July 15, 2024

It was a very rough finish to the first half of the season for the Dodgers. They got swept by the Phillies followed by losing 2 of 3 to the lowly Tigers. They have lost 8 of 10 games, yet they remain in 1st place in the NL West, and 2nd overall in the NL. That doesn’t sound too bad, but when you realize the Dodgers have some major injury problems, their postseason outlook isn’t looking so great. Not to mention, the bottom of their lineup stinks even when they are healthy. We are approaching the point where you have to ask yourself: can the trade deadline really fix this team? Between the injuries to the starting rotation, Max Muncy’s injury, and the other lack of productivity, adding a rental player doesn’t sound smart. If Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow don’t come back healthy, the Dodgers are probably screwed anyway. There’s no ace out there that they can acquire before the deadline to make up for that. Ultimately, if there is an infielder or outfielder that is good defensively, and makes good contact at the plate under team control beyond this year, that could be reasonable. However, that sounds like a lot of boxes to check, and a player that probably isn’t available come July 31st.

Meanwhile the Angels swept the Mariners over the weekend. However, they are 10 games out in the AL West, 12.5 back in the Wild Card, and have the 5th worst record in baseball at the all-star break. This will only add fuel to Arte Moreno’s narrative that he doesn’t want to trade players under team control beyond this year, because he foolishly thinks his team is closer to contention than the rest of us do. The Halos engaged with the Pirates recently on trade talks for Taylor Ward, but stubbornly refused to trade him because they seem to think he’ll help them get back in contention. The Athletic actually reported that Arte Moreno has been averse to embarking on any kind of rebuilding effort. Is this guy stupid? He’s been rebuilding for 10 years without actually rebuilding!

To the NBA, where the Lakers still haven’t been able to do much in free agency or trades since they have no roster spots and no salary cap space. However, all these idiots want to talk about Bronny James and how awful he is playing, and even morons are creating spoof highlight reels of his terrible play. Layoff guys, he’s the 55th pick in the draft, and he’s going to be playing in the G-League. Instead, what you should all be talking about is the fact Dalton Knect is balling. This kid looks like he’s going to be an immediate impact player, and give the Lakers some desperately needed shooting. That should help Lebron and AD a great deal. Speaking of Lebron and AD, the people have voted. By the people I mean all of the Team USA players, who voted Lebron as far and away the best player on the team. That speaks volumes, when you have a team with Jason Tatum, Joel Embiid, Steph Curry, and Anthony Edwards on the squad, who the media seem to consider better players than Lebron at this point. I think the point is that on any given day, Lebron can in fact still be the best player in the world. Sorry Anthony Edward’s, but it’s not your time yet!

As for the Clippers, Paul George had to go and make his negotiations with the team public, which I’m sure they love. PG explained that the Clippers originally offered him 2 years and $60 million, which was much less than the max. After several offers that were only slightly higher than that, George declined and said he would have accepted what Kawhi got, 3 years and $153 million. It wasn’t until he played 70+ games this year that the Clippers offered him that, but at that point, he was angry, and wanted a no-trade clause. That’s completely unrealistic, and he knew that. Good for Paul George for getting the money he wanted, but the Clippers would have been better off just offering him the 3 years and $153 million early on and then figure out how to stay under the apron later. As for Kawhi, I’m not surprised to see him pull out of the Olympics, and was shocked to see him playing to begin with. That fact he still isn’t healthy is cause for continued concern, but even if he was, it would be stupid for him to exert any additional strain on his fragile knees. The fact Jaylen Brown wasn’t selected over Derrick White is bizarre though, as Brown, could easily be a top 10 player in the world. Sounds like Nike is behind this, after Brown was critical of Nike for dropping Kyrie Irving. There is no world where you can convince me White is a better player or fit than Jaylen Brown, who plays the same position as Kawhi Leonard.

I finally got to see the TV Series “Clipped” on Hulu. In case you aren’t familiar with this, it’s a 6 episode series on the fall of Donald Sterling as owner of the Clippers, back in 2014. It was an interesting watch, but the storylines revolved much more around the lives of Shelly Sterling, Donald, and Vie Stiviano, Donald’s girlfriend. I wish they had developed the storylines more around the likes of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan especially. I did come away feeling bad for Doc Rivers and having to deal with that entire situation, as well as the likelihood that his players could just completely walk out on him. More than anything though, Shelly Sterling and Vie Stiviano came across as very self-serving, and only interested in maintaining their lifestyles, rather than having any real emphathy for the players. Perhaps if this weren’t the case, the show would need to be much more than 6 episodes.

We’re not too far from College Football season starting, and that means that the Trojans aren’t far away from their opening game showdown with LSU. However, according to Paul Finebaum, Lincoln Riley could flame out quickly at USC, after their move to the Big 10. Finebaum said that Riley is losing recruits at an alarming rate, to Oregon especially. This can’t make Trojan fans feel too good about themselves. I do think that Finebaum is a bit over-dramatic with this take, but there’s a few things that need to be acknowledged. The first is that in College Football’s current recruiting and NIL landscape, coaches now have the responsibility of recruiting players year round. Players that are outside the program, and the players they’ve already recruited that are in the program to keep them from leaving. That may burn out a lot of coaches. In addition to that, when USC begins play in the Big 10, the first couple of seasons may not be that great, especially until they can find themselves their next truly elite quarterback.

UCLA will also have their share of troubles in the Big 10 when play begins on 8/31. If there’s one thing to feel good about for the Bruins, it’s that they have somebody coaching the program who cares: DeShaun Foster. That should be enough to get some folks in the program energized, and even some of the fan base. At some point though, he has to win football games. It won’t be easy to win a lot of them in year 1 in a new conference, but I think more of them will come as opposed to when Chip Kelly was leading the program.

I am both saddened and disappointed that we witnessed political violence over the weekend during Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. Say what you will about Trump and his supporters, there is simply no place for violence in this country. Thankfully Trump wasn’t hurt, but sadly, one innocent by standard was killed, and two others were also injured. I cannot say that I am surprised that this occurred. For years, the media has basically been creating a dramatic divide in this country, which sometimes has me wondering when we are going to have another civil war. Also, was Trump provided the 2nd string of Secret Service during this rally? The whole place wasn’t that big, and yet they can’t find one kid on a roof with a rifle? From an election standpoint, most will say Trump is looking very good to be the next President of The United States. However, something tells me that before that happens this thing will take a few more twists and turns.

Congratulations to Argentina for winning the Copa America after their dramatic victory over Columbia last night in Miami. Feel bad for Messi getting injured, but this is still something he can add to his legacy. The outcome aside, how about the fact that the game was delayed by 75 minutes because fans had breached security in several parts of the stadium? Fans were even seen on social media climbing through vents like John McClane in Die Hards, just to get in to see their team play. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised. If they can sneak across the border, then why couldn’t they figure out a way to sneak into the stadium? Still, it’s not a very good look for the US, which plans to host the World Cup in 2026. It’s also a reminder of how insane soccer fans are, and that sometimes you just can’t stop the Third World!