December 1st, 2025

The Rams suffered a tough loss yesterday, but it really wasn’t a bad one. They went on the road to the east coast and got caught in a trap game, against a very hungry Panthers team in pouring rain. Matt Stafford was due to eventually turn the ball over, and that he did, 3 times. That’s ok. Better to happen now than in the playoffs, or other critical games down the stretch. If anything, this loss might actually make the better down the stretch. It would have been nice to build a bit of a lead over Philadelphia and Seattle in the NFC, but that’s ok. The mindset now should be to win the next 3 in a row. Games against Arizona, Detroit, and Seattle sound challenging, but the Rams also won 3 in a row just before this too.

As for the Chargers, they took down the Raiders at home, but there was a price in doing so. They lost Justin Herbert to a broken hand. It remains to be seen if Herbert will miss any time. Let’s be real though, if he does miss time, the Chargers could be in danger of missing the playoffs. The Bolts have had their injury woes, but they are still the 5th seed in the AFC with 5 games left to play in their season. The Chiefs are out of the playoffs, the Ravens are struggling, the Bills look beatable. The Patriots and Broncos look flawed and inexperienced. The AFC hasn’t looked this wide open in a long time, and the Bolts can take advantage of it if things break right for them. However, it all starts with whether or not their star quarterback is going to miss time.

To the NBA, where the Lakers keep rolling. They took down the Pelicans last night for their 7th straight win. They have the 2nd best record in the West and the 2nd best record in the West and the 3rd best record in the Association. Are all you casuals still waiting to see how it goes with Lebron waiting to fit in with Luka and Austin before deciding how good this team is? Spoiler alert, they are an excellent team. I never said they were going to beat OKC, but at this point who can? However, they should be considered as a team that could end up in the Western Conference Finals. To get beyond that they will need to improve their 3-point shooting, their bench scoring, and their ability to defend the rim. Much of that can be improved just by moving Rui to bench and shooting more 3’s. They’ll have to find a way to defend better too, but I think more Gabe Vincent in the lineup will help the perimeter defense, and more Lebron will help their rebounding and defense too. There’s still a lot more upside to this team than you may think, despite what those buffoons that call themselves NBA analysts might tell you.

Meanwhile, the Clippers catastrophe continues. They have lost 4 straight, and are just 5-15 on the season. Don’t tell me it’s because they need to get healthier, or even because they don’t have Kawhi. Even when they’ve had him in the lineup they still look old as hell, playing at a slow pace, and terrible defensively. They relay heavily on isolation ball from Kawhi, Harden, and Zubac, which can be somewhat predictable. My favorite part of all this though was after a loss the other night Kawhi said “We need more talent”. Good one Kawhi. Perhaps if you quit your job as a part-time Amazon worker and showed up to play basketball for the Clippers more often, the talent part wouldn’t be an issue. For those of you that are naive enough to believe this was a championship team at any point in the last 3 years, now you know that is far from the case. The only question now is whether or not they can just be a respectable team and not give OKC an excellent lottery pick this coming summer.

In College Football, USC took down UCLA at the Coliseum over the weekend. The Bruins have ended a disastrous season, and have a lot to figure out. The Trojans on the other hand have to leave you asking yourself if this is going well or not. USC got 9 wins, and if they go to the Alamo Bowl and win, it’s 10 wins. That’s better than last season, and after making a move to the Big Ten, it represents progress. Is that progress good enough for Trojan fans and are they behind Lincoln Riley? I’m sure you will get a lot of mixed reviews. Multiple things can be true at the same time. Riley is making progress with this group, and he’s going to be bringing in more talent. However, we are now in a place where 12 teams make the College Football Playoff. In Los Angeles, you are judged by a much higher standard of excellence, so the expectation should be that Riley need to get this team into the CFP consistently. We’ll have to wait another season to see if he can live up to those lofty expectations.

Just when it looked like UCLA basketball was getting better, they lay a total egg against Cal. The Bruins offense looked extremely sluggish, and Donovan Dent has been having his struggles. I think we are reaching the point with Mick Cronin where we have to start asking if he is the right fit for UCLA. I don’t doubt that he is a very good coach. However, his “tough love” approach to big-time recruits at UCLA doesn’t always seem to work. It may have worked with guys like Jaime Jaquez and Tyger Campbell, but it doesn’t work in the era of NIL and for a lot of the glitz and glamour players. Over time we see his players lose confidence, end up in his dog house, and it crushes the morale of his team, and limits the teams ceiling. The tough love approach might be more appropriate in the Big East, or schools that aren’t recruiting 5 star recruits. This might also explain why we’ve seen the Bruins be in close games against a lot of elite teams over the last few years, including in the tournament, but unable to finish them. Let’s hope he can prove me wrong and regain momentum, but at this point, one has to ask themselves the question.

To baseball where there still isn’t much news on the Dodgers to report. However, a couple of things did pop up that are worth discussing. The Blue Jays signed former Padres starting pitcher Dylan Cease to a 7 years $210 million contract. While I credit the Blue Jays for spending money to try and improve their team, I’m convinced that they didn’t actually watch Cease pitch last year. Dude is basically a #3 starter at his best, and had a one year outlier where he looked closer to a #2 starter 2 years ago. If Cease got that much, then I’m sure Tarik Skubal is probably thinking he’s worth about $60 million a year. If the Dodgers are going after him, they should be prepared to pay him that for about a decade. There’s also a few trade rumors floating around about Tyler Glasnow and him being on the trade block. However, I have a very hard time believing that the Dodgers would trade him. The Dodgers just need him to be great in October, and that’s exactly what he was. No reason to trade him when he’s on a reasonable deal.

Finally, the Angels are in talks to buy out Anthony Rendon from his disastrous contract, and the final $38 million on it. Rendon will likely retire, but if I’m the Halos, that’s not good enough. Rendon should be punished by making him play out the the final year of his contract in AAA, staying on army cots or in one star hotels, while eating at Applebee’s most nights. He was totally lazy, and a terrible professional the last 6 years. Rendon was so useless and buying him out gives the Halos no more financial flexibility, so buying him out does nothing. In fact, it’s also really annoying buying him out because we can’t tell anymore jokes about him if he retires.

November 24,2025

The Rams look incredible. They beat up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night on Sunday Night Football 34-7. Matt Stafford is playing some MVP ball right now, throwing 3 touchdown passes, while the defense looks elite, coming up with 2 interceptions. They are now 9-2, and are currently the #1 seed in the NFC with six weeks to go. There’s still a lot of football left to be played, including some touch matchups against the Lions and Seahawks. However, the Rams are going to be getting some guys back from injury, including Tutu Atwell, Tyler Higbee, Ahkello Witherspoon, and Rob Havenstein. The schedule may have some tough games left, but this team might be getting even better in the coming weeks The Rams are for real are looking like a real Super Bowl threat, which should have their fans in SoCal ecstatic!

Elsewhere around the NFL, don’t look now, but the Ravens have won 5 straight and are back in a playoff spot. Patrick Mahomes remembered he was Patrick Mahomes, as the Chiefs got by the Colts in OT to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Eagles were in a very generous mood given that it’s the holiday season, giving away a 21-0 lead and lost to the Cowboys 24-21. The Raiders got punked by Shadeur Sanders and the Browns, and then sent Chip Kelly packing. Something tells me UCLA fans don’t feel so bad that he got fired.

To the NBA, where the Lakers beat the Jazz last night for their 4th straight. Don’t ever give this team 5 days off like they just had, because they looked pretty rusty despite finding the win column. The Lake Show are 12-4 and 2nd in the Western Conference, which is pretty solid. They are also better with Lebron James, who returned from injury last week. If you think otherwise, you’re a fool. They are good, but it’s just a matter of whether or not they are good enough with a team like OKC in their conference, who are looking like monsters. The real story though is the firing of Jesse and Joey Buss from the organization last week. This is a clear reminder that family businesses are complicated and can get ugly. Jesse and Joey were running the Lakers scouting and G-League departments, and doing an excellent job mind you. However, their expectation was that one day they would run basketball operations, because that’s what their father, Dr Jerry Buss, wanted. However, once Jeanie Buss fired her brother and Mitch Kupchak in 2017, she was determined to abandon that plan and take the franchise in another direction. It’s clear that the Buss trust was ambiguous enough to allow Jeanie to take control and get enough support from the other siblings to sell the team and cash out. Joey and Jesse are 20 years younger than her, so of course they want to run the team, and voted against the sale to Mark Walter. That was enough for Jeanie to go act like Cersei Lannister in Game of Thrones, and get her brothers fired. Since the brothers said they haven’t talked to her or Rob Pelinka in months, did they just get a letter from HR with their Christmas Bonus letting them know they were fired? I can only imagine that Jeanie must truly hate her siblings to do this to them, and she must be walking around with a chip on her shoulder from things they have said or done to her in the past. That’s unfortunate. It’s amazing that Jesse and Joey were as successful as they were with the dysfunction that was going on within the organization. I do look forward to seeing what the Lakers can do with people that have better working relationships. With that being said, hopefully the scouting and development will be just as good, because it’s been great for the franchise.

Meanwhile, the Clippers are in really big trouble. They got Kawhi back yesterday, but it didn’t matter, as they got smoked by the Cavaliers. The Clippers are old, they don’t play defense, and they are lacking an identity. To make matters worse, OKC has their 1st round pick unprotected this year, so there is no benefit to tanking. In fact, the rest of the league is going to hate them for it. Now there are rumors about a John Collins for DeMar Derozan trade with the Sacramento Kings, in desperation to turn it all around. Why? So they can get even older? Imagine if after all they are going through, Adam Silver hands down a punishment for circumventing the salary cap with Kawhi’s contract. The Clips could be in shambles for the next decade, like they were still owned by Donald Sterling. Then there’s the retirement announcement by CP3. Paul is definitely among the top 5-10 point guards to ever play the game. It’s a bit surprising for a player as good as he was, he played for so many teams. He was an amazing competitor, but the real shame is that David Stern vetoed that trade to the Lakers. Seeing him and Kobe on a team together, and potentially an in his prime Dwight Howard, would have been fascinating and fun to watch. Paul’s career outlook probably would have been a lot different too.

In College Football, USC’s playoff hopes went down in flames on Saturday with their loss to Oregon. This game proved what we thought all along. The Trojans have a good football team, but not a great one. Is that the fault of Lincoln Riley? Well somewhat. However, it’s also the fault of those that decided to move to the Big Ten. The competition is that much more fierce, and there’s nothing Riley can do to fix that. If USC goes 10-3 with let’s say an Alamo Bowl win, in their 2nd year in the Big Ten, you can’t be too unhappy about that. However, once the big guns come in next year with that recruiting class, the expectations should be higher. That means playoff or bust. Whether or not Riley wants to stick around though is another question worth asking.

As for the UCLA football, the went crashing back to earth win another loss, this time against Washington. The Bruins had a nice run in the middle of the season when they played with pride, but ultimately, the talent just wasn’t there for this team to compete. The Bruins will face the Trojans next week at the Coliseum for rivalry week, but the real questions that are more important than what’s happening on the field are whats happening with their coaching search, and where will they play their game next season.

To baseball, where the offseason rumors are cooking up on the hot stove, especially when it comes to the Dodgers. As I mentioned earlier, they shouldn’t be handing out a deal of 5 of more years and $400+ million to a player like Kyle Tucker. He’s nice, but not necessary. I don’t see them doing that despite the rumors. There’s also some noise around a reunion with Cody Bellinger via free agency, or Corey Seager via trade. Seager makes way too much money to be considered, and misses way too many games. Bellinger on the other hand might be a more reasonable option depending on the cost, especially if he’s a 3 year contract or less. He’s not MVP Bellinger, but he can still be productive at the plate, and can play multiple defensive positions very well. However, I still think the one move they should consider if available, is a trade for Tarik Skubal. He’s arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and you can never have enough pitching. Plus, he’s not going to sign a contract extension with anyone, so I don’t think the return the Tigers can get is as overwhelming as they think. Of course they still have to pay the man a few hundred million, but they can do anything they want. They are the Dodgers!

As for the Angels, they made an interesting move last week, trading Taylor Ward to the Orioles for Grayson Rodriguez. On paper when you first look at this move, you actually think the Halos made a great move here. Then you realize that Rodriguez missed all of last year with an arm injury. Here’s the thing, if any other team made this move, my reaction would be that it’s a very cagey move, with huge upside, and that Rodriguez could be a potential ace for the Halos. Rodriguez has 4 years that are cost controlled as a starter, while Ward is a pending free agent. It sounds great until you realize that Rodriguez has to revive his career after injuries with the Angels. There will be little player development help, so he’ll almost have to do it off of talent alone. That’s what happens when Arte Moreno is your owner!

On the ice, the LA Kings finally gave their fans something to feel good about, which was the fact they re-signed winger Adrian Kempe. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why a great player like Kempe decided to stay with an organization that is run by complete buffoons, especially when he could have made more money on the open market. Nevertheless, the Kings should be thanking their lucky stars he really like LA, and wanted to stay. Now their problem is that they need a top line center to replace the aging Anze Kopitar and Philip Danault. It also doesn’t help that Drew Doughty is injured again. The Kings need to be very careful because they are not winning regulation games against crummy teams. That could cost them a playoff spot down the line later in the season if they don’t get their act together.

November 17, 2025.

I had the privilege of attending the showdown between the Rams and Seahawks yesterday at SOFI Stadium, where the Rams came away victorious. Some might say that was an ugly win, but it really wasn’t as ugly as people might suggest. Sam Darnold always turns into Betty Crocker against the Rams, cooking up 4 turnovers, but LA only won 21-19, in a game that came down to a missed field goal at the end. However, the Seahawks have one of the best defenses in the NFL too, which prevented the Rams from ever putting the game away. There is no need to be apologetic. The Rams beat a Super Bowl contender, and they are a Super Bowl contender. I can’t forget about that spectacular 50-yard punt with 1:41 left by Ethan Evans. You can call it ugly if you want, but to me it shows that this team is healthy, deep and talented enough to win a game like this, against a very good team. It also shows they can win games in a variety of ways too. I’m usually not a fan of 3rd jersey’s, but I did really like those midnight black uniforms. Now if only Philly can lose another game so the Rams can move into 1st place in the NFC.

Meanwhile, what the heck happened to the Chargers? They got dismantled by the Jaguars on the road 35-6. The Bolts offensive line offered about as much protection for Justin Herbert as a busted condom. Herbert threw for only 81 yards and was under constant pressure. The Chargers acquired Trevor Penning from New Orleans to try and overcome their offensive line woes. However, after yesterday they probably want to send him back to the Saints for a couple of beignets and an iced coffee from Cafe Du Monde on Bourbon Street. There have been some inconsistencies with the injuries, but there’s still good news. The Chargers are still in a wild card spot, they have a bye week to get some reinforcements back with Eric Rogers, Savion Washington, and maybe even Omarion Hampton. They’ll also get to play the Raiders after the bye week, so things are looking up despite the rough week. Kansas City is also just a mere 5-5 and the Broncos are a questionable 1st place team, so the Chargers need to take advantage of their opponents struggles, especially with an AFC that is feeling more and more wide open.

In the NBA, the Lakers are off to a really nice 10-4 start and Lebron James hasn’t even played a game yet. I don’t want to overreact too much to the complete beat down they suffered against Oklahoma City last week, but I think there’s a few things that are apparent right now. OKC is the best team in the league right now, and it’s going to take a very disciplined style of basketball to beat them. That means limiting turnovers and moving the ball and not taking bad shots against their elite defense. It just so happens that this guy Lebron James is still pretty good at basketball, and can help the Lakers in those areas. I suppose some of you may not be familiar with him because you think he should be traded for a pair of used socks, but trust me, he will help. The Lakers shouldn’t worry about OKC right now, they should worry about getting better everyday as a team, and getting healthier, while building chemistry. That by itself could make them as good, if not better than everybody else other than OKC in the Association.

As for the Clippers, they have a major catastrophe on their hands so far, starting just 4-9 on the year. The Clips got off to a slow start a couple of years ago and recovered, but this situation is far more precarious. The team is older, and they don’t seem to have much of an identity as they did in previous years. They also aren’t nearly as good defensively as they were then. That’s been problematic, and even when Kawhi Leonard was in the lineup, they didn’t look much better. However, the real problem with them not turning things around is that OKC has their 1st round pick this year. So the last thing the entire league needs is for OKC to get another top 3 lottery pick to make their team even stronger than what they are now. See Laker fans….it’s all fun and games with the Clips losing games, until you learn that they are really screwing the rest of the league.

Speaking of the NBA, I have to address this Nico Harrison situation with the Mavs. Harrison was fired by the Mavericks last week, and of course the casual NBA fan are going to say it was because he made one of the worst trades of all-time by trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers. However, anybody that knows anything about basketball knows that Nico is just the fall guy here for new owner Patrick Dumont, who gave him the greenlight to trade Luka. Nico also made moves that put the Mavericks in the finals the year before, so he’s not some complete disaster of a GM people will make him out to be. I also think that firing him now is simply a weak PR move by Dumont because fans in town are calling him an idiot. Of course your team isn’t going to be good when Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis are injured. What did you expect? If he had any real guts, he would let Nico stick around and see what happens once Kyrie and AD get on the floor together. I mean that was their vision right? So why not at least see the vision through? It’s not like fans will think Dumont isn’t an idiot anymore because he fired Nico.

To College Football where USC came up with a big win against Iowa at home on Saturday against the Coliseum. You have to be fair to Lincoln Riley for this one. USC showed toughness, their defense stepped up, and they did it in rainy conditions. We haven’t seen much of that type of resiliency and fortitude from them. Makai Lemon and Jayden Maiava reminded everybody that they are not only talented, but tough too with big catches and throws when it mattered. USC’s playoff hopes are still alive, but it’s very simple. If they go to Oregon next week and win, they get in. There’s probably more people that believe in Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy, than those that believe the Trojans can go up there and beat the Ducks. I’m actually surprised that the line opened at only -9.5 for Oregon, which shows much respect to USC. Maybe even too much.

Then there’s UCLA, who got trounced by Ohio State. The magic of the Bruins win streak is definitely over, and they really didn’t have much of a chance against the top team in the nation. Nico Iamaleava was out with an injury, and even though Luke Duncan performed respectably after half time, this thing was over when they got off the team bus. The real question for UCLA will be whether or not they are going to play at SOFI Stadium next year, and who their next coach will be. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be James Franklin, who would have been a great hire for the program.

Speaking of UCLA, basketball season is underway, and the new look Bruins are 3-1 in the early going, ranked #15 in the country. They suffered a close loss to #5 Arizona on Friday at the Intuit Dome, which is nothing to be ashamed about. Overall it seems like the Bruins have a lot more talent on offense this year, especially with Donovan Dent in the backcourt, a more experienced Tyler Bilodeau in their front court, and a versatile center in Xavier Booker. However, the last few seasons during these big games, UCLA tends to go stretches without scoring in crunch time. UCLA blew an 8-point lead in the final 7-minutes. In that stretch and many others we’ve seen, the offense looks befuddled and disorganized. Look it’s a long season, and Cronin teams tend to get better as the season goes on, so the Bruins are going to be in the tournament and compete against some of the top teams in the country. Their defense will be good. However, if they really want to be a true contender, they will have to play better in crunch time on the offensive end. That’s on Mick Cronin.

Not much to report on the Dodgers off-season activity, as baseball usually gets off to a slow start in the off-season. However, congratulations to Shohei Othani on winning his 4th MVP last week, and 3rd consecutive. He beat out Kyle Schwarber and Juan Soto. Sometimes, we take people’s greatness for granted, but don’t do that with Ohtani. The man is modern day Babe Ruth, and every time he takes the field, there is the potential for something amazing to happen. Meanwhile, everyone seems to be waiting to see how aggressive the Dodgers will be spending money this offseason. They can certainly do whatever they want, but I don’t think dishing out 5 years and $100 million for Edwin Diaz, or 10 years and $400 million for Kyle Tucker are in their plans. However, I’m sure those players would be quite interested in joining the Boys in Blue.

Finally, we’ve unfortunately been hearing a lot about gambling in sports these days. We heard all about the NBA scandal with Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and potentially others. Then there was the indictment of some MLB players such as Emmanuel Clase, recently for their role in allegedly giving out information on prop bets. We also heard over the weekend that the NBA has asked a number of teams, including the Lakers (and yes they had to say the Lakers to get people to read the headline) for their cell phones to further investigate any gambling wrong doing. Perhaps now Jared Vanderbilt will finally go to jail for all those airballs he’s been shooting. In all seriousness though, the idea of legalizing gambling sounded great, until more illegal activity started popping up. That’s far more problematic to all sports leagues, because if suddenly people believe that sports aren’t real or they are fixed, it’s meaningfulness is irrelevant. We haven’t even fully legalized it in all states yet, and we’re hearing more about these incidents popping up in baseball, basketball, and I’m sure you’ll hear more about it in other leagues too. More than anything, it makes you ask yourself if we should back off on the legalization of sports gambling, because we’re losing the integrity of it all, which comes first.

November 10, 2025

It’s been over a week now and Los Angeles is still basking in the glory of the Dodgers 2nd straight World Series title. I’ve been hearing a lot of questions raised about who the better team was in the series against the Blue Jays. The Dodgers needed to have about 10 things go right in that series to win it, especially in the last 2 games. In those big moments, it was the Dodgers that came out on top, whether it be due to luck, skill, or some combination of the two. As great as the Blue Jays were, they simply weren’t as great in the biggest moments of the series. It certainly doesn’t make them a failure by any stretch of the imagination. It’s cruel someone had to lose, but just don’t tell me that the better team didn’t win.

There’s also the question about what the Dodgers do from here to try and make it a 3rd straight World Series title. While the core of their team is still very good, they are not young. Freddie Freeman is 36, Shohei Ohtani is 31, Mookie Betts is 33, Blake Snell is 32, Teoscar Hernandez is 33, Tayler Glasnow is 32, Max Muncy is is 35, and Tommy Edman is 30. These guys definitely deserve the right to compete for another title, and glad to see the options for Muncy and Alex Vesia were picked up. However, the Dodgers should really not be signing anybody this off-season to any 7-10 year deals that are another $400-500 million. As tempting as it is to make a push for a Kyle Tucker or Tarik Skubal, they are likely to age poorly. The good news though? They have arguably the #1 farm system in baseball. Most of that talent is in the outfield and about 2 years away, but it’s certainly a good problem to have as they will have to figure out how to get younger in the next 2 years.

In the NFL, the Rams took down the 49ers yesterday in Santa Clara. I know you are what your record says you are, but this could team easily be undefeated right now. They should have beaten the Eagles in Philly a few weeks ago, and they should have also beaten the 49ers the first time as well. In any case, the Rams are firmly in the hunt for the #1 seed in the NFC more than halfway through the regular season. They will have a monster matchup next week at home against the Seahawks, with the 1st place on the line. The play calling on 3rd and 4th down has been much better by Sean McVay, and the offensive line has been doing a brilliant job protecting Matt Stafford. I’d really like to see the defense get more pressure on the opposing QB, but we’ve seen them do that earlier in the season, so hopefully yesterday was just an aberration. They will also have to get more consistency from both their punting and kicking game if they want to do some damage.

Meanwhile, the Chargers dominated the Steelers yesterday 25-10 on Sunday Night Football. The Bolts defense completely smothered the Steelers all night, holding them to a mere 221 yards. Aaron Rodgers looked like he should be hosting Jeopardy, rather than staring an NFL game last night. Justin Herbert was solid, and for a team with as many injuries as the Chargers have, a 7-3 record is pretty impressive. Ironically, the Broncos 8-2 record seems like complete garbage even though they are in 1st place, while it’s the Chiefs and their 5-4 record and building momentum, who seem the most dangerous. Also congratulations to Keenan Allen, who made his 956th career reception last night, which gave him the most receptions in franchise history.

In College Football, UCLA got taken down by Nebraska. All the momentum they had after a few wins in a row is gone, and this is pretty much who we thought they were. However, the real story is that the Bruins are close to an agreement to move to SOFI stadium, by ultimately breaking their lease at the Rose Bowl. I don’t really think this is as great of an idea as it sounds. SOFI might be a slightly smaller stadium and 13 miles closer, but the traffic from Westwood to Inglewood makes the distance negligible. SOFI stadium is also not exactly the collegiate feel that the Rose Bowl is, and obviously doesn’t have the history they do in Pasadena. Ultimately though, if UCLA doesn’t fix their product on the field soon, they can play at SOFI or on the moon and nobody will show up.

As for the Trojans, they took down Northwestern at home on Friday night at the Coliseum. They are 7-2 and now up to #17 in the AP Poll, and 4th in the Big Ten. If the Trojans can win out, which would include wins against #20 Iowa and #9 Oregon, that would probably be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff. That might also quiet down a lot of the noise that Lincoln Riley and the Trojans are both looking for a divorce from one another. That’s still a tough road for the Trojans to get through just to get to the playoff though. Jaiden Maiava will probably take some heat for Friday’s mediocre performance, but he had a lot of good throws that were just dropped by his receivers. They’ll need to show a lot more if they want to win out.

In the NBA, the Lakers were starting to roll, then they decided not to show up in Atlanta. The Hawks have even more injury problems than the Lakers do. I’m going to chalk up Saturday’s loss to having a few too many chicken wings at Magic City the night before. The Lakers are probably another week away from getting Lebron, Austin, and Gabe Vincent back in their lineup. In the meantime, in the Western Conference you simply cannot bank enough wins, given how competitive it is. Right now however, it feels like it’s OKC’s world and everybody else is just living in it.

Then there’s the Clippers, who fell to 3-6 over the weekend with a loss to the Suns. The Clips have now lost 4 in a row, and this is a familiar story. Kawhi Leonard has missed the last 3 games because of an ankle injury, and is expected to miss at least 3 more. Kawhi is definitely a big deal, but the Clips have been relatively healthy otherwise for the first 9 games. James Harden has only missed 1 game, and Bradley Beal has missed 2. However, the Clips built their team on the idea that they have the depth to overcome some absences here and there from some of their veteran players. So far that seems like the same story we’ve seen from them for the last 6 years. The idea of the Clippers sounds promising, but never really translates into any real success on the court.

Finally, UCLA Basketball opened the season last week, and collected a couple of unimpressive wins over Eastern Washington and Pepperdine. Mick Cronin nearly lost his mind after the first game, given that the Bruins allowed 53% shooting from the field, which allowed the Eagles to hang around and make the game competitive. The defense got much better against Pepperdine, and so did Xavier Booker, who made a huge impact in the paint. UCLA will need to sharpen up quickly because after tonight’s game against West Georgia, they’ll take on #13 Arizona at the Intuit Dome on Friday. I wouldn’t freak out too much yet though. Mick Cronin teams have a tendency to get better as the season progresses. This week will give us a much better idea of just what kind of potential this team really has this year.

November 3, 2025

Somehow they did it! The Dodgers came back from the dead over the weekend to defeat the Toronto Blue Jays in game 7 of the World Series.  They are now back-to-back World Series Champions.   I thought for sure this team didn’t have the bullpen, or plate discipline to do it.   I thought the Blue Jays had too good of a team.  It turned out that the Dodgers have more than just talent money can buy.  They had high character role players that stepped up in big moments to deliver a championship.  That’s something the Blue Jays didn’t have.  Miguel Rojas won the series with both his glove, and his game tying l run in the 9th inning of game 7.  Andy Pages went from getting benched to making a heroic defensive play in the 9th inning of that game.  Let’s not forget Will Klein throwing 70 pitches in game 3 when he had never thrown more than 30 in a game.   Those are the guys you need to win a title.    Also, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was worth every penny of that $325 million contract he signed, even if he never pitches again.  The rest of the starters were outstanding all postseason, and I’m so happy to see Clayton Kershaw retire as a World Champion.

I’m sure much of the talk will be about whether or not the Dodgers are ruining baseball. However, what they are doing is actually great for the game.  20 million people watched the World Series.  Dynasties in the making are great for any sport, and the Dodgers can become one in my mind with 1 more championship in the next 2 seasons.  This is a brilliantly run organization that as fans, we should be so proud of and enjoy for as long as this run lasts, because they don’t last forever.

To the NFL where the Rams handles business yesterday against the Saints at home.  Matt Stafford threw for 4 TDs, and the team dominated on both sides of the ball.  When Stafford is well protected, it feels like he can be one of the best QBs in the league.  That’s a problem the Rams have been having for a few years now, but appear to have finally fixed it.  There’s a lot to be excited about.  The Rams are a Super Bowl contender now, will have $90 mill in cap space, and 2 1st round picks this spring.  They are set up nicely for a big run!

The Chargers found the win column as well against the Titans, but it was a costly one.  The Bolts suffered injuries to two key offensive lineman, including Joe Alt, who is arguably the teams most important lineman.  In case you weren’t sure how big of a loss that was, Justin Herbert was sacked six times after that.  He still managed to come up big though, and the Chargers won a game they had to have against a team they had no business losing too.  Hope they can get creative on the o-line moving forward though, or else they could be in trouble.

In College Football, the Trojans got a solid win on the road against Nebraska on Saturday.   USC is now up to #20 in the AP Poll and looking respectable,  it probably no shot for the CFP.    I know everybody wants to bag on Lincoln Riley for not being tough, but the Trojans rallied and used the toughness of a run game to overcome a bum passing night.   They’ve got Northwestern and Iowa coming up next at home, which are two very winnable games.

The Lakers have won 3 in a row and are now 5-2 to start the season.  If your first thought is that they should trade LeBron or Austin, I have news for you: you’re an idiot.   Put aside your “I don’t like LeBron” agendas, and your “Austin isn’t a big enough star” agendas.  Those three together can easily be on of the best trios in the NBA.  On top of that, most of you owe Rob Pelinka an apology because DeAndre Ayton, Marcus Smart, and Jake  LaRavia have been fantastic so far.  I’m liking this teams chances of quickly emerging as the 2nd best team in the West.  After that we’ll see if they can challenge OKC.

As for the Clippers, they are off to an ok start with a 3-2 record.  You would hope it wouldn’t take a buzzer beater from Kawhi to beat a winless Pelicans team, but at this stage a win is a win.The Clips at least have to feel good that Kawhi doesn’t need much ramp up and is playing at an elite level already.  Considering the Clippers have wins against the Suns, Pelicans, and Blazers, but losses against the Warriors and Jazz, it’s pretty hard so far to figure out just how good these guys are going to be.

October 27, 2025

It looked like the Toronto Blue Jays really had the Dodgers on the ropes there on Saturday night. The Jays were constantly threatening early, but Yoshinobu Yamamoto not only worked his way out of that trouble, but had the physical and mental toughness to throw his 2nd straight postseason complete game. Nobody in Dodgers history has done that in 4 decades. Now we’re tied coming back to LA. It’s going to be tough for either team to win 3 straight games, but if the Dodgers can win 2 of the next 3 they will be in great shape to repeat as Champions. The Dodgers have an edge in pitching in all 3 of those games. The toughest part though? The pitching in almost every game has been transcendent level. At some point, they will need some help from the bullpen. I know the choices are few and far between down there, but the next three Dodger pitchers certainly aren’t going to give you complete games. They’ve got to step up and provide some relief. The good news for the Dodgers is the Blue Jays bullpen isn’t exactly lights out either. Winning this series against the likes of notorious 2017 cheater George Springer, and former 2021 “me-first” Dodger Max Scherzer would be extra sweet. Also, credit to Andrew Friedman and Dave Roberts for being flexible. I’ve always made fun of them for their overly analytics approach, but they are now using their starters as starters, despite the fact that line 57 of the spreadsheet is telling them otherwise. That flexibility is what gives them the greatest chance to repeat as champions. That and the fact that they just sound very confident they are going to win.

While we are on the subject of baseball, the Angels simply can’t get out of their own way, and made headlines with more embarrassment last week. They hired Kurt Suzuki as their new manager, and gave him a one year deal. They simply would not hire Albert Pujols or Tori Hunter because they wanted “too much money” in the eyes of cheapskate owner Arte Moreno. It’s clear that Arte has no interest in paying a Manager or General Manager if there is a potential lockout. However, if this is his attitude, then the man has no intention of building any kind of sustainable success. Although most of us already knew that, it’s an obnoxious reminder of what his approach is. One area of hope Angels fans can hold onto: the idea that Moreno would have to sell the team if his franchise is found liable in court over the death of Tyler Skaggs. Although that is considered unlikely, one can hold onto hope.

I love how Austin Reaves plays every game like he is still trying to make an NBA roster. The man is turning into an NBA All-Star before our very eyes, after he dropped a career high 51 points last night in a win against Sacramento. The Lakers did however got some early bad news. They will be without Luka Doncic for the next week with a finger sprain and a leg contusion. I’m going to spare all of you the jokes about how soft today’s NBA players are, and how they are like Charmin Tissue Paper. Ok sorry, I couldn’t help myself. But this is very unfortunate because the Lakers are already without Lebron and Jaxton Hayes. If they can get through the next week with a 2-2 record, they should be content. Luka was really on fire in his first two games. When this team is healthy, I think they do have a lot of promise, but that might be another month away from happening. I really like Marcus Smart and he gives them an edge and toughness the Lakers haven’t had in a long time. I like Jake LaRavia too, but his barber should be in prison. A lot of you are killing DeAndre Ayton, but last night he showed you just how impactful he can be on this team. Some of you that watch this team need your head examined. Austin was clearly injured in the playoffs last year, but you all thought he sucked and needed to be traded. Now he’s going off, and your next thought is that the Lakers are somehow better off trading Lebron. What you should be thinking is just how elite this team can be with Luka, Lebron, and Austin. In the meantime, it’s going to be the Austin Reaves show for the next week!

The Clippers are off to an ok start, with a couple of wins, following their opening night loss to Utah. However, the best news for them is this FBI investigation going on involving Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier. This is an incredibly bad look for the NBA, and one they really don’t have much control over because the Federal Government is involved in this matter. I find it very hard to believe Adam Silver would add to the negative publicity going on right now but punishing the Clippers for circumventing the salary cap. Timing is everything, and the timing is working out quite favorably for the Clips. The league doesn’t need negative publicity with new TV deals with Amazon and NBC. There is obviously an issue with gambling that needs to be addressed, but Steve Ballmer already placed his gamble on Kawhi’s knees and lost.

In the NFL, the Rams had a bye week but the Chargers came up with an easy but important win on Thursday night against the Vikings. The Bolts are really banged up, so it was important to get a win, even if it was against a team that should probably be relegated to the CFL at this point. Justin Herbert was great again. I don’t know how much healthier the Bolts will be in 10 days from now, but they should be able to beat an even weaker opponent in the Titans, who I’m not even sure are trying to win football games at this point.

It was a nice run while it lasted, but UCLA came crashing back to earth on Saturday against Indiana. The Bruins took a senseless beating from the Hoosiers, 56-6 in Bloomington. The Bruins were outmanned on both sides of the ball. Indiana is going to beat a lot of teams whether the opponent is new to the Big 10 or not. Tim Skipper deserves credit getting players who weren’t highly ranked to play well the previous three games. Beating Nebraska is possible with this team. Toppling Ohio State, Washington and USC less so. If they can just keep those games competitive, it will be an accomplishment. The better question is what UCLA is going to do with their coaching search. James Franklin is still the best guy they can hire. I sure hope Brian Kelly isn’t the guy for the job, or else we’ll be hearing him manufacture some surfer guy California accent in his press conferences.

Finally, I mean to ask this question in the most respectful way possible. Is LA Kings Coach Jim Hiller an idiot? Anybody with half a brain can see that the Kings best defenseman and best player is Brandt Clarke. He’s only 22 years old, but Hiller has shown that he hates trusting young players. Well his young player in this case has the potential to be an elite NHL Defenseman, yet he’s playing him fewer minutes than any of his other defenseman. A handful of those defenseman are complete scrubs that his useless GM signed over the summer. I’m absolutely terrified that Clarke will eventually go the way of other young players this organization has seen the last 5-7 years, and get traded for a used bag of pucks. Here’s to hoping I’m wrong.

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.