Dodgers- Loaiza you're killing me. Someone forgot to tell him this is a division race, it was a bad time to walk people and give up runs. Dodgers have to keep playing hard and winning series after series and hope San Diego and Arizona start losing.

Raiders- Looking better but Culpepper needs to start, McCown is NOT the one. He causes too many turnovers and doesn't come through when he needs to. He's a backup and that's it.

USC- A much needed win in championship style.  This may be one of the hardest years to run the table. Oregon and Cal look especially strong this year. With the luster off the Notre Dame and UCLA games it should an interesting season.

 Lakers- Has Buss either sold the team or fired Kupcake yet?

James Loney and David Wells helped keep the Dodgers playoff hopes alive. They beat the Padres last night to take two out of three and win the first important series. The next one starts tonight against the D-Backs.

Loney in particular is having an awesome two weeks. He is dragging the Dodgers kicking and screaming up the standings for what will become a pivotal showdown with Arizona to try to inch closer to the top spot in the division and a potential pennant we Dodger fans so rightly deserve. With 2-1/2 back in the wild card and 5-1/2 behind Arizona a sweep is absolutely necessary. Winning the series could work too but lets face it, the playoffs have started for the Dodgers, win series after series or go home.

 

Well thankgoodness for Derek Lowes injury. the minor finger injury gave way to a solid and much needed pitching performance from Chad Billingsley. He pitched a very controlled six innings and the offense took care of the rest. James Loney supplied the power with a 2-run homer and playing like a clutch vet.

So now what?

Dodgers just have to repeat the same type of effort for at least the next four games to have a serious chance of getting into the playoffs. David Wells pitches tonight so there is a chance of going really well or really bad. Maddux pitches for the Pads so i anticipate a low-scoring game. If the Dodgers can get to him early and defend a little better then this series could be a winner.

Well it looks like the Esteban Loaiza Experiment has resulted in a meltdown at the worst possible time. He gets shelled in the first game against the Padres which essentially is a playoff series because if they cant win the next two series, the other against the D-Backs, you can write off the season and pray for next year. 

Ned Colleti's habit of picking up washed-up players in their twilight years has cost the Dodgers dearly. Loaiza, Sweeney, Hillenbrand, and Tomko have set the Dodgers back. They have not contributed to getting back in this race. It's presently slipping through their fingers. Why not give the highly regarded farm guys a chance to play. It can't be any worse.

Tony Abreu, Delwyn Young, Adam LaRoche, and pick a pitcher and let's go. These guys are hungry and need the experience. Luis Gonzalez had some moments and he's a classy guy but Kemp or Ethier have been clutch more often.   

Grady Little is a totally different topic. I'll save that for another post. Let's go Dodgers, somebody step up. Next two games are MUST WINS. 

As a father of two and husband of eight years it's become more difficult to find time to vent on topics like sports. My girls are too young to understand and wife couldn't care less about what's going on in the sports world. Luckily I've found this forum to get my frustrations out online about the Lakers, Dodgers and Raiders. It's ironic I that the sports radio station that allows me this avenue to air out my thoughts is also one of my greatest sources of frustrations and anger. TJ Simers, the Loose Cannons, and Joe McDonnel all provide plenty of material to rage over. I hope you find this mildly interesting. At least I'll feel better. Thanks.