December 23, 2024
Remember two months ago when some people said the Rams should tear it down and rebuild? Well those same Rams are 8-2 in their last 10 games and one win a way from clinching the NFC West. I will never figure out why this team starts so slowly, but they always seem to come up big in the 2nd half. Keep in mind, this is the first time all year they have been healthy, now that they’ve got a healthy offensive line, including Tyler Higbee back at Tight End. I’m not saying the Rams are going to win the Super Bowl, and they may be another year away. However, they are suddenly protecting Matt Stafford well, their defense is looking more and more elite every week, and they run the ball. All of those things make a recipe for an excellent team that will be very difficult to beat come playoff time.
The Chargers also came up big on Thursday night against the Broncos. Once again, that was the type of game the Bolts would have lost in recent years. Now that we are in the Jim Harbaugh era, they have way more confidence to rally from the deficit that they did, and are far more mentally tough. I think we may have forgotten how good Justin Herbert is until he made that ridiculous throw to Darius Davis, who most of you probably never heard of until he made that catch. I’m sure everyone wanted the free kick rule explained to them like they were five years old after that went down. I also think Sean Payton is a total liar, trying to convince us that they practice the fair catch free kick. It looks like the Chargers are going to clinch a playoff spot, and end up facing the Ravens or Steelers on the road in Wild Card Weekend. I think they would prefer the latter, but either way things are looking up for the Bolts.
Elsewhere around the NFL in Week 16, the Eagles got to 10-1 and then thought the job was done and they could go home. They are also clowning the Commanders for beating them without Jalen Hurts. They lost a tough one to Washington. The 49ers were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Dolphins, and those snobby Bay Area fans are going to be crying on their drive down “The 5 Freeway”. The Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs, then of course they turned into the 90’s version of the Cowboys and started winning meaningless games. Bryce Young bounced back this season for Carolina, and then proceeded to bounce Kyler Murray and the Cardinals out of the playoffs race. Joe Biden accused the Giants of quitting yesterday against the Falcons. The Bengals decided to wake up like they usually do towards the end of the season, but may not be in time to make the playoffs, after beating the Browns. The Lions are 13-2 after taking down the Bears. Do we live in the Twilight Zone?
To the NBA, where the Lakers are trying to re-group after a rough couple of weeks. They’ve won 4 of their last 5 games after sweeping a two-game series with the Kings. Lebron looked great after an extended time off. And no….Lebron wasn’t taking time off for your stupid theories about his involvement in the Diddy parties. The time off does make you wonder if they should be giving him 8 days off every 15 games. The problem is the Lakers can’t afford to do that. The West is so close, and the Lakers are so dependent on Lebron and AD to succeed. Honestly, they aren’t even playing that well right now, but the difference is their effort defensively has been great. Max Christie suddenly looks like a very good wing defender. However, now that Gabe Vincent is playing well, the Lakers need to trade him while his value is up. Dude has played well for a couple of months the last few years, and the only reasons he got the contract he did was because it came during the playoffs, when people were actually watching basketball.
The Clippers lost to the Mavericks last night on the road, and they are now 16-13. Of course we’ve been hearing people say “that’s pretty good without Kawhi, wait until he comes back!” Those people are hilarious. You’ve been fooled by the “Wait until Kawhi comes back” myth for 5 years, so I guess what is a 6th year? Sure he will supposedly be back in the next few weeks, but how long can the guy possible last without getting hurt again? He’s coming back with a new haircut, but the team is probably really concerned he was going to get injured receiving it.
Well you finally got your 12-Team College Football Playoff and the first weekend looked like a dumpster fire for casual football fan. Notre Dame fans, among other winners, don’t care about casual football fan. The Irish looked much better than they are being given credit for, and wiped out Indiana in the 1st round of the playoffs. If they can beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day, winning a National Championship isn’t out of the question. As for the rest of the playoff, it’s still way better than having a 4-Team Tournament. If anything, we learned that 18 and 19-year old kids don’t play well on the road, since none of the road teams came close to winning. The seeding will have to get better over time, and maybe they will even re-seed teams. It doesn’t make much sense to punish Oregon by playing Ohio State this early, when those are arguably the two best teams left.
In College Basketball, UCLA was in a very giving mood over the weekend, giving away a 16-point lead to North Carolina, and falling to the Tar Heels. This was a team that looked much closer to a top-5 or top-10 team for most of the game, before collapsing down the stretch, and now we don’t really know what they are. Next week against Gonzaga will tell us a bit more, but for now we can consider the Bruins at least a Top -25 team and not sure beyond that. One thing that was exposed in that game: UCLA doesn’t have a go-to scorer with a go-to move down the stretch. Tyler Bilodeau is nice, but doesn’t quite look like a late-game prime time player. He’s predictable. The same goes for Skyy Clark, and Sebastian Mack, who just puts his head down and goes to the basket on every play. That doesn’t work with less than 10 seconds left. The rest of this is correctable, like free throw shooting. However, it does make you question just how high the ceiling really can be for this group.
The Dodgers learned this morning that playoff hero, Walker Buehler will be signing a one-year deal for $21 million with the Boston Red Sox. I was really hoping the Dodgers could bring him back, but I completely understand the reality of why both sides couldn’t make it work. Buehler still have a very high ceiling, especially if you look at what he did in the last month of the season. However, this is a guy who is coming off two Tommy John Surgeries, who only pitched well for a month, even though it was the most important month of the season. Obviously the Dodgers weren’t comfortable with $21 million, and probably more likely in the range of $10-$15 million given what we saw. For Buehler, he knows he needs to re-establish his value, and he looks at the Dodgers with a stacked rotation, and maybe not having the opportunity re-establish that value with so much competition. It’s unfortunate, but this was probably the best decision for both sides, and both sides can be better off for it. Buehler gets his opportunity and maximizes his 2025 earnings, and the Dodgers probably got the best years out of Buehler, including multiple World Series Titles. He also gets nothing but respect from me because he pitched until his arm was cooked in the playoffs against Atlanta in 2021, while that punk Max Scherzer complained of “arm fatigue” and quit on his team. As for the rest of the rumors, stop trying to make this Nolan Arenado trade to the Dodgers happen. The Dodgers have no place for him. This isn’t 2018. He’s old and washed, and the Dodgers currently have a better and cheaper 3rd baseman. They should figure out a way to make it work with Teoscar Hernandez though. Teo and the Dodgers are a measly $5 million apart, which is nothing. Oh and while they’re at it, sign Roki Sasaki!
Finally, I’m not going to buy into this LA Kings hype. I’ve heard some of you people praising Rob Blake for his poverty off-season moves. Give me break. This team is the exact same as last year. The division got worse outside of Edmonton, and everybody else is status quo, which will allow the Kings to stay a playoff team, but they have no chance of being a cup contender. On the bright side they are finally allowing their kids to play like Alex Turcotte, Brandt Clark, and Akil Thomas, but outside of that it’s going to be the same old story with this group.
