March 11, 2019
Things keep going from bad to worse for the Lakers. The optics are probably much worse than things really are, but optics matter with free agency meaning so much to them this summer. Those optics make the team look like they have reincarnated the twighlight years of Kobe’s career with Lebron in LA. Of course things looked like they were going well before Lebron got hurt, but shortly after that the team decided to give up playing defense for Lent. If this is going to work moving forward, the Lakers need to make sensible decisions around keeping and developing the young players they have drafted and developed. Hopefully Brandon Ingram will be ok and be part of that future. In the meantime though, they would be wise to lose as many games as possible between now and the end of the season to get another high draft pick.
Speaking of optics, the media is suddenly driving a narrative that the Clippers are the more stable and better franchise currently in LA. Except Stephen A Smith is hearing that Doc Rivers of all people could be a strong candidate to replace Luke Walton as the Lakers head coach. Seeing Doc Rivers coaching the Lakers would be more awkward than seeing Donald Trump at a women’s rights march. However, the simple fact that this is even being floated as a possibility tells you everything you need to know about the Clippers. If they are such a stable and desirable franchise, why would Doc Rivers even consider leaving for the more unstable franchise across the hall?
To baseball where the Dodgers are already having injury problems. Let me get this straight: Joe Kelly can stand up for the duration of the National Anthem, but he injures his back while cooking Cajun food standing too long in the kitchen? This kind of nonsense could only happen to baseball players, and usually ones that are signed by Andrew Friedman. Let’s just hope that Clayton Kershaw doesn’t injure his arm eating that food, or that Kenley Jansen doesn’t get heartburn from eating it. If Kershaw and Jansen aren’t as elite as they have been in the past, this Dodger team has no chance of winning a World Series. Without them they have depth, but not enough quality talent in crucial roles to finally win a championship. So far, it looks like those two pitchers are in decline this spring, so keep and eye on that. I’m also keeping an eye on Stan Kasten, who says he’s been working on the TV deal everyday. Since the Dodgers are only on one cable provider for the 6th straight year, Kasten is either a liar, or really bad at his job.
Meanwhile, the Angels are in the midst of trying to manage the slowly escalating drama surrounding Mike Trout’s free agency in two years. The Halos tattling to the MLB about Bryce Harper tampering with Trout is like calling the FBI when someone steals $5 from you. Trout is phenomenal, but the Angels haven’t won anything with him, so I can’t imagine they would be far less successful without him, especially if they can get some nice assets for him. If Trout doesn’t sign an extension in the next year, the sensible thing to do would be to trade him, and nobody should lose any sleep over it. It’s probably going to take more than the 10 years and $350 million though that the Angels are considering offering.
You didn’t really think that UCLA basketball was going to avoid disappointing you this weekend did you? Just when you thought they were going to get a first round bye in the Pac 12 Tournament, they lose to Colorado and Utah and free fall to the 7th seed. There’s part of me that just wants this embarrassment to end on Wednesday night with a loss to Stanford. Every time this team takes the court they find a way to make themselves look worse in front of every single coach in the nation that might be considering taking the job. Whether it’s lack of fan support or mediocre talent, I feel like the less we see from them between now and next year the better.
The Raiders might be interesting this year, but I wouldn’t count on them being very good. Acquiring Antonio Brown from the Steelers, even for just a 3rd and 5th round pick, is like buying a Ferrari when you need to put a new roof on top of your house, and fix a giant hole in the floor. Now there’s talk of Jon Gruden trying to sign Le’Veon Bell. There’s nothing like recreating a team that won absolutely nothing together during the most productive years of their career. It’s like Al Davis is still running the Raiders.
Last night another episode of The Walking Dead went down on AMC. Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it, so read no further if you plan on watching it later. That was one hell of a fight between Beta and Daryl, and more than lived up to the hype of the previews. It was like watching Daryl fight The Undertaker. I have a feeling most of you were just concerned that the dog was going to die. It’s going to take more than a fall down an elevator shaft though to kill that beast. Henry is killing me. That dude is about two seconds away from “looking at the flowers.” Daryl is a badass and all, but even Henry is getting tail during the apocalypse, while Daryl has been shutdown for nine seasons. How can you trust a girl who eats worms? These last three episodes are going to be epic. Something tells me though we’re going to see some shocking deaths by the time it’s over though.
Finally, the final two episodes of The Bachelor are going down on ABC the next two nights. Colton finally jumped the fence last week! That fence got more air time than half the girls on the show this season. I like how Colton birdboxed this whole situation when every girl on the show warned him that Cassie wasn’t ready for marriage. All I heard from Cassie for two hours straight was “so like I am like not sure like I am like in love with you like I don’t know.” This women is actually a speech pathologist? Chris Harris was probably really upset he had to put down his mimosa and get dressed really fast for “the most dramatic moment in Bachelor history”, or so he described. Next season, Chris should make sure they order electric fences to prevent this from happening. How is Colton going to go out on a date with Hannah or even go back to Taysha pretending like nothing happened? Then again, Hannah is probably more concerned with coming up with her next rap song. The Women Tell All was a little underwhelming though. I don’t feel like anybody in the back row even spoke. However, I did get a good laugh out of Demi calling Courtney a bed bug. Looking forward to seeing how this thing ends!
