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“Teams in Town–My Thoughts”

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PADRES…Call it a disappointing homestand, this (4-3) start to the season.  Luckily the Friars head to Texas to meet the downtrodden Rangers, then onto Pittsburgh to face the last place pitcher poor Pirates….There is an emotional drain right now with the loss of Fernando Tatis…Manny Machado is hitting (.200) after a poor spring training….Keep your fingers crossed as Trent Grisham, coming off the hamstring issue, rejoins the team on Friday in Texas…The next week is important for Chris Paddack-if he is to keep his spot in the rotation-his regression continues.

DODGERS…Clayton Kershaw bounced back with a strong second start-dominating the A’s-but Kenley Jansen was wild, poor, and costly in his 22-pitch ninth inning blown save on Thursday…so the raging debate whether he should be the closer will start up again…Wonder if the Dodgers will miss the HR threat Joc Pederson used to present when he was in the batting order?

ANGELS…They’ve fixed the rotation, but the guy who was supposed to be the closer, Raisel Iglesias, has had 3-bad outings in a row, and has a (9.00-ERA) right now…Shohei Ohtani, DH-pitcher will be the most fascinating story for the first month of the season, to see how he pulls off both roles under Joe Madden, who wants Ohtani to play loose and do what made him great in Japan.

CHARGERS….Virtually all those OL draft picks John Spanos and Tom Telesco made, are now gone.  Sam Tevi..Forrest Lamp..Dan Feeney all signed somewhere else as free agents.  On tap of that they dealt away Russell Okung for Trei Turner and then dumped Turner’s contract this off-season, unwilling to go any farther with his (11.5M) contact…Hunter Henry is gone, Melvin Ingram is gone, Denzel Perryman is gone, Issac Rochelle is gone, along with Casey Hayward plus others…Wonder when anyone will hold the Player Personnel people responsible for what this roster looks like?

AZTECS..Spring football underway and so is the 3-way battle for the starting QB job.  Undersized Jordan Brookshire played really well at the end of last season, but he seems the last choice.  Georgia Tech transfer Lucas Johnson looks the role, but he cannot stay healthy.  Mississippi State transfer Jalen Mayden has to knock three years of rust off-learn the playbook and make plays….That’s alot to ask of a mid-year transfer.

USD…The Toreros saw their 39-game conference win streak go down the drain, losing to Davidson last weekend at home…QB-Mason Randall throws for yards but is turnover prone…The defense gives up lots of yards…USD still might make the 1AA playoffs, if they can win their final two games on the spring schedule.

SAN DIEGO STATE-USD-UCSD….Either one of these college basketball teams recruit high school players?  SDSU says it will bring in 5-transfers from the portal.  USD already has 3-transfers after hauling in lots of them last year…and suffering thru two miserable seasons in the WCC-you know Gonzaga’s conference….The Tritons debut season in the Big West was marred by so many cancellations and losses because of Covid
so they will look for a do-over next winter with hopes of better outcomes.

GULLS…They are our team, but they are not here-playing their AHL schedule up in Irvine at the Ducks practice facility…Thank goodness we get to see a few games on TV because the UT has not written one feature story on the team, its players, the hot start, or the current winning streak.  How come Union-Tribune?  19 year old sensation Trevor Zegras is just back from the Ducks, will convert to center, and rejoin the NHL club within a couple of weeks.

MLS SOCCER…..We have a chance to get an expansion franchise, with the Sacramento Knights franchise having withdrawn its option to start up in a year because potential ownership backed out of helping finance a new stadium in the capitol….SDSU is willing to negotiate with the league for a move-in to the new football stadium…MLS needs to convince Ron Burkle, who wanted to own the Sacramento team, to reignite his interest, buy the franchise, and relocate it to soccer-happy San Diego.

SAN DIEGO SOCKERS…Such a great history of success, now like an orphan…played all of their games on the road because of Covid…play in a non-recognizable league…no publicity…no coverage by the Union Tribune here either..Feel bad for Sean Bowers-the GM..

SAN DIEGO LOYAL…Year two of the USL franchise will show promise with Landon Donovan running the operation,..but the league needs identity and publicity.

SAN DIEGO STRIKEFORCE…Who knows if the Indoor Football League team comes back…after a (1-13) season and then the cancellation of the start of this season.

SAN DIEGO GLADIATORS…Semi pro basketball wants to start this spring, but who knows.

RUGBY-INDOOR LACROSSE…Just not on the radar right now in our community.

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