“WEDNESDAY SPORTS WORLD…WILD..WHAT I THINK “
We saw it all in a couple of hours span on Wednesday..and I have thoughts on all of it:
PADRES..The darkest moment in AJ Preller’s run as General Manager, this (23-3) Cubs 8-home run-record setting win against the faltering Friars starting pitching staff. It sure looks like ‘Rock Bottom’, as Manny Machado would call it. A 5-game losing streak now, having given up 54-runs in those 5-losses. The collective starting rotation, in this skid, have lasted just 20-innings…given up 29-runs…allowed 44-baserunners and served up 8HRs. As bad as I have ever seen a San Diego starting rotation.
USA SOCCER…Going where they have never been before, the Round of 16-at the World Cup. Relentless, explosive speed, toughness. Captain America-Christian Pulisic is so dangerous, but his work on the pitch creates huge pockets for Fo Balogun, Malike Tillman and others to run to. A relentless roster playing at both ends of the pitch. Next up-star studded Belgium, next Monday. The collective talent is greater than the individual players thanks to Mario Pochettino.
LAKERS..Day 1-of free agency brought a delivery of new players to the LA roster, all this hours after LeBron James said he was leaving. On comes big center Walker Kessler from Utah. Some offense. Lots of rebounds. Good passer. Then a run of shooters on short term contracts, led by Quentin Grimes of the Sixers, Collin Sexton of the Bulls and a Toronto 3-point guy Sandro Mamukelashvil. Hate to see G-Marcus Smart depart. It will be a different team.
KING JAMES..Hate to see LeBron leave and hate to see him bashed by some of the media. That was a pretty prolific 8-year run, but the failures to get more than 1-ring are not so much him, but the failure of Rob Pelinka to go get the right players almost on a year by year basis. Great players in every market have input on deals, but the GM has to get the right fit. Has not happened in LA.
CLIPPERS…Sure looks like a rebuild now that Kawhi has left to go collect more money from Toronto, where he won a ring, and then promptly left. To be determined, what the NBA decides on the Salary Cap violations probe, and what kind of rebuild and how long in LA. What a disappointment, as hard as they worked, all the players they brought in, never getting to the ‘Western Conference finals. Again, a bunch of the media don’t have nice things to say about Kawhi as he leaves LA.
BOSTON..What a shocker, the trade of Jaylen Brown to the 76ers for an aging Paul George and 4-draft picks. Jayson Tatum is left behind and losing is about to set in.
NHL FREE AGENCY…Some first day, 116-players changed teams and there were 7-trades too. Big news with goalies moving. Toronto continued its spending spree-getting Sergei Bobrovsky. The Oilers will try Frederik Andersen-of Carolina-between the pipes. The Rangers send goal scorer Vince Trocheck to Utah. San Jose, striving to be the Best in the West, deals for Edmonton blueliner Darnell Nurse
KINGS-DUCKS…Don’t know that I agree with anything either did. Anaheim has shed so many veteran players, just don’t think plugging in young minor leaguers makes up for the loss of 4-guys on the blueline. And getting an oft-injured Laurent Brossoit in goal doesn’t make sense either.The Kings must think Corey Perry has gas left in the tank, but their short term rentals won’t be difference makers either.
Interesting Wednesday. Wild day. Lots of stories. Lots of reaction too. And more to come.
=============
NBA TRADE RUMORS-CAN YOU CONNECT THESE DOTS?
Here's your Dixon-Ticonderoga Pencil....I want you to connect the dots on these NBA deals and tell me if any of them make any sense to you. GOLDEN STATE...They are trying to pull off two deals at once. They believe, based on relationships with their head coach,...
“PADRES STARTING PITCHING-CANNOT SAVE SEASON”
I expected this to be a summer long baseball season of challenges for the Padres. Now in the middle of a 17-game in 17-day stretch, they are trying to stay in the Wildcard playoff race, with a team fraught with problems. Never ever did I think we would be talking...
NHL HOCKEY…WILD WEEKEND AHEAD
The NFL Draft is legendary. The NBA Draft has become electric. The NHL Draft is about be dwarfed by the Trade Board A most interesting 72-hours ahead of us for hockey fans across the US and Canada. Headlines worth paying attention to: MAPLE LEAFS...They have the...
“NBA DRAFT…LAKERS QUESTIONS REMAIN..CLIPPERS ADD ATHLETES”
The NBA draft is complete. The Blue Chippers went to alot of bad teams, and this was a very deep collection of skilled players, maybe the best draft in a decade in the NBA. Not much of a draft for the Lakers and Clippers, who seem farther and farther away from being...
“NBA DRAFT RECAP-WHO WENT WHERE?”
The best draft in a decade. A deep draft with firepower and athletes. A look at top picks and the scouting report from the blue chip names. 1-WASHINGTON..AJ Bybansta (6'7-G)...3-level scorer 2-UTAH..Darryn Peterson (6'6-G)..Artistic scorer 3-MEMPHIS..Cam Boozer...
NBA..BIG DAY..BIG TRADE…BIG DRAFT PICKS
Everybody is"On the clock" before the clock strikes 5pm-and the NBA Draft starts. Storylines in every corner of the NBA at this hour: MILWAUKEE...The Bucks, facing a Giannis Antetokounmpo deadline, sat and watched the bidding war change late Monday night. For...
“FATHER’S DAY…A SPECIAL MEANING”
========== 'FATHER'S DAY--A MEANING" ========== Father's Day....What it means to me. Column from my archives: -------------------- "Ode to a Father-Gone" A weekend upon us. For some, time off. For some, time to work. For many, a time to remember. For a few, a time to...
“WORLD CUP SOCCER–WORTH WATCHING”
I had a stroke of good luck this week, cherry picking select games in the World Cup. I love World Cup soccer. It is the creme-de-la creme of talent. it means a quality 90-minutes of the beautiful game. So as I prepare to see Friday night's USA match with...
‘SPORTS FAN–YOU BE THE GM RIGHT NOW”
The fans have opinions, so I am going to let you make the decisions that have to be made. Are you a seller or buyer, trying to stay in a pennant race, or get rid of bad contracts? Are you a bidder for the top guy on the NBA trade block? You run a QB-needy NFL...
‘LAKERS-CLIPPERS…DECISIONS COMING…CHANGES COMING’
Things are about to change for the Lakers and Clippers, both on the outside looking in, and the inside looking out. By July 1st these teams could look very different. The changes could be mandated by the NBA (Clippers) and most likely will be steered by the...
PADRES-DODGERS-ANGELS NOTEBOOK
What I see...What I think at this hour. PADRES...Send a thank you note to the 'Nickle & Dime' bottom of the batting order which has bailed out the (224M) top of the batting order, who have had disappointing seasons so far. Samad Taylor, Jace Bowen, Rod...
“NY KNICKS–NBA NIGHT TO REMEMBER”
It was a Times Square Celebration with everything but the cold weather of New Year's Eve. In my head I could hear Sinatra's 'New York-New York-Just start spreading the news' The Knickerbockers, an original NBA team dating to the 1930s, won the NBA crown with the...
“WORLD CUP IS HERE..BEAUTIFUL GAME & RED CARDS”
Bring on the globe's finest, with the 2026-World Cup. What happens on the pitch will give us relief from everything that has happened in the weeks leading up to the matches. The conversation of who will win-is fascinating. Will it be Spain, a 5-time winner, with so...
“TEXAS TECH AGAINST THE WORLD”
In an era where the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis looks like it is under siege from everywhere, another bombshell is dropped on its buildings, thanks to QB-turned-Gambling Addict Brendan Sorsby of Texas Tech. You know him. The red hot...
“SPURS BLOWUP ‘SOFT LABEL’-SCORCH KNICKS”
It had everything you would want in an NBA finals game. At the end, San Antonio shed the criticism of 'soft team' by blasting their way to a must win victory (115-111) infront of a crazed Madison Square Garden crowd in New York-who felt their Knicks would...
“PADRES…A SEASON OF MIXED EMOTIONS”
A mixed bag of emotions. A mixed up season. That's where I am at this hour covering, writing about, talking about the Padres. The Swinging Friar is really the Swing & Miss Friars. Losses pile up on losses. The starting pitching seems to be regressing....
“MLB-VS-UNION…TELL THE TRUTH”
MLB and the Union made their first sets of proposals last week about what they each want to see as negotiations begins on a new CBA. It has been followed by verbal gunfire between Commissioner Rob Manfred and Union Chief Bruce Meyer. All that is to be expected....
“CAN THEY SAVE COLLEGE SPORTS”
Interesting day in Congress, aside from the White House chaos we have to live with day in day out in the Trump era. Congress held hearings on a bill presented by Ted Cruz, to save the NCAA. And Congress heard from leadership people including legendary...
“NBA PLAYOFFS WORTH WATCHING”
It's not whom we expected to see in the NBA finals, but it shapes up as a fascinating series that starts tonight. The San Antonio Spurs have arrived ahead of schedule, and not just because of the dominance of Victor Wembenyama. The New York Knicks are there, because...
“NFL BLOCKBUSTER TRADES ROCK LEAGUE”
n a span of two hours, two of the elite teams in the NFL got even better. The LA Rams, conducting business the way they always have under GM-Les Sneed, shipped out 3-more draft picks and a young pass rusher. The New England Patriots reached back into Coach Mike...
“NBA VERSION OF ONE-AND-DONE”
"1-AND-DONE" You've heard that lots of time in basketball. Did you ever think you'd hear it in reference to the Oklahoma City Thunder? The San Antonio Spurs raised the NBA West Conference trophy over the dead body of the Thunder, whom many thought were on the brink of...
“UNION-OWNERS TALK SALARY CAP..MY RESPONSE”
Lots of baseball games to be played. Lots of days left in the season for the two sides to sit and discuss a new CBA deal to prevent a lockout. Here are the first proposals made by each side, and my reaction to them ------- OWNERS MLB Owners..Make 1st proposal to Union...
“BASEBALL’S BEST TEAMS RIGHT NOW-SUPRISE SEASON”
The New York Times hit a home run with their headline about the Padres: "Best Bad Team in Baseball...or the Worst Good Team in Baseball?" That pretty much sums up the current state of Padres Baseball. But now that he have crossed the one-third mark of the MLB season,...
BASEBALL STANDINGS..NOTHING WRONG WITH YOUR EYES
Nothing wrong with your eyesight, but this is an indeed a strange start to the baseball season. There are 16-of-30 teams at .500 or less in the standings, including some teams with hopeless rosters. Here we are, one-third of the way, into the schedule, and...
PADRES-NO HITS-NO ANSWERS EITHER
Hard to believe this Padres team has this type of record (31-22). They seem to be taking on water and still trying to keep their heads above water. They have pathed the pitching staff as much as they can with all these rentals, from Walker Buehler to Griff Canning,...
A MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE
Memorial Day weekend. Picnics, family, Padres games, the Indy 500, the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs, the Stanley Cup finals. Lots to see, experience and think about. Memorial Day weekend is a time to remember also. We see hometown heroes amongst us in San Diego....
NHL HOCKEY…ON A HEATER…
The NHL is on a heater. The TV ratings are on a heater. The hockey fans across the USA are on a heater. The Montreal Canadiens are on a heater. For those of us who have grown up following hockey, this is something special we are seeing. For those of us who...
PADRES-DODGERS…THAT WAS PRETTY INTENSE BASEBALL
So that was a really fun 3-days of baseball against the Dodgers. The early season fight for first place in the NL West. And just think, the Padres and Dodgers meet 10-more times this season. We have answers to some Padres questions. The Padres starting rotation...
NBA-BIG WIN-BAD LOSS-PLAYOFFS
SPURS-THUNDER....Oklahoma City may have been (72-14) this year, but they are no longer perfect in post season and they may no longer be invincible. They got beat at their own game on Monday night, taken apart by San Antonio's defense. Pick any of the...
Stay Updated with Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
Join our community of sports enthusiasts and never miss an update! Subscribe now to receive the latest articles, exclusive insights, and expert opinions directly in your inbox. Be the first to know about new posts and stay ahead in the world of sports journalism.