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“Postcards from Vacation”

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White I was on vacation in Ireland…lots happened. Just catching up with what I think about what has happened.

Padres…fallout from a 95-loss season continues. Hunter Refroe exiled to El Paso to re-learn the strike zone….Hitting coach Alan Zinter fired after his battering order posted a (.232) team average with (1,238) strikeouts heading into the final month of the season….9th hitting coach to be ousted since 2004….Manager Andy Green has now fired 3-of the coaches he brought in 18-months ago….Only 1-of Padres minor league teams made it to post-season play…though virtually all the young pitchers did well at their respective levels.

Dodgers…trying to get everyone healthy and tuned up for postseason…Manager Dave Roberts was fielding a ‘Cactus League’ lineup while losing the Saturday doubleheader to the Padres….Yes, Clayton Kershaw is back, but Yu Darvish is not dominant…and the arm fatigue issues for Alex Wood and Rich Hill seem to exist…and that should all be concern, despite the Blue being 50-games over .500 this year…LA with an ailing Corey Seager…Adrian Gonzalez trying to bounce back…Joc Peterson in AAA…just is not the same team right now.

Angels…Owner Marte Moreno went out and rented Tigers slugger Justin Upton and Braves 2nd baseman Brandon Phillips for the September drive to the wildcard spot…Amazing the Halos are still in it, having had 7-pitchers on the DL this year…but then again 17-of-30 teams in baseball were below .500 as of this weekend….Big question, when if Justin Upton elects not to opt out of his contract? That would stick the Angels with 88M-in salaries for 3-more years, in addition n to the money still owed aging Albert Pujols.

Chargers….Here comes the opening of the NFL season after a very unimpressive (1-3) preseason slate of games….Aside from Philip Rivers strong showing in 2-quarters of play, nothing stood out with the Bolts…Defense could not stop the rush….the backups got bombed…the linebacking looked suspect…there seems to be no depth on defense..and then the final roster cut claimed veterans Dwight Lowery, Josh Lambo and more. That plus the injuries. And here comes Denver with the Monday night opener…and the fight for LA?…Lousy crowds at Stub Hub center…Dan Fouts criticism of the move to LA….and a Rams-Chargers national TV audience that was the lowest rated NFL national game in 13-years.

Aztecs….They look good in beating up outmanned UC-Davis….Christian Chapman throws for (221)….Rashaad Penny rumbles for (197)….the defense has 3-takeaways and a sack….Young OL played well…but next up at Arizona State…then Stanford…then at the Air Force…Stadium looked great decked out in Red & Black colors…46,000 plus showed up for the fireworks game-hopefully those fans will come back

USD…survived a wild passing attack in finally putting away Western New Mexico..Javier Hall threw for (464) so the Torerors have worked to be done…Only 2,500 show up for the home opener…Support for a strong 1AA program is still lacking.

Ireland…Went abroad for a week in Dublin-Belfast-Londonderry and more…Scenery spectacular….castles and cathedrals everywhere….rain-cool weather…and lots of Guiness beer…..4-majoir newspapers in Ireland…..15-page sports sections…..everything about Gaelic football….soccer…cricket…hurling….not one sentence the entire week about NFL camps…baseball pennant races…or anything else sports related in the US…..just 1-story a day about the Houston floods or anything related to the Trump presidency…..Very interesting time there….and stunningly…no CNN or BBC television in Ireland…just the RTE network..

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