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Aztecs-Bye Week-Really Needed”

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San Diego State gets to their bye week with a (3-1) record, but badly banged up.

Up ahead-conference plays beginning with a road trip to Boise State a week from Saturday, but the challenge of playing on the Blue Carpet without his starting QB-Christian Chapman and top RB-Juwan Washington.

Long’s status report on his team.

Great win-tough part we lost couple of key players
We are getting younger and younger as season goes along
Juwan Washington-no surgery needed-crack in clavicle-be back in 6-weeks
No pecking order to be backup to Chase Jasmin-no one has backup role yet
We will look at Kaegun Williams-Jordan Bird-Zidane Thomas as backup rB
Bird-Thomas been running backs on scout squad

Bye week does not really give us chance to grow secondary
Scout team doesn’t give starters thru look
Hope to get Noble Hall-DT back for Boise game

Losing top RB and top fullback will make it tough to run
Ryan Agnew has played well-is making plays with arm-feet
Coaches doing good job getting Agnew ready game to game
Use this bye week to get all young guys up to speed

Won’t get into prep for Boise game till next Monday
Boise as good as everyone thought with 4th year QB
Utah State-Hawaii real surprises this year on offense
Nevada scoring a ton of points
Aztecs have not played ball control we need too except ASU win
Our style play should help us dominate games…we need first downs

NCAA transfer rule has created issues on both sides
Making rules to give players more options to transfer
Teams a lot more insecure with players leaving 3-to-4 games into season
His personality-he was ready to have this opportunity

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“NBA-Roll That Basketball Out on the Floor”

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The much anticipated NBA off season is over. and Tuesday preseason begins.

Virtually all the big player decisions have been made, and now we see who fits the best, and who has problems fitting in.

Storylines to watch:

LAKERS….LeBron James taking his talents to Tinseltown. Pick a storyline, and there are a couple. How quickly does King James make all the young Lakers around him, better? What will Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kouzma be like? And secondarily, the other four free agents they imported, Michael Beasley, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo, will they be added talents or added problems to team chemistry?

TORONTO….All are smiling right now in Toronto, and the Raptors think they are an Eastern Conference power, now that Kawhi Leonard has arrived. Only question, does the quad injury that wiped out his 2017 season and his relationship in San Antonio, flare up in Toronto?

BOSTON…The devastating knee injury opening night to Gordon Hayward hurt the team, then Kyrie Iriving went down, and yet still this young team had a surprisingly strong season run into the playoffs. Now the forward and the guard are both back. Going to be good, real good.

HOUSTON….They’ve firepower in James Hardin and Chris Paul and now they add Carmelo Anthony. Will he start, will he come off the bench? ,Will he fit all things Mike D’Antoni wants? And will the Rockets play defense?

MINNESOTA…On paper they look so good. Inside the lockeroom they look torn apart. Jimmy Butler, the gifted forward wants to be traded, and could be anytime this week. They still have Karl Anthony Towns and Anthony Wiggins, but on paper doesn’t win on the court, especially with the turmoil that exists right now.

GOLDEN STATE…The rich get richer, and now DeMarcus Cousins, passion-fury-personality-ego-talent arrives. He’s in a contract year and will tow the rope that Steve Kerr gives him..He has gifts, the Warriors have riches, at least for another year. Could a team like this actually win 80-games in a season?

CLIPPERS…This looks the beginning of a major rebuild job. The big three, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul are all gone. Trades could be coming, but think about this. They have 2-max free agent contract slots. One right now for Jimmy Butler, the other next summer for Kawhi Leonard. Patience will be needed to see if they can connect the dots on this.

76ers….The distractions are gone, GM-Brian Colangelo fired, and ailing guard Markelle Fultz shoulder healed. Now to make it come together, Joel Embid, Ben Simmons and Fultz. They look so young, but are so good. Do they need a couple of veteran anchors to locak all this down?
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CLEVELAND…LeBron has exited the Cavs a second time, never to return. They still have Kevin Love and young players, but not enough. At least King James got them a ring.

SAN ANTONIO…This has been a historical decade long run for Greg Popovich and San Antonio, but now it is all different. Kawhi is gone (Toronto), Tony Parker is gone (Charlotte), Manu Ginobli is retired (Spain), and the Duncan-David Robinson aura has never been replaced. Will be a very different winter in mid-Texas this year.

Going to be fun to follow, and it all starts today in the NBA..

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“NFL-Who Owns LA-Now We Know”

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The battlefield that is Los Angeles.

We know which NFL team has the history in Los Angeles, dating back to Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin.

We know which NFL jerseys sell the most in the LA market between the teams, running back Todd Gurley.

We know who the richest owner is, Stan Kroenke.

We know which team sells more tickets for its home games.

We know the response each team received on its return to Los Angeles in January of 2017.

We know who owns and who is building the new stadium in Inglewood.

We know all those things because we have seen all the intangibles

Now we know who dominated on the field in the so-called LA Bowl.

The Rams ran roughshod over the Chargers on Sunday in the LA Coliseum, the stadium adorned with the signage “Rams House”.

Jared Goff, the young gun, hit 13-passes in a row to start the game. The old gun, Philip Rivers hardly got on the field in the opening half, and when he did, his defense had put the Chargers into a huge hole.

You name the formation yesterday, and the Rams probably ran it. 4-wide, spread, jet sweeps, empty backfields. And the Chargers couldn’t defend any of it.

The big ‘chunk’ plays the Chargers are so known for, was something to behold. it was the Rams hitting those plays…22-plays of 10-yards or more in the game.

If it was not Todd Gurley, bouncing, spinning, sprinting to a 100-yard day, it was Robert Woods running DBs ragged with crossing patterns and sweeps and reverses. Star WR-Brandin Cooks was more an observer than anything else in the win.

At one point the Rams had a (190-60) yardage advantage. At one point they had run off 34-plays, to 9-from the Bolts. They finished with a (72-52) play-call advantage.

In typical Chargers fashion, two more monumental screw ups on special teams, a blocked punt for a Rams TD, and a botched chip shot-point after kick.

Rivers tried hard to play catchup, but there were not many big plays from Keenan Allen nor Melvin Gordon. There were dropped passes along the way md 2-fumbles courtesy of Allen and Austin Ekeler. .

The Rams weren’t perfect, throwng a bad pick in the end zone, fumbling at the 24-yard line going in for another score, and having 4-major penalties negate some 70-yards in big plays. They could have had 50-points and 600-yards in the game.

The Bolts blitzed 11-times, got 1-pressure, and 1-hit on Goff. Rivers took a sack, 5-hits, and was chased out of the pocket 7-times, and that was from just a 4-man Rams rush.

So we learned a lot on Sunday, all the past history of how the Rams are beloved, and the Chargers not.

And now we know for sure, the Rams are surely the better team on the field too.

Scoreboard read (35-23) and it wasn’t that close either.

The “Fight for LA” now seems officially over. Wonder how that feels in Chargersville today.

As the signs said “Rams House”.

The billboard and the headlines should read “Rams Town”

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“Fight for LA–Don’t Think So”

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This will be fun on Sunday afternoon.

Chargers-vs-Rams, in a jam packed LA Coliseum.

Firepower vs Firepower. Coaching Wizardry-vs-Toughness. Athletes everywhere..

For the Rams, this is the begging of an amazing 9-week stretch of games, that either makes them a Super Bowl contender, or puts them in a hole.

Sean McVay’s team faces Philip Rivers and his high powered offense, followed by Kirk Cousins-Minnesota…..road games to play Russell Wilson-Seattle…Case Keenum-Denver….and the 49ers…..then a home game with Aaron Rodgers-Green Bay….a battle at New Orleans with Drew Brees, then the Seahawks again and Kansas City and Pat Mahomes, all before they stagger to a bye week.

For the Chargers, another big litmus test, against a good team, after they failed opening day against Kansas City.,continuing a slide that began last year, when they beat only 3-teams with winning record.

Sunday’s shootout should be something to watch. Rivers and an offense averaging 445-yards per game, opposed by 2nd year starter Jared Goff and a Rams offense averaging 398-yards a game.

The Bolts show them Keenan Allen, the Rams counter with Brandin Cooks (20YPC) and Robert Woods (17YPC).

You’ve got the catch and run tactics of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler, who have (440) all purpose yards between them. The Rams counter with do-everything star Todd Gurley.

The defenses are led by vibrant coordinators, the legendary Wade Philips, and the Chargers Gus Bradley.

The fascinating storyline for the Chargers has been the growth of 1st round draft pick S-Derwin James and the play of linebacker Uchenna Nwosu.

The Rams stole the off season thunder with the acquisitions of volatile players Marcus Peter, Ndomakong Suh and Aqib Talib.

Rivers will have to make this a throwing contest to keep up with all the weapons Goff has. Somebody’s defense will get turnovers, but without Joey Bosa and Corey Liuget it might not be the Bolts.

Much will be made about the Rams fan support and lack there-of of so-called Chargers fans. The standing job is that the Chargers are the only team to play 16-road games a year with what the Stub Hub Center has turned into.

This will likely be a referendum of who really owns the Los Angeles market, the heritage of the Rams dating back to the 1940s, or the upstart Chargers, stolen from San Diego by the owner in January 2017.

If you like fireworks, this will be a dandy, maybe something like 42-31.

My heart would love to see Rivers pull off a stunning win. My head says that’s doubtful because the Rams have the better defense.

My head says the Rams own LA, and the Chargers belong in San Diego, and my heart says Dean Spanos deserves nothing but losses upon losses.

Fight for LA? Don’t think so. It’s the Rams market and they are the hot team. We’ll see who can win on the field.

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“NFL Hall of Famers-Shamers”

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it was stupid thing to do, and now they cannot take back the words,nor the intent.

A select group of NFL Hall of Famers put their names to a letter, demanding the National Football League pay them an annual salary of 300,000 a year plus health benefits.

As NFL ambassadors, with the Gold Jackets, they want more green.

There are 181-living Hall of Famers, and I am sure a number need a helping hand, and yes the NFL is rolling in doe

But there is an alarming fact that needs to be considered.

The letter, authored by Eric Dickerson, Lawrence Taylor and more, references those in the Hall of Fame. The select, the elite, many well-to-do. It ignores the masses.

There are some 4,100 currently living retired NFL players, and many of them are ailing.

Yes the NFL is working to distribute money to the ill, and damaged players, many who are troubled people, all via the Concussion settlement.

The NFL is still living with the stigma of the some 21-modern day players who took their lives because of CTE, and life altering diseases.

The most bothersome part of this letter, aside from the fact it comes off as a money grab by those with some leverage, is the fact they, the Hall of Famers, ignore the masses of fellow players.

They don’t ask the NFL to fund an insurance plan for all retired players to buy into. They don’t ask the NFL to increase pension stipends for players from the 70s-thru 90’s, who don’t have it as good as the modern retirees have.

Everything in the NFL comes thru bargaining with the union, and in the past, the late Gene Upshaw, the union chief, didn’t care about the brothers he played with back in the day. He only wanted to rep the current day players.

DeMaurice Smith has worked harder to upgrade benefits, but the NFL retired players deals are weak in comparison to what baseball players get.

It may be 2018, but some things haven’t changed, especially for the likes of Dickerson and LT.

It’s about them, has always been about them.

Now they re running for cover saying the letter was meant to help all current retired players. Wasn’t worded that way.

Not likely, especially when you consider what happened to those guys in 1987.

That was an NFL strike year, a walkout that lasted 3-weeks. it was about increased benefits for players, and the changing of NFL free agency compensation.

By the third week, veteran players caved, and crossed the picket lines, ending the strike, and not getting what they hoped to get.

And who walked across the line that weekend….Eric Dickerson and Lawrence Taylor, big money players, who wanted to get their regular paychecks.

Screw the little guy they did that day.

Just like this Hall of Fame letter, which in essence said screw the other guy, the 4,100 retired players.

Some things never change, at least with Eric the great and LT.

Hall of Famers, acting in Shame.

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