October 21, 2024
This is surprising and incredibly satisfying. The Dodgers are back in the World Series for the 4th time in the last 8 years. I’m going to tell you the most spoiled fan take in the world but it’s true. The job is far from finished, and the hardest part is coming. We can thank Kobe Bryant for making us psychopathic fans that demands championships from all our sports franchises in LA because he set that standard. This is no different. This series is going to be scary if you’re a Dodger fan. The Yankees are built like the Dodgers, but with more starting pitching. The Dodgers will probably have to face Gerrit Cole 3 times. That means whatever starting pitching the Dodgers have will have to be even more elite, the sluggers will have to have even more power, and the bullpen will have to be even more lights out. Dave Roberts definitely deserves credit for “pushing the right buttons” because that’s literally what he did to get the game plan off the spreadsheet, and it worked. That’s what managers do these days, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Tommy Edman is a championship type of player, which every roster needs if they want to get over the top. Kike Hernandez is the Robert Horry of baseball come October. It’s not just Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts driving the bus. I love seeing Walker Buehler step up big like he did last week, and he’ll have another chance to do so in the World Series. Buckle up because it’s going to be a World Series with unbelievable star power. I’m hoping I’m wrong, but the Dodgers may not have enough pitching to get over the hump.
To the NFL, but the Rams really didn’t have a very impressive victory over the Raiders yesterday. It was especially disappointing considering they were coming off of a bye week. However, there seems to be a greater chance they will get the likes of Cooper Kupp back, and a few members of their offensive line in week 8, which is pretty important because they are playing the Vikings. As for the defense, they did force 4 turnovers, but they still aren’t generating a lot of sacks for the amount of pressure they are putting on the opposing quarterback. I don’t really understand why they can’t get the offense going early. It’s been 7 straight first quarters that the Rams have gone without a touchdown. Does Sean McVay forget to have his morning coffee until halftime? McVay did blame himself postgame for the poor production on offense, but ultimately, once the line gets healthy, they should have a better team. They just have to hope it’s not too late for this season.
Elsewhere around week 7, The Patriots got crushed by the Jaguars in a game that should have been aired on Comedy Central. The Steelers crushed the Jets on Sunday Night Football after starting Russell Wilson, and Justin Fields probably rolled his eyes when Russ probably started singing “Our God Is An Awesome God” in the locker room afterward. The Panthers got cooked by Marcus Mariota and the Commanders. Who gets cooked by Mariota in 2024? Patrick Mahomes is basically a game manager now and he has the Chiefs at 6-0 after taking care of the Niners. The Colts beat the Dolphins, who get their quarterbacks injured as often as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump do something stupid. The Lions rallied to beat the Vikings, and the Packers came from behind to beat the Texans, so they might as well just have the entire NFL playoffs between the NFC North.
To College Football, where USC is really starting to look like a dumpster fire in the Big Ten. The Trojans gave up another lead in the 4th quarter, and lost to Maryland on the road 29-28. The Trojans are now 3-4, with no hope of reaching the 12-team playoff. Riley is now just 5-9 in his last 14 games, and USC is going to be hard pressed just to make some crummy Bowl game this year. I did tell you at the beginning of the year that this might be a down year and to be patient, but the way it’s happening is not what I envisioned. You have to beat teams like Maryland and Minnesota. The real issue is on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, and the lack of physicality they bring relative to the rest of the conference. That’s something that will have to be addressed in recruiting. Riley needs to build a wall around California to prevent recruits from leaving, and prioritize talent in California first. There’s also the issue of who should be calling the plays, and more people are starting to think it shouldn’t be John Henson. Riley fixed the defense last year, but can he fix the offense? This is a hard fan base to please and the expectations are high, but it’s going to require some patience, which most Trojan fans will tell you doesn’t exist.
They are going to throw a parade in Westwood! UCLA won it’s first football game in the Big Ten! This is the Ethan Garbers that we were expecting to see from the opener. He was wildly efficient, could even run the ball, and the offensive line actually protected. Rutgers isn’t exactly going to confuse people with the ’85 Bears. However, it’s great to see the UCLA players not quitting, showing lots of character, and fighting hard to find the win column every game, even if the talent isn’t there.
Finally, the NBA season starts tomorrow! The Lakers will be taking on the Timberwolves at Crypto.com arena. There wasn’t much to take away from the pre-seaason other than the fact that Dalton Knecht is legit and going to be an excellent impact rookie, and that Bronny James has the potential to be a decent NBA player. The Lakers really don’t need JJ Redick to be Pat Riley or Phil Jackson. Just don’t be a complete buffoon like Darvin Ham was and screw with the rotation for half the season. Their first five games won’t be very easy though. Timberwolves, Suns, Kings Suns, and Cavaliers.
