March 31, 2025
I’m sure you’re all wondering if the Dodgers are ever going to lose another game. At some point they probably will because it’s baseball, but they sure do look incredible to start the year. It turns out that Mookie Betts is just fine, already smashing two homers on Friday night to win the game. The lineup is so deep, Shohei, Freddie, Teo, Will Smith, and Tommy Edman are all coming to play early on. Wait until the bottom of the lineup gets going and this team could be even tougher. The same goes for the pitching. It’s absolutely scary for opponents. Roki Sasaki has incredible potential, but they don’t need him to be great right now, so his growing paints are not a problem to deal with. Yoshinobu Yamamoto looks elite, Blake Snell looks fine, However, the bullpen has so mean weapons in it, if a starter is only able to go a couple of innings its no big deal. This team is a lot of fun to watch! Do you really care though if they win 117 games? What you really care about is if they repeat as World Series Champions. Here come the Braves for a 3-game set at the Ravine starting tomorrow.
As for the Angels, I don’t want to draw too many conclusions from their series with the White Sox to open the season. However, I will remind you of the fact that their organizational ineptitude was on full display in the last week. They released Mickey Moniak, who at one point appeared to be the future of the organization. He’s certainly had his struggles, but once he got consistent playing time, he showed he had what it takes to be a regular major leaguer. Then they relegated Reid Detmers to the bullpen to start the season, a player that at one point could be a front line starter with the team. This is all about the organizations inability to develop talent. I’ve seen nothing that makes me think this will change anytime soon.
To the NBA, where the Lakers are trying to put an absolutely brutal stretch of basketball behind them. They blew a lead and lost against the Magic early in the week, then suffered another sloppy loss to the Bulls on Friday, losing on a miracle shot at the buzzer from Josh Giddey. There were some nice wins against Indiana and Memphis in there too, but overall, this team looks like the schedule has caught up to them, and the mistakes they have been making in games look like they are a result of physical and mental fatigue. The good news for the Lakers though is that they still have the opportunity to get the #2 seed with 8 games left. They play the Rockets twice at home, including tonight. They’ll play the Thunder twice, but it’s very likely they’ll be resting players, and there are no back-to-back games. Everybody is tough, but OKC is the toughest team in a 7-game series. Get the #2 seed and avoid them until the conference finals. Don’t overthink it. Also, Lebron, Luka, and Austin are forming nice chemistry, but the story is Gabe Vincent. This dude makes me go from wanting him cut in favor of a G-Leaguer, to invoking memories of Derek Fisher in the 2001 playoff run. I have zero confidence he can make a wide open 3, but all the confidence in the world he can make a contest 3 in the middle of crisis. He’s 2024 Drake and 1996 Tupac. Make no mistake about it. He will have a big say in the outcome of the Lakers season.
Not only have the Clippers put themselves back in the mix to stay out of the play-in tournament, they are also looking like a scary team to play. They are now 8-2 in their last 10 games, and they are creeping up on the 5th seed as well. Yes, I know the belief in the Clippers is entirely based on the health of Kawhi Leonard. Nobody is sitting here telling you they are going to win a championship or come out of the West. But the idea that Kawhi could be healthy does create some problems for anybody that has to deal with them in the early going, especially if he is playing at the level he is now.
You say you want upsets. But do you really? All 4 number 1 seeds made it to The Final Four next weekend. That means the selection committee got it right. The best teams in College Basketball all season are proving to be the best. The idea of upsets sounds really cool in the early going, but once you get to the end, you would be left watching a couple of teams from schools that you just wouldn’t be interested in watching. Now you will get to see elite basketball from elite teams. The transfer portal and NIL may have killed the Cinderella Stories in College Basketball though. Now all the big time programs are going back to recruiting experienced kids and paying them more, which the smaller schools can’t compete with anymore. I’m not complaining about it by any means, but that’s the way College Hoops used to be.
Speaking of the transfer portal, immediately when the portal opened last week, UCLA did what they had to do. They acquired Donovan Dent, arguably the best player available in the transfer portal. In addition to that, Dylan Andrews and Sebastian Mack have both entered the transfer portal as well and are leaving UCLA. Andrews and Mack are good kids, and I wish them the best of luck for the remainder of their college careers. With that being said, Dent makes UCLA much better, and if they can retain Mara, Bilodeau, Daily, and Clark, this is going to be a very good team. Trent Perry also announced he’s staying at UCLA. With Kobe Johnson graduating, the Bruins could also use another good wing defender. There is still time to get one in the portal.
