May 25, 2026

The NBA off-season is here, and I know you all have your Laker roster wish lists. Let’s start with this. The Lakers should forget going after Giannis. If we’ve learned anything about the NBA right now, it’s about depth, shooting, availability, and athleticism. The Lakers will compromise all of that if they trade for Giannis, who will suck up all their cap space and draft picks, if not even more assets. What they should be doing is calling every team they can to find creative ways to trade wings into cap space, like Herb Jones and Trey Murphy. They may also want to be a 3rd team involved in a Giannis trade to acquire that kind of 3-and-D player. I’m good with Austin coming back because you’re probably not going to trade him for a better player. He can be what Kyrie was to Luka in Dallas. As for LeBron, I think he stays because he has no better alternative, and the Lakers don’t either, but do you really care if he left? LeBron has been great, but spending another $15-20 million on credible depth is what might make this Laker team to be a real championship contender. They Lakers still need a center too, and while Robert Williams sounds nice and Walker Kessler is a pipe dream, I don’t know if $50 million is enough to fill all these holes on the roster. Maybe the rocket scientist they just hired as an assistant GM, Rohan Ramadas, can be of assistance. Except it shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Jared Vanderbilt isn’t worth $12 million a year when he can’t shoot.

Meanwhile, the Clippers off-season will center around what to do with Kawhi Leonard. I could see this going a lot of different ways. They appear to be on a youth movement and have a high lottery pick, so unloading Kawhi while he still has value makes sense. There’s also the idea that Kawhi will be very motivated to earn another max contract from either the Clippers or someone else, so he will probably ball out next year. You can be sure they are going to get calls on him, and since the free agent class is pretty weak, he will have a better market than people think.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are rolling into Memorial Day with 8 wins in the last 10 games and in 1st place in the NL West. They took 2 of 3 over the weekend against a solid Milwaukee Brewers team. However now the trade rumors are starting to swirl again around Tarik Skubal. The Detroit Tigers are sinking like the Titanic, and if Skubal can prove he is healthy before July 31st, the Dodgers are one of a handful of teams that could trade for him. In my mind, the Dodgers level of urgency to do this deal is going to be predicated on the health of their top 4 pitchers: Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, and Tyler Glasnow. If any aren’t healthy, and Skubal can prove that he is, then I would make the trade for him. I wouldn’t go too crazy though for him. He’s going to want $400 million this offseason, and he’s already had multiple surgeries. I like him a lot more as a rental than a long-term piece, especially if the CBA is going to change and more restrictive. Nevertheless, with or without Skubal, I think the Dodgers are right about where we need them to be in the standings.

As for the Angels, I have to commend the fan base on the protests they are conducting at Anaheim Stadium every night. I love hearing the “Sell The Team” chants and “Arte Sucks”. He deserves it. I’m not sure however that it will get Moreno to sell the team. If he’s truly as narcissistic as everyone believes he is, Moreno will just look at this as though he’s the one getting the last laugh with all these people coming to the stadium and buying beer to pad his pockets. That’s probably the most interesting thing going on with the Halos right now because they absolutely stink on the field. Despite sweeping the Rangers over the weekend, they are still tied for the worst record in baseball.

Speaking of the Angels, Chris Taylor announced his retirement over the weekend. Forget Taylor’s tenure with the Angels, he was a gem as a Dodgers. He played 12 season, was a 2-time World Series Champion, NLCS MVP, and an All-Star. The remarkable thing about CT3 is that he was very much a late bloomer, and very typical of the Dodgers organization. The Dodgers developed him into an impact player late in his career, which is what they do. Congratulations on a fantastic career!

In the NFL, the Rams gave Matt Stafford a one-year contract extension for $55 million, so he will be under contract for the next two seasons. There is part of me that thinks this is doing Stafford a solid because they didn’t use their 1st round pick on giving him a player that can help them win now, and instead drafted his potential successor. However, $55 million for an MVP and Super Bowl winning quarterback is fair. Hopefully the Rams can cash in on that window this year and next.

In College Football, we have to hear all these stupid talking heads telling you why Notre Dame and USC have “renewed” their negotiations to continue their storied rivalry. All you chihuahuas that are yapping, respectfully, just shut your traps. Don’t come in here with your “Oh Notre Dame needs USC on their schedule!” Or “Notre Dame is scared to play USC!” These are just dumb, simple minded, shock jock takes. Both of these teams know that there is a storied tradition playing each other, and they want to continue that. However, with the landscape of College Football likely changing in the next 2 years to a 16 or 24 team playoff, I find it hard to believe these two teams won’t run into each other before 2030 with some high stakes on the line.

Finally, the LA Kings are reportedly in the final stages of their coaching search. I have a bad feeling that no matter the outcome, we aren’t going to be happy with it. The reality is that Bruce Cassidy isn’t available, because the Vegas Golden Knights are preventing him from coaching elsewhere. That is the most ideal choice. That means we are likely to get one of the two Edmonton Oiler rejects as coach: Jay Woodcroft or Kris Knoblauch, or last seasons reject interim DJ Smith. None of these scream “Stanley Cup contender” all over them.

May 18, 2026

Here we are, the NBA off-season for the Lakers. Get ready to hear six weeks a complete bs from the media, and from Rich Paul and Klutch Sports. I’m here to tell you to ignore it. I’m also here to tell Rich Paul to shut the hell up with your crap. At the end of the day we know that the free agent class this year is complete garbage, so the Lakers might as well spend money on Lebron. We also know that Lebron is 41 years old, and nobody is going to move heaven and earth to put him on their team, or offer him anything more than a mid-level exception. The Lakers and Lebron will settle for each other because in their own minds, their is nothing better out there for them. I would love to tell you that the Lakers could end up with Walker Kessler and Peyton Watson, but that’s just not happening. You would have to overpay so much to get those guys, and you would have no cap space left to re-sign Austin Reaves. Even with their cap space, the Lakers are going to have to get creative to improve the roster enough to compete with San Antonio and OKC.

To baseball, where the Dodgers crushed the Angels over the weekend, sweeping them in a 3-game set and outscoring them 31-3 over the 3-games. I’m not sure a series against the lowly Angels is a good way to determine if your offense is truly out of its slump. Shohei Ohtani definitely broke out of over the weekend, but I would still rather see Shohei the full time elite DH than the pitcher. Yes, he is a Cy Young candidate right now, but do you want to see that, or a 3-peat? Throwing 150 or 200 innings for Shohei doesn’t seem wise. He’s great, but he is human. I’d rather have Shohei as an elite bat for 162 games and the playoffs, rather than just 30 games as a pitcher. I say this even knowing that Blake Snell is going to be out for a while with his elbow injury. The Dodgers still have enough pitching to get them through the regular season. You need Snell, Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow for the playoffs. Keep them healthy and tune them up for October. Good thing Tanner Scott has been outstanding this year because Edwin Diaz may be going to the slammer for cock fighting. These closer free agent signings never seem to work out in the first year of the deal for the Dodgers.

As for the Angels, there’s not much to say other than this is a horrible team. They are the worst team, with the worst owner, and the worst farm system. Their stadium is being infiltrated by rats and possums, and they simply can’t do anything right. The especially disappointing thing is that their young promising players like Nolan Schanuel, Logan O’Hoppe, Zach Neto, and Reid Detmers just haven’t taken the next step in their development, and you can blame that on the Halos lack of player development within their organization. Jose Soriano is the only promising aspect of the Angels season right now, and he got lit up over the weekend by the Dodgers. Not sure why Mike Trout wants to continue to be part of this clown show, but when you’re making $35 million a year and living in Orange County, working 7 months a year, it’s a pretty comfortable gig.

Speaking of the Angels, Arte Moreno deserves to have someone take a crap in his Christmas stocking this year after they fired Patrick O’Neal from their broadcasts. Oh sorry, he actually decided to speak his mind and call out the franchise for being a hot pile of garbage? What are they worried we might suddenly start thinking that the franchise is completely incompetent? Like we didn’t think that already. Patrick O’Neal is a fantastic broadcaster, very passionate about Southern California sports teams, and whoever ends up hiring him will be very fortunate.

In College Football, it feels like it’s only a matter of time before we end up with a 24-team playoff. I have to say though, 24 teams is too many. 16 teams I can go for, but 24 teams creates too many teams that just won’t be competitive enough against the elite programs. I love the idea of abolishing these extremely outdated conference championship games, but the SEC and all those southerners are going to throw a fit if they lose their precious championship game. Sorry Greg Sanke, but the SEC has quickly succeeded power and relevance to the Big Ten in the NIL era. The conference is just as top heavy as it always was. This whole thing is funny because I’ve been told for years that Notre Dame needs to join a conference so they can have a shot at their conference championship game. It turns out they don’t, because their University is practically re-writing the rules of the sport.

I’m excited to see the World Cup coming to the US and SOFI stadium in the next few weeks! However, I’m floored by the ticket prices to see the USA play. The secondary market is asking for Super Bowl ticket prices just to see a mediocre USA team get smoked on their home turf. I have a much greater interest in watching teams like Iran and Belgium play each other at SOFI Stadium, or countries that are actually good at soccer, and ironically, are much more reasonably priced.

May 11, 2026

Don’t let them tell you otherwise Laker fans! Everyone thought the Lakers season was over on April 2nd. Instead, they overachieved and made it to the 2nd round without Luka, and without Austin for a good long stretch. They’ve been playing with house money. OKC is a great team, but it’s really their depth that has been killing the Lakers, not Shai and their starters. You can argue that this is the 3rd best team in the league when healthy. Even if it’s a distant 3rd, they have the draft picks and cap space to elevate from there. There is no more need to go star hunting because they have one in Luka Doncic. Everything else should be on the table to make this squad elite. That might include trading Austin Reaves for a better fitting piece or multiple pieces. This is a roster conversation for another day, but you shouldn’t be unhappy. Of course it’s about championships, but you also have to be realistic about what it takes to build a championship team, and this isn’t quite one yet. And for those of you thinking the Spurs and Thunder are gonna run this league for a decade, trust the apron and the salary cap will get them much sooner than later.

As for the Clippers, apparently their punishment for circumventing the salary cap was receiving the 5th pick in an upcoming loaded draft! In all seriousness though, they made out very well with Ivica Zubac traded, and getting a number of other assets. Even if they get punished for the Kawhi contract, I’m sure it will likely just be a fine and Kawhi’s contract voided. Is that even really a punishment anyway when they want to get rid of him now? Hanging on to Kawhi makes very little sense for this team. I really wouldn’t be surprised though if the Clippers traded their pick to collect even more assets. They are still in the hole in draft capital for a few years after that awful Paul George trade and building the Oklahoma City Thunder into the powerhouse they look like today.

In baseball, the Dodgers lost 2 out of 3 over the weekend to the Braves, and they’ve been hitting like Little Leaguers for the last 3 weeks. They are still tied for 1st place in the National League West with the Padres, but they have some things to figure out. Mookie Betts is coming off the IL today, so the question is what happen next? What they should do is DFA Santiago Espinal and keep both Hye Seong Kim and Alex Freeland on the roster. However, what I think will happen is Kim will get sent back to Oklahoma City so he can play everyday. I’m not going to like that move though because statistically, he’s been on one of the teams best hitters, not to mention been providing solid defense. I am missing Shohei Ohtani the hitter though. Two years ago when he was only a DH, he put up a spectacular 50/50 season on the way to an MVP. Nomar Garciaparra says it’s not fair to say his pitching is the reason he’s not hitting. Maybe not yet, but we’ll see if he can put the time into fixing his mechanics rather than focusing on pitching, because we know his mechanics are off.

Meanwhile, the Angel are tied for the worst record in the American League after losing 2 of 3 to the Blue Jays. Don’t worry though, Perry Minasian is telling us how competitive they have been in every game and that nothing is wrong. It’s hilarious how this guy just tries to gaslight us into thinking everything is fine in this organization. That’s what he’s paid to do, but this is truly an embarrassment. This franchise can’t do anything correctly, and it shows up from top to bottom everyday. I’m beginning to wonder if Mike Trout would even want a trade out of Anaheim because he’s just gotten too comfortable with the losing.

Kings fans were annoyed that the Ducks defeated the Oilers in a 1st round series after losing to them for 4 straight years in round 1. They will be even more annoyed if the Ducks beat Vegas and get to the Conference Finals. Anaheim’s power play is looking great, and their offense is very dangerous, which is something we haven’t seen in SoCal playoff hockey in a long time. One thing I will say though is that when the Ducks are in the playoffs, the fans in OC come out in full force!

Finally, interesting strategy by the Rose Bowl, doing a $30 million renovation on it’s seats to try and keep UCLA as a tenant.
If the Rose Bowl is going to continue to be a home for UCLA, then major renovations will need to happen to the stadium, beyond these. I think for this to truly work long term, UCLA will need to buy/lease land adjacent and build facilities for the football team to use before game days so this starts to feel more like a home field. Good thing UCLA doesn’t have to pay for it so they can focus on NIL talent!

May 4, 2026

The Los Angeles Lakers pulled off a genuinely shocking first-round upset over the Houston Rockets—a result that had all the predictability of a Hollywood reboot actually being good. Credit where it’s due: this team showed grit, defense, and just enough offensive rhythm to make you briefly believe in something bigger. Unfortunately, reality is looming in the form of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are younger, faster, deeper, and—crucially—healthier. No Luka Dončić means no chance. This next series has all the makings of a gentleman’s sweep, if the Thunder are feeling polite. Still, banner or not, this was a season-saving win. Hang the “Exceeded Expectations” flag proudly.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally remembered how to win a baseball game on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals. The weird part? It wasn’t the Avengers at the top of the lineup doing the damage. Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Tucker, Will Smith, and Teoscar Hernández have recently been hitting like they’re trying to conserve energy for a marathon. Instead, the bottom of the order has been carrying the load like a group project where the quiet kids do all the work. As for Roki Sasaki—everyone needs to calm down. He’s young, electric, and inconsistent… which is basically the scouting report for every future ace ever. Putting him in the bullpen in June would be like buying a Ferrari and using it to deliver Uber Eats. October? Different conversation. June? Relax.

Out in Anaheim, the Los Angeles Angels have officially reverted to factory settings. That brief moment where they weren’t terrible? Fun while it lasted. But losing series to the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets is the baseball equivalent of tripping over your own shoelaces in public. The cruel twist: Mike Trout is actually having his best season in years. Which, logically, means this would be the perfect time to trade him and rebuild. Which, historically, means the Angels will absolutely not do that. This franchise treats common sense like it’s behind a paywall.

Now for something completely unexpected: UCLA Bruins football might… actually be cooking? Bob Chesney went from pulling a “meh” top-70 recruiting class in 2026 to suddenly flexing a top-5 class in 2027 like he found the cheat codes. It’s been six months. Six. And UCLA fans are already googling “Rose Bowl CFP scenarios” like it’s 1998 again. Is this sustainable? Who knows. But for now, Bruins fans are allowed to feel something unfamiliar: optimism that isn’t immediately followed by disappointment.

Speaking of disappointment, the Los Angeles Kings would like you to know they are “close.” Close to what, exactly, remains unclear. The Minnesota Wild scored as many goals in 40 minutes as the Kings did in an entire showing against the Colorado Avalanche. That’s not “close”—that’s being in a different zip code. But don’t worry, running it back with Cody Ceci (yes, we’re still doing this) and leadership under Luc Robitaille will surely fix everything. Because if there’s one thing that always works, it’s doing the exact same thing again and hoping for a different result.

And finally, the crown jewel of chaos: the Kentucky Derby. NBC’s coverage is truly a masterpiece. They spend hours giving you just enough information to feel confident—and just little enough to ensure you make absolutely terrible betting decisions. You learn about bloodlines, jockey strategies, and horse personalities, all so you can confidently put money on a horse named something like “Thunder Biscuit IV” because it “looked focused during warmups.” Congratulations to Golden Tempo for taking the win, and condolences to everyone who bet based on vibes and a cool name. Which, let’s be honest, is all of us.