October 20, 2025

It’s great to see the Dodgers “ruining baseball” again! The Boys in Blue just rolled right through the Milwaukee Brewers in a 4-game sweep last week, and are headed back to their 2nd straight World Series. One of the reasons we watch sports is to witness individual greatness, and the moments that come with it. Shohei Ohtani gave us all that and more in game 4 of the series. There is nobody in baseball who can take over a game the way that Ohtani did in that game. He was dominant on the mound, striking out 10 batters over 6 shutout innings, and absolutely took over the game at the plate with three home runs. The man is just a walking box office and you should stop everything you’re doing to watch him when you have the opportunity. The Dodgers are like that student in your class that goofed around all semester, and now that the final exams are here (i.e. – the playoffs), and they are cramming for the exam and coming out of it with an A in the class. It’s not like they have been tearing the cover of the baseball and scoring all these runs either. Their pitching has been so phenomenal, allowing only 4 runs in 4 games. The Brewers were the best regular season team in baseball this year, yet the Dodgers held them to the fewest hits of any team through the first 3 games of a playoff series in 119 years. That’s unbelievable! Baseball is a very weird game and either of the AL Teams left could easily win the World Series. However, the Dodgers have a great chance to cash in now on a back-to-back championship while they have a CBA in their favor, and while they still have a core of star players that are still in the midst of their baseball prime. Oh and allowing Clayton Kershaw to go out as a champion is a nice cherry on top of the Sundae too!

Let’s go to the NFL, where the Rams played one of those stupid international games yesterday against the Jaguars. They dominated and came away with a victory going into their bye week. The NFL has a ton of parody right now, but the Rams look as good as anybody in the NFC does after 7 weeks of football. They are really starting to come together in all facets of the game. Prior to the 4th quarter yesterday, their defense had allowed just 3 points in their last 7 quarters, and they only allowed 3 out of 15 3rd down conversions by the Jags. Jared Verse is so good, I completely forgot about Aaron Donald, even though he was one of the best all-time when he played. On offense, no Puka Nacua? No problem. Davante Adams scored three touchdowns, and Matt Stafford threw 5, while they continuously pounded the ball up the middle to control the game. It was as impressive of a win as the Rams have had all season. The Rams have a very winnable game against the Saints in two weeks, then they’ll have to contend with two really good divisional opponents in the 49ers and Seahawks.

I don’t know what was uglier, the Chargers uniforms or those urination edition uniforms they played in yesterday. Maybe the reason they wore that color was so it would disguise the defense from peeing down their legs in fear of the Colts. Injuries are obviously a huge part of the problems for the Bolts, and that can explain why the Colts were getting pressure on almost every possession. However, it doesn’t explain why the Chargers defense was awful. This is not what Jim Harbaugh teams are supposed to look like. Suddenly the Chiefs look like they are about to overtake the Chargers and Broncos for 1st place. The Chargers schedule isn’t too bad, but if they don’t get healthy quickly, they will be in a dog fight just to get into the playoffs.

In College Football, USC’s Playoff hopes were torpedoed on Saturday night when they lost to Notre Dame 34-24. Notre Dame looks for real and like one of the top 5-10 teams in the country. Meanwhile, the Trojans are a Top 20 team, but not much better than that. I’m sure everyone wants to cook Lincoln Riley after seeing his team get completely run over on the ground, and beat up in the trenches. It felt like same old Trojans. They are a finesse team, and can win with finesse, but that’s tough against a lot of the elite teams in the country, and especially in The Big Ten. They could still quite easily get 9 wins and go to a nice bowl game, but that won’t get them to the CFP. Riley’s real saving grace is the fact he has the #1 recruiting class in the country next year. If he can’t make some major progress with that, then USC truly has the wrong guy coaching them. As for the rivalry game itself, it would be completely wrong for USC and Notre Dame to end their rivalry. They need to figure it out and I think they will. I get that USC now plays in the Big Ten with tough travel, but at least put Notre Dame earlier as part of the non-conference schedule. There are certain traditions that should always be honored, and in addition to the tradition, both teams really need each as other as part of their strength of schedule.

Then there’s UCLA, who won their 3rd straight game. I don’t know who this team is, but they are interesting. After beating Maryland, they are now tied for 4th in the Big Ten. Also credit to Nico Iamaleava, who overcame injury and came back for the final drive of the game. I have so much respect for this Bruins team and what they have been able to pull together, especially Jerry Neuheisal. With that being said, there’s some lightning in a bottle going on here. This team still lacks talent in the big picture, and I think come next week there will be a bit of a reality check. The Bruins have to face Indiana, followed by Nebraska, and Ohio State, with 2 of those 3 on the road. That’s a brutal schedule, but if they want a real shot at the Big Ten title like some people think they have, they’ll have to deal with those teams. Crazier things have happened, but I don’t think the Bruins can get by either of those ranked teams.

Get ready for the start of the NBA season! The Lakers will get things going on Tuesday night at home against the Golden State Warriors. My expectation is that the Lakers are still going to be playing very well to start the season, even without Lebron James. When I see Austin and Luka play together, they look really good, and they also have some credible rotation pieces as well, like DeAndre Ayton. The West is very hard to handicap 1-10, and all the teams aren’t going to be separated by much, which means healthy will probably be the deciding factor. However, the Lakers were 3rd in the West last year with a limited sample size with Lebron, Luka, and Austin in the lineup. I can’t imagine that they will be any worse than last year, as long as they are reasonably healthy.

Finally, what in the world is going on with the LA Kings. They have 1 regulation win in 6 games. For a team with the type of aspirations this team does, that’s completely inexcusable. I realize their schedule was a bit difficult, but everyone expects much better. The problem? Their defense could not defend a parked car, and it has regressed with the free agent signings of two veteran stiffs in Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin. They are nothing more than traffic cones on defense, and it’s also possible their starting goalie Darcy Keumper has regressed due to age. That would fundamentally destroy the Kings and they might suddenly not be a playoff team. I’m not saying that’s going to happen because a lot of the Kings losses so far are due to undisciplined play and just not staying out of the penalty box. However, keep an eye on where this goes, because if the Kings aren’t good, Adrian Kemp may want to look elsewhere and not re-sign. If that happens, the Kings are really screwed.

October 13, 2025

The Dodgers somehow survived a 5-game series against the Phillies and advanced to the NLCS vs The Brewers. The baseball Gods definitely evened the scales of justice after the Dodgers lost to the Phillies in devastating fashion in 2008 and 2009. That came when Orion Kerkering lost his mind and threw the ball home in extra innings instead of making an easy play by throwing to 1st base, which would have ended the 11th inning. The Dodgers somehow won 2 games on the road in Philly, and won 2 games at home while hitting like Little Leaguers. That’s because their starting pitching has been lights out, and their bullpen has been stabilized by Roki Sasaki, who suddenly looks like the 2nd coming of Mariano Rivera. If the Dodgers are going to beat the Brewers and ultimately win the World Series, they will need Shohei Ohtani to hit. The man is struggling so bad to hit anything right now, even his wife has been saying no. The Brewers remind me of the Lakers vs Spurs playoff matches from 2000-2010. You always knew the Lakers were the more talented team, but they had to execute at a very high level to beat the Spurs because they were so fundamentally sound. That’s exactly what will need to happen here. The Dodgers will need to put the ball in play, manufacture runs, run the bases well, and play good defense. You can count on both teams pitching well, but it will take a much higher level of execution for the Dodgers to win this one.

Before we get to some football, I’ve gotta mention how embarrassing the Angels are. Yusei Kukuchi told Japanese reporters after his final start that he had to exit due to cramping. The reason for that is because the weight room in Anaheim has no A/C, so he is always drenched in sweat. He even asked the team to fix the lack of A/C, but they did never did all season. An additional story is floating around on Twitter that an Armenian friend of Perry Minasian is saying that Arte Moreno won’t even pay for a personal assistant or admin for his GM. Who knows if that part is true, but it certainly fits the narrative that Moreno is the slum lord of MLB owners. For the life of me I can’t understand why Albert Pujols or Tori Hunter would want to manage a team with limited talent and resources. They must be incredibly bored.

To the NFL, where the Rams defeated the Ravens yesterday on the road. I don’t know what happened in the 1st half, as it was another case of the Rams playing down to their competition. It’s hard to enjoy a sloppy lifeless win when your expectations are winning the Super Bowl. However, the good news is that the Rams are still 4-2, and firmly in the mix for a top playoff spot in the NFC. It’s also clear that some of the other top teams like the Eagles, Packers, and 49ers are having their own issues at times as well against what you would think is inferior competition. What’s up with Davante Adams? He’s suddenly dropping balls like it’s New Years Eve. The injuries are a bit of a concern too with Puka dealing with a foot issue, and then Blake Corum with an ankle injury. It was good to see Kyren Williams get in the end zone though, and get his confidence back up after last week’s disaster against the 49ers.

The Chargers also had to deal with some injury issues, but still got by the Dolphins 29-27 on the road yesterday. Justin Herbert still looks amazing, throwing two more touchdown passes. Kimani Vidal was piling up receiving yardage like he was playing PlayStation, and Ladd McConkey looked like last years elite receiver. Ironally, the Bolts are one of the worst teams in the red zone in the NFL. Although it almost cost them, Cameron Dicker is the most accurate kicker in the NFL. Imagine that? A Chargers kicker that is actually accurate! That has never happened! I do think they are a playoff team, but I’m not totally convinced the Chiefs aren’t going to come back and win this division. They have Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Taylor Swift on their team. We know anything is possible with Taylor Swift on your side!

In College Football, the Trojans took down Michigan at home on Saturday night at the Coliseum. That put them up to #20 in the AP Poll, heading into a showdown with Notre Dame, who is #13 in the polls. We give Lincoln Riley a lot of crap for his coaching when they’ve lost, but in this case he deserves a lot of credit. A lot of people pegged the Trojans as a soft team, and his coaching style as very finesse. He had his team ready to play, and it was by far the most complete game we had seen USC play in a long time. Now with USC sitting at #20, it’s a huge game next weekend for both teams, with major playoff implications on the line. If USC wins, they have some momentum and may actually have a shot at the College Football Playoff. If Notre Dame wins, they will suddenly launch themselves back into the Top 12, and strengthen their case for a playoff spot with a win over a ranked opponent.

In another shocking development, UCLA went on the road and dismantled Michigan State 38-13. All of a sudden this looks like a totally different team than the one we saw the first 4 games of the season. Most of that is thanks to the offensive genius of Jerry Neuheisel, who is making his offense look like the Greatest Show On Turf from the early 2000’s. He really did revive Nico Iamaleava, and this team might actually be fun to watch for the rest of the season. However, I’m not ready to anoint these guys Big Ten contenders or anything like that. Let’s slow our roll a bit. What I would do though if I were UCLA is call James Franklin, who would be an excellent hire if this program is serious about football. The problem is I’m not so sure that Martin Jarmond is a serious Athletic Director.

In the NBA, Lebron is the biggest troll I’ve ever seen. Making us all think he’s going to retire, only to announce some cheesy Hennessey partnership. The guy suing Lebron because he bought tickets to the last game is an idiot though. Why don’t you just ask for money back on your stock market losses while you’re at it? The Lakers also learned that Lebron James is going to miss the start of the season, and will be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks with a glute injury. You know, I really want to believe he’s hurt, and for the time being I’m going to believe that Lebron is really hurt. However, there is a small part of me, and maybe a big part of some of you that think he doesn’t want to risk his 40-year old body until he sees what this Laker team can do without him. It’s so ridiculous to think that a player as good as Lebron would need to feel like he is on a completely stacked team in order to compete, but I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt for now and assume he is really hurt. I reserve the right to change my mind depending on how this plays out. It would be pretty funny though if the Lakers started 10-1 with Luka, yet Lebron ends up coming back and ruining team chemistry. More than anything though Lebron’s glute injury is symbolic because lately, he and Rich Paul have just been a big pain in the ass!

Finally, it’s been quiet in Clipper land for a couple of weeks now since Pablo Torres latest reports on Kawhi Leonard and Aspiration. The Clips have to hope it dies down because on the court, it appears as though they have a pretty good team. Like every year, it always depends on the health of Kawhi, but also, health of everyone else. The Clips are talented but older. Chris Paul, Brooke Lopez, Bradley Beal, James Harden. They are getting long in the tooth and can miss games. If and when that happens, the Clippers will once again be just a great concept, with not actual reality of winning.

October 6, 2025

What a great win by the Dodgers on Saturday night in game 1 against the Phillies.   That was definitely the game they needed to win on the road, with Ohtani going in game 1, Glasnow backing him up, and little middle relief help.  Say what you will about Teo’s shortcomings as a defender, but he is proving to be an excellent postseason performer, with clutch hits.  The same can be said for Kike Hernandez, who basically becomes Barry Bonds in October.  Ironically, the Dodgers were starting to get more from Michael Conforto in September, but it wasn’t enough for him to make the postseason roster.  It turns out they were just waiting for Kike to be completely healthy to give him a regular spot in the lineup.   On the other hand, if the Dodgers are unable to use Tanner Scott to close a game right now, then he shouldn’t be on the playoff roster.   Not sure they even trust him with an 8-run lead.   I’m afraid someone is going to accuse me of being racist, but the Dodgers DH looks exactly like their game 1 starter, but that’s impossible right?  Not if you’re Shohei Ohtani.  He really did pitch outstanding and settled down after 1 tough inning.  It was a rough night at the plate, but he can’t always be lights out every night on both sides.  The Phillies have such a potent lineup and can make you pay, I’m still not 100% convinced the Dodgers will win this series, only because of that shaky bullpen.

 As for the Angels, Perry Minasian spoke to the media on Saturday to answer some questions about the Halos season.  As usual, there was 0 accountability.  We heard the same thing we’ve heard for maybe a decade, that they have to drastically improve the pitching.  Minasian also said they have to stop striking out and improve their defense.  Well at least it’s good to know that the man knows how to read a stat sheet.  There was also no indication from Minasian that the Angels were going to spend more money to try and be more competitive.   Of course the candidates for their manager position are Albert Pujols and Tori Hunter.  They are already on the club payroll, so Arte Moreno won’t have to pay them much more!  And of course Arte wasn’t going to bring back Ron Washington when he might have to incur great cost on his health insurance.   This situation is the most Moreno thing in the world.

In the NFL, that was a terrible loss for the Rams on Thursday night against 49ers.  San Francisco had a handful of their very best players sittings out because of injury.  They should have never been down 14-0 in the first place, Kyren Williams cannot fumble on the goal line with the game on the line, and Sean Payton has to call better plays than we saw on the last play.   This team has always had a tendency to play down to competition, so when an opponent like San Francisco is missing so many players and they play like this, it’s not all that surprising.  At least Sean McVay owned it, saying that he put his players in a bad situation and has to call better plays.  Given his track record, I’m sure he will.

All of a sudden, the Chargers look like the Chargers of old, and that’s not a good thing. They really Chargered that game yesterday against the Commanders. They were up 10-0, and in the blink of an eye, took a lot of bad penalties and made costly turnovers, which cost them the game. Suddenly the team can’t block, they can’t catch, and they can’t tackle for all the talent that they have. Jim Harbaugh says that all of these mistakes are extremely correctable, and some of them are. However, I’m not sure how they protect Justin Herbert with the injuries they have. The penalties though, they can do better. What they really need to be worried about is the Chiefs and Broncos, who suddenly look really good and ready to take the division by storm.

 For just one week, we can feel good about UCLA Football.   They pulled off an absolutely stunning win at the Rose Bowl Saturday against Penn State.  I would have assumed the odds of winning the Power Ball were higher than the Bruins winning that game.  Even better is Jerry Neuheisel, who brought so much emotion and attitude to the table that rubbed off on his players for a week.  I’m not going to get caught up in some prisoner of the moment, “he should be the next head coach” campaign, but it was really nice to see some pride from everyone for a week in symbolizing what UCLA football can actually look like.

I know many of you just hate Notre Dame, but it’s happening.  The Irish lost their first two games by a combined 4 points to two top 5 teams.  After that they handled business easily against Purdue, Arkansas, and Boise State.  They are now ranked #16 in the AP Poll, when a couple of weeks ago, you thought they shouldn’t be ranked at all.  Of course as an alum, I hate it when people act like their ranking isn’t earned, just because they are Notre Dame.  Well their #16 ranking is now in fact justified, because they should be one of the Top 16 teams, and probably even Top 12 when it’s all said and done.

In the NBA, the Lakers opened the preseason over the weekend.  It’s that time of year where everyone loves to micro analyze every little thing wrong with the team.  I refuse to do it.  It’s preseason.  Many of the guys on the floor are going to be delivering my Door Dash in about a week.  For that reason, I’m not going to jump on DeAndre Ayton for only scoring 1 point in a preseason game, and micro analyzing his 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Relax people.  72 hours after camp starts for a preseason game is a little ridiculous.  You can start your complaints about players on October 21st.  As for LeBron, I’m a litttle surprised he hasn’t come out during media day and announced this will be his last season.  I think he knows, but he’s waiting for the right time to make the announcement.  You know he will want a real farewell tour, and the way he is talking makes it seem like it’s coming very soon.  Let’s see if he announces it in the next two weeks before the season starts.

Then there’s the Clippers, who opened training camp with the Kawhi Leonard-Aspiration investigation hanging over their heads.  Kawhi was clearly perfectly coached on media day, saying the company defrauded the Clippers and that it’s old news to him.  For all the criticizing we do of Ramona Shelburne, she asked good questions and pressed him on the issue.  It’s still suspicious that Kawhi can’t exactly explain what he did for Aspiration.  At some point; it’s going to be fascinating to see if the NBA comes down with a huge punishment on the Clippers, and if so, what that does to their season.

September 29, 2025

Well here we are, the 2025 baseball postseason. The Dodgers are going to be playing the Cincinnati Reds in what is sure to be a very stressful 3-game series beginning Tuesday night at the Ravine. I realize that in the baseball postseason, it’s somewhat of a crap shoot and anything can happen. However, I trust the Dodgers bullpen about as much as I trust getting financial advice from Bernie Madoff. We’ve seen this play out for 162 games. How much more do you need to see? The Dodgers shouldn’t be using Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, and a whole bunch of other un-trustworthy relievers. But in reality, Andrew Friedman’s computer doesn’t care what I think, and will ultimately live and die in the playoffs with veteran relievers. Sure they have a lot of great starters that can piggy back each other, but I’m just not convinced they will do that. Aside from that, I also hope the Dodgers are going to be aggressive in trying to manufacture runs in the postseason, rather than sitting back and waiting for the big 3-run homer, which has cost them in recent postseasons. I’m trying to be optimistic here people, but can’t say I feel great about what I’ve seen in recent weeks from this team, so they won’t be defending their title.

Meanwhile, the Angels ended their miserable 2025 campaign yesterday at The Big A. With 72-wins, they finish another 18 games out of 1st place in the AL West, and 16 games out of a playoff spot. Their pitchers had the worst ERA in the AL, and they struck out more than anybody else in baseball. If I told you back in April that this was going to be the result, you wouldn’t be surprised at all. I know some of you are clinging to the hopes of Zach Neto, Logan O’Hoppe, Nolan Schanuel, or even Christian Moore, but you shouldn’t. The reality is that there is not a single player in the organization right now that you feel like should be a vital piece to turning this organization around, and there is no end in sight to turning the tide. What a surprise that Arte Moreno and John Carpino weren’t available for comment yesterday. Just to show you the level of dysfunction, Ron Washington wants to come back and manage next year, but Arte Moreno has not even spoken to him in months. That’s embarrassing, but also not surprising. I’m sure most Angels fans are hoping that the lawsuit Tyler Skaggs family is filing against the organization will force Arte to sell the team to pay off the settlement.

To the NFL, where the Rams reminded us all yesterday that they are a very good and very mentally tough football team. They trailed 20-13 against an excellent Colts team midway through the 4th quarter, but pulled off a clutch 27-20 win. Tutu Atwell picked a really good time to make some noise for the game-winning TD catch. We had not heard much from him this season prior to that. Of course it didn’t hurt that Adonai Mitchell is a complete moron and prematurely celebrated a touchdown by dropping the ball before crossing the goal line. It blows my mind that NFL players still do this. How hard is it to hold on to the ball and celebrate after you get in the end zone. The last time the Rams were 3-1, they went to the Super Bowl! The NFC and the NFC West in particular is very competitive, but the Rams are right in there, as good as anybody in the league. Puka Nacua is the best wide receiver in the NFL right now. He may not be the most athletic, fast, or polished route runner, but he’s the best player at that position. It also doesn’t hurt to have an elite #2 receiver in Davante Adams playing alongside him too. Their next 3 games are looking pretty tough against the 49ers, Ravens, and Jaguars, but you’ve gotta feel pretty good about this team against any opponent.

Just when you think the Chargers are going to reel off a bunch of wins, they fall victim to a trap game against the New York Giants. It turns out it’s pretty hard to win when you can’t protect your quarterback, and Justin Herbert was under duress all day after Joe Alt went down with an ankle injury. Jaxton Dart is also looking like a pretty good quarterback too, and the Bolts didn’t have much tape on him, so it was the perfect storm of pit fall for a Bolts team that had been on a roll. To make matters worse, suddenly the Kansas City Chiefs look like themselves again, so taking the division by storm may not be as easy as they though it was going to be a week ago.

To College Football where USC had their first Top 25 test over the weekend, and did not pass. The Trojans lost a close one to Illinois on the road, which felt all too familiar for Lincoln Riley. Riley described the Trojans defense on Saturday as “unacceptable”. I think it’s safe to say that the entire scope of the Trojan defense was unacceptable. This was typical USC, especially against a quality Big Ten team. They have plenty of skill on offense, but not nearly enough talent and depth on defense to hang with quality teams. It also didn’t help that Lincoln Riley managed the clock at the end of that game worse than the government manages daylight savings time. Don’t forget the typical undisciplined penalties we saw from the Trojans as well. With the upcoming schedule, this is quite easily a 7-8 win team at it’s best, and if things really don’t go their way, 6-wins isn’t out of the question. USC football just isn’t where you think it would be, and it’s going to take some elite level recruiting to get them there. Given that we’re talking about Lincoln Riley’s recruiting, it’s hard to imagine even the #1 recruiting class in 2026 is going to change that.

As for UCLA, a change at head coach wasn’t enough to get them a win against Northwestern. It was actually quite ugly for much of the game, before they at least didn’t give up at the end and made it interesting. This is really just sad. UCLA doesn’t have the talent it needs to compete at anywhere near a competitive level in College Football, let alone The Big Ten. Nico Iamaleava is truly an overpaid and overrated quarterback, who swindled NIL boosters out of millions. This could quite easily be an 0-12 season now that the Bruins are through the easiest part of their schedule. The real issue might be with AD Martin Jarmond. Do you really trust him to get the next hire right for this program? I sure don’t. I realize there is a committee for the coaching search, but Jarmond is the head of the committee. I don’t want him to be the head of the Barista’s at Starbucks right now, let alone the head of this committee.

NBA Training Camp begins today for the Lakers. They surprised us all by announcing that they gave JJ Redick a contract extension. He has 3 years left on his deal, which most people would scratch their heads about. However, keep in mind, the Lakers have historically not valued their coaches, and that is well known in NBA coaching circles. Giving Redick a contract extension is actually an over and above gesture by the organization, which will hopefully improve their perception in coaching circles around the Association. The next extension the Lakers will have to give out will be to Austin Reaves, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. Former Laker and Spectrum SportsNet analyst Robert Horry said while he likes Reaves, he thinks the Lakers are better off trading him to get max value for him, simply because he and Luka Doncic have a very similar skillset. While I understand Robert Horry’s rationale, in reality trading Reaves is far more difficult in practice than it sounds. Reaves is a borderline all-star, and possibly the best 3rd option in the NBA. If you trade him, you would want an all-star player in return, or in the most ideal world, a Top 10 NBA player. That’s unlikely to happen. Otherwise, you certainly wouldn’t want to trade him for a multitude of lesser parts. Besides, I think we’re going to see Austin become an All-Star this year, and at that point, nobody will want to trade him.

Finally, the LA Kings are about a week away from starting the regular season. On the heels of the news that Anze Kopitar is retiring, and with the salary cap going up, the Kings are going to be in need of more star talent. Unfortunately for the Kings, LA is not a hockey free agent destination the same way it is for the NBA. The Kings need to draft and trade for their talent. With that being said, there have been some rumors that LA could make a play for Sidney Crosby if he requests at trade from the rebuilding Penguins. That would be a fantastic piece to add to this roster, but hard to imagine what the Kings would give up for a 38-year old player. Crosby is a win now player that could be paired nicely with talent like Kopitar, Quintin Byfield, and Adrian Kempe. However, the Penguins would need to ask for a ransom for PR purposes to trade the face of their franchise, and the Kings probably couldn’t afford to give up that much for a player that is near the end of the line.

September 22, 2025

What a terrible loss for the Rams yesterday. For the 2nd straight time against the Eagles, the Rams had them on the ropes but couldn’t finish the job. This time, in much more disappointing fashion. LA had built a a 26-7 lead in the 3rd quarter, before surrendering 26 unanswered points. Even more devastating were two last field goals that were blocked by the Eagles, including the potential game-winner in the final seconds that was run back for a touchdown. AJ Brown and Jalen Hurts put their family feud aside, and exploded at the end of the game, with Brow going full beast mode on several catches. The Rams simply can’t let that happen. You can’t let a lead that big evaporate, and you can’t allow two blocked field goals. Sean McVay may have gotten a bit conservative in the 2nd half on a few drives, but if Davantae Adams catches that ball in the endzone, or one of those two kicks don’t blocked, the Rams win that game. There’s a lot of football left to be played this season, but sure would have been nice to get a statement win for LA.

As for the Chargers, they rallied to beat the Broncos in the final seconds to remain undefeated. That’s a huge division win for the Chargers, who have now taken down all of their division rivals in the first three weeks of the season. Many times we have seen the Chargers go full Chargers and lose the game at the end of of games like that. This time the Chargers reminded you that they are now coached by Jim Harbaugh, who has been successful at every job he’s ever had. The Bolts are 3-0 for the first time in 23 years, when Drew Brees was their quarterback. Justin Herbert made some huge throws, and his mobility looks much better than in previous years. He might actually be the MVP through the first 3 weeks of the season. That’s terrible news about Najee Harris, but now Omarion Hampton will really need to step up after an up and down first couple of weeks. Now the Bolts have a chance to really pile up some wins. I could easily see them being favored to win 7 of their next 9 games. Their next game against the Giants is on the road, but the G-Men have been pretty unimpressive so far this year.

To College Football where USC came away with a win against Michigan State on Saturday at the Coliseum. For most of the game, the Trojans were absolutely dominating. Then they started taking penalties. In fact, by the end of the game, it started to feel like a typical Lincoln Riley squad. They piled up 517 yards of total offense. Yet their defense allowed a mediocre Michigan State team to get right back in the game. These are the types of collapses that we saw the last two years, which completely derailed the Trojans season. In fact, through 10 games, USC ranks last in The Big Ten in allowing plays that are 10 yards are more. That doesn’t bode too well for a team that is about to face ranked opponents like Illinois, Michigan, then Notre Dame. This team has a lot of work to do if they plan on making the playoffs.

I don’t believe for a second that UCLA is going to bring in a big name coach to their program. Vegas has the likes of Deion Sanders and Jon Gruden on their boards to potentially become the next coach, but they are just taking people’s money at this point. None of those guys would be interested in the limited resources this program has to offer, nor would UCLA even have the money to bring them in. I did find it interesting though that the UCLA Athletic Department responded to all the concerns of their alums with a letter to the public. In that letter, it was fascinating they mentioned the fact that it would be the Chancellor, not AD Martin Jarmond, who would be very involved in the search. Good thing because if it were Jarmond, UCLA’s next coach might be Uncle Rico.

To baseball, where Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season. This is actually a brilliant strategy by Clayton, who is giving his teammates some motivation to actually win another World Series before he hangs them up. It’s obvious that the way this team has played for much of the season, these bums need all they motivation they can get! As for Kershaw, I have truly enjoyed watching his 18 year career, and we should feel privileged to have witnessed his greatness. He is arguably the greatest Dodger of all-time, the greatest left hander of all time, and certainly one of the greatest pitchers we have ever seen. He’s easily the best pitcher of his generation and a first ballot hall of famer. I would love to see him go out with a World Series title, but more than anything, I’m really happy that he will get to go out on his own terms and with something left in the tank. We forget that you don’t have to play until the wheels fall off, and as a fan, I’d rather you didn’t so I don’t have to see the big decline from your greatness. Kershaw is still a very good pitcher, will have a role in the postseason for the Dodgers, and he probably doesn’t get enough credit for still being that good.

Congratulations to Mike Trout for hitting his 400th career home run over the weekend in Colorado. I’m sure Arte Moreno is disappointed this didn’t happen at home, but don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll find a way to monetize it with some kind of bobblehead at Anaheim Stadium before the season is over. Also fun to see the fan who caught the ball not ask for money or season tickets, but rather just to play catch with Trout. I can get on board with that!

In the NBA, this Clippers saga continues with Pablo Torres investigation of the Kawhi Leonard contract. The speed at which Torres is uncovering information is unbelievable, and more incriminating by the minute for the franchise. If he keeps working this fast, the NBA and Steve Ballmer may just have to get in front of it and take a pre-emptive punishment. Remember, the Intuit Dome has the all-star game this year, so it would be a really bad look for this punishment to come down around that time. Interestingly enough, there are members of the Clippers organization that are slowly trying to distance themselves from Kawhi, by leaking info that they want to move on from him. This cannot happen though in the next two years unless the league terminates his contract for cap circumvention. Maybe this is what some of them are hoping for, although there would probably be loss of draft picks too which would be damaging. There’s also Mark Cuban’s role in this, who seemed to be a defender of Ballmer at first. However, now it’s apparent that he is covertly pointing Torres in the direction of more evidence. For instance, he said if Ballmer were smart, he wouldn’t let Aspiration go bankrupt by providing more funding for them. Well he tried, but they still went bankrupt! Then he said if he wanted to circumvent the cap, he would just buy carbon credits. Well that’s exactly what he did! Safe to say that what Pablo Torres is doing is the equivalent of “Digital Waterboarding”, until the league and Ballmer cave in to a punishment.

For now, it appears as though Andrew Wiggins isn’t going to be traded to the Lakers. There are some sources saying that the Heat want to see how the season plays out initially before making a trade. There’s also other sources that say Pat Riley isn’t willing to make a trade with the Lakers because he still hates Lebron after he left Miami. That Pat Riley pettiness sounds stupid when he can help his team, but it’s also extremely believable given that we are talking about Riley, and that this level of pettiness exists all over the NBA.

Clayton Kershaw was not the only LA star to announce their retirement last week. LA Kings star Anze Kopitar announced that this will be his last season as well. Kopitar will have played 19 seasons in the NHL when he calls it quits. He’s a two-time Stanley Cup Champion, two-time Selke Trophy Winner, and the franchise leader in games, assists, and game-winning goals. He’s also likely to finish his career as the franchise’s all-time leading scorer. Kopitar’s retirement, like Kershaw’s, is bittersweet. He is also retiring with a lot of very good hockey left in him, but it’s nice to see him go out on his own terms. It sure would be nice to see him raise the Stanley Cup one more time, but that’s probably unlikely given that the Kings front office and coaching staff is run by a bunch of guys who are like dudes joining a fantasy football league for the first time. Happy trails Anze!

September 15, 2025

The Rams took care of business yesterday against the Titans! The Rams are now 2-0 with a pair of very good wins and encouraging signs. Matt Stafford was outrageous good and made some very difficult throws that were just effortless. Generally, the Rams have played down to competition in recent years, but yesterday, that was not the case. They did have a few stalls in the red zone, but eventually they did break through later in the game. The first week it was all about the defense. This week it was all about a balanced offense with Davanta Adams and Puka Nacua putting up big numbers, while Kyren Williams put up a solid effort on the ground with 66 rushing yards. The bad news is that Ahkello Witherspoon, one of their top corners, is out for a while after breaking his clavicle. Now it’s on to Philadelphia, where the Rams will be looking for revenge after losing in the playoffs to the Eagles last season!

As for the Chargers, they will take on the Raiders tonight on Monday Night Football. We sometimes forget that as good as both the Rams and Chargers are, we did not have an NFL team in SoCal for 20 years. That means there are still a lot of Raider fans in LA that will be buying up the tickets. In fact, Vivid Seats estimates that 86% of the ticket sales are to Raider fans. If that’s the case, that’s going to be pretty embarrassing for the Bolts in their home stadium,

In Colllege Football, USC continued to pad its win total over the weekend with a win on the road at Purdue. This was actually a game that told us a little bit more about how good the Trojans could be. They had not won in 14 tries in the Eastern and Central time zone, which is obviously a big problem entering Big Ten play last year. This was exactly the kind of game they lost last season on the road, which was the difference between them being a playoff team or not. Who knew that Lincoln Riley had teams that could play defense? Bishop Fitzgerald had a pair of interceptions, and Jaiden Maiava played a solid game without turning it over while rushing for a touchdown. USC has now entered the Top 25 in the AP Poll, which is the first time they’ve been ranked since the first week of last October. USC should be able to beat Michigan State at home next week, when they are two touchdown favorites, but after that, they’ll face 3 straight ranked opponents, so we’ll see what they are really made of then.

Things are going pretty badly for UCLA Football. After falling to 0-3, they fired head coach DeShaun Foster yesterday. Foster probably wasn’t ready for a head coaching job, but he was also put in an impossible situation. When Chip Kelly left, his top recruits left, and the Bruins didn’t have many credible options at the time for who they could bring in to take over the program. Not to mention they are broke and have a terrible financial situation. One season and 3 games isn’t long for a college coach to prove much, but UCLA clearly saw things with Foster that were going to be short term embarrassing for the program. The problem is, no matter who is coaching this team for the remainder of the season, they might not win a game anyway. In fact, considering the transfer portal is open for their players because Foster is gone, it’s likely that most of their talent will leave. It’s probably not that big of a deal if Nico Iamaleava does though. He looks like a just swindled $2 million out of some poor sponsor. This is going to be a complete tear down job for whoever takes it. They will need to re-establish the entire credibility of the program, where fan interest has deteriorated tremendously in a conference that will be very challenging to take on. This is a shame because UCLA Football used to have some pretty exciting teams on the field. In reality though, this is still a basketball school.

Elsewhere around College Football, Notre Dame would probably agree to join the Big Ten or SEC this year if the College Football Playoff suddenly had 16 teams in the tournament. Irish fans are ready to jump off the top of the Basilica after they are now 0-2, with two devastatingly close losses. Georgia Tech stunned #12 Clemson on a field goal that was pretty much from the parking lot. #11 South Carolina got shocked and rocked by Vanderbilt. Texas won again, but Archie Manning is so bad, he’s going to set back nepotism for years!

ESPN Reporter Pablo Torres is really throwing haymakers on the Clippers right now! Last week I wasn’t really sure where this was going, and if the Clippers were really guilty of cap circumvention on the Kawhi Leonard deal. Now I think it’s highly likely they did circumvent the cap. Mark Cuban just told us about 10 days ago that if Ballmer were guilty, he would be an idiot for letting Aspiration fail, and all the financial records getting public, which would incriminate his franchise. Well we found out shortly after that it was the Clippers co-owner that invested money two weeks before Kawhi Leonard received a payment from the failing company, and we’ve also heard former employees claim the endorsement deal didn’t align with the company strategy. When you combine that with all the rumors about Uncle Dennis over the years, there is way too much smoke coming out of this story for the Clippers to come out of this clean. I’m fascinated to see if the league comes down with a major punishment here or not. Stay tuned!

To baseball where even though the Dodgers have now won 7 of 8, this Dodger team is just having way too many issues and inconsistencies to make a run in the playoffs. They can kiss their chances goodbye on the #2 seed. I think they will still win the division, but a 3-game series with their offensive inconsistencies, and bullpen deficiencies seems like a recipe for instant doom. There is truly no reason that Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, or Michael Conforto should be on the playoff roster. However, I can guarantee you they will be. For some reason Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts are committed to making a redemption story work with these 3. However, it’s September, and we’ve seen enough to know these 3 guys just don’t have it this year. None of them are Mookie Betts types of talent where eventually they are likely to figure it out. They are good players, who will probably turn it around at some point, but that point is not this season. The fact Roberts and Friedman continue to force the issue here will ultimately be the Dodgers downfall this season, which is strange for a couple of guys who made such brilliant decisions last year.

As sure as the sun rises in the east, the Angels are now 12 games out of the wild card and 12 games out of the division. These dudes were actually buyers at the trade deadline six weeks ago. What a bunch of buffoons. The only exciting news? Mike Trout’s chase for 400 homers in his career. That’s it. If the Angels ever become good again, there is probably not a single player on this roster that should be around for it.

There are suddenly rumors that the Lakers are more motivated than they were previously to make a trade with the Heat for Andrew Wiggins. I’m in favor of this move, but ultimately, it comes down to working out draft compensation. In my mind, the Lakers are unlikely to acquire a player as good as Lebron James in the next two years. They have Luka, Lebron, and Austin Reaves on their team now, so why not be aggressive and make moves to win now? The Lakers have the expiring contracts and assets to make the deal happen with Maxi Kleber, Gab Vincent, Rui Hachimura, and Dalton Knecht. Hachimura is a good player, but Wiggins is probably a better fit given his ability to defend wings. The only thing the Lakers have to ask themselves is if they truly believe that a star like Giannis will be available to trade for in the next two years, if they want to preserve their draft capital. I don’t think that’s happening, otherwise it would have happened already. For that reason, they should figure out how to make the Wiggins deal with, even if it costs them a 1st rounder.

There is some news on the ice ahead of NHL Training Camps. Oilers Superstar Connor McDavid was fairly non-commital when asked about his contract extension talks with the team, as he approaches free agency next summer. That sent shock waves through the league, because if the Oilers had to trade him, or he hit free agency, every single team in the league should position themselves to get him. That includes the Kings, who McDavid would probably at least consider, but either way, him moving out of the West would help the Kings not get knocked out by the Oilers every year. The Kings also learned that Corey Perry injured himself skating last week, and he’ll be out 6-8 weeks. Perry is a long time Kings nemesis who signed with the team in July. Not sure what is worse. Corey Perry playing for the LA Kings, or fans being annoyed that Corey Perry won’t be playing for the LA Kings.

September 8, 2025

It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough to feel good for the time being. The Rams took down the Texans in their opener at Sofi Stadium yesterday, 14-9. It’s safe to say that the Rams defense was just as good as it was last year, and reminded us of that with Nate Landman’s beautiful forced fumble late in the 4th. Although the offense wasn’t exactly explosive, Matt Stafford looked really good, and was able to make some clutch throws. He also endured three sacks which tells me he is healthier than we thought, but the offensive line may also need some work too. Still, I think the offense will get much better than we saw. They were rusty for not really playing much together in the preseason, and remember, they actually played a great team. The Rams need to take care of business on the road against the Titans, because they week after that they’ll have to go to Philly for a re-match against the Eagles.

As for the Chargers, I absolutely hate the idea of a season opening game, and a divisional game abroad for any NFL Team. It’s wrong. However, the Bolts should feel great about their big win over Kansas City. Justin Herbert reminded us that he is an excellent quarterback. The defense also stepped up against Patrick Mahomes, who had beaten the Chargers 7 straight times before Friday. Considering how critical everyone was of the Chargers offensive line, they also held up very well. Omarion Hampton looked good in his debut, but needs his head examined after running out of bounds on a 3rd down with 54 seconds left. Now the Bolts should feel really good about their chances of going 2-0 with a Monday night game against the Raiders coming up on the road.

Is USC Football really good, or are they just beating up on crummy teams? It’s too early to tell, and the fact one of their wins came against Clay Helton doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in the idea that they are elite. They piled up some very gaudy numbers against Georgia Southern, including 755 yards of total offense. That’s like playing Madden on easy mode and cruising to an easy victory. Should you be more worried about the passes Jaiden Maiava couldn’t complete? Should you be worried about Waymond Jordan fumbling on the opening drive? Should you be worried about multiple illegal use of hands penalties? These wins won’t do much for USC in the way or their rankings, buts one can say that wins are wins at this point in the season, and a few warm up games are needed for this group. I’m of the opinion that the truth is usually somewhere in between. USC has a talented team, and is probably top 25. Are they good enough to make the playoff? I still have my doubts. I guess we’ll get some answers when they play Michigan State.

I think it’s safe to say that UCLA Football is in serious trouble right now. They lost to UNLV over the weekend, in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score. Despite rallying toward the end of the game which fell short, UCLA was favored and never should have been trailing. Their defense was out of the position frequently, and their offense is very unproductive. Nico Iamaleava is clearly a very overpaid quarterback, that bamboozled the Bruins when he came here. Deshaun Foster says the Bruins are “close”. Close to what exactly? Close to rock bottom? It’s like the captain of the Titanic giving his crew a pep talk before the ship goes under. I see maybe 2 wins on the schedule right now if they are lucky, and not sure that will get DeShaun Foster to keep his job. Does Martin Jarmond even care anymore? It sure seems like the fans don’t, because they don’t show up to the Rose Bowl either.

The NBA is suddenly investigating the Clippers for circumventing the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard. This is all thanks to ESPN’s Pablo Torres, and his investigative reporting. This is actually hilarious for a lot of reasons. Nobody actually believes a big star in their prime would be weird enough to sign with the Clippers, unless they were breaking the rules. Also hilarious is the fact that Kawhi was allegedly paid for a “no-show” job, and coincidentally he has “no-showed” for most of his contract with the Clippers! In all seriousness though, after seeing Ballmer’s interview on ESPN, I don’t know what to believe. I’m not saying he’s guilty, but I certainly didn’t come away from it thinking he was for sure innocent. Especially when I hear that Mickey Mouse voice of his going up a couple of octaves. Ballmer is one of the richest men in the world, and he got conned by a couple of tree planting dudes? Seems weird. Also seems weird that he claims he was conned and didn’t due his due diligence on these guys, but at the same time was considering putting their naming rights on his building, before deciding on the Intuit Dome. So he knew nothing about the company, but also knew enough to consider investing $50 million, and also consider putting their naming rights on a building? With all this, plus all the noise about all the illegal things Uncle Dennis has been asking for over the years, at minimum, this entire Kawhi situation is suspicious. Now that the league has hired a law firm to investigate, if they end up punishing the Clippers, a fair punishment would be to have them re-sign Paul George, and make Kawhi play all 82 games.

To baseball, where the Dodgers have really mastered losing stupid games. They are playing miserable against below .500 teams, most recently displayed against the Orioles and Pirates. There is no team in baseball that has ever lost a game after no-hitting a team for 8 2/3rd innings, yet they found a way to lose on Saturday. They can also kiss goodbye to a 1st round bye in the playoffs, considering they are now 5 games back of the Phillies for the #2 seed heading into Sunday. The only good news for the Boys in Blue is that the Padres absolutely stink as well, which is keeping them clinging to their lead in the division series. I’ve been saying it for months, but now that it’s September, the terrible decision making is only magnified. There is no reason in the world that Tanner Scott and Michael Conforto should be getting the playing time they are. Both are complete overpaid liabilities, and this team has better options right now, and especially in the playoffs. I don’t care if they are each making around $18 million. They stink right now, and are costing the team games. That would solve part of their problems, and when they get Max Muncy and Tommy Edman back, maybe they can stop screwing around with the position players, and play them in the right places on defense. They also need to do a better job of putting together quality at bats, and manufacturing runs, rather than sitting back and waiting for the 3-run homer. It doesn’t matter how good the starting pitching is if the Dodgers don’t fix these other areas. At least the Dodgers wouldn’t have to play any below .500 teams in the playoffs! However, I have seen nothing that makes me think this will change, so I have a hard time believing the Dodgers will get very far in October, let alone if they make it there.

I’ve been trying to figure out what Angels GM Perry Minasian meant earlier this summer when he said he just wants his team to play “meaningful games” in September. The Angels lost 3 straight headed into Sunday, were 8.5 games out of the Wild Card, and 11 games out of the division. They got smashed by the A’s 17-4 on Saturday night. I guess by “meaningful” he means meaningfully embarrassing! There is simply no end in sight to this complete disaster of a franchise the Angels are, but Arte Moreno doesn’t care as long as people fill the seats on all his bobblehead and Star Wars nights at the Big A!

September 1, 2025

The Dodgers are still clinging to a 2 game lead in the NL West over the Padres, but they’ve got problems. They are all or nothing on offense, either hitting homers like they are the ‘27 Yankees, or getting shut down like they are Little Leaguers. Then there’s the bullpen, which has Tanner Scott problems. The man couldn’t close a hot dog stand right now, let alone a baseball game. It’s September 1st, so at this point, those of you that have hopes of getting rid of Michael Conforto can dream on. With a 40-man roster you can only hope that he’s left off the playoff roster. The talent is there, the starting pitching is looking great, but the rest of the play is so inconsistent, I can’t say I feel great about this team’s chances come October.

I’ve done the math, and if the Angels can go 22-4 the rest of the way, they can probably make the last AL Wild Card spot. You have a better chance of winning the $1.1 billion Powerball drawing than that happening. Prayers up to Taylor Ward, who went crashing into the wall yesterday, after trying to chase down a fly ball. Give the man credit because he’s playing hard, while his teammate Anthony Rendon has been at home on the couch all season long drinking whiskey, and playing PlayStation, while collecting his $38 million paycheck. I told you right after the trade deadline that the Angels were going to be fools for being buyers, because they are going to end up finishing out of the playoffs by double digit games. Sure enough, with less than a month left they are 9 games out of the Wild Card and 11 games out of the Division. It’s like everybody saw this coming except Arte Moreno.

To College Football, where USC got off to a nice easy win against Missouri State on Saturday at the Coliseum. Jayden Maiava and Husain Longstreet looked like a dangerous duo on offense, and that is the most points USC has put up in a game since 2005. Of course it’s easy to look great against a team like that, and next week will be easy street as well against Georgia Southern. Then it gets real against Purdue, Michigan, followed by three straight top 15 opponents. The Trojans and their fans are really going to need some of these early easy wins to get the confidence of everyone up.

Then there’s UCLA, which looked like a complete disaster against Utah. I don’t want to overreact to one game, but there really is a lot to be concerned about. They attracted only 35,000 fans on a holiday weekend, against a very good opponent. That opponent took them apart from start to finish. Deshaun Foster got completely out coached, and Nico Iamaleava looks like an overpaid and overrated quarterback. The concerns is that Foster started 1-5 last year before turning things around, but this time his schedule is much tougher. The Bruins will be at UNLV next weekend, where they will actually be favored by a point or so. If they can’t win that game, they should be quite worried.

Elsewhere around College Football, Arch Manning should probably be compared to Uncle Rico instead of Uncle Peyton after Texas lost to Ohio State in the opening game. Notre Dame lost a close one to Miami as well. Their offensive line offered about as much protection as a busted condom all game, and let them down when it mattered most on the last drive. Clemson got upset by LSU, Alabama lost to Florida State, and ‘Bama fans are going to think this is the worst thing to happen to them since they made it illegal to marry your cousin in the state.

In the NFL, the Rams are getting ready to take on the Texans next week in their season opener. The good news is that Matt Stafford is expected to start in the game, after all the concerns about his back. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of concern once he starts taking hits, but it’s a good sign that he’s going to be on the field and ready to go. Alaric Jackson is also on track to play too, despite the blood clots he’s been dealing with. The Rams have gotten off to slow starts the last few years, then rallied to make the playoffs or win the division. With their first two games against the Texans and Titans, this would be a good time to get some early wins.

Then there’s the Chargers, who will open the season on Friday against the Chiefs. I contend that the Chiefs are much better than most people think they are going to be. However, the Bolts need to win their games against their division rivals, especially the Chiefs. Since the Chiefs are missing Rashee Rice for the firs six games, now is as good a time as ever to find the win column against them, especially playing at home.

Finally, the Kings are going to open training camp in 3 weeks from now. The bigger news though is that Anze Kopitar said that this may very well be his last season in the NHL. It will be his 20th season in the league, and he will finish as the franchise leader in games played, assists, and most likely points when it’s all said and done. He is arguably the greatest LA King in franchise history. As for his retirement, he’s still a very productive player, and when he retires, the Kings really won’t have a capable replacement for him. By now they should with all the young talent they have wasted.

August 25, 2025

I don’t even know who the Dodgers are anymore. Yesterday, they looked like the powerhouse World Series Contender we thought they were. Many times in the last two weeks though, they looked more like one of the dumbest teams out there, especially for an organization that is typically more savvy than others. They have been screwing around all season with Teoscar Hernandez in right field instead of left, with Mookie Betts at shortstop instead of right field,. and Michael Conforto consistently in the lineup when he should instead be consistently delivering your Door Dash. They’ve also been consistently using Tanner Scott as their closer, when instead he should be put into lower leverage situations until he’s right. All this screwing around and experimenting has eliminated the Dodgers 9 game lead over the Padres in the division, reduce their likelihood of having a 1st round bye in the playoffs, and ultimately slimmed their margin of error to repeat as World Series Champions. The Dodgers know the sensible things they need to do to win games. For some reason, they insist on being stubborn and not doing it. I sure hope that changes quickly, or else they can forget about defending World Series title.

Meanwhile, the Angels got swept by the Cubs, and have lost 7 of their last 10 games. They are now 8.5 games out of the Wild Card, and 10.5 behind the Astros in the AL West. Their pitching got completely destroyed over the weekend, which was previously a strength. The Cubs now look like they are waking up after a two month long slumber. The Angels? Well, their slumber has lasted two decades: “Rip Van Winklesque”. Angels baseball is really just the Stanford Experiment for how long people will continue to put up with losing if you give them enough bobbleheads.

To the Rams, where there are some signs of good news. Matt Stafford went through practice last week, and also looked sharp. That’s very positive and a step in the right direction. There is still a lot to be uneasy about though. Sean McVay wouldn’t exactly commit to Stafford being ready for week 1 when he was asked about it. Clearly, he wants to see more reps, and feel more confident in his QB’s health before determining if he would be ready to go. On a different note, I really like the fact the Rams extended Kyren Williams on a 3-year $33 million deal. It’s not a crazy number, he’s proven his value at running back, and I think it’s a very fair deal for both sides. Suddenly, running backs getting paid might be coming back into fashion.

Then there’s the Chargers who have some interesting training camp battles going on. Tomorrow is the day to get down to a 53-man roster. The biggest question is who will be the #2 quarterback: Trey Lance or Taylor Heinicke. Heinicke has a slightly better career resume. Lance however, has outperformed him in camp, and has much more upside given where he was drafted. I think the sensible move here would be to carry all 3 QB’s but have Lance as the backup, assuming Heinicke wouldn’t want to go elsewhere. Given that the Chargers might have some offensive line problems and thus protecting their QB, this might be a season where unfortunately they need all 3 quarterbacks! There’s also a lot of uncertainty around Najee Harris, who has yet to do anything in training camp, and that means he’s got a few running backs breathing down his neck for the #2 running back role: Hassan Haskins, Kimani Vidal and rookie Raheim Sanders. Harris only has 11 days to figure it out, because the Bolts are opening the season on Friday September 4th against the Chiefs!

We’ve also go the start of College Football this weekend! That means USC is going to open the season against Missouri State at the Coliseum on Saturday. The Trojans are going into the season unranked, which shouldn’t surprise anybody. The team has some talent, but they are still going to have very stiff competition in the Big Ten this year, and needs to prove it. I expect improvement from their 7-6 record last year. However, the real talent will arrive in 2026, which is when expectations should be sky high. Jayden Maiava will be good, not great, but the team will be shuffling it’s offensive line all year, and that won’t offset the 3 1st round picks they will have going to the NFL next year. Lincoln Riley needs to get to the playoffs this year to give himself more credibility with everyone, and take some of the heat off before the big recruiting class gets here. I’m not so confident that will happen, but we’ll find out soon.

On the other hand, I don’t expect UCLA to be a whole lot better than last year, but I do think they could be exciting. QB Nico Iamaleava is the obvious one here that I think will put up some numbers, and will probably be the best player they’ve had at the position since Brett Hundley. The same goes for RB Jaivian Thomas, who will reprise that role with the Bruins as part of a deep group of running backs that also includes Jalen Berger, Anthony Woods, Anthony Frias II and Karson Cox. While each of those players holds promise, Thomas appears to have the biggest upside given his speed, patience and vision. If the Bruins can find a way to win 7 games, that would be a huge accomplishment.

Finally, it’s that time of year where not only football is starting, but fantasy football! That means you women all need to be prepared to lose your husbands and significant others to what will basically be their side piece for the next 4 months. Don’t expect your man to be doing the dishes, taking out the trash, and folding the laundry like they usually do. You may also have to deal with frequent yelling at the TV and the dog on Sunday, while your European immigrant neighbor rushes over and wonders what all the commotion is all about. Your husband will try to explain, but your neighbor will just walk away thinking that’s why this country is going straight to hell.

August 18, 2025

The Dodgers have stabilized things for the time being after sweeping the Padres over the weekend. That is the most baseball thing in the world. The Dodgers get swept by the Angels, then turn around and sweep the Padres, who have been on fire. The talent is there, but the consistency is not. When they hit they can’t pitch. When they pitch they can’t hit. It’s really good to see the top 6 producing again, especially Mookie and Teo, who finally seemed to get going. The starting pitching has been outstanding for a while, but the bullpen is very up and down. The Dodgers closer is basically the whatever flavor of the day Andrew Friedman’s computer chooses. Hopefully getting some of their injured relievers will help this, however, they will still need to be more consistent. At the moment, those types of inconsistencies make it hard to imagine that come October, they can put together a run to defend their World Series Title.

Meanwhile, the Angels are still the Angels. They sweep the Dodgers, and you think they are going to rocket up the standings, but then they follow it up by losing 2 of 3 to the last place A’s. The Halos pitching got rocked this weekend, and they fall to 7 games out of the wild card chase with only 6 weeks left of the regular season. In case you had any hopes of this team making the playoffs, they have a -71 run differential, which is not great. Arte Moreno doesn’t care though. As long as he can put butts in the seats in August and September for the big games, he could care less if this team is actually winning or not.

It’s time to officially start worrying about Matt Stafford. Dude has a back injury and can’t workout. Dude starts to workout, then can’t workout. The media starts asking if he worked out, and the answer seems like a resounding no, judging by how irritated the staff was at the questions the media was asking. Now there is word this morning that he is working out and throwing. We’ll see how his back reacts. If in fact Stafford has to be shut down for any significant period of time, that is going to torpedo the Rams chances of going to the Super Bowl. At best, I could see this team being held together by 5-6 games by Jimmy G. He’s a capable backup, but he’s not going to put this team in the upper echelon of the NFC.

The Chargers have their own injury issues to deal with as well. Quentin Johnston got knocked out on Saturday against the Rams. This comes after Rashawn Slater suffered a season ending knee injury, which is going to be a big problem in a competitive AFC West with fierce pass rushes. Everybody seems to love the Denver Broncos, but they are also dismissing the Chiefs, while the Raiders are also much improved too. The Bolts will be in the mix because they are well coached and have a great QB, but it’s going to be stiff competition just getting to the playoffs.

Speaking of injury scares, the Lakers got their own with Luka Doncic in the FIBA competition while playing for Slovenia. Doncic suffered a bone bruise while competing. Fortunately he appears to be ok. If Doncic got severely injured, that would in fact create a real conversation of whether or not Lebron would want out of LA for what may very well be the last season of his career. However, Doncic is like an NHL player, wanting to represent his country with pride in these international competitions, even if his team has very little chance of winning anything. That probably doesn’t sit well with a lot of us, since the Lakers have obviously made a huge investment in making him the face of the franchise. There’s really nothing they can do about it though.

Finally, these idiots that are calling for 2028 Olympics to be move from LA are truly nothing more than social media morons. The Olympics aren’t getting moved from LA people. LA could be ready for the Olympics in 5 minutes if necessary. Other countries and cities, with far less infrastructure and resources, have pulled it off in a few months. I can tell you that Paris did exactly that, when they weren’t ready about 8 weeks beforehand. The Olympics are something that California really needs for it’s economy, because well, its a state that is currently being run by people that shouldn’t be running a hot dog stand. Just because someone says something on social media doesn’t give it any credibility, so pay no attention to it.