April 18, 2022

The NBA Playoffs are underway but sure enough, all people are talking about is the Lakers. That’s how amazing this franchise is. What’s not amazing though is the complete lack of self-awareness from Russell Westbrook. After his exit interview last week, Westbrook told the media that he wasn’t given a fair chance and wasn’t allowed to be himself. He also didn’t understand why he felt like he always had to prove himself to Frank Vogel. Somebody needs to show Russ footage of him blowing layups, dunks, and hitting the side of the backboard all season long. Philip Seymour Hoffman had a better jumper in Along Came Polly than Russ does now. I thought there was a small chance Russ could return next season, but now I think there’s no chance. The Lakers should be willing to take back long term contracts just to get rid of Russ, and find veterans that are better fits in the process.

Meanwhile, the Clippers season ended on Friday night against the Pelicans, during the play-in game. I really thought the Clips were going to take down Minnesota, and for sure the Pelicans. However, that Paul George Covid protocol did them no favors. You’ve gotta hand it to the Clips for playing their asses off all season without their stars. Still, I find it interesting that everyone thinks the Lakers can’t win anymore because Lebron and AD are always injured, when Kawhi and Paul George have missed even more games than those two in their time with the Clippers. Things look promising now for the Clips, but the last time we said they just needed to add a couple of stars to their team of nice role players, they ended up with lousy chemistry and getting bounced in the bubble. Mixing Kawhi and PG back into the fold sounds good on paper, but we’ll see if it is finally their year as we keep hearing.

I’m always amused about the prisoner of the moment story lines that emerge from the NBA playoffs this time of year. Some of my personal favorite from this year include the idea that Brandon Ingram is suddenly a better player than Anthony Davis. Or that the Lakers were foolish for giving up their entire young core for Anthony Davis, and that the Pelicans won the trade. I guess most of these delusional people forgot that the objective of an NBA team is to win a championship. The Lakers won one with Anthony Davis as a key piece of that 17 months ago. The Lakers young core is really nice because they draft well, but they were right to give them up for a guy that gave them a championship. It’s also adorable that everybody loves the Lakers young core now, when prior to the Anthony Davis trade, everyone was saying how much they stink. I guess the Lakers really do know what they are doing when it comes to drafting and developing players. Some of these people need their Twitter accounts revoked immediately if we’re going to start fact-checking these sites and all.

UCLA Basketball lost another key player last week. This time, Peyton Watson declared for the NBA draft, and hired an agent, assuring everyone that he isn’t coming back to school. I’m not sure who is giving Watson advice, but it sounds like the equivalent of taking financial advice from Bernie Madoff. A kid who is averaging 3 points and 2 rebounds as a freshman, and is projected to be a 2nd round pick, isn’t ready for the NBA. Especially with NLI opportunities to make money in college, Watson could have made money while staying in school. I told you last week that UCLA couldn’t keep all the talent on their roster, but Watson isn’t somebody I expected to depart. UCLA should still be great next year, but this one will hurt the program, and I fear it will hurt Watson too.

To baseball, where the Dodgers are off to a strong start after handling business against the Twins and Reds. They’ve won 6 in a row, and I was pleased to see Julio Urias and Walker Buehler turn things around in their last starts, and it’s also nice to see Cody Bellinger remember how to hit a baseball. He’s probably not smoking as much weed over the past week. All of you want to talk about Clayton Kershaw though. I get that we were all deprived of watching a perfect game, but removing him after 7 innings was the right decision. I’m more upset that the Dodgers didn’t use Blake Treinen to preserve the perfect game, rather than the fact they pulled Kershaw. He looks phenomenal, he’s coming off injury and a short spring training, and even he admitted he should have been pulled from the game. It was also super cold that day in Minnesota, which increases in the injury risk. Baseball has too many “get off my lawn” fans, and unfortunately, none of you will see it this way. However, this is the way the game is played and managed in the modern era whether you like it or not, so you might as well get used to it.

That was a big series win by the Angels over the Rangers this weekend with the Astros looming tonight. Unfortunately, it looks like they might be without Mike Trout after he took a pitch off the hand. At least nothing was broken, and he’s day-to-day. Coming into Sunday, the Halos were slugging their way to wins, leading the league in home runs. They are also getting some fantastic pitching from Noah Syndergaard, which is nice to see. If Shohei Ohtani can look like the ace we think he is, the Halos are a much different team than we think. There’s a lot of promising things when looking at the roster and the performance, but whether they can actually come through against the likes of the Astros and Mariners and the tough division games is what really matters. What’s not so great though is the Angels remote broadcast team. I haven’t seen anything this embarrassing since the Halos played ball last season. Matt Vasgersian called a home run a foul ball, and called a foul ball a double. They lost audio at one point, and then Vasgersian confused the broadcast freezing with the pitcher holding the ball for a long time. Now the Angels made a last second call to send a broadcast team to Houston for the next series. Arte Moreno must have gotten a 2 -for-1 deal on Spirit Airlines to make this happen.

The LA Kings are hanging on for dear life in the final 5 games of the season to try and make the playoffs. The Kings are 3 points ahead of Las Vegas with 5 games left. Vegas has one extra game to play, but a much tougher schedule. LA is also limping toward the finish line with Drew Doughty out for the season with a wrist injury, and their #2 defenseman Mikey Anderson out of the lineup with the always mysterious “upper-body injury” as well. Still, the Kings are back to being fun to watch again. That is when they aren’t giving up 6 unanswered goals to Minnesota and 9 goals to Colorado. You have to really hate your goalies to let them endure that kind of punishment.

Finally, I’m ecstatic that Better Call Saul is back on AMC tonight with the season premiere of the shows final season. This show isn’t Breaking Bad, but it’s still a masterpiece, and if you saw Breaking Bad, you’ll have a much greater appreciation for it. I’m still trying to figure out how 42-year old Aaron Paul is going to be playing 17-18 year old Jesse Pinkman on the show this year. Ultimately, there’s two things we are all dying to know: what happens to Kim? And do we get to see Walter White and Jesse Pinkman? We already know the answer to the 2nd question, but I guess the better question is how we see them. We have no idea on the first question, but I’m almost terrified to know the answer. Can’t wait!

April 11, 2022

The most shameful Laker season ended yesterday in Denver. Thank God for that, but the shamefulness continued with the front office leaks. This time it was somebody leaking to Adrian Wojnarowki that Frank Vogel will be fired. If Woj said it, it’s gotta be true, and I can’t blame him for doing his job. However, I do blame the classless idiots in the front office who couldn’t just wait 12 hours until the man was respectfully relieved of his duties. Since Vogel is holding onto the job in five minute increments at this point, he’s likely to be fired by the time you read this. The one thing I can’t understand is that for a franchise that does things so differently than others, why not do something different and keep Vogel? Only an idiot would think that this season’s outcome was his fault. He’s only getting fired because optically they have to make it look like they are trying something different. He led you to a championship 18 months ago, now suddenly he’s a scrub coach? This is a roster issue that will be difficult, but not impossible to fix. Heck if the Lakers are just willing to take back contracts beyond next season, they might actually be able to find a decent deal for Russell Westbrook. The real question people should be asking themselves is if it’s Rob Pelinka who should be making those deals anymore.

As for the Clippers, they are very quietly going to be matching up with the Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night in the NBA’s Play-In Tournament. The Wolves have been solid this year, however, the Clippers suddenly have a lot of confidence with Paul George coming back as well as Norman Powell. I think everybody forgot that Normal Powell actually plays on this team, and that the Clips performed the equivalent of armed robbery at the trade deadline on the Blazers to get Powell and Robert Covington. I’m sure Pat Beverley will be looking for his revenge here, but I like the Clips chances of taking this one. I also have to wonder if they win, whether or not we will see Kawhi.

To baseball, where the Dodgers dropped 2 of 3 in their opening series against the Rockies over the weekend. You probably shouldn’t panic 3-games into a 162-game season, but there are a few things to raise your eyebrows at here. Apparently nobody told the Dodgers that spring training was over, because they are approaching these games with the urgency of the Lakers. The “historic offense” is also being carried by Gavin Lux and Austin Barnes through three games. I expect a lot more production when your lineup has Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and Trea Turner (among many others). More concerning though is the performance of Julio Urias, who’s velocity was down, and was rocked for the second straight outing, if you’re including spring training. With that being said, all three of those games were winnable, and the Dodgers still probably win the last two if they just make a play or two more.

As for the Angels, it was a rough opening weekend, dropping 3 of 4 to the Astros. I know Halo fans don’t want to panic either, but the slow starts, especially against divisional foes the last couple of years don’t exactly make you feel all that great about this weekend. Joe Maddon insisted that the Angels are very close to the Astros right now, but I’m not so sure about that from what I saw. I’m also not sure why Anthony Rendon was resting on Sunday, three games into the season. I guess he needs an extra day of rest to spend that $36 million he is making this year. The Ohtani-Trout-Rendon combination didn’t yield much against the Astros, but much of that was due to some stellar defense played by the ‘Stros. On the bright side, the Angels have to feel pretty good about the starting pitching they got in all three games, since the bullpen and the offense was to be blamed for the three losses. The Angels better plan on taking care of business this week against the Marlins and Rangers, two teams that should have no business winning a series against the Halos.

In College Hoops, it’s bitter sweet news, but Jake Kyman is transferring from UCLA to Wyoming. Kyman is a sharp shooter that could not find consistent minutes on a very deep and talented UCLA team for the last couple of seasons. He also approached Mick Cronin about what he could do to get more minutes, but unfortunately, there wasn’t much. Kyman is also a Bruin through and through, with both of his parents being alumni athletes as well. With that being said, UCLA is not going to be able to keep everybody, and find minutes for all the talented players that they have. Kyman is an unfortunate reminder of that, and you can be sure he won’t be the only one that has to make this kind of decision because it’s best for his college career.

The Masters went down over the weekend, but the story wasn’t Scottie Scheffler winning. Nor was it the azaleas. It was Tiger Woods, who was back on the course after suffering a catastrophic leg injury a year ago. There are some athletes you have to enjoy while they are still around because they are so special, and Tiger is just that. He didn’t come close to winning, but he put together a fantastic first round, and still gave us some tremendous shots over the weekend. His drive and will to win is still there, and he’s what actually makes watching golf interesting for the average fan. I’m very happy to hear that Woods is committing to The Open in a couple of months, and we can only hope that he is not only healthy, but even healthier than he was coming into The Masters.

Finally, the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead went down on AMC last night. Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it. This episode was a fight to the death with Maggie and Leah. You didn’t really think TWD was going to take Maggie from us too did you? That was one hell of a fight and I admit I was a little stressed, but thank god Daryl saved the day by killing Leah. I can’t imagine how Glenn would feel about all this right now though, knowing that Maggie is somehow trusting the guy that murdered him. Or even the fact that Negan is babysitting his kid. It’s crazy to think that happened 6 years ago. I have a bad feeling though that we will end up losing Rosita sometime in the final season. We lost her in the comic, so I’m sure they have some ridiculously tragic death planned for her in the fall. It was a solid mid-season finale, and I’ve gotta give the writers credit for how they re-invented the show. I’m over 10 years invested, so I need to see it to the end, and looking forward to it come the fall.

April 4, 2022

Hey Lakers, lose my number! I don’t want to hear anything from your sorry asses for the next 6 months. I’ve never been so embarrassed to be a Laker fan. This is by far the most disappointing season in Laker history, and this weekend was the final dagger, with losses to the Pelicans and Nuggets at home. I don’t care if Lebron and AD have missed as many games as they have. This team should at least be able to make the play-in tournament. I don’t see the Clippers in the lottery without Kawhi and Paul George. I also don’t see the Nuggets falling apart without Michael Porter and Jamaal Murray. The lack of effort and lack of professionalism on this squad all year has been simply disrespectful to the fans that support this team. They don’t even deserve to be in the play-in, let alone the playoffs. Will even half of this team even be on any NBA roster next year? I have my doubts. That’s how sorry the roster construction has been, and not sure how much better it’s going to get moving forward. Lebron is also up for a contract extension in August. I’m not so sure he doesn’t sign it, but I’m also not so sure that would be a good thing for the Lakers.

As for the Clippers, things are actually getting a bit interesting for them. Paul George made his return to the floor last week, and looked really good in the process. They took down the Jazz, and then blew out the Bucks, albeit with both teams missing a lot of players. Nevertheless, if the Clippers can survive the play-in, they may even get Kawhi Leonard back. That would make the Clips an extremely dangerous #7 or #8 seed in the Western Conference. The role players on this team are suddenly finding themselves, including the likes of Luke Kennard and Robert Covington. Suddenly all those Clipper jokes aren’t so funny to the Suns or Grizzlies, who might have to face this monster in the 1st round.

To baseball, where the Dodgers made a massive trade last week, sending AJ Pollock to the White Sox for closer Craig Kimbrel. I actually thought this was an April Fools joke at first, but it’s true. It also made a lot of sense. The Dodgers needed a closer with the departure of Kenley Jansen. Considering Kimbrel has just one year left on his contract, it’s a reasonable gamble. He has been pretty up and down though. When Kimbrel is on, he’s great. When he’s not, he’s downright awful. In his first spring training outing with the Dodgers, he was awful. Nevertheless, it’s spring training. AJ Pollock was really one of the best hitters in the NL last year, even though he stunk in the playoffs. He was a great Dodger though and he will be missed, but there are enough guys that need at-bats that can more than effectively replace his bat. That Kimbrel arm thing before every pitch though is kind of annoying.

As for the Angels, MLB Network ranked Shohei Ohtani #1 and Mike Trout #2 in their player rankings. First of all, no disrespect to how great Shohei is, but just because Mike Trout strained his calf last year, the media got amnesia and forgot that he’s still the best player? Makes no sense. Then there’s the Halos releasing Justin Upton, and just eating $28 million. I know the Angels are trying to go young in the outfield with guys like Brandon marsh and Jo Adell, but if the Halos are going to to keep making $28 million mistakes, they are going to keep spinning their wheels at .500. Upton was actually having a decent spring. I know a few people have suggested he ends up with the Dodgers, but the Boys in Blue just traded away AJ Pollock to create some more playing time in the outfield. They don’t need another outfielder.

In the NFL, the Rams have done it again. They’ve acquired another star player by signing linebacker Bobby Wagner to a 5-year $50 million deal. I’m sure everyone is wondering how the Rams can afford another star. The Rams just have smarter people upstairs, including Les Snead, and many others that draft well and get a lot of quality starters on the cheap. They also understand the importance of stars and chasing championships when you’re playing in the LA market. That you have to appreciate. Now the Rams have replaced Von Miller with another defensive star who has just as good of a resume, and they once again have three elite defenders: Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey, and Wagner.

Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed The Grammy’s last night and it is by far my favorite award show. Amazingly, we had an award show where nobody got slapped, and the topic of conversation afterward was not that slap. Doesn’t that feel like it happened 10 years ago, given all the commentary that’s happened since? As for the show itself, this clip will give you a nice summary.

March 28, 2022

UCLA’s March run came to a brutal end on Friday night in the Sweet 16 against North Carolina. I realize you all want to talk about Mick Cronin’s rotations, and how he should have given his guys more rest, while also playing more of a defensive lineup. However, the Bruins still played well enough to win. Sometimes the other team just makes some crazy shots and there’s not much you can do about it. Nobody knew that Caleb Love was going to turn into the 2nd coming of Steph Curry in the final few minutes of that game. That’s March Madness and that’s sports. Now if only Jessica Alba were in Philly on Friday and at the game, we might be having a different conversation today. At least the Bruins got to fly back to Westwood, while when Arizona lost, they had to fly back to dumpy Tucson. UCLA will be pretty damn good next year as well, and Mick Cronin will hopefully be coaching this team for the next 20 years. Still, the frustrating part is that it felt like if the Bruins had pulled out that win, they had a very favorable path to winning a National Championship.

Some of you Laker folks are hilarious, including Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq says that if the Lakers get out of the play-in tournament they will beat the Suns in the 1st round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if there will be a play-in tournament opportunity for the play-in tournament. That’s how unsure I am that the Lakers will actually be playing in that tournament, especially after last night’s loss to New Orleans. It’s been 74 games people, and they have all been disastrous. Do you suddenly think that Lebron and AD won’t be taking opportunities away from Stanley Johnson and the Lakers are going to fulfill their true potential? They aren’t suddenly going to play like a championship team, even if you saw them play halfway decent for the past week.

To baseball where we are in the midst of spring training, and the Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger is struggling again. Bellinger has been striking out more than Urkel did on Family Matters this spring. Coming into Sunday, he had struck out 14 of 19 times at the plate. That means you can expect him to change his batting stance about 64 more times this season, since his new stance doesn’t seem to be working already. The Dodgers have plenty of good players in their lineup, but having the “MVP level Bellinger” or at least 70% of him would go a long way to their World Series chances. Also, I wish the MLB would just make a decision on Trevor Bauer already. Either suspend him and give the Dodgers closure on the situation, or declare he can play and let’s move on. As for Dave Roberts and his “guarantee” that the Dodgers would win the 2022 World Series on the Dan Patrick Show, what else was he supposed to say? “We aren’t really that good and I don’t believe in this team?”

As for the Angels, Shohei Ohtani looked amazing in his spring debut last week. If Ohtani can be the Angels true #1 ace and win 15 games, and if Noah Syndergaard can be an elite #2, the Angels might actually be really good. That’s a lot of “ifs” and “mights” but not out of the question. What is in question though is where David Fletcher is going to play. Joe Maddon says that Fletcher could start at shortstop. What a great idea. Take your elite defending second basemen who can’t hit, and whose only value comes from defense, and put him a position where he isn’t an elite defender. Who needs analytics when you can just make these kind of idiotic decisions instead?

In the NFL, the Rams are still trying to lock up Aaron Donald to a contract extension. The reason why it’s taking so long isn’t because they don’t want to pay the man, but rather because they are trying to do some major salary cap gymnastics. Les Snead is clearly trying to bring back OBJ while also figuring out ways to improve the pass rush. Sounds like LA is out of the Bobby Wagner sweepstakes though, which would have helped a great deal. Hopefully when Aaron Donald gets paid, Urban Meyer will finally know who he is. Urban is probably also wondering why the Rams aren’t still playing in St. Louis as well.

W are down to the final 15 games of the regular season in the NHL, and the LA Kings are sitting in a solid playoff spot in the West. Despite the super slow pace of this rebuild, this is much better than many of us expected this season. However, these last 15 games will be tough with injuries to the Kings’ top 2 defenseman, Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson, as well as two other veteran forwards. Jim Fox said it will take 93 points to get into the playoffs, which means the Kings would just need to go 6-9 the rest of the way, but that doesn’t seem like enough in a brutally competitive conference. I’m thinking 97 points gets them in the playoffs, which would mean they would need to go 8-7. I hate the fact they didn’t make a big trade at the deadline last week, but neither did their division rivals, who they will see a lot of in the next couple of weeks. Also, if Jim Fox says 93 points will get them in the playoffs, you have to think he knows what he’s talking about. I mean he’s even up to date on Fortnight!

Finally, I’ve been a huge fan of Will Smith’s for a long time, and was very happy to see that he won his first Oscar last night for his role in “King Richard”. However, slapping Chris Rock on stage was totally inexcusable, and it’s really a shame that it took away from his moment winning the award for best actor. Funny how the audience really seemed to think that Will slapping Chris was part of the show, but once he started yelling and cussing at Chris, things got awkward. You can also tell this incident wasn’t just about one joke that was made. In 2016, when both Jada and Will boycotted the Oscars, Chris Rock also took aim at them during his stand up routine at the Oscars.

March 21, 2022

UCLA is going back to the Sweet 16 for the 2nd year in a row! Nice first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the Bruins. The opening round against Akron was a game of survival, but Saturday night against St Marys was pure Bruin basketball.  Tough defense, efficient 2-point offense, and limiting the turnovers.  They will need to do exactly that when they play North Carolina on Friday night in Philadelphia.  The Tar Heels are suddenly playing like Michael Jordan and James Worthy still play for them, after eliminating defending champion Baylor.  UCLA will also badly need Jaime Jaquez healthy enough to be effective, after he rolled his ankle again on Saturday.  I have no doubt he’s tough enough to try to play, it’s just a matter of how good can he be.  If he’s anywhere near what he did on Saturday in the 1st half, the Bruins are a good bet to get to the Elite 8.  As I said last week, these aren’t easy games by any means,  but the road to the Final Four provides better matchups for the Bruins than if they were in any of the 3 other regions.

As for the Trojans, they lost a tough one to Miami in the 1st round of the tournament.  It came down to the final possession, but USC dug themselves a 13-point hole, turning it over 18 times in total.  There were 11 lead changes over the final 15 minutes, but missing six free throws didn’t help the Trojan cause.  Miami was just an older, more experienced team and it benefitted them, despite the Trojans having more talent.  It took USC a while to get over their nerves and the fact they were actually playing in the NCAA Tournament.  Their first half looked like they just finished a night of drinking at the Nine-O.  That’s a sign of a young team that at times, still needs to figure it out in the big moments.  Andy Enfield is a great recruiter, so I expect him to continue to follow the same blue print of young elite freshman talent.  However, fundamentals and emotional maturity for moments like these is something his coaching staff needs to instill, if USC is to make more runs in the NCAA Tournament.

I really thought there was a way to just avoid talking about the Lakers entirely in this column.  I can’t though because it’s the Lakers.  However, we’ve reached the point where this team is putting a disgraceful effort forward every time they play.  It’s embarrassing, and there is almost no professional pride.  The only thing left at this point is to enjoy Lebron getting 30 or more a night for the next dozen games.  Congrats to Lebron for getting to #2 on the all-time scoring list.  After Saturday’s loss to the Wizards, Frank Vogel said they didn’t play well with Lebron out of the game.  He should have specified which games he was talking about.  When I hear Stu Lantz and James Worthy talk about this team on TV, I feel like I’m a kid who just let his parents down in dramatic fashion.  Just get to the off-season already, let’s find out if heads will roll, and get rid of nearly all these players who don’t want to put the effort in every night.  Or in the case of Russ, who fit like a square peg in a round hole.

Spring training is underway for the Dodgers, and they finished up a big week by signing 1st baseman Freddie Freeman! Somehow, the Dodgers lost Corey Seager and Max Scherzer this off-season, yet on paper they are going to be better. Although six years is a bit much for a guy that’s 32 years old, credit to Andrew Friedman for spending the money when the time is right, and when there is an opportunity.   Look at me complimenting Andrew Friedman after all these years of me telling you he was some video game nerd that didn’t know what he was doing.  He commands my respect now.  I also like the fact they have about 10 starters, 5 of them are cagey veterans like Danny Duffy, Andrew Heaney, and David Price, who may be lottery tickets for success, but worst case they can eat some innings.  I was disappointed that Kenley Jansen took a one year deal in Atlanta.  The Dodgers still need a closer, until Blake Treinen proves to me that he can do the job. The only guy available who could fit the bill is Craig Kimbrel, who has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career, despite his big time pockets of success in Boston, and in Chicago.

As for the Angels, I’m not so sure the team is any better than last year.  They managed to get Noah Sydergaard, who they hope will be healthy and elite.  They did manage to beef up their bullpen too but that’s it.  Much of the potential success is if Trout, Rendon, and Upton stay healthy, and are playing at an elite level alongside Shohei Ohtani.  That’s a lot of “ifs” and things that need to go right to have a successful season.  Plus Arte Moreno just seems like the crotchety old man now, that just won’t spend money on fixing his leaky sink.  Instead he tells his wife that they are just going to end up buying an expensive Ferrari instead.

On to the NFL, where it’s been a busy week for the Rams.  They signed Allen Robinson, lost Von Miller to the Bills, traded Robert Woods to the Titans, and signed Matt Stafford to an extension.  Let me start with this, Allen Robinson has shown he can be a solid receiver in this league, but last year he was pretty terrible.  With an excellent QB like Matt Stafford does that change? I sure hope so, but I’m a little surprised.  Losing Von Miller hurts, but you can’t keep everyone.  I feel terrible for Robert Woods that he tore his ACL, never got to play in the Super Bowl, and then got dumped to Tennessee.  He’s a good football player, and a great guy to have in your locker.  He isn’t necessary though, and as much as I’d love to have OBJ back, they have other needs.  Re-upping Stafford was the right thing to do.  Hopefully he’s sobered up in time from the parade to sign the new contract.  This team has been in two of the past four Super Bowls.   For that reason, I think both Les Snead and Sean McVay have earned the benefit of the doubt.

Elsewhere around the NFL, the off-season is just wild.  DeShaun Watson committed to the Browns, which makes me wonder if he committed to them while being held up at gunpoint.  That seems like the only way somebody would live in Cleveland.  Then there’s Devante Adams signing with the Raiders.  I’m sure after that Aaron Rodgers is looking for a clause to escape his contract, which doesn’t even have the ink dried yet.  I’m looking forward to seeing Baker Mayfield traded next week for a tank of gas.  This whole moment between Trevor Bauer and DeShaun Watson got really awkward as well.

You may have noticed I’ve been a little bit light on my coverage of The Bachelor this season.  Why? Well ratings are sinking faster than the Lakers, and the story lines are getting tired and not believable.  This time, the Bachelor, Clayton, told three women he loved them on Fantasy Suite night.  He claims he even convinced himself he really was in love with them.  That’s adorable…..thinking you’re in love with three women, when you’re actually in love with private jets and basically getting laid whenever you want on National TV.  This dude probably believed Vladimir Putin when he said he wasn’t going to invade the Ukraine.  I’m not sure where the show can go from here.  They’ve gotta be running out of ideas to make things more dramatic and interesting, even while trying to go back to its roots of typical “white people drama”.  I’m also even wondering if someone can still command influencer power by being a contestant in the show.  It’s also totally not the same brand without Chris Harrison, no matter how hard they try.

March 14, 2022

It’s time for March Madness! That means the UCLA Bruins are going dancing, but there wasn’t much dancing on Saturday night in their loss to Arizona in the Pac 12 title game. The good news is the Bruins have a nice path in the East to try and make a run to the Final Four again. They’ll take on Akron on Thursday, and if they continue to advance they would likely face St Mary’s and Baylor, two games that are very winnable. Judging from Saturday, I’m not saying the Bruins would have beat Arizona if their two big men did not get into foul trouble, but that’s actually what I’m saying. UCLA had some suspect pick and roll defense in the 2nd half without them, and that is something they can clean up. You have to be pleased with Johnny Juzang though and how much better he looked on Saturday. Arizona is great and they are a real contender to win it all, but their fans are worse than Vladimir Putin. Totally classless based on their treatment of UCLA fans, including the players parents.

Some of you USC alums probably forgot you had a basketball team as well, and it just so happens they are in the tournament. USC is the #7 seed in the Midwest and will face #10 Miami on Thursday in Greenville, South Carolina. Not only did the Trojans get totally disrespected with the #7 seed, but they got a region that is full of landmines and difficult to get through. Auburn and Wisconsin loom later on, and that’s about as much fun as playing with scorpions.

To the NBA, where the Lakers got dismantled by the Suns last night. Question for all of you….why the hell do we continue to watch these games? I know the Lakers are our team, but this is just damaging to our mental health. That game escalated faster than gas prices. Even Malik Monk said the team isn’t trying hard enough. They don’t care, so why should you? The blueprint is pretty simple at this point: if Lebron gets 50, the Lakers have a chance to win. That sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Despite the train wreck the Lakers are, the fact Lebron is in year 19 and leading the league in scoring is insanity. That is just a reminder of how great he still is, and how on any given night he’s still the best player in the NBA. What isn’t cool though is the fact that people are making this Russell Westbrook thing personal with him and his family. It’s basketball people. Don’t be idiots. Russ isn’t meeting expectations, but if you’re demeaning him as a person and his family, you are probably a senseless keyboard bully, that lives in your mom’s basement, asking when the hot pockets will be ready.

In baseball the lockout is over and both spring training and free agency have started for the Dodgers and Angels. It’s so good to see Clayton Kershaw returning to the Dodgers. He’s a legend, a class act, and deserves to finish his career with the Boys in Blue. The Dodgers also need his arm to be healthy to add to their rotation. With the luxury tax going up and Corey Seager and Max Scherzer leaving, Andrew Friedman has money to spend like Kim Kardashian at South Coast Plaza. Freddie Freeman would be amazing, but I have a feeling he’s going back to the ATL since it’s taking so long for him to decide. I know it’s controversial…..but if that happens the Dodgers should try to sign Carlos Correa. That puts less pressure on them to sign Trea Turner next year, and gives them the ability to to DH Justin Turner. Yes I know he cheated, but baseball is filled with the cheaters historically. He’s still an excellent right-handed bat that is in his prime. He can probably also be had on a one-year deal with a high salary, and that’s an Andrew Freidman special. They also need a closer too, so if they can get Kenley Jansen back on a two-year deal at reasonable money, they should do it. I love spending other people’s money. Isn’t it fun?

As for the Angels, they kicked off the re-opening of free agency by signing Kurt Suzuki. This is Arte Moreno’s idea of trying to make the team better. Most Angels fans want this deal voided under the accusation of uhhh…..tampering prior to the CBA being agreed! I don’t blame them! I almost forgot the Angels signed Noah Syndergaard, which is nice if he’s healthy but they need more arms. It doesn’t look like Arte is going to pay for them though. The Halos really couldn’t have made a move like the Giants did for Carlos Rodon? I guess the new CBA didn’t make Arte any less foolish when it comes to paying for pitching.

The NFL Off-season is getting wild. Gotta start with the Chargers, who acquired Khalil Mack last week. The Chargers defense couldn’t stop anything when it mattered most last year, and Mack is still great when he’s healthy. The combo of Mack with Joey Bosa could give quarterbacks fits, which is huge considering how competitive the AFC West is looking. The Broncos made headlines this week by trading for Russell Wilson, so the QB’s in the West are loaded. Re-signing Mike Williams was also a solid move too. However, I’m sure for the next year we’re going to have to hear how the Chargers have the most complete roster in the NFL, until we wonder why they can’t win more games. It’s the NFL’s biggest conundrum.

Then there’s Tom Brady, who is coming back to football and not retiring. I guess gas prices are so high, even Tom Brady has to keep working. His retirement last 39 days. The MLB lockout lasted 99. You can be sure that Gisele is going to be making him sleep on the couch for a while after reversing his decision. How about the dude that paid $500k in an auction for the ball that was supposedly Tom Brady’s last TD pass? That guy is definitely punching air now. Now the Bucs become another team that is a real contender in the NFC.

March 7, 2022

Let me start by saying this, even though the Lakers are a disaster, Lebron just reminded us on Saturday night of just how great he is. He became just the 4th player in league history over the age of 37 to score 50+ points. He won’t be here forever people so you have to appreciate the greatness you are watching. With all that being said, he said he was fueled by “desperation”. Funny, because I would think “desperation” would have kicked in before they cratered to 9th place in the West with just 20 games left in the season, and on the verge of missing even the play-in tournament. I guess Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald, or some other Rams player needs to be in the building at all times for these guys to actually show up and play. Hope they are available every night for the next four months. Especially since every loss the Lakers endure, you’re going to hear more leaks like the one we heard Saturday, which trashed Russell Westbrook and indicated that many in the organization want him benched moving forward. Saturday was nice, but the Lakers are a bad team with or without Lebron James and Anthony Davis at this point. I was going to rattle off some joke about the Lakers being like the Russian army, but Saturday Night Live beat me to it!

As for the Clippers, we know they won’t get Kawhi back this season, and it feel like they won’t get Paul George back either. However, they are still a remarkable story with their ability to stay in playoff contention. I also couldn’t help but notice how Reggie Jackson was loving every single moment of embarrassing Russell Westbrook the other night against the Lakers. Jackson clearly holds grudges like he’s Aaron Rodgers, because he tore up Russ the other night, and clearly has some hard feelings after their divorce a few years ago in Oklahoma City. I thought these two were going to fight after this happened.

The MLB lockout continues, as I told you it would last week. We know for sure they are cancelling games, which means the heat is now on the players since they are missing game checks. These idiots were only $50K apart from making an agreement, yet they pulled the plug on the negotiation last week. Now they are starting from scratch. Of course it was Arte Moreno who opposed increasing the CBT threshold, which is so on brand for that cheapskate. Arte is probably tired of getting outspent by the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox, so he was just taking it out on them by turning down that part of the deal. However, it’s the Angel fans that are tired of Arte and his foolish ownership style, dictating to his front office the moves that should be made. He’s also looking like the slum lord of the MLB, with sub-standard conditions for his minor leaguers. When the lockout is over, we’ll see if all this negativity around him ends up hurting the Angels in free agency.

Speaking of MLB teams spending money, my expectation is regardless of what comes out of the new MLB labor agreement, the Dodgers will have money to spend. They should do everything they can to quickly sign Freddie Freeman, then re-sign Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen. That would give the Dodgers an excellent lineup that is arguably even better than last year. It would also fortify their pitching staff, which is littered with young talent, but just needs a couple of wily veterans in the rotation and the back end of the bullpen. None of those three should cost the Dodgers an unreasonable amount on an annual basis.

To College Basketball, where UCLA was looking healthier and in good form on Saturday night in their win against cross-town rival USC. They are also still undefeated when Jessica Alba is in the building. The Bruins finished in 2nd in the Pac-12 for the regular season headed into the conference tournament. Everyone seems to think Arizona might be the best team in the country. If the Bruins are healthy, they are quite capable of beating the Wildcats, or any team in the country for that matter. Jamie Jaquez suddenly looks like he has two good ankles, Jules Bernard is balling, and Johnny Juzang is starting to get healthy too. Mick Cronin indicated Juzang is not ready yet, but he will be. Joe Lunardi has the Bruins at a #4 seed, but if they can win the conference tourney, they can easily be a #3 seed. However, in either case, this is becoming a very undervalued team by betting standards. UCLA has the 12th best odds in the country to win the National Title. When healthy, they are no worse than a top 5 team. That’s especially important for all of us degenerates out there ready to open our wallets to bet on the NCAA tournament.

The NFL off-season is quietly going well for the Rams prior to free agency starting. They got a commitment from Sean McVay to return, and now Ian Rappaport is reporting the Rams are planning on giving Aaron Donald a big raise. You really think Sean McVay was going to come back without knowing that arguably the best player in the NFL was coming back? If you did, you probably believe the last thing Joe Biden said too. Even if the Rams also bring back OBJ and Von Miller, repeating is always an uphill climb. However, the best thing they could have going for them is Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson potentially heading to the AFC. I know many have been reporting that Rodgers is going to go back to the Packers, but if so, then why hasn’t it happened already? I still think he’s leaving because he wants to stick it to the Packers front office. People who hold grudges do crazy things, and he looks like he’s ready to do something crazy. I also love how people are just dying to know what he’s going to do and frustrated he hasn’t made a decision. This unfortunately isn’t the Netflix series you can just blow right through to the end to find out what happened. You’ve all been ruined by streaming TV.

Lastly, nice episode of The Walking Dead last night on AMC. Of course Eugene did the equivalent of online dating and got catfished during the zombie apocalypse. That’s very on brand for him. Meanwhile, Carol is now curing cancer and taking down drug lords at the same time. This felt like the Ozark episode of the series. Her level of badass continues to rise. Lance is shifty and suspicious. I wouldn’t trust that dude to tell me what he wanted on his pizza. I’m getting major Gregory vibes here. This show is very weird about swearing. Apparently you can smash someone’s head in with a barbed wire baseball bat, but saying the F-word is off limits. How can you not love Princess at this point? She’s hilarious and thriving in the Commonwealth. Also, people will always open doors for you if you bring them food whether it’s in the apocalypse or not. Props to the show for providing us with content that we can use endlessly in gif’s on Twitter.

February 28, 2022

Just when you think the Lakers can’t embarrass themselves any further, they go and get smoked by 28-points at home against the Pelicans. If Chick Hearn were still alive and called that game last night, he would have absolutely crushed the Lakers. This team simply doesn’t care. Even Lebron, who scored 32 points last night, showed a very lackluster effort on the defensive end, and isn’t even leading. Of course it’s gotta be hard for Russ to show up to work everyday, knowing that Lebron tried to have him traded a week ago. I’m beginning to wonder if the Lakers are even going to make it to the play-in game at this point. If they are really going to put this kind of effort out there with 22 games left in the season, then they are really just ready to book their vacations to Cancun. Now Lebron is mad at Bill Oram of The Athletic for reporting that he had beef with Rob Pelinka for not making a move at the trade deadline. He claims that information didn’t come from him. We’re apparently supposed to believe Lebron when a week ago in Cleveland he told us that he hasn’t dismissed the idea of re-joining the Cavs at some point. I’m also not even really sure why we are all still watching this team. Apparently none of us care about our mental health.

To the NFL, where we can talk about much brighter news: Sean McVay has officially announced that he’s coming back to Rams! We heard for weeks that McVay was really considering walking away because he was burnt out, and flirting with the idea of broadcasting. I know many of you think this was some kind of a money grab by McVay, but I don’t really think it was. If that was the case, why did it take McVay a couple of weeks to publicly commit to coming back to coach the Rams? I think he was seriously considering calling it quits. I also think that by 2025, Sean McVay won’t be coaching anymore. If you put this kind of idea out there, the end is a lot closer than you think. Now the question is whether or not Aaron Donald is coming back, which we should find out shortly. He probably still has his shirt off celebrating somewhere.

In baseball, do you really think these idiots are going to come to a labor agreement today? Your odds of winning the Powerball are better. The owners are going to force the players to start missing game checks once they start cancelling regular season games, really putting the heat on the players association. There are 30 owners, and hundreds of players. Naturally, it’s a lot easer for the players to give in than for 30 owners to do the same. No matter what people say though, I don’t buy the notion that “fans won’t come back” if games are cancelled. They forgiven and forgotten before, and they will forgive and forget again.

UCLA basketball had a mixed weekend of results on their trip to Oregon. They lost to the Ducks, and then beat up on Oregon State. The Bruins will likely end up as the #3 seed going into the Pac-12 Tournament, and would probably need to win the tournament to become a #3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Otherwise the bracketologists of the world have them closer to a #5 seed. In any case, this team just needs to get healthy, rested, and in rhythm. They looked in rhythm on Saturday night, but they certainly aren’t healthy or rested. Jamie Jaquez is playing on two bad ankles, Johnny Juzang has his own ankle injury, and they are in the midst of playing 6 games in a 12-day stretch. One thing that might help the Bruins is that teams in the Top 10 AP Poll have been dropping faster than Joe Biden’s approval rating. With 6 of the top 16 teams losing over the weekend, they might be able to move up a little with a strong week against Washington tonight, and USC on Saturday.

The LA Kings are suddenly a very interesting and dangerous team to watch again. The Kings are surprisingly sitting in 2nd place in the Pacific Division with 29 games left in the season. That’s surprising because the Kings are in a developmental stage, with many younger players in their lineup and in their farm system. The Kings actually have the 2nd best farm system in hockey, according to The Athletic, and if anything, they have too many high-ceiling players that play the same position. For that reason, they are in an excellent position come the trade deadline in three weeks. They can make this team even better by adding a star player on defense, or even a star goal scorer. Even if they don’t the Kings might not be that far away from Stanley Cup contention again, in the next season or two.

Finally, props to The Walking Dead for learning from their mistakes from previous seasons. No, they haven’t brought back all their old characters, but in last night’s episode, they sped up the storyline instead of spending 5 or 6 episodes story telling about whether or not a new community should be trusted. Yes, it has a “Game of Thrones” feel to it, but most of you liked that aspect of GOT before they botched the ending. I also find it very hard to believe they are going to end The Walking Dead without bringing Rick Grimes back for another appearance at some point. Of course if you ask Scott Gimple and Angela Kang, they will tell you it’s not happening, but that’s also like believing Putin when he said he wasn’t really going to invade Ukraine last week.

February 21, 2022

Happy Presidents Day everyone! The Laker crisis has turned into a movie that we’ve seen three times before: Lebron setting himself up to leave in free agency. You can already tell with Lebron’s passive aggressive comments toward Rob Pelinka and the Laker front office, while heaping praise on other front office executives in the NBA, and even in the NFL. If you think I’m taking his comments and stretching them into something else, you need a history lesson. This is the exact same thing that occurred twice in Cleveland, and in Miami. Ramon Shelburne even validated this with her report last week that the Lakers are unlikely to make drastic changes in the off-season, because essentially, Lebron and Anthony Davis created this roster, so they need to make it work. That is the proper position to take. It sure would help if Anthony “Day-to-Davis” could stay on the court and dominate for more than a handful of games at a time. Still, without any draft picks, the Lakers would be smart to not make any salary commitments beyond next season. That way they can arm themselves with Anthony Davis and boat loads of cap space to re-make the team, even without any draft picks. And no, Anthony Davis isn’t getting traded for Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler as Chris Broussard says. He probably got this info from Drake while hanging with him at Tao night club. If Lebron wants to leave the Lakers, he’s certainly earned that right, but the Lakers need to protect themselves appropriately and prepare for the next era post Lebron in a smart way.

As for the Clippers, they’ve had plenty of injuries and plenty of excuses to lean on, yet they keep treading water. The Clips are sitting in the 8th seed, hovering right around .500, and playing hard enough to give teams some problems in a play-in tournament. It’s also funny how just a couple of years ago, everybody thought that Ty Lue was nothing more than a coach for Lebron, who was probably drawing clown faces on clipboards during timeouts. Instead, he’s now developed a reputation as one of the top coaches in the league, and one that players really like playing for. Kawhi Leonard likely won’t play this season, but if Paul George can make it back in a few weeks, they could make things even more interesting.

As for All-Star Weekend, Steph Curry put on show, and was making every shot from virtually the parking lot. It was fitting for Lebron to score the game-winner, but that’s also the hardest I think I’ve seen him play in at least a couple of weeks. That had to have been the longest halftime in the history of any basketball game. I think Scottie Pippen ended up being virtual for the Top 75 player ceremony just so he didn’t have to see Michael. Let’s all just pretend like that Slam Dunk contest never actually happened Saturday night. I get that we are trying to introduce younger players into the dunk contest, but that was a disaster with a bunch of no-names. I can appreciate what they did with the Rising Stars Challenge, making it more of a tournament format. However, they need to make the three-point shootout the final and main event moving forward. It has names, and lately seems to turn out a lot more exciting than many of the most recent dunk contests.

Meanwhile, the Rams enjoyed a nice celebration for the last week after winning the Super Bowl. It was an eventful week where we learned quite a bit. First of all, according to Veronika Khomyn, Sean McVay’s fiancé, who we basically all trust because she’s smoking hot, says that he’s not retiring on her Instagram account. I will wait until I feel a little more confident that nobody has been drinking at a parade, or in their home before I’m really confident that McVay is coming back to coach, but I feel a little better about it then a week ago. I also feel a little better about Aaron Donald returning, only because he laid out some requests to come back: OBJ and Von Miller re-signing. Both of those sound realistic, given the cap money coming off the books, and OBJ likely taking a discounted deal after his injury. Donald had his shirt off for most of Wednesday’s parade, and if my torso looked like his, I probably wouldn’t own any shirts. Then there’s the Matthew and Kelly Stafford incident, where they watched photographer Kelly Smiley fall off the stage and fracture her spine. The overreaction to this entire incident is the most 2022 thing I’ve ever seen. Yes, the Stafford’s reaction to the incident was completely insensitive, but it’s not like they could do anything anyway. The idea of them paying their medical bill is a nice gesture, but apparently these days all you need to do is fall in front of rich people and they will pay your medical bills. Then there’s all you idiots on Twitter that started a go-fund me instantly for her, only to want your money back when you found out Smiley had all these racist remarks from 5-10 years ago on her social media account. You people have way too much time on your hands.

On to UCLA basketball, where they handled business nicely over the weekend against both Washington schools. Mick Cronin deserves credit for digging a little deeper into his bench, rather than focusing on the same six dudes to get him by. That can pay dividends big time come the tournament. Their opponents may have stunk, but to dominate the way they did in the past two games without their starting point, or Johnny Juzang and Cody Riley speaks volumes about that depth. At this point for the Bruins, it’s about getting healthy, and peaking at the right time. When UCLA moves the ball and gets quality shots, they can beat anybody with the effort they put in defensively. The Bruins are also undefeated when they shoot 35% or better from 3, which tells you just how good that defense can really be. I still get weirded out hearing Steve Lavin talk about UCLA. He’s now picking them to win the National Championship this year. It’s like hearing your ex talk about you in a weird “I still have feelings for you” way.

By the time you finish reading this column, I’m guessing new USC Quarterback Caleb Williams would have signed another NIL deal. This kid is suddenly raking in the dough, with deals from “Beats By Dre”, “AC+ION Water”, and with a private equity group. This is suddenly becoming the Wild West, or maybe it’s the “Wilder West” because this was happening before, now it’s just happening everywhere because it’s legal. The NCAA is also in trouble now. They are losing control, like a parent over their kid going off to college. Wait until the College Football Playoff expands from four teams, then they will have nothing left. Rightfully so, as the NCAA is just a corrupt organization that has been taking advantage of kids for years to a large extent. Now they are getting what they deserve.

Finally, I don’t know about you but I’ve invested way too much in The Walking Dead to not watch the final 16 episodes of the series, which started last night. They’ve obviously had to re-make the show, due to many character departures, but last night got off to a bang with a lot to process for a mid-season premier. The entire Reaper organization has been decimated. Alexandria is lying in rubble. Negan takes off. The Commonwealth arrives, courtesy of Eugene, and invites our people to join the cause. Cut to six months later: Maggie’s defending the walls of Hilltop, someplace we haven’t seen in awhile, and a phalanx of threatening Commonwealth soldiers show up to do…something. Their leader? Daryl Dixon. Maggie has transformed into a women that is 56 weeks pregnant to a fierce soldier that is on a killing war path. It was pretty sad watching her lose Alden. Daryl could have been doing a shampoo commercial at the end of the episode when he took off his helmet, and shook his hair like he was a super model. Gabriel went from being a complete coward, to not even being phased by walkers or intruders at the gate. The final stretch is off to a good start, so I’m interested in seeing how it ends.

February 14, 2022

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Rams for winning Super Bowl 56! We really are lucky to be sports fans in Southern California. The Bengals were a handful, and everybody was underestimating them, but the Rams pulled through when it mattered and came out on top. The fact they made it to the end without OBJ, Tyler Higbee, Robert Woods, and without being able to run the ball speaks to how great Matt Stafford and Cooper Kupp were. The Rams stars delivered when it was all one the line. As fans, we have created a culture of expectations that in most cities, would be completely unrealistic: championship or bust. The Rams organization embraced that concept, went all in with the moves they made, and it paid off with a Super Bowl Championship. They maxed out their credit card, and it was worth every penny. I don’t see anybody questioning the Matthew Stafford trade now. I sure hope that Sean McVay and Aaron Donald don’t decide to retire, since we’ve been hearing rumors about them. Coaching is so important in the NFL, McVay has a chance to be one of the greatest coaches of his era if he continues to lead this team. Donald also has a chance to become arguably the greatest pass rusher of all time. Plus, the Rams still have a window to contend because some of their dead money with Jared Goff and Todd Gurley are coming off the books, so they could pay the likes of OBJ and Von Miller. Even with Beckham’s injury, he should recover and come back. For now, just soak up the glory Rams fans……..the city of LA has another championship added to it’s mantle!

As for the telecast, the halftime show was amazing. All the performers were outstanding, however, it feels like they told Mary J Blige and Fity Cent they were performing two weeks ago, since it looked like the just emerged from months of Covid quarantine. The commercials though were very underwhelming. These companies that are blowing $8 million on a commercial are just giving us a celebrity love fest, or trying to tell us how exciting it is losing boat loads of money gambling or trading crypto currency.

I’m very tired of this exercise. You know, the one where we talk about the Lakers and how they can turn it around. Stop it. They can’t this season. The season is over. If the Lakers consistently played with the kind of effort they did on Saturday night in their loss to the Warriors, they could probably make the postseason and make a run. However, I have no reason to believe they can play with that kind of effort consistently. Frank Vogel said “we believe in this group” after the trade deadline. You sure Frank? Because apparently your players don’t seem to think so, which is more or less what Lebron and AD indicated before and after the deadline. This team is a sinking ship, taking on water from one part of the boat after another. You plug one hole and another one is created. They either can’t put enough quality defensive players on the floor around AD and Lebron, or if they do, they can’t put enough quality offensive players on the floor around them. Oh, but what about the buy out market? Yes, I’m sure free agents are just itching to play for a minimum contract, with a team that has multiple ball dominant players, with zero championship hopes. This was simply poor roster construction, and it’s not all because of Russell Westbrook’s play. It’s because of his contract.

It’s a shame that lost in the Laker troubles is the unbelievable play of Lebron James in year 19. Lebron became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on Saturday night (combined playoffs and regular season). Imagine having scored more points in NBA history than anybody else, and scoring isn’t even your greatest skill set? Year 19, and he might even win the scoring title. I don’t care what you think of his politics. With 4 Championships with 3 different teams, 4 finals MVPs and 4 regular season MVPs, this man is making his case as the greatest player of all-time.

UCLA basketball took another L over the weekend, this time to cross-town rival USC. The Trojans always play with a chip on their shoulder against UCLA, which explained why amazingly, Mick Cronin has never beat them since he started coaching UCLA. You can pretty much kiss hopes of winning the Pac-12 good bye after that one. You can’t win a basketball game shooting 30% from the field. The Bruins also can’t overcome that when Johnny Juzang, Jules Bernard, and Jaime Jaquez aren’t in peak form. Jaquez needs to shut it down until his ankle gets better. They also haven’t been getting much in the past five games from Myles Johnson and Cody Riley, who represent the only size on the roster. Until their big three scorers get it going, the Bruins also need to stop relying on jumpers like they are the Golden State Warriors. It would also help if Mick Cronin didn’t throw his players under the bus like has the past few weeks. However, it was only two weeks ago that the Bruins were in peak form. There is still time to get it back as we saw last season when they struggled around the same time, yet made a run to the Final Four. Let’s just hope this team can get healthy and can make that kind of run again.

I don’t know about most of you complainers, but I love the Winter Olympics. All I’ve heard from you is how difficult it is to find the events, but all you have to do is watch NBC, USA, or Peacock. Yes we have to deal with the time difference, but so does the rest of the world when they watch all our sports so deal with it! I really don’t know how a lot of these snowboarders and skiers do what they are doing with their incredible acrobats. It must be that if you don’t die during the training for these events, you automatically qualify for the Olympics. I’m enjoying it, but I just wish that the NHL had sent their players to the Olympics to represent their countries, especially since the players love playing in it. I’m sure Canadians are ready to move continents after the US Men’s hockey team defeated Canada 4-2 the other day in pool play. I do also wish that NBC would stop focusing on the favorites that lost their events and them crying their hearts out, as opposed to the winners that are on the podium and enjoying their gold medals. We’ve seen repeated examples of this, which is just sad. The LA Times is guilty of this too. Rather than featuring a shot of the medal winners hugging and rolling around together in celebration (with an American included), they decided to show Jamie Anderson sitting in defeat. And on the following page, they show an American woman ice skater and go on about her “nerves” after she lost to an incredible Russian skater.

Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer will not face any criminal charges after he was being investigated for sexual assault last year. Much of the discussion that has occurred after that has revolved around whether or not he should pitch for the Dodgers again. In fact, Bill Plaschke of the LA Times suggested he shouldn’t, while many readers wrote letters telling Bill he is a hypocrite, comparing him to Kobe, who everyone embraced after his sexual assault charge in 2003. First of all, this is entirely a moot point, because Bauer is going to be suspended by the MLB, and very likely for 1-2 years. Second of all, Bauer shouldn’t pitch for the Dodgers again because of all the other baggage he brings aside from this. This wasn’t a one time incident. He’s got lots of baggage, the Dodgers knew this was a risk when they signed him, and it was a risk that ultimately backfired on them. That situation can’t really be compared to Kobe, who did not have a questionable past, prior to the incident in Colorado. For those reasons, as well as the fact that Bauer’s teammates have written him off, he should not be allowed to pitch for the Dodgers again.