THINKING OUT LOUD”

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Sitting and watching the world of sports spin by..stories to comment on.

PADRES…A collapse of epic proportions and a roster full of Padres players just accepting what life has become.  Nobody angry.  No fire in the dugout.  Same as it always has been .  A manager full of philosophy but virtually nothing else  It’s almost as if the Padres players don’t care anymore, as long as they get their paycheck on the 1st and 15th of every month.  Worst record in baseball since mid August, can you believe that? Worse than Arizona-Baltimore-Pittsburgh.

DODGERS…What a starting rotation, no weak links in there, dominant outings, and the reality they have 3-starting pitchers who could all garner Cy Young Award votes, in Max Scherzer-Julio Urias-Walker Beuhler.  Add in they crack the 100-win barrier despite having Corey Seager, Mookie Betts, Clayton Kershaw and Cody Bellinger missed large chunks of the season with injuries.

GIANTS…Farhan Zaidi-Gabe Kaplar, Exec of the Year, Manager of the Year.  Who could have thought that when they broke spring training with what appeared to be a rag-tag roster of role players and pitchers off the scrap heap.

ANGELS..Shohei Ohtani sounds off about being tired of losing and demanding the team sign free agents to upgrade the roster.  This comes right after Manager Joe Maddon said the same thing.  Owner Arte Moreno needs to let his new GM-Perry Mazinian make the decisions.  When Moreno tried to play MLB exec, he wasted enormous amounts of money on Justin Upton, Josh Hamilton and bad pitching investments.

CHARGERS…Some weekend ahead of the Bolts and their electric offense led by QB-Justin Herbert.  They have moved the ball on everyone.  Stopping people has been a bit of a challenge.  And here come the Raiders, their number 1-ranked offense  and passing game and all that firepower.  When was the last time the Raiders were (3-0)?  A long time ago.

RAMS..What a QB-matchup, Matthew Stafford-vs-Kyler Murray in a battle of big play down the field high octane offenses when the Rams play the Arizona Cardinals.  Both not afraid to throw deep to a fleet of fast receivers.  Going to be a dandy matchup of (3-0) teams.

RAIDERS…Think there will be a few fans wearing Silver & Black on Monday Night, as the Chargers plaiy a ‘road game’ at home.  Reports that over 52,000 of the 70,000-fans at the Chargers-Cowboys game were Dallas fans.  Wonder what the percentage will be on nationwide TV.

LAKERS…This is LeBron James’ team.  He helped hand pick the many free agents who signed in the offseason and he helped convinve them to come play at a lower salary in LA for a shot at the NBA ring.  12-incoming new players on a major roster turnover.  Will they fit?  Will they mix well?  LeBron, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony will be an interesting chemstry experiment.

CLIPPERS…Without Kawhi Leonard, I don’t know how this team can play an entire schedule and think they will be an uppoer echelon NBA team.  Paul George had to carry a huge scoring load at the end of the playoffs.  Where’s the scoring and rebounding going to come from with no Kawhi for at least 5-months if not the entire season?

USC…Losses pile up, and you cannot blame Clsy Helton any longer.  Getting blitzed by Oregon State, at home, infront of the boo birds, was stunning.  The hot and cold and hurt quarterbacking has made things tough

UCLA…Just when you think the Bru9ins have turned the corner under Chip Kelly, they lose games.  Heavy duty Michigan transfer RB-Zach Charbonnet  has been superb.  QB-Dorian Robinson-Thompson has been up and down and the defense streaky.  Kelly was (10-21) to start the season.  They better have a good record this year or the wolves will be at the door demanding a coaching change.

AZTECS…How much fun will this be a week from Saturday, San Diego State-vs-New Mexico…Brady Hoke vs Rocky Long…vintage Aztecs defense vs the coach who created that Aztecs defense…This might be a single digit scoring affair settled by kickers.  Will be fun to watch.

USD…Awful start for Dale Lindsey in what has been a very good small college program.  Struggling at quarterback, over scheduled, and now (0-4) on the season.  First down year in a long decade plus run of very good 1AA football.

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