The USC band is doing a One Piece-themed halftime show, complete with taiko drums on a version of New Genesis. It’s really cool and I’m also guessing there are a lot of utterly baffled alumni in here
Shohei Ohtani pitches 5 innings of 1-run ball, Mike Trout hits his 40th homer, and the Angels lose their 3rd straight game to the 102-loss Oakland Athletics.
Just a cosmically appropriate way to end this particular season of Halos baseball.
There's a guy outside Petco Park with a megaphone calmly heckling at the Astros: "Carlos Correa. You are a cheater. Shame on you. Josh Reddick. You are a cheater. Shame on you."
Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jalen Ramsey, Chicharito, Mookie Betts, Matthew Stafford, Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Von Miller and now Odell Beckham Jr. All since July 2019. Cool time to be an LA sports fan.
Jared Verse got to the Rams’ house and immediately was handed a phone and told to talk to the Rams’ new draft pick: “Fiske, is that you??” “Hey, J.”
“It’s going to be bad for opposing offenses.”
Noah Syndergaard says Mike Trout was one of the first Angels to reach out to him after he signed. He calls Mike "the best player the game has ever seen, so I want to help get him a ring."
Angels closer Raisel Iglesias is here. He says about 20 teams inquired with him in free agency, but he loves the Halos’ chemistry and wanted to stay. He’s looking forward to another year of staying close to Shohei Ohtani and learning from him.
Dante Fowler, Jalen Ramsey, Blake Bortles and now Allen Robinson. The Rams have gotten more out of the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars roster than the Jags did.
OBJ is talking up Cooper Kupp: "I chose to come here knowing that Coop is on pace to break a record. I didn’t come here thinking, ‘Oh, I’ve got to get my targets.’ Yeah, I’m a competitor, but I’m here witnessing greatness between Stafford and Coop, and it’s been fun to watch."
Sean McVay on Pete Carroll: "What a great coach. What an amazing leader of people. The ultimate competitor. ... Man, did his teams have an identity. Coach Carroll is a stud. If I'm sitting up here being able to do that as long as he did, holy shit will that be impressive."
Zlatan after criticizing the VAR decision on Houston’s goal in the Galaxy’s 2-1 win: “Maybe the MLS will punish me, but I am the MLS, so don’t worry about it.”
The Rams have been doing business this way since they moved to LA and immediately traded 6 high draft picks to get Jared Goff. They're now in their 5th straight winning season.
It's not Super-Bowl-Or-Bust. It's a different way of using draft capital, and it's undeniably working.
“Shohei is going to make the best decision for himself and his family, and we respect that. We hope he’s an Angel for the rest of his career. I’d love to be his teammate for a really long time.” -Angels OF Mickey Moniak
Rams COO Kevin Demoff says it’s up to Von, OBJ and the big free agents whether they want to run it back, because Stan Kroenke is ready to write the checks: “I know we always have the resources available from ownership to go compete at the highest level.”
Sean McVay confirms reports he talked with Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta recently. The Kroenke employees shared ideas about handling the current challenges: "He is really an impressive guy. I think he'll do a great job, I'm certainly a fan of Arsenal and love following them."
Kevin Durant on the timeout “That's not the ballgame. That's 1 play. It's a 48-minute game. I don't like to complain about calls. Sometimes the ref ain't gonna get it right. Sometimes it's on us to play through all that stuff & not worry about putting the game in the ref's hands”
Looks like the Rams' defense finished the regular season No. 1 in the NFL in total yards allowed (4,511) and points allowed (296). An absolutely incredible year from coordinator Brandon Staley's group.
Chris Paul talked to Andre Ingram at the scorers’ table before they checked in: “Ten years grinding in the G League, and then to be able to play like that, it’s pretty special.”
Steelers DT Cameron Heyward says the play on which he appeared to punch Justin Herbert on the ground was just a misunderstanding that looked weird on TV:
Shohei Ohtani is 6-foot-4, runs extremely fast and has a laser cannon for a right arm. If he'd grown up in California or Texas, we're thinking quarterback on offense and edge rusher on defense, right?
"He's got 6, 7, 8 pitches, and he can change speed on all of them. It's special what he can do and how he can manipulate it. ... You never know what you're gonna get. It's the kitchen sink coming at you all the time." -Max Stassi, Shohei Ohtani's catcher
Full quote from Rams LB Bobby Wagner about how he wishes Pete Carroll and John Schneider had handled his release better in Seattle after 10 seasons (re: black jerseys at the end, he always wanted to get Nike to make a black Seahawks jersey)
I love a salty Jared Goff: "We come up here, and all week we were told how good they are, & how we snuck into the playoffs, & 2 weeks ago you saw them smoking cigars & getting all excited about beating us and winning the division, & we were able to come up here & beat them."
The Rams under Sean McVay:
2017: 7-game improvement, end 12-year playoff drought
2018: Super Bowl
2019: 3rd straight winning season, barely missed playoffs
2020: Playoff victory
2021: Super Bowl Champions
2022: Um
2023: 6th winning season & 5th playoff berth out of nowhere
Boston manager Alex Cora on Ohtani: "He’s a different pitcher than in ’18. In '18 when we came here, his stuff was electric. Today, yeah, he threw hard, all that, but he pitched today. ... You see him out there & he knows what he’s doing. It’s amazing what he’s doing. Unreal."
Shohei Ohtani becomes the first player in major league history with multiple seasons with at least 10 mound victories and 10 homers. Even the Babe never did it twice.
Shohei Ohtani's ERA is down to 2.68 after his 4th consecutive victory (7-4). He's 8th in the majors with 101 strikeouts, and everybody above him has made at least 2 more starts than him.
"I don’t know. It’s the Dodgers." --Colorado's Antonio Senzatela when asked why he's given up 24 runs and 10 homers in 26.2 career innings at Dodger Stadium
Ramsey and Tate walked toward each other after the final whistle. They both took swings almost simultaneously and then went down in a heap. Their teammates pulled them apart.
Rams LB Von Miller: "I had never heard of Greg Gaines, but that changed the very first game I saw him play. ... You talk to him and you see him, and he sounds like a substitute teacher. But when he puts on pads, he's a totally different player."
The locker that has had Odell Beckham Jr’s name on it at the Rams’ training complex since last season is now blank again. They are no longer saving OBJ’s spot.
Seattle mgr Scott Servais & Marco Gonzales both say it’s “obvious” the Angels used an opener so they could throw at the Mariners early. Servais calls it “a black eye.”
Gonzales: “It shows us where they’re at. It shows us who they are.” Repeatedly calls the Angels “classless.”
Von Miller says he wants to be a GM or a front-office exec after he retires, and this week's discussion about opportunities for Black coaches and execs has redoubled his determination to get into a position to make change in the NFL.
Shohei Ohtani is now batting .411 with 4 homers & 9 RBIs in the Angels' 5 Sunday games in May. He's driven in a run each Sunday and homered on 3 straight.
Rob Pelinka on the deals he didn't make: "Doing trades is a lot like the LA house market. You can’t buy houses that aren’t listed. ... The last thing you want to do in the house market is overpay or spend all of your time and energy on a house that someone doesn’t want to sell."
Utah's RB/CB Micah Bernard both caught a touchdown pass and led his team in tackles today. I believe he is the first player to do that in the Rose Bowl since Shohei Ohtani.
Sean McVay and Les Snead were talking to us, but they both yelped when they saw Cole Strange go to the Pats on the TV behind us. McVay: “How about that? And to think we wasted our time watching him, thinking he’d be available at 104.”
Ryan Getzlaf tears up when thanking Corey Perry, his “best friend. … We started out on this journey together. It would have been nice to finish it together, but (hockey) is what it is.”
Chris Paul just repeatedly brought up the fact he's lost 11 playoff games in a row in which Scott Foster was refereeing. "If I was a betting man, 11 games in a row. ... 11 in a row is tough."
Desmond King has 2 1/2 sacks, a TFL and a forced fumble today when the depleted Chargers secondary really needed a big game. This is your weekly Desmond-King-was-a-5th-round-pick-LOL tweet.
Patrick Beverley, asked if Chicago is the perfect fit for him: "Yeah. If I'm a spoon, Billy (Donovan) is using me as a spoon. The Lakers, you know, I was a spoon and they used me as a fork."
Ducks GM Bob Murray says he spoke with captain Ryan Getzlaf about trading him, but Getzlaf only wanted to move if Anaheim could get something significant in return to help the franchise, "and it wasn't there. He is all about the organization, whatever is best for us."
New Angels pitcher Noah Syndergaard says Shohei Ohtani is "the most exciting player in the game. I look forward to learning as much as I can from him and just being a good teammate."
KC’s Salvador Pérez: “Ohtani is unbelievable. He’s the best there is right now. It’s impressive what he’s doing. Thank god I have the opportunity to watch him.”
Shohei Ohtani just got a huge cheer when he was shown on the SoFi video board, and another when he opened his jacket to show the Rams jersey he’s wearing.
Matheny on Ohtani: "He was throwing 3 different sliders, plus a cutter & a curve. When the split started going, that’s when the strikeouts really started to happen, & he’s got 100 (mph) in the tank that he hardly ever showed. ... It's going to be a tough day at the plate." (2/2)
The quarterbacks most frequently sacked by Aaron Donald in his career:
Russell Wilson: 15
Kyler Murray: 6 1/2
Matthew Stafford: 6
Dak Prescott: 5
CJ Beathard: 4 (all in one game in 2018)
Kirk Cousins: 3 1/2
Jimmy Garoppolo: 3 1/2
Carson Palmer: 3 1/2
North County native Mickey Moniak on joining the Angels and likely playing a lot: “The one thing I (want) is an opportunity, and to be so close to home with family and friends, it's just the cherry on top. My family's fired up. All my friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles.”
KC manager Mike Matheny on Shohei Ohtani: "That was a display. It’s a very unique repertoire of pitches. I don’t think you’re going to find as many guys with as many weapons as what we saw today. He was throwing it all for strikes, and he mixed it up." (1/2)
"He is fearless in the game. He goes out there and plays baseball. That cannot be emphasized enough. ... Shohei is always playing the game. You’re seeing him be so successful because he has true joy in what he’s doing." --Angels manager Joe Maddon on Shohei Ohtani
RT Rob Havenstein on why so many Rams reported to voluntary offseason workouts: "We are a team. People do like each other. People like hanging out. When we're going out there and we're going to grind, that's who you want to do it with."
Pretty sure Jalen Ramsey, Derwin James, Casey Hayward & Desmond King in the same secondary would constitute an antitrust violation, but the Chargers should try to make it happen anyway
Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s shockingly reasonable concession prices say so much more about a sports organization’s respect for its actual fans than any catchy slogan, glossy hype video or upsold luxury amenity ever could. You sacrifice a little money, but you gain so much.
The Rams' defense allowed 67 yards and 2 first downs in the entire 2nd half. Davante Adams did not make a catch on 3 targets. Derek Carr went went 2 of 7 for 11 yards.