January 29, 2024
Forget Championship Sunday for a moment, we have to start with the Chargers! The Bolts made a huge move by bringing on Jim Harbaugh as their head coach last week. I don’t know if Dean Spanos had his family held hostage by the fan base until he made this move, because he hates spending this kind of money, but he finally opened the bank for somebody. This move instantly gives the Chargers the credibility they need in the LA Sports market, where they haven’t even been the best NFL team in LA since they moved from San Diego. There’s a lot of work to be done, and salary cap issues, but you can expect a few things to change immediately. The Bolts will be better defensively, they will be more physical, and they should be able to finish games better in the 4th quarter. The Chargers may be in the same division as the best QB of this generation, but that won’t intimidate Harbaugh from competing.
As for Championship Sunday, Lamar Jackson did his best Dak Prescott impression, as the Chiefs took care of the Ravens on the road. Get ready for two weeks of Taylor Swift coverage! I’m no Swiftie but I don’t hate it and I’ve got tons of respect for her that she’s traveling to all these miserable cities to support Travis Kelce. Then there’s the Lions, who disappeared in the 2nd half like Ron DeSantis. Dan Campbell clearly doesn’t understand how analytics work because when you’re down by 3, you should probably kick a field goal to tie it when you are in range. The Lions receivers didn’t do Jared Goff any favors either. Maybe now we can close the book on COVID since the 49ers and Chiefs are coming full circle from their 2020 Super Bowl matchup.
Meanwhile, I’m sure the Rams fans were lighting a candle to the football Gods that the 49ers didn’t win yesterday, but they’ll have to light even more come the Super Bowl. Odell Beckham Jr said this Ravens team is the best team he’s been on. I’m concerned this man has CTE since he forgot he won a Super Bowl in 2021 with the Rams. The Rams also lost their defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, but I think it’s fair to say that given the track records of Sean McVay and Les Snead, whatever decision they make will likely be a good one.
After Saturday night, how much more proof do you need that the Lakers don’t need a trade but to just play the right people. Jared Vanderbilt was a +30 in 41 mins against the Warriors, and Taurean Prince was a -22 in 24 mins. Of course he was! Vanderbilt was part of the starting lineup that took them to the Western Conference Finals last year. D-Lo has been spectacular as well since his name started being thrown around in trade rumors, and if you want to suddenly give up on Austin Reaves you’ve lost it. Dejante Murray isn’t the answer. The answer is playing more Vanderbilt and Rui, and less Prince. It’s like the Lakers had to beat Darvin Ham and the Warriors on Saturday. Makes me think Prince must have some kind of dirt on Ham. Wait until Ham gets his hands out of his pockets, then the league is really gonna be in trouble!
I’m pretty sure nobody noticed, but the Clippers actually went on the road on Saturday night and dismantled the Boston Celtics. Celtic fans probably haven’t been that upset since slavery was abolished. The Clippers have very quietly won 5 in a row, and are just one game out of 1st place in the Western Conference. Tyron Lue basically told his players that they need to take the regular season a lot more seriously, because if you aren’t a top 4 seed, you’re chances of winning a title are statistically greatly diminished. They are certainly listening to him, and finally building the chemistry needed to be a legit NBA Championship contender.
To baseball, where the Dodgers signed pitcher James Paxton last week. Some of you may be thinking that signing indicates the end of Clayton Kerahaw’s run as a Dodger, but not necessarily. Kershaw can’t pitch until the middle of the summer anyway, so the Dodgers needed another lefty starter for a good chunk of the season. Paxton is somewhat of a reclaimation project, but the Dodgers have had a lot of success with those. As a back of the rotation option he’s fine. The Dodgers still need late inning bullpen help though, and sounds like they are on the hunt for it. Kike Hernandez also sounds like he’s pleading for the Dodgers to re-sign him. I love Kike, but the Dodgers have so many position players like him, I don’t see the fit, and I doubt Andrew Friedman’s computer does either. By the way, former Dodger 3rd baseman, Adrian Beltre was named a 1st ballot Hall of Famer last week. He played for 21 years, hitting 477 homers, batting .286, and over 1700 RBI, and more than 3,000 hits. He played 7 years for the Boys in Blue, including a season where he hit 48 homers. Everyone will point the finger at Frank McCourt as the culprit for not re-signing him. But for 7 years, the fans were highly critical of Beltre’s performance, which was always solid. However, it’s LA and the fans are maniacs, and this was before the social media era! It just goes to show you, sometimes you need a little perspective on a player before wanting to ship him out of town.
At this point, there is no doubt in my mind that Arte Moreno is trying to bamboozle everyone. The last couple of off seasons what does he do? Tell his GM to sign a couple of solid relievers, which they did in Robert Stephenson and Matt Moore. He also tells his GM to sign a useful bench guy, which they are trying to do in Kike Hernandez. Rinse and repeat! Why? Because he doesn’t want to spend the kind of money necessary to win right now. The Halos could really use Blake Snell and Cody Bellinger. They are $70 million below the tax, and I’m sure $70 million or even less, could get them those two players. Would they assure themselves of winning the AL West with them? Maybe not, but they sure would have a way better chance, especially if they can keep Mike Trout healthy. Instead, feels like we are again getting some pyramid scheme but nice optics off-season, and the team will go nowhere again.
Finally, the LA Kings should really celebrate Lent early by giving up on coach Todd McClellan. The Kings have just 2 wins in their last 16 games. This was a team we were told were going to be serious cup contenders. Instead The 23-24 LA Kings now look like frauds. They have stolen your time, money, hope and mental sanity. You cannot lose this much for a team with expectations and not change things up. It’s so bad, veteran players you expect to produce, like Pierre Luc-Dubois and Kevin Fiala, look terrible. The Kings are so desperate they are plugging rookie after rookie into their lineup for a spark, yet Todd McClellan isn’t even utilizing them. This is the kind of play that not only gets coaches fired, but GM’s and other hockey executives in an organization. It will be very interesting to see if anything changes with a long 9-day break coming for the Kings.
