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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast
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“A COOL IDEA–BUT HOW”
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I love the idea, and it fits right in with all the things auto racing is doing around the nation right.

Formula 1 is the rage, and has 3-events now in the US.
Indy Car has grown its series, expanding to more road races
NASCAR wants to expand and is willing to look at dynamic new road course ideas.

And now the rumor has become fact, NASCAR wants to move back into the Southern California market.  That with the closure of Auto Club Speedway at Fontana for massive teardown and renovations.

They want-need to hit the reset button on NASCAR interest in So Cal, and that is why they are talking to the San Diego Sports Commission about a road course race here.

I love the idea but I wonder where they would run it.

A NASCAR race here would draw tons of fans out of town.  It would be a destination point for racing fans from all over.  They remember the King, Richard Petty, the Alabama Gang-led by Bobby Allison, and all things the Intimidator-Dale Earnhardt.

A road race here has to be structured to show the beaches, the palm trees, the sunshine, the babes.

You want it close to the proximity of the Gaslamp Quarter where they can party an entire weekend.

But where do you run a road race?

1st thought, Harbor Drive, near the airport thru parts of downtown, but that’s the airport and you cannot shut down traffic in and out  of there so fans can see Bubba Wallace.

2nd thought, along Hiway 101 up towards Delmar, but that’s thru beach communities and it might be nothing more than a drag race led by William Byron.

3rd thought, Coronado Island-can you imagine a road course blowing by the Hotel Del headed to the Silver Strand, a treat to see Denny Hamlin roar by.

Maybe the best locale might be access to the Coronado Naval Air Station grounds.  How do you incorporate the scenic Coronado Bridge as part of the race over and back for Kyle Busch pushing people into guard rails?

Shall be fun to see what happens.  NASCAR is also talking to Montreal, which has an F1-road course, plus Philadelphia  and other venues.

But San Diego makes sense, especially trying to jump-start interest in auto racing here from Mexico to Los Angeles.

It would be a big financial success.  Just tell me where?

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast..1-30
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on the Table..Stay for Fans Forum
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“WILD SPORTS WEEKEND”
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What I saw-What I thought this weekend.

DODGERS-PADRES…It wasn’t really a brawl, but it was dangerous, all these beanballs and the intensity of the rivalry reaching an ugly dimension.  Everyone is to blame.  Dodgers young pitchers throwing 100mph-not locating pitches.  Fernando Tatis putting himself at risk by always striding into pitches-leaning into the plate.  8-hits batsmen in a 4-games is way too much.  The plunking of Shohei Ohtani looked intentional.  Mike Shildt has every right to come out of the dugout to confront umpires, but him making a move towards the Dodgers dugout incited things.  Dave Roberts, coming out of the dugout, was right, but him putting his hands on Shilt, bumping him, should have resulted in a 2-game suspension.

A WEIRD ENDING…After all the hostile moments after the Tatis beaning, two sights to see.  Ohtani, after getting plunked in the upper back…stood and talked and joked with Luis Arraez and then did the same thing standing by the Padres dugout.  And Teoscar Hernandez put his arms around Shildt’s shoulder and they walked up the first base line laughing and joking.  So the rivalry will be put on hold till mid-August, and we will have to see who is where in the standings by then.

SUPER UTILITYMAN…Jose Iglesias saved the Friars on Sunday.  A two run pinch hit double tied the game in the 7th.  He threw the Royals go ahead runner out at home in the 9th, then won the game with an infield single in the bottom of the 9th.  He has become pretty popular for a part time player.

DODGERS BOUNCE BACK…Just when you wonder if the Dodgers batting order was going to falter under the weight of having to score so many runs, here comes Max Muncy with a grand slam HR and a2-run shot in the Sunday comeback win over Washington.

SHOWTIME…The second outing from Ohtani was pretty dominant…a 1-2-3 inning, clocked at 99, with 2-strikeouts in his one inning vs Washington.

ANGELS…The news is scary, not just another struggle of a season in Anaheim, but the fact 73-year old Manager Ron Washington, has taken an indefinite leave of absence.  He saw doctors on the last road trip, citing fatigue and breathing problems.  The Halos won’t say if it is stress related, a heart valve issue, or just exhaustion.  Losing does that to you.

SAD FAREWELL…Media covering baseball mourns the passing of a truly nice guy, longtime national baseball beat writer and author Scott Miller, who fought a courageous battle with cancer for a year and half.  And during that time, he found the resolve the complete the work on his final book ‘The Managers”, a look at the history of modern day managers and what makes them great.  Miller covered the Twins, moved to the West Coast.  He worked for the LA Times, then the New York Times, CBS Sportsline and Fox Sports.  A friendly smile, cooperative, a very good storyteller, a craftsman.  We all remember him fondly. But it was a Sad Saturday and Sunday around press boxes in the majors.

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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“NBA-ROLLER COASTER”
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We have 1-more game on the NBA schedule, capping off a schizophrenic championship round.

This Oklahoma City-Indiana Pacers final round denies description.  It all started early with the Pacers grit and grime win in Oklahoma City to start the series.

It progressed to the scorch job Thunder win on Indy’s home floor when OKC would have gone down 3-1 in the series.

There was the 71-point combo night from Oklahoma City’s stars Shai Gilegous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.

And then there was Thursday night’s devastation. A raucous crowd, an Indy team hitting 8-of-10 shots early to grab a big lead.  A (17-2) burst in the 2nd quarter.  The Pacers choke hold defense forcing a ton of turnovers.  Indy burying 3-point shots all over the 317-area code.  And the lead went to 30-points at one point in the second half.

All this with an ailing superstar Tyrese Haliburton playing limited minutes with a calf.

It looks as if OKC’s heart did not make the flight to Indianapolis.  Turnovers, tons of them, at one point (1-11) shooting from 3’s, and a team that got mugged all night long, all over the court by the Pacers defense.

It’s been a long time since the Pacers won a championship.  A decade ago the franchise had Reggie Miller and Ric Smits.  Back in the 1970s, the Pacers were ABA champions with the likes of George McGinnis, Mel Daniels and Roger Brown.

So they head to the 7th and final game of as wild a series as we have seen in a long time.  Sunday will be as hostile in Oklahoma City as Thursday night was in downtown Indianapolis.

Hard to think OKC’s Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and the others would have another clinker of a performance, especially at home.  Of course, the youngest team in NBA playoff history has not been down this hallway before.  Neither has Indiana-this deep into the finals.

Shall be fun.  Sitting in the front seat of this roller coaster?  Hold on.  The Thunder and Pacers are about to provide one final ride come Game 7.
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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast-1:30-pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Hot Topics on the Table-Stay for Fans Forum
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“LAKERS-CHANGING OF THE GUARD”
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The NBA off season has not yet begun, but we now have the story that has stolen the entire off season.

The LA Lakers have been sold.  The Buss family, which brought us Showtime, 12-championships, Kobe and Shaq, and more recently LeBron and Luka, have sold the legacy franchise.

Jerry Buss bought the team in 1979, signed every glittering star player out there, won those rings, and on his death, turned it over to his daughter Jeannie to run.  Here came Phil Jackson, with all his Chicago Bulls rings, and then the galaxy of more star players.

But this is not her father’s Lakers team anymore.  Jeannie’s version of the Lakers has just 1-NBA ring, and only 6-winning seasons in the last 13-years.

GMs have come and gone.  The coaching turnover has been staggering.  There are no home grown stars there anymore.  And the legacy roster is made up of guys who came from other teams, the latest being Luka Doncic and LeBron James.

The Lakers, with all its banners and glitter, don’t seem to be the lure they were once upon a time,, but that might be about to change.  Salary cap-Luxury Tax be damned, the incoming owners may well run the franchise differently.

Mark Walter, who runs TWG-Capital, purchased the Lakers for a record (10B) from the Buss estate.  The same Mark Walter, who led Guggenheim Investments to buy the Dodgers out of the bankruptcy grasp of Frank McCourt.
and the rest is baseball history.

The Dodgers have a World Series ring, 11-NL West titles.  They have had a record 1B-in revenues.  They have spent a high water (380M) this year in baseball payroll.  They signed Shohei Ohtani to a record (700M) contract.  They established an all time high 1B-revenue this past season.  And they have invested over (500M) in renovations at the historic Dodgers Stadium.

They also own the legendary Chelsea soccer team, and the Cadillac F-1 newly formed racing team.

That’s a pretty good track record.

So it is apparent the Lakers will embark on a different era with new leadership, deeper pockets, and a history of enormous business and sports success.

Yes, Jeannie Buss will remain on as the Lakers rep on the Board of Governors.  Yes GM-Rob Pelinka just signed a contract extension.  JJ Redick is still here as coach.  There is still LeBron James’ contract, the Doncic extension is coming, and there are hardly any draft picks in the cupboard to improve the team.

But Mark Walter’s resume is spectacular and tomorrow’s new leadership could be very different from the way the franchise operated yesterday.

The Lakers sale knocked the Oklahoma City-Indiana Pacers off the front pages and off the big topics of NBA sportstalk.

The top two franchises in the LA Sports Market are the Lakers and Dodgers.  And they are now both under the banner of Mark Walter’s leadership.

Stay tuned to see where all this goes.  Indeed a changing of the guard in LA.
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“NATIONAL LEAGUE WEST-FACT VS FICTION”
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We are at mid-June on the baseball schedule and the teams are in turmoil in the National League West.

We are 6-weeks away from the Baseball Trading Deadline, and one big deal has already been made, but there may be limitations on other teams making deals.

A quick look at NL-West storylines:

DODGERS:

The calvary is on the way and it might save the Dodgers season heading into the playoffs.  LA has had 18-pitchers on the disabled list this first half of the season and the jury is still out what they will get out of the biggest names on that pitching staff.

Shohei Ohtani’s first outing was a statement, and now we wait to see how quickly he can build his innings and pitch counts from one start to another.

Clayton Kershaw has re-emerged with a couple of solid starts after spending the first third of the season recovering from surgeries.  As a 4th or 5th starter-he is trustworthy.

It does not appear there will be any Roki Sasaki sighting this year, because of the shoulder impingement that led to a cortisone injection.  Such an impressive start has come to a crashing halt.  They have to rebuild his mechanics.  Fix his psyche.  Hope they can build a pitch count for him.  He might not be ready till September if at all.

Blake Snell has not pitched this season and has been slow to rebound from his own shoulder woes.  Might he be a month away, but what will he be like when he gets back, with his history of lousy starts.  They owe him alot of money and he drags a pretty shoddy reputation to the mound with him based on first half failures virtually every year.

Tyler Glasnow may be the next in line, but you wonder about his propensity to breakdown with shoulder issues, forearm strains, now back tightness, as they try to fix his delivery to protect all the moving parts.  He likely is the next to arrive in the rotation, but for how long.

An alarm bell also rang this week with a 3rd bad outing in a row from Yosh Yomamoto, with the analytics people admitting the ace cannot hold up to pitching in a 4-man rotation.  They may try to slot him once a week, where his career ERA is (0.67) on 6-days rest.  Stay tuned for that scouting report next.

The LA bullpen is deep, banged up, recovering, but in recent weeks, the Dodgers have gone to bullpen days twice a week.  How look does that hold up?

LA is rich, deep in talent, unafraid to gamble, deep in the pockets despite its payroll.  Maybe there is another trade rental like last year’s Jack Flaherty rental.

SAN FRANCISCO:

A rock solid first half of the season on the mound, rotation and in the bullpen.  Think about this, they are a home run out of first place and have zero wins from Justin Verlander.  And they had 7-wins from Robbie Ray, with his history of arm problems.

The arrival of Raf Devers from the Red Sox shocked the world.  Now he joins Willy Adames and Matt Chapman in what could be a strong batting order, after an anemic first half at bat.  But we await to see how Devers hits in the bigger yard that is Oracle Park, vs what was the Green Monster, the Pesky Foul Pole and all things Fenway Park.

PADRES:

The good ship AJ Preller is taking on water.  They have half a rotation.  Dylan Cease has two wins and it’s mid June.  Nick Pivetta, who was the third wheel in the rotation on opening day, has 8-wins.

And despite a spotty resume, think about the number of decent innings they have gotten from Randy Vasquez, Ryan Berget and Stephen Kolek.

But the starters struggle to get to the 5th-6th innings, there is a ton of over reliance on the bullpen, and there is really nothing left to bring up from El Paso.

The great unknown is whether there are very many innings left from Yu Darvish, having his 3rd straight summer of elbow issues.  And the mystery of how to treat Michael King’s shoulder impingement.  And of course there is no Joe Musgrove.

How do the Friars stay in a pennant race with 3-key starters either not winning, or not even on the roster.  Think of past summers, when all those starters made 30-starts each.  Feels like this is the price being paid for what those guys gave you 3-summers in a row.

Preller’s winter shopping spree at Dollar General netted him home runs from Gavin Sheets, some decent play from super sub Jose Iglesias, but virtually nothing else.  A black hole in left, non-hitting catchers, not much of a bench bunch.

Complicating it all, there’s not much to use as trade bait.  Ownership seems to have a lid on the 210M-payroll the GM has spent on.  No one wants the big veteran contracts he has handed out either.

Hate to think the (14-3) Padres start was the best baseball you will see from this team. They are under .500 since then.  It feels like they are on borrowed time despite the stars in the lineup and in the batting order.

ARIZONA:

Last year was a surprise.  This year is a disappointment, as they struggle to stay at .500.

Losing front line starter Corbin Burnes for the year with elbow surgery was devastating, alot of money to a guy who never had arm problems.

The devastating shoulder surgery for Jordan Montgomery, all that wasted money invested in him.  Ditto for Eduardo Rodgriuez who has hardly been a good investment.  Not much help for once-ace Zac Gallen.

They never replaced departed 1st baseman Christian Walker either.  It’s just a fractured team right now.

COLORADO:

Are they still in the National League West?  What a disgrace.  I am sure there are roster changes coming.  Should be an ownership change too.  The worst start for a major league team since 1899.

If they were healthy, maybe somebody would make a run at Rockies pitchers German Marquez or Kyle Freeland or maybe 3B-1B-Ryan McMahon.

Their season was over by May 1st.

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