February 9, 2028
What a terrible Super Bowl that was. Congratulations to the Seahawks for coming away with a well deserved championship. I’m happy for Sam Darnold as well, who is a really good guy from my hometown, and a great redemption story. Other than that though, the game was tough to watch. Neither offense did much. The Seahawks defense felt incredible dominant, but for a game with 100 million people watching, that’s not going to do much for entertainment value. Kenneth Walker was the MVP, but it was hilarious listening to Chris Collinsworth say he does nothing well except run. The Rams have to be kicking themselves watching that last night, because what a missed opportunity they had not making it to the Super Bowl. They were one of the few teams in the league that could put up points on that Seattle defense. The NFC Championship game was really the Super Bowl two weeks ago.
As for the rest of the broadcast, I was not as down on the halftime show as everyone else. Bad Bunny was always going to have a segment of people that weren’t going to like his music no matter how great the performance was. However, the choreography was great, and you have to appreciate the artistry behind it from the Taco guy, to the couple that actually got married, and the little kid that received his Grammy Award at the end. He was very intentional with his messaging. I’m sure some people will view it as political, but I don’t politicize everything the way a lot of people do these days. As for the commercials, there were too many that were just sad and serious, and not enough that were there to make us laugh and entertain us. That’s supposed to be the point of the commercials. If I had to pick a couple, I would say the Xfinity Jurassic Park commercial was creative, and the Bud Weiser “Free Bird” commercial as well. It was pretty underwhelming beyond that.
The NBA trade deadline came and went last week, and it was not very eventful for the Lakers. They did make a trade to improve on the margins, sending Gabe Vincent to Atlanta for sharp shooting forward Luke Kennard. Kennard will improve the Lakers dismal shooting, but might not be so effective on the defensive end. Then again, Gabe Vincent wasn’t exactly locking people up either. I was a little disappointed the Lakers burned their open roster spot on Kobe Bufkin. He was lighting up the G-League, but he’s not going to crack their rotation right now. A player like Hayward Highsmith along with Cam Thomas would have added some scoring dynamics to their bench and perimeter defense they don’t have. Now I can’t see them waiving anybody else to open another roster spot. The Lakers entered Saturday tied for 4th in the West, and just a game out of 3rd place. Lebron, Luka, an Austin haven’t even played 10 games together this season. Say what you will about the flawed roster construction, but they haven’t had much time on the floor together to see just how good the team can be unfortunately. With that being said, the Lakers clearly got what they wanted with Giannis staying in Milwaukee. However, don’t be surprised if he’s going to do the same stupid dance he did over the summer and stay for another year with the Bucks, then hit the free agent market in 2027. That’s too long for the Lakers to wait when they have Lebron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves on the roster now. The free agent class in 2026 is so dismal, I can easily see the Lakers running it back with the same team on one year deals, with or without Lebron. I sure hope they plan on using the cap space and their picks to make some trades for quality 3 and D wings. Otherwise, that’s not a great way to optimize a generational talent in his prime that you just acquired.
The Clippers on the other hand surprised us all with their wheeling and dealing last week. After completely turning their season around and becoming one of the hottest teams in the NBA, the Clippers traded James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland, and Ivica Zubac to Indiana for Benedict Mathurin and picks. What they did isn’t actually all that surprising, it’s just the timing of it. They were on their way to the play in tournament. Then they did what I told you they should have done months ago, and not let public perception dictate their immediate future. To their credit, they did not. This was clearly prompted by James Harden requesting a trade after being denied an extension. I can’t blame Harden for trying to recoup all the money he has lost over the years requesting trades, so it was wise for both sides to move on. Then they figured they might as well trade Zu to get some draft capital back. I’ve gotta think come this summer Kawhi’s days as a Clipper are numbered, and he’s going to be traded next. He is the last tree standing! (Sorry I couldn’t help myself) The question is what kind of market he has given the history of his knees, and what comes out of this NBA investigation about cap circumvention. On the bright side for the Clips, at least Kawhi will represent them in the All-Star game the are hosting.
Speaking of trades, in the NHL, the Kings made a big trade last week, acquiring winger Artemi Panarin from the Rangers. You guys know I have been as critical of the Kings as anyone, but this actually is a solid trade. The Kings had to give up their best prospect in Liam Greentree, but the Kings stink at developing young NHL players, so they might actually be better off with Panarin. He’s 34 years old, he can score, and they only had to extend him for 2 more years. That’s not too bad. With that being said, the Kings are not an Artemi Panarin away from winning the Stanley Cup. They might be an Artemi Panarin away from making the playoffs, but even that’s in question when you look at the standings. The Kings have the 2nd fewest regulation + overtime wins in the league, despite being 3 points out of the playoffs. They have 26 games left and are going to have to win about 20 of those games in regulation or OT to make it. That sounds like a tall task for team that is horribly coached, struggling to score, and limited mobility on defense.
The Rams may not have played in the Super Bowl, but the week leading up to it was still a good one. They signed Les Snead and Sean McVay to extensions, they added Cliff Kingsbury to their staff, and then Matt Stafford won the MVP and announced he’s coming back for another season. Stafford absolutely earned that MVP over Drake Maye, and I can’t believe it was that close considering it was such a soft schedule for Maye. I’m not surprised he decided to come back, but thankfully he is because it would have changed the entire outlook on the Rams season next year. Stafford should be a Hall of Famer after winning that MVP, to go along with his gaudy stats and Super Bowl victory in 2021. As for Les Snead and McVay, they are instrumental to the Rams success, and keeping them in the fold is also a great thing. I’m still not sure what was up with McVay thinking about retiring early after the last Super Bowl win, but he’s signed a couple of extensions since then, and makes great money, so it doesn’t sound like burnout is an issue for him right now. He might not coach another 10 years, but he should be part of the Rams future for another good stretch here. I’m not sure about Cliff Kingsbury though. I mean he’s a great football mind, but with McVay calling the plays, what is he going to do? Be the clock manager? I’m sure they’ll figure it out though.
In the College ranks, UCLA basketball held of Washington for another win over the weekend. They remain in 6th in the Big Ten, but every team in front of them is ranked in the Top 12 in the Nation. The rest of their regular season conference schedule is going to be tough. Watching that win and hearing Mick Cronin criticize their defense afterward, all I could think about is that the Bruins have to play hard all the time to win. Their talent alone can’t get them by. As for football, I have a very hard time seeing a scenario where UCLA is going to play at SOFI Stadium next year, or anywhere that isn’t the Rose Bowl. Last Tuesday, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge denied a request by the University of California Regents, on behalf of UCLA, to force arbitration in an ongoing lawsuit with the City and the Rose Bowl Operating Company over the Bruins’ long-term stadium agreement. UCLA however, is already benefiting from moving to the Big Ten. They received an extra $40 million than had they stayed in the Pac-12, except they still have a deficit of $21 million for other reasons of fiscal mismanagement. It’s going to take the University a while to get out of this mess, but they do seem like they are slowly on the right track to doing so. It just might take College Football conferences evolving to further help them do that.
I am a huge fan of the Olympics, and I’m excited that the Winter Olympics are now underway in Milan. What a beautiful opening ceremony it was on Friday night. Don’t be hating on Mariah Carey because you thought she sang over a track. The fact she was there and part of the song was sung in Italian is big enough! So much Italian style, and was so inclusive of the athletes who were at the other 3 venues. They looked like they were coming out of a Stargate, all with personality! The fact JD Vance was booed when the Team USA was showed walking out is just an example of how much Europe and the rest of the world is hating our leaders and that’s sad on a stage like the Olympics. I feel awful for Lindsey Vonn, who was skiing with no ACL, a replaced knee, and then fractured her leg in the downhill finals. While it’s a heroic effort to train and come this far, it’s probably also not very safe to be skiing at this level of competition without an ACL. I’m looking forward to some men’s hockey beginning on Wednesday, which is always intense. I’m also looking forward to seeing some of these more obscure sports we don’t always get to see like Super G, Bobsled, and Skeleton. These sports are so intense, I assume if you don’t die in the training that you automatically qualify for the Olympics.
