NBA’s battle for LA begins
For the first time ever, there is a true NBA LA rivalry. The Hallway Series —as the four times the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers play each year has come to be known — will be much more like a hallway crusade this year.
California sports betting is a no-brainer
On June 27, California state lawmakers proposed a November 2020 ballot measure to legalize sports betting in our home state. This measure should absolutely be added to the ballot and be passed by voters.
The measure must gain a two-thirds vote in the state Legislature to be added to the ballot, where it could be approved with a majority vote. State Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa and Assemblyman Adam Gray of Merced proposed the measure.
The NCAA compensation conundrum
College athletes deserve to be paid if their likeness is used in any way, shape or form to promote their respective university’s brand. But in practice, this simple statement becomes the sports equivalent of rocket science.
The long-debated topic of paying student-athletes came up again this week, and paying California college athletes, specifically.
Every NBA draft pick is valuable
Many NBA analysts have called this week’s NBA draft a three-player draft, a statement comparable to claiming there are only three good burrito places in the entire state of California.
While Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and RJ Barrett have long been considered the consensus top-three picks, there will absolutely be All Stars, All-NBA players and, most likely, even Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers picked later on.
It’s past time to give U.S. women’s soccer equal pay
The United States Soccer Federation must pay the United States Women’s National Team members the same as their male counterparts.
This should have happened a long time ago. Before the team beat Thailand by a record-breaking score of 13-0 in its 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener June 11. Before star forward Alex Morgan tied a World Cup record with five goals in that game.
MLB needs foul pole to foul pole netting
After yet another fan has been struck by a speeding foul ball, it’s time for Major League Baseball to install protective netting from one foul pole to the other.
On May 29, Chicago Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. yanked a pitch down the left-field line and just past the protective netting that extends to the end of each dugout at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park. The ball was going more than 90 mph off the bat and squarely struck a young girl.
NBA Finals: No Durant, no problem
The Golden State Warriors are going to win the 2019 NBA Finals, securing the team’s third straight title and fourth in the last five years.
They will do so in convincing fashion, with or without the play of two-time defending NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant, whose status for the series is uncertain as he recovers from a calf strain suffered earlier in the playoffs. He was out for Game One of the Finals Thursday, and his status for Game Two is uncertain.
Lakers Part II: The business of 'betrayal'
When the Lakers do not sign any of the top free agents this offseason, fans can thank former President of Basketball Operations Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his comments crushing the character of general manager Rob Pelinka.
Pelinka spoke to the media at the press conference introducing new head coach Frank Vogel on May 20. Just hours before the introductory conference, however, Johnson appeared on ESPN’s “First Take” and did nothing short of assassinate the character of his former front-office partner. “If you are going to talk betrayal, it’s only with Rob (Pelinka),” Johnson said on the show.
Lakers’ instability starts at the top
The Lakers are a mess.
More specifically, the Lakers’ second “Summer of LeBron” could not have gotten off to a more rocky start, and it’s all thanks to a lack of front-office stability.
NBA referees should not be playoff focus
At the end of Game 1 of the 2019 NBA Western Conference Semifinals, the Houston Rockets trailed the Golden State Warriors 100 to 103 with just over 10 seconds left to play. Rockets guard James Harden fired up the potential game-tying 3-pointer over Warriors forward Draymond Green.
The shot clanked harmlessly off the rim, effectively ending the game. Yet, Harden landed on Green’s foot and flopped to the ground. Rockets guard Chris Paul, irate with the fact that no foul was called on Green, picked up his second technical foul of the game and was ejected with four seconds left.
NFL teams do not care about domestic violence
The 2019 NFL Draft came and went last weekend with much fanfare and debate over who was picked when.
As often happens in North America’s most popular professional sports league, however, the event was overshadowed by yet another example domestic violence plaguing the NFL.
The league is now four-and-a-half years years removed from the release of video showing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice beating his now-wife unconscious in an Atlantic City elevator. Though Rice never saw the field again, it was because his talents had dwindled, not due to his mere two-game suspension the NFL meted out in response.