Sports Banter

  (Image is owned by the Chicago Tribune, we do not own the rights) The main focus that GM Ryan Poles needs to have going into the 2025 NFL Draft and free agency is addressing the offensive line. If last season taught us anything, it’s that shiny objects i.e. Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen, & D’Andre Swift, are not enough to build sustainable success around. The big men in the trenches may not get the shine or glory, but they are what makes the wheel turn. In Caleb Williams rookie season, he was sacked 68 times which ties David Carr for the 3rd most ever in an NFL season. This is not a new concept to the Bears shortcomings as previous QB Justin Fields was sacked 55 times just 2 years ago in only 15 games played. In order for any offense to function efficiently, the quarterback needs time to operate. It's just that simple. With 3 selections in the top 41 of the upcoming NFL Draft, there should be no doubt which position group the Bears will be addressing. S...

  (photo is owned by Bleacher Report, we do not own the rights) This analysis based on the ESPN article (https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/43627047/nfl-bears-ben-johnson-coach-contract-caleb-williams) Are things finally changing in Halas Hall? On January 21, 2025, former OC of the Detroit Lions and offensive guru Ben Johnson became the new head coach for the Chicago Bears. If you had taken a poll when the head coaching carousel began, odds are the general belief was that the Bears were #1 not going to pay top market money to get the most sought after coach and #2 mess it up. But after the dust has settled it is clear that GM Ryan Poles, President Kevin Warren, & Chairman George McCaskey, were all in alignment to doing whatever it took to get Johnson to Chicago. This act serves as an anomaly when compared to all of the head coaches hired since Lovie Smith was fired in 2012. It has been a cycle of dysfunction and none more obvious than the most recent HC Matt Eberflus. He was n...

  This story is based on the SI article: "Manny Machado Disappointed in Padres’ Quiet Offseason, Losing Roki Sasaki to Dodgers" (2/1/25)  https://www.si.com/mlb/padres/san-diego-padres-news/manny-machado-disappointed-in-padres-quiet-offseason-losing-roki-sasaki-to-dodgers-01jk1h8py0a6 In the 2024 NLDS, the Padres held a 2-1 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers and all signs pointed to another upset playoff victory en route to a World Series run. But 24 scoreless innings later, the Dodgers came all the way back finishing the series in LA in 5 games. Heartbreak city for the Padres and the city of San Diego. After a 93 win season and 1 win away from an NLCS appearance, the only logical next step was to retool and fix the marginal shortcomings that halted the Padres from finishing the job in '24. That couldn't be further from reality in the '25 offseason as the Padres have not upgraded at any position, are going through an internal struggle for ownership power, and saw t...

  (we do not own the rights to this image) Now that the dust has settled in the 2023 season, there's a lot to unpack about what's happening at Halas Hall. For the 2nd year in a row the Bears hold the #1 pick in April's draft although this time it's not due to their own ineptitude but because the Panthers were the worse team in football this year. Our own personal pick sits at #9 so we have #1 & #9 respectively. SO WHAT DO WE DO?? Loaded question but let's start with the changes in the coaching staff we saw take place yesterday. OC Luke Getsy and several other offensive coaches were let go and thank god they were. I have a massive problem with how Luke Getsy game planned and called games this past season. The year prior is whatever to me because we were an awful team at the start of a rebuild, so it didn't matter what he put together that season BUT this season was pretty bad. 2 games stick out to me in writing this and that is the MNF game @ Minnesota and th...

(photo is owned by 97.3 The Fan, we do not own the rights) If you would've told me on opening day that on 8/2 the Padres would be 53-55, 8.5 games out of 1st, and 5 games out of the last wild card spot, it would not have computed in my optimistic Padres fan brain. But here we are witnessing exactly that. To say this season has been frustrating to watch is an understatement on a colossal level. Whatever can go wrong, has gone wrong basically. Here's a breakdown of what has gone on for far too long:      Danny Vietti ⁦‪@DannyVietti‬⁩ San Diego Padres this season Extra-innings: 0-10 record -WORST IN MLB 1-run games: 6-18 record -WORST IN MLB (-6.62) FanGraphs Clutch Rating -WORST IN MLB .226 BA with RISP -WORST IN NL .217 BA in 7th inning or later -WORST IN MLB (10-16 record vs. current last place teams) pic.twitter.com/W97pV8nYlN   8/1/23, 2:27 AM     Whatever can go wrong, has gone wrong. To put it lightly it's been a TOUGH watch. A couple things that stand ...

  ((photo owned by marchmadness IG, we do not own the rights) Holy shit.... What actually just happened? My SDSU Aztecs were up against in Saturday night's Final 4 matchup versus the FAU Owls. Down 14 with 13:53 left in the 2nd half it started to feel like the end to a historic run. A team that would've been remembered for going the furthest of any SDSU team in history (Final 4), taking down the #1 overall seed Alabama in the Sweet 16, and a nail biting Elite 8 win over Creighton. That would've been a lot to be proud of on its own but what happened is what makes college basketball so great. The Aztecs started to chip away at the lead with some 3 pointers by Micah Parrish and Matt Bradley, followed by a flurry of offensive rebounds that continued to give the Aztecs extra possessions. It was an extremely physical matchup to say the least and SDSU couldn't buy a foul or a bucket under the rim for the longest time. WAR. That's the only thing that comes to mind. FAU was ...

  (image is owned by medium.com, we do not own the rights) 2016 seems like a distant memory. When the Chicago Cubs entered spring training that year the expectation was clear, World Series or bust. 7 years later the only remaining player from that team is now the teams' manager, David Ross. That itself speaks volumes to how this team has been put together and how the expectations surrounding this team are much different. With owner Tom Ricketts promising to all Cub fans that we would not be rebuilding, but rather revamping, the trust within the fan base still existed. But as we've watched the previous 2 years, the Cubs were obviously not trying to compete with the elite teams in the MLB. It became apparent that the focus was on payroll efficiency and not fielding the best team we could. Along with that, the lack of respect to the great players who wore the jersey was obvious i.e. Wilson Contreras who now wears the disgusting Cardinal red we all hate. BUT ALAS. The beauty of spr...

(Reinhold Matay/USA Today Sports)     Last week Netflix released their series "Full Swing", which was watched and completed by myself in 3 days. Although I am not a binge watcher by any means, I was enamored by the authenticity of this series. The platform was similar to Netflix's F1 series "Drive to Survive", but let me tell you "Full Swing" is exceptional. But let me get back to what I really want to talk about, Tiger Woods and his impact on the game of golf. This weekend was the Genesis  tournament, which started on Thursday and ran through Sunday with Tiger Woods as the host of the event. I am a pretty big golf fan, maybe not as much as Doc Downing but I am pretty close. This weekend there was so much coverage of the tournament and the reason for that is because of Tiger. Tiger was able to get through the weekend, and I was watching every single day. On Friday he birdied the last three holes of the tournament on a bum leg, bad back, and noneth...

  (photo is owned by Porter Binks/Getty Images, we do not own the rights) Less than 10 months removed from Jay Wright's abrupt retirement, Villanova basketball is at a crossroads. Adapt or die. When Wright announced his retirement following his 3rd Final 4 run in 7 years, winning National Championships in both '16 & '18, he blindsided College Basketball, Nova Nation, and most importantly, his program. A legend and architect of arguably the most dominant basketball program of the 2012 - 2022 era, Wright was done. The fire and passion that had propelled the miraculous run had fizzled out and Wright had "lost his edge", as he put it. Months before the announcement, Wright notified Mark Jackson and Father Peter of his decision. Seemingly to both save the heralded incoming recruiting class and "keep it in the family", the trio allegedly chose to forgo a quiet national coaching search for a top 10 job in college basketball, and instead appointed former ass...

  I AM SICK. This is the most disturbed I've been watching one of my teams play since Cody Parkey's double-doink. That's a DEEP cut. The Lakers go into Boston and play an absolute beauty of a game, only to be cheated out of their rightful win in the final moments. This isn't an overreaction piece, this isn't a debate, this is just a blatant lack of accountability on 3 NBA referees who took this win from the Lakers and there's obvious video evidence to back it up. Truly disgusting. A couple notes to harp on from the last 10 seconds of play: 1. Only in Boston, would a historically HORRIBLE 3 point attempt from Al Horford that hits the top of the backboard end up in the hands of Jaylen Brown. He gets the rebound, puts it back in for the layup and that was that. No whistle, the play moves on, Lakers still up 1. But ohhhhhh wait the referee by the Celtics bench decides 2 full seconds after the play that he's calling a foul. Let's make this clear. It was a fou...

  (Image is owned by FOX, we do not own the rights) When the 49ers drafted Brock Purdy with the very last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, they never could've imagined that this would be the result. All of the franchises stock had been invested in top pick Trey Lance. So much so that the organization had basically made it known to Jimmy G (who just led the team to an NFC Championship appearance) that they were openly looking to trade him. That was the plan. But when Trey Lance suffered a serious season ending ankle injury in week 2 everything changed. The once scorned Jimmy G was in line to be QB1 for the niners once again, music to the 49er faithful and why wouldn't it be? Like I said he just led the team to an NFC championship appearance and damn near Super Bowl berth. And that would have been a good enough script for the 49ers this year. But again the injury bug bit the niners and bit them hard as in week 13, Garropolo went down with a broken foot and was ruled out for the season...

  (Photo owned by Tom Fox/Staff Photography)     At the end of every season you have two groups; one group fighting for the title and one group trying to re-build to compete next season. The group of teams that are looking for the edge next season are conducting interviews with college coaches, front office personnel, and crazy enough other coaches that are still coaching in playoff games. This to me is one of the weirdest things in the NFL, interviewing for a  job while you are working towards the title. Perfect example, Dan Quinn of the Cowboys had a number of interviews this past week leading up to their divisional play off game against the 49ers. Quinn and other coaches are being pulled away from focusing on winning to interview for potential future jobs. I understand that the goal for other teams is to get the edge early and fast, but I don't understand what a couple of months could change.      The NFL needs to review and change th...

(Video owned by Highlight Heaven)     Wildcard Weekend is always full of emotion and we saw that with all the games from this past weekend. If there is one team in the NFL that is emotional, it is the Buffalo Bills and it starts with their quarterback Josh Allen. Allen is someone that every game you will see all the emotions that one person can have during a game; anger, sadness, frustration, joy, etc.. which as fans we love to see. Emotions were high this weekend with the Bills playing the Miami Dolphins, especially late in the second quarter. Josh threw a pick to Xavien Howard of the Dolphins, which was returned for around 30 yards. When this ball was picked off, you can see Christian Wilkins (Miami D-End) blocking Allen in the hopes of a pick six. During this altercation between Wilkins and Allen, Wilkins gives Allen at the end a little love tap just to show whose boss; or so it seemed. Once Bills center, Mitch Morse saw this altercat...

  (we do not own the rights to this image) Nate Kaeding had nothing to do with the Chargers blowing a 27-0 lead in Jacksonville last Saturday..... or did he? This latest playoff catastrophe is exactly who the Chargers have been as long as I can remember, which for me started with the king of disappointment Nate Kaeding. I remember being so upset as a kid watching the Chargers season's come to an end due to self destructing in any way you could think of. And today that is amazingly still the case. Players, coaches, and even the city in which they play in has changed, and yet it's still the same recipe of disaster. It's amazing really.  Here's what the recipe of every season is: 1. Put together a top 5 roster in the offseason, fix the holes left from the previous season, and enter the year a super bowl contender 2. Have various starters get injured starting week 1. O-line depleted 3. Lose games you shouldn't, win games you shouldn't, and then go on a nice run in D...