March 6th, 2017

Just when you thought the Laker front office was stabilizing, Jim Buss comes back to screw the franchise.  That’s right folks, Jim Buss wasn’t going to go quietly into the night after his sister fired him.  It’s like watching an episode of Game of Thrones, except Jim’s removal was more like “The Purple and Gold Wedding”.  Jim and his brother Johnny, are trying to take control, but I don’t see it happening.  The fact that Jim and Johnny’s first attempt to oust Jeanie was shot down rather quickly, suggests that he and Johnny are being nothing but foolish and vengeful.  I also love how Jim’s attorney tried to do major damage control after the story leaked, claiming that the two brothers support her.  It was also interesting to see  NBA spokesman Mike Bass quickly issue a statement in support of Jeanie and her importance as an owner in the NBA.  There’s simply no way that the NBA is going to allow the Billy Madison of the Buss family to be the controlling owner of the Lakers.  I guess we’ll know for sure on May 15th when a judge reviews the family trust.  Who says the Lakers aren’t playing in the post season?

Meanwhile, the Clippers have been having their own problems on the court of late.  They’ve lost 4 of their last 5 games, and have been getting destroyed by their top competition in the Western Conference.  Even more alarming was the fact that they got blown out by the Houston Rockets by 30 points at home.  Weren’t the Clippers supposed to have this great bench this year? Don’t people say the Clippers are going to have a great bench every year? Well once again, they don’t.  Austin Rivers is not a real point guard.  Ray Felton is past his prime, and Jamal Crawford has been in a horrible slump.  Everyone is healthy, and the Clippers still can’t hang with the best teams in the West.  They also can’t defend against good 3 point shooting teams.  We all know how this movie ends, but Doc Rivers is of course pretending like he hasn’t seen it five times.

Next week is going to be an amazing Pac 12 Tournament in Las Vegas.  UCLA is probably going to have to go through USC, Arizona, and then Oregon to win the tournament.  The good news though is that if they beat those three teams, they will be a #1 seed in the Western Region.  However, the Bruins better hope that freshman forward TJ Leaf will be healthy enough to play next week.  There’s no way UCLA can contend with the size of Arizona without having their own skill in the paint in Leaf.  This is going to be fun, and the NCAA Tournament is going to be even better the following week.

I can’t believe how early spring training started this year.  And we wonder why pitchers keep having Tommy John’s surgery? That leads us to the Dodgers.  I can’t believe some people are buying into the nonsense that the Dodgers are world series contenders.  I must have missed the part where the Dodgers acquired another reliable starting pitcher over the winter.  I also must have missed the part where they added some more trustworthy arms in their middle relief.  On top of that, they can’t decide on 3 regular outfielders, which screws up the quality of their play by shuffling them in and out of the lineup.  Until that changes, this team might win the division, but is nothing more than a pussy cat in the postseason.

Then there’s the Angels, who are playing in the AL West, which should be known as “the division of death.”  The Halos are going to have to figure out a way to deal with a young and talented Houston team, an always solid Texas team, and a Mariners team that is bound to make the playoffs one of these years we keep making fun of them.  I can’t imagine that the Angels aren’t going to score runs, but its a matter of whether or not their starting pitchers can stay off of the operating table.  The Halos aren’t even sure Garrett Richards is going to be healthy and return to the ace he once was.  They’ll also need to get lucky with a few more arms on their staff.  Mike Trout is amazing, but he can’t do it all.  The Angels are going to need to get lucky to get into the post season.

I still think the LA Kings are in serious danger of missing the playoffs.  Jerome Iginla is 39 years old.  Acquiring him last week was a great move….5 years ago.  Even though it’s low risk, LA just doesn’t have the goal scorers this year to get it done.  It’s like watching a team throw for 400 yards every game in the NFL, but never score inside the red zone.  The Kings dominate the shots, the possession stats, and even special teams, but they get outscored 5-on-5.  Then there’s the Ducks who acquired the player the Kings needed at the deadline: Patrick Eaves.  Anaheim has their own goal scoring issues, but is still in good position to make the playoffs, and then see what happens from there.

Last night’s episode of The Walking Dead was the equivalent of watching an apocalyptic  honey moon.  Spoiler alert for those of you who have yet to see it so read no further if that is the case.  You didn’t really think that Rick died in that episode did you? I would hope if it ever came to that, it wouldn’t be at the hands of a pack of walkers like that.  I think Rick has laughed and smiled more in the last three episodes than he has during the last seven seasons.  Then there’s Rosita.  who I really liked for a while, but now she’s just being stupid.  It’s like she wants to be Carol, but she’s just being driven by emotion and anger, and that usually gets somebody killed.  It nearly got Carl killed, but this time, I don’t think Rosita is going to get some spaghetti if things don’t work out.  I’m surprised that Sasha is being just as dumb about the whole plan to take down Negan as she is.  They both failed to realize that her foolishness is actually what got Eugene captured.

Finally, it’s going to be a three hour episode of The Bachelor tonight.  I’d like to thank Corrine for making this season worth watching, prior to her departure last week.  I think it’s safe to say Nick is an idiot for getting rid of her.  Hope he has fun renewing his passport and living in Canada, or squashing all those roaches in Houston, or rolling in the mud in Arkansas, as opposed to living in Miami.  It was very fitting though that Corrine took a nap right after her big statement in the limo when she was leaving.  Apparently dismissing her was Nick’s way of thanking her for buying him a pair of $800 sweatpants.  You’ve gotta feel bad for Raven’s ex-boyfriend.  She’s putting the dude on blast for cheating on him, and then never giving her an orgasm.  That guy might never get another woman.  There’s nothing worse than seeing a guy cry in a turtleneck.  I feel like after that episode we need to call him “TurtleNick”.  The only smart thing Nick has said this entire season is that ironing your clothes is way more effective than steaming them.