March 8, 2021
Team Lebron took down Team Durant in the NBA All-Star Game last night. I’m surprised Kevin Durant didn’t demand a trade to Lebron’s team at halftime. Lebron’s team was ridiculous, while KD drafted a team that might take the Lakers to 7 games. Lebron should have just changed into street clothes and sat the second half on the bench. He was pretty much done with the game after giving us a reverse dunk early on. Dame and Steph are aliens from outer space. It amazes me that any player could be that confident shooting from near half court on a consistent basis. Rudy Gobert just laying it up in an All-Star game is why people hate the Utah Jazz. Kyrie Irving going 100 mph while Kawhi just wanting to get the game over with is a hilarious contrast to watch on the same team. Kawhi also hates any game in which Doc Rivers is coaching him. Not sure who has a worse defense: Team Durant, Team Lebron, or Team Cuomo? Steph Curry was a delight in the three-point contest, but the dunk contest just didn’t have the names in it despite some nice finishes. I wasn’t into the whole weekend coming in, but they put on a good show.
There’s been tons of noise around Blake Griffin getting bought out and if he would be a fit for the Lakers. Griffin is like one of those old vintage Nintendo games you think is going to be great, but then you can’t even get to work properly because it’s so old. Aside from that, Griffin does not fill a need for the Lake Show. They could use a rim protecting rebounder, a wing defender, and some shooting. Griffin provides none of those things. More than anything, the Lakers need health and some rest. I wouldn’t expect any additions through the buyout market to make any significant contributions. Besides, the Brooklyn Nets have more money to spend on players who are bought out, and more holes on their bench than the Lakers do.
As for the Clippers, they stumbled into the All-Star break in similar fashion to the Lakers. I found it hilarious that the Clippers also leaked that they had interest in Blake Griffin. He also has no obvious fit for the Clips, and leaking their interest felt more like Steve Ballmer extending an olive branch to Blake after he had him traded to Detroit a few years ago. Then there’s Paul George who never ceases to amaze us. He missed Thursday night’s game with dizziness from too much caffeine. Are you kidding? This dude is going from “Pandemic P” to “Percolated P”. Don’t forget him enjoying himself too much a week after Christmas like he was 10-years-old. I only thought these excuses from PG-13 came in the playoffs, but apparently they come in the regular season now too.
To baseball where Trevor Bauer looked great in his Spring Training debut for the Dodgers in Arizona. Bauer was pitching with one eye shut, and striking out opponents in the process. What’s his next trick? Pitching with one-hand tied behind his back? As long as the guy is helping the Dodgers in games and not harassing people online, I’m ok with these antics. It’s actually making the game a little more entertaining for us, which is what baseball needs. Baseball also needs fans, and the Dodgers are going to get them on April 1st with limited capacity. Since the tickets are going for about $8K each, you should be able to take your average family of four if you take out a small line of credit.
The Angels are also getting some encouraging signs from Shohei Ohtani. It’s only Spring Training, but Ohtani is showing signs of being both the superstar pitcher and hitter they thought they were getting. It’s the pitching they really need, and Ohtani is throwing hard, and effectively thus far. Whether or not he can maintain that effectiveness while staying healthy remains to be seen. The Angels also look like they will admit 20% capacity on opening day, but Arte Moreno might want to ask himself if he’d rather keep the cardboard cutouts in the seats for now. Other than Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon, I’m not sure how worth it people will find it to watch this team play in person in the middle of pandemic. Moreno is probably trying to find out how he can get a stimulus check from the government for “increasing his payroll”.
What a disastrous week for UCLA Basketball. They needed to win games against Oregon and USC to win the conference. Instead, they collapsed like a college kid after partying on a Thursday night. The Bruins couldn’t make a free throw to save their lives against USC, their offense got stagnant down the stretch, and their defense let them down when it mattered most. The worst part about it was the exact same issues troubled them days earlier against Oregon. UCLA is good, but just not good enough. They’ll make the tournament, possibly win a game, and that’s about as good as they can feel. As for the Trojans, most USC alums aren’t even aware they have a basketball team, except when they beat the Bruins. If anything, UCLA probably cares more about getting another shot against them in the conference tourney than going far in the NCAA tournament.
Finally, The Bachelor’s “Women Tell All” went down last week, and another big episode is coming up tonight. I like how Abigail and Katie were put on the hot seat during the last episode, when it was the other girls that were causing problems. Never thought i would ask myself if I like the women in Peter’s season more than the women in Matt’s season. I still can’t believe these girls are mad at Katie for calling them out for bullying. My favorite part of the last episode was when Anna said Chicago was a “small town”. That’s a real “Miss Teen South Carolina Moment”. Matt’s beard is amazing. It’s like he lost track of of time and still thinks it’s Movember. I have no idea why he was being apologetic toward Victoria than Abigail. Victoria’s acting in the episode should put her in line for an Emmy. She is like the person at the wedding who everyone gets nervous about when they are handed the microphone. They really did Heather dirty by practically giving her a seat in the studio audience section. I wish there was a live audience there so we could hear some boos for these terrible women. Brittany got more screen time on the Women Tell All than she did throughout the actual season. I like how Chris acted like we all cared about Pieter and were shocked by her exit. I’m beginning to wonder if Matt and Michelle participated in the Capitol insurrection for their final date?
