players and they play like this, it’s not all that surprising.  At least Sean McVay owned it, saying that he put his players in a bad situation and has to call better plays.  Given his track record, I’m sure he will.

All of a sudden, the Chargers look like the Chargers of old, and that’s not a good thing. They really Chargered that game yesterday against the Commanders. They were up 10-0, and in the blink of an eye, took a lot of bad penalties and made costly turnovers, which cost them the game. Suddenly the team can’t block, they can’t catch, and they can’t tackle for all the talent that they have. Jim Harbaugh says that all of these mistakes are extremely correctable, and some of them are. However, I’m not sure how they protect Justin Herbert with the injuries they have. The penalties though, they can do better. What they really need to be worried about is the Chiefs and Broncos, who suddenly look really good and ready to take the division by storm.

 For just one week, we can feel good about UCLA Football.   They pulled off an absolutely stunning win at the Rose Bowl Saturday against Penn State.  I would have assumed the odds of winning the Power Ball were higher than the Bruins winning that game.  Even better is Jerry Neuheisel, who brought so much emotion and attitude to the table that rubbed off on his players for a week.  I’m not going to get caught up in some prisoner of the moment, “he should be the next head coach” campaign, but it was really nice to see some pride from everyone for a week in symbolizing what UCLA football can actually look like.

I know many of you just hate Notre Dame, but it’s happening.  The Irish lost their first two games by a combined 4 points to two top 5 teams.  After that they handled business easily against Purdue, Arkansas, and Boise State.  They are now ranked #16 in the AP Poll, when a couple of weeks ago, you thought they shouldn’t be ranked at all.  Of course as an alum, I hate it when people act like their ranking isn’t earned, just because they are Notre Dame.  Well their #16 ranking is now in fact justified, because they should be one of the Top 16 teams, and probably even Top 12 when it’s all said and done.

In the NBA, the Lakers opened the preseason over the weekend.  It’s that time of year where everyone loves to micro analyze every little thing wrong with the team.  I refuse to do it.  It’s preseason.  Many of the guys on the floor are going to be delivering my Door Dash in about a week.  For that reason, I’m not going to jump on DeAndre Ayton for only scoring 1 point in a preseason game, and micro analyzing his 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Relax people.  72 hours after camp starts for a preseason game is a little ridiculous.  You can start your complaints about players on October 21st.  As for LeBron, I’m a litttle surprised he hasn’t come out during media day and announced this will be his last season.  I think he knows, but he’s waiting for the right time to make the announcement.  You know he will want a real farewell tour, and the way he is talking makes it seem like it’s coming very soon.  Let’s see if he announces it in the next two weeks before the season starts.

Then there’s the Clippers, who opened training camp with the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration investigation hanging over their heads.  Kawhi was clearly perfectly coached on media day, saying the company defrauded the Clippers and that it’s old news to him.  For all the criticizing we do of Ramona Shelburne, she asked good questions and pressed him on the issue.  It’s still suspicious that Kawhi can’t exactly explain what he did for Aspiration.  At some point; it’s going to be fascinating to see if the NBA comes down with a huge punishment on the Clippers, and if so, what that does to their season.